Okay, Kids, here's the deal on the new NosCo companions.

There are now two packages.

The 'Basic' companions are what you've all been playing for the last year plus. 1.7B is simply a repackage of the 1.7 mod with the new eye textures and corrected hair meshes I've worked up in the last few months.

The new 'Advanced' companions are the first version of what I've been trying to bring you since this little ride began. The advanced companions feature individually set up Type 3 meshes and textures (included via the generous permission of Dimon99), custom combat styles, and realistic AI data for the companions' personalities.

How to choose: if you want robots who do nothing but fight and mule and look pretty in whatever degrading outfit you've downloaded this week, you want the basic companions pack.

Some of the girls in the advanced companions pack will flee from combat under certain conditions. They have their own individual combat styles tailored to their personality. Some will even ignore 'collateral damage' when using explosives.

The basic companions pack, such as it is, is done. It will no longer be updated, save to correct heretofore unknown bugs and such. No new features will be added, no further adjustments made to appearance, etc.

All future updates will go to the advanced companions. The basic package is being left up solely as a courtesy to players who may not want quite as much... 'immersion'.

I should also note that because the included Type 3 bodies are technically nude, the file entry is being flagged as adult only.

Do not upload nude screenshots of the companions. I will remove them without warning given.





*Changelog:

v2: As of this version, the Advanced version here splits from the basic version.

Companions now include custom type 3 bodies and skin textures, as well as individual combat styles, personality-specific AI settings, and more custom dialog.

If you want companions who are machines that will never flee, and only fight how you tell them, this version is not for you.

Companions now also include some basic information on their backstories, and may sometimes have comments on your mission(s).

Dialog option has been added to the 'change class' menu to revert the companion back to their proper combat style, if you have for some reason changed it.

New dialog menu added: "Can I ask you a personal question?" Will be on the top level of dialog. Your choices are "Tell me about yourself." and "What do you think about our current mission?" Certain companions will also display the "Do you have any special skills?" option.

Details can be found further down, in the readme proper.

Lastly, there have been a few minor cosmetic tweaks, as well.




*General:
With this plugin installed and running, you'll find ten new companions to recruit for your adventures in the Capital Wasteland.

The companions start in various locations, spread across the wasteland. I have not changed the game's fast travel markers, so if you haven't visited the locations already, you'll have to walk there the hard way.


Starting locations:

Kate Sastri - Craterside Supply.

Maeva and Engel - Megaton's Common House.

Alma Ryan - in Saint Monica's church in Rivet City, though may have wandered anywhere within the Mid Deck.

Celia - Rivet City Market.

Ellie Levi - Jocko's Pop and Gas Stop.

Melody Jensen - Paradise Falls, near the bar.

Kotone Ichijou - Underworld's concourse.

Cohen Sisters - abandoned tent, just south of an old satellite relay station.

Note: If you've already blown up Megaton in your game, you're SOL on Kate, Maeva and Engel. I have no plans to move their starting locations right now.


*Custom Bodies:
This version includes Type3 custom body meshes and textures, set up with custom races to allow the companions to have varying bodies.

These meshes and textures were created by Dimon99, and only included here via his considerable generosity. If you like them, I fully recommend dropping by the Type 3 file entry and dropping in an endorsement. They really are the best thing going in Fallout 3.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4280

Custom body meshes are in labeled subdirectories, and can be changed simply by dropping a new femaleupperbody.nif file into the directory for the body you wish to replace.

Textures are named what they are, rather than using subdirectories.

Companion usage is as follows:

Alma: 'Slim' body, Strip2 texture.

Celia: 'BaseHD' body, Waxed texture.

Cohen sisters: 'Slim' body, Strip2 texture.

Ellie: 'BaseHD' body, Trim2 texture.

Engel: 'BerryHD' body, Waxed texture.

Kate: 'Alice' body and texture.

Maeva: 'Cali' body, Waxed texture.

Melody: 'BaseHD' body, Waxed texture.

Kotone: Does not have a Type3 body or texture, and you are a sick person for wondering.

All applicable companions use the 'Default' face, except for Kate, who uses the Alice face made specifically for her body. All use the normal Type 3 hands, again, except for Kate. The Alice body comes as a total package, and I saw best results by using it all together.


*Special Features:
Companions in this version also include some new dialog. They will talk a bit about their past, as well as comment on some of your active quests.

These new options are available from a new dialog option on the top level, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

This will Grant access to: "Tell me about yourself." "What do you think about our current mission?" and on certain companions "Do you have any special skills?"

"Tell me about yourself." Will cause the companion to tell you a bit about their past and themselves... in most cases. This dialog is a bit sparse at the moment, but I plan to expand the things you can talk to them about in the future.

"What do you think about our current mission?" Will display a list of your currently running quests that the companion has a comment on. Some comments are helpful tips, others are empty snark or simple well-wishes. If the companion has nothing to say about any of your current quests, the option will not appear. Again, this one is sparse at present, but I plan to expand it. There are simply a lot of quests out there. Also bear in mind that companions may only be willing to offer their opinion if it's pertinent to the specific quest stage currently active. If earlier or later in the quest, they may not mention it.

"Do you have any special skills?" This option appears for Alma, Celia, Engel, Kate, Mai, Melody, and Sabine. Selecting it will allow the companion to "add" their skill to your own, in the form of a semi-permanent 25 point boost to the relevant skill. This boost is removed if they leave your party from either a stay or breakup command.

Alma helps you with Medicine.

Celia helps with Barter.

Engel helps with Lockpick.

Kate helps with Science.

Melody helps with repairs.

Mai and Sabine do not grant a skill boost, but will instead teach you to use power armor, if you don't already know how. The power armor training is permanent, and will not be removed if they leave your party.

Also please be aware that 'Group Orders' are not accessible from any companion in this package, nor do group orders issued from other companions affect these companions in any way. This was unfortunately necessary to maintain some scripting details on my end.



*Playing:
In this version, there are no quest or karma requirements to recruit any of the companions.

Companions each have their own unique hiring dialog. You will be presented with two options. One hires, the other does not. Choices should be clear, but aren't as simple as yes and no. Note: though she may sounds upet with you, if you choose not to hire the companion, she will still give you the option of hiring her at a later date.

All companions are set to essential.

Followers using the Vault 1 Companion script will follow you and fight alongside you to as close to death as essential NPCs get. They can be ordered to loot, but will sometimes loot corpses and pick up items laying about of their own volition.

Companions do not start with a pip-boy, but can be given one from the appropriate dialog menu. Companions not wearing a pip-boy will not have the option to turn on its light.

They can be ordered to stay put, or guard an area. Telling them to stay in an outdoor cell is not usually a great idea, as they do tend to wander a bit, and may prove difficult to find later on, without the tracking system's aid.

If you find that you no longer require their services, any or all of the girls are perfectly happy to live inside Vault 1. Depending on which companion is in question, they will eat, sleep, cook, work in the lab and/or clinic, wander, spend time in the pub, and go for swims. Maeva will sometimes patrol the vault, looking for intruders upon which to introduce to a world of hurt.

Though they can and will use whatever weapons you put into their hands, the companions are better with some weapons than others. Nine of them use a custom ranged weapon class, with small guns, energy weapons, and big guns set as their tag skills. Engel is the exception, as she was designed as a sniper's partner, or to provide long range interdiction fire while Maeva puts up a wall of lead. Her tag skills are small guns, energy weapons, and sneak. There is a melee class, although none of my companions use it as this time. That may change in the future if there's enough demand for an infighter.

All companions can use Power Armor from the start.

Starting armor is set, and assigned based on what seemed appropriate to the personality of the companion. Starting armaments for the companions will vary from game to game, as their weapon loadouts are drawn from various leveled lists, as are their starting money, and chems.

While all start with some caps, you will not be able to purchase the upgrades for your house just from recruiting all ten followers.

Because of the weapons being drawn from leveled lists, most of the companions' starting weapons are fully compatible with weapon mods like 20th Century Weapons. In fact, I use 20th Century Weapons, and the girls routinely start with weapons and ammunition from that mod. Starting weapons are based on your level, the first time you enter the cell where the companion is waiting to be recruited.

Companion default armor are all standard game items. This means that if you give them another piece of armor that is in the Wardrobe system, it may be removed if you tell them to change clothing later. If you lose a piece of armor or clothing in this fashion, ordering the companion to change into that outfit will respawn it in their inventory. You can then take it from them, and simply order them to put on something again.



*Combat Behavior:
Companions have personality-specific combat styles and AI settings. Based on their personality, some may or may not flee from dangerous combat.

All ten combat styles are based on a prototype I designed and heavily tested for my personal companions, based largely on the tactics and behavior taught to USSOCOM troops, otherwise known as "Operators". NPCs using the Operator combat style will engage targets from much longer range than default, they fire in shorter bursts, use semi-automatic weapons more quickly to get off multiple aimed shots at an opponent, tend to move laterally under fire - rarely forward or back - and will actively seek and use cover, especially if they can't find exactly where their attacker is.

I haven't been able to get it to work consistently, but I've even seen them move in bounding overwatch patterns, and team-work corners coming through a doorway.

Companions can also now use stealthboys, if one or more is left in their inventory. It will be activated upon their detecting an enemy and switching to combat mode. Companions won't always use one, though.

Unfortunately, because many of the companions in this package are NOT trained professionals, they needed their behavior changed in many cases.

In general, you can get a decent idea of how the companion will perform based on their personality.

Alma, Engel, Maeva, Mai, and Sabine are all trained, experienced warriors. They will virtually never flee, and are all quite adept at combat.

Melody and Celia have some experience, but are not front line soldiers. They fight competently, but WILL back away from overwhelming odds.

Ellie, Kate, and Kotone are inexperienced, untrained, and carry and use weapons only by sheer necessity of the situation. They will flee from high risk situations, and are much more likely to take cover and stay there longer when the lead starts to fly.

Beyond those outlines, I think it will be more fun all around to let you learn the specifics of their personalities on your own.



*Requirements:
RR Companions Vault found at http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3644


*Helpful addons:
Fallout Mod Manager, by Timeslip: This is a virtual necessity if you run mods at all, but apparently many people still don't use it. Download it, install it, use it. Not only is it easier on you, but it's easier on the people who write mods, too. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=640

20th Century Weapons, by Einherjrar: This mod introduces literally hundreds of new weapons, that all actually exist - rather than Fallout's overly stylized and non-existing weapons. Can be configured to work side-by-side with FO3's standard spawns, or to replace them totally. Another mod I fully recommend, and use constantly. In fact, I went to the trouble of setting up my companions' leveled weapon lists based on the lists this mod uses, so that they can spawn with 20th Century Weapons from the start. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5059

CALIBR Ammo Schematics - CRAFT, by Bilarion: Rolling your own is a virtual necessity with 20th Century Weapons, as with dozens of weapons come more than a dozen types of ammunition to keep up with. Especially useful when handing belt fed weapons to a companion, as they chew through ammo like it's going out of style. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4514

TUPAM - The Ultimate Power Armor Mod, by Drag0ntamer: This mod revamps all power armor into the powerful equipment it was supposed to be, rather than the neutered tin cans Bethesda gave us. Also adds night vision capability to all power armor helmets. Extremely useful, and puts the game back closer to traditional Fallout lore, for people who care about that sort of thing. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6128


*DLC:
The only DLC I own is Operation Anchorage, and this mod uses NONE of its resources, so OA should not be required. Unfortunately, as I own no others, I can not vouch for compatibility one way or the other. The companions will, however, at least be able to level with you to 30 if you have Broken Steel.


*Incompatibilities and Bugs:

I had a non-replicatable bug occur where one of the followers became seperated, and didn't catch up to us for a couple hours. Once she did, she was stuck thinking she was taking damage - yelping and twitching, even though health wasn't dropping. Waiting and resetting her AI didn't stop it. The only solution I was able to find was to pull a clean save: remove any items I wanted to save from the companions (all of them), save and exit, uncheck the mod and restart the game, save again, then exit, recheck the mod, and start the game. This resets all the companions to their default, initial spawn states. There has been no possibility of save corruption that I've seen thus far, and it's a simple matter to re-recruit the companions. This bug has now been encountered by a few others, however its cause remains unknown, as there are no hard commonalities between instances.

Occasionally, when looking through a companion's inventory, you'll see two of the equipped weapon, and the ammunition will be hidden. This seems to be a bug in Fallout 3 itself, and I have no idea how to fix it from a scripting standpoint. If it bothers you, simply taking the weapon from the companion, closing the share window, and then opening a new share and giving it back has always fixed the problem for me.

From time to time, a companion will not equip a certain weapon, even if the damage is higher than the one they're using. This seems to almost be personal preference of the companion. My advice would be to only give your companions one weapon each, to be sure they use the one you want them to.

Very occasionally, a companion may get her wires crossed immediately after hiring, and attempt to go somewhere OTHER than following you. This is a known issue, and I'm working on it. If a companion tries to walk away, simply talk to her, and tell her to follow. That will re-add the following package, and should solve the issue.


I don't run FOOK. I don't see why the mods would be incompatible, but I can't promise they'll play nicely together, either.

I absolutely recommend AGAINST using the Unofficial Patch, or FO3Edit's "MasterUpdate" function. Either one WILL cause problems, not just with my companions, but the RR Companion Vault series of mods on the whole.


*Installation:
Unzip files into your Fallout 3\Data\ directory with the directory structure intact. Custom meshes and textures should end up in the correct directory automatically, but if for some reason they don't, the correct paths are: Data\textures\characters\Nos' Companions\ and Data\Meshes\Characters\Nos' Companions\

Once un-archived, check the box next to Nos' RR Companions.esm in your mod manager. In load order, my esm should come directly after the last of the RR esm files. For instance, on my installation, it goes:

Fallout3.esm
Anchorage.esm
HairPack.esm
Enhanced Weather - Rain and Snow.esm
CRAFT.esm
CALIBR.esm
20th Century Weapons.esm
RRCompanionVault.esm
RR5MoreFemales.esm
Nos' RR Companions.esm
RR Vault 1 Alternate Guards.esm



And then into the 50+ other ESPs I run.

It's important that any weapon master files you run be loaded BEFORE my mod, with the .esp files that modify the leveled lists coming AFTER, if you want the girls to spawn with the weapons.

As the custom textures don't replace anything, no additions should need to be made to Archiveinvalidation.txt, if you for some reason refuse to use Archiveinvalidationinvalidated with FOMM.


*Uninstallation:
Take any items you wish to save from the companions. If you don't take it, it vanishes with them. Save and exit the game. Uncheck Nos' RR Companions.esm from your mod manager. Delete Nos' RR Companions.esm from your data directory, as well as Data\textures\characters\Nos' Companions\ and Data\Meshes\Characters\Nos' Companions\


*Reuse:
I'd prefer you not modify and re-release this mod. I don't really have any interest in it being integrated into a larger mod, either, as I have a nasty habit of changing my mind and rewriting things on short notice. However, if you're dead-set on an idea, PM me and I'll hear you out.

Reposting to other sites is permissible, PROVIDED you give full credit to me, and a link back to either my Nexus profile or this file's entry.

Regarding the meshes and textures:

The custom hairs included in this archive are NOT created by me, and have only been modified by me slightly. They are included as a courtesy to the players to simplify installation, and only with the gracious blanket permission of Yoshikinakota.

Eye textures are created by me, but may be reused at your whim without explicit permission from me. I ask only that you give credit.

Custom bodies are, as stated above, created by and property of Dimon99, and are included here to simplify installation for the end-user, with the gracious permission of Dimon99.

*Thanks:
I'd like to thank ttomwv for going to the inordinate amount of trouble he did to port and troubleshoot the CM companions scripts from Oblivion. Without that, this mod of mine wouldn't exist. Also for talking me into joining the RR team, and then trusting me enough to leave the mod in my care.

Also, thanks to Yoshikinakota for converting the hair meshes from Oblivion. It fills a huge hole Bethesda left in the character style department, and thanks also for allowing their reuse and repackaging with other mods.

Huge thanks to Dimon99, not only for creating the Type3 meshes and textures, but for graciously allowing me to include them in this archive direct, to simplify download and installation prodecures for you all.