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About this mod
This mod adds an orphaned baby to the game that you can carry around with you and nurture.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
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Translations
- Russian
- Changelogs
This mod is no longer maintained on the Nexus. Please visit the Wiki or Twitter for details about the latest version!
PREAMBLE
Do you like role-playing in your role-playing games? Do you think Hardcore mode isn't hardcore enough? Or are you, like me, just trying to kill time until the next season of The Mandalorian drops? If you answered "Yes" to any of those questions, this mod may be for you.
I find that my interest in New Vegas waxes and wanes in lengthy cycles, which I attribute to the fact that no matter how many new weapons I add, it always just boils down to "point the mouse at the bad guy and click 'til he dies." That's why, like with my customizable companions before this, I enjoy experimenting with adding new gameplay elements. And as all my friends are getting married and having kids while I'm sitting here making content for a ten-year-old game, I thought, why not try to get a taste of parenthood in the only way I know how?
DESCRIPTION
As you wander around the Wasteland, you stumble across an orphaned baby and, if you want, can decide to take it under your protection. If you do, you will be responsible for managing the baby's Health, Hunger, Hygiene and Comfort in addition to your own as you travel. Environmental factors will affect the baby's needs, and your character's skills will affect how well you perform at managing them. If you get overwhelmed, you can always try to find someone who will take the baby off your hands.
In addition to the baby itself, this mod also adds Baby Food and Brahmin Milk (two new ingestibles that are supposed to be used to feed the baby but which you can benefit from too), campfire recipes for the former, and the ability to milk Brahmin in order to get the latter.
The difficulty can be adjusted by changing the aaaGLOBDifficultyMult global variable using either FNVEdit, or the console (i.e.
set aaaGLOBDifficultyMult to 0.85). By default, it's set to 1.0 but raising it will make things harder and lowering it will make things easier. I don't recommend setting it to 0 or below, as I don't know how well New Vegas handles divide-by-zero errors. I designed it so that you can easily play around with it until you find a setting that you're comfortable with.As of v1.1, there is an optional babysitting service that you can toggle by setting the aaaGLOBEnableMrNanny global variable to 1 using FNVEdit or the console. Mr. Nannies will take the baby from you and maintain its needs while you go off and do your own thing. The service costs 500 caps up-front plus 100 caps per day (which you pay upon picking up the baby). These costs can be adjusted by changing the aaaGLOBBabysitDeposit and aaaGLOBBabysitPerDiem global variables. Mr. Nannies can, for the right price, also provide emergency treatment if the baby's needs fall below a certain threshold.
As of v1.3, the Tale of Two Wastelands plugin has a mechanic to age up the baby into a child when traveling to New Vegas from the Capital Wasteland for the first time. If you'd rather keep the baby as an infant forever, you can set the aaaGLOBEnableAgeUp global variable to 0 using either FNVEdit or the console. If the baby ages up, she automatically becomes a companion, running a pared-down version of my Customizable Companion Framework. Her home location is set to Doc Mitchell's house by default, but you can set it to wherever you'd like by taking her there and choosing the corresponding dialogue option. I chose not to implement the companion wheel for her because a lot of the options would've had no functionality, which would have been confusing and possibly frustrating. You can still issue commands through dialogue options, however. Additionally, you can ask her to find things for you, such as ammo, chems, food or weapons. However, you need to remove all typed items from her inventory before doing so, or else she will simply give you what's already in her inventory.
Because children are unkillable in New Vegas, she will not take damage during combat. However, I've made it so that she takes fatigue damage instead, and after a certain number of hits, will be knocked unconscious. The amount of damage dealt per hit is calculated using the formula
((Base Fatigue / Endurance) * aaaGLOBDifficultyMult), meaning the number of hits she can take is roughly equal to her Endurance. If playing in non-Hardcore mode, this shouldn't be that noticeably different from the default companion behavior. The child can also accompany you for certain DLCs if you set the aaaGLOBKeepCompanion global variable to 1 (It's disabled by default).As of v1.4, companions can be asked to carry the baby for you if you set the aaaGLOBCompanionCanHoldBaby global variable to 1 using FNVEdit or the console. This only works with humanoid companions, both from the base-game and those added by mods, assuming they have been set up properly (i.e. GetPlayerTeammate returns 1 when they are hired). When given to a companion, the companion will automatically feed or clean the baby when its needs drop below a certain threshold, provided they have the necessary supplies. Companions will attempt to feed the baby first with baby food, then Brahmin milk, and lastly (if the companion is female) breast milk. Companions will attempt to clean the baby first with Purified Water & Abraxo Cleaner, then Dirty Water & Abraxo Cleaner, followed by Purified Water, and lastly Dirty Water. Companions cannot heal or comfort the baby. Also, be aware that enabling this option will supersede the companion wheel. This means that the pop-up message box to ask the companion to hold (or return) the baby will always show up first, adding an extra step before you can access the companion wheel. This will get in the way of issuing commands and could potentially be annoying, which is why I've opted to leave the ability disabled by default.
FUTURE PLANS
The main quest is pretty bare-bones right now because honestly, I burned myself out just getting it to this point. However, the foundation is there and ready to be built upon in the future. Other parties could be interested in getting their hands on the baby and it'll be up to you to decide whether or not they succeed.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED FILES
I used some sound assets from Fallout 3 and The Pitt that do not exist in the New Vegas game files and which I can't legally include with this mod. If you aren't running Tale of Two Wastelands, you'll need to extract the following files yourself and place them in the New Vegas Data folder:
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From Fallout - Sound.bsa
From ThePitt - Sounds.bsa
- sound/fx/phy/babyrattle/phy_babyrattle_01.wav
- sound/fx/phy/babyrattle/phy_babyrattle_02.wav
From ThePitt - Sounds.bsa
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_a_01.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_a_02.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_a_03.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_a_04.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_b_01.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_b_02.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_b_03.wav
- sound/fx/npc/baby/npc_human_baby_sleep_b_04.wav
Technically, these sounds are there only to provide user feedback so that you know stuff is happening. The mod will still work even if you don't extract them.
LOCATION
You can find the baby in the following location:
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New Vegas Plugin: You will find the baby hidden in a steamer trunk inside the overturned semi trailer along the road from Jean Skydiving to Sloan, northwest of the Powder Ganger camp.
TTW Plugin: You will find the baby hidden in a steamer trunk at the raider camp south of Dukov's Place.
TTW Plugin: You will find the baby hidden in a steamer trunk at the raider camp south of Dukov's Place.
If you get tired of dealing with the baby, you can bring it to the following location:
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Julie Farkas at the Old Mormon Fort will permanently take the baby for adoption.
TTW Plugin: You can also drop the baby off for adoption in Little Lamplight, if you're in the Capital Wasteland.
As of v1.1, if aaaGLOBEnableMrNanny is set to 1, there will be Mr. Nannies in Goodsprings (Doc Mitchell's house), Novac (in the lobby) and Freeside (in the Old Mormon Fort). The TTW plugin also adds them to the Megaton Clinic and Rivet City Clinic.
TTW Plugin: You can also drop the baby off for adoption in Little Lamplight, if you're in the Capital Wasteland.
As of v1.1, if aaaGLOBEnableMrNanny is set to 1, there will be Mr. Nannies in Goodsprings (Doc Mitchell's house), Novac (in the lobby) and Freeside (in the Old Mormon Fort). The TTW plugin also adds them to the Megaton Clinic and Rivet City Clinic.
HOW IT WORKS
The following is a detailed breakdown of how everything works:
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The baby has four core needs - Health, Hunger, Hygiene and Comfort, each expressed as a percentage - that will immediately begin to degrade upon discovery. That's right, if you decide to abandon the baby, it will eventually die of exposure. However, if you do decide to take the baby with you, various environmental factors will cause those needs to degrade faster. Hanging out in irradiated areas will negatively affect Hygiene, and combat encounters will negatively affect Comfort (As will firing your gun). Not tending to the baby's needs will negatively affect Health. If any one of the baby's needs drops below a certain threshold, it will begin to cry and not stop until it either dies, or you have tended to the baby's needs. If you are trying to be stealthy while the baby is crying, NPCs will be able to hear it and investigate. If the baby's Health is below 100% but its other needs are above a certain threshold, the baby will slowly regain health.
Because the baby is considered a Quest Item, you will not be able to remove it from your inventory. Therefore, a hotkey-able Baby Status Checker item is given to you along with the baby that will let you interact with it and tend to its needs.
Tending to the baby's needs will raise their values gradually over time. I've also made it so that things become slightly easier once you acquire the book on pediatrics during the Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues quest, which sets the aaaGLOBDifficultyMult global to 90% of its current value.
Because the baby is considered a Quest Item, you will not be able to remove it from your inventory. Therefore, a hotkey-able Baby Status Checker item is given to you along with the baby that will let you interact with it and tend to its needs.
- If the baby's Health is below 100%, you can treat it using either your Medicine skill or using consumables (Healing Powder or Doctor's Bag). Using Healing Powder or a Doctor's Bag will heal a fixed amount, whereas using your Medicine skill will heal an amount derived from your skill level.
- If the baby's Hunger is below 100%, you can feed it Baby Food, Brahmin Milk, or (if your character is female) breast milk. Baby Food can be looted, bought from vendors or crafted yourself at a campfire using ingredients found around the Wasteland. Brahmin Milk can also either be looted, purchased, or acquired manually using a new perk that allows you to milk Brahmin that you come across by activating them while sneaking. There is a limit to how much milk you can get this way in a day.
- If the baby's Hygiene is below 100%, you can bathe it using either Dirty Water, Purified Water, or Abraxo Cleaner in combination with either of the waters. Which option you choose affects how much Hygiene is restored. As of v1.1, you can also bathe the baby in any sink, water valve, or drinking fountain. Additionally, you can craft a makeshift Radiation Suit for the baby, if you have a high enough repair skill, by combining a Radiation Suit and Duct Tape at any workbench. The Radiation Suit reduces the amount of Hygiene lost when exploring irradiated areas.
- If the baby's Comfort is below 100%, you can soothe it in various ways. Each option will restore an amount of Comfort based on either your Charisma or your Speech. Tending to the baby's other needs also raises Comfort. As of v1.1, you can also craft Ear Plugs for the baby, if you have a high enough repair skill, using a Teddy Bear at any workbench. The Ear Plugs reduce the amount of Comfort lost during combat encounters.
Tending to the baby's needs will raise their values gradually over time. I've also made it so that things become slightly easier once you acquire the book on pediatrics during the Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues quest, which sets the aaaGLOBDifficultyMult global to 90% of its current value.
USER-CONFIGURABLE SETTINGS
The following is a list of global variables that can be defined by the player to customize the experience to your individual preference. This can be done either with FNVEdit, or while in-game using the console command
set aaaGLOB{VariableName} to {Value}
- aaaGLOBDifficultyMult - Determines how difficult the mod is, including how fast the baby's needs drain. The higher the value, the higher the difficulty. Set to 1 by default. DO NOT SET TO 0! Use a decimal instead, to avoid divide-by-zero errors.
- aaaGLOBEnableMrNanny - If set to 1, enables the various Mr. Nanny's scattered throughout the Wasteland. Set to 0 by default.
- aaaGLOBBabysitDeposit - Determines the cost of the initial downpayment in caps for Mr. Nanny's services. Set to 500 by default.
- aaaGLOBBabysitPerDiem - Determines the cost per day in caps for Mr. Nanny's services. Set to 100 by default.
- aaaGLOBCompanionCanHoldBaby - If set to 1, allows you to hand the baby over to any of your companions. Set to 0 by default.
- aaaGLOBEnableAgeUp - TTW plugin and optional age-up module only. If set to 1, allows the baby to age up into a child companion. Set to 1 by default.
- aaaGLOBKeepCompanion - If set to 1, allows the aged-up child companion to accompany you into DLC areas. Set to 0 by default.
INSTALLATION
Extract all the files in the archive to your New Vegas data folder (which is the same folder where FalloutNV.esm is located) and then enable the ESP either in your mod manager of choice, or under "Data Files" in the launcher that runs when you start up New Vegas.
CREDITS
The animated meshes were graciously made by AmaccurzerO. If you like them, please be sure to thank him and give him kudos!
I used Quetzlsacatanango's Q's Sign Resources to make the sign in Little Lamplight.
The female Courier's singing voice was provided by Julianne M