Description

This project is an enhancement to the EVE (Energy Visuals Enhanced) mod. It enables and integrates EVE’s hidden and unused weapons into Fallout 3. Originally, some of them were little more than meshes while others were either implemented in a limited way or only accessible through console commands.

This was not just a case of simply adding new weapons into the game world. A lot of time and work went into the creation and tweaking of textures, models and stats. In some cases, corrections had to be made. For others, outright creation of new content was needed.

In the beginning, I was only working on and intending to introduce a single new weapon, the Ballista. But, as time went on, I got more ambitious and decided to include as many weapons as I was able to. What you have now is the result of this effort.


Features

Below I’ll list each of the weapons I’ve introduced and other relevant info. There are both new energy and melee weapon types available.

•Ballista. It’s a weapon similar to the dart gun. Unlike the dart gun though, it incorporates electricity and uses a scope for aiming. The projectile it fires is based on the stimpak but contains a different type of neurotoxin that both damages and paralyzes its targets. This weapon was found gathering dust in EVE’s folders and received the lion’s share of my time. It already had the animated bits and textures but required much more to be functional. New textures, projectile, effect, stats, etc. were created to make it a fully working weapon.
•Bloodbath & Bloodletter. A shotgun and laser rifle respectively. Weapons with the same unique sounds and projectiles. I’m guessing they were created as proof-of-concept type weapons only, since they don’t do any actual damage. Worth trying to see the effects and so were included for that reason. No other changes were made. Were only available previously through console commands.
•Boxing Gloves. A melee weapon for pummeling foes up close. Only seen in EVE if you happened to pick Bryan Wilks’ pockets. Connecting with a critical hit should result in a knockdown.
•Hand Saw. Useful for slashing at enemies and trimming dead wood. Previously found only in the possession of the insane survivors in Vault 108.
•HE Gatling Laser. High energy gatling laser with unique properties. Wasn’t in proper working shape in regular EVE. Created new texture (given unique look) and tweaked properties.
•Laser Autocannon. High-powered laser heavy weapon. Single barrel with high power demands too; goes through EC packs like Tic-Tacs. Left idle in EVE. Corrected path error in model and adjusted properties (like lowered ammo use – was 35 per shot, now 5).
•Lighter. A cigarette lighter that can be used as a small Molotov. Can be tossed at enemies or to trigger gas traps. Another item that was just a mesh in a folder. Model now has completely new UV mapping to allow distortion-free textures and seamless wrapping. Also created closed and projectile versions. As a bonus, I’ve made a separate set of closed Zippo lighters with Fallout-themed graphics for collection and display purposes.
•LX Plasma Rifle. A plasma-based sniper rifle. Complete with special effects typical of other EVE weapons. Was fully fleshed out in EVE but never integrated.
•Shovel of Smackage. You know… dig holes, bash heads with kind of thing. It was also buried in EVE’s folders (if you’ll pardon the pun!  Sorry, couldn’t resist).
•Wretched Plunger of Terror. A clog fixer repurposed to a blunt instrument. Like most plungers, it didn’t see the light of day, until now. Field-tested on Raiders in Fairfax; they didn’t like it!

NOTE: I’ve created unique Pipboy icons for the Ballista, Hand Saw, Lighter (and Zippo version) and Plunger. Shovel icon is courtesy of Point Lookout DLC. Others were either created by WJS (the 2 lasers) or used the game’s defaults.


Implementation

All weapons have been added to the game in, what I think are, lore-friendly, logical ways. Melee weapons are cheap and easily available, whereas energy weapons are high-value and rare. It wouldn’t be very game-friendly if a beginning character could get his hands on the lasers and stroll through the wasteland laying waste to everything in his path, for example. Bearing the previous statements in mind, here are the locations/clues to acquiring them:

•The Ballista is only available by building one at a workbench. Schematics can either be purchased or found.
•The Bloodbath and Bloodletter can be found in a container on an upper floor at the north end of the Springvale School exterior.
•All melee weapons can be bought from either Seagrave Holmes in Rivet City or Tulip in Underworld. Karl, in Meresti Metro, has a single version of each.
•Plungers, saws and shovels can also be found on a few people and/or in various locations around the wasteland. Hint: Think logically – what are they normally used for?
•Lighters can be purchased at the same places as melee weapons. Flak & Shrapnel and Chief Gustavo at Tenpenny Tower also sell lighters and the plasma sniper rifle.
•The collectible versions of the Zippo lighter can only be found in the possession of Raiders and Talon Company mercenaries, so you’ll have to loot them to get them.
•There’s a chance to find a plasma sniper rifle in an Enclave crate.
•The two laser-based weapons can only be purchased from Quartermaster Durga in the Citadel or found on a couple of their senior members. She also sells the plasma sniper. I felt it was an oversight that the Brotherhood of Steel didn’t have some uber weapons of their own and now they do. After all, those scribes had to be doing something useful all this time!

Note also that energy-based weapons have been added to inventories through level lists so they will be available in varying condition based on player level and chance.

In the case of the collectible lighters, a new one will become available at every level starting at level 2 and up. There’s also a 25% chance that no lighter will be found when looting enemies.

And before anyone asks: “No, the collectible Zippos can NOT be used as weapons.”

All weapons available at vendors will respawn when vendors refresh their inventory. This is normally after a period of 3 days. The exception is Karl, who only possesses one of each.


Installation

Before doing any install of this mod, make sure you have at least EVE 0.97 (or newer) and its files and plugins (EVE.esm & EVE.esp) installed and activated. This mod depends on a number of its files and the master to be present or it’s insta-crash time!

Installing all files is straightforward. You can either:

1)Do it manually. Unpack to Fallout 3’s Data folder and overwrite the relevant files, then activate the .ESP in Fallout’s launcher or mod manager.
2)Use a mod manager like FOMM to add the entire archive at once. If using FOMM, start by running it then selecting ‘Package Manager’ from the right side of the window. In the Package Manager window, click ‘Add FOMod’ and navigate to this archive’s location. Open it then select ‘Activate’. Exit the Package Manager window. In FOMM’s window, scroll to the end of the list and then move this mod’s .ESP (EVE-Lost And Found.esp) to a place in the list after EVE’s plugins, preferably grouped with other plugins that add items/weapons to the game.

To manually reverse the install, save your game in a spot away from any mod-related location. Then exit the game. Uninstall all related files, deactivate the mod’s .ESP and you’re done.

If you used FOMM to install and want to revert then run the Package Manager again. This time select ‘Deactivate’ and FOMM should do all the dirty work for you.


Optional Installs

There are now 3 optional installs that you can find under the Files tab.

The first is an .esp that contains tweaks to make Lost And Found additions more in line with FWE weapons. Thanks to IIIProZoneIII for supplying the tweaked .esp.

The second optional archive is a version of Lost And Found that adds the gore effect used by the Bloodbath & Bloodletter weapons. The effect will be applied to all dismemberments that occur during combat - for that extra pop to flying body parts. Thanks to Schutza for supplying the .esp and projectile mesh needed to achieve this unused EVE effect in a practical manner.

The third option is a combination of the above two. For those who want to use Lost And Found and FWE and want the extra gore, this is the one for you!

Keep in mind that if you wish to use any of the optional installs, that you should use only one and replace the main EVE-LostAndFound.esp with the one you have selected.


Repair Lists

Ballista – Ballista, Dart Gun
Boxing Gloves – Boxing Gloves, Leather Armor, Raider Armors (All generic)
Hand Saw – Chinese Officer’s Sword, Combat Knife, Hand Saw, Knife, Lead Pipe, Tire Iron
HE Gatling Laser – Gatling Laser, HE Gatling Laser, Laser Autocannon, Vengeance
Laser Autocannon – Same as HE Gatling Laser
Lighter – None
LX Plasma Rifle – A3-21’s Plasma Rifle, LX Plasma Rifle, Plasma Rifle, Plasma Thrower
Shovel of Smackage – Chinese Officer’s Sword, Nail Board, Pool Cue, Shovel of Smackage
Wretched Plunger of Terror – Baseball Bat, Nail Board, Pool Cue, Sledgehammer, Wretched Plunger of Terror


Credits

•Weijiesen & Cipscis. Big thanks to these two for all the work they put into making EVE such a no-miss mod for Fallout 3 players. A special thank you to Weijiesen for declaring EVE open source, allowing me to create this mod, and for answering a number of my questions.
LINK: EVE - Energy Visuals Enhanced

•Pelinor. Thanks for the modder’s resource of scope reticles. I used and modified his ‘ScopeDMS.nif’ for the Ballista’s scope view. I changed it to a red-dot center for dim-light shots.
LINK: More Scope Reticles

•Lord Inquisitor. It was his Zippo lighter resource that Weijiesen modified and gave an animated flame to. Had to rescale lighter though because original was too small.
LINK: Zippo Lighter


Final Notes/Info

This document and mod were created by Ranx31. You can find me on the Fallout Nexus and its forums. Please remember to endorse this mod if you enjoy and use it. It’s this bit of effort on your part that will allow others to separate the wheat from the chaff when making a decision. It will also help me to decide whether I want to keep doing this sort of thing…

Permission to use any content I’ve created, for any reason, must be acquired by asking me through a private message on the Nexus. I take no responsibility for unintended consequences of your use of this mod. If your game crashes because you can’t sort your plugins or you dropped your lighter in the toilet and can’t retrieve it, don’t come crying to me! I’ve made every effort to ensure items work in-game as they should and will try to fix any bugs that may pop up but that’s as far as I go.

Now go enjoy the fruits of my labor and be sure to show your appreciation to all the modders who contribute their time, work and knowledge to you FREE-OF-CHARGE!


 
Still here? Well, since you’ve made it this far, I’ll give you a tip: If you get tired of the graphic (or just want a change or to mix it up) on the lighter you see in your character’s hand, you can change it to any of the collectible versions’ graphics by doing a copy-and-rename. To do this:

-Open Explorer. Go to Fallout’s ‘Data\Textures\Clutter\Junk’ folder. Select whichever Zippo graphic you’d like to use; the names are obvious. Select ‘Copy’ on the file with the right-click (context) menu.
-Go to Fallout’s ‘Data\Textures\Weapons\1handgrenadethrow’ folder. Right-click in a blank spot and paste the graphic.
-Delete the original ‘Zippo-Angel.dds’ file (optionally, backup this file somewhere first) and rename the pasted file to this name.

Should you ever change your mind, you can find another ‘Zippo-Angel.dds’ file in the above-named Junk folder and paste it back in the above-named Weapons folder if you didn’t make a backup of the original.

You might also like to know that all energy weapons have been added to the form list which allows setting Harold on fire.

The lighter has been added to the form lists for the Demolition Expert and Pyromaniac perks. So, if you have these perks, you should see increased damage when scoring a hit.

If you experience any grey bars on the sides of the Ballista’s scope view then you’ll have to modify your ‘Fallout.ini’ and ‘FalloutPrefs.ini’ game files.
Search for the section labeled ‘[Display]’. Then, anywhere within that section, add the following line:

fScopeScissorAmount=0

This should fix the view for any custom scope you have added within Fallout 3. Thanks to starvinginafrica for pointing this tweak out.