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About this mod
The longer you stay in power armor, the more your body starts to atrophy and consequently depend on power armor to function. Get out and walk around for a bit to counter-act the effects!
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
6/24/2017 - Update 1.1: Doesn't change much of anything. See Sticky for details.
What is this?
In a nutshell, If you spend more time in power armor than not your body will start to depend on being in power armor and atrophy. Atrophy works somewhat like a disease except it can only be "cured" by getting out of your power armor and walking around. There are five stages of atrophy, each stage getting progressively more severe until you can't even jog outside your power armor.
Ok, But what does it do?
As you use power armor more and more, your body will start to show signs of atrophy. After about 6* in-game hours pass while inside power armor you will be warned that your body is beginning to atrophy. After about another 6* in-game hours (there's an element of randomness to this so it could be sooner) you will gain a level of atrophy. After the first stage of atrophy is attained the next levels arrive faster and faster* as your body continues to deteriorate. To attain the highest level of atrophy you would need a cumulative total of about 40* hours inside power armor (complicated math... don't ask).
To reduce your atrophy level simply leave your power armor and walk around! Eventually your body will recover from its atrophy and the debuffs will disappear.
Yeah... But what does it actually do?
Half-way to an increase in atrophy you will get a message warning you your body is beginning to weaken. This indicates you now have a random chance of gaining a level of atrophy that increases over time, reaching 100% chance once you reach the required time threshold for that level (default setting is 12 in-game hours)
Once you get out of power armor and start walking around your atrophy level will begin to decrease. Once you are below half way to the previous level of atrophy you will receive a message letting you know your body has begun to recover its strength. This indicates you now have a random chance of losing a level of atrophy that increases as your atrophy timer lowers, reaching 100% chance once you reach the minimum atrophy time for that level.!
For example, if I walk around in my power armor for 9 hours and my body starts to atrophy (I reach level 1), I would need to spend 3 (to get the timer back down to below 6) hours outside power armor to begin rolling for the atrophy level to be removed. The chance to remove the atrophy level increases the more time you spend outside power armor.
You cannot gain atrophy unless you are in power armor, and you cannot lose atrophy unless your are outside power armor.
You can also mod your power armor to use "resistive servos" which decrease the rate at which your body atrophies per piece worn at the expense of 10 Action Points. This takes up a mod slot but you get to stay in your power armor longer
FINE! BUT WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY DO???
Alright, here are the actual debuffs for each level of atrophy. Remember, debuffs only apply while you are OUTSIDE power armor.
At atrophy level 1 (after 6 - 12 total hours in power armor) your body begins to show sign of fatigue, but nothing too severe.
Action points refresh 10% slower
You can recover from this by spending 6 - 12 hours outside of power armor (shocker!).
At atrophy level 2 (after 16 - 21 total hours in power armor) your body shows even more signs of fatigue and your bone density starts to decrease.
Action points refresh 20% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
You can recover from this (back to level 1) by spending 5 - 10 hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 3 (after 25 - 29 total hours in power armor) your body shows yet more signs of fatigue and your muscle mass starts to decrease.
Action points refresh 30% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-1 Strength and -1 Endurance
You can recover from this (back to level 2) by spending 4 - 8 hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 4 (after 32 - 35 total hours in power armor) your body starts to fail you outside power armor. You can no longer sprint.
Action points refresh 40% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-2 Strength and -2 Endurance
You cannot sprint
You can recover from this (back to level 3) by spending 3 - 6 hours hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 5 (after 38 - 40 total hours in power armor) you can barely move outside power armor. As if you were always overburdened.
Action points refresh 50% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-3 Strength and -3 Endurance
You cannot run, much less sprint
You can recover from this (back to level 4) by spending 2 - 4 hours hours outside of power armor.
* These numbers/effects are based on the default settings.
Those are complicated numbers... Why?
Yeah, I know. I wanted there to be a random element to this so you can't 100% predict when you'll lose or gain atrophy. Also, I didn't want it to be binary where as soon as you gain atrophy you could hop out of power armor, lose it, hop back in and gain it back over and over and over again. This system strikes a balance where getting atrophy requires you to actually sacrifice some time outside your power armor to alleviate the issue.
This system also has the benefit of not really impacting you if all you do is play in power armor. Sure, managing your settlements would be difficult and crawling to a bed to get some sleep would be annoying, but if you immediately get back into your power armor which you've grown to depend on you're right as rain! Think of the realism!!!
OK... So... Why did you make this?
I really like power armor but I find it's far too powerful for its low cost to maintain. Fusion cores become common and vanilla repair costs are a joke.
Other mods like Some Assembly Required, Better Power Armor, and Scarcity address some of these concerns but even with these mods power armor is still, well, too powerful. My mod gives power armor another cost for continuous use, your fitness!
Neat! I'm going to install it and... Wait a minute... DOES THIS USE SCRIPTS???
Yeah, and I'm fairly new to modding, but I'm not new to coding efficiently! I only use event based timers attached to a quest with stages controlling when the script starts and stops. I also tried very hard to keep things efficient. The update script keeping track of your atrophy shouldn't be a big strain on your system.
As of version 1.1 you can adjust the period between atrophy level checks and updates using the in game settings holotape. The default period between updates is 5 real-life seconds and this can be increased to 10, 20, or 30 seconds. Raising the amount of time between checks will lower the script load but will reduce accuracy of atrophy tracking.
You mentioned a settings holotape? Can I tweak stuff???
Yep, there are a number of settings that can be adjusted using the settings holotape. Due to the way I scripted things, changing a setting requires the mod be disabled first, but don't worry, you can re-enable the mod from the holotape once you've made your changes! Most of the changes revolve around how quickly atrophy increases or decreases but you can also say which level of atrophy is the max attainable.
Uninstalling, how do I do that?
DISABLE THE MOD USING THE SETTINGS HOLOTAPE BEFORE UNINSTALLING!
Disabling the mod via the holotape cleanly shuts down the update script and removes any atrophy debuffs you might have. Failing to do so before removing the esp from your load order will cause any atrophy debuffs you have acquired to become permanent. Only once you have disabled the mod and your atrophy debuffs been removed should you uninstall from your data folder.
Updating procedure?
I will try to make all my updates not require you to do anything other than replace the ESP and BA2 files with the update. If any update I put out requires otherwise I will add special instructions to the change log or a sticky post.
Is this going to break any of my other mods?
I don't see how it could. Everything in this mod is standalone and doesn't touch vanilla records. I use a few vanilla hardcore scripts to disable running/sprinting but I haven't heard of any mods touching those particular scripts anyways. It should play nice with any and all mods. I recommend Some Assembly Required and Scarcity for an excellent combination of brutal and expensive, yet rewarding power armor.
Timescale settings will impact how quickly (from a real-life time perspective) you gain or lose atrophy. All my calculations are based on in-game time, so if you crank the timescale down you will accrue atrophy much slower than if you pushed the timescale up. It should be compatible with reasonable timescale changes (don't go lower than 5 as that tends to break quests and NPC AI). Absurdly high timescales where hours pass in a matter of seconds rather than minutes will break my script completely.
Can I install this mid play-through?
Yep. Everything should start up automatically after you move around for a bit. If you're starting a new play-through you wont actually get the settings tape until after you leave vault 111.
Got any future plans?
This isn't quite how I originally pictured the mod. I don't just want to punish players for using power armor, I also want to reward players for entering/exiting power armor strategically or using it only in certain situations when it provides a tactical advantage. However there are a few challenges to striking that balance and in the meantime I wanted to get this out because it was built.
If this gets enough traction and there aren't many problems, I could be convinced to publish this for Xbox. Sorry PS4 users, this uses scripts which aren't allowed on PS4.
If you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments. I'm always happy to hear feedback!
What is this?
In a nutshell, If you spend more time in power armor than not your body will start to depend on being in power armor and atrophy. Atrophy works somewhat like a disease except it can only be "cured" by getting out of your power armor and walking around. There are five stages of atrophy, each stage getting progressively more severe until you can't even jog outside your power armor.
Ok, But what does it do?
As you use power armor more and more, your body will start to show signs of atrophy. After about 6* in-game hours pass while inside power armor you will be warned that your body is beginning to atrophy. After about another 6* in-game hours (there's an element of randomness to this so it could be sooner) you will gain a level of atrophy. After the first stage of atrophy is attained the next levels arrive faster and faster* as your body continues to deteriorate. To attain the highest level of atrophy you would need a cumulative total of about 40* hours inside power armor (complicated math... don't ask).
To reduce your atrophy level simply leave your power armor and walk around! Eventually your body will recover from its atrophy and the debuffs will disappear.
Yeah... But what does it actually do?
Half-way to an increase in atrophy you will get a message warning you your body is beginning to weaken. This indicates you now have a random chance of gaining a level of atrophy that increases over time, reaching 100% chance once you reach the required time threshold for that level (default setting is 12 in-game hours)
Once you get out of power armor and start walking around your atrophy level will begin to decrease. Once you are below half way to the previous level of atrophy you will receive a message letting you know your body has begun to recover its strength. This indicates you now have a random chance of losing a level of atrophy that increases as your atrophy timer lowers, reaching 100% chance once you reach the minimum atrophy time for that level.!
For example, if I walk around in my power armor for 9 hours and my body starts to atrophy (I reach level 1), I would need to spend 3 (to get the timer back down to below 6) hours outside power armor to begin rolling for the atrophy level to be removed. The chance to remove the atrophy level increases the more time you spend outside power armor.
You cannot gain atrophy unless you are in power armor, and you cannot lose atrophy unless your are outside power armor.
You can also mod your power armor to use "resistive servos" which decrease the rate at which your body atrophies per piece worn at the expense of 10 Action Points. This takes up a mod slot but you get to stay in your power armor longer
FINE! BUT WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY DO???
Alright, here are the actual debuffs for each level of atrophy. Remember, debuffs only apply while you are OUTSIDE power armor.
At atrophy level 1 (after 6 - 12 total hours in power armor) your body begins to show sign of fatigue, but nothing too severe.
Action points refresh 10% slower
You can recover from this by spending 6 - 12 hours outside of power armor (shocker!).
At atrophy level 2 (after 16 - 21 total hours in power armor) your body shows even more signs of fatigue and your bone density starts to decrease.
Action points refresh 20% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
You can recover from this (back to level 1) by spending 5 - 10 hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 3 (after 25 - 29 total hours in power armor) your body shows yet more signs of fatigue and your muscle mass starts to decrease.
Action points refresh 30% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-1 Strength and -1 Endurance
You can recover from this (back to level 2) by spending 4 - 8 hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 4 (after 32 - 35 total hours in power armor) your body starts to fail you outside power armor. You can no longer sprint.
Action points refresh 40% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-2 Strength and -2 Endurance
You cannot sprint
You can recover from this (back to level 3) by spending 3 - 6 hours hours outside of power armor.
At atrophy level 5 (after 38 - 40 total hours in power armor) you can barely move outside power armor. As if you were always overburdened.
Action points refresh 50% slower
You take 25% additional limb damage
-3 Strength and -3 Endurance
You cannot run, much less sprint
You can recover from this (back to level 4) by spending 2 - 4 hours hours outside of power armor.
* These numbers/effects are based on the default settings.
Those are complicated numbers... Why?
Yeah, I know. I wanted there to be a random element to this so you can't 100% predict when you'll lose or gain atrophy. Also, I didn't want it to be binary where as soon as you gain atrophy you could hop out of power armor, lose it, hop back in and gain it back over and over and over again. This system strikes a balance where getting atrophy requires you to actually sacrifice some time outside your power armor to alleviate the issue.
This system also has the benefit of not really impacting you if all you do is play in power armor. Sure, managing your settlements would be difficult and crawling to a bed to get some sleep would be annoying, but if you immediately get back into your power armor which you've grown to depend on you're right as rain! Think of the realism!!!
OK... So... Why did you make this?
I really like power armor but I find it's far too powerful for its low cost to maintain. Fusion cores become common and vanilla repair costs are a joke.
Other mods like Some Assembly Required, Better Power Armor, and Scarcity address some of these concerns but even with these mods power armor is still, well, too powerful. My mod gives power armor another cost for continuous use, your fitness!
Neat! I'm going to install it and... Wait a minute... DOES THIS USE SCRIPTS???
Yeah, and I'm fairly new to modding, but I'm not new to coding efficiently! I only use event based timers attached to a quest with stages controlling when the script starts and stops. I also tried very hard to keep things efficient. The update script keeping track of your atrophy shouldn't be a big strain on your system.
As of version 1.1 you can adjust the period between atrophy level checks and updates using the in game settings holotape. The default period between updates is 5 real-life seconds and this can be increased to 10, 20, or 30 seconds. Raising the amount of time between checks will lower the script load but will reduce accuracy of atrophy tracking.
You mentioned a settings holotape? Can I tweak stuff???
Yep, there are a number of settings that can be adjusted using the settings holotape. Due to the way I scripted things, changing a setting requires the mod be disabled first, but don't worry, you can re-enable the mod from the holotape once you've made your changes! Most of the changes revolve around how quickly atrophy increases or decreases but you can also say which level of atrophy is the max attainable.
Uninstalling, how do I do that?
DISABLE THE MOD USING THE SETTINGS HOLOTAPE BEFORE UNINSTALLING!
Disabling the mod via the holotape cleanly shuts down the update script and removes any atrophy debuffs you might have. Failing to do so before removing the esp from your load order will cause any atrophy debuffs you have acquired to become permanent. Only once you have disabled the mod and your atrophy debuffs been removed should you uninstall from your data folder.
Updating procedure?
I will try to make all my updates not require you to do anything other than replace the ESP and BA2 files with the update. If any update I put out requires otherwise I will add special instructions to the change log or a sticky post.
Is this going to break any of my other mods?
I don't see how it could. Everything in this mod is standalone and doesn't touch vanilla records. I use a few vanilla hardcore scripts to disable running/sprinting but I haven't heard of any mods touching those particular scripts anyways. It should play nice with any and all mods. I recommend Some Assembly Required and Scarcity for an excellent combination of brutal and expensive, yet rewarding power armor.
Timescale settings will impact how quickly (from a real-life time perspective) you gain or lose atrophy. All my calculations are based on in-game time, so if you crank the timescale down you will accrue atrophy much slower than if you pushed the timescale up. It should be compatible with reasonable timescale changes (don't go lower than 5 as that tends to break quests and NPC AI). Absurdly high timescales where hours pass in a matter of seconds rather than minutes will break my script completely.
Can I install this mid play-through?
Yep. Everything should start up automatically after you move around for a bit. If you're starting a new play-through you wont actually get the settings tape until after you leave vault 111.
Got any future plans?
This isn't quite how I originally pictured the mod. I don't just want to punish players for using power armor, I also want to reward players for entering/exiting power armor strategically or using it only in certain situations when it provides a tactical advantage. However there are a few challenges to striking that balance and in the meantime I wanted to get this out because it was built.
If this gets enough traction and there aren't many problems, I could be convinced to publish this for Xbox. Sorry PS4 users, this uses scripts which aren't allowed on PS4.
If you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments. I'm always happy to hear feedback!