AMK Weapon Add-on - WIP

[Servalion 0]

Hmm......been watching the soldiers. They're still loving that Fort too much. I applied the changes but it seems like they're still shooting from beyond 25m. This isn't the sort of thing that requires a new game, right?

 

EDIT: I think I fixed it. Switched the max range on most handguns to 10. That got them making some use of those SMGs finally. Still, they're using them farther than I expected. I wonder how long a range of 10 is in game? Is it that distance counter that can be turned on next to the crosshair?

 

Also, owning the Wild Territory with an iron & stamped fist. Still no sign of the HK-416. I've closely inspected every body I come across (but mostly the ones I make), and I've been coming back almost every 12 hours, except the last couple of times. Those times I checked and cleared much sooner. I did notice the occasional Expert Merc, which feels unusual. I know this gun's gonna be in the hands of a "Tyrant" Merc, their top rank type. (Confusing, how most factions have their own rank titles in the configs, yet everything in game shows as Rookie/Experienced/Veteran/Expert. Is this supposed to happen, or is that another bug?) Oh, finally figured out how to rescue Kruglov, although I had to take drastic measures. I had to time it so that a Blowout occurred just as he approached the tunnel, removing any non-static anomalies for the moment.

 

So far, I've come across two Merc experts, one in Exo and another in SEVA. Both of them high tailed it like mad at the first sight of me. I had to chase the Exo runner from the Bar to the tunnel before I got that bastard. Was kinda shocked he didnt have it. What a run! The last few times, I came back and cleared both merc teams as well as the bandits just a few game hours apart. Was surprised that they come back that quick. All it takes is walking out of the Territory, sleeping 2-5 hours, and zoning back in, maybe not even that. The Expert Merc seems random, 3 tries ago it was the Exo at the Bar entrance group, 2 tries ago it was the SEVA goof at the constuction tower, no expert last attempt.

 

Hilarious as hell, that poor SEVA. Even after these months of extensive Stalker "Testing", he did something I've never seen. He ran after I took out the other two, and when I cornered him up top, he pulled out an LR300.........and committed suicide. Thats right. He stopped running, turned to me, pulled out an LR300, cocked it so the barrel went right into his mask, and fired too fast. There were four bandits down below, so at first I thought they shot him, oddly enough. When I realized that couldn't possibly had happened, I SO wish I had a way to record that.

 

But aside from that, the reason I'm really looking for this gun, aside from really wanting it, is to be sure that its actually showing up. Wild Territory's one of my favorite and best business areas, excellent source of various mutant parts, NATO vendor fodder, replenishable Electro artifact sources, and most importantly, the best grounds for artifact transmutation. The fact that I spend a lot of time there anyways, know every nook and cranny there, and still have not seen this elusive HK centerpiece makes me wonder. There's one thing that I'm only just thinking of, and thats that I still haven't been to Dark Valley yet. Perhaps I should get the storyline to the point where I'm actually going to Yantar and see if things are different.

[Sasha 0]

most pistols have an affective range up to 50m. 70m for the magnums.

[Lucan 0]

Hilarious as hell, that poor SEVA. Even after these months of extensive Stalker "Testing", he did something I've never seen. He ran after I took out the other two, and when I cornered him up top, he pulled out an LR300.........and committed suicide. Thats right. He stopped running, turned to me, pulled out an LR300, cocked it so the barrel went right into his mask, and fired too fast. There were four bandits down below, so at first I thought they shot him, oddly enough. When I realized that couldn't possibly had happened, I SO wish I had a way to record that.

 

I died of laughing at this. That is so funny! And it's realistic too. If someone was too excited, they could accidetnaly pull the tirgger with the gun pointed at themselves.

[Servalion 0]

Quite right Sasha, but for the moment the NPCs love their handguns long time. Give an NPC an Fort, a SPAS-12, and a Bizon, and an AK-74U, and put them in the same room with an enemy, guess which they'll start using?

 

For the time being, when properly outfitting fellow loners, I buy their handguns away from them in place of a shotgun or SMG, which seems to be an effective, if temporary fix.

 

EDIT: It seems this weapon prioritization can bring some odd surprises. While clearing up some tasks in Agroprom, I wiped out the southwestern facility of soldiers. Midway through the one-man raid, some bandanna-wearing grunt came out the front door in the dark pointing their gun at me. I paid him little mind as I blew him a new hole. Afterwards, I got around to inspecting his body and was stopped cold by what I found on him -

 

An SVD. 100% Condition. Fully loaded with 7N14s. Which was pointed. Right. At. ME. 'O_O

 

How in the hell. I didn't know the military had time to shop. That gun was fresh. And I'd yet to touch any sniper rifle this time through aside from Mosins. Are they finding stashes now too?

[Lucan 0]

Shit :V

 

Crashed AGAIN.

 

Expression : fatal error

Function : IRender_Visual::Load

File : E:\stalker\patch_1_0004\xr_3da\FBasicVisual.cpp

Line : 58

Description : <no expression>

Arguments : Invalid visual

 

After getting X18 documents, just as I'm starting to go back up the stairs.

 

Also, holy FUCK SERV. You could have been DEAD very quick. I think we need some military spawning at strategic positions with certain weapons. I.E PKM, SVD, VSS, ect. ect.

 

 

Along with the randimization suggested earlier

 

As for my error, dunno if it's persistant or not, I'll go see.

 

Nup wasn't persistant, just one time.

 

And could you lower the range of pistol use to like, 3 or something? It's way too high right now, NPCs shooting at me with pistols from 25 yards away when they have a AK-74.

[Skullhunter 0]

As per Servalion's suggestion, I'm re-adjusting the max_radius on all pistols to five meters. And yes, Servalion, the distance readout in the HUD crosshair does correspond to meters.

 

Now, the mystery merc with the HK416. His name is Tyran, and I'm pretty sure he's part of the crew that goes after Kruglov in Wild Territory. I'm going to see if I can speed-run to WT and try to find him; if I can't I'll shift the gun to someone else.

 

The SVD may be caused by the same thing that gave Zhorik an RPG7 at the Bar. silverpower says they sometimes trade at the beginning of a load, and this is occasionally responsible for some stuff ending up where it shouldn't.

 

Lucan, shit, I have no idea what could have caused that. Unfortunately it looks like the crash logger decided to be really vague about the cause.

 

Well, I'm officially at my friday, so I can try and devote some more time to 1.21 before I get to the serious work on V2.

[Servalion 0]

Ahh, the quad that spawns just as you agree to assist Kruglov. When I didn't find it on Wolfhound initially, those four were my primary suspects. However, thanks to several failed attempts to save Kruglov, I reloaded countless times. The moment I agreed to help him, I simply ran the other way and naded those four right where they show up.

 

I can assure you, not once was there an expert among them, nor anything out of the ordinary. All were standard merc fare, no special suit or Exo-user. And I've still never seen any named Merc aside from Ara or Wolfhound. Something musta gone awry.

 

Just entered Dark Valley, but I haven't gotten around to clearing the bandit base. If you give it to someone else, I hope its not something I've passed by now. Although, Ara might not be a bad candidate to hold onto it. Charon too, but he kinda shows up late in the game to make the most of it. Perhaps even Lukash. Freedom leader needs something to show the others who's boss

[Servalion 0]

Now, another thought came to mind that I hadn't yet tried out. This one's more related to AMK itself than Arsenal.

 

Under AMK options, I've always enjoyed the option of Random stashes to get things going eventually much quicker than usual. I hope Oblivion Lost eventually puts it in. However, there's another option - "Random, rare stashes".

 

Now, originally, I figured that this meant what stash finds were random, but much less common to come across. I had an idea to test this, however. When you save Fox twice, he gives 1500 RU along with probably the only guaranteed stash as a reward, the one in the "Death Truck". So I saved the game just before accepting the reward, then reloaded some times to see what I could get (Common Skat-9M! Common Exo!) But then I thought to turn on the "Random, Rare Stashes" option. After a couple tries, I got something new - 2x Fiery Soul.

 

Until right then, I'd never seen artifact modificates in stashes before. So, Random Rare stashes either mean random stashes that include modificates and who knows what else, or that, and they're harder to come by. Can anyone confirm which of these it is?

 

As it is, I'm stockpiled on guns and ammo, so I'm set for a long time. Gonna leave it on Random, Rare Stashes to see what comes up. Would be interesting if it included unique guns in its drop table lineup, but I'm not counting on that.

[Skullhunter 0]

silverpower helped me discover the problem, the guy I equipped with the 416 is actually not in the game. 1.21 will address this issue as well.

[Servalion 0]

LOL. Well, guess that means I'll need to start a new game yet again. When can we expect 1.21?

 

Also, confirmed, Random, Rare Stashes includes Unique guns. A Bar stash just gave up the AS "Val" Sniper unique, which was previously unattainable in Vanilla, and most other mods. Its not bad, with its own scope, zooms almost as well as the Vintorez.

 

Wonder if that means the HK 416 could eventually turn up in one with enough dedication (fanaticism?)....

[Sasha 0]

silverpower helped me discover the problem, the guy I equipped with the 416 is actually not in the game. 1.21 will address this issue as well.

 

oh and i cruised the gsc forum. the super V smg ejects shells from the side. not the bottom.

[mattwla 0]

Now, another thought came to mind that I hadn't yet tried out. This one's more related to AMK itself than Arsenal.

 

Under AMK options, I've always enjoyed the option of Random stashes to get things going eventually much quicker than usual. I hope Oblivion Lost eventually puts it in. However, there's another option - "Random, rare stashes".

 

Now, originally, I figured that this meant what stash finds were random, but much less common to come across. I had an idea to test this, however. When you save Fox twice, he gives 1500 RU along with probably the only guaranteed stash as a reward, the one in the "Death Truck". So I saved the game just before accepting the reward, then reloaded some times to see what I could get (Common Skat-9M! Common Exo!) But then I thought to turn on the "Random, Rare Stashes" option. After a couple tries, I got something new - 2x Fiery Soul.

 

Until right then, I'd never seen artifact modificates in stashes before. So, Random Rare stashes either mean random stashes that include modificates and who knows what else, or that, and they're harder to come by. Can anyone confirm which of these it is?

 

As it is, I'm stockpiled on guns and ammo, so I'm set for a long time. Gonna leave it on Random, Rare Stashes to see what comes up. Would be interesting if it included unique guns in its drop table lineup, but I'm not counting on that.

 

They would be rarer to find and with better items inside. With that on, stashes = godly items inside. I found an RPG, 2 rockets, a modified Groza, an OICW, ammo, and grenades, all in one stash with that on... in Cordon. So, yeah, that answers that.

[Sasha 0]

They would be rarer to find and with better items inside. With that on, stashes = godly items inside. I found an RPG, 2 rockets, a modified Groza, an OICW, ammo, and grenades, all in one stash with that on... in Cordon. So, yeah, that answers that.

oicw? u mean an fn2000 right.

yeah i love messing with fox and that stash exploit. several occasions i got exo suits fn2000's and numerous very usefull hypermidicate atefects.

[Scarecrow 0]

I've never played without random, rare stashes. I figured it had maybe too good stashes, even though there are only a few of them, so I thought I should try out the normal random stash. But as I heard, you can't get a sniper AS Val in that mode! This gun is absolutely invaluable! I got through the brain scorcher, Pripyat and all through to the end of the game with only that, a few grenades and a few medpacks in my backpack on highest difficulty without ever breaking a sweat! Best gun it the game, imo.

[Servalion 0]

Yeah, this thing's rather nice. I'd modified all Unique guns to have increased ammo capacity, so this thing rocks even more. I seriously doubt I can find the HK 416 this way though. So far I've found good stuff for sure, including some of the more useless unique guns (MP5 (Silenced).....why?). If the Sniper Val can show up here, then so can the Western RG6 and "Farshooter" SVD at some point. The HK416 however isn't exactly a Unique gun, I assume - just a one of a kind rifle. That is, unless it was a modified version of the G36 or something, but that would make no sense.

 

As for what can come out of these rare stashes, I'm wondering how the info is compiled and selected to see what can show up. Now I'm guessing that there's a settings list somewhere on the stash info somewhere in the gamedata folder. If only I could find it....

[Servalion 0]

Wow. What is up? Seriously. These boards just cant stay up

 

But while they were down, my consistant meddling with the files continued. After finding out where the script controls are for what weapons NPCs spawn with, I went to town with them. I found these before, so I knew whom to look for for the HK416. With the boards down, I took matters to my own hands and experimented with a new game. (Tried it with an old saved game to no avail - it would appear that these files are read and locked in only at the start of a new game; altering them afterwards will show no change in NPC inventory in the same game file, even from scripted NPCs you've yet to encounter and trigger. )

 

By starting a new game, I wanted to test things as close to home as possible, so I put the HK 416 on the soldiers in the Cordon. Basically any Experienced or Veteran soldier has one, with 30 plain and 30 AP rounds for it. Basically a glorified, sexier LR 300, but they ARE both M16 Carbine improvements, so it was to be expected and it performed as well as expected. Great work. As for another issue however, the ACOG was a problem. Using the exact command from the original merc file it was assigned to, I copied it to the soldiers and saw the result. From the look of the command, I would have assumed that the Silencer and ACOG were supposed to be on the weapon already. However, the gun was unadorned. Each soldier toting one had a silencer on them, but the ACOG was AWOL. Just couldn't get it onto an NPC's body. So I gave up and just had Sidorovich sell it. That worked well enough.

 

Discovering how to do this allowed me to make further weapon assignment edits. For one, I found the P90 and MP7 rather lacking, partially because their individual ammo stats were rather paltry compared to even 9x19 PB1s, but moreso because the ammo simply didnt drop that much. They're pretty much limited to Mercs in the Army Warehouse. Mercs are like the redheaded stepchild in this game. Everyone fears their legendary kickassity, but they dont know how to expand their territory, like they're a dying breed. Even the Bandits get more showtime than these guys. So, I've been jotting down ideas on what to do. Basically the easy way is to just assign the ammo at random rates to various NPCs later in the game, from the Army Warehouses and north from there. Might do the same with the .50 AE ammo, although I won't necessarily give the carriers the Desert Eagles as well. That would fit, but the .50 AE version should be fairly rare for any NPC stalker. Lets just say some come across the exquisite ammo and hold on to it in hopes of someday finding the gun it goes with.

 

Now there's one more issue I'd love to tackle, but it wouldn't be as simple as the other stuff I've managed to learn. Oblivion Lost 2.2 came out, but it doesn't sound like any weapon changes were made or new weapons were added. Therefore, I was wondering how difficult it would be to port over choice Arsenal models into both AMK and/or OL. Not as additional weapons themselves, but replacements to some current models. I'd guess I'd have to figure out exactly what to edit for every weapon, as I've noticed that weapon replacements don't always change the same areas (KingFriday's SIG 552 was pretty much a Copy & Paste job, where as his AK-74U also demanded an edit of the "textures.ltx" if already modified.). I figured if they're just gonna replace current weapons in game, I could simply rename them to whatever they're filling in for, but I'm almost sure it wouldn't be that simple. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas before I take a basic stab at this?

[Servalion 0]

On another issue, I still see enemies using pistols far too much. I'm not sure how weapon prioritization works. Somehow the game REALLY puts pistols high on the list, where as they really should be at the bottom.

 

If only Heavy Weapons > Special/Sniper Rifles > Assault Rifles > Modern Shotguns > Desert Eagles > SMGs > .45 ACP Handguns > Break-Open Shotguns > Other handguns......

 

 

EDIT: Its really funny. Just noticed that all the soldiers always blasting away with their Fort 12s at me dont have a problem using the proper firepower against other NPCs. How come we get easy mode, while NPCs pull out the big guns against each other?

[Skullhunter 0]

Servalion,

 

Don't make yourself nuts adding the Arsenal replacers for the vanilla Stalker weapons. I'll be doing that soon enough.

 

As far as the pistol problem, I've set their max_radius for pistols REALLY low, to 5, and now they only seem to use the pistol when they've managed to sneak up on me real close.

 

I'll also need to check into this thing with the ACOG not showing up on the HK416. I may have changed the syntax since that version but I'm not sure.

 

I am also going to be doing MAJOR work on all the weapon damage and accuracy stats starting next week.

 

DE ammo of all calibers has been added to death_generic.ltx and all appropriate related files so it should start showing up randomly in dead NPC inventories in certain areas. The guns themselves are also far less common now, but there is only so much I can do with NPC loadouts since many of the NPC profiles end up used for multiple characters.

 

Patch to 1.3 might be done tomorrow, depends on how much I can get done and if the power goes out because of the storm coming in.

[Servalion 0]

Ahh, ok. Saves me a lot of heartache then And I hope your patch fixes the pistol favoritism issue for me too, cause manually editing the weapon max radius didn't seem to have too much of an effect after all. Just not sure why that is.

[Servalion 0]

Just encountered a bizarre anomaly, and I dont mean an anomaly.

 

Entered Wild Territory from the Bar for the first time since the initial clearing and the run through back. Wasn't long before I heard a Merc in a fight. I ran over to the Merc checkpoint and saw a yellow dot appear on the map. "A Loner? Here?" I found a guy in a stalker suit that brought down the merc with only a sawn-off BM-16. Wasn't interested in talking, wouldn't equip a better weapon, but he just kept running deeper into danger. So I followed him around, hastily clearing out the trenchcoat Bandits and any mutants in the way. It was when he reached the construction site and found 5 other Mercs that he finally wised up and high-tailed it.

 

"Mo'zhiq! Histriliyai!"

 

(Huh? Wait, that sounded like.........)

 

Cleared out the Mercs, and he came back over, started picking up everything he saw (still hasn't visibly equipped the LR300 over the sawn-off). All present danger, and he still wouldn't talk or trade. Then I noticed why.....

 

 

 

?????

 

EDIT: At the entrance to Yantar, I noticed I'd forgotten a new stash over up the hill in the log. Opened it up and found an FN2000. Thought the bandit might like it, since he'd picked up well over 30 ammo by now. Ran back to the construction site, but saw nothing on the radar. I did hear scuffling, though. Walked around, and soon found him.

 

 

So, its true. The only good Bandit is a dead Bandit. Went as mysteriously as he came.

 

I cant wait to see what buggy shit CS brings.