So, I am planning on putting a car in the game sooner or later, because pedestrians are chumps. The F4SE team has assured us that we will not be able to start scripting until the GECK is released, but I can test this idea in Skyrim (which has a very similar engine) and see how it works out. Hopefully I will then be able to re-use some of the scripts.
First of all, the mod will be less convenient than fast travelling, but more so than walking everywhere. I probably won't force you to disable fast travel (since if you know what's good for you you will likely have done so anyway), but I think it's a stupid feature and you're a moron if you use it.
I will not be doing something akin to a Hoverboard mod, at least not initially. The reason for this is that the Papyrus script system is clunky to work with, but also that the terrain in Fallout 4 does not in any way lend itself to a freely controlled vehicle. There are trees and cliffs and hills and slopes everywhere, and the hacky collision system I devised for the New Vegas mod will probably not work here (It barely works in the wide open desert). I am not even sure if there is any way to nullify the player's gravity, or use ballistics collision scripts in the way that I did. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it won't be the first thing I do.
Anyway, here's my idea: The Highwayman.
It works exactly like it did in Fallout 2. There will be a wrecked Highwayman somewhere, that you can acquire (likely in the Corvega factory). Because of everyone's favorite new additions (dialogue wheel and voiced munchkin) I simply will not put in any sort of character to buy it from, you'll have to fix it yourself. I will replace the utterly moronic V.A.N.S perk (for the love of God, Bethesda!) with one that lets you repair it, but you will still need to find parts to do so, and they will probably require that you travel a bit.
When you've got it, you can Activate the car and choose from a list of predetermined locations to drive to. These locations will be the ones that are connected by reasonably functional roads, so you'll still have to hike if you want to go into the woods, but you can drive from Sanctuary to Diamond City no problem. Unlike fast traveling, you can go there even if you haven't discovered the place already. When you select a place to go to, the screen fades out, you hear the engine rev up, time advances by a while, and presto - you and the car are teleported there.
You can of course use the trunk to store stuff. It will have a weight limit, but it'll be quite high.
You will need fuel to use the car. Fusion Cells are the likely choice. No fuel - no go. If we can give perks more ranks than they originally have I will let you spend a second perk in the Car perk to make it use less fuel.
If I get around to finding a texture, you may be able to trick out your car with flame decals and whatnot. Possibly the ones you get from the Hot Rodder magazines can be re-applied, but I may need some help with that.
All of this is relatively easy to implement. I will store the car's locations as points and orientations, and place it there by script according to where you want to go, so the mod won't modify any cells, to keep it compatible. The trouble is with settlements. I can't possibly know where you've placed your cornstalks and turrets and shit, so in order to avoid any kerfuffle I will just make the car appear outside the building area, even though it would be sweet to have it appear between the pumps in Red Rocket. Or, possibly I will let you decide if it's okay to put the car there, through a settings menu of some sort.
Any suggestions?
First of all, the mod will be less convenient than fast travelling, but more so than walking everywhere. I probably won't force you to disable fast travel (since if you know what's good for you you will likely have done so anyway), but I think it's a stupid feature and you're a moron if you use it.
I will not be doing something akin to a Hoverboard mod, at least not initially. The reason for this is that the Papyrus script system is clunky to work with, but also that the terrain in Fallout 4 does not in any way lend itself to a freely controlled vehicle. There are trees and cliffs and hills and slopes everywhere, and the hacky collision system I devised for the New Vegas mod will probably not work here (It barely works in the wide open desert). I am not even sure if there is any way to nullify the player's gravity, or use ballistics collision scripts in the way that I did. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it won't be the first thing I do.
Anyway, here's my idea: The Highwayman.
It works exactly like it did in Fallout 2. There will be a wrecked Highwayman somewhere, that you can acquire (likely in the Corvega factory). Because of everyone's favorite new additions (dialogue wheel and voiced munchkin) I simply will not put in any sort of character to buy it from, you'll have to fix it yourself. I will replace the utterly moronic V.A.N.S perk (for the love of God, Bethesda!) with one that lets you repair it, but you will still need to find parts to do so, and they will probably require that you travel a bit.
When you've got it, you can Activate the car and choose from a list of predetermined locations to drive to. These locations will be the ones that are connected by reasonably functional roads, so you'll still have to hike if you want to go into the woods, but you can drive from Sanctuary to Diamond City no problem. Unlike fast traveling, you can go there even if you haven't discovered the place already. When you select a place to go to, the screen fades out, you hear the engine rev up, time advances by a while, and presto - you and the car are teleported there.
You can of course use the trunk to store stuff. It will have a weight limit, but it'll be quite high.
You will need fuel to use the car. Fusion Cells are the likely choice. No fuel - no go. If we can give perks more ranks than they originally have I will let you spend a second perk in the Car perk to make it use less fuel.
If I get around to finding a texture, you may be able to trick out your car with flame decals and whatnot. Possibly the ones you get from the Hot Rodder magazines can be re-applied, but I may need some help with that.
All of this is relatively easy to implement. I will store the car's locations as points and orientations, and place it there by script according to where you want to go, so the mod won't modify any cells, to keep it compatible. The trouble is with settlements. I can't possibly know where you've placed your cornstalks and turrets and shit, so in order to avoid any kerfuffle I will just make the car appear outside the building area, even though it would be sweet to have it appear between the pumps in Red Rocket. Or, possibly I will let you decide if it's okay to put the car there, through a settings menu of some sort.
Any suggestions?
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