[WIP] Weapon Addition and Replacement Suite (WARS)

[antistar]

That's one of the downfalls of developing on multiple platforms. Consoles won't be able to handle dual rendering to create that effect for a long while, and even most PC gpus couldn't really handle it until the most recent generation. Plus it can feel kind of clunky even if done well; escape from tarkov has that system in it and it feels nowhere near as natural as it does IRL.

 

I seem to recall the original Hitman game had magnifying scopes that worked that way - and that's from... the year 2000? Is it really that long ago? I also remember it being the first game I saw ragdoll physics in; it was ahead of its time, really.

 

Maybe it's like functioning mirrors (e.g. as in Unreal engine in the late nineties); another thing developers have forgotten how to do. ;) (That or it's actually pretty complicated and developers/publishers tend to decide they have bigger fish to fry.)

[Bottletopman]

That's probably because with more powerful hardware available to the end user, the level of detail in games has increased exponentially to the point that such effects that once would've been worth the tax on a player's system now have to deal with extra detail to achieve the same result. I haven't played the original hitman but I'd imagine at that time they didn't have bits of trash flying around in the wind, or grass everywhere, or bushes with simulated physics, or...etc.

But apparently by 2030 computers will be as powerful as the human brain so maybe we can have fancypants effects and detail without dropping FPS.

[TacticalOchoa]

Back in December 2010, a free-to-play browser game called Contract Wars was released and I recall that it had dual render scopes for when you're using mid and long range scopes. A freakin browser game. Made on Unity as well. In fact, the developers of Escape from Tarkov were former Contract Wars developers and Escape from Tarkov and Contract Wars both take place within the same universe.

[jeffv]

Hi guys,

Just discovered this awesome wip mod. There is any release date? Maybe 2018 Q3 or Q4? :)

[Moldy]

It'd help to read through the first page of the thread; That's where the most critical information usually is. Especially the FAQ,which almost always addresses questions about the ETA.

 

FAQ

Q) When will the mod be released?
A) I don't know yet. It's too difficult to predict how long the various bits of remaining work will take to complete. You can follow my progress in this WIP thread, however. (Incidentally - and at the risk of stating the obvious - mod authors hate being asked this question.)

Q) Could you release an alternate version of WARS that doesn't replace any vanilla weapons, or make any changes to vanilla stats or mechanics?
A) No, sorry. WARS is an overhaul, and "replacement" is right there in the mod's name, after all. Something like this would run contrary to what the mod's all about. Please see the Commentary section below for more info on this.

Q) What about alternate versions generally?
A) Not if I can possibly avoid it. "Hell is alternate versions" is something I've been known to say. It's rarely just a one-off bit of extra work. It multiplies your workload going forward into later updates; suddenly you're doing the same work over and over again for the sake of alternate versions that you don't like and don't use yourself. It's a good way to slow progress and damage the quality of a mod overall.

Q) Will this mod be released on XB1?
A) I had planned to release WARS on XB1, but that's looking unlikely at this point, unfortunately. AmmoTweaks is slated to be a requirement for WARS, and AmmoTweaks itself will probably not be available on XB1 as it requires MCM and F4SE (or will soon). I'm told that a "lite" version of AmmoTweaks without those requirements is possible but uncertain at this stage. In addition, WARS will be a fairly large mod - hundreds of MB, maybe even over a GB - and with the shockingly restrictive 2GB limit that XB1 users are saddled with, the full mod will likely be impractical for many XB1 users. It's possible that WARS could be altered into a lite version that doesn't require AmmoTweaks, and could also be divided up into modular parts (e.g. one weapon per download), but those would be alternate versions, and I don't have time for that myself, like I said above. Maybe someone else would, though. The permissions should be there for that to happen.

Planned Mod Features
(Subject to change. Gradually superseded by exhaustive list of mod features, below.)

***Weapon Mods***

- Mod descriptions explicitly list what effects they have, unlike the very vague descriptions in vanilla.

- Receiver upgrades still improve damage dealt (maybe to a lesser degree than in vanilla), but re-phrased as the receivers (or just the overall weapons themselves) being in better condition.
--- E.g. Awful (-20% DAM), Poor (-10% DAM), Average (No effect), Good (+10% DAM), Perfect (+20% DAM).

- Rechambering weapons is a separate weapon mod "slot" rather than a particular receiver type.

- Semi vs full auto is also a separate slot rather than a particular receiver type.

- Receivers no longer magically alter the ammunition used by the weapon.
--- E.g. Somehow making it armour-piercing or explosive.
--- These effects to be found on particular ammo types instead.

- Ammo types do broadly very similar damage - not affected too much by weapon, and not affected at all by semi vs automatic.

- "Quick Eject" mods removed or replaced by something more plausible.
--- E.g. flared magwells or magazine sleeves.

- Laser Sights added as new weapon mod type.
--- No effect other than that they actually work, painting a dot on your target for easy firing-from-the-hip. (If you don't play with cross-hairs disabled... c'mon now.)
--- Actually I may have them increase hip-fire accuracy; it sort of makes sense.


***Ammo***

- Ammo types have more descriptive, real-world names. E.g. "5.56" becomes "5.56x45mm".

- Ammo types have real-world weight values, where possible. Compared to vanilla, most rounds are heavier - but some are lighter.

- Multiple ammo types per calibre, as in Fallout New Vegas.
--- E.g. Armour Piercing, Hollow Point, Explosive, Incendiary, Shotgun Slugs, Bulk, etc.

- More plausible ammo crafting using the Contraptions Ammunition Plant.
--- Make ammo from brass, powder and lead rather than copper, fertilizer and steel.
--- Okay some recipes may still call for copper or steel, but you get my point.
--- Will likely feature new items like casings and primers.
--- Some calibres may require schematics to be unlocked for crafting, as in my Ammo Crafting Schematics mod for FNV.
--- Ammo can be broken down into components.
--- The ideal result of all this is that you'd be able to build a factory that takes ammo you don't want as an input, and then outputs your desired ammo.


***Mechanics***

WARS requires Loads of Ammo (almost certainly switching to AmmoTweaks before release however) which allowed me to implement:
--- Ammo-switching, as in Fallout New Vegas.
--- Select-fire capability on appropriate weapons. (E.g. you can switch between semi- and full-auto at the press of a button.)
--- Under-barrel weapons, as in Call of Duty or STALKER, for example. (Currently an M203 grenade launcher for the AR-15.)

- Weapon damage based on real-world muzzle energy values.
--- At least somewhat. I haven't crunched the numbers yet. May be a guideline rather than a rigid rule.

- Weapon skill perks no longer affect weapon damage, but instead recoil control (and potentially accuracy).
--- IF this proves to be possible, that is. So far it doesn't seem like perks can affect weapon recoil. I'd appreciate any info people might have on this, actually.

- Bullets are not lasers; they don't move at the speed of light.
--- I.e. firearms projectiles changed to ballistic rather than hitscan.
--- Related: probably no more "tracer fire" except perhaps on things like incendiary rounds.

- No automatic recoil recovery.

- No more "magical" Legendary effects. Firearms are not magic wands.
--- E.g. Guns that never need to be reloaded, guns that somehow make the otherwise ordinary lumps of lead they're throwing explode on impact, or poison the target, or set it on fire, or freeze it solid, or do more damage to the flesh of humans and not other animals, or more damage at night, etc, etc, etc...
--- Hopefully these can be replaced with more plausible effects rather than being outright removed, but if you can't resort to magic... well, we'll see.

- NPCs no longer have unlimited ammo.
--- Where possible.
--- NPCs will likely be given more ammo to use, along with a backup melee weapon.

Commentary

A good ol' wall of text describing my thoughts behind WARS. (For future reference; written very early in the project.)

I've been planning WARS for quite a while - possibly before FO4 was released, even. It was originally going to be called "Modern Arms Replacement Suite" (MARS) as a nod to my "Modern Weapons" add-on for WMX, and I do still think that MARS is a more elegant name. Weapon Addition and Replacement Suite (WARS) is more descriptive though (especially since WARS doesn't solely feature modern weapons), and also has the benefit of not sounding like it's aping the name of the "Modern Firearms" mod, which came along before I could start on WARS.

And why did it take me this long to get started on WARS? Clockwork, basically. I promised myself I'd (finally) finish Clockwork before getting distracted by modding Fallout 4. All that time though I was dying to get started on modding FO4. I'm glad I finally have some time to get into it; there's a lot I want to do.


I was disappointed that mechanically-speaking at least, FO4 was more of a sequel to FO3 than FNV. I do wish that Bethsoft had taken more cues from what Obsidian did with FNV.

My past mods for Fallout (and Elder Scrolls) games have overwhelmingly been about adding new content/mechanics/whatever rather than changing existing content. I've tweaked some things, but only as personal, unreleased mods. With FO4, it's the first time I've felt this strongly that I need to change things. I do like the game - I like it a lot - but... I'll put it this way; I haven't played FO4 since I finished my first playthrough directly after the game came out.

Playing it in its vanilla state felt like I was wasting its potential; you only get one first impression, after all. I found myself actually avoiding doing certain quests and exploring certain places - specifically to leave myself fresh content to experience later on, once the gameplay issues I have with FO4 had been addressed by mods. As much as they can be, at least. Indeed a lot of great mods have been released, addressing a lot of those issues.

There are still things that are not quite the way I would like them, however, so there are a few mods I'm planning to make. Starting with WARS!

For a long time - going back to before FO4 was announced - people have asked me if I planned to do something like WMK or WMX again. I always said that I hoped Bethsoft would do something so amazing with weapon mods in FO4 that I wouldn't feel like I needed to do that kind of mod again. I think they managed it. It's not perfect, but I like the weapon modification system a lot; especially that it's modular and node-based. When I first saw that Obsidian were adding weapon modification to FNV, I'd actually hoped that that's what they were doing. Unfortunately it wasn't of course; it was the same thing I did in WMK; a separate, explicit model for every potential combination of mods that can be applied to a weapon.

Anyway, I like the overall changes to weapons in FO4; the modification, handling, recoil, etc... I just don't really like what they did with those new features. The weapons they chose, the weapons they didn't, the way they balanced them, the missed opportunities. There are a lot of things I'd like to change, but the base weapon modification system isn't my focus.

Basically if you're looking for another WMK/WMX from me, WARS is the closest you're likely to get. I suppose it does expand on the base game's weapon mod selection somewhat, after all.

Really though, WARS is planned to be an overhaul; changing a lot of different things in a (hopefully) consistent fashion to meet an overall design/vision. I think that people who are after combat/weapon mechanics that are a little closer to what FNV offered should like it - but the extensive changes will have a couple of unfortunate but unavoidable down-sides.

The first is incompatibilities. WARS aims to overhaul some of the fundamental aspects of weapons in FO4, so existing mods that add new weapons for example are unlikely to play well if simply dropped on top of WARS, since they were probably made to fit into the base game's systems. I expect WARS to be... well, an overhaul. A new baseline of sorts. Things like existing new-weapon mods may need an alternate version or patch that re-configures it to fit in with WARS. Only if someone cares enough to do such a thing, of course.

If all that sounds horrible to you because you want the new weapons but just love the vanilla weapon setup/balance/etc... well I don't really understand that preference, but still; good news there. The assets in WARS are all planned to be a modder's resource for FO4 mods (if appropriate credit is included), so the permissions should be there for that to happen. I'm not currently planning to make an alternate, "lite" version of WARS myself though - before anyone asks. I don't like the vanilla weapon setup; that's why I'm changing it in this mod. I just don't have time to make something in a way I don't like and won't use myself - especially on top of all the work I'm already doing. Sorry.

It's still very early days for the project, though; it could be that things evolve in a different way.

Related Plans

I mentioned new calibres and ammo types in passing, along with some new crafting materials. At this stage I'm loosely planning to have things like this in a separate resource master plugin probably called "Craft Master" (CM). Since it would be a master file devoted to crafting materials, you see. Some people might remember that I floated this idea a while ago.

I do know about the New Calibers mod. It's a bit different to what I have in mind, and not really suitable for me since it's not purely a resource master; it also makes its own active changes and additions to the game.

On a different note, the issues I have with vanilla FO4's mechanics aren't limited to weapons/combat. I'm also thinking of a kind of sister mod to WARS to overhaul other parts of the game - probably called Survival Overhaul Suite (SOS). Another name that goes back to before FO4 was even announced, based around various ideas/wishes I had for survival mechanics. Originally I was thinking more along the lines of "Saga Of Survival" or "Saga Of the Survivalist", though; I just really wanted that SOS acronym. However when Bethsoft's own Survival Mode came along and turned out to not really be what I wanted, the name I had in mind changed.
SOS would likely also be dependent on CM, if I take that route.

(Later note: SOS will likely instead be called PEACE - for Project Extend And Change Everything - WARS and PEACE, you see? Additionally, at the time of writing I'm not planning to go ahead with Craft Master.)

Anyway, that's a way off yet; for now I'm working on WARS.

Mod Features (Exhaustive)
(List of already implemented changes and additions, copied from draft readme for WARS. Updated occasionally.)

***Ammo***

- Ammo types have more descriptive, real-world names. E.g. "5.56" becomes "5.56x45mm".

- Ammo types have real-world weight values, where possible. Compared to vanilla, most rounds are heavier - but some are lighter.


***Weapon Mechanics Changes***

- General weapon behaviour overhaul in aid of making weapons feel more believable and genuine.
--- I.e. changes to damage, rate of fire, recoil, accuracy, etc.

- Weapons are given their real-world names where possible - including variant names based on what weapon mods are attached.
--- E.g. M4A1 Carbine, M16A4 DMR, Glock 17 Pistol, Glock 18C Machine Pistol, etc.
--- Fictional weapons are given more explicit names from Fallout lore where possible. E.g. AER9 Laser Rifle.

- Weapons - and even individual weapon parts - are given weight values as close to their real-world counterparts as I could manage. This mostly results in them being much lighter than in vanilla.
--- Fictional weapons are given estimated weight values based on their appearance and function.

- A weapon in your hands is not taking up space in your pack. Equipped weapons now boost your max. carry weight by an amount roughly equal to their weight plus a full load of ammo.
--- Technical limitations prevent simply reducing their weight while equipped, but this amounts to the same thing.
--- This is designed to complement encumbrance changes in PEACE but should also make heavy weapons more viable in vanilla Survival Mode.

- Weapon damage is no longer reduced when a weapon is changed to full-auto.

- Recoil recovery is no longer automatic. You need to re-acquire your target in between shots/bursts yourself.

- Sneak attack damage multipliers removed for ranged weapons. Use your stealth advantage to line up headshots instead.

- Laser weapons have no recoil.

- More believable fatal/critical damage to extremities, based on weapon calibre. A tiny pistol bullet should not cut someone's arm off or make a super-mutant's head explode.
--- Laser weapons will now only dismember.
--- Plasma weapons will now only explode extremities.


***Weapon Mods***

- Several new mod types - including but not limited to:
--- Laser Sight: Visible laser dot. Increases hip-fire accuracy.
--- Magazine Sleeves/Flared Magwell/etc: Increases reload speed.
--- Tactical Light: Can be toggled on and off just like the power armour head-lamps.
--- Trigger Group: Defines whether the weapon is semi-auto/full-auto/select-fire, etc. Select-fire weapons can be switched between (usually) semi and auto via hotkey.
--- Under-barrel Grenade Launcher: Can switch to grenade-launcher mode (via hotkey) without swapping weapons.
--- Vertical Fore-Grip: Increases aim speed and decreases recoil.

- Mod descriptions explicitly list what effects they have - with numerical values - unlike the vague descriptions in vanilla.
--- E.g. "-20% Recoil" rather than "Exceptional recoil".

- Receiver mods have been simplified; now each weapon has five receiver options representing different condition levels: Awful (-20% DAM), Poor (-10% DAM), Average (No effect), Good (+10% DAM), Perfect (+20% DAM).
--- Semi vs full-auto options have been moved to the Trigger Group mod slot.
--- Re-chamber options have been moved to the Re-chamber mod slot.
--- "Ammo effect" options like armour-piercing have been moved to ammo types.

- Some weapon mods cannot be attached unless the weapon has certain prerequisite mods already attached.
--- Most commonly this is in the form of some barrels being too short to accept under-barrel attachments.
--- Weapon mod descriptions will tell you if a particular weapon mod supports additional attachments.

- "Quick Eject" magazine mods were removed or replaced by more plausible reload-speed-increase mods. (See above.)

- Weapon mods that are not currently attached to weapons now have the same weight as when they are attached. (Unlike all of them weighing 0.5 pounds unattached, as in vanilla.)

- Crafting recipes for weapon mods now generally have more believable components.
--- E.g. wooden stocks are not made of aluminium, funnily enough!

- Crafting recipe perk requirements (for weapon mods) were re-balanced to account for balance/mechanics changes elsewhere in WARS.

- Miscellaneous changes:
--- Long barrels no longer have hip-fire accuracy penalties.
--- Longer barrels now have damage bonuses.
--- Weapons without a butt-stock will tend to jump around a lot when fired. (I.e. butt-stocks reduce horizontal recoil.)
--- Muzzle devices (e.g. compensators, muzzle brakes and suppressors) no longer have range penalties.


***Gameplay Changes - General***

- Player and NPC Health no longer scales with level. It is still affected by things like perks and Endurance, however.
--- This is intended to reduce bullet-sponginess. Weapon damage can only go so high, but in the base game, the player and many NPCs keep getting more HP as their level increases...

- NPC Health has been normalised. In the base game, humans for example can vary from 30 HP to 1300 HP - or possibly even more. That's one human taking *43 times* the punishment of another, in that example.
--- Humans, mutants, creatures, robots, etc now all have a much narrower range of potential max HP values.
--- This is also intended to reduce bullet-sponginess - as well as promote consistency and believability, of course.
--- Certain NPC types are still much more resilient than others. You're not going to take down deathclaws and sentry bots with a single pistol shot.

- NPCs are now generally much less outrageously accurate than in the base game.
--- This is to balance against combat now being more deadly overall. You'll get hit less, but take more damage when you do.

- Incoming and outgoing damage bonuses/penalties have been removed on all difficulty levels - including Survival Mode. Everyone does 1x damage.

- Locational damage overhaul: Attack their weak point for massive damage!
--- Generally; body takes 1x damage, head takes 3x, limbs take 0.75x.

- Melee/unarmed base sneak attack damage multiplier reduced from 3x to 1.5x. Perks that boost this value have been nerfed too; see the Perk Changes section below for more info.

- Player's damage reduction while in VATS has been removed. (In the base game the player only receives 10% of the damage they normally would.)

- Weapon names are now generated in a more readable and convenient format.
--- The weapon's base name is now first, followed by descriptions of its attached weapon mods and whatnot - offers better sorting (alphabetically) as like weapons are grouped together.
--- E.g. "Laser Pistol | Excited | Scoped" rather than "Excited Scoped Laser Pistol".

- Consumables (i.e. food/drinks/chems) changes:
--- Consumables that give "magical" bonuses to things like ranged damage had those effects removed or replaced. (Usually this means limiting damage bonuses to melee/unarmed only.)
--- Max HP bonuses were reduced to accommodate lower overall player and NPC Max HP values.
--- Calmex and Calmex Silk had their sneak attack multiplier bonuses replaced with +10% VATS Accuracy.


***Gameplay Changes - Survival Mode***

- Survival Mode flat XP bonus reduced from 2x to 1x. (Removed, in other words.)

- Adrenaline perk now gives 5% bonus Kill XP per rank, rather than 5% bonus damage - for a maximum of +50% Kill XP.


***Levelled List Changes***

- Mr. Handy Buzz Blade can now be found as a Legendary weapon.


***Crafting***

- Handmade AKM weapon mods are now consistent with the rest of the game in that they only require various ranks of the Gun Nut perk to craft. (Rather than Gun Nut plus other perks.)


***Misc Changes***

- Various things like messages, loading screen descriptions and Help entries have been edited to reflect changes made by WARS.
--- Edited Help entries can be identified by (WARS) or (Edited by WARS) being included at the start of their text.

- Pipe guns have had their palette file edited so that their metallic parts look less like orange cardboard and more like metal.

- Weapons no longer use generic sounds in VATS or slow-motion. Instead they use their normal sounds, slowed down. (As you might expect.)


***Legendary Effects Changes***

Many of the vanilla FO4 Legendary effects would only be possible if literal magic existed in the Fallout universe. Firearms are not magic wands, so WARS removes the overtly "magical" Legendary effects and replaces them with more believable effects. Some effects have also been re-balanced to better fit WARS. Some replacement effects appear more than once; there were a LOT of magical effects to replace.

Note that if you don't start a new game after installing WARS (as recommended), some of these changes likely won't be initialised, potentially leaving you with weapon/Legendary effect combinations that don't make sense and were not intended.


Changed effects:

M4 Carbine (used by December's Child) - Reduced from +25% to +10% Fire Rate and +15% to +10% Reload Speed.
Lucky Weapon - Reduced from +100% Critical Damage to +20% Critical Damage.
Powerful - Reduced from +25% Damage to +10% Damage.
Irradiated - Now also does 5 RAD damage to user on attack.
Rapid - Reload speed increase removed. Reduced from +25% to +15% Fire Rate.


Effects now for melee/unarmed weapons only:

Penetrating
Wounding
Staggering
Kneecapper
Furious
Crippling
Poisoner's
Enraging


Replaced effects:

Defiant -> Accurised: +20% Accuracy.
Resolute -> Back-Heavy: +20% Aim Speed. +10% Recoil.
Hitman's -> Balanced: +10% Aim Speed. -5% Recoil.
Steadfast -> Comfortable: +10% Scoped Stability.
Deadeye -> Custom: +15% Reload Speed.
Resilient -> Ergonomic: +10% Aim Speed.
Stalker's -> Front-heavy: -20% Aim Speed. -10% Recoil.
Violent -> Heavy (Ranged, Light): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +0.5lb Weight.
Explosive -> Heavy (Ranged, Medium): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +2lb Weight.
Incendiary -> Heavy (Ranged, Heavy): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +10lb Weight.
Nimble -> Light (Ranged, Light): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -0.5lb Weight.
Plasma Infused -> Light (Ranged, Medium): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -2lb Weight.
Two Shot -> Light (Ranged, Heavy): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -10lb Weight.
Never Ending -> Accurised: +20% Accuracy.
VATS Enhanced (Ranged) -> Back-Heavy: +20% Aim Speed. +10% Recoil.
Freezing -> Rugged: +25% Durability.
Junkie's -> Balanced: +10% Aim Speed. -5% Recoil.
Instigating -> Comfortable: +10% Scoped Stability.
Nocturnal -> Custom: +15% Reload Speed.
Hunter's -> Ergonomic: +10% Aim Speed.
Exterminator's -> Front-heavy: -20% Aim Speed. -10% Recoil.
Ghoul Slayer's -> Heavy (Ranged, Light): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +0.5lb Weight.
Assassin's -> Heavy (Ranged, Medium): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +2lb Weight.
Troubleshooter's -> Heavy (Ranged, Heavy): -20% Aim Speed. +20% Bash Damage. -10% Recoil. +10lb Weight.
Mutant Slayer's -> Light (Ranged, Light): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -0.5lb Weight.
Quickdraw -> Light (Ranged, Medium): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -2lb Weight.
Relentless -> Light (Ranged, Heavy): +20% Aim Speed. -20% Bash Damage. +10% Recoil. -10lb Weight.
Blazing -> Heavy (Melee, Light): +15% Damage. +0.3lb Weight.
Charged -> Heavy (Melee, Medium): +15% Damage. +2lb Weight.
Frigid -> Heavy (Melee, Heavy): +15% Damage. +10lb Weight.
Bloodied -> Light (Melee, Light): -15% Damage. -0.3lb Weight.
Berserker's -> Light (Melee, Medium): -15% Damage. -2lb Weight.
VATS Enhanced (Melee) -> Light (Melee, Heavy): -15% Damage. -10lb Weight.


Named weapons with changed effects:

Partystarter: Assassin's -> Custom
Eddie's Peace: Crippling -> Rapid
Wastelander's Friend: Crippling -> Ergonomic
The Last Minute: Crippling -> Ergonomic
Good Intentions: Enraging -> Comfortable
Spray n' Pray: Explosive -> Rapid
Kiloton: Explosive -> Powerful
Reba II: Exterminator's -> Light
The Problem Solver: Furious -> Powerful
Splattercannon: Furious -> Powerful
Ashmaker: Incendiary -> Front-heavy
The Gainer: Incendiary -> Balanced
Old Faithful: Instigating -> Rugged
Sentinel's Plasmacaster: Instigating -> Balanced
Admiral's Friend: Instigating -> Light
Sergeant Ash: Kneecapper -> Light
Virgil's rifle: Mutant Slayer's -> Irradiated
Prototype UP77: Never Ending -> Rapid
Wazer Wifle: Never Ending -> Rugged
Aeternus: Never Ending -> Rugged
Death From Above: Nimble -> Light
Radical Conversion: Penetrating -> Heavy
Defender's Harpoon Gun: Penetrating -> Back-Heavy
Kellogg's pistol: Relentless -> Balanced
Butcher's Hook: Relentless -> Wounding
Cito's Shiny Slugger: Relentless -> Wounding
Skipper's Last Stand: Resilient -> Custom
Justice: Staggering -> Heavy
Tinker Tom Special: Stalker's -> Accurised
General Chao's Revenge: Troubleshooter's -> Crippling
Big Boy: Two-Shot -> Back-Heavy
Old Reliable: Two-Shot -> Rugged
Overseer's Guardian: Two-Shot -> Back-Heavy
Deliverer: VATS Enhanced -> Powerful
Rockville Slugger: VATS Enhanced -> Heavy
The Fish Catcher: VATS Enhanced -> Crippling
Le Fusil Terribles: Violent -> Back-Heavy
AX90 Fury: Mutant Slayer's -> Rapid


***Perk Changes***

A number of perks have been changed; primarily perks that involve damage bonuses. Ranged weapons no longer receive damage bonuses from perks as that simply doesn't make sense. A bullet fired from a gun will impart the same energy regardless of the skill of the person holding the weapon. Melee and Unarmed weapons still receive damage bonuses from perks, but generally with a lesser magnitude than in the base game.

Note that things like base damage and player/NPC HP values have been altered to account for these perk changes (among other things, covered elsewhere).

Any perks changed by WARS have also been given more explicit descriptions if necessary. (E.g. listing the percentage chance something will happen rather than just saying "a chance".)

Here are the perks that have been changed (along with notes on what's been changed and what remains the same):


SPECIAL Perks:

Strength:

Iron Fist
- All ranks now increase Unarmed damage by 5% each rather than 20% each, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to disarm, cripple and paralyse enemies.

Big Leagues
- All ranks now increase Melee damage by 5% each rather than 20% each, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to disarm and cripple enemies. Sweeping attacks. Chance for grand slam attacks.

Heavy Gunner
- Ranged and Explosive damage bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Each rank increases hip-fire accuracy by a cumulative 5%, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to stagger enemies.

Steady Aim
- Rank 1 hip-fire accuracy bonus reduced from 20% to 10%.
- Rank 2 hip-fire accuracy bonus reduced from 40% to 20%.
- Rank 3 hip-fire damage bonus removed and replaced with hip-fire accuracy bonus of 30%.

Basher
- Rank 1 gun-bashing damage bonus reduced from 25% to 10%.
- Ranks 2-4 now do an additional 5% gun-bashing damage each, down from 25% each - for a total bonus of 25% at rank 4.
- Rank 4 gun-bashing critical hit chance reduced from 15% to 10%.
- Unchanged: Chance to cripple enemies.

Rooted
- Rank 1 damage bonus reduced from 25% to 5%, and Damage Resistance bonus reduced from +25 to +10.
- Rank 2 damage bonus reduced from 50% to 10%, and Damage Resistance bonus reduced from +50 to +20.
- Rank 3 now gives total damage bonus of 15% and Damage Resistance bonus of +30.
- Unchanged: Chance to automatically disarm attacking enemies.


Perception:

Rifleman
- Armour penetration and damage bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Each rank increases hip-fire accuracy by a cumulative 5%, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to cripple enemies.

Awareness
- Rank 2 damage bonus removed.
- Unchanged: Ability to view target's damage resistances in VATS. VATS accuracy bonus.

Demolition Expert
- Explosion damage and scale bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Each rank now reduces damage taken from explosions by a cumulative 5%, up to a max of 20% at rank 4.
- Perk description now makes it clear that each rank unlocks a higher tier of explosives crafting recipes.
- Unchanged: Grenade throwing arc. Explosives crafting recipes unlocked.

Night Person
- Rank 3 health bonus reduced from +30 to +20.
- Unchanged: INT and PER bonuses at night.

Concentrated Fire
- Rank 2 was fixed so that it grants +15% accuracy per VATS attack, as per its description - rather than +15% damage.
- Rank 3 damage bonus removed.
- Unchanged: Successive attacks in VATS increasing VATS accuracy.


Endurance:

Life Giver
- Rank 3 HP regen reduced from 0.5%/s to 0.05%/s.
- Unchanged: +20 max HP per rank.

Adamantium Skeleton
- Ranks 1, 2 and 3 had their limb damage reductions reduced from 30%, 60% and 100% to 25%, 50% and 75% respectively.

Ghoulish
- Ranks 1, 2 and 3 had their incoming-radiation-healing rates reduced from 50%, 100% and 150% to 25%, 50% and 75% respectively.
- Rank 4 now has an incoming-radiation-healing rate of 100%.
- Unchanged: Chance for feral ghouls to become friendly. Rads slowly decreasing with Rank 4.

Solar Powered
- Rank 2 Rad reduction rate reduced from 1%/s to 0.1%/s.
- Rank 3 HP regen reduced from 0.5%/s to 0.05%/s.
- Unchanged: STR and END bonuses during the day.


Charisma:

Black Widow/Lady Killer
- Damage bonus now only affects melee/unarmed attacks.
- Ranks 1, 2 and 3 had their damage bonuses reduced from 5%, 10% and 15% to 2%, 4% and 6% respectively.
- Unchanged: Increased persuasion success chances.

Lone Wanderer
- Damage bonus, Damage reduction bonuses and carry weight bonuses removed.
- New Rank 1 description: "You move more quickly and quietly on your own. When adventuring without a companion, you move 5% faster and are 5% harder to detect."
- These bonuses increase by a cumulative 5% for each rank, up to a max of 20% at rank 4.
- Unchanged: Bonus AP with rank 4.

Attack Dog
- Rank 4 damage reduction removed.
- Rank 4 now doubles both Dogmeat's chance to cripple enemies and the bleeding damage he does. (To 20% and 4 HP/s for 5s, respectively.)
- Unchanged: VATS accuracy bonus on enemies held by Dogmeat.

Inspirational
- The "player can't hurt companions" and "companions can't hurt player" effects were removed. No such thing as friendly fire.
- Damage bonus now only affects melee/unarmed attacks.
- Unchanged: Companion damage resistance and carry weight bonuses.


Intelligence:

Nerd Rage!
- Damage bonus now only affects melee/unarmed attacks.
- Ranks 1, 2 and 3 had their damage bonuses reduced from 20%, 30% and 40% to 10%, 20% and 30% respectively.
- HP restored by killing an enemy while raging reduced from 50 to 25.
- Unchanged: Damage resistance bonuses.


Agility:

Gunslinger
- Damage bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Rank 2 and 3 range bonuses removed.
- Each rank now increases hip-fire accuracy by a cumulative 5%, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to disarm and cripple enemies.

Commando
- Damage bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Each rank now increases hip-fire accuracy by a cumulative 5%, up to a max of 25% at rank 5.
- Unchanged: Chance to stagger enemies.

Mister Sandman
- Silenced weapon sneak attack damage bonuses removed for all ranks.
- Silenced weapons now have a cumulative 3% chance to cripple limbs per rank, to a max of 9% at rank 3.
- Unchanged: Ability to instantly kill a sleeping person.

Ninja
- Ranged weapon sneak attack damage multiplier bonuses were removed.
- Rank 1, 2 and 3 Melee/unarmed/bashing sneak attack damage multipliers reduced from 4x, 5x and 10x to 2x, 2.5x and 3x respectively.
- Vanilla bugfixes:
--- All ranks now consistently affect all melee and unarmed weapons, plus bashing attacks with ranged weapons.
--- Bonuses are now multiplicative rather than additive, avoiding order of operations inconsistencies when combined with other perks.

Quick Hands
- Rank 1 Reload Speed bonus reduced from +35% to +20%.
- Rank 3 AP bonus increased from +10 to +15. (Since you can gain 10 AP - and more - simply by increasing AGI by 1.)
- Unchanged: Reloading guns costing no AP in VATS.

Gun-Fu
- Rank 1 and 2 damage bonuses reduced from +25% and +50% to +5% and +10% respectively.
- Rank 3 now gives you +15% damage to your fourth VATS target and beyond.
- Rank 3 no longer gives you automatic critical hits against your fourth VATS target and beyond.


Luck:

Scrounger
- Rank 4 no longer has a 5% (+Luck) chance to somehow spontaneously manifest ammo out of thin air when you fire the last round in your weapon.
- Rank 4 now increases your chances of finding extra ammo in containers beyond what Rank 3 does.
- Unchanged: Chance of finding extra ammo in containers.

Bloody Mess
- Damage bonuses are no longer certain, but instead:
--- Rank 1 has a 5% chance for +5% damage.
--- Rank 2 has a 10% chance for +5% damage.
--- Rank 3 has a 15% chance for +10% damage.
--- Rank 4 has a 20% chance for +10% damage.
- Rank 4 no longer has a chance to cause your enemies to literally go to pieces at the mere sight of their allies somehow exploding when shot in the toe with a pistol bullet.
- Unchanged: Enemies sometimes exploding when gently nudged. (As much as I'd like to remove this effect, it's kind of integral to the whole concept of the perk.)

Better Criticals
- Ranks 1, 2 and 3 had their extra damage bonuses reduced from +50%, +100% and +150% to +10%, +20% and +30% respectively.


Bobblehead perks:

Big Guns Bobblehead
- Critical hit damage bonus removed.
- Now gives 5% chance for attacks with heavy weapons to cripple a limb.

Energy Weapons Bobblehead
- Critical hit damage bonus removed.
- Now gives 5% chance for attacks with energy weapons to cripple a limb.

Explosives Bobblehead
- Damage bonus removed.
- Now gives 5% chance for attacks with explosives to cripple limbs.

Melee Bobblehead
- Critical hit damage bonus removed.
- Now gives 5% chance for attacks with melee weapons to stagger opponent.

Small Guns Bobblehead
- Critical hit damage bonus removed.
- Now gives +5% stability when aiming with scopes on ballistic weapons.

Unarmed Bobblehead
- Critical hit damage bonus removed.
- Now gives 5% chance for unarmed attacks to stagger opponent.


Magazine perks:

Astoundingly Awesome 7
- Damage bonus at night removed.
- Now gives +5% Kill XP at night.

Astoundingly Awesome 1
- Health regen removed.
- Now gives +10 max HP.

Astoundingly Awesome 3
- Damage reduction vs. robots removed.
- Now gives +5% DAM vs. robots.

Astoundingly Awesome 2
- Damage bonus with scoped weapons removed.
- Now gives +5% stability when aiming with scopes.

Tesla Science
- Vanilla bugfix: now this perk actually works.

Unstoppable
- Chance to avoid all damage from an attack removed.
- Each rank now gives +2% XP gained.


Companion perks:

Know Your Enemy
- Damage bonus vs. Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants and Synths reduced from +20% to +10%.

Isodoped
- Having 250 rads or more now gives you +25% AP regen rate rather than +20% Critical Hit generation rate.

Hunter's Wisdom
- Damage/Energy Resistance reduction for animals and sea creatures reduced from 25% to 15%.

United We Stand
- Damage bonus removed.
- Damage Resistance bonuses reduced from +20 to +10.

Berserk
- Melee damage bonus when below 25% HP reduced from +20% to +10%.


Far Harbour perks:

Crusader of Atom/Inquisitor of Atom
- Damage bonus when irradiated now only affects melee/unarmed/bashing attacks.
- Damage bonus per 100 rads reduced from +10% to +5%, for a max of +45% at >900 rads.

Destroyer of Acadia
- Damage bonus (20% chance when HP falls below 20%, lasts for 30s) now only affects melee/unarmed/bashing attacks.
- Damage bonus reduced from 4x to +40%.
- Vanilla bugfix(?): perk animation should now play when effect is triggered.

Far Harbor Survivalist
- Vanilla bugfix: now actually works. (Gain +5 to all resistances.)

Protector of Acadia
- Damage/Energy Resistance bonuses (20% chance when HP falls below 20%, lasts for 30s) reduced from +1000 each to +100 each.
- Vanilla bugfix(?): perk animation should now play when effect is triggered.


Nuka-World perks:

Ace Operator
- Damage bonus with silenced weapons removed.
- Gives 3% chance for attacks with silenced weapons to cripple limbs.
- Unchanged: +10% stealth while in shadows.

Pack Alpha
- Damage reduction reduced from 25% to 5%.
- Damage bonus with melee/unarmed weapons reduced from +25% to +5%.

SCAV! - Bladed Bravado
- Damage bonus with Combat Knife and Switchblade reduced from +25% to +5%.

SCAV! - Cautionary Crafts
- Damage bonus with explosives removed.
- Now gives 5% damage reduction from explosions.


Non-player perks:

Courser perks
- Courser versions of the Commando and Gunslinger perks were altered in the same way as the player versions of those perks. (See above.)
- Courser "Accuracy" perk nerfed from giving them absolutely zero spread with weapons to a 40% hip-fire accuracy bonus instead. (Shotguns now excluded.)
- Legendary "Accuracy" perk nerfed from giving absolutely zero spread with weapons to a 40% hip-fire accuracy bonus instead. (Shotguns now excluded.) Damage bonus removed.

crDamage (and similar) perks
- These perks were used to give certain characters/creatures a blanket damage penalty or bonus; ranging from 50% to 300% of normal damage.
- These perks now do nothing, as you shouldn't look at two people holding identical firearms and wonder if one is going to magically do three times the per-shot damage of the other.

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Moldy

[antistar]

Here are some shots of the Thompson in-game:

 

- Thompson SMG 06

- Thompson SMG 07

- Thompson SMG 08

- Thompson SMG 09

- Thompson SMG 10

 

To copy-paste some of what I said in the image-share section:

 

Re: the "Silver Shroud Gun"; I think I'll rename it the "Silver Submachine Gun" - and maybe try making its appearance into a unique weapon mod, so that it can be removed and applied to another Thompson. (E.g. one with a Legendary effect the player likes.)

 

The vanilla SMG is full-auto only, but WARS makes semi-auto and select-fire Thompsons possible, with the weapon name changing dynamically between "Thompson Carbine" and "Thompson Submachine Gun" as appropriate.

The vanilla "Short Stock" has been replaced with simply "No Stock" - since there's no such thing as the former as far as I know, while the latter is as simple as removing the stock. The "Recoil Stock" (again, no such thing for the Thompson as far as I know) has been removed in favour of a separate "Recoil Pad" weapon mod.

The standard horizontal fore-grip is now on its own weapon mod slot and can be swapped out for the iconic Thompson vertical fore-grip.

There are now four magazine options: 20 and 30 round stick mags, plus 50 and 100 round drum mags. No "quick-eject" magazines (none in WARS at all for that matter). If you want a faster reload, you'll need to use one of the stick mags.

 

 

(I've mentioned some of that here before, but hey; just to recap.)

[Moldy]

I,personally,think that the rough black finish on the wooden furniture on the Thompson looks god-awful. It just... Urgh. I can't rightly articulate it.

[antistar]

The black paint wouldn't exactly be my first choice when it comes to an alternate weapon skin either, but the silver and black colour scheme ties into the whole Silver Shroud thing. And while it may not be my favourite thing in the world, I do think the black paint looks better than the vanilla approach of "the same wood texture, but darker/desaturated". ;)

[Wesseriy]

mod not released?

[kuzi127]

I'm on the fence about the black paint. I definitely think it's a good idea, but I would have gone with a bit less weathering so the brown doesn't interrupt the grayscale look quite so much. If anyone wants to change it, they can do it themselves once it's released; personally I'd rather leave the author alone and learn/practice a skill doing it myself.

 

Those screenshots look awesome btw. It's long enough between posts of them that I forget how high quality the content is and keep getting surprised.

Edited May 16, 2018 by kuzi127