Fallout 1 NPCs cannot be reloaded

V

veruca

First time out of the vault
Hi there, I hope this is the right place to ask this question. I searched the site for Fallout 1 NPC items and looked through 20 pages to find this topic with no luck. I've also read several walkthroughs and none mention this. It doesn't seem like a game bug.

I am playing through Fallout 1 again, v1.1. Sometime before entering the Military Base, I noticed that none of the NPCs are able to receive new items. Every time I try to plant more ammo it says "there is no space left for that item."

I first thought it was just Katja being weak and unable to carry very much, but then noticed that Ian and Tycho could not be reloaded with ammo either. So what I want to know is what event/action starts this? I know toward the end of the game, it starts trying to kill off the NPCs, but when does this "no more items" limitation begin?

Many thanks for any help.
 
Ehm, maybe their inventory is actually full? Try taking some items out of their inventory and then planting the ammo again.
 
You can trade any amount of items to them, but only plant as much as they're supposed to be able to carry.
 
Well, thanks. :) Both Ian and Tycho could carry much more than just weapons and ammo though. I loaded them up with twice as much as my player could carry. I sold all the items then went hunting mutants for more things to sell. That was when I discovered that they suddenly couldn't carry anything more. I even tried taking away ammo they were carrying and then they would not take it back. So I don't think it is the weight.

At first I had to take away the throwing knives from Katja to give her a SMG and ammo, but then when she ran out of ammo I couldn't give any more.

This happens late in the game and I had visited the first part of Cathedral and then back to the Military Base. I tried restarting several times and it does the same thing. In older saved games the NPCs still carry things as normal so I think it's part of the way the game timeline is designed. I'm trying to figure out when/what triggers this.

I'll probably start a new game (or an older save) and check after entering any new area beyond the Hub. I just thought that with a 10 year old game, someone must know about this already and I wouldn't need to do that. :)
 
It could simply have something to do with the amount of items they can carry, instead of the weight.
 
Items have a size value which isn't show in-game and doesn't always correlate that well to weight. Critters seem to be treated as containers when you use the Steal skill.
 
I guess I am not explaining this properly. :(

Whether or not the carry weight is determined by size or volume is not the problem here. What I am saying is that it changes at some point during the game. I always used steal and plant to exchange items with NPCs as that was what I read to do somewhere, but I don't see how using barter could make any difference in carry weight.

For example: imagine if Tycho can hold 1 shotgun, 10 shells, 5 scorpion tails and 3 stimpacks when we leave Junktown. During battle he uses the shells and stimpacks, so I plant more on him. We sell the scorpion tails and I can plant something else on him instead. This works through most of the game.

Sometime after I have entered Cathedral or received the quest to find the Military Base this changes. I can use steal and take everything away from him, but when I try to plant anything at all, even returning items I just stole, it tells me "there is no more room for that item."

This happens with all NPCs at some point near the end of the game and I am trying to figure out exactly what causes it.
 
Have you tried taking a large item in exchange for a small one to check? Take a gun or some armor for one unit of ammo and however many bottlecaps you'll need to, see if it'll work...
 
veruca said:
I guess I am not explaining this properly. :(

Whether or not the carry weight is determined by size or volume is not the problem here. What I am saying is that it changes at some point during the game.
Click to expand...

We've never heard of NPCs changing in the way you describe, so we're just trying to explain it in terms of what we know. You're saying that if you relieve them of everything but a Lighter and a Fruit, you still can't put anything else in?

veruca said:
I always used steal and plant to exchange items with NPCs as that was what I read to do somewhere, but I don't see how using barter could make any difference in carry weight.
Click to expand...

The thing is that the bartering interface ignores carrying capacity. You can enter barter, present an NPC with any amount of gear and trade it for nothing, and they'll happily walk around with it. Because they are "overloaded", you can steal stuff from them but not put anything back because they'd still be over their limit.
 
Well I couldn't figure it out so finished without the NPCs. Next time I'll try barter instead of steal/plant. I always end up getting them killed anyway, and wonder if anyone has been able to finish the game with all (or any) of them alive?

Thanks also for the great looking FO2 Walkthrough, Per. Maybe I can get past New Reno this time. :)
 
I had Katja for most of the time, but she died at the very end of the Military Base...
 
Sorry to resurrect this almost 9 year old post, but I was having the same problem and this was the only relevant hit I found when searching for a solution. I found the problem and the solution on my own, so I'm posting it here for anyone in the future that runs into this problem and looks for a solution.

TL;DR: Wearing power armor causes it. If you take off the power armor, you'll be able to plant items again with the steal skill.

I know you can give unlimited items to companions through barter, but I feel that is cheating and don't use it. This was driving me crazy, but unlike the OP, it was only happening with Katja. I'm using the unofficial 1.3.5 patch, so maybe it fixes Ian and Tycho. Since Katja has such a low carrying capacity, I use her to carry spare ammo for me and items that I use but don't need taking up space in my inventory like doctors bags, med kits, lock picks, etc, so I'm rarely giving her items.

I too also first noticed it at the military base. Katja took a some damage fighting the guards and used a few stimpaks, so I was trying to re-stock her supply after the battle and I couldn't give her a weightless stimpak. I started loading older saves to find last save where I didn't have this problem, and it was the one right before I got power armor. It couldn't be that simple could it? I loaded my current save, took off the power armor and I was again able to give items to Katja. I put the power armor back on and it tells me there is no room when I try to plant something, even a weightless stimpak.
 
Well, that's curious, never noticed that about power armor (especially considering the fact that by the time I get it, I usually don't need party members anymore and dismiss them, so they won't die). I always used barter to give items and steal to take, as it's no cheating, rather an exploit. F2 surely got this fixed. BTW, in Fallout Fixt the amount of space is shown in numbers for any container in the game.
 
jimnms said:
Sorry to resurrect this almost 9 year old post, but I was having the same problem and this was the only relevant hit I found when searching for a solution. I found the problem and the solution on my own, so I'm posting it here for anyone in the future that runs into this problem and looks for a solution.

TL;DR: Wearing power armor causes it. If you take off the power armor, you'll be able to plant items again with the steal skill.

I know you can give unlimited items to companions through barter, but I feel that is cheating and don't use it. This was driving me crazy, but unlike the OP, it was only happening with Katja. I'm using the unofficial 1.3.5 patch, so maybe it fixes Ian and Tycho. Since Katja has such a low carrying capacity, I use her to carry spare ammo for me and items that I use but don't need taking up space in my inventory like doctors bags, med kits, lock picks, etc, so I'm rarely giving her items.

I too also first noticed it at the military base. Katja took a some damage fighting the guards and used a few stimpaks, so I was trying to re-stock her supply after the battle and I couldn't give her a weightless stimpak. I started loading older saves to find last save where I didn't have this problem, and it was the one right before I got power armor. It couldn't be that simple could it? I loaded my current save, took off the power armor and I was again able to give items to Katja. I put the power armor back on and it tells me there is no room when I try to plant something, even a weightless stimpak.
Click to expand...

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
 
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