Fixes the long standing issue of shots not hitting the crosshair in 3rd person.
The 3rd Person Problem
We all have those moments where we dumped 10, 20 rounds on a charging nightstalker, only to die afterwards and realize that not a single shot had connected.
Ranged projectiles in New Vegas spawn at the tip of the weapon barrel and travel straight out, as they should. This turns into a problem in 3rd person however, because nothing is lined up properly.
The camera and the player character are parallel to each other. They are moving in equal planes. And 3rd person animations are designed so that the NPCs are shooting in front of themselves. This means that the tip of the barrel is never pointed directly at your crosshair, but instead at the center of the character's line of sight, roughly at a 30 degree angle away from the crosshair.
What's more, the problem is compounded by the camera position. By moving the camera out horizontally, the misalignment angle between the weapon and the crosshair expands, further worsening the accuracy. The default 3rd person camera is already quite centered, but nonetheless, it is still a noticeable problem. It gets even more severe in the side 3rd person views added by camera mods. They feel great to play at first because the character is moved off to the side and you get a clear view of what's in front, but then combat begins, and the weapon precision is even worse than vanilla.
The auto-aim system is serviceable under the right settings. With enough distance between the player and the target, this misalignment angle becomes mostly inconsequential. It's just that within that mid-to-close range zone, your shots will basically never hit where you point the crosshair to. And unfortunately, most of the skirmishes in the game are going to either start off in or quickly progress into that range, so it's not very avoidable, especially if you are not looking to play around the broken sneak mechanic.
Not to mention, most weapons in the game are not 3rd person friendly. A lot of them are semi-automatic with low ammo capacity. Missing a shot or two here could easily mean the difference between life and death against something like a cazador. Sadly in 3rd person, it usually means death. It's even more frustrating when you're dying to the crosshair not doing what it's supposed to, rather than the actual threat.
So if you insist on playing in 3rd person, you don't really got a lot to work with. The best you can do is to run with a spray and pray weapon and aim next to your target, backpedal constantly, or put the camera smack dab in the middle. Or just forget about it and go 1st person. Not much else.
Well, maybe there is.
With 3rd Person Aim Fix, the mid-to-close range precision aiming is now as consistent and reliable as it is in 1st person. None of the previous problems matters anymore. It doesn't matter how far off to the side the camera is, nor does it matter what weapon you're using. When you shoot, it's going to go toward the dot. Not next to the crosshair, but right AT the crosshair.
The mod will adjust for all firearms except the flamers, for obvious reasons. They have always been fine to use.
It's not a cheat code. You are still going to miss from weapon spread, recoil, movement, not aiming, etc. You just won't miss the shots that should land.
I recommend pairing this with Advanced 3rd Person Camera and Enhanced FOV for the complete ESPless 3rd person overhaul package. The former comes with a preconfigured side camera view that takes full advantage of the aim fix. The latter offers scope switching and expanded FOV features that further enhance 3rd person gameplay. Both are also highly customizable.
Lastly, the 3rd person auto-aim game settings already come preconfigured with the mod, so it's pretty much good to go out of the box.
Requirements
New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE xNVSE)
Compatibility
The mod has been tested with all vanilla weapons and some modded weapons. It will work with any modded weapon that is modeled and set up correctly.
It contains fixed Multiplas Rifle meshes. Replacing these meshes will make the aim fix nonfunctional on the weapon. Patch for Lumen - Ambient Lighting is available in the Optional Files section.
Other than that, it should be compatible with anything.
Technical Details
The mod works by shifting the projectile spawn point back to simulate shooting as if it was 1st person. Sounds simple, but to make everything work and simultaneously keep all the moving elements completely undetectable was a pretty convoluted process. I've been working on it on and off since last year, and it's only recently that the mod has reached state of what I feel completion.
I've tested numerous different methods, from tilting the projectile node, to moving the projectile itself, to spawning a different projectile to replace the original one, etc. Not one worked as well and felt as natural as the current one. The current method actually involves a combination of everything I've listed, plus a bunch more stuff behind the scene to make sure that everything sticks. That whole realm of projectiles and muzzle flashes is kind of just a minefield of very easy to break stuff.
In terms of modding, if you want to exclude a weapon or projectile from being fixed, assign the keyword "P3PSkip" to the form. For instance, this is used for the Laser Detonator from Lonesome Road. If you want to stop the fix during the game, you can turn off the master switch by Goo1.AuxVarSetFlt "*_P3Poff" 1.
Instructions
Download and install with Mod Organizer 2.
3rd Person Aim Fix
Main file
3rd Person Aim Fix (ESP Version)
Try using this instead of the main file if the game crashes upon launch
Lumen Patch
For Lumen
