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ARDENT'S FALLOUT 2 MOD README
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This is an UNOFFICIAL and 100% FREE OF CHARGE modification for the Fallout 2 game. All rights reserved by the owners of the title.

The mod is a total conversion of Fallout 2 containing new storyline, characters, locations, etc. All resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidential. 

CREDITS:
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Ardent - design, scripting, mapping, writing, a little graphics.
Kro - design, graphics, www.

The mod uses portions or complete items of work of other modders and people unrelated to Fallout 2 Modding community:
* Timeslip's sfall, downloaded from Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/sfall)
* Scenery and item objects by Brother_Soifran, on a personal request and downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)
* Scenery items by Wild Qwerty, downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)
* Black-haired Miria model by Jotisz, downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)
* Bald combat armor NPC model by Lexx, downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)
* Evil Cassidy, Black-Gay-Dirty-Metzger, Bald Leather Jacket models and Bald Leather Armor SMG animations by X'il, downloaded via links at the NMA forums (http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50693, http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50693&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60, and http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50693&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=80)
* Hammering Richard model by Sirren, downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)
* Weapon and armor stats developed by Magnus for the F2WR mod.
* Items, scenery objects and NPC models from Fallout Tactics by Interplay.
* World Map background image originally by NASA, downloaded from Visible Earth site (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/); the credit goes as well to Earth Observatory team (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/); special thanks to Corpse for the tip (http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6211&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=worldmap&start=20)!
* Inventory items by To_an, downloaded from Custom Art Repository (http://art.madbrahmin.cz/)

An enormous thank you to all the people who made these pieces of art and to the whole modding community for their continuous support and sharing of knowledge. Without all the tutorials, research and questions answered, this mod would have never been possible.

A special thanks goes out to: 
* Timeslip for sfall, 
* Jargo for the Fallout Script Editor 
* Jochua for the Frame Animator

A very special thanks to Brother_Soifran for his work on some grand graphic items that will appear in later releases (Check out the screenshots, though).

Testers:

Ardent, Kro, Teenage Caveman, Brother_Soifran

INSTALLATION & RUNNING THE MOD:
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1. Make sure you don't have any other mods running simultaneously with Ardent's Mod. This includes Killap's Unofficial Patch and all other fan-made patches.
2. You should have a patched US version of Fallout 2, i.e., version 1.2.
3. Extract the package to your default Fallout 2 location (e.g.: C:\Games\Fallout2).
4. Make sure the file Patch000.dat is deleted or renamed BEFORE running the game.
5. Make sure that all files in Fallout2/data/proto folder are set to "read only". It is best if you select all files, enter their properties, uncheck the box  "Read only", press OK, then re-enter the properties and reset read-only again. It is a known problem with zipped files.
6. Copy ddraw.dll and ddraw.ini (they are in the folder "sfall") to the same directory where fallout2.exe is located.
7. Double-click fallout2.exe and have fun.

NOTE! The game will only run on a patched US version of fallout2. If you have the UK version, you can replace the fallout2.exe file with the one provided in the "US exe" directory of the mod package.

NOTE 2! If you want to update your sfall version, be sure to copy all the settings from the original ddraw.ini file to the one in the newer version. Failing to do so may result in several crashes and the inability to run the game properly.

SOME HISTORY:
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This mod has been in the works since early 2009, though some elements of the story, notably the town of Duston and the outlines of many others, have been developed as early as 2003, when the first notice of Fallout 2 Mapper saw light. For many years I was too lazy to pick up any programming skills. Instead, I played with mapping and inventing stories and quests. 

I only got down to really learning to mod Fallout when my other computer game failed and I had a strong drive to make an RPG, but I figured doing a new one was impossible, so I decided to make one town for Fallout. It went pretty OK, and I subsequently developed the rest of the story turning it into a full conversion of Fallout 2. My brother (Kro) joined as artist and designer. I also began a very fruitful cooperation with Brother_Soifran and Teenage Caveman on the Fallout 3 Nuclear forum (http://www.fallout-3.com/forum/). Some of our friends have playtested the mod too.

The build you have before you is only a DEMO. It is still very much work in progress. Only three towns are completed. Any loose quests that you can't finish and strange maps that lead nowhere, etc., will be developed further on. Most random encounters haven't been altered. No cutscenes were removed. This will all be taken out when we are ready for it.

ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO THE GAME:
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* All ammunition comes in clips of 1, which means that you'll have to buy your every single bullet. Ammunition weighs now nothing, except for Flamethrower fuel, rockets, Micro Fusion Cells, and the like.
* Some weapons have changed stats (more or less damage, changes in range, etc.).
* We are planning to reintroduce the Food System. Hence more food items. Also, you can see the current level of your stomach if you look closely at your character (the binocular option).
* Drinking alcohol has benefits. Apart from taking down 1 point of Perception, they also give various temporary boni. And they fill your stomach a little.
* There are/will be no NPC companions. I don't like them too much and they're a lot of work, so I decided that the mod would be a solo game. I don't think I'm going to change my mind about this.

GENERAL TIPS:
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* DON'T play a dumb character. Really, don't. Only a very small percentage of NPCs is prepared to deal with a PC with Intelligence below 4. These options will of course be included later, but for now it was a bit too much work to squeeze it in the demo. If you disregard this warning, the game may crash on a hundred of occasions. Don't report bugs related to dumb characters.
* Tag Melee or Unarmed. Guns are scarce and ammo is even more so.
* Many quests have time constraints. Read closely what people say to you.
* Since it's a Fallout 2 mod, it attempts to preserve the feel of the original game. That means there are many open-ended quests, your actions will have consequences, towns and people interact with one anothers (though you probably won't see much of that in such a small demo), there are some more or less obvious popular culture references, bad humour, etc.
* Oh, and try to follow the main quest. Since it's a demo, the wandering-style gameplay won't be very rewarding.

NON-BUGS THAT MAY LOOK LIKE ONES:
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* If somebody tells you about a location of a city and then you don't see it on the World Map, don't worry. If it is so, then you were not supposed to go to that city in the demo anyway. It is just a little mechanism which allows me to disable unfinished towns in a simple and efficient way.