REMINDER: This is a big overhaul mod, focusing on expanding play, while making the game a bit more difficult in a 'fair' way (example: no quadrupling health/resists on bad guys). Once the entire mod is complete, I will create a FOMOD, as well as separate some of the modules.


v2.7 update notes
TL;DR: v2.7: "The one where it got smaller and faster"
NEW! - Get the latest information (including contact info, patch notes, upcoming patches, etc) here: HARDtIMES Data Sheet and Contact Info

Overview-- Everything (textures, meshes, etc) has been reduced, consolidated, 'using greyscale palettes' and pretty much any other trick I've ever learned to get the raw size of the mod down to as small as possible. I also used 'Vanilla textures' and 'Vanilla meshes' when and where I could to again, reduce the size and 'weight' of the mod. Visuals should still be 'good' as I put most of the details lost into the normal maps. 

SIZE:
Original ~333MB uncompressed, 125MB compressed (ba2 archive)
Now ~150MB uncompressed, 66MB compressed (Ba2 archive) (daaaaaaaaaang!)

TEXTURES:
As above, textures tend to take the most size for mods like this. Roughly 50% decrease. 

POLYCOUNTS/MESH TRIANGLE COUNTS
I was worried that having too many polys (triangles, whatever you call them) would result in poor performance on console, and on weaker PCs. Nearly all the Ht meshes, from food to job stations have been dropped in count, and had those 'extra details' added to new normal maps. Reduction depends on object, but averages around 60%, with a range of 10%-90% (no, really!). They should still look as good as 'vanilla objects', but be much 'easier' to render, which should be great for those of you on lower-end machines, or (GASP!) on consoles.

BETHESDA MESH/TEXTURE/MATERIAL FIXES:
I came across literally dozens of janky meshes and materials and even textures where they were incorrectly coded, had incorrect textures, were in incorrect formats, were HUGE (why does a tiny tarberry edible need a 2048x2048 texture???) and who knows what else. I fixed all I came across

SCRIPTING:
Found a few weird errors with my scripts that could cause some weirdness with some other mods. I rewrote the scripts, fixing the issues (Hardtimes items now show up LAST in workshop order just to promote compatibility with other mods). 

WORKSHOP MENU CHANGES:
I've made more than a few changes to keep things in what I feel is an 'intuitive' arrangement, and to reduce the amount of digging deeper and deeper into menus to find the item you need. To make up for this, I have slowly started adding 'vanilla' menus under the Hardtimes menu to keep you from having to backtrack back and forth through the menus. Vanilla menus should be 100% untouched.

ITEM CHANGES:
In preparation for the 'big huge item/workshop constructible/pricing/weight/recipe' overhaul, all items should have 'vanilla values' temporarily. Ht books and boxes have also had their weight reduced. 

CHEATS:
Ht Books and Boxes have been added to a 'cheat menus' within the Chem Crafting stations. This can help you check/playtest higher-level workstations quicker. And probably make you stinking rich if you abuse it. Cheat menus will always be temporary from this point on, and will basically include the items/scripts I use to playtest. 

MINOR/MAJOR ITEM CHANGES/FIXES:
I done goofed, and some of my upcoming item edits/changes leaked through to this update. Surprise!

BETHESDA OTHER FIXES:
Came across too many 'weird bugs' in bethesda's stuff to count. I fixed each one, but they mostly related to stuff I mentioned above (plants, textures, etc). Seriously, wtf bethesda???
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STANDARD MOD INFO BELOW:

GOAL: The full HARDtIMES overhaul will attempt to convert normal vanilla FO4 into something more along the lines of a 'Post-apocalyptic Survival/Sim' and less of a 'Hoard all the loot, shoot a badguy 20k times in the face while they spam-throw grenades at you'. Tougher (in a fair way), and eventually, more sim/RPG elements than most would care to even worry about. "Harder, but Smarter", ok?


TL;DR: This volume (mod) adds 'less loot', 'Smarter, yet more vulnerable enemies' and 'Jobs for settlers to compensate for the less loot/tougher enemy combo'. 


OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT VOLUME:

Enemies:
- Enemy AI has had minor-to-drastic changes across the board. Expect enemies to act differently and more shrewdly (more tactical movement, flanking, etc)
- Enemy AI has been tweaked to make each enemy group (example: gunners vs raiders) different enough to where they 'act' different many times. 
- Enemy locational damage has had minor-to-drastic changes across the board, taking less damage in many scenarios.
+/- Enemies now have simpler damage calcs in survival/hardcore (basically 1:1, where vanilla had it they deal 2x, they take .5)
+/- Enemies in some cases have different weak spots, or points on the body that now take more/less damage than previously
+/- Enemies now take different damage according to how small or large they are. Smaller=more damage. Bigger=less damage.
+ To compensate for the AI changes and the locational damage changes and so forth, minor-to-drastic changes have been made to all 'vulnerable points', making them take more damage. 


Loot:
- Loot is now 'fewer in number, better in usefulness'. Many containers will come up empty, but those that do have items in them will tend to have 'better loot' than before. 
-  Caps across the board have been reduced, as well, which will force you to barter, or acquire your loot through other means (stealing, killing, etc).
+/- New items have been added to vendor lists, but vendor lists have also had the 'fewer, but better' ideal applied.
+/- More caps available from vendors, rewards, etc. Fewer caps available 'just laying around' or 'in animals.
+ Enemy Bosses and boss chests will tend to have much more and better loot. 


Livelihood
+ To compensate for the massive changes to enemies and loot, new flora and job stations have been added to the game for settlers to use.
+ Each plantable Plant now has 4 'tech levels': Wild, Domesticated, Engineered, and Growhouse/Hydro
+ There are now 18 total plants.
+ Each plant has a minimum of 5 results when picked: Failed Crop, Spoiled Crop, Normal Crop, Good/Fresh Crop, scrap item. 
+ Each plant has its own textures, destroyed 'hulk' mesh, and so on.
+ That means there are 72 'new plants', each with their own loot lists. Neat.
+ There are now 14 'smithing/crafting' job categories, 3 'scavenging' categories, and 3 'not farming' food categories, each having 3 'tech levels'. This means there are 23 new jobs, for a total of 69 new workshop items, each with their own loot lists, hulks, and so on. Most add to Food or Happiness totals at this time.
+ This means i can basically lie and say "OVER 150 NEW WORKSHOP ITEMS!" when it's really just 18 plants and 23 jobs that just have lots of tech levels.
+ As part of the above, many new food items (fish, etc), misc items (seeds), books, and even large special 'kits' have been added to the game. Have fun collecting them all!
- As part of the above, tech levels above a certain point will require books or other nonstandard recipe items to be created in the workshop
 
GENERAL (not really a direct part of any of the other categories)
+ Random fixes, patches, etc.
+ All kinds of new workshop categories, workshop icons, and so forth.
+ New workshop scripts to allow for better loot capacity in workshops, and basically a lot of under-the-hood stuff to make settlers work a bit better in game.


COMPATIBILITY

Known issues (this is where things will clash, and I can't do anything about it unless folks want to work with me on making patches)

** Loot lists (if they don't inject their new stuff into 'vanilla' formlists and leveled lists, and just override everything, then it is THAT mod author's fault, not mine!)

** Workshop Scripts (These will always clash. If you want my upgraded changes to settlement loot, and my job stations to properly 'produce' when away, make sure mine is last in order)

** Enemy AI changes (These will always clash. Put my mod last in order if you want a superior ai experience)


If you find other clashes or missing items, let me know and I will update this list. 

Bethesda PC link (why? You're already here???): https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/2128080
XBONE: https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/2128931
PS4: https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/2128723


KNOWN BUGS:
Still can't figure out how to make harvested/collected items that used leveled lists to show what you harvested from them... :(
Codsworth, Danse, and Curie will need some heavy tweaking or all-new NPCs in order to properly adjust their AI and such :(


Please contact me if you find bugs or errors.
All stuff created with in-game assets, 3ds Max, GiMP, Nifskope, FO4Edit, and/or CK. Also, I used the heck out of BAE, Champollion, and MaterialEditor.



*Note: This mod is probably none of these things, just harder, and more survival-like. My main influences were STALKER, State of Decay, and the early Resident Evil/Biohazard games. I just wanted to use as many buzzwords as possible. :)