Hardcore Mode

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Fallout: New Vegas gameplay
Hardcore Mode

Hardcore Mode is an optional gameplay mode in Fallout: New Vegas.

Transcript

Fallout: New Vegas allows you to play in a new Hardcore Mode that greatly increases the challenge of the game. In this mode, Stimpaks heal over time and cannot mend broken limbs, Rad-Away removes radiation over time, ammunition has weight, and dehydration is a constant concern. This mode is only recommended for advanced players.

You may turn Hardcore Mode on or off at any time in the Gameplay menu, but if you activate Hardcore Mode now and maintain it through the end of the main storyline, you will receive a special reward. Would you like to activate Hardcore Mode?

Overview

Hardcore Mode introduces difficulties and obstacles to make the game more challenging. Stimpaks and other healing items heal gradually instead of instantly, RadAway removes radiation over time in a similar manner, ammo has weight, and the Courier must eat, drink and sleep regularly.

Limbs can be restored by a Doctor's Bag, Hydra, Weapon Binding Ritual, Healing Poultice, Auto-Doc, or by visiting a doctor. Sleeping does not restore HP or crippled limbs, unless it is in an owned bed or having the Roughin' It perk. In addition, recruited companions are no longer marked as essential and can permanently die.

Gameplay

Normal	Hardcore
Stimpaks heal instantly.	Stimpaks heal over time.
Radaway heals radiation poisoning instantly.	Radaway heals radiation poisoning over time.
Doctor's Bags heal all limbs fully.	Doctor's Bags heal limbs partially.
Crippled limbs can be healed with stimpaks, or by sleeping in any bed or mattress.	Only a doctor, a Doctor's Bag, sleeping in certain beds, Healing Poultice, Weapon Binding Ritual, Auto-Doc, or Hydra can heal a crippled limb.
Ammunition is weightless.	Ammunition has weight.
Companions cannot die, instead getting knocked unconscious for a short time.	Companions can die. However, they still heal without needing or using any stimpaks after battle.
No Dehydration, Starvation, or Sleep deprivation.	The Courier must drink, eat, and have proper sleep cycles or will suffer increasingly negative effects, up to immediate death.
The Cloud only deals damage while inside of concentrated pockets.	The Courier is slowly damaged by The Cloud in all outdoors areas of The Sierra Madre.

Status Effects

Need	200	400	600	800	1000	Growth-rate
H2O	-1 END	-1 PER, -2 END	-2 PER, -1 INT, -3 END	-2 PER, -3 END, -2 AGL, -1 INT	DEATH	~12/h (1 every 10s)
FOOD	-1 STR	-2 STR, -1 CHR	-3 STR, -1 PER, -2 CHR	-3 STR, -2 PER, -2 CHR	DEATH	~4.75/h (1 every 25s)
SLEEP	-1 AGL	-1 INT, -2 AGL	-2 INT, -1 END, -3 AGL	-2 INT, -2 END, -3 AGL	DEATH	~2.4/h (1 every 50s) (~ -60/h Sleep)

Note: the hours are for game time; the seconds for real time.

Notes

• Doctor's Bags function similarly to Stimpaks when healing limb damage. They can be used to heal all crippled limbs at once (but only healing each limb minimally) or used on specific limbs to heal much more. The other limb-healing items such as Healing Poultice cannot be used to heal individual limbs since the interface only offers doctor's bags.
• Sleeping in an owned bed and getting the Well Rested bonus will completely restore HP and any crippled limbs.
• Hydra heals all limbs over time, functioning the same as in Normal mode.
• In many cases foods created at a Campfire will heal far more than Stimpaks, particularly if the player character has a high Survival stat and a low Medicine stat.
• When beginning the Dead Money add-on while on Hardcore Mode, the player character will wake up in the Villa with all Hardcore meters at zero, proceeding at the normal rate from that point, but the SLP meter will be stuck at zero unless one finds a bed and sleeps.
• Drinking from a water source will satisfy one's H₂O count.
• Hardcore Mode not only penalizes player characters for not eating food but also on eating raw meat. Cooking meat at a campfire or by using an Electric Hot Plate is the only way to remove the debuffs given by raw meat.
• When adjusting the timescale variable, needs DO NOT scale with it. If it is set to 1 (1 game minute = 1 real minute), one will die of starvation or dehydration if sleeping for more than a couple hours.
• Despite being promised a "special reward" for completing Hardcore Mode, there doesn't seem to be any sort of reward for completing beside the trophy earned. Either there was a plan to add a reward that was cut due to time constraints or the "reward" is the trophy itself.

Behind the Scenes

• The survival and hunger mechanics in the 2009 video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat greatly influenced Hardcore Mode, to the point that Joshua Sawyer called Hardcore Mode "basically" a rip-off.
• In an interview with Fallout Planet, Sawyer would also state that hardcore mode drew inspiration from existing mods.

Bugs

• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 Sometimes one or more of the Hardcore needs (such as H2O, FOD, SLP) will disappear, and will not even indicate a 0 integer. One can fix this by going into the options then turning hardcore off/on again, which will reset all needs to 0. However, this seems to be a redundant problem once it happens the first time and starts again upon loading a save. A way to fix it is to make a backup save, and delete the old file.
  • Another fix for the above bug is to use an item that increases/decreases the meter of said needs (i.e. if 0 integers are missing in SLP then take a nap and the integer will reset to 0). This may need to be repeated before the fix takes effect.
• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 The unpatched version of the game sometimes glitches and stops players from leveling up though still registering experience.
• PC If one transfers their save game to a new computer and continues playing, the Hardcore achievement may not register upon completing the game, even if Hardcore Mode was left on.
• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 The sleep meter may sometimes not drop below 2.
• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 Hardcore meters may stop increasing in "real-time." Sleeping, waiting, or fast traveling will still cause them to increase. Reloading a previous save can sometimes "unstick" the meters, but they become stuck again after a few minutes of gameplay.
• PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 When loading a game, the needs meters may be higher than they were when it was saved, causing the player character to be hungry, tired, or dehydrated even though they were fine at the point of saving.

References

Developer Statements