I don't know why this mod hasn't gotten more attention, is there a more popular alternative or something? It really makes the game experience better.
Sure, things start out fine in the game with Virals only showing up when you break a roof or cause an explosion or whatever, it was both reasonable and easily understood. But eventually they were showing up no matter how quiet I was, and I was getting beyond tired of them showing up constantly, without even being able to tell why. Eventually I made the connection with using toxic weapons, even if it made no sense by the established in-game logic of virals being attracted by loud noises, but only additional online research clarified the precise cause to be the post-death head explosions specifically. (Seriously, why... any of that?)
In the process or finding out why virals were showing constantly, I also found mods that promised to remove virals completely, but that seemed like a step too far, I just wanted to go back to early game mode where they were an incentive to be quiet, not remove them entirely. I was just about to give up when I finally found this mod, that did just what I wanted. And solved the issue of constantly taking toxic damage from those dumb toxic head explosions too, which was another annoyance. Unfortunately, it was in bad need of updating, but thanks to the author clearly marking his edits, it was a simple matter to apply those same changes to a current version of the file, and voila, the game became far less annoying, and stopped punishing me for using fire and toxic weapon modifications. I don't know what the devs were thinking regarding that whole head explosion mechanic, but whatever, mods to the rescue once again. If you ever stop by again and read this, thank you JovianStone. Even if the edits were simple, I doubt I'd have figured them out on my own.
Thanks! I went through the same process before making this mod. Why were all these Virals becoming alert?? Exploding heads making the same noise as a propane tank, ummmm...ok? I finally figured out the "Puke & Nuke", which I found really early in the game, was the main culprit. Molotovs being another. Lot's of people seem to either hate this mod, or love it. ;)
I just want to echo what LordValeth said here. I'm on my first playthrough on the "hard" setting because I don't like beating games too quickly and want some struggle, but the sheer amount of *constant* viral attacks was really removing the love I've grown for the game. I thought it was a shame because previously I enjoyed the Viral encounters. I was about to try a mod to remove virals entirely but knew I would hate that too. Tried this mod out and it's perfect. Still plenty of encounters but not as ridiculous as before. Thank you!
I play on Nightmare. So, this issue is pretty brutal for me; a mob of Virals is Bad News in Nightmare before you get to Legendary levels.
However, there is an easy way to avoid these Viral spawns without having to mod the game.
You just gotta pick out and eliminate the Biters with toxic fumes before you use fire on the larger mob. That's it.
There's plenty of options to do that: use a bow, use a silenced pistol, throw a firecracker to distract the mob and break the toxic Biter's neck. Then you can do your typical firecracker and moly combo on the rest of the group (although on Nightmare you also usually wanna throw some flammable liquid on them too, to do more damage).
It's also worth nothing that killing toxic Biters with fire has a gambit element to it: when their heads explode, the other biters around the explosion will start vomiting, and typically die. This is useful in Nightmare where even Biters can be obnoxiously difficult to kill *if* you can deal with the resulting Viral spawn efficiently.
So this mod removes that gameplay gambit from the game, and thus reduces an element of its depth.
Anyway. I'm not posting these comments to discourage people from using this mod. It's your game, do what you like with it. But do know what you're removing from the Techland intended experience before you do so.
The mod still propagates poison, it just removes the loud noise that alerts Virals. Heads still explode, exposing other zombies to poison.
I completely understand what you're saying , and those tactics can be, and are, fun, but can get rather monotonous in a game of this scope. At least it does for me.
I can't even tell if this works... I had little trouble in the Slums, but as soon as I hit Old Town I was assaulted by the usual constant, neverending stream of virals from everywhere and nowhere for no reason (even without using elemental weapons). Sometimes I climb something high and count them as they climb up after me and 3-6 of them at once isn't unusual. Is that not supposed to be the case, like do people just causally stroll through Old Town like it's no big thing, all free of virals? They're the reason I farm in the Slums so long before moving on.
I haven't been seeing nearly as many heads explode due to fire or electricity, but a script may be calling the virals *anyway*, silently, which is why I mention it.
This mod only affects Virals alerted by the combined elements of Fire & Poison, which causes heads to explode (loudly). It doesn't affect Viral spawn pools in any way.
this problem has driven me nuts too, so I was so happy to find this mod! problem is I can't get it to work. I tried putting it in the my documents folder which yeilds no effect and also merging it with the data3.pak file which makes game crash after I try to load save (continue) I would LOVE to get this working as I feel it fixes a major flaw with the game so any ideas would be welcomed. I have the following enhanced version. Thanks
I'd like to have an option to remove head explosions from firearms. It looks stupid, that every time you shoot someone in the Head, the head explodes like a balloon. Would you care to include such an option? I don't know how to fix it myself unfortunately.
Thank you, jovianstone! I came to nexusmods looking for this exact thing. Found it really annoying how I was basically a viral magnet when I'd go on killing sprees.
Yeah, virals add more fun to the game and its not like they are hard to kill. They die just as easy as the rest of them. One hit, dead.. The game is already too freaking easy but whatever I guess. I cant wait for the 10th, hard mode is coming!
You can click where it says TAGS "2 spots to the right of posts" and vote 3 times for the type of mod you think this fits under. Like "unrealistic" or "gameplay effects/changes" or whatever you want to pick. This helps people find a type of mod they might be looking for.
I have added so many mods to my game to increase the difficulty and, personally, I thought heads exploding alerting virals was a touch too much , especially at night or when stealth was critical, and even too....."unrealstic". Electricity could just as easily explode a head yet it didn't- so I found that electric and impact were the only mods I'd use.
But on top of it all I was most annoyed by the Puke & Nuke, and the fact that molotovs lost it's ability to kill groups of zombies silently. So if virals are alerted either way I would just use explosive traps and never make another molotov again. This makes them and other fire mods viable again.
edit: I added a way to make head explosions a bit more "random" there's an alternative file for download
Try using -Damage Normalization- on a high percentage and have 4 (or more) Virals attack you at the same time. It could take up to 3 hits to put each one down.
19 comments
Sure, things start out fine in the game with Virals only showing up when you break a roof or cause an explosion or whatever, it was both reasonable and easily understood. But eventually they were showing up no matter how quiet I was, and I was getting beyond tired of them showing up constantly, without even being able to tell why. Eventually I made the connection with using toxic weapons, even if it made no sense by the established in-game logic of virals being attracted by loud noises, but only additional online research clarified the precise cause to be the post-death head explosions specifically. (Seriously, why... any of that?)
In the process or finding out why virals were showing constantly, I also found mods that promised to remove virals completely, but that seemed like a step too far, I just wanted to go back to early game mode where they were an incentive to be quiet, not remove them entirely. I was just about to give up when I finally found this mod, that did just what I wanted. And solved the issue of constantly taking toxic damage from those dumb toxic head explosions too, which was another annoyance. Unfortunately, it was in bad need of updating, but thanks to the author clearly marking his edits, it was a simple matter to apply those same changes to a current version of the file, and voila, the game became far less annoying, and stopped punishing me for using fire and toxic weapon modifications. I don't know what the devs were thinking regarding that whole head explosion mechanic, but whatever, mods to the rescue once again. If you ever stop by again and read this, thank you JovianStone. Even if the edits were simple, I doubt I'd have figured them out on my own.
Why were all these Virals becoming alert?? Exploding heads making the same noise as a propane tank, ummmm...ok? I finally figured out the "Puke & Nuke", which I found really early in the game, was the main culprit. Molotovs being another. Lot's of people seem to either hate this mod, or love it. ;)
How do you "add" the data folder in the .zip to Data3.pak file?
However, there is an easy way to avoid these Viral spawns without having to mod the game.
You just gotta pick out and eliminate the Biters with toxic fumes before you use fire on the larger mob. That's it.
There's plenty of options to do that: use a bow, use a silenced pistol, throw a firecracker to distract the mob and break the toxic Biter's neck. Then you can do your typical firecracker and moly combo on the rest of the group (although on Nightmare you also usually wanna throw some flammable liquid on them too, to do more damage).
So this mod removes that gameplay gambit from the game, and thus reduces an element of its depth.
Anyway. I'm not posting these comments to discourage people from using this mod. It's your game, do what you like with it. But do know what you're removing from the Techland intended experience before you do so.
I completely understand what you're saying , and those tactics can be, and are, fun, but can get rather monotonous in a game of this scope. At least it does for me.
I haven't been seeing nearly as many heads explode due to fire or electricity, but a script may be calling the virals *anyway*, silently, which is why I mention it.
You can click where it says TAGS "2 spots to the right of posts" and vote 3 times for the type of mod you think this fits under. Like "unrealistic" or "gameplay effects/changes" or whatever you want to pick. This helps people find a type of mod they might be looking for.
But on top of it all I was most annoyed by the Puke & Nuke, and the fact that molotovs lost it's ability to kill groups of zombies silently. So if virals are alerted either way I would just use explosive traps and never make another molotov again. This makes them and other fire mods viable again.
edit: I added a way to make head explosions a bit more "random" there's an alternative file for download
Try using -Damage Normalization- on a high percentage and have 4 (or more) Virals attack you at the same time. It could take up to 3 hits to put each one down.
Btw, shock + poison results in impact. Similar yet not so similar stuff