Overview: This file enhances NPCs' ability to detect the player at medium and long ranges, ameliorating the wildly OP state of sniping in vanilla NV.
The core intent of this system is to make NPCs less braindead and easy pickings when getting shot at by a sniper. The system is intended to allow NPCs to actually detect the player at medium-long ranges, even when they're far enough away that their clothes start flickering when viewed through a scope.
Functionality: By default, one or two shots from an unsuppressed Anti-Material Rifle at medium range will cause a player that's unskilled in Sneak to become detected. .308 sniper rifles usually allow for about four or five rounds before being detected.
Silencers/suppressors allow for ~3x as many rounds to be fired before detection.
Sneak skill and bonuses will still all apply and assist with avoiding detection as normal.
Please note that the intent of this system is not realism. The core intent is to modify sniping to be a mechanically engaging and meaningful option without turning the game into a shooting gallery with no challenge.
With this system, you'll have to give greater consideration to things like clip size, reload speed, and rate of fire, carrying backup weapons will be more important, suppressors/silencers will be a must for prolonged long-range combat and for reducing detection in interiors, placing mines on avenues of approach around you will increase survivability, and ensuring that there is cover around you to hide behind between firing and reloading will be much more consequential.
How It Works: In vanilla, weapons have one of three sound levels: Silent, normal, or loud. Based on these values, the game creates a "detection event" when an attack occurs with the weapon, which is a signal to npcs and creatures that a sound occurred there. Projectiles also create detection events based on the same three sound levels at the place that they impact. The vanilla "loud" sound level's detection event is very small. As a result, npcs and creatures generally notice projectile impact locations, rather than the location of the attacking entity. This system simply creates a much larger detection event based on formulatic calculations, which dramatically improves enemies' ability to detect the player properly.
SDDS' formula takes into account the volume level of the weapon, weapon type, whether the weapon is suppressed or silenced, if it's automatic, and how "loud" it's ammo is. Repeated shots increase the size of each shot's detection event, and this scalar increase fades between shots.
Loud ammos include 12.7mm, fuel, .50mg, rockets, and 12 ga. All energy ammo is considered "loud" because energy weapons are often loud and/or produce a bright projectile that makes you easier to locate. Normal ammos include missiles, .45, .44, .357, 5.56, and .308. Missiles are lower than rockets cause rockets have a big bright red trail coming off of them. All other vanilla and unrecognized ammos are considered quiet ammo unless patched into the other two lists. These ammos have a factor of 1x in the formula for the detection penalty of each shot.
Automatic weapons have a substantial reduction in their detection penalty, so that make burst firing doesn't immediately max out the system. The idea is that firing a burst basically creates one "block" of noise, and it doesn't give away your position as much as multiple separated shots would. Changing from interior cell to exterior cell, interior to interior cell, or interior to exterior cell will halve the current detection penalty. The idea is that if there were the sounds of a gunfight coming from inside, when an enemy is outside, or vice versa, that they would be more wary of someone coming through a door, but not as wary of that as if the shots are coming from inside when they're inside, or outside while they're outside. Exploitable, but I imagine firing a few times then going in and back out a door and doing so again feels so contrived that most people wouldn't bother, and it has diminishing returns each time you do it sequentially. This feature can also be used to intentionally reduce the penalty quickly for testing without having to use the console. Fast traveling, (regardless of distance), will reset the detection penalty to 0.
Melee and unarmed non-throwing weapons will not incur a penalty. Throwing weapons incur different penalties, based on whether they're considered "knives", "hatchets", or "spears". Knives incur a small penalty, hatchets a medium one, and spears a large one. A throwing spear literally points to basically where it came from when it lands after all. Weapons in, and/or using, the vanilla throwing weapon repair lists (including knife spears) will automatically be categorized correctly. Thrown grenades will incur 5% the normal penalty, and mines will incur 1% the normal penalty.
This file was built as part of an old Your Buddy Is Dead version. As of now the YBID system needs some kinks worked out, and though it's toggle-able, it's not currently intended to be active. This file should not be used with Your Buddy Is Dead. In the event that YBID's kinks are worked out at some point, it's fixes will be transposed in here, it will be re-engaged, and SDDS' interfacing with that system will be described.
Customization: The base per-shot detection hit, ammo and sound penalties, automatic weapon reduction amount, rate of detection penalty dispersal, amount per dispersal, and cell change reduction can all be customized in the Dynamic Detection System Config.ini. A debug system can be enabled that will allow you to see the calculations occur in the console after each shot. YBID config ini is currently not intended to be modified.
Requirements: JIP LN, xNVSE, Johnny, the usual stuff.
Installation: Regular installation. Please endorse and vote if you appreciate the mod.
I won't be doing a Caliber patch, but I'll link one here if someone puts one up and reminds me to promote it here.
Compatibility:
Limitations: If mod authors mark high caliber weapon mods as silencers, there's nothing I can do about it. Unfortunately, scripts cannot access that very specifc mod effect, so I can't script to systemically adjust that.
Bugs: Please post bugs in the bugs tab, not the posts. I get a notification when bugs are posted, but I have too many mods to keep up on the posts on all of them routinely.
Questions: Make it more realistic?
Please note that the intent of this system is not realism. The core intent is to modify sniping to be a mechanically engaging and meaningful option without turning the game into a shooting gallery with no challenge.
Credits: Nihilisaurus for the YBID system and consultation. Permissions: Do whatever.
Support: If you'd like to support my modding work or say thanks, feel free to donate via the Nexus or here at Ko-Fi.
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