Fallout Tactics Redux
by
Endocore
Version 1.0 -- May 2012
CONTENTS:
I. What's this mod about?
II. How do I install the mod?
III. Technical questions and answers
IV. Other stuff you may want to know
V. Credits
VI. Jibba-jabba and Mumbo-jumbo
I. WHAT'S THIS MOD ABOUT?
Fallout Tactics Redux fixes numerous bugs and inadequacies of the standard Fallout Tactics game released by Microforte at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The mod also adds novel content to the game, and thus expands rather far beyond the scope of an "unofficial patch."
Fallout Tactics Redux works to revise the standard game in numerous ways, including:
--Fixing script bugs. The original missions and special encounters of the core campaign contain both numerous blatant errors as well as many poor design implementations. I reviewed every single map in the game and fixed every flaw I met. In some cases, merely fixing broken triggers has unlocked previously unavailable but otherwise fully-fashioned original content.
--Fixing broken entities. Nearly every original map contains entities erroneously malformed in this or that respect, such as keys whose tag names don't match doors and switches that don't correctly affect linked objects. I fixed every problem I could find, in some cases unlocking previously unavailable but otherwise fully-fashioned original content.
--Fixing disgracefully inept writing. Epileptic wild monkeys chained to rusty typewriters could have done a better job than the "professionals" at Microforte-- most of whom apparently never graduated from elementary school. The text files of the standard game contain legion grammar and spelling errors. In some files I edited every... single... line of text, and often found individual sentences crowded with three, four, or even five spelling and grammar errors. Players need no longer be constantly insulted by the notion of having paid for such drivel. Though I won't claim I fixed each and every English syntax problem in the game (particularly in taunts.txt-- I've reviewed that enormous file nearly line by line several times, but still find some new deficiency whenever I examine it), the situation is now much improved. Since the game is set in the USA, all game text is now also standardized to use American English rather than goofy Australian lingo.
--Addressing the "Game crashes after finding all Special Encounters" bug. This is an engine issue that strictly speaking I cannot properly fix. However, I've included a workaround that will allow players to continue their games without suffering from the issue once the bug initially appears (and the bug will indeed appear in every single game of Fallout Tactics if the player plays long enough).
--Reimagining the recruit pool of potential teammates for the player-character. Many of the npcs in the standard game are silly and frankly insulting to a player's intelligence. I rewrote most of the recruit biographies, gave the soldiers different skill sets, changed some of the more questionable sprite color choices to traditional military-appropriate hues, and replaced some portraits of the dowdiest MF employees who had faces even a mother would be hard-pressed to love.
--Reimagining the game's weaponry. In the standard game, the player has meagre practical options when equipping his troops since a few weapons are utterly superior to all others. I redesigned the AP costs, damage values, and range of nearly every weapon from the ground up so players may now more fully enjoy all the tactical possibilities of the game. I also fictionalized all the "real-world" weapons found in the original game, which are frankly quite inappropriate to the setting and highly disruptive to any player's attempt to immerse himself in the game-world of his characters.
--A new approach to random combat encounters. As implemented in the standard game, most players including myself have concluded random encounters are supremely annoying. Most of these encounters simply aren't fun or "tactical," and they occur with such shocking frequency that attempting traverse even a few squares of the world map results in a cramped index finger as the player clicks "No, I don't want to encounter rats and dogs. Again. *Sigh*" dozens of times. I very significantly reduced the occurrence of random encounters, and in most cases eliminated all but the "hardest" encounters. Hopefully those who enjoy playing random encounters will now have more fun with the remaining larger battles (which were previously quite rare), while those who don't care for them will be relieved to speed off to the next "real" mission.
--A completely redesigned Quartermaster list. Some players don't care much for the Quartermaster system, and are of course free to continue using the Editor to give themselves whatever equipment they desire. For the rest of us, hopefully the Quartermaster system will now work better than ever.
--Expanded gameplay. What sort of military game doesn't have a canteen? I added a number of new items to the game, as well as other new content in several maps. I also incorporated, revised, and embellished a fine older mod I found in the NMA Files section called "Bunker and Xtra Characters Mod" by dark_ark, which adds a fairly significant amount of new and interesting npc interaction to the game.
--All this and more can now be yours for the low, low price of ZERO DOLLARS, because unlike the original commercial iteration this superior version of Fallout Tactics is absolutely FREE!
Fallout Tactics Redux is largely an attempt on my part to address a profound mistake (made by many, including myself) long ago. I believe if a more compelling and less error-laden version of the game's core campaign had been built by modders years ago, Fallout Tactics might be a vibrant and engaging game today rather than moldering shade-- destined for utter obscurity sooner than later, with many perhaps justifiably claiming "good riddance." My sincere hope is that others will take this somewhat better version of the game I'm providing and use it as a foundation upon which to build something outstanding and enduring.
II. HOW DO I INSTALL THE MOD?
Installation Instructions: Read carefully, 'cause if you goof you'll have a mess that's nobody's fault but your own-- and I won't help you clean it up.
Requirements to use these files properly:
--A computer capable of running Fallout Tactics (not provided)
--A copy of Fallout Tactics (not provided)
--The official Interplay Fallout Tactics v1.27 patch (not provided, but available in the No Mutants Allowed Files section at
www.nma-fallout.com)
--120MB of available space on a hard-drive or whatever newfangled storage device you may be using these days (not provided).
This mod is specifically intended to overwrite/replace numerous ill-conceived files from the original core campaign.
This mod is distributed as a 7zip file of relevant "fixed stuff" portions of my own \Fallout Tactics\core\ directory. By default, the standard game itself installs on Windows machines to a directory called "\Program Files\14 Degrees East\Fallout Tactics\" with most of the content found in "\Program Files\14 Degrees East\Fallout Tactics\core\". If you categorically trust me-- which, though I'm generally considered a good guy, is a probably not in broader terms a best practice since we likely don't know each other personally and you can't verify that I am indeed a generally good guy rather than some random internet troublemaker-- or are in a hurry to play, simply extract the downloaded zip file into your own "Fallout Tactics" folder (using the option "overwrite existing files and folders") wherever you installed Fallout Tactics. In other words, if your installation looks like this:
\Program Files\14 Degrees East\Fallout Tactics\core\
you would unzip the mod download to:
\Program Files\14 Degrees East\Fallout Tactics\
Start the game as you normally would, and have at it. Note that if you use this method and later find you don't like the mod, you'll have to uninstall the entire game and then reinstall it to get back to the original version.
The better way to install this mod requires a bit more effort on your part. Please read ALL the steps below before doing anything.
0) Step Zero is only for hot-shot FOT modders who know what's what and hence get to leave school early. If you're a veteran FOT modder, you know better than I where and how you ought best install these files to suit your own needs (likely using the -path technique). So go ahead and freestyle your own method-- the files included in this mod are all quite standard and none of them do anything unexpected. Everyone else should continue reading.
1) If you don't currently have Fallout Tactics installed at all, install the game and the official Microforte/Interplay 1.27 patch. Otherwise, make a brand-spanking new copy of your Fallout Tactics installation. Presumably in the latter case you installed the official Microforte/Interplay patch 1.27 long ago-- if not, do so now before making a new copy of your game installation.
If using Windows 98 or Windows XP, making a new installation of the game needn't involve "actually" installing (from cds, etc) the game a second time-- all you need to do is make a new folder somewhere and copy your entire Fallout Tactics directory to the new spot. If you have multiple hard drives or multiple partitions on a single hard drive, for convenience use a different drive letter than your current game installation; otherwise to prevent confusion simply make sure the new folder for this second installation is somewhere other than the subdirectory where you currently have the game installed.
Although I admittedly don't know much about the details of using Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Windows 7-- as I quite literally consider them anti-operating systems and would never ever use them under any circumstances whatsoever-- presumably the advice offered here in Step One also holds true even for those whose computers are infested with such spurious inanity. However, unless you were previously savvy enough to take some control of your computer and avoid using the default "Program Files" and "Documents/Settings" folders, you'll likely have to look around to find all the components of the game (turn off hidden files and turn on show file extensions)-- and though you do have my sympathy in this case, since as I noted I prefer not to delve very deeply into Vista or Windows 7 I can't offer much additional advice and you'll need to figure things out yourself.
Finally, make a new start-up shortcut (in your desktop/Start Menu/whatever you prefer) pointing to the copy of the file "BOS.exe" you just made, since your existing start-up shortcut will of course start the game you already had rather than the new version we're making here. Note that the existing shortcut you had before probably launched "FalloutTacticsLauncher.exe" instead of "BOS.exe." FalloutTacticsLauncher.exe is a redundant program whose main purpose is to check on whether or not you registered your copy of Fallout Tactics and signed up to receive exciting! e-mail! offers! from Microforte and Interplay. Really, that's all FalloutTacticsLauncher.exe does-- aside from repeatedly wasting your time to confirm "Yes, I really would like to play Fallout Tactics now." Thus I see no reason why any new shortcut you make shouldn't point directly to BOS.exe, which will start the actual game without further ado.
2) Make a temporary folder wherever you like called whatever you like (for example, "tacticstemp"). Either move the zip file for this mod to the temporary folder and unzip all the contents there, or merely open the zip file for this mod with 7zip and choose "extract to..." wherever you made the temporary folder.
3) Now you'll need to make some decisions based on what you personally hope to gain from using this mod. Most people should just use Option 3a and move on to step 4. I included the information in steps 3b and 3c for those who are much more knowledgeable than the average person about how FOT works and which FOT files do what as well as where these go. If the previous sentence doesn't describe you, then you'll only be very confused by pondering options 3b and 3c-- SO USE 3A, SKIP THE REST, AND MOVE ON TO STEP 4 ALREADY!
3a) If you want to use all my fixes and my changes to the core campaign, or perhaps simply think nothing could be worse than the default stuff already offered by Microforte, just copy the folder named "core" from the temporary spot where you unzipped the mod download over the "core" folder of the new Fallout Tactics installation you made in Step One. In other words-- highlight the temporary "core" folder from the download, click on this folder with your right mouse button, and while holding down the right mouse button move your cursor atop the the "core" folder in the FOT installation where you intend to play the mod; upon releasing the right mouse button a context menu should pop up, and you should choose "Copy Here." Once the files begin to move, simply choose "Yes to All" when warned that this or that folder already exists and copied files will replace any existing files or when asked if you'd like to overwrite any existing file or read-only file.
3b) My mod makes numerous changes to the weapons found in the default game; the primary effect of my changes is to make the game much more difficult-- which I think is a good thing, since I believe challenging = fun. However, some people are I'm sure very happy with the way the weapons work in the default game, and won't like my changes. Among the contents of this mod download is the directory \core\extrastuff\. In this folder is an alternate copy of the file items.txt which leaves most of the standard item descriptions unchanged (though many spelling and grammar errors are fixed) but also includes all descriptions for the genuinely new (as opposed to edited) items I added to the game. Note however that in some cases when I edited existing entities, I incorporated bugfixes as well as making broader changes-- so if you don't use my item entities you'll miss out on the bugfixes. Nonetheless, if you'd like to keep all existing inventory item entities as they appear in the original game then the best way would be to go through each folder in the \core\entities\items\ and \core\entities\weapons\ directory of the download individually. Copy all files from each folder to their corresponding folder in your Fallout Tactics installation-- BUT in all cases choose "no" when asked to overwrite an existing file. Then use the items.txt from the "extrastuff" folder in the download to replace items.txt in the \core\locale\game\ folder of your existing FOT installation. Other than these specifically mentioned exceptions, copy all other files found in the download to your FOT core directory and mercilessly overwrite every existing file file there with the various files from my download.
3c) My mod makes numerous changes to the BOS soldiers one can recruit as team-mates in the game. Perhaps you have developed a fond attachment over the years to the recruits found in the standard game, or perhaps the new perk/skill strategies I implemented for the recruits won't complement your personal style of play. If you prefer to keep the original band of recruits designed by Microforte but otherwise enjoy all the goodness offered by my mod you can do so by copying all the files in my download to your \Fallout Tactics\core\ directory EXCEPT the folders \core\entities\recruits\, \core\entities\Special\prefab\, and \core\gui\char\ found in the download. In this way, the original recruit entities will be unchanged. Furthermore, the download includes a folder called "extrastuff" wherein is an alternate copy of the file characters.txt. This alternate copy of characters.txt incorporates many spelling/grammar fixes and some bugfixes, but otherwise leaves the original character descriptions for each recruit largely unchanged. Use this alternate copy of characters.txt from the download's extrastuff folder to overwrite the characters.txt file found in your Fallout Tactics installation at \core\locale\game\. The final step is to examine the folder \core\gui\char\ found in the download materials. I suggest you copy all the files found there (some are for completely new characters who appear in various maps) to the \core\gui\char\ folder in your FOT installation, overwriting as necessary-- EXCEPT for the recruit images. These are variously named CORE_rec_hf??.zar, CORE_rec_hm??.zar, CORE_rec_ra??.zar, CORE_rec_tr??.zar, CORE_rec_sm??.zar, CORE_rec_rv??.zar, and CORE_prefab?.zar (I didn't change any ghoul or deathclaw images).
4) Every Fallout Tactics installation includes two standard text files called "bos.cfg" the game uses to store various user-specific settings. One instance of this file is stored in the root directory of the user's system hard drive partition (for example, if you have Windows installed on your C: drive, then C:\ is your system partition) and stores configuration settings for the Fallout Tactics Editor that comes with the official 1.27 patch. The other instance of "bos.cfg" is important to the average player because one must directly modify this file to enjoy the full game. I didn't include my version of this file because almost certainly most players would rather use their own settings for various things like text display speed and graphics rather than my preferences.
Wherever you made the Fallout Tactics installation you intend to use while playing this mod, find the file "bos.cfg" in the \core\ folder and open this file in a plain text editor (for example, Windows Notepad). You should see all kinds of esoteric information presented in lines surrounded by brackets { }. Unless you've fiddled around with this file before, a bit over halfway down is a line that reads:
{misc.bonusMission} = {false}
Change this particular line so it instead reads:
{misc.bonusMission} = {true}
and save the file.
This will allow you to play Mission 8, "Springfield." The mission (as buggy as all the rest, by the way) was originally meant as a pre-order bonus for customers who purchased the game years ago from a certain vendor, but all the materials were included by Microforte in the standard release. Someone soon made a "patch" to allow this mission to be enjoyed by everyone, but in fact all the patch does is change the single line of bos.cfg shown above. Since surely anyone can do this themselves, now that you possess this secret knowledge there's no need to download or use any additional "bonus mission" patches. Years ago there was an ignorant internet rumor that players would see several pink ceiling tiles in this mission because they didn't have "THE SPECIAL BONUS CD." That was nonsense-- lazy Microforte workers simply didn't update the map's existing tile data in the Map Editor. Among other errors fixed in Mission 8 I also fixed this particular issue, so players no longer need recoil in horror from garish hot-pink spots on their monitors.
5) Delete the temporary folder you made in Step 2.
6) Play the game already! I hope you enjoy my mod.
III. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Will my existing/old saved games work with this mod?
A: Nope. Start a new game.
Q: I read above the mod fixes the "Found all Special Encounters Bug." I'm playing, found all 26 special encounters plus the 4 trader encounters, and now my game crashes whenever I enter a world map square where a special encounter has a chance of occurring. What's the deal?
A: You'll need to put forth a minor bit of effort to fix this outrageous (did Microforte even have playtesters?) bug in your own current game. Whereever you've installed FOT and this mod, find the folder \core\campaigns\. Among other things, you should see a file called "bos.cam" and another file called "crashfix.cam" in this folder. Crashfix.cam is a modified file I made with the chance of any special encounters removed-- this is the only way to fix the bug, as any knowledgeable modder who actually experiments with the various alleged "bug fix" discussions found on the internet well knows. To fix the bug in your current game after it appears, rename the file bos.cam to something catchy like REALbos.cam and then rename crashfix.cam to bos.cam. The IMPORTANT thing to remember is that after you finish your current game, you need to come back and rename the files before starting a new game in the future-- so bos.cam will be renamed to crashfix.cam once again and REALbos.cam will become just bos.cam again. If you don't do this final step, your next game won't feature any special encounters (which you may or may not care about according to your tastes). Unfortunately due to Microforte's gross negligence, this is the only plausible fix for the problem-- so you have to either keep track of how many special encounters you've found (the game will crash at some point after you find 26 special encounters plus 4 trader encounters, so just make the fix after you've found them all) or wait until your game starts crashing and then make the fix.
Q: Does this mod work flawlessly in every way with Mash's FOT high-resolution patch?
A: Yes.
Q: Does this mod include jarekfall's Unofficial v1.27a patch?
A: Yes.
Q: How does the mod affect multiplayer games?
A: I don't know. I never tried multiplayer mode even years ago when it was popular, and don't know anything about that. However, I speculate that unless every participant is using these modded files you'll encounter grave problems in a multiplayer game-- but if everyone is using the mod you'll be fine.
Q: This mod includes ~2300 files. Is all that really necessary?
A: Though I made a considerable effort to only include files I fixed or otherwise modified, since I incorporated some work I had done a very long time ago there were admittedly a few cases where I wasn't sure what was what-- mostly among the entity (.ent) files and the map tiles. In most cases, though, my attempts to fix the game really do require every file included in this download.
Q: I don't understand the installation instructions. Are you going to make an auto-installer version?
A: Nope, never. I very much dislike and usually avoid mods or other material that come packaged as exe files or auto-installers. I want to know what's happening on my computer, as well as what's going where and why. This isn't to say that modders who package their projects in auto-installers are up to no good; on the contrary, most are genuinely good people doing a public service. However, using such tools isn't the way I do things.
Q: What are these "Self-discipline" switches in Bunker One and Bunker Four? Is this some kind of kinky sex game?
A: These two consoles are provided as a consolation for my dramatic reduction of random encounters in the game. One problem with my approach to fixing random encounters is that an important option for lesser skilled players-- namely, playing random encounters to level-up one's characters to compensate for a lack of skill on the player's part-- is eliminated. I think the overall benefit to the game from my approach to random encounters outweighs this coincidental consequence, but I also appreciate that the game must have some sort of self-regulating mechanism so players can adapt their own game to their own skill level. Therefore I put these "training simulator" switches in the bunkers; just flip the switch repeatedly to gain a fixed amount of experience points per pull. Hopefully players will be mature and use these switches responsibly to enhance their game by getting "just the right amount" of xp per the player's own judgement. On the other hand if you level up to 50 in the first bunker, don't whine later that the game is too easy-- if you abuse this tool I've provided, you've no one to blame but yourself.
Q: Some of the perk descriptions now say "This perk is broken, don't use it." Why not just get rid of these perks?
A: Can't do it, Sally. It's all technical and complicated.
Q: Arghh! The fast shot trait doesn't reduce the AP cost to fire the rocket launcher, or miniguns, or the biggest machine gun. This sucks!
A: Heavy weapons are overpowered in the hands of both friends and foes. In all the changes I made to the game, I only found one narrow case where a use of jarekfall's FT Improver program was needed-- namely, this case of AP cost "type" for a few heavy weapons. Since I didn't think requiring the use of an add-on program to play the mod was prudent when only one minor detail would be affected, I decided to leave the heaviest weapons at a cost of 8 AP. Because they use the "Melee-Expensive" AP type rather than a ranged weapon type, these weapons aren't affected by ranged-weapon cost-reduction bonuses. In other words, I'm aware of the matter and it's working the way I want. If you simply must have miniguns that fire for 4 or 5 APs, just use the game editor and change the several weapons in question to whatever cost you prefer.
Q: My character has both the fast shot trait and the bonus rate of fire perk, and can now shoot pistols for only 1 AP per shot. That's dumb!
A: The original game is so thoroughly ill-conceived, and there are only so many feasible ways to improve things given the constraints of the engine and editing tools. Overall, I feel the weapon mod I've implemented makes the game much more challenging and much more fun. However, the system isn't perfect-- and in this one narrow case of pistols and a character with both Fast Shot and Bonus Rate of Fire, my approach seems like an exploit. However this case is a result of the constraints of the larger system, which itself works so satisfactorily in my view that I can't justify abandoning the whole edifice because of one narrow problem. If you feel (as, in fact, I do) the game is too easy while using pistols with a character who has both Fast Shot and Bonus Rate of Fire, then use restraint and either don't give pistols to such characters or don't give characters that trait/perk combination. A fun game is an interaction between designer and player-- an interaction that should be unique for each and every player as he explores the framework provided by the designer to experience the particular game most interesting to himself.
Q: Some item that was a quest/objective related item on the last map I played is still in my inventory, but now when I look at it I see "No description available."
A: A change I made exposes an engine-related flaw; I tried to catch and fix all these issues, but I may have missed a few. I feel another respect in which FOT is rather lame is that the player-character has access to numerous vehicles, but enjoys few opportunities to use them in combat. Therefore I changed almost every mission to allow use of player-controlled vehicles with which the player-characters may enter the map. In some cases the initial placement area of the player's team means such vehicles can't be effectively utilized, but even in those cases having a vehicle is quite useful as a place to store one's loot. The problem, then, is that if a character inside a vehicle is holding a quest-related item meant to be removed from play when the player-characters leaves the map, due to some engine restriction the item remains in the player-character's inventory. Since the name and descriptions of most quest items are stored in mission-specific text files rather than files available at all times, the name and description of the item may be "lost" after leaving the map on which the item was found. In other words, please make a note of such items and let me know about them so they can be fixed. If you would like to fix such items yourself for your own game, simply open the mission speech file (in \core\locale\missions\) for the mission where the item was found, copy the item name and description in the format:
name_steyrSub= {Stu}
desc_steyrSub= {The origin of this weapon's moniker are lost to history, but the compact assault rifle was apparently popular with military and government security forces before the Great War. The Stu uses standard 7mm rifle ammunition, and is capable of both semi-automatic fire as well as four-round bursts.}
and paste these lines into the game's main "items.txt" file found in \core\locale\game. Another solution would be to have particular player-characters leaving a mission who are personally carrying a quest-related item walk out on foot rather than ride off in a vehicle.
IV. OTHER STUFF YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW
Additional suggestions to enhance your personal Fallout Tactics experience:
1) In my opinion a fair portion of the game's original soundtrack simply isn't very well-suited to the game. I found I enjoyed the game much more after either re-arranging or replacing much of the soundtrack. Because I was really bored when I wrote this portion of my instructions, I've organized my musical suggestions into the highly cryptic and overly complicated chart format found below.
The venerable wise men who wrote the United States Constitution believed that in order to best serve the public interest and foster the common good of the nation artists should be given a window of twenty years to exclusively profit from their work. This system worked out quite well for both artists and the Public until some years later when a ruthless gang of villains recalled the decrepit ways of Old World tyrannies were best for their sweaty-palmed and black-hearted greedy 'lil selves, and that all laws (including this particular case known as Copyright Law) should henceforth be mere tools for the powerful to callously oppress the weak rather than a means to benefit all mankind. Therefore due to an immoral extortion racket known as "Federal Law" whereby corrupt thugs toting numerous loaded guns are quite insistent on the point that almost anything created in the twentieth century or later will remain copyrighted even after the end of time when the last bits of light and matter are sucked into the last black hole, I won't provide copies of my personal musical soundtrack. Nonetheless if one has an account at one's local public library (or access to the internet and some cash for a legitimate on-line music service), gathering most of the requisite materials should be no problem. I used the freeware program Audacity to edit my own audio files and export them to mp3 format, but other freeware alternatives for sound editing are also available online.
Key:
Original FOT mp3 = Suggested replacement track
Abbreviations:
"ST" = Official soundtrack album from the motion picture "Starship Troopers"
"HW" = A compact disc collection entitled "Hollywood Goes to War: Music from the Great American War Films" (c2000, Silva Records)
Locations in your FOT directory:
\Core\Music\battle\ (music that loops during combat)
Notes: CRI = song plays while fighting wild animals or insects, FIN = song plays during Mission 26, GEN = song plays against generic "humanoid" enemies, GHO = song plays while fighting ghouls, MUT = song plays while fighting mutants, RAI = song plays while fighting raiders, REA = song plays while fighting Reavers, ROB = song plays while fighting robots, TRI = song plays while fighting tribals. "_END" is a brief flourish played when the last nearby enemy is killed. "MX_END_DTH" plays when the main player-character dies. I've never heard two other files not shown, "MX_END_INC" and "MX_END_VCT," play under any circumstances (perhaps they are called in multiplayer mode).
MX_BA_CRI = from the game Jagged Alliance 2, "Creature Battle.wav"
MX_BA_CRI_END = I used here a brief generic effect called "piano glissando" found in many public-license contexts on the Internet. Use your favorite search engine, or substitute something else.
MX_BA_FIN = ST, "Destruction of the Roger Young" (with a few bits of boring stuff cut from the beginning and end of the song; use your own judgement-- I trimmed 27 seconds off the track)
MX_BA_FIN_END = original FOT track "MX_END_DTH.MP3"
MX_BA_GEN = HW, "The Bridge at Remagen"
MX_BA_GEN_END = original FOT track "MX_BA_MUT_END.MP3"
MX_BA_GHO = original FOT track "MX_BA_ROB.MP3"
MX_BA_GHO_END = original FOT track "MX_BA_ROB_END.MP3"
MX_BA_MUT = HW, "The Naked and the Dead"
MX_BA_MUT_END = HW, first 28 seconds long segment (you'll know the one) from "Rambo: First Blood/Rambo 2"
MX_BA_RAI = original FOT track "MX_BA_MUT.MP3"
MX_BA_RAI_END = original FOT track "MX_BA_GEN_END.MP3"
MX_BA_REA = "The Planets- Mars" by Gustav Holst; written in 1916, this piece is available in many public-license performances on the internet (use a search engine to find one you prefer).
MX_BA_REA_END = ST, first horns flourish from "Fed Net March" (my cut was 7 seconds long)
MX_BA_ROB = ST, "Klendathu Drop"
MX_BA_ROB_END = ST, second horns flourish from "Fed Net March" (my cut was 8 seconds long)
MX_BA_TRI = original FOT track "MX_BA_CRI.MP3"
MX_BA_TRI_END = original FOT track "MX_BA_CRI_END"
MX_END_DTH = This one is a bit involved. In the movie "Starship Troopers," there's a brief (about 8 seconds long) dramatic musical reprise (pristinely uncluttered with any extraneous sounds or dialogue) about a third of the way into the movie. This reprise plays just as the "newsreel" detailing "Destruction of Buenos Aires" is shown.
\Core\Music\gui\
MX_ENV_MENU_MAIN1 = "My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time" by Doris Day with Les Brown and his Band of Renown, from the album "Doris Day: Golden Girl" (among many others)
MX_ENV_MENU_MAIN2 = "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by the Andrews Sisters with Bing Crosby, from the album "20th Century Masters: Best of the Andrews Sisters" (among many others)
MX_MENU_WORLDMAP1 = from the game Fallout 2, "16follow.acm" (use the acm2wav program from NMA Files, then convert to mp3)
MX_MENU_WORLDMAP2 = instrumental track entitled "Space Lazer Battle" from the official soundtrack album from the motion picture "Moonraker" (c1979, Capitol Records)
\Core\Music\mission\
As most of the game is spent in combat, these tracks don't play as often. The only noticeable improvement I found was in changing the background music that plays while fiddling around in one of the BOS bunkers, as this is the only time one typically plays for some minutes without a fight.
MX_ENV_BOS1 = HW, "The Hunt for Red October-- Hymn to Red October"
MX_ENV_BOS2 = HW, "Dr. Strangelove-- The Bomb Run"
2) I don't have a lot of time to play through the whole game, but would like to get an FOT fix this afternoon. Can you recommend any short FOT adventures?
Once upon a time I played what I believe was almost every single player (SP) map made for Fallout Tactics. Many fine short adventures that take only a few hours or at most a day to play have been made by modders over the years. I'm sure some good mods were made in later times when my interest had wandered from FOT, but I can't comment on anything I haven't personally played-- so just because a mod or map isn't mentioned here doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. All the adventures listed below should be available in the Files section of the No Mutants Allowed website (
www.nma-fallout.com).
Naturally, I avidly endorse three adventures made by me: "BOSCops," "What is Honour Amongst Thugs," and "Quagmire." According to substantial player feedback I've received over the years, I've come to the humble conclusion that "What is Honour Amongst Thugs" is in fact the very most Fallout-y thing ever associated in any way with Fallout Tactics that anyone has ever made, and will likely be enjoyed even by those who don't care much for the original Microforte game.
Other good adventures made by talented modders are:
"Day of the Dead" and "Nuevo Laredo" by WalterN.
"Deathclaw Desert" series as well as "Jailbreak," "Rebellion," and "Slaughter Springs" by Max-Violence.
"Deathground," "Go Tell It To the Spartans," and "Shoot-out at the Tripple H" by requiem_for_a_starfury.
"Quartz" by JimmyJay86.
"The Refinery" by OnTheBounce.
"The Shrine" by Forty-Six and Two.
3) How may the game be further improved? Perhaps you'd like to build upon this much better version of Fallout Tactics but aren't sure where to start. Some issues I wanted to address but didn't presently have time to adequately reform were:
a) This mod does not address an arguably profound setting-related issue in the original game. In Fallout and Fallout 2, the Brotherhood of Steel is portrayed as an organization composed of scientists (Scribes), engineers (Knights), and soldiers (Paladins and Elders). Yet in Fallout Tactics, a game dealing quite directly with the Brotherhood, this traditional portrayal is thrown out the window and we are left with Paladins (soldiers) and Scribes (everyone else), with both groups led by shadowy Elders of dubious lineage. I think clearly the "Elder" artwork should be used for Scribes and the "Scribe" artwork for Knights, while the Elders should be in Power Armor as they are (according to tradition) largely drawn from the ranks of Paladins. However, this requires many substantial changes to the bunkers and dialogues and I simply ran out of time to make those changes.
b) On the further subject of Microforte incompetence and lack of any apparent playtesting at all, many of the weapon sprites in the game are "backward." In other words, item graphics displayed when a character wields an item are tilted or angled to directly obscure the usage mode and AP cost display for the respective item. If someone able to edit sprite images (I am not, since I don't own a particular scandalously priced professional graphics program that all three of the modder-made sprite editors seem to require) were to merely reverse (from left to right) the gui-big images for most weapons, I feel the game would be much improved.
c) Adding Special Encounters is a very easy modding project almost anyone can tackle as these require only small maps with little dialogue and scripting. Furthermore, Special Encounters add an unexpectedly fun element to the game for many players. Numerous people claim to have made additional Special Encounters over the years-- BUT NO ONE EVER PUBLISHED ANYTHING. When modders don't share their work with like-minded others, the entire community suffers. Thus if anyone would like to begin enhancing the game in a way that doesn't require much effort, adding some new Special Encounters is a good place to start. Though I didn't have sufficient time to include such material in this release of Fallout Tactics Redux, some thematically germane ideas I pondered for Special Encounters that anyone should feel free to steal are:
--Albert and his trusty canine Blood are resting by a campfire after a hearty meal. Perhaps they feel particularly chatty with, or conversely are quite taciturn toward, or otherwise just frequently belch near, any women in the pc's party. ("A Boy and His Dog")
--Glen and Randa are on their way to Metropolis, but have paused to ponder the perplexing phenomenon of cars growing from trees. ("Glen and Randa")
--Rather like Diogenes bearing his lantern, Eli has been wandering the wasteland for thirty winters searching for one virtuous person with whom to share his esoteric knowledge. ("Book of Eli")
--Hell Tanner is burying Cornelia. Rather than weep, he interjects "Screw!" and offers that when he finds the punk who clipped his gal "I'm gonna teach him a new way to hurt." ("Damnation Alley")
--Brother Francis Gerard is (or was) waylaid by ruffians on his way to New Rome to see the Pope. ("Canticle for Liebowitz")
--Postmaster Ford Lincoln Mercury: the man is a treasure-trove of wry material. ("Postman")
--Sergeant O' Farrell needs help! Raiders attacked a BOS convoy, but the only thing the villains managed to blow up was the beer truck! Will he find another stash to maintain morale for the downtrodden grunts at Bunker Sigma? Okay, so Bob Hope was no Mad Max, but... ("The Private Navy of Sergeant O' Farrell")
--"Ah, so *this* old factory is where that delicious and nutritious soylent green was made by the ancients? Good thing those tin cans were sealed tight, since we find it in every ruined building we forage and live off the stuff for days at a time in the field. Wait, this isn't right... NOOOO! SOYLENT GREEN IS..." ("Soylent Green")
--"Crop Rotation": Some Scribes are teaching tribals advanced farming techniques; an army moves on its belly. (Fallout, Shady Sands)
--"Recruiting Station": A Paladin and an Elder examine a line-up of potential recruits-- a tribal, a citizen, a mutant, etc. Last in the line-up is a radscorpion; the Paladin scoffs, but the Elder thinks the scorpion looks quite ferocious and his "clickety-clack" sounds very intelligent. (My own idea, poking fun at the game itself)
A game full of encounters like those listed above would be ineffably superior to the current game-- full of insipid vapidity like "Cole the Brahmin Medium" and "L33Tists" in the Special Encounter department. A decade later, I'm still angry I actually paid money for such asinine drivel. I did include most of the materials necessary for one new encounter I didn't have time to finish (consider this a modding Easter Egg). Those qualified to do something with the material will know how to find it, and should feel free to add some finishing touches to make the encounter functional. In the meantime, everyone else will have to wait for "Fallout Tactics Redux 2.0"-- perhaps in another ten or so years, assuming civilization hasn't collapsed into a Mad Max Road Warrior scenario by then.
d) I made some effort to address the failed implementation of random encounters in the original game; however, my solution (getting rid of most random encounters and replacing them with a training simulator switch in the BOS bunkers) is also admittedly inadequate. Contrary to many internet discussions, the frequency of random encounters has nothing to do with "processor speed" or "frame rate," and a proper fix for the issue would require a fair bit of work. In my opinion, the ideal way to address random encounters would be to thoroughly redesign them to only use the "abandoned city" maps, featuring only sensibly-programmed opponents armed with ranged weapons (raiders, mutants, robots, etc) deployed at very heavily randomized spawn points. Such a solution would require comprehensive revision of the several random encounter maps, a substantial revision of several files including encounters.txt and campaign.txt, and a heavy revision of bos.cam. I simply didn't have sufficient time to do this-- but anyone who would like to contribute to a better game would find ample opportunities to offer an important community service by further addressing such matters.
V. CREDITS:
This project includes work drawn from the output of numerous modders of Fallout Tactics as well as other sources. I sincerely apologize if I've overlooked anyone below-- if your work appears in this project and you don't see your name listed, please contact me via the No Mutants Allowed forum (
www.nma-fallout.com) and I'll see that you're properly credited in all future versions of this project. Apparently many folks who have contributed material for FOT over the years are either extremely altruistic or simply unaware of the phenomenon of readme files-- and I can't give credit (something I want to do) if the author has included no means to identify himself to posterity. In at least one other case, a few sprite images were used from a mod ("MG") by our Fallout cousins in Russia who (perhaps naturally) included no English documentation with their files. In this case, since Cyrillic text displays only as gibberish on the computers to which I have access, I wasn't able to discern any names who should be credited (sorry).
--Articles: In several of the BOS bunkers, the player can read some articles on various topics. Some of the sources from which I summarized this material were:
*Bunker One, Two, and Four, plus some holodisks:
**Several old and outdated versions of US Army and US Marines field manuals, such as FMFM1 "Warfighting" by John Schmitt, FM 3-90 "Tactics," FM 90-10-1 "An Infantryman's Guide to Combat in Built-Up Areas," and FM 3-4 "NBC Protection." All these old manuals are available at various websites, so just use your favorite search engine.
**"Duty, Honor, Brotherhood," was quite closely modelled on the very fine speech made by General Douglas MacArthur to the graduating class at West Point in 1962 entitled "Duty, Honor, Country."
**"How to Make War" by James F. Dunnigan.
*Bunker Two and Four:
**"Black Steel" mod for Fallout 2 by Lich
*Bunker Four:
**"A Canticle for Liebowitz" by Walter M. Miller
*Bunker Five:
**"Hagakure" by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, written around the year 1715.
**"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," by Charles Mackay, published in 1841.
Since both were written a very long time ago and are in the public domain, on-line editions should be easy to find.
--"Awaken" mod by Dargh and the Awaken team was the source of several item sprites.
--"Bunker and Mission Mod--Xtra Characters" by dark_ark_20_255. Kudos to dark_ark, as this mod contributes much fine content to the present project.
--Canteen sprite by Xbow, taken from requiem_for_a_starfury's "Hand of Steel" mod.
--Fallout Sprite Pack 1, Fallout Sprite Pack 2, and Fallout Sprite Pack 3 by OnTheBounce.
--Fallout Tactics "Unofficial Patch 1.27a" by jarekfall included. This fine patch adds some missing sounds for rocket launchers, and fixes some inventory item entities fouled up by Microforte in the Official 1.27 patch.
--Freak's Sprites (presumably by a fellow named "Freak").
--Image "City Ruins" by Defonten, from the No Mutants Allowed Art Gallery.
--JJ86 made at least one (thesaurus), and possibly more, of the sprites used herein.
--"LIW" Mod by Noisist, as translated by JJ86, was the source of several sprites.
--M92FS Portrait Pack by M92FS.
--M92FS Rifle Sprites Pack by M92FS.
--MacBeth's Sprites for FOT by Kroffa/Crow/MacBeth.
--"Ron's Portrait Packs" for Jagged Alliance 2 (presumably by "Ron").
--Seraglio's Portraits 1 and Seraglio's Portraits 2 by Seraglio.
--Some firearm sounds drawn from "Jagged Alliance 2 Urban Chaos Mod 2003" by the JA2 Mod Squad; where those guys got them I doubt anyone still recalls.
--"Tile and Sprite Pack" (?) by requiem_for_a_starfury et. al. I've had this old fileset for a very long time, and am not actually sure if it ever even had a proper title.
--"Wastes" FOT mod assets by Ox-Skull is a very fine source of sprites and tiles, of which I used several.
VI. More Stuff
Please have fun with this mod. Though I often frown when I see readme files where the author provides no email address for correspondence, the truth is that at the moment I'm writing this I haven't checked my email in four months-- and the last time I checked it, five months had passed since the previous check. I guess I'm just not a part of the Twitter generation. Therefore if you have questions or problems regarding this mod, your best bet for a response is to visit the No Mutants Allowed forum-- whether I'm personally available or not, someone there will surely be able to help you. If you're not really keen on a response any time this year (now that you've been warned-- twice), questions may also be directed to
endocore@hotmail.com.
Terms of use:
"Fallout Tactics Redux" by Endocore is meant to be freeware in all times and places. If you paid anything at all for these materials-- SOMEONE RIPPED YOU OFF. Though these materials are meant solely for noncommercial distribution and you are free to redistribute them for noncommercial purposes as you like, all additional files and materials included with this file "FOTR-readme.txt" or associated with "Fallout Tactics Redux" are not to be redistributed without the wholesale and strictly unadulterated inclusion of this file "FOTR-readme.txt". Any use whatsoever of these materials not complying with the preceding statement is acknowledged the user of these materials to be a violation of the copyright laws of the United States of America. These materials are offered with no implied warranty or presumed fitness for usability of any kind, and by proceeding with any use of any materials associated with "Fallout Tactics Redux" the end-user of such material thereby assumes categorical responsibility for all consequences of such use. Any use whatsoever of the materials associated with "Fallout Tactics Redux" constitutes your consent to all aforementioned terms found in the original file "FOTR-readme.txt" by Endocore originally included with those materials.
