Patch for Non-English CotW Users - July 17, 2010

For anyone playing Fallout 3 in a language that is not English, you should download this module. In CotW, many changes have been made to dialogue, but only in English. If you are not playing Fallout 3 in English, CotW will replace the speech of your language with English. This module will keep that from happening.

Please download and install from the Files page.




The Children of the Wasteland project aims to add playable children to the world of Fallout 3, and to improve upon many elements of the existing presence of children in the game, in the hopes of better creating an immersive roleplaying experience for those who wish to discover the Wastes from a refreshing, unique perspective.

Modifications have been made to allow as seamless an integration of children into the game as possible. Limitations on child characters have been removed as necessary, and the game world itself has been modified to more immersively represent the Lone Wanderer as a child, with some additional extras unique to the mod including a new body, new races, greater customization options for children, and new clothes!



Click here for a highly detailed list of ALL features.


Experience Fallout 3 as a Child

Be free from arbitrary rules made by arbitrary adults, and allow your childlike curiosity to be satiated without limitations via Enhanced Children by Kiwi82mx. Actions previously forbidden to children are now available. And, just as it would be in reality, all children are as vulnerable to the dangers of the Wastes as adults are; after all, they too are only blood-and-flesh humans. And thanks to some post-war innovations to aging technology, the Gene Projector is now capable of showing a future facial projection of a child-aged human, complete with the modification tools it brings; Pinkerton of Rivet City takes full advantage of this, as do the Mr. Handy-model robot butlers of Megaton and Tenpenny Towers.

Experience a near-seamlessly incorporated Wasteland life as a child, starting from the day the Lone Wanderer is born to beyond the gates of Vault 101, with Childhood Beginning by SmileyTops. The entire Vault experience has been revamped to integrate the Lone Wanderer into the plot as a child while retaining as much of the original lore as possible. Have your tenth birthday party, fire your first BB gun, take the GOAT, fight your way through the Vault, emerge from its doors, and journey across the Capital Wasteland in search of your father with the clean slate of a young mind. Decide the ultimate fate of the four-foot tall Young Lone Wanderer. Perks, dialogue, and events have been changed to more realistically express your unique status as a child wanderer of the Wastes.


Enhanced Appearance Options for Children

More realistic and proportioned bodies have been created for children in the form of CUTE (Children's Unique Transformation Enhancement), a body modification for both boys and girls by the core CotW team. High-quality and original meshed base bodies, textures and faces have been created for more childlike figures and facial structures. Several unique races have been added for children beyond the default four, including a Raider-inspired race and even Ghoul children.

Existing styles of clothing sported by young Wastelanders have been fitted for use with the new body figures, and all headpieces have been reworked to fit children. New clothes included with CUTE, inspired by designs created and contributed by dozens of talented tailors and leatherworkers throughout the Wasteland, have been custom-tailored and fitted specifically for children to wear on their adventures.

With the ability to create children comes a greater range of customization options as well. All hairstyles seen across the Wastes are available to choose from, as well as several unique and exotic designs by famed hair stylists Saram and Yoshinakota. Extra eye colors have been added as well to further express the diversity of individuals populating the Wasteland.

Accompanying the body is a new fully-featured shop, exclusively for use by children. Tucked away into a small corner of Big Town, Alicia's Cute Shop, owned by herself and her faithful dog, serves as a general supplies stop for all children's needs.




These are additional modules that may be downloaded and installed optionally along with Children of the Wasteland. They are officially supported and endorsed by the CotW team. All of them are available for download on the Files page.

Expansion Packs

Coming soon! These expansion packs will add even more content to Children of the Wasteland.

Compatibility Modules

These compatibility modules will help Children of the Wasteland operate alongside other major overhaul mods that significantly impact the game.

FOOK2 Compatibility Module

The official FOOK2 Compatibility Module, contributed by user "blove", is designed to work with CotW 2.01 and FOOK2 1.1 beta 2. It includes several .esp's that modify minor aspects of both mods in order to make them interoperable. Thanks to "blove" for the compat module!

Installation instructions may be found in the Installation section below.

Fallout 3 Wanderer's Edition Compatibility Module

The official Fallout 3 Wanderer's Edition, contributed by user "daemonflayer", is designed to work with CotW 2.02 and FWE v5.04. It includes several .esp's that modify minor aspects of both mods in order to make them interoperable. Thanks to "daemonflayer" for the compat module!

Installation instructions may be found in the Installation section below.




Recommended Mods

Below are a list of mods that complement Children of the Wasteland and contribute greatly to enhancing the experience.

• CREBSOR by Laffie -- Necessary if you play Broken Steel to progress past the end-game movie if you are playing a custom race such as children
• PipBoy Readius by Alexscorpion or PipBoy Begone by forevernomad -- Some of the clothes included with CUTE clip with the PipBoy in third person view. Removing the PipBoy from the arm will eliminate that problem, and these mods will serve that purpose. Readius is a mod that turns your PipBoy into a digital PDA. PipBoyBegone is a mod that removes the PipBoy from your arm in third person view.
• Child Replacement Voices by DraykCannon -- Changes the player voice to sound like a child.
• Movable Milk Crates by Neunen -- Adds a room full of milk crates that can be placed in the player's inventory for transport. Can be useful as a footstool for children to stand upon in order to reach tall places. Almost mandatory for the ending sequence of Fallout 3!

Mods Created Using Children of the Wasteland

These mods were created using Children of the Wasteland modules as a base resource. Thus, Children of the Wasteland is required for these mods to run. As thanks to these modders for supporting our mods, we've featured them here. If you're interested in any of them, support the creators by checking out their mods! If you've created a mod based on CotW and would like to have your mod featured by us, send us a message and we'll be sure to credit you here!

• Lil' Gunslingers by Zuzak -- Adds recruitable spec ops-trained children and much more. (OBSOLETE)
• Shojo Mod by Eomanv -- Allows the creation of a new child race based on Dimon's Type3 body, includes a new head mesh and clothes. Does not utilize CUTE.
• Gunslinger Girl Followers by Five_X -- Adds recruitable children based on the characters from the Gunslinger Girl anime series.

Recommended Tweaks

The redhead races are meant to be more pale. As this may cause the skin to wash out a bit due to the low saturated game filters, it is recommended to use filters or mods that make colors a bit more vibrant for those races to look better, as they appear in the official screenshots. Here are some recommended filters; apply these using the Groovatron "Visual Effects" menu:

• Image Effects: Expand Your Mind
• Color Filters: Desaturate (Strength 1), Red (Strength .5), Warm (Strength .5), Cool (Strength .5).
• Other Filters: Darken (Strength .5).

Unnecessary Mods

Children of the Wasteland was designed to play the role of a be-all, end-all mod for enabling playable children, thus it shares much functionality with (and therefore conflicts with and unnecessitates the use of) the following mods:

• Enhanced Children by Kiwi -- Part of CotW as a primary module
• CUTE Body Mod by Kiwi -- Part of CotW as a primary module
• Childhood Beginning by Smileytops -- Part of CotW as a primary module
• Killable Children by Neclipse -- Similar and improved functionality, with broader scope and bug fixes
• Eyelashes by Throttlekitty -- Similar functionality, with bug fixes

Incompatible Mods

Children of the Wasteland is incompatible with any mod that alters the Vanilla Child races or mods that alter the front door of Alicia's Cute Shop.




Installing Children of the Wasteland

• Extract "CotW v2.7z" (using any supported extraction program such as 7-zip or WinRAR) into any temporary location. A new folder named "CotW v2" should be created.
• Copy the files in the "CotW v2" folder (two files: a "Data" directory and a "kids.txt" file) into your Fallout 3 installation directory (generally "C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Fallout 3\", though this may vary), and click "yes" when prompted to overwrite.
• Be sure that you toggle ArchiveInvalidation when you install the mod, and retoggle it if it's already on. Sometimes this is necesssary for ArchiveInvalidation to recognize any of the files that have just been placed.
• The Kids.txt file should be in your Fallout install directory, this is, where the fallout executable is located and not inside the data folder. This is only important if you want vanilla children npc's to be killable.
• When you enter the game, open up the console and type "bat kids" in order to make it so that vanilla child NPC's are killable.

Load Order

The optimal load order is as follows:

• Fallout3.esm
• (DLC)
• (Other Mods)
• CRBSOR.esp (if present)
• Enhanced Children.esm
• AliciasCuteShop.esm
• Childhood Beginning.esp
• (Other Mods)
• AliciasCuteShopDoorOverride.esp (this should go at the very far bottom)

Installing the FOOK2 Compatibility Patch

First, make sure all of your FOOK2 plugins are loaded before CotW plugins.

Then, have ChildhoodBeginning, FOOK2 - patch.esp load after Childhood Beginning.esp. This will keep your child player from becoming an adult.

Then, load AliciasCuteShop, RefurbishDLC - patch.esp somewhere after AliciasCuteShop.esm. This will keep the FOOK2 Refurbish DLC options from popping up (with no way to stop them) due to some of the same FormIDs being used for different purposes. This is only necessary if you're using the RefurbishDLC.esp.


Installing the FWE v5.04 Compatibility Patch

Simply replace the Childhood Beginning.esp with the one included, and make sure to create a backup of the original plugin in case you want to stop using FWE. This will make it possible to advance in the main quest.

The load order should look like this:

• FO3 Wanderers Edition - Main File.esp
• FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC XXX.esp
• Other FO3 Wanderers Edition files
• (Other Mods)
• Childhood Beginning.esp
• (Other Mods)
• FO3 Wanderers Edition - Followers Enhanced.esp

Please note, this is only a temporary solution, and a more permanent one will be made in the future.




Patch for Non-English CotW Users - July 17, 2010

For anyone playing Fallout 3 in a language that is not English, you should download this module. In CotW, many changes have been made to dialogue, but only in English. If you are not playing Fallout 3 in English, CotW will replace the speech of your language with English. This module will keep that from happening.

Please download and install from the Files page.


FOOK2 Compatibility Patch Update - July 16, 2010

Updated the FOOK2 Compatibility Patch to work with CotW v2.02 and FOOK2 1.1 beta 2 (7-11b). Additionally, some dialogue and quest issues have been fixed. Enjoy!


FWE Compatibility Patch Update - July 8, 2010

Updated the FWE Compatibility Patch to fix some issues with FWE's custom beginnings and some other minor oddities. Please download the patch again from the downloads section. Fixes courtesy of our friend Daemonflayer!. Enjoy!


Version 2.02 Update - July 6, 2010

Introducing the next minor update for Children of the Wasteland, version 2.02. With it are a few minor bug fixes, as well as some new content! It can be downloaded from the Files page, and will work for all users regardless of their current version.

New users are not required to download the patch, as the Master Release has already been updated to the proper version.

Included in this patch file:

• All the changes from v2.01
• Fixed a bug with the Aigis costume where the hands would disappear.
• Minor hotfixes regarding the child races.
• Five new hairs have been added for male children.

As always, more details regarding the changes and fixes can be found in the Version History section.

Also: We now have a CotW compatibility patch for Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition (FWE) v5.04. Thanks to Daemonflayer for taking the time to contribute this to us!


CUTE Boy (Breeze Jr.) Pack v2.0 - July 6, 2010

Here it is, the Breeze Jr. Developer Pack for CotW. It includes an unclothed Breeze Jr body mannequin, a texturing and weighting dummy, and skin templates for the male children.

Click here to download from ChildrenOfCyrodiil.com!

If you create new clothes, you can add them to the shop via a new plugin that adds them through scripts; this will avoid conflicts. For details, please see the CotW readme, which has a link to detailed information about that method.

Alternatively you can always contact me to join the project and have your creations be added to the main project.

If you're looking for the CUTE Girl Developer Pack, that can also be found at ChildrenOfCyrodiil.com.

Thank you, and good luck creating new stuff :).


NOTICE: Shoot, sorry! Shojo Mod actually DOES work with CotW! - July 1, 2010

Our original conclusion was based on theory that turned out to be false. Thanks to FO3Nexus user Roguim, we have been alerted to the fact that CotW works just fine with Eomanv's Shojo Mod. After some testing, we can confirm that there doesn't seem to be any conflict between Shojo Mod and CotW so far.

As we realize we have many fans that love both CotW and Shojo Mod, as well as the fact that Shojo Mod itself requires a module that CotW provides, we're deeply regretful of our mistake. We apologize to both the community and Eomanv for the misunderstanding and any inconvenience our error may have caused.


CUTE Girl Developer Pack v2.0 (RC12 for CotW) - July 1, 2010

After a long time, here it is, for all your clothing-creating needs: the CUTE Developer Pack for CotW. It includes an unclothed CUTE body mannequin, a texturing and weighting dummy, and skin templates for the female children.

Click here to download from ChildrenOfCyrodiil.com!

If you create new clothes, you can add them to the shop via a new plugin that adds them through scripts; this will avoid conflicts. For details, please see the CotW readme, which has a link to detailed information about that method.

Alternatively you can always contact me to join the project and have your creations be added to the main project.

Thank you, and good luck creating new stuff


FOOK2 Compatibility Patch for Version 2.01 - June 28, 2010

FOOK2 users may have noticed that there were some compatibility issues with CotW. User "blove" was kind enough to contribute a compatibility patch for v2.01 specific to FOOK2 users that will let the mods work with each other.

You can download it on the files page. Note that it this only a COMPATIBILITY PATCH, and you'll still need to have the latest version of Children of the Wasteland installed for these patches to work. Please refer to the readmes included to ensure correct operability and load order with existing modules.


Version 2.01 - June 27, 2010

Introducing the first minor update for CotW, which has a minor bugfix for a major showstopper. It can be downloaded from the Files page, and will work for all users regardless of their current version.

New users are not required to download the patch, as the Master Release has already been updated to the proper version.

Included in this patch:

• Fixed a bug where the player was unable to enter the Tranquility Lane simulation in Vault 112.

Enjoy!




Version 2.02

• Fixed a bug with the Aigis costume where the hands would disappear.
• Minor hotfixes regarding the child races.
• Five new hairs have been added for male children.

Version 2.01

• The final step of the quest "Scientific Pursuits" now properly grants and checks for a Vault 112 Child's Jumpsuit when entering Tranquility Lane.
• On concluding the Tranquility Lane simulation, your character will emerge from the tranquility pod as a child as opposed to an adult.

Version 2 - June 20, 2010

First public project release.


Known Issues

None, at the moment.


Future Plans

• Add lots more clothing.
• Much more back-story for Alicia - journal entries, etc.
• Better conversation and scripting for Alicia.
• Various minor "help Alicia" quests.
• More child NPCs.
• Write an uninstaller.
• Distribute a version as a scripted fmod, with options.

Distribution/Modification

Please distribute unmodified copies widely. We intend the CotW project to become a standard base for child mods such that aspiring modders may use it as a base for their own child-related modding projects. Please credit the team and project for any resources used.

If you make improvements or modifications that you think we might find useful, we'd be very grateful if you could contribute them back to the project. This is preferred, since it avoids conflicts in the future, but is not required.

Modifying the base CUTE body mesh, and distributing modified copies, is strictly prohibitedwithout the prior consent of the CotW team. Modifications may cause community splits by increasing the chances of fragmentation and conflicts, which goes against the project's purpose as a standard base for modders. The restriction is also the express wish of the mesh's creator, Dimon, who owns all rights to the body and mesh.

So long as you give credit, you are also welcome to use, abuse and reuse all other resources from the mod in any way you wish, though to prevent future conflicts, we would be grateful if you'd consider just making this mod a prerequisite to your own, instead.


Advice To Modders

All animations, forms, references etc added by this mod are prefixed "CUTE" (possibly with different case). All those that are specifically for Alicia and her shop are prefixed "cuteAlicia". To avoid conflicts with future versions, please avoid using these prefixes with your own mods. On the other hand, if you're working with us as part of the project team, please try to use those prefixes, or similar.

The only exception is the vanilla child clothes, which are not prefixed
as they are replacers.

If you find any other items in the global namespace that are not prefixed, that's a bug: please let us know, and do not rely on the current name, as
it'll be changed to the correct name in the next version.

The mod is distributed as an ESM file to make it easier for you to design mods based on it: just check the checkbox beside it in the GECK's Files->data form, the same as you already do for the Fallout3 ESM.

To add items to the shop, please follow the instructions given on the GECK wiki:
http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Adding_items_to_vendors

If you wish to check whether the mod has been installed, test as:
"if cuteAliciaRef == 0"
This persistent reference should exist in all future versions.

In future versions, we'll probably have a variable you can check for the version number too: this has not been finalised yet though.



The Capital Wasteland is a terrible place, and Fallout serves as a window into the theoretical, morose reality of a post-apocalyptic civilization struggling to survive amidst the chaos of anarchy and the constant decay of the Earth.

However, that world can only be truly explored to its fullest depth and presented in its truest light if the most options are given to the player to experience it from a wide variety of perspectives.

And one of the most intriguing yet often controversial psychologies to explore is the infinitely malleable perspective of an innocent, impressionable child--a child who has yet to discover the full fury of the Capital Wasteland and the grim realities of the world beyond the safety of the vault doors.

Team Children of Cyrodiil has always felt that, as a self-proclaimed "sandbox", Fallout did not always accurately represent the full possibilities of the unpredictable, dangerous Wasteland world, especially concerning the game's interpretation of children. Children were rarely found beyond the safety of town walls and caves, were unable to execute the most mundane of actions, and apparently were capable of evading death itself. The game's original representation of children, while perhaps superior to that of other games, has fallen short, especially compared to its predecessors.

Society today, in the safe, secure shadow of modern civilization, has made itself comfortable elevating the status of children to paragons of purity and innocence, and we as a society take every measure possible to hide the cruelty of the real world from our children via censors and walls in order to facilicate the ongoing preservation of that image. We delude ourselves into believing that we're showing them a pleasant, candy-colored picture of the world, when in reality the image that they see is stripped of all its color, one of the very fundamental aspects that makes it real and brings it to life.

The fictional world of the Capital Wasteland provides an opportunity, at least in fiction, to break that down. For out in the wastes, the primal nature of human sin bares its fangs without restraint, and no creature is exempt from its fury. It is a world that has been stripped bare of its veils and censors for all to see as it truly is. In such a world, no child can be content with simply sitting back in the safety of an air-conditioned living room, mindlessly scrolling through television channels, for such a child would die an early death; the security of the Pre-War Era is infeasible to demand in the Capital Wasteland, where every creature, strong or frail, human or animal, adult or child, must compete against and alongside one another in a vicious contest for survival.

The children that are featured in this mod see the reality of human nature and conflict as it truly is. They have seen beyond the safety of the living room window, into a world beyond that is rife with destruction, despair, and sadness, yet blooming with opportunities for redemption, hope, and life. And that alone is what makes the key difference. All of the barriers have been broken down, and all that remains is the opportunity for critical thought. In this world, they, as every other child and adult populating the Wasteland, must make the choice. And you can help guide the one powerful enough to change the world.

Whether the untainted innocence of a child becomes one of the purest and most powerful beacons of hope in the Wasteland, or the vanguard of justice and virtue in a world rife with crime and terror, or the power-seeking vagabond that craves nothing more than to satiate one's own greed and desire, or the dreaded harbinger of destruction to all of life itself... you are in control. For the fate of the Wasteland is in the hands of the Young Lone Wanderer. And the fate of the Young Lone Wanderer is in yours.





Lead Developer

• Kiwi

Senior Developers

• Catweasel - Lead Programmer Plugin Coding and Conceptual Manager
• Backsteppo - Art Creative and CUTE Girl Body Co-Developer
• Arlekin - Breeze Jr. (BJr) Boy Body Main Developer and Boy Content Manager

Community Manager

• Takeru Yamamoto

Collaborators

• ABC
• Baduk
• blove
• Bonafide
• DC
• Dimon
• Eomanv
• Koutetsu
• Orein - Special thanks for contributing in the Raider Tattoo Contest.
• RocketLombax
• Schitzcoi
• Shinteo
• SquallLeonHeart
• Sukram96
• TheRedSuns

Contributors and Supporters

• Backsteppo (Bunny Suit; Carmine Dress - revisited; KKW Dress; Maid Dress; Sailor Uniform; Swimsuits)
• Breeze (Original Breeze male body mesh)
• Drazius (Clutter conversion - flower vase)
• Ghogiel (Ghogiels ENV Map resource 1)
• grffnhwk (Display Case v0.2)
• hepsy (Goth Dress; Overalls)
• Koutetsu (Nekogi)
• MystyktSar (Twister mat mesh and texture)
• N8K (Little Carmine Dress - original)
• NIHS (P3 Aigis Armor for HGEC LAB)
• NPR, Bronson (Amy Armor for TYPE3)
• NPR/KURESE (Western Armor S M for HGEC)
• Nikola Dechev (Denim Wear - obj models and bmp's from Turbosquid)
• onitake,KafeiDotour (Kafeis Short Hairstyle Improved, some hairs used)
• Renzeekin,Ascendence Kel (Leon's Haircut from RE4)
• SmileyTops (Childhood Beginning - tweaked and optimized for CotW)
• TAJocelyn, noraimironhand (Fireplace)
• throttlekitty (throttlekittys hair pack 01, some hairs used)
• TOXA (Jessica Outfit)
• Throttlekitty (Eyelashes)
• Umpa (Umpa Animation - shower)
• Zenl (A Puppy - dog mesh)

Thanks

We would like to give thanks to:

• Bethesda - For creating such a great game as Fallout 3!
• Niftools/Blender Developers - For creating our basic tools for this art.
• The Nexus Staff - For your continued support and for creating the best modding community for Fallout 3.
• Fallout3nexus.com - For being a great community hub.
• The Children of Cyrodiil Community and supporters - For your support and faith in us, this wouldnt be worthy of being done without you.