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About this mod
A lightweight framework for everything time related! Split timescales, time advancing in menus, adjustible Hardcore needs, updated UI, the works.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
Overview
Better Time And Needs (BTAN) is a lightweight yet fairly comprehensive framework to improve time and time-based functionality within FNV. There are lots of mods that do some of the things that BTAN does, but none that I could find that do all of it to a degree that I'm satisfied with and of course don't conflict with each other. As such, BTAN is designed to be as lightweight as possible while also delivering as much functionality as I could pack into it.
Features
* Toggles for all functionality - new in v1.1.0!
* Customizable split interior vs. exterior timescales
* Time passes in most in-game menus (Pipboy is excluded although some things you can do in the Pipboy are not)
* Crafting takes time, per item. No more crafting 100 rounds in a millisecond
* Dialogue takes time
* Caravan and gambling takes time
* Lockpicking, hacking, and normal computer use take time
* Completely revamped and customizable hardcore needs system
* Customizable in-game hour thresholds for hardcore needs effects
* New, per-need HUD icons for Hunger, Thirst, Sleep, and Rads
* Auto-calculating increments for multiple timescales to keep need increases consistent at all times (through the power of math!)
* Customizable Sunrise / Sunset times - new in v1.2.0!
How BTAN's Hardcore Needs Work
Due to NV's wacky way of handling hardcore needs, I had to completely overhaul this system to get it to work with extended and arbitrary timescales. Because of this, it acts completely differently from what you may be used to otherwise!
Gone is the old 200/400/600/800 system (and the system from JSawyer) and in it's place is a more dynamic, more intuitive (imo), more immersive system but it does have it's eccentricities.
1. Needs Thresholds are now based on Game Hours (i.e. time passed on the in-game clock on your PipBoy) instead of arbitrary irl time. In the BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini file, under the corresponding fields you can find the number of Game Hours before each threshold is reached. For instance, the field "MinorStarvationThresh = 7" means it takes 7 Game Hours to go from 0 Hunger to enough to give you Minor Starvation, the actual number of Hunger points is arbitrary. I.e. if you eat enough to reach 0 Hunger at 7:00, at 14:00, you will have Minor Starvation.
2. Needs Rates, i.e. the amount of irl seconds it takes to increase your Needs Values by 1, are completely dynamic. This means that should you use the split timescales, your Needs Rates will speed up or slow down in accordance with your timescale. It also means that the rates themselves become almost entirely arbitrary since it all boils down to the values present in the .ini file.
3. Because of both of these things, if you have a significant difference between the first threshold and the last threshold for each Need, the first couple of thresholds will happen at comparatively low values on the Needs scales, like 20 or so for default Hunger. If you don't like this, decrease the difference between the first and last threshold (and those in between obviously). I actually like it like this because it means snacks and soda are legitimately useful as if you don't stay on top of your hunger and sleep, you'll be dealing with Adv. Starvation and Minor Sleep Dep by the end of each day.
In summary, set the values in the BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini file to hour increments in which you want your Needs to reach the given thresholds and the mod will handle the rest. And if you have no idea what I was talking about, make a save, mess with some numbers, and find something that works for you!
If you're curious, and a nerd like me, here's a spreadsheet that outlines the relationship that points have with GameHours in BTAN:
Things BTAN Does Not Do
* BTAN does not touch any consumables so if you want food to heal you for less / give you less progress toward Hunger / Thirst / etc., look elsewhere. However, because BTAN doesn't touch that, mods that do are completely compatible with it.
* BTAN has no clock widget, when I made this I wasn't planning on even making the widgets it does have but sometimes the engine forces your hand
* BTAN does not cause time to pass while menus are active per say, it skips the time ahead after you exit. There's a lot of reasons for this but don't freak out when you sit in Caesar's dialogue for a hundred years and the sun doesn't set behind you
Customization
BTAN allows you to customize some aspects of it's functionality. You can find the file to do this in the Data/Config/BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini. These values boil down to:
* Indoor / Outdoor timescales
* Needs widget location (including radiation)
* Hardcore needs time thresholds per in-game hour
Should you not like the included HUD assets, you can also change them out for anything you want. They are in the Data/Textures/Interface/BTaN/ directory. Just make sure they're square!
Requirements and Installation
BTAN requires many of the usual suite of NVSE plugins:
* xNVSE 6.3.1+
* JIP LN NVSE
* SUP NVSE
* ShowOff NVSE
You can install BTAN easily through the mod manager of your choice or manually by dragging the contents of the downloaded .7z file into your Fallout New Vegas/Data directory if you like doing things old school.
IMPORTANT: If you are starting a new game, either enable BTaN or UseCustomHardcoreNeeds=1 after leaving Doc Mitchell's house / Vault 101! Explanation below.
Known Issues
* Sometimes, Sleep specifically will advance ~30% faster than you expect it to. Changing cells usually fixes it
* I'm not sure what causes this since the math is identical between all hardcore needs but it does happen so keep it in mind
* In NV (non-TTW), when receiving your stuff at the beginning of the game, needs all suddenly increase by a significant margin
* The game skips forward the time of day after character creation and BTaN does not check for this, because of this I recommend you either enable the .esp or UseCustomHardcoreNeeds=1 after leaving Doc Mitchell's house / Vault 101. I could implement a fix, but it would likely break TTW integration and since I don't use TTW, nor have a copy of FO3, I can't solve that problem. If you know of a workaround, feel free to message me! (Or you can just say that being dead for a few hours really beat you up)
FAQ
(On the Post page)
Better Time And Needs (BTAN) is a lightweight yet fairly comprehensive framework to improve time and time-based functionality within FNV. There are lots of mods that do some of the things that BTAN does, but none that I could find that do all of it to a degree that I'm satisfied with and of course don't conflict with each other. As such, BTAN is designed to be as lightweight as possible while also delivering as much functionality as I could pack into it.
Features
* Toggles for all functionality - new in v1.1.0!
* Customizable split interior vs. exterior timescales
* Time passes in most in-game menus (Pipboy is excluded although some things you can do in the Pipboy are not)
* Crafting takes time, per item. No more crafting 100 rounds in a millisecond
* Dialogue takes time
* Caravan and gambling takes time
* Lockpicking, hacking, and normal computer use take time
* Completely revamped and customizable hardcore needs system
* Customizable in-game hour thresholds for hardcore needs effects
* New, per-need HUD icons for Hunger, Thirst, Sleep, and Rads
* Auto-calculating increments for multiple timescales to keep need increases consistent at all times (through the power of math!)
* Customizable Sunrise / Sunset times - new in v1.2.0!
How BTAN's Hardcore Needs Work
Due to NV's wacky way of handling hardcore needs, I had to completely overhaul this system to get it to work with extended and arbitrary timescales. Because of this, it acts completely differently from what you may be used to otherwise!
Gone is the old 200/400/600/800 system (and the system from JSawyer) and in it's place is a more dynamic, more intuitive (imo), more immersive system but it does have it's eccentricities.
1. Needs Thresholds are now based on Game Hours (i.e. time passed on the in-game clock on your PipBoy) instead of arbitrary irl time. In the BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini file, under the corresponding fields you can find the number of Game Hours before each threshold is reached. For instance, the field "MinorStarvationThresh = 7" means it takes 7 Game Hours to go from 0 Hunger to enough to give you Minor Starvation, the actual number of Hunger points is arbitrary. I.e. if you eat enough to reach 0 Hunger at 7:00, at 14:00, you will have Minor Starvation.
2. Needs Rates, i.e. the amount of irl seconds it takes to increase your Needs Values by 1, are completely dynamic. This means that should you use the split timescales, your Needs Rates will speed up or slow down in accordance with your timescale. It also means that the rates themselves become almost entirely arbitrary since it all boils down to the values present in the .ini file.
3. Because of both of these things, if you have a significant difference between the first threshold and the last threshold for each Need, the first couple of thresholds will happen at comparatively low values on the Needs scales, like 20 or so for default Hunger. If you don't like this, decrease the difference between the first and last threshold (and those in between obviously). I actually like it like this because it means snacks and soda are legitimately useful as if you don't stay on top of your hunger and sleep, you'll be dealing with Adv. Starvation and Minor Sleep Dep by the end of each day.
In summary, set the values in the BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini file to hour increments in which you want your Needs to reach the given thresholds and the mod will handle the rest. And if you have no idea what I was talking about, make a save, mess with some numbers, and find something that works for you!
If you're curious, and a nerd like me, here's a spreadsheet that outlines the relationship that points have with GameHours in BTAN:
Things BTAN Does Not Do
* BTAN does not touch any consumables so if you want food to heal you for less / give you less progress toward Hunger / Thirst / etc., look elsewhere. However, because BTAN doesn't touch that, mods that do are completely compatible with it.
* BTAN has no clock widget, when I made this I wasn't planning on even making the widgets it does have but sometimes the engine forces your hand
* BTAN does not cause time to pass while menus are active per say, it skips the time ahead after you exit. There's a lot of reasons for this but don't freak out when you sit in Caesar's dialogue for a hundred years and the sun doesn't set behind you
Customization
BTAN allows you to customize some aspects of it's functionality. You can find the file to do this in the Data/Config/BetterTimeAndNeeds.ini. These values boil down to:
* Indoor / Outdoor timescales
* Needs widget location (including radiation)
* Hardcore needs time thresholds per in-game hour
Should you not like the included HUD assets, you can also change them out for anything you want. They are in the Data/Textures/Interface/BTaN/ directory. Just make sure they're square!
Requirements and Installation
BTAN requires many of the usual suite of NVSE plugins:
* xNVSE 6.3.1+
* JIP LN NVSE
* SUP NVSE
* ShowOff NVSE
You can install BTAN easily through the mod manager of your choice or manually by dragging the contents of the downloaded .7z file into your Fallout New Vegas/Data directory if you like doing things old school.
IMPORTANT: If you are starting a new game, either enable BTaN or UseCustomHardcoreNeeds=1 after leaving Doc Mitchell's house / Vault 101! Explanation below.
Known Issues
* Sometimes, Sleep specifically will advance ~30% faster than you expect it to. Changing cells usually fixes it
* I'm not sure what causes this since the math is identical between all hardcore needs but it does happen so keep it in mind
* In NV (non-TTW), when receiving your stuff at the beginning of the game, needs all suddenly increase by a significant margin
* The game skips forward the time of day after character creation and BTaN does not check for this, because of this I recommend you either enable the .esp or UseCustomHardcoreNeeds=1 after leaving Doc Mitchell's house / Vault 101. I could implement a fix, but it would likely break TTW integration and since I don't use TTW, nor have a copy of FO3, I can't solve that problem. If you know of a workaround, feel free to message me! (Or you can just say that being dead for a few hours really beat you up)
FAQ
(On the Post page)