Mine.
I've mentioned in the past running Colourwheel's excellent "Sexy Oblivion Overhaul". I like it, with the minor caveat that it isn't set up to work with Nequam's eye meshes.
Previously I had been fixing this myself, by editing the new esps as they were released; resetting the CW races to use the other eye meshes.
I had been holding off upgrading to 5.1, because while the "fixing" part isn't hard, it is tedious.
As I was sitting tonight, letting the esp load into the construction set; a thought occurred. I don't use a replacer for the normal human eyes. So... instead of editing a dozen races for every new version, why not simply copy and rename a set of Nequam's eye meshes and drop into the Imperial directory to function as a full replacer.
Since I use Elaborate Eyes/Ren's Hair beauty pack anyway, it's not like there'll be NPCs that have a conflict.
So... that's a few wasted hours, and I feel like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still totally going to edit the 5.1 esp. It's just this time I'm going to edit CW's sexified city and legion guards to use armors from Apachii's Goddess Store.
I think Vampirella in black for the Imperial City guard. Haven't decided on the others yet. Not as though there's any shortage of choices. Simple matter of pointing the female meshes on the armors to the new armors. One edit will handle all the pieces for every NPC in the game that uses them. Much faster than editing NPC inventories directly.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Too Many Mods.
No, this isn't a complaint about how many I'm involved in.
Readers at the file comments for the RR Companions Vault (the good one for FO3 that actually works worth a shit sometimes) may have noticed a recent glut of malcontents.
Reading over and trying to solve the issues, I have come to a conclusion. Not quite an epiphany.
There are too many mods. Gamebryo may, in fact, be too easy to mod. Everyone and their cousin can tamper with the game, upload a plugin; and the rest of us are supposed to rewrite our mods to unfuck theirs.
Now, on the one hand, easy modding is a boon. Modding Gamebryo is easy enough and simple enough that it doesn't have quite the intimidation factor of other games. This has gotten me into it, and as I recall did similarly for Herculine.
On the other hand, it's also gotten a ton of people into modding who shouldn't be. People with no attention to detail, no urge to make their mods work; or make them widely compatible.
FOOK2 is a perfect example of this. Not a mod in itself, but a "mod collection"; where the authors take seventy five other mods they like, cram them together into one esp/esm set; and call it an overhaul. Doesn't work on your system? Tough shit. Don't like it? I've heard reports of malcontents on the FOOK forums having their threads locked and even being banned for making waves. You get the whole thing or nothing.
The real pisser is that I can feel where they're coming from with that attitude.
Had a complainer pop into RR the other day, swearing up and down that RR Companions Vault is incompatible with Broken Steel. Well... no, it isn't. I've never played through the MQ to the point he specifies (I maintain that Bethsoft's writers are hacks who need to be flipping burgers and not allowed to touch a word processor), but plenty of other players have. One of them made it a point of testing every facet of the mod last year, and actively trying to break it in any and every way he could. Plenty of bugs were uncovered; but none in that area. With as long as BS has been out, I can't for the life of me imagine that someone else wouldn't have run into it by now.
Of course, I gave my standard response - which is almost worthy of being turned into a form-letter at this point - asking about the usual suspects: Masterupdate, and the Unofficial Patch. I know the UOP caused a shit-ton of crashing events around Rivet City the last time I was dumb enough to run it. I have no reason to believe it's gotten any less sucky now. My questions were flatly ignored, and a reply given that he had fixed it himself in the GECK. Well, whatever. That just means that I'm not going to bother looking into the issue any further - if you can't be bothered to answer questions, and can so easily fix it yourself; I figure you had something to do with the problem and just don't want to admit it.
This morning we had another. This malcontent specifies FWE breaking the bobblehead stand in Vault 1. News to me; I've had FWE running since I got tired of Arwen's breaking the NPC AI - and going out of her way to make it impossible to cull that set of effects from the mod. Six months, at least; probably closer to ten. Never seen a bobblehead issue.
Of course, this malcontent also helpfully notes that he has no issues with BS.
Now, I'm not going to call both players liars. Far from it; I fully believe they have the issues they reported. The problem is what's causing them? Most of you run entirely too many mods. It's not unusual to find most players running in excess of a hundred and fifty plugins and masters in their load order - a not insubstantial percentage of which have directly conflicting effects.
Conversely, I have neither issue. I've said it before, I'll say it again: if I can't reproduce the problem, I can't fix it. I don't have your bash patches or merge patches or personal edits or whatever monstrosities you've been directed by the forums to produce to make FWE, FOOK2, MMM, and Arwen's all run together.
Between the total shoddiness of the game's coding, issues caused by load orders and third party plugins, and players flat out omitting details that they don't think are pertinent... a lot of these problems simply don't occur regularly or in a quantifiable fashion. Thus, they can not be fixed.
When I was still new to being "in charge" (HA!) of RR about this time last year, I made the mistake of taking a player at face value about bugs that I couldn't reproduce. Every version I released, I'd get a PM detailing all the stuff that was wrong with it, and still wrong with it from last version. I tried for months to fix things that I couldn't see were wrong; with predictably little success. Finally got a look at his load order, and he was running a "merge patch" that combined RR with several other mods. "Oh, but that isn't the issue; I know it..." Right, and I'm slated to be nominated for sainthood next fiscal year. After much trying, and many suppressed urges to use the Nexus' block feature, I finally find out two other important details. 1) that he won't update his game past 1.4 (1.7 was already standard at this point) - most of the companion errors he had been reporting over and over were in the engine and had been fixed by 1.5; and 2) that he modified every new version of the RR esm; to "fix" something - I forget what it was, exactly. Also came to learn that he had "helped ttomwv with a few ideas" before I came along, and had it into his head that I'd rewrite the companion system to suit his desires.
And this was one person. Uno. Ein. Drop in the bucket, as they say. So yes, I'm a jaded, unpleasant bastard of a modder; but I like to think I've gotten that way with cause.
I'm not going to do it, of course; but lately I've been entertaining the notion of deleting my Nexus content. All of it. Meditating, if you will, on what sort of neat stuff I could have if I got to actually play my games and mod for them, instead of spending four hours a day answering comments and PMs.
A companion that was alive... who bitched when you did unpleasant things or neglected them; was appreciative when you were nice; shifted combat style based on the weapon they were using; who instead of just "sandboxing" would live when left alone - shopping, eating, going on little adventures of their own...
But, of course that will never happen. None of it would be reusable in other peoples' mods via simple point and click; and we couldn't have that.
Readers at the file comments for the RR Companions Vault (the good one for FO3 that actually works worth a shit sometimes) may have noticed a recent glut of malcontents.
Reading over and trying to solve the issues, I have come to a conclusion. Not quite an epiphany.
There are too many mods. Gamebryo may, in fact, be too easy to mod. Everyone and their cousin can tamper with the game, upload a plugin; and the rest of us are supposed to rewrite our mods to unfuck theirs.
Now, on the one hand, easy modding is a boon. Modding Gamebryo is easy enough and simple enough that it doesn't have quite the intimidation factor of other games. This has gotten me into it, and as I recall did similarly for Herculine.
On the other hand, it's also gotten a ton of people into modding who shouldn't be. People with no attention to detail, no urge to make their mods work; or make them widely compatible.
FOOK2 is a perfect example of this. Not a mod in itself, but a "mod collection"; where the authors take seventy five other mods they like, cram them together into one esp/esm set; and call it an overhaul. Doesn't work on your system? Tough shit. Don't like it? I've heard reports of malcontents on the FOOK forums having their threads locked and even being banned for making waves. You get the whole thing or nothing.
The real pisser is that I can feel where they're coming from with that attitude.
Had a complainer pop into RR the other day, swearing up and down that RR Companions Vault is incompatible with Broken Steel. Well... no, it isn't. I've never played through the MQ to the point he specifies (I maintain that Bethsoft's writers are hacks who need to be flipping burgers and not allowed to touch a word processor), but plenty of other players have. One of them made it a point of testing every facet of the mod last year, and actively trying to break it in any and every way he could. Plenty of bugs were uncovered; but none in that area. With as long as BS has been out, I can't for the life of me imagine that someone else wouldn't have run into it by now.
Of course, I gave my standard response - which is almost worthy of being turned into a form-letter at this point - asking about the usual suspects: Masterupdate, and the Unofficial Patch. I know the UOP caused a shit-ton of crashing events around Rivet City the last time I was dumb enough to run it. I have no reason to believe it's gotten any less sucky now. My questions were flatly ignored, and a reply given that he had fixed it himself in the GECK. Well, whatever. That just means that I'm not going to bother looking into the issue any further - if you can't be bothered to answer questions, and can so easily fix it yourself; I figure you had something to do with the problem and just don't want to admit it.
This morning we had another. This malcontent specifies FWE breaking the bobblehead stand in Vault 1. News to me; I've had FWE running since I got tired of Arwen's breaking the NPC AI - and going out of her way to make it impossible to cull that set of effects from the mod. Six months, at least; probably closer to ten. Never seen a bobblehead issue.
Of course, this malcontent also helpfully notes that he has no issues with BS.
Now, I'm not going to call both players liars. Far from it; I fully believe they have the issues they reported. The problem is what's causing them? Most of you run entirely too many mods. It's not unusual to find most players running in excess of a hundred and fifty plugins and masters in their load order - a not insubstantial percentage of which have directly conflicting effects.
Conversely, I have neither issue. I've said it before, I'll say it again: if I can't reproduce the problem, I can't fix it. I don't have your bash patches or merge patches or personal edits or whatever monstrosities you've been directed by the forums to produce to make FWE, FOOK2, MMM, and Arwen's all run together.
Between the total shoddiness of the game's coding, issues caused by load orders and third party plugins, and players flat out omitting details that they don't think are pertinent... a lot of these problems simply don't occur regularly or in a quantifiable fashion. Thus, they can not be fixed.
When I was still new to being "in charge" (HA!) of RR about this time last year, I made the mistake of taking a player at face value about bugs that I couldn't reproduce. Every version I released, I'd get a PM detailing all the stuff that was wrong with it, and still wrong with it from last version. I tried for months to fix things that I couldn't see were wrong; with predictably little success. Finally got a look at his load order, and he was running a "merge patch" that combined RR with several other mods. "Oh, but that isn't the issue; I know it..." Right, and I'm slated to be nominated for sainthood next fiscal year. After much trying, and many suppressed urges to use the Nexus' block feature, I finally find out two other important details. 1) that he won't update his game past 1.4 (1.7 was already standard at this point) - most of the companion errors he had been reporting over and over were in the engine and had been fixed by 1.5; and 2) that he modified every new version of the RR esm; to "fix" something - I forget what it was, exactly. Also came to learn that he had "helped ttomwv with a few ideas" before I came along, and had it into his head that I'd rewrite the companion system to suit his desires.
And this was one person. Uno. Ein. Drop in the bucket, as they say. So yes, I'm a jaded, unpleasant bastard of a modder; but I like to think I've gotten that way with cause.
I'm not going to do it, of course; but lately I've been entertaining the notion of deleting my Nexus content. All of it. Meditating, if you will, on what sort of neat stuff I could have if I got to actually play my games and mod for them, instead of spending four hours a day answering comments and PMs.
A companion that was alive... who bitched when you did unpleasant things or neglected them; was appreciative when you were nice; shifted combat style based on the weapon they were using; who instead of just "sandboxing" would live when left alone - shopping, eating, going on little adventures of their own...
But, of course that will never happen. None of it would be reusable in other peoples' mods via simple point and click; and we couldn't have that.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Cool.
We all know most of us have too much free time on our hands, strictly speaking. Some of us mod video games; some work on cars; some write or read or *shudder* watch reality TV.
Then, there are the folks who do things that are just plain cool.
Then, there are the folks who do things that are just plain cool.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Blast From The Past
Just got a PM from someone unable to find a copy of my long-since defunct MultiCam Retexture of the T51-B for FO3.
Didn't think that one actually had any fans... In near a year of up-time, I don't think it garnered more than a half dozen endorsements; and considerably more naysayers.
It can't be found because I... y'know, deleted it. Got tired of taking crap.
Not my best work by any stretch, anyway. That MC pattern just doesn't lend itself to flood-fill the way the pixel patterns do.
Either way, I uploaded the package the player wanted to megaupload; so if you want a copy... Now's probably the time to grab it; I doubt my retexes will ever see the Nexus again.
Didn't think that one actually had any fans... In near a year of up-time, I don't think it garnered more than a half dozen endorsements; and considerably more naysayers.
It can't be found because I... y'know, deleted it. Got tired of taking crap.
Not my best work by any stretch, anyway. That MC pattern just doesn't lend itself to flood-fill the way the pixel patterns do.
Either way, I uploaded the package the player wanted to megaupload; so if you want a copy... Now's probably the time to grab it; I doubt my retexes will ever see the Nexus again.
Monday, February 14, 2011
NCCS - Beta 0.5 Uploaded
http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=38059
New version uploaded. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the further developments I had planned for 0.5; as waiting on them to get added would have delayed the release by a couple of weeks. No one wanted that, so I decided to upload what I had.
Companions should now sit when you do, or pop open a Nuka while standing.
Added a sniper's combat style to go with the class.
Added a quick orders menu, accessible by activating a companion in your party while sneaking.
Added new, randomized greetings. Most are based on alignment of the companion. Some for good, some for evil. The options are doubled up as good/very good and evil/very evil; so you won't miss any by picking the wrong strength of conviction for your companions.
Made some revisions to simplify the companion scripts a bit - should hopefully improve reliability.
Updated my premade companions pack so that they use the default scripts included in the master now. Only one way to find out whether multiple companions can be run on the same script or not...
Also added a new plugin to the optional files category, for those players who lament that companions get infinite ammo. The new plugin resets most weapons to use ammo when equipped by NPCs. It does not affect the unique, non-playable weapons carried by the vanilla followers. This plugin carries a massive risk of conflict with any other mod that changes weapons... and there are a lot that do. It's not meant to be an overhaul unto itself; more a minimod as a courtesy to players who don't run any other weapon mods, but want a bit more realism.
New version uploaded. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the further developments I had planned for 0.5; as waiting on them to get added would have delayed the release by a couple of weeks. No one wanted that, so I decided to upload what I had.
Companions should now sit when you do, or pop open a Nuka while standing.
Added a sniper's combat style to go with the class.
Added a quick orders menu, accessible by activating a companion in your party while sneaking.
Added new, randomized greetings. Most are based on alignment of the companion. Some for good, some for evil. The options are doubled up as good/very good and evil/very evil; so you won't miss any by picking the wrong strength of conviction for your companions.
Made some revisions to simplify the companion scripts a bit - should hopefully improve reliability.
Updated my premade companions pack so that they use the default scripts included in the master now. Only one way to find out whether multiple companions can be run on the same script or not...
Also added a new plugin to the optional files category, for those players who lament that companions get infinite ammo. The new plugin resets most weapons to use ammo when equipped by NPCs. It does not affect the unique, non-playable weapons carried by the vanilla followers. This plugin carries a massive risk of conflict with any other mod that changes weapons... and there are a lot that do. It's not meant to be an overhaul unto itself; more a minimod as a courtesy to players who don't run any other weapon mods, but want a bit more realism.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
NEVER. ENDS.
Posted to the comments section of the RR Companions Vault mod this morning:
"Good mod, i would suggest putting it in adult only files though......"
...It's almost rendering me speechless.
I mean... what the fucking shit? What part of RR is adult only-worthy?
There's no nudity. There's no sex. There are no animations at all. No body mods; no armor replacers - the three pieces of non-replacing armor there are aren't even cut for the Type 3 body!
So... what? Profanity in the dialog is supposed to count as adults only now? What else is in there? Granted, I don't use it much these days; but the only even remotely suggestive content I remember putting in there was some somewhat flirty dialog when you tell one of the NPCs to stop wearing an outfit from the wardrobe system.
That, by-the-by, is not nudity, either. RR Companions Vault includes no body replacer; so they're in skivvies unless you've been a naughty end user and installed a replacer yourself.
Not that I'm inclined to take the word of someone who's been registered less than a week and has three posts and no uploads too seriously anyway. Especially not when they can't be bothered to capitalize a self-referencing "I".
If he had at least supported his argument that would be one thing - but no; it's just pop in, tell me to reclassify the mod on his judgment, and poof back out into the aether again.
I swear... being a village idiot must come with a free Nexus account these days...
"Good mod, i would suggest putting it in adult only files though......"
...It's almost rendering me speechless.
I mean... what the fucking shit? What part of RR is adult only-worthy?
There's no nudity. There's no sex. There are no animations at all. No body mods; no armor replacers - the three pieces of non-replacing armor there are aren't even cut for the Type 3 body!
So... what? Profanity in the dialog is supposed to count as adults only now? What else is in there? Granted, I don't use it much these days; but the only even remotely suggestive content I remember putting in there was some somewhat flirty dialog when you tell one of the NPCs to stop wearing an outfit from the wardrobe system.
That, by-the-by, is not nudity, either. RR Companions Vault includes no body replacer; so they're in skivvies unless you've been a naughty end user and installed a replacer yourself.
Not that I'm inclined to take the word of someone who's been registered less than a week and has three posts and no uploads too seriously anyway. Especially not when they can't be bothered to capitalize a self-referencing "I".
If he had at least supported his argument that would be one thing - but no; it's just pop in, tell me to reclassify the mod on his judgment, and poof back out into the aether again.
I swear... being a village idiot must come with a free Nexus account these days...
Saturday, February 12, 2011
NCCS - Beta 0.5 Progress
As I said over on the NCCS file entry, I've got the sit package that you've all been yammering about done.
Interestingly enough, it only took me a half hour to get working once I set my mind to it... which is a testament to the sheer sloth I normally wallow in.
I actually had the stuff done Thursday, but ended up having to go on a safari across two blasted states looking for a holster for a CZ P01. By the time I got home, I was in no mood to test FONV features.
Everyone, say hello to Carrie; who is graciously demonstrating the new package at the temporary NosCo HQ in the Lucky 38:
As in FO3, they may sit; may stand; but will drink a nuka or eat either way.
I'm thinking the issues before may have something to do with the conditions. I simplified them considerably, and it works now... so whatever.
I also added a new sniper combat style, and added the sniper option to the quick menu. I also checked, and the combat style/class resetting from the quick menu is reflected correctly in the behavior menu; so no matter how you set their class, the proper options will still be displayed.
Also: have added close to a dozen new greetings. Some for unhired only, some for hired only, some that will only show for good/evil companions, and a couple that will display for anyone, at any hire status. Greetings are random, and any applicable greeting may be displayed when you speak to your companion. None are voiced; don't even ask.
Made a couple of edits to the NCCSTemplate companions; setting their disposition base to 100; to help prevent hostility issues.
Bit more to do, a couple more things I want to work on before release. Shouldn't be too terribly much longer.
Interestingly enough, it only took me a half hour to get working once I set my mind to it... which is a testament to the sheer sloth I normally wallow in.
I actually had the stuff done Thursday, but ended up having to go on a safari across two blasted states looking for a holster for a CZ P01. By the time I got home, I was in no mood to test FONV features.
Everyone, say hello to Carrie; who is graciously demonstrating the new package at the temporary NosCo HQ in the Lucky 38:
As in FO3, they may sit; may stand; but will drink a nuka or eat either way.
I'm thinking the issues before may have something to do with the conditions. I simplified them considerably, and it works now... so whatever.
I also added a new sniper combat style, and added the sniper option to the quick menu. I also checked, and the combat style/class resetting from the quick menu is reflected correctly in the behavior menu; so no matter how you set their class, the proper options will still be displayed.
Also: have added close to a dozen new greetings. Some for unhired only, some for hired only, some that will only show for good/evil companions, and a couple that will display for anyone, at any hire status. Greetings are random, and any applicable greeting may be displayed when you speak to your companion. None are voiced; don't even ask.
Made a couple of edits to the NCCSTemplate companions; setting their disposition base to 100; to help prevent hostility issues.
Bit more to do, a couple more things I want to work on before release. Shouldn't be too terribly much longer.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I can't have nice things.
Totally off topic to the blog, but I need to bitch.
Readers may remember on Friday when I mentioned having tax return monies. Saturday in comment to same post, I mentioned having dropped a stack of said monies at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on bed stuffs.
I figured I had some money, and I sleep (almost) every day anyway, so why not make the bed more comfortable. I sleep best under fur, but can't afford the real thing.
Seriously. A queen-sized real fur blanket will set you back enough to buy a passably decent used car.
So I tend to go for the next best thing: "faux". Usually get the cheap stuff that's 100% polyester. Nice enough, machine washable - only drawback is the size. The stuff is only available locally in "throw" size; 50x60". Being as I'm a nominal 71" tall... this is not ideal.
So I splurge. King size, 104" W x 90" L, 75% modacrylic/25% polyester. So. Soft. Glorious. I love the weight, I love the feel... I'm not crazy about the dry clean only bit... but whatever. It's not like a blanket needs washing every week.
Saturday night, Sunday night, both great. Last night... I wake up at 0300 on an unrelated reason, and after settling back in to try and at least sleep until dawn (didn't happen.) I'm pulling the blanket back up, since I tend to move around a lot in my sleep and dislodge such things. Something catches in my hand. A loose thread. I search, and find the source: the $150 "duvet cover" I've been using for three whole days has already come unstitched at one end.
Fuck. Well this was money well spent.
Haven't even christened the damned thing yet... when I say 'slept under' that's all I mean.
Now, I could fix it. Drop in a couple new stitches. Yes, I'm a straight man who can sew. Try not to faint.
Trouble is, if the quality was this shoddy in one spot... why should I believe it's any better elsewhere? Where do I draw the line? How much re-sewing must I do myself before I consider something defective?
On a $15 throw, the answer would be a considerable amount. On something ten times the cost... the answer is none.
For the record, though: I own four of those cheap throws. The oldest of which has more than two years of use on it. Not a single popped stitch anywhere in the lot.
So, my little piece of opulence has to go away. I still have the receipt thankfully, though I hold out little hope of an exchange - they only had the one in black; and being as this isn't 1985 and I don't live in Atlantic City, I have no interest in one in leopard print.
Seems like every time I try to buy a little piece of something nice it blows up in my face. A fur blanket, a good pair of boots, glasses frames that have some style and fit my face without digging into my ears... it all goes to shit within a week.
Gods, I truly hate my life.
Okay, whine over. I'm sure there's something more productive I could be doing with my day. Not that it'll accomplish anything.
Readers may remember on Friday when I mentioned having tax return monies. Saturday in comment to same post, I mentioned having dropped a stack of said monies at Bed, Bath, and Beyond on bed stuffs.
I figured I had some money, and I sleep (almost) every day anyway, so why not make the bed more comfortable. I sleep best under fur, but can't afford the real thing.
Seriously. A queen-sized real fur blanket will set you back enough to buy a passably decent used car.
So I tend to go for the next best thing: "faux". Usually get the cheap stuff that's 100% polyester. Nice enough, machine washable - only drawback is the size. The stuff is only available locally in "throw" size; 50x60". Being as I'm a nominal 71" tall... this is not ideal.
So I splurge. King size, 104" W x 90" L, 75% modacrylic/25% polyester. So. Soft. Glorious. I love the weight, I love the feel... I'm not crazy about the dry clean only bit... but whatever. It's not like a blanket needs washing every week.
Saturday night, Sunday night, both great. Last night... I wake up at 0300 on an unrelated reason, and after settling back in to try and at least sleep until dawn (didn't happen.) I'm pulling the blanket back up, since I tend to move around a lot in my sleep and dislodge such things. Something catches in my hand. A loose thread. I search, and find the source: the $150 "duvet cover" I've been using for three whole days has already come unstitched at one end.
Fuck. Well this was money well spent.
Haven't even christened the damned thing yet... when I say 'slept under' that's all I mean.
Now, I could fix it. Drop in a couple new stitches. Yes, I'm a straight man who can sew. Try not to faint.
Trouble is, if the quality was this shoddy in one spot... why should I believe it's any better elsewhere? Where do I draw the line? How much re-sewing must I do myself before I consider something defective?
On a $15 throw, the answer would be a considerable amount. On something ten times the cost... the answer is none.
For the record, though: I own four of those cheap throws. The oldest of which has more than two years of use on it. Not a single popped stitch anywhere in the lot.
So, my little piece of opulence has to go away. I still have the receipt thankfully, though I hold out little hope of an exchange - they only had the one in black; and being as this isn't 1985 and I don't live in Atlantic City, I have no interest in one in leopard print.
Seems like every time I try to buy a little piece of something nice it blows up in my face. A fur blanket, a good pair of boots, glasses frames that have some style and fit my face without digging into my ears... it all goes to shit within a week.
Gods, I truly hate my life.
Okay, whine over. I'm sure there's something more productive I could be doing with my day. Not that it'll accomplish anything.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Computer Humor
Or possible truths of the universe?
http://www.thecorememory.com/html/selected_quotes.html
I especially like:
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
-- Donald Knuth"
Which pretty much sums up my modding efforts.
Though I think this one is more appropriate for our modern times, and the Nexus in general:
"I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC;
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
I'm sure your pleased too no,
Its letter perfect in it's weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
-- Janet Minor"
http://www.thecorememory.com/html/selected_quotes.html
I especially like:
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
-- Donald Knuth"
Which pretty much sums up my modding efforts.
Though I think this one is more appropriate for our modern times, and the Nexus in general:
"I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC;
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
I'm sure your pleased too no,
Its letter perfect in it's weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
-- Janet Minor"
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Overheard Yesterday...
...In a small restaurant:
"You're in a good mood today."
"Got laid this morning."
"It's more than that. You have money, again. You're such a mercenary..."
Yeah, I do love me tax time. Refund came in yesterday, and I'm no longer broke.
(At least for a little while)
Now if I can just force myself to spend it responsibly instead of buying some toys.
Of course, that's easier this year than others. No, I'm not getting more mature and responsible (HA!)... it's just that the local shop already sold the Supernova and Guide Gun a few days before I got money. Bastards. And of course, no one has a Gunsite Scout anyway; what with them being the hot new toy in town after SHOT and all.
Should I happen to walk upon one of these or these, however, all bets are off.
I will say though, in the non-shooty world, that it's amazing how cheap computer monitors have gotten. I grazed through Best Buy last night and looked them over. Saw a 23" LEDHDLMNOP something or other widescreen for $239. Hard to gauge picture quality, because the staff had split the same signal to all fifty demo monitors, so the quality of the feed was terrible. From what I could discern, though, it looked fairly nice. Don't think I actually own an HDMI cable, though; so that's something else I'd have to buy. If it's like everything else HD, the cable will be fifty-friggin-bucks on its own.
And then of course there are even less exciting prospects for spending money. I'm about due for a new pair of black boots, my entire collection of jeans are worn through in various places and need replacement, and I really need a couple new long-sleeved overshirts. A spare pair of cheapo glasses probably wouldn't be a bad investment, either.
At some point, I'd still like to have a general purpose pair made. Something on an Aviator frame (remember, aesthetics aside - my prescription won't let me wear proper eyeshields no matter how much I might want to; I simply can't see out of the lens except in the exact center). I've tried "transitions" in the past, and they're a damned joke. They don't transition, most of the time; and cost 2x as much to boot. So, I've been thinking something with about a five percent tint; neutral gray, 100% UV-A/B/C blocking, with a wide lens to provide as much protection and visibility as possible. Since most of my sunglasses wearing is to block UV (which I'm very sensitive to), rather than because of the sheer brightness of the sunlight, I figure five percent would knock enough off to use outdoors without getting a headache, be clear enough to use indoors, and hopefully the aviators lenses are large enough to actually provide some ballistic protection.
Yeah yeah, say what you want about overkill for a civilian; but you work awhile around machine and power tools, and glasses that can shrug off a shotgun blast start sounding like a damned good idea. Ever been hit in the face with debris from using an angle grinder over your head? I have.
Ugh. I hate being an adult. Time was, I got money? Magic: The Gathering cards, AD&D minis, maybe a computer game or six...
Now I've got to stop and think about whether I really need a new monitor (I don't. My 17" non-HD LCD works perfectly); whether it would actually be worth the extra cost to have a digitally designed lens made for my old CQC eyeshields (since Revision says their RX carrier won't work with prescriptions outside +/- 11 - and my stupid right eye is -13) versus just going to my local Lenscrafters and having a set of Aviators made this afternoon. On that note, Lenscrafters warranty for the fucking win, as they say. Those guys are great to deal with. Just talk to an optician, and not one of the sales monkeys. Ask me how I learned that.
I've already boringly decided I don't need the guns. Want, but not need. Damned responsibility. Don't need a new computer either, at least until TESV hits. Yeah, I bitch; but we're all going to keep buying shit from Bethsoft, because there's no one else making heavily-moddable-sandbox-first-person-RPGs. Unless someone puts a combat system into the Sims, it's pretty much Bethsoft or nada for our companion fix.
Gods, I'm depressed now. Someone find me another pomegranate Rockstar...
"You're in a good mood today."
"Got laid this morning."
"It's more than that. You have money, again. You're such a mercenary..."
Yeah, I do love me tax time. Refund came in yesterday, and I'm no longer broke.
(At least for a little while)
Now if I can just force myself to spend it responsibly instead of buying some toys.
Of course, that's easier this year than others. No, I'm not getting more mature and responsible (HA!)... it's just that the local shop already sold the Supernova and Guide Gun a few days before I got money. Bastards. And of course, no one has a Gunsite Scout anyway; what with them being the hot new toy in town after SHOT and all.
Should I happen to walk upon one of these or these, however, all bets are off.
I will say though, in the non-shooty world, that it's amazing how cheap computer monitors have gotten. I grazed through Best Buy last night and looked them over. Saw a 23" LEDHDLMNOP something or other widescreen for $239. Hard to gauge picture quality, because the staff had split the same signal to all fifty demo monitors, so the quality of the feed was terrible. From what I could discern, though, it looked fairly nice. Don't think I actually own an HDMI cable, though; so that's something else I'd have to buy. If it's like everything else HD, the cable will be fifty-friggin-bucks on its own.
And then of course there are even less exciting prospects for spending money. I'm about due for a new pair of black boots, my entire collection of jeans are worn through in various places and need replacement, and I really need a couple new long-sleeved overshirts. A spare pair of cheapo glasses probably wouldn't be a bad investment, either.
At some point, I'd still like to have a general purpose pair made. Something on an Aviator frame (remember, aesthetics aside - my prescription won't let me wear proper eyeshields no matter how much I might want to; I simply can't see out of the lens except in the exact center). I've tried "transitions" in the past, and they're a damned joke. They don't transition, most of the time; and cost 2x as much to boot. So, I've been thinking something with about a five percent tint; neutral gray, 100% UV-A/B/C blocking, with a wide lens to provide as much protection and visibility as possible. Since most of my sunglasses wearing is to block UV (which I'm very sensitive to), rather than because of the sheer brightness of the sunlight, I figure five percent would knock enough off to use outdoors without getting a headache, be clear enough to use indoors, and hopefully the aviators lenses are large enough to actually provide some ballistic protection.
Yeah yeah, say what you want about overkill for a civilian; but you work awhile around machine and power tools, and glasses that can shrug off a shotgun blast start sounding like a damned good idea. Ever been hit in the face with debris from using an angle grinder over your head? I have.
Ugh. I hate being an adult. Time was, I got money? Magic: The Gathering cards, AD&D minis, maybe a computer game or six...
Now I've got to stop and think about whether I really need a new monitor (I don't. My 17" non-HD LCD works perfectly); whether it would actually be worth the extra cost to have a digitally designed lens made for my old CQC eyeshields (since Revision says their RX carrier won't work with prescriptions outside +/- 11 - and my stupid right eye is -13) versus just going to my local Lenscrafters and having a set of Aviators made this afternoon. On that note, Lenscrafters warranty for the fucking win, as they say. Those guys are great to deal with. Just talk to an optician, and not one of the sales monkeys. Ask me how I learned that.
I've already boringly decided I don't need the guns. Want, but not need. Damned responsibility. Don't need a new computer either, at least until TESV hits. Yeah, I bitch; but we're all going to keep buying shit from Bethsoft, because there's no one else making heavily-moddable-sandbox-first-person-RPGs. Unless someone puts a combat system into the Sims, it's pretty much Bethsoft or nada for our companion fix.
Gods, I'm depressed now. Someone find me another pomegranate Rockstar...
Friday, February 4, 2011
NCCS - New Developments
It's been a productive morning.
Firstly, I ran up a plugin to make NPCs use ammo. This is probably going to bite me in the ass when complaints about 714 conflicts start rolling in. I'm not willing to go so far as to include it in the master, but the addon plugin is simple and easy to switch on and off.
Of course, it conflicts with every other mod that changes most shooty weapons in any way (including weapon mod expansion, FWE, and FOOK47; doubtless it'll cause problems with the new 'caliberX' package, as well). Still, it should shut at least a couple of the malcontents up.
Second, I launched into work on NCCS v0.5. The new feature? A new orders menu.
One of the things some other malcontents have been whining about is how the wheel is better, because it doesn't require taking ten seconds to navigate dialog and actually deal with a bit of personality from the companion.
The wheel, naturally, is most peoples' solution.
I hate the wheel. I think it's clumsy, poorly implemented, and requires mucking with too many quests and scripts to work worth a shit.
So, say hello to the NCCS quick-orders menu:
The menu is a CM-style. If you speak to your companion normally, you get the normal dialog interface. Speak to them while sneaking, and you get the quick menu. The menu only appears if they're in your party at the time, so I'm afraid you lazy Kiddies will still have to hire and recruit normally.
The options are fairly straightforward.
*Follow: re-applies the follow package and factions. It's your standard 'reset' button for a stuck companion, or one who's had an incorrect package take over.
*Stay: simple stay command. Leaves them in whatever cell they're in, removes from the party, factions, the companion management system, etc. Same effect as the Stay dialog command.
*Go Melee: switches the companion to the melee class and combat style.
*Go Ranged: switches the companion to the general ranged class and combat style.
*Open Inventory: does just that.
*Cancel: closes the menu without any changes.
There is room for four more commands, but I'm not sure what else is really necessary. Perhaps the sniper behavior option.
I'd like the combat style choices to be conditional - that is, ranged only appears if melee is currently active, and so on - but the message conditions won't work except with explicitly named NPCs, so that option is out.
Tested, and all options seem to work.
Unfortunately, this is one of those updates that required adding code to the companion scripts. I have warned you guys that this is a beta, and it may be best to stick with the provided twenty scripts until I get everything lined out. Users of copied scripts who don't want to update will be able to do so; their companions' performance will continue without change. The updates will only be required if you want the quick orders menu.
On that note, ttomwv mentioned the other day that he runs all his companions on one script, with no issues; so the separate scripts thing may really be a relic of FO3. I'm not personally convinced, but I'm going to do some testing.
I also re-enabled the cover behavior in the custom combat style. Played through a few fights, and saw none of the massive screwups that so plagued the style in the unpatched game, so Obsidian may well have screwed up and actually fixed something other than DLC compatibility in their latest patch.
So, you've got a few days while I tinker with the script-overloads and combat style settings. If there's another order that anyone thinks would be really helpful to have on quick-access, let's hear it.
Firstly, I ran up a plugin to make NPCs use ammo. This is probably going to bite me in the ass when complaints about 714 conflicts start rolling in. I'm not willing to go so far as to include it in the master, but the addon plugin is simple and easy to switch on and off.
Of course, it conflicts with every other mod that changes most shooty weapons in any way (including weapon mod expansion, FWE, and FOOK47; doubtless it'll cause problems with the new 'caliberX' package, as well). Still, it should shut at least a couple of the malcontents up.
Second, I launched into work on NCCS v0.5. The new feature? A new orders menu.
One of the things some other malcontents have been whining about is how the wheel is better, because it doesn't require taking ten seconds to navigate dialog and actually deal with a bit of personality from the companion.
The wheel, naturally, is most peoples' solution.
I hate the wheel. I think it's clumsy, poorly implemented, and requires mucking with too many quests and scripts to work worth a shit.
So, say hello to the NCCS quick-orders menu:
The menu is a CM-style. If you speak to your companion normally, you get the normal dialog interface. Speak to them while sneaking, and you get the quick menu. The menu only appears if they're in your party at the time, so I'm afraid you lazy Kiddies will still have to hire and recruit normally.
The options are fairly straightforward.
*Follow: re-applies the follow package and factions. It's your standard 'reset' button for a stuck companion, or one who's had an incorrect package take over.
*Stay: simple stay command. Leaves them in whatever cell they're in, removes from the party, factions, the companion management system, etc. Same effect as the Stay dialog command.
*Go Melee: switches the companion to the melee class and combat style.
*Go Ranged: switches the companion to the general ranged class and combat style.
*Open Inventory: does just that.
*Cancel: closes the menu without any changes.
There is room for four more commands, but I'm not sure what else is really necessary. Perhaps the sniper behavior option.
I'd like the combat style choices to be conditional - that is, ranged only appears if melee is currently active, and so on - but the message conditions won't work except with explicitly named NPCs, so that option is out.
Tested, and all options seem to work.
Unfortunately, this is one of those updates that required adding code to the companion scripts. I have warned you guys that this is a beta, and it may be best to stick with the provided twenty scripts until I get everything lined out. Users of copied scripts who don't want to update will be able to do so; their companions' performance will continue without change. The updates will only be required if you want the quick orders menu.
On that note, ttomwv mentioned the other day that he runs all his companions on one script, with no issues; so the separate scripts thing may really be a relic of FO3. I'm not personally convinced, but I'm going to do some testing.
I also re-enabled the cover behavior in the custom combat style. Played through a few fights, and saw none of the massive screwups that so plagued the style in the unpatched game, so Obsidian may well have screwed up and actually fixed something other than DLC compatibility in their latest patch.
So, you've got a few days while I tinker with the script-overloads and combat style settings. If there's another order that anyone thinks would be really helpful to have on quick-access, let's hear it.
NCCS - Curious
Had a curious thing happen last night while I was playing dead.
Seems a companion-maker decided to, rather than simply use NCCS as a master, fold the entire mod into his companion plugin.
Now, this isn't going to be a "stole my stuff, con sarnit!" rant. I listed NCCS as freely reusable on the Nexus, so long as attribution is given. He kept it to the Nexus, and gave credit, so I'm not pissed off or anything.
What I am is wondering.
See, the whole concept behind NCCS, much like CM and RR before it, is that I as the system author, cannot know the RefIDs of the companions made with the system. So, all scripting has to be done in a roundabout fashion to account for this fact.
NCCS was folded into EVE-900 though, to drive one single companion. Now, maybe I've been writing my own systems too long, but it seems to me that writing a new framework from scratch to drive a single companion would be far less trouble in the long run, than trying to keep a create-your-own system updated inside your plugin.
Conversely, wouldn't it have been easier to just flag NCCS as a master? I mean, the master archive is less than a hundred kilobytes. Is it really that big a deal to download?
I realize NCCS looks super cool and spiffy and all to most of you guys who use it, but copying the entire mod to run one standalone companion is like using a 12 gauge to kill a field mouse - sure, you can do it... but it's hardly the optimal tool for the job.
But, hell, what do I know?
I nonetheless wish our intrepid modder much success with his creepy robot companion, regardless of what ends up under the hood.
Seems a companion-maker decided to, rather than simply use NCCS as a master, fold the entire mod into his companion plugin.
Now, this isn't going to be a "stole my stuff, con sarnit!" rant. I listed NCCS as freely reusable on the Nexus, so long as attribution is given. He kept it to the Nexus, and gave credit, so I'm not pissed off or anything.
What I am is wondering.
See, the whole concept behind NCCS, much like CM and RR before it, is that I as the system author, cannot know the RefIDs of the companions made with the system. So, all scripting has to be done in a roundabout fashion to account for this fact.
NCCS was folded into EVE-900 though, to drive one single companion. Now, maybe I've been writing my own systems too long, but it seems to me that writing a new framework from scratch to drive a single companion would be far less trouble in the long run, than trying to keep a create-your-own system updated inside your plugin.
Conversely, wouldn't it have been easier to just flag NCCS as a master? I mean, the master archive is less than a hundred kilobytes. Is it really that big a deal to download?
I realize NCCS looks super cool and spiffy and all to most of you guys who use it, but copying the entire mod to run one standalone companion is like using a 12 gauge to kill a field mouse - sure, you can do it... but it's hardly the optimal tool for the job.
But, hell, what do I know?
I nonetheless wish our intrepid modder much success with his creepy robot companion, regardless of what ends up under the hood.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
RR Companions Vault v5.65, Uploaded
I swear, I'm never going to get out from under this goddamned mod. No more am I joining any teams, or "inheriting" any mods. Ever. Any frustrating failures I have to deal with will be my own. I make enough mistakes on my own, thank you very much.
In any event, someone took up the hobby of deconstructing RR in FO3Edit, and pointed out some shit to me that survived my seventeen other purges. For some reason, there were modifications to idle markers, position of an item in Moira's shop, and there was an old part of the prisoner system that was flagged as renaming the Alienbeaconradioscript. Not sure how they escaped my notice before, but all such overrides are fixed now, leaving only the modifications (door placements and such) that are supposed to be there.
I should have went with my first instinct a year ago, and trashed the entire plugin; started anew. Would have saved me weeks of trouble, on the whole.
Oh, and link.
In any event, someone took up the hobby of deconstructing RR in FO3Edit, and pointed out some shit to me that survived my seventeen other purges. For some reason, there were modifications to idle markers, position of an item in Moira's shop, and there was an old part of the prisoner system that was flagged as renaming the Alienbeaconradioscript. Not sure how they escaped my notice before, but all such overrides are fixed now, leaving only the modifications (door placements and such) that are supposed to be there.
I should have went with my first instinct a year ago, and trashed the entire plugin; started anew. Would have saved me weeks of trouble, on the whole.
Oh, and link.
Fry's Freehold
I know, I'm not big on plugging mods that aren't my own around here, but sometimes I come across one that warrants it.
Fry's Freehold for New Vegas is one of those. FO3 playing readers will likely know Fry from his work on Refurbished. Rather than mod someone else's work this time, Fry went for the gold and did a standalone house mod.
I've already tested and endorsed it myself. As with his previous work, it's not... strictly speaking "my style"... but it's still very well done. Still has a bit of a hunting lodge feel to it, but this one is more the Alpine type, than British-colony-in-Africa-circa-1890 type.
Highly recommended, on the whole.
Fry's Freehold for New Vegas is one of those. FO3 playing readers will likely know Fry from his work on Refurbished. Rather than mod someone else's work this time, Fry went for the gold and did a standalone house mod.
I've already tested and endorsed it myself. As with his previous work, it's not... strictly speaking "my style"... but it's still very well done. Still has a bit of a hunting lodge feel to it, but this one is more the Alpine type, than British-colony-in-Africa-circa-1890 type.
Highly recommended, on the whole.
Really?
Despite my daily PMs, I was actually in the mood to mod this morning; and so set upon working on an as yet unannounced project that involves a copy of the Lucky 38's cocktail lounge cell.
It's in its own worldspace, so I switch over to that one; load the cell... GECK crash.
Re-open, reload plugin, load cell again.
Crash.
Apparently, the NVGECK cannot handle loading that worldspace at all.
You know Obsidian, you fuckers and your total lack of attention to detail and work ethic of a spastic eight year old aren't helping my urge to give up modding any.
So, apparently I can kiss one of the defining features of the mod goodbye; until and unless the GECK decides to get its head out of its ass. On the bright side, this means I won't have to deal with generating new LODs.
It's in its own worldspace, so I switch over to that one; load the cell... GECK crash.
Re-open, reload plugin, load cell again.
Crash.
Apparently, the NVGECK cannot handle loading that worldspace at all.
You know Obsidian, you fuckers and your total lack of attention to detail and work ethic of a spastic eight year old aren't helping my urge to give up modding any.
So, apparently I can kiss one of the defining features of the mod goodbye; until and unless the GECK decides to get its head out of its ass. On the bright side, this means I won't have to deal with generating new LODs.
NCCS - V0.4 Uploaded
This version won't mark much of a difference from the perspective of you players. It seems I had overlooked a bit of code regarding the companion management system before. Amazingly, this didn't cause problems. I nonetheless didn't feel like pushing my luck; and fixed it.
I've been sitting on it a few days, but couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do for the new beta, so I went ahead and uploaded it this morning.
As always, here's the link, for those interested.
With luck, no more omissions or bugs will present themselves; and I'll be able to start expanding the dialog to call the system a full v1.0, non-beta release.
Hopefully.
I've been sitting on it a few days, but couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do for the new beta, so I went ahead and uploaded it this morning.
As always, here's the link, for those interested.
With luck, no more omissions or bugs will present themselves; and I'll be able to start expanding the dialog to call the system a full v1.0, non-beta release.
Hopefully.
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