[WIP] Weapon Addition and Replacement Suite (WARS)

[Shanzyboo]

Antistar that's right, your Weapon Mods Extended Modern Weapons package featured the modern 2005 Atchisson Assault 12 shotgun, didn't know there was Frag 12 rounds though, gonna have to play New Vegas to enjoy that! (:

 

It definitely was a let down, especially for ammo crafting and swapping, in such a post nuclear apocalyptic world you'd think ammo crafting would be an immersive aspect of and for survival, given the scarcity of ammunition..along with inability to afford buying it. "Ammo swapping" in FO4 is ridiculous, having to go to a workbench to change receivers for armor piercing, I don't know why they didn't just have the hotkey system for swapping ammunition type like before. While FO4s hard mode or hardcore mode brought back basic primary needs and ammo weight, the one thing they didn't do was remove the ridiculous magical healing of crippled limbs in a very short period of time, I've been using Agony for that, which kinda means I don't know if the varying medications for infections, parasites and whatnot is vanilla hardcore mode stuff or if it's added by Agony lol.

[nexusguy]

 

Weapon condition and strength requirement to use certain weapons, aspects from the previous titles dearly missed. When you say frag 12, you mean as in frag 12 explosive shotgun shells right?!

Yep, that's right. :smile: I had FRAG-12 rounds in WMX-ModernWeapons, too. I might even be able to re-use that projectile model I made back then, since it's typically not something people will see very clearly. (...Except for in VATS, I suppose.)

 

 

Thats nice! Great job! Can't imagine how tedious it would have been to do all that adapting, your determination is astonishing.

 

So AmmoTweaks v2 is called TweaksFramework, good to know, you said Isathar made a new UI for the mod? Thats neat, I remember the old AmmoTweaks UI looked kind of weird, but we evolved a lot since that, lot's of new tools and methods to use, good to know that things are evolving.

 

You implemented STR requitements? Are they hard or soft requirements?

 

Also, It's awesome you're writing a detailed tutorial for 3rd party support, the quality of your work is amazing! I'm hoping WARS and PEACE are going to become "Core" Mods, not only because of the extensive changes but also because no other overhaul offers this level of quality.

 

They're soft requirements, like in PEACE with its STR requirements for armour; you can still equip something that you don't meet the requirements for - but you'll have some stat penalties. Here's the STR REQ section from the draft readme:

 

 

- Strength Requirement (STR REQ) system:

--- Using a weapon you don't meet the STR REQ for incurs penalties, such as:

----- Reduced movement speed, increased recoil, slower reload speed, reduced AGI, less scope steadiness, and reduced DAM (for melee weapons).

--- The Extra Weapon Info function (see the AmmoTweaks v1 Integration section for more info) lists the specific penalties for not meeting the STR REQ for the equipped weapon.

--- In general, bulkier weapons have more severe penalties for not meeting their STR REQ:

----- Low severity: Pistols, One-Handed Melee, Fist Weapons.

----- Medium severity: Rifles, Two-Handed Melee.

----- High severity: Heavy Weapons, Heavy Two-Handed Melee.

--- The STR REQ for a weapon is listed in its weapon mod list (for ranged weapons, as part of its current ammo sub-type). Examine a weapon as usual to see it.

--- Rechambering a ranged weapon - or modifying a melee weapon in certain ways - may change its STR REQ.

--- Minor technical limitation: you'll need to re-equip a weapon after (say) taking chems that increase STR to ensure that certain penalties (recoil and scope steadiness) are cleared.

 

 

I actually just pasted the updated readme draft into the second post of the thread, if anyone wants to browse through it. (There's some placeholder text here and there to remind me to do things, but not too much.)

 

 

Yeah, I still don't know why BGS left a lot of features outside of FO4, I mean, no equipment condition? Thats really weird, some changes I understand, but others seem so weird, they almost seem like mishaps, like they were too busy designing other parts of the game and someone said "Btw, have we implemented equipment condition yet?" And everyone flipped because they forgot about it, the fact they added back this function in FO76 seems to indicate this.

I have no idea if they're in the majority, but there's always a very vocal contingent that will loudly declaim how objectively terrible durability systems in games are, so BGS may be in two minds about including it. I mean they did give power armour durability in FO4, which is... something, at least.

 

I'm a little sceptical (to put it politely) of the design goals behind FO76, so I wouldn't be surprised if things like the durability and "survival" systems in FO76 were viewed as being part of driving "engagement" and "player retention" by keeping players on the loot treadmill.

 

 

They added equipment condition back in for FO76, was not aware of this..so you may be on to something nexusguy, likely with what was implemented in FO4, their attention was on graphics, weapon modifications and settlement building especially. Another thing missing was ammunition crafting.

I remember that when FO4 released, I was actually legitimately shocked to discover that BGS hadn't picked up where New Vegas left off, design-wise, but had instead chosen to pretend that it didn't exist. So many of the design elements in FNV - like the ammo crafting, but also the dialogue system, ammo swapping, DT instead of DR, hardcore mode, etc - seemed so obvious and substantial an improvement over FO3, that it seemed a no-brainer.

 

But nope. And that's a big part of why I've spent so much time working on WARS and PEACE. FO4 has an amazing world that was let down by a whole bunch of lacklustre core mechanics.

 

 

Well, tbh, BGS does pretend Nem Vegas doesn't exist, I still think that some people, specially in higher executive positions, were kind of resentful towards the "aclaiming" success of FNV in comparison to FO3. Specially considering that FNV was built upon existing FO3 resources, so they might feel "neglected" in a weird way, like they built the engine and did the art and stuff yet FNV was better received. Like always, the best aspect of FNV was the plot, the game felt richer than anything in FO3 with the exception of Point Lookout, which managed to capture the interesting and humorous aspects from classic Fallout games.

 

I have no idea though why they didn't expand upon the lessons they learned from FNV, there's no excuse to activelly neglect the factual improvements Obsidian implemented on top of FO3 that could've been implemented on FO4. Some stuff I believe were part of their design idea, they went from what is majorly perceived as a complex RPG system to a simpler arcade RPG style, similar to Borderlands. Thats where I disagree with their design choices, the loot'n shoot style does work for Borderlands but feels weirdly simplified for a post-apocalyptic "survival" RPG franchise such as Fallout. I mean, no equipment condition really? It's such an intrinsic part of a surival RPG, also I do miss ammunition crafting, but, like I said, I believe the decision to leave it out was due to their design mentallity of keeping things simpler, however, equipment condition is not that complex, sure it's not implemented on most RPG's, but it's part of the whole survival gig. The weird thing is, they could have added this mechanic in surival mode, I would be satisfied with that, however, as you pointed out, they view survival elements as hardcore features rather than immersive aspects.

[IThinkThereforeIamNot]

Hey! Been while since I checked in.

Everything going well? Last time I read this forum you said something about your dad having health issues. I trust everything ended up OK?

[antistar]

Hey - thanks. My dad... well, he's hanging in there. There hasn't really been any "good" news on that front, unfortunately - only the "could be worse" and "we'll have to wait and see" kind of news. I mean, it's cancer; it's not going to be resolved quickly.

 

 

As for what I've been working on (re: WARS), I've been banging away at implementing the extended features (ammo swapping, durability, etc) for the weapons. I did the (semi/auto) Pipe Guns recently. I actually split those into "Pipe Pistols" (.380 ACP and 9x19mm) and "Pipe Rifles" (5.56x45mm, 7.92x33mmK, 7.62x39mm), largely so that super mutants have some assault-rifle-type weapons to use, since they can't use the AR-15 due to those animation issues.

 

I've also written a bunch more of the WARS weapon compatibility tutorial - covering the extended feature stuff for ranged weapons. That's always time-consuming to work on.

 

I picked up and fixed a few bugs. E.g. a vanilla-ish one where getting in and out of power armour stopped the weapon manager script from receiving animation events, which would break some things - like ammo swapping.

 

Right now I'm working on art assets, projectiles, effects, etc for 12 gauge ammo. Once that's all done, shells with buckshot vs slugs vs flechettes vs FRAG-12 etc will all look different, which is important for the shotguns since the ammo is more visible on the weapons. Especially the Mossberg with its ammo holder attachment. That will all visibly change when you swap ammo sub-types.

 

I've just finished doing the textures, so next up is the export/import stuff to get it in-game.

[Shanzyboo]

Hey - thanks. My dad... well, he's hanging in there. There hasn't really been any "good" news on that front, unfortunately - only the "could be worse" and "we'll have to wait and see" kind of news. I mean, it's cancer; it's not going to be resolved quickly.

 

 

As for what I've been working on (re: WARS), I've been banging away at implementing the extended features (ammo swapping, durability, etc) for the weapons. I did the (semi/auto) Pipe Guns recently. I actually split those into "Pipe Pistols" (.380 ACP and 9x19mm) and "Pipe Rifles" (5.56x45mm, 7.92x33mmK, 7.62x39mm), largely so that super mutants have some assault-rifle-type weapons to use, since they can't use the AR-15 due to those animation issues.

 

I've also written a bunch more of the WARS weapon compatibility tutorial - covering the extended feature stuff for ranged weapons. That's always time-consuming to work on.

 

I picked up and fixed a few bugs. E.g. a vanilla-ish one where getting in and out of power armour stopped the weapon manager script from receiving animation events, which would break some things - like ammo swapping.

 

Right now I'm working on art assets, projectiles, effects, etc for 12 gauge ammo. Once that's all done, shells with buckshot vs slugs vs flechettes vs FRAG-12 etc will all look different, which is important for the shotguns since the ammo is more visible on the weapons. Especially the Mossberg with its ammo holder attachment. That will all visibly change when you swap ammo sub-types.

 

I've just finished doing the textures, so next up is the export/import stuff to get it in-game.

Cancer certainly does its number on people and sometimes isn't resolved smoothly either, my big brother recently lost an eye because of cancer, hopefully things go well for your dad Antistar.

[Shanzyboo]

Disregard this post which was originally an accidental double post lol Edited May 21, 2022 by Shanzyboo

[antistar]

Cancer certainly does its number on people and sometimes isn't resolved smoothly either, my big brother recently lost an eye because of cancer, hopefully things go well for your dad Antistar.

Oof! Sorry to hear that - but thanks.

[nexusguy]

Hey - thanks. My dad... well, he's hanging in there. There hasn't really been any "good" news on that front, unfortunately - only the "could be worse" and "we'll have to wait and see" kind of news. I mean, it's cancer; it's not going to be resolved quickly.

 

 

As for what I've been working on (re: WARS), I've been banging away at implementing the extended features (ammo swapping, durability, etc) for the weapons. I did the (semi/auto) Pipe Guns recently. I actually split those into "Pipe Pistols" (.380 ACP and 9x19mm) and "Pipe Rifles" (5.56x45mm, 7.92x33mmK, 7.62x39mm), largely so that super mutants have some assault-rifle-type weapons to use, since they can't use the AR-15 due to those animation issues.

 

I've also written a bunch more of the WARS weapon compatibility tutorial - covering the extended feature stuff for ranged weapons. That's always time-consuming to work on.

 

I picked up and fixed a few bugs. E.g. a vanilla-ish one where getting in and out of power armour stopped the weapon manager script from receiving animation events, which would break some things - like ammo swapping.

 

Right now I'm working on art assets, projectiles, effects, etc for 12 gauge ammo. Once that's all done, shells with buckshot vs slugs vs flechettes vs FRAG-12 etc will all look different, which is important for the shotguns since the ammo is more visible on the weapons. Especially the Mossberg with its ammo holder attachment. That will all visibly change when you swap ammo sub-types.

 

I've just finished doing the textures, so next up is the export/import stuff to get it in-game.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your father, I hope he gets better soon, there's little one can say to help in these times so I'll wish you strenght and resolve.

[Shanzyboo]

 

Cancer certainly does its number on people and sometimes isn't resolved smoothly either, my big brother recently lost an eye because of cancer, hopefully things go well for your dad Antistar.

Oof! Sorry to hear that - but thanks.

Thank you, all you can do is be there, be strong for them and remind them of their own strength and resolve.

 

We had talked about your Frag 12 explosive rounds and I can't seem to remember, are you also doing the Atchisson Assault 12 shotgun for WARS or is that the USAS 12?

 

Also unrelated to WARS but I was wondering if you could explain how to remove the spread on a shotgun via ammunition, since you're working on munitions for WARS? I intend on programming Frag 12 explosive rounds for Olegmontanas AA12 and spread on such rounds doesn't make much sense to me.

[antistar]

No AA-12 in WARS; I added one to FO3 and FNV in add-ons for WMK and WMX respectively, but this time I wanted to do a USAS-12 instead. Partially just for a change, but also because it seemed easier to do a wider range of attachments for the USAS-12.

 

Changing which ammo a weapon uses (via modification) is done via OMODs - in vanilla it's via receiver OMODs - and the OMOD in question is what defines the effects that ammo type will have on the weapon.

 

For spread, you'd add fAimModelMinConeDegrees and fAimModelMaxConeDegrees properties to the OMOD, and then probably have each of them SET the values you want. The base spread used by a weapon is defined in its AimModel record (Min Angle and Max Angle), so you could look at an AimModel for another weapon and match those values if you want. (Those base values may essentially always be modified by barrel OMODs or whatever else on the weapon, though.)

 

Instead of SET you could also use MUL+ADD if you wanted, which multiplies the base value by the value you enter, and then adds it to the base value. E.g. to reduce the base spread by 50%, you'd enter -0.5 for the MUL+ADD value. MUL+ADD would probably work better than SET if you happened to have other OMODs that you also wanted to affect that base value.

 

 

Edit: Fixed a typo.

Edited May 24, 2022 by antistar