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   |  IMPACT - Fun Begins Here    |
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[Contents]:
\1/ Description
\2/ IMPACT for Fallout 3 Versions & Optionals
\3/ Additional Options
\4/ Recommended Mods
\5/ Incompatibilities & Additional Info
\6/ IMPACT for Fallout 3 Credits & Thanks



\1/
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   |  IMPACT - Description    |
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IMPACT is a mod that aims to bring a feeling of power and danger to ballistic weaponry by adding new vfx and decals. 
This all began many years ago when I first played the title F.E.A.R., for in that game the ballistic weapons felt very powerful and seemed dangerous as each impact caused very visible damage! Even to this very day I still feel 'new games' often lack in that department where F.E.A.R. had succeeded. When playing FO3/FNV the look, sound, and impacts of ballistics make them all feel like shabby pea-shooters. Well I say no more!!! This mod is my humble attempt to get Fallout one meager step closer to ''awesome shooter stuff''.

What it does: New custom particle effects for most surfaces (wood, metal hollow, metal solid, stone/concrete, dirt, glass, and cloth). Also adds brand new decals for bullet holes. Bullet shell casings have also been retextured, and new casings made to match ammo (ie: 9mm now has 9mm shells, yay!). Blood spurting from severed limbs - check!

**NOTE** EXAMPLES found above, in the Images tab (be sure to open the pictures in new window and zoom, they're 3400x2000px) **NOTE**

What it doesn't do: NO tweaks made to weapon damage, or projectile speed/look. No tweaks to muzzleflashes, weapon textures, or SFX.

Having said this, it would very much behoove you to download mods that improve the weapon's look, sound effects, and even blood stains. (Links can be found in section \4/below) This also means if you use weapons that *do* tweak weapon's damage or other things, you'll need a Compatibility Patch.
If you are not familiar with making Bashed or Merged Patches yourself, then please be patient as I try to get patches for your favorite mods uploaded here. Overview of the currently available compatibility patches is located just below in section \2/.



\2/
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   |  IMPACT for Fallout 3 - Versions   |
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<<There are three versions to choose from>> 
It is best if you choose the version that best matches your computer's gaming performance. (Low, Med, High).

[The Basement Dweller]:
You may or may not be using your parents computer and/or Windows XP. This is for those who suffer 'lag'.
(Impact decals, shell casings, and vfx texture sizes are all same as original. Bullet casings last for 10 seconds.
Bullet casings max amount is 50% higher than original.)

[The Gaming Rig]:
So hotshot, you spend a couple K on a hunk of silicon and want to load up on mods. Here's your reward, padawan.
(Impact Decals, Shell casings, and VFX texture sizes are all double original. Bullet casings persist for roughly a minute.
Bullet casings quota is double original.)

[The Michael Bay]:
You are my kindred spirit. You don't applaud mediocrity. Your middle-name is Overkill. Let's kill flies with a bazooka friend.
(Impact Decals, Shell casings, and VFX texture sizes are all triple original. Bullet casings stay for about 3 minutes and their allotted cap is quadruple the original.)


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   |  IMPACT for Fallout 3 - Optionals  |
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Following is the list of the optional files available for IMPACT Fallout 3 version, along with their requirements. If patch for your favourite mod is not available, ask in comments and I will do my best in order to provide one.
USE ONLY ONE OPTIONAL FILE ACCORDING TO YOUR MOD SETUP!
EACH OPTIONAL REQUIRES MAIN FILE (DUH)!

[All DLCs patch]:
requires all Fallout 3 DLCs (aka Fallout 3 GOTY)

[FOOK2 patch]:
requires base game and FOOK2

[FOOK2-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, FOOK2 and FOOK2 DLC module

[FWE patch]:
requires base game and FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition

[FWE-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition and FWE DLC modules

[FWE-WMK patch]:
requires base game, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition, FOIP - Weapon Mod Kits and FWE 6-03 from FOIP and Weapon Mod Kits

[FWE-WMK-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition, Weapon Mod Kits, FOIP - Weapon Mod Kits and FWE 6-03 from FOIP, all FWE DLC modules and all FOIP FWE+WMK DLC modules

[RH_Ironsights-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY and RH_Ironsights Merged from PI Mergers

[RH_Ironsights-FWE-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, RH_Ironsights Merged from PI Mergers, RH IronSights - FWE Bridge from RH_IS, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition and all FWE DLC modules

[RH_Ironsights-FWE-WMK-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, RH_Ironsights Merged from PI Mergers, RH IronSights - FWE Bridge and RH_IronSights - WMK Bridge from RH_IS, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition, Weapon Mod Kits, FOIP - Weapon Mod Kits and FWE 6-03 from FOIP, all FWE DLC modules and all FOIP FWE+WMK DLC modules

[RH_Ironsights-WMK-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, RH_Ironsights Merged from PI Mergers, RH_IronSights - WMK Bridge from RH_IS, Weapon Mod Kits and all WMK DLC modules

[WMK patch]:
requires base game and Weapon Mod Kits

[WMK-All DLCs patch]:
requires Fallout 3 GOTY, Weapon Mod Kits, and WMK DLC modules



\3/
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   |  IMPACT - Additional Options   |
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Option 1: Within the Main File you will find a folder labeled [IMPACT CHAR BULLET WOUNDS], which contains the instructions to guide you through a quick-n-easy painless .ini tweak that will let your enemies be riddled with bullets, just like the totally kickass screenshots of this mod. If you don't want to fiddle with your .ini, or have never fiddled with it before - tough luck - I ain't giving you ini files so that you can bork your game and then blame me. (Every Fallout install is a beast of its own, besides that the instructions are easy to follow)

(note - I am not sexist! I like women, but the bullet wounds pics are all female because the male body replacer I use (Breeze) is not set up properly for bullet wounds and so they do not appear)

??? Da Fuq duz that mean anyway ???
It means in Fallout 3 / New Vegas, the maximum number of bullet wounds/decals an enemy can bear is just 3 (LOL!)
But, if you make a simple .ini tweak you can have any number of bullet wounds show up on your foes! Even choose how long they last, and more!

Option 2: No Refract meshes. Stone and Metal impacts in this mod cause a quick 'refract warp' kinda like in Crysis and Sanctum. If this causes lag to your 'rig', get the No Refracts Optional file from the IMPACT New Vegas page - it is just meshes and thus compatible with IMPACT for Fallout 3. After downloading open the ''No Refract'' folder and drop the 'meshes' folder into your Data folder (overwrite when asked).


\4/
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   |  IMPACT - Recommended Mods  |
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Having kickass bullet visuals isn't enough my friend, oh no its not.

You'll want to have really cool Sound FX to help sell the feeling of badass ballistics. You'll want mods on your weapons because MOD ALL THE THINGS! You'll also want recoil on your weapons, because physics. You'll want more blood, because blood god demands it!

SFX Upgrade: I personally recommend trying CRL9000 Sound Modification V046 - DLC Edition.

Weapon Mods: So you like upgrades? Want more? WMK - Weapon Mod Kits offers you a lot of new aesthetically pleasing options!
(patches for WMK are available in optional files)

Recoil: Can Has Recoil? Yes you can! In both FO3 and FNV. Can Has Cheezburger? Noes!

Blood Visuals: If you are not already using Enhanced Blood, go download it after finishing reading this sentence!

What about Energy Weapon Impacts? Use EVE of course, for the most well-rounded visual badassery to ever hit Nexus. GET IT HERE, NOW!



\5/
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   |  IMPACT - Incompatibilities & Additional Info  |
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IMPACT makes edits to weapons in order to apply the new Impact Decals + Bullet Casings. (NO TWEAKS TO DAMAGE OR VALUES!!!!!!!!!)
This means that any mod changing the same weapon, loaded below IMPACT esps has a potential to overwrite these changes or revert them to vanilla values.

Several patches for All DLCs and popular mods and all their combinations are available. For more information about them see \2/ above. If a patch for your favourite mod is not available, do ask in comments. I'll do my best to provide patch for the more popular/requested mods as time permits.

Alternatively should you wish to improve the IMPACT experience for others by creating a patch for a mod not already covered I highly encourage you to do so. I will upload the file under optionals with full credits given to you with kudos on top!

Neither I nor others are going to micro-manage your bloated load order for you!
(The tools to help you with it are readily available! Enter BOSS (deprecated) and its successor LOOT. Don't let any of the dinosaurs stuck in the ages of BOSS tell you LOOT ain't no good. I use it since it's earliest release for my standalone Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas install, as well as my Tale of Two Wastelands install; and combined with common sense and (even basic) understanding of how load order works and what "mod X overwrites mod Y" means; I have had precisely zero issues with it. That said - your mileage might vary!)

If you are using a lot of mods (I know I do), or a bunch of large mods which are likely to change the same stuff and overwrite one another and/or this mod, it's up to you to take the few minutes required to educate yourself and make a Bashed Patch via the magic of Wrye Flash (all esps have correct BASH tags from the get go) or Merged Patch via the magic of FO3Edit to allow your stuff to work together better (It will never be 100% of conflicts solved - the more mods you use the more manual overrides will be needed. I love the smell of traversing records in FO3Edit in the morning!)

Fair Warning: filling the thread with your load order and/or obnoxiously demanding patches several times a day *will* get your comment deleted.



\6/
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   |  IMPACT for Fallout 3 - Credits & Thanks  |
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weijiesen - for the original New Vegas version of the mod
mamelukturbo - for the Fallout 3 conversion and compatibility patches
FO3Edit - for game data editor that makes sense (eat that G.E.C.K.)