As Author, Visionary, Dreamweaver... plus Actor once said:
I've updated my alternate Miria mod for compatibility with killap's RP 2.3. The mod is available here, and includes all necessary files as well as the addition of combat taunts I long ago wrote for Miria. The mod has been tested thoroughly, but if any bugs occur please report them here. This version of the Miria mod never really had a formal title, probably resulting in some confusion in the past, so unless anyone has a better idea I say we call this version "Endocore's Miria mod" from now on to distinguish it from its many cousins. I offer my thanks to all those who have contributed over the years to making Miria a more worthy spouse for the Chosen One, and whose work provided inspiration and guidance for this version even though I parted ways with the technical details of past Miria embellishments. Thanks as well is due to killap, from whose optimized RP scripts I copied many technical details of this present endeavor.
My angle on the Miria mod reiterates the traditional material that's been around for ages, but also includes an expanded marriage simulation for role-playing purposes. As previously discussed, Miria develops her own ideas about the couple's future, and shares these goals with the Chosen One if their relationship blossoms. Perhaps more importantly for many players, the Chosen One can now have sex with Miria (if she's also in the mood for love). These features are of course in addition to all the standard fare old-timers expect from any Miria mod (Miria levels up gaining competence, changes her appearance based on armor worn, can be asked to wait in towns, etc). In the protos I've provided, as Miria levels up her primary skills are in Small Guns and Energy Weapons. Yet even at her maximum level she's hardly any kind of badass (her ultimate Strength is only 5 unless she wears Power Armor or takes Buffout). I like this approach because the player-character must still make an effort to take care of/protect Miria.
Any players may further customize Miria to their own tastes by following along with my article on the subject. Except for the inclusion of combat taunts, the present files are merely a tangible expression of the material discussed in the article. For those interested in such things, the only significant change required to bring the mod into compatibility with the RP 2.2/2.3 was to make new protos, as the slots previously stipulated were claimed by new killap critters.
For those using older versions of the RP, some time ago I added a partial download of this mod for RP 1.2/2.0 to the NMA Files section, and Nirran made a full version compatible with RP 2.1.2 that can be found on his site.
In the current version I've also included my script and msg for Cassidy, because in my game he offers some conversation about married life if the Chosen One is married (as well as some back-story I imagined for Cassidy). An added benefit some may appreciate on this count is that when I wrote that bit (years ago) I also fixed the 1.02d bug (still present in the latest UP and RP) that prevents the player-character from talking to Cassidy about the latter's dislike of Myron; without this change you'll never hear the deprecated bit of Dravean's voice acting for those long-lost original content lines. The mod also includes my updated script and msg for random encounter trappers, as the standard trapper script breaks if Miria is waiting halfway across the map and the player-character offers to trade Miria's charms for gecko pelts.
FAQ
Q: Do I need to start a new game after installing the mod?
A: Yes, because the mod uses new global variables (found in vault13.gam).
Q: [Something about this mod] is dumb!
A: Read my technical article and make your own scintillating version.
Q: [Something about this mod] is offensive!
A: Read my technical article and make your own innocuous version.
Q: This mod would be way cooler if Miria could [do something novel].
A: I probably agree, but I either didn't have time to do that myself or else I have in fact done it for my own (heavily customized) game but didn't have time to investigate compatibility with the latest RP. The Miria mod is the whole community's property, and many fine folks have made contributions over the years. I encourage everyone to make the mod their own and explore new territory in their own versions of the material.
Q: Is this mod compatible with vanilla Fallout 2 1.02d, or the Megamod, or...
A: Nope, but you can easily make your own adaptation by reading my tutorial. The Megamod already has a traditional Miria mod, and for other cases I think anyone not playing the RP or Megamod these days is likely also the sort who simply isn't interested in a Miria mod or any other sort of mod, period.
Q: If Miria isn't wearing any armor and I force her to equip certain weapons through the dialogue screen, the game crashes when I end the dialogue, or when I move the cursor over her, or when she starts to walk somewhere.
A: Yep, so don't do that-- let her pick her own weapon if combat begins when she isn't wearing any armor. This is a long-standing engine facet, and though in theory a few hundred lines of script could eradicate the issue I don't see the point when all that's required is a smidge of self-awareness by the player about wtf he's doing while playing the game. Another solution is to change the basic (unarmored) sprite used by Miria to a model with more weapon animations available. For example the new blonde or red-headed heroine animations in the Appearance Mod would be nice for Miria after she's married, but the reason I didn't do this is the prudence of renaming all the animation files after copying them to art\critters (too much typing). If anyone wanted to do this, you'd only have to change a single line in mcmiria.int talk_p_proc to effect the change basic change. Note as well that thanks to a change by Darek that makes npcs put away their weapons after changing their armor, one need never worry about an older problem that caused related crashes in B-Team mods.
Q: If you make a Miria mod, you have to make a Davin mod too.
A: Feel free to make your own; my articles should give you most of the info you need to make or modify any npc follower. If you need help getting started with Davin, someone (I think it was Tom9k, but maybe I'm wrong) once made such a mod that anyone could probably update. Since longtime reading of this forum tells us 99.9 percent of all Fallout 2 games are played as a male Chosen One, I personally don't think a Davin mod is worth much effort-- and writing a proper "romance novel" to inspire plausible player-character fondness for Davin would take a fair bit of effort. Another problem is basic biology-- a female Chosen One will probably start to worry if her husband doesn't knock her up after years of in-game time, and using a heavy-handed "your womb is as barren as the accursed wasteland in which you live" characterization infringes too much for my taste upon the player's right to imagine his own character. Yet as very few players would ever have the role-playing panache to stop playing the game with a self-imposed imaginary "We settled down in a hut somewhere after I got preggers" ending and imposing such an ending would be rather unreasonable, if the only practical alternative is female pc sterility I think the matter is simply best left not addressed at all. Whether Miria practices family planning off-stage we likewise know not, but this narrative case is different-- she has her own ideas and agendas on any number of issues, and I think the approach I took in her characterization leaves ample room for the player's imagination to fill in any sorts of details the player desires in any particular playthrough.
Q: I don't understand how to use these files. I need an autoinstaller version.
A: If copying a few files from one directory to another seems overwhelming, perhaps you should stop playing Fallout 2 and instead use your time to learn at least the basics of how to use your computer's operating system.
Q: Once in a great while when I'm talking to Miria about our relationship the screen isn't big enough to show the particular option I want.
A: This is a rare occurrence, and is due to my use of randomization in dialogue. Some lines are longer than others, very occassionally several long lines happen to be randomly selected at the same time, and heavily randomized outcomes are hard to pervasively test. The script rigorously does not afford any instances where the interface will become "stuck" in a circular dialogue, however, so if this does happen to you just pick a fluff option and then return to the serious subject you wanted to discuss-- the line you want will almost certainly be shown in the displayed area the second time around.
Q: I installed the mod, and everything seems to be working, but I don't understand what to do. Is there a walkthrough?
A: As in the standard game, obtaining Miria's hand in marriage requires either a Charisma of 8 or a good reputation in Modoc plus 7 Charisma. Beyond that, however, this mod is about role-playing-- so there are no objectively "better" or "worse" outcomes. Do what you want, and explore the long-term consequences of your behavior. If you want to be a loving, supportive spouse to Miria-- go for it. If you want to be a wife-beating scoundrel-- that's your business. The mod will attempt to accomodate whatever characterization of the Chosen One you pursue, and the "best" outcome is simply one with which you as player are satisfied during any particular playthrough. In general, though, the mod follows the overall practices of Fallout 2 itself-- if you're playing a villain, you need to apply more imagination to your playthrough as explicit declarations and options from the game itself aren't nearly as frequent as in heroic-themed playthroughs. I regret I haven't had time to develop the Tully-divorce angle or the Leslie/Angela Bishop adultery angles, because I think both are interesting territory in regard to Miria, but perhaps someone else will take up the gauntlet to add even more depth to Miria.
Merry Christmas to all.
Edited 29 August 2015
Link to files updated.
.
I've updated my alternate Miria mod for compatibility with killap's RP 2.3. The mod is available here, and includes all necessary files as well as the addition of combat taunts I long ago wrote for Miria. The mod has been tested thoroughly, but if any bugs occur please report them here. This version of the Miria mod never really had a formal title, probably resulting in some confusion in the past, so unless anyone has a better idea I say we call this version "Endocore's Miria mod" from now on to distinguish it from its many cousins. I offer my thanks to all those who have contributed over the years to making Miria a more worthy spouse for the Chosen One, and whose work provided inspiration and guidance for this version even though I parted ways with the technical details of past Miria embellishments. Thanks as well is due to killap, from whose optimized RP scripts I copied many technical details of this present endeavor.
My angle on the Miria mod reiterates the traditional material that's been around for ages, but also includes an expanded marriage simulation for role-playing purposes. As previously discussed, Miria develops her own ideas about the couple's future, and shares these goals with the Chosen One if their relationship blossoms. Perhaps more importantly for many players, the Chosen One can now have sex with Miria (if she's also in the mood for love). These features are of course in addition to all the standard fare old-timers expect from any Miria mod (Miria levels up gaining competence, changes her appearance based on armor worn, can be asked to wait in towns, etc). In the protos I've provided, as Miria levels up her primary skills are in Small Guns and Energy Weapons. Yet even at her maximum level she's hardly any kind of badass (her ultimate Strength is only 5 unless she wears Power Armor or takes Buffout). I like this approach because the player-character must still make an effort to take care of/protect Miria.
Any players may further customize Miria to their own tastes by following along with my article on the subject. Except for the inclusion of combat taunts, the present files are merely a tangible expression of the material discussed in the article. For those interested in such things, the only significant change required to bring the mod into compatibility with the RP 2.2/2.3 was to make new protos, as the slots previously stipulated were claimed by new killap critters.
For those using older versions of the RP, some time ago I added a partial download of this mod for RP 1.2/2.0 to the NMA Files section, and Nirran made a full version compatible with RP 2.1.2 that can be found on his site.
In the current version I've also included my script and msg for Cassidy, because in my game he offers some conversation about married life if the Chosen One is married (as well as some back-story I imagined for Cassidy). An added benefit some may appreciate on this count is that when I wrote that bit (years ago) I also fixed the 1.02d bug (still present in the latest UP and RP) that prevents the player-character from talking to Cassidy about the latter's dislike of Myron; without this change you'll never hear the deprecated bit of Dravean's voice acting for those long-lost original content lines. The mod also includes my updated script and msg for random encounter trappers, as the standard trapper script breaks if Miria is waiting halfway across the map and the player-character offers to trade Miria's charms for gecko pelts.
FAQ
Q: Do I need to start a new game after installing the mod?
A: Yes, because the mod uses new global variables (found in vault13.gam).
Q: [Something about this mod] is dumb!
A: Read my technical article and make your own scintillating version.
Q: [Something about this mod] is offensive!
A: Read my technical article and make your own innocuous version.
Q: This mod would be way cooler if Miria could [do something novel].
A: I probably agree, but I either didn't have time to do that myself or else I have in fact done it for my own (heavily customized) game but didn't have time to investigate compatibility with the latest RP. The Miria mod is the whole community's property, and many fine folks have made contributions over the years. I encourage everyone to make the mod their own and explore new territory in their own versions of the material.
Q: Is this mod compatible with vanilla Fallout 2 1.02d, or the Megamod, or...
A: Nope, but you can easily make your own adaptation by reading my tutorial. The Megamod already has a traditional Miria mod, and for other cases I think anyone not playing the RP or Megamod these days is likely also the sort who simply isn't interested in a Miria mod or any other sort of mod, period.
Q: If Miria isn't wearing any armor and I force her to equip certain weapons through the dialogue screen, the game crashes when I end the dialogue, or when I move the cursor over her, or when she starts to walk somewhere.
A: Yep, so don't do that-- let her pick her own weapon if combat begins when she isn't wearing any armor. This is a long-standing engine facet, and though in theory a few hundred lines of script could eradicate the issue I don't see the point when all that's required is a smidge of self-awareness by the player about wtf he's doing while playing the game. Another solution is to change the basic (unarmored) sprite used by Miria to a model with more weapon animations available. For example the new blonde or red-headed heroine animations in the Appearance Mod would be nice for Miria after she's married, but the reason I didn't do this is the prudence of renaming all the animation files after copying them to art\critters (too much typing). If anyone wanted to do this, you'd only have to change a single line in mcmiria.int talk_p_proc to effect the change basic change. Note as well that thanks to a change by Darek that makes npcs put away their weapons after changing their armor, one need never worry about an older problem that caused related crashes in B-Team mods.
Q: If you make a Miria mod, you have to make a Davin mod too.
A: Feel free to make your own; my articles should give you most of the info you need to make or modify any npc follower. If you need help getting started with Davin, someone (I think it was Tom9k, but maybe I'm wrong) once made such a mod that anyone could probably update. Since longtime reading of this forum tells us 99.9 percent of all Fallout 2 games are played as a male Chosen One, I personally don't think a Davin mod is worth much effort-- and writing a proper "romance novel" to inspire plausible player-character fondness for Davin would take a fair bit of effort. Another problem is basic biology-- a female Chosen One will probably start to worry if her husband doesn't knock her up after years of in-game time, and using a heavy-handed "your womb is as barren as the accursed wasteland in which you live" characterization infringes too much for my taste upon the player's right to imagine his own character. Yet as very few players would ever have the role-playing panache to stop playing the game with a self-imposed imaginary "We settled down in a hut somewhere after I got preggers" ending and imposing such an ending would be rather unreasonable, if the only practical alternative is female pc sterility I think the matter is simply best left not addressed at all. Whether Miria practices family planning off-stage we likewise know not, but this narrative case is different-- she has her own ideas and agendas on any number of issues, and I think the approach I took in her characterization leaves ample room for the player's imagination to fill in any sorts of details the player desires in any particular playthrough.
Q: I don't understand how to use these files. I need an autoinstaller version.
A: If copying a few files from one directory to another seems overwhelming, perhaps you should stop playing Fallout 2 and instead use your time to learn at least the basics of how to use your computer's operating system.
Q: Once in a great while when I'm talking to Miria about our relationship the screen isn't big enough to show the particular option I want.
A: This is a rare occurrence, and is due to my use of randomization in dialogue. Some lines are longer than others, very occassionally several long lines happen to be randomly selected at the same time, and heavily randomized outcomes are hard to pervasively test. The script rigorously does not afford any instances where the interface will become "stuck" in a circular dialogue, however, so if this does happen to you just pick a fluff option and then return to the serious subject you wanted to discuss-- the line you want will almost certainly be shown in the displayed area the second time around.
Q: I installed the mod, and everything seems to be working, but I don't understand what to do. Is there a walkthrough?
A: As in the standard game, obtaining Miria's hand in marriage requires either a Charisma of 8 or a good reputation in Modoc plus 7 Charisma. Beyond that, however, this mod is about role-playing-- so there are no objectively "better" or "worse" outcomes. Do what you want, and explore the long-term consequences of your behavior. If you want to be a loving, supportive spouse to Miria-- go for it. If you want to be a wife-beating scoundrel-- that's your business. The mod will attempt to accomodate whatever characterization of the Chosen One you pursue, and the "best" outcome is simply one with which you as player are satisfied during any particular playthrough. In general, though, the mod follows the overall practices of Fallout 2 itself-- if you're playing a villain, you need to apply more imagination to your playthrough as explicit declarations and options from the game itself aren't nearly as frequent as in heroic-themed playthroughs. I regret I haven't had time to develop the Tully-divorce angle or the Leslie/Angela Bishop adultery angles, because I think both are interesting territory in regard to Miria, but perhaps someone else will take up the gauntlet to add even more depth to Miria.
Merry Christmas to all.
Edited 29 August 2015
Link to files updated.
.
Last edited:
Hmm, perhaps a hot fix is in order before the end of the year. I did find another minor unofficial patch issue that might as well be addressed before I take a long leave of absence.
