About this mod
Fallout 2\'s Marcus makes a return as a full-fledged companion, ready to assist the Courier in taking down the forces of Caesar\'s Legion and changing the face of New Vegas for years to come.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
Name: Marcus Companion
Version: 0.80
Date: 1/8/2011
Category: Companions
Author: DRG6520
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|TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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1. Description & Features
2. Installation
3. Compatibility Concerns!!! PLEASE READ !!!
4. Known Issues
5. Version History
6. Uninstallation
7. Frequently Asked Questions
8. Future Plans / Modder's Musings
9. Contact Info
10. Credits
11. Disclaimers / Usage
12. Other Mods By Me
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| 1 | Description & Features
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This mod allows you to recruit Marcus the Super Mutant, located at Jacobstown in Fallout New Vegas. Options to recruit him appear once you when you complete the quests "Guess Who I Saw Today" and "Unfriendly Persuasion." It does not matter just HOW you finish those quests as long as you DON'T FAIL THEM. So you can let Keene leave, shoot up the mercs, whatever, but don't go attacking Jacobstown or murdering anyone. You must pass either a speech check or a barter check (of 50 each); both are infinitely repeateable like most skill checks in the vanilla game.
As a companion, Marcus features:
- Fully voiced dialogue, including new lines painstakingly spliced from Michael Dorn's cameo role in New Vegas.
- Full integration into the companion wheel.
- A minigun and the classic Fallout super sledge (provided courtesy of DaiShiHUN) as default weapons. Can be toggled via dialogue.
- A radio transceiver allows you to "summon" him to you should he get lost. Ask him about it in dialogue after hiring him.
- Keeping him as a companion grants you the F.E.V. Diplomacy perk that gives you bonuses in price haggling when the hulking mutant is looming right behind you.
- Ability to define a custom home for Marcus to hang out at, as well as sandbox mode while waiting.
- Draws his weapon simultaneously with you while in aggressive mode, automatically drops into sandbox while you're sitting down, and can be explicitly told to hang out through dialogue.
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| 2 | Installation
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1. Extract the contents of this archive. Copy the meshes, texture, and sound folders, plus "drgNV - Marcus Companion.esp" into (install directory)\fallout new vegas\Data. If it prompts you to overrite any files, do so.
2. Start FOMM, place a checkmark beside the "drgNV - Marcus Companion.esp" file.
3. Play your game up to a point where you've completed "Guess Who I Saw Today" and "Unfriendly Persuasion", then talk to Marcus with 50 speech or barter.
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| 3 | Compatibility Concerns
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As is obvious, any mod that changes Marcus' NPC record (such as AI changes, state & inventory changes, etc.) will NOT be compatible. However, any mod that simply replaces his default model and/or texture should be compatible without any outside tweaking required. If you are experiencing conflicts (as in, Marcus will not follow you properly despite being considered a companion), move "drgNV - Marcus Companion.esp" farther down in FOMM so that it overwrites the changes from the conflicting mod.
Even if you THINK there's nothing that would conflict, please try moving my mod further down the list before you come filing a bug report. I've gone through all this before, and 99% of the time the problem is what's described above.
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| 4 | Known Issues
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- He hasn't been integrated into any vanilla scripts such as casinos, Caesar's tent entrance, etc. mostly out of compatibility issues. Part of his script will force him to your position if he's not properly transitioning with you, which should squash a few potential issues -- Vault 22 comes to mind. Otherwise, there ARE going to be issues with him going into places he shouldn't for plot reasons (Caesar's tent, etc.) and carrying weapons into casinos until I figure out the best way to address this.
- Super mutant mouths animate horribly, ESPECIALLY with the lip sync generated by the Oblivion construction set. Try not to look too hard at his face.
- Passive / aggressive currently does nothing. This is an issue with the vanilla game, and if it is not addressed in a coming patch then I'll implement my own version of it.
- Marcus' minigun can be a bit glitchy in terms of graphics. This is a vanilla game bug, and can be temporarily corrected by switching his fighting styles or opening his inventory.
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| 5 | Version History
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0.70 (11/14/2010)
- Initial Beta Release
0.71 (11/14/2010)
- Tweaked Marcus' running speed to match Lily's.
- Fixed a dialogue bug in the hiring sequence.
0.80 (1/8/2011)
- Tweaked a few dialogue lines and added more for variety's sake, including reactions to overburdens and stimming.
- Added a radio so that the player can issue combat commands and fix any "vanishing acts" at their leisure. Ask him about it in dialogue.
- Added sandbox behavior, triggered either by a dialogue option OR by sitting down with him following.
- Added the ability to toggle his default weapons, for those who'd rather use something different.
- Fixed a few lines that were missing voiceovers.
- Changed firing behavior to match the latest patches; he now is teleported directly home unless you're already inside it.
- Added perks that give Marcus reasonable abilities based on his race - knockdown with melee weapons and tougher limbs.
- Modified F.E.V. Diplomacy's effect; it now gives you better discounts when buying, something that's a bit more useful than a bonus that quickly becomes obsolete.
- Added an actual reaction to the player advancing the storyline in the Legion's favor. He'll get pissed and leave, basically.
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| 6 | Uninstallation
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1. Delete the ‘drgNV - Marcus Companion.esp’ from your \fallout new vegas\Data\ folder.
2. Delete the 'drgNV - Marcus Companion.esp' FOLDER from your \fallout new vegas\Data\Sound\Voice\ folder.
3. Delete the 'drgNV' FOLDER from your \fallout new vegas\Data\Textures\ folder.
4. Delete 'supersledgeCL.nif' from your \fallout new vegas\Data\Meshes\weapons\2handmelee\ folder.
5. Delete the following textures from your \fallout new vegas\Data\textures\weapons\2handmelee\ folder:
- 1stpersonsupersledgeCL.dds
- 1stpersonsupersledgeCL_n.dds
- supersledgeCL.dds
- supersledgeCL_n.dds
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| 7 | Frequently Asked Questions
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If you have a particular problem, technical or otherwise, please consult this list before reporting it to the mod's discussion. I don't write this stuff for therapeutical reasons; I do it to enlighten the user and offer solutions to common problems so that they don't have to wait for me to sporadically pop in and give an answer. That it also prevents headaches from answering the same, simple questions over and over and over again is just a bonus.
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Q: Where can I find Marcus?
A: He's located in Jacobstown, a small community of Super Mutants in the mountain that occupies the northwest corner of the map. He guards the entrance to town and will greet you upon arrival. Besides finding the town yourself, you will end up going there for the quests "Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog" and "For Auld Lang Syne". The first prerequisite quest is trigged by talking to Doctor Henry inside the lodge. The second is obtained from Marcus himself, and is often triggered the second time you bump into him.
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Q: I finished both of the quests required, but no dialogue options appear that will let me hire Marcus.
A: You must finish both quests SUCCESSFULLY, as in you cannot fail them (by killing key members of Jacobstown). Also, note that using the console to complete the quests will NOT work, because the script checks for a very specific quest stage that simply ending the quest will not account for. If you completed either quest with the console and have this problem, you may open up the console once more and enter:
SetStage 0013F405 100 ( if "Guess Who I Saw Today")
SetStage 00148A34 100( if "Unfriendly Persuation")
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Q: Okay, so the game says that Marcus is hired, the wheel pops up and everything, but he doesn't follow me. He just goes right back to Jacobstown where he usually stands.
A: Please read the Compatibility Concerns section. This is a very common oversight that mod users experience if they don't understand load order importance. Of course, most users probably can't even be bothered to read this, so you deserve a cookie if you experience this problem and actually read this section for a solution instead of reporting it as an issue.
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Q: The speech checks are too high for my character. Please lower them or let me get Marcus to join me without them.
A: If you're looking for a companion who mindlessly joins you within the first 10 seconds of meeting you, look elsewhere or deal with it. I make my mods with a specific vision in mind; to integrate them into the vanilla experience with as few seams as possible. That happens to entail a responsible character that does not just join up with you for shits and giggles. Had I the voice resources I would make it even harder, but I'm satisfied with the current method of doing everything you can for Jacobstown and THEN making a decent argument on what he has to gain by joining you.
At any rate, Party-Time Mentats and a Meeting People magazine go a LONG way in this game.
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Q: In case you didn't know, Marcus is actually from Fallout 2 and has a ton of dialogue there that you could use.
A: Yes, I did know, but no, that dialogue (a scant 70 lines) is not useable. At least in my opinion. It's too different in quality from his FNV records to the point that I think it'd be immersion breaking for him to alternate between the two sets.
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Q: Can you update Marcus' appearance to make him look better / more like his Fallout 2 appearance?
A: No, because that's beyond my skillset. Should someone else be up to the task (and surely there will be someone eventually...), any changes they make SHOULD be compatible with my mod.
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Q: Where do I find the radio?
A: The radio can be obtained by talking to Marcus in dialogue after hiring him. Ask about important stuff, and then pick the option about getting seperated.
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Q: Does this change the ending slides?
A: No. Although, there is a specific ending that plays if Marcus happens to die, which is far more likely to happen while he's in your company. ;)
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| 8 | Future Plans / Modder's Musings
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Currently considering:
- Adding chem usage and combat commands to the radio.
- The ability to equip him with different, unique outfits. (restricted by my inexperience with modeling)
- Swapping out his minigun for a new, ugradeable weapon.
The truth is, there's really not much that I can find to do with him. As a creature, he lacks many of the luxuries of a simple human NPC, from tons of idle animations to customization and the ability to interact with objects. So a lot of features that people may have enjoyed from my Sydney Follower mod unfortunately have to go unused. On top of that, his role in FNV is really, really limited so not much can be done from a dialogue standpoint. His FO2 dialogue sounds far too different from his FNV role, and doesn't really help much in that department. If you have ideas to add to Marcus that are within a reasonable scope (bearing the dialogue and creature limitations in mind), do post them and I will consider adding them if I get the time.
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| 9 | Contact Info
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You can reach me via PM on Fallout3/Dragon Age/TES Nexus via the username "drg6525". I also go by "drg6520" on the Official Bethsoft forums, but I rarely visit there these days, so Nexus is your best bet.
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| 10| Credits
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DRG6520 ............... For the voice splicing, scripting, and dialogue.
DaiShiHUN............... For the classic Fallout Super Sledge that Marcus wields with this mod installed.
Please be sure to endorse the original super sledge at this link if you like it: http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35553
Bethesda ...............For creating the all-powerful G.E.C.K.
Obsidian............... For creating New Vegas, re-introducing Marcus into the franchise, and caring about companions.
Michael Dorn............... For voicing Marcus.
Nexus...............For hosting this mod, and making all management and downloading of mods simple, free, and convenient.
The Mod Users............... For enjoying my work and giving me the motivation to continue modding.
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| 11| Disclaimers / Usage
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I do not claim to own Obsidian, Bethesda, Fallout: New Vegas, or the character of Marcus, as awesome as that would be.
You may do as you like with this mod, just don't go uploading it to other sites or claiming that it's your own. I'm not very strict about its usage, though if you plan on copying features, spliced voice edits, or any other content from this mod I would at least like to be credited for what you used. You are NOT required to contact me for permission -- I'll say yes anyway, so just go ahead and do whatever. I won't get mad.
Please keep in mind that the Super Sledge included is NOT mine, though DaiShiHUN has stated that he's cool with other people using his work, SO LONG AS THEY GET PROPER CREDIT.
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| 12|Other Mods By Me
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If you have enjoyed my work, then you might consider trying the following mods:
[For Fallout 3]
SYDNEY FOLLOWER
"Continue your partnership with Sydney the Relic Hunter past the end of "Stealing Independence." Features new dialogue, mini-quests, and a detailed companion ready to tear up the Wasteland with you. Lore-friendly, fully voiced and lip synced, with over 420 lines of dialogue added."
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9320