First things first. This is a substantial change for the original mod. I think the changes I've made are a huge inmprovement. Because of the number of changes, in order to avoid any conflicts that may arise by overwriting the original, my best advice would be to uninstall the original before installing the update. I don't know what might be altered if you simply overwrite the original, perhaps nothing. In the end, you be the judge. Also, since I've added objects to the world, I would suggest placing the mod towards the bottom of your load order in oder for all placed items to appear in game. I've also discussed this topic further down in the description with regards to potential conflict that might arise with other mods, so keep reading.

This mod consists of 7 fully operational and animated vending machines. I always thought the vanilla vending machines (or what passed for vending machines) left a lot to be desired. I haven't seen much in the way of mods either that really fit the bill as an actual vending machine. I like my models to be interactive and try to add as much of a sense of reality as I can with my limited skill set. Containers or workbenches as vending machines, to me, just don't cut the mustard. These machines offer a variety of items, most of which are new creations, in a straight forward...walk up and make your selection, format. 

The cigarette machines offer 10 types of cigarettes, 9 parody brands and a retextured Grey Tortoise. I made the cigarettes as aid items, so that when you enable/consume/use (whatever) each pack, it will place 20 individual cigarettes and an empty pack (scrappable) in your inventory, thus making them compatible with various smoking mods. I tested it with 2 of the more popular smoking mods, and it worked fine.

The candy machines offer 10 different options, all parody brands. Each candy product is a consumable food item and each has a different potion effect of differing levels. One of the many changes I made to the original mod, because of the new format of first inserting your caps and then making your selection, and because I had already established that the candy item have different prices, the candy machines will now give you change! Base price in the script is 10 caps, but for any selection costing less than 10 caps, there is a handy little coin return box where your change will be dispensed. Cute, huh?

The NukaMatic 3000 is an automated beverage dispenser that serves 11 varieties of Nuka brand soda. The world placed NukaMatics have a touch screen function whereas the workshop variety utilizes a UI button menu. Because of various dependencies and the number of activators each calling on separate scripts, the touch screen function is only possible when all the parts are assembled in the Creation Kit and placed in the world as a collection of meshes. My lack of scripting knowledge kept me from being able to recreate the pre-assembled machine as a single workshop buildable item. Don't worry, the workshop version functions exactly like the world-placed NukaMatics once it's activated. There are relatively few of the NukaMatics placed in the world compared to the other machines. If you want to add more, the complete assembly of the touch screen version exists in the CK as a pack-in. For those of you with modding experience, you should easily be able to go into the CK and place more of them in other locations. Keep in  mind that when you initially place the pack-in, all the assembled parts will remain locked together and move in unison as long as they stay highlighted. If you click off the machine to do something else and then click back on the machine, you will only be selecting one of the placed objects and none of the others will move with it. If you should click off the machine and then decide you want to move it, make sure you select all to the NukaMatic objects in the cell view list and you will then be able to move them as a complete assembly. If you should happen to move one or more of the objects out of alignment, it will become apparent in game when your soda is dispensed, or the screen animations appear out of thin air.

The Vim machine was requested after the mod's initial release, and it gave me the opportunity to create the type of machine I had originally envisioned for the Nuka machine. Besides the upgrade in functionality over the Nuka machines, I also implemented a feature whereby the machines will empty of product eventually. Once a product sells out, after a set period of time the machine will be restocked to replenish it's stock. 

The AmmoTron Ultra and SnackoTron Ultra each offer 9 products, one machine vending ammo, the other...snacks. There are several of each placed in the game, each one offering a different selection of items. As for the ammo vendors, since I'm more of a modder than actual player of the game, I wasn't exactly sure what varieties of ammo to include, or which versions of those types I should use. I simply went down the list of ammunitions in the CK and chose the ones that would actually fit in the space allotted. If there are other varieties you would like to see included, and given that (for the sake of immersion) it needs to fit inside the machine, you can either go into the CK and change the script properties, or make your request in the comment section and once I feel an update is needed, it will be added to the mod. Since the world placed machines have differing selections of product, I was able to include 14 types of ammo as well as 14 more new parody food items. Yes, I'm a parody-a-holic. As for the workshop versions of these two machines, I just picked 9 of each item to be spawned in when the machines are built, and that's what you get. Again, my not being an accomplished scripter kept me from allowing for the machines to be formatted in game, but if you are comfortable with the CK and can do some basic script work, you can change the script properties to change what the workshop machines will vend. As with the Vim machines, the AmmoTron and SnackoTron will eventually sell out and in roughly the same waiting period as with the Vim machines, be restocked. Don't ask me who restocks the machines. I never met him.
Another feature I've included is a new and unique map marker for all the world placed AmmoTrons. I'm not well versed in UI manipulation, quite a beginner actually, but the map marker did turn out well. I chose only to mark the AmmoTrons because ammo is probably more of a sought after item than pop and snacks, and you might want to be able to find a place to buy it in a hurry. All the AmmoTron locations are discoverable, and you will also be able to fast travel to them once the marker is placed on the map. Because of my limited ability regarding UI modding and creating flash animations, I simply replaced one of the existing markers in the vanilla flash file. In doing so, I had to eliminate one of the vanilla markers, so I chose the Swan's Pond marker since it's rather insignificant and there's only one on the map anyway. I have a couple of UI mods installed and as long this mod and thus my altered .swf file overwrites thse in the UI mods, my new marker shows up in game and none of the other modded UI features are disturbed. If you install a UI mod after installing this one, or if you decide you miss the Swan's Pond marker and want to revert back to the vanilla markers, keep in mind that all the AmmoTrons will then be marked on the map with a swan icon, and the pond will still be marked with a generic pond icon. If you happen to overwrite my altered .swf files and want them back, just go back into the mod archive you downloaded, extract the 3 .swf files (located in the Interface folder) and drop them into your Data/Interface folder. Another feature of the AmmoTron and SnackoTron machines is the implementation of a "rewards" card, which the player will need in order to activate them. I have placed one free card in a select location, which if you follow the minor quest, should be easy to find. Otherwise, I have included it in a number of vendor lists and was able to purchase one in game from the third vendor I went to. I don't know how often the vendor lists circulate the items the vendor has for sale, or which vendors end up with which items, all I know is it didn't take long for me to find one to buy.

I have also included a number of miscellaneous other items that are not vending related. In addition to the radio which was included in the original release, there are several advertising items related to the parody cigarettes, a variation of the vanilla Vault Tec calendar found in game, a simple multipurpose workbench that's roughly the size of two gardening tables placed end-to-end and wait high. More the size of a proper workbench. Also added were 3 varieties of a soda crate that can be utilized as display containers for all your surplus soda, beer, wine and liquor. There are also 3 generic pictures which are scenes of Boston from the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

In this update I have implemented a new menu for all the workshop items available in the mod. As I've received some feedback regarding the menu categories I utilized in previous mods, as to the length and how tiresome it can be to scroll from one end to the other looking for items, I broke down all the items in this mod by machine type and various other attributes, and placed each group in it's own separate category. 

I'm not going to elaborate on install/uninstall procedure. The game is 3+ years old, you should have that figured out by now. However, as this mod adds more to the game than settlement objects (ie. world placed objects) there is more of a chance that this mod could conflict with other mods. I ran into one conflict with a Starlight Drive-In mod where the machine I have placed there does not show up. I did a bit of testing and what I've discovered is that if this mod is placed before the Starlight mod in the load order, the machine I placed simple doesn't show up and the Starlight mod looks and works like it should. When I switched the two in the load order, all hell broke loose. The Starlight mod was placed on top of the vanilla Starlight with about half of the meshes from each being eliminated, and my Nuka machine cast among the wreckage. With that in mind, I would suggest placing this mod ahead of any mods you have that have significantly altered various locations. I cannot list off all the locations where machines have been placed as I've placed somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 machine around the map. Probably closer to 500...I can't remember. Two locations that I know are popular for mod builds are Starlight Drive-in (like I said) and the Red Rocket closest to Sanctuary. The other concern is that in replacing the junked vanilla versions of the Nuka machines, I made the cardinal sin of breaking pre-combined meshes. I struggled with whether or not to do this, but after only replacing the working versions of the Nuka machines, while playing the game I realized that there were almost as many of the junked version as there are working machines, and seeing my version as the working ones and the vanilla as the broken ones just didn't look right to me. The difference between the vanilla machines is the working machines are activators, which are not part of the pre-combined mesh, whereas the junked machines are static objects, which are part of the pre-combined. Really bummed me out when I realized my dilemma. Anyway, I went ahead and replaced the static versions with my own and just crossed my fingers. I play on a relatively modest setup (GTX960 GPU, 16GB RAM, 5 year old Core i7), and I didn't have any significant reduction in frame rate that I didn't already have before altering the map. At this point I want to leave the alterations in the mod, but depending on any feedback I get, I will certainly entertain the thought of going back in and replacing those changes that break the pre-combined. I also did a number of material swaps with a variety of billboards which apparently also breaks pre-combined. I can understand why replacing a mesh would do this, but why the hell simply applying a different texture to an object does is beyond me. I've watched several examples of broken pre-combined meshes where whole chunks of scenery flickers in and out of view, but these alterations doing nothing like that at all. Any and all feedback regarding this issue will be addressed. Feedback regarding people not liking the color of the Vim machines (or any other likewise bitching) will be ridiculed mercilessly.

As for the quest portion of the mod, I've already mentioned the clues I have in place, and that is the only information I'm going to give. I've never liked when games leave you a trail of breadcrumbs that lead you to the exact location you need to go, so this is my way of combatting that. I'm not going to give any more hints, nor am I going to tell you what it is you're ebven looking for. All I can say is once you find it, you'll know. If you don't uncover the secret, you'll also know because the quest will never complete.