QM's More Ballistic Weapons Mod

[Quartermaster]

This mod adds 3 new weapons that can be researched for the ballistics tier. These weapons are the submachine gun, carbine, and RPG. I've tried to fill specific roles with each of these weapons that (while not necessarily true to reality) enhance the game in my opinion. After researching Alien Invasion the Improved Ballistic Weaponry research becomes available which opens up these weapons. The research takes 20 man hours.

Here is the research screen on completion:

The submachine gun is modeled after the MP5 and I am using it as a one-handed weapon that is meant to give the scout a weapon that is useful. I am aware that the MP5 is not in reality a one-handed weapon, but I set it that way because I wanted to simulate having easy access to grenades. This is much more of a combat weapon than the pistol and while terrible at range, can cause significant damage up close. To counter this you will chew through ammo very quickly.

The carbine (modeled after the M4) fills about the same role as the laser carbine in the next tier. Namely it fires a lot of rounds at close range, but has trouble with range. Its range is slightly better than the shotgun so it is suitable for close to medium range engagements.

The RPG is designed to be a single shot rocket launcher. The reason I added this is that I wanted a general purpose rocket which could knock out lighter vehicles and so that the rocket launcher was not a weapon that felt required to bring. Compared to the rocket launcher it is inferior in almost all regards, but can be carried by a rifleman and is still quite capable of doing some serious damage.

I have also added some other changes:

- Most of the weapons have smaller magazines

- The machine gun fires more rounds in a burst, but its damage, mitigation, and accuracy have been reduced.

- The frag grenade's damage was dropped to 60 and 30 stun

- Alenium grenades do 90 damage with 45 stun

- The C4's damage was upped to 200 and the radius is now 4.0 for serious wall destruction.

- The stun on Flashbangs is now 60 as I was having difficulty stunning anyone with them.

Download the mod: https://www.box.com/s/30714ad8c006a43d4ab8

To add it to the game extract the contents into the "assets" folder of Xenonauts. I recommend making backups in case you have any problems, but I have no difficulty with it. If you do run into a problem I do have backups of the original files which I can send to you.

Let me know what you think!

[Max_Caine]

Coolbeans. QM, what do you use to make the pics of the weapons?

[Buzzles]

If I may add, you could use an MP5K instead of the normal MP5 you have there, considering it's tiny and will fit your want of a one hander a bit better.

[Quartermaster]

@ Max_Caine:

I used GIMP to edit the images. The M4 and RPG were already done by the team. I put together the RPG ammo round from the existing RPG image and extended the shaft to its current size with extensive editing. The MP5 has components of the Precision Rifle, AK47, and M4 images that already existed. It was a matter of editing and blending everything together to get an appearance that looked good. As for the research image I simply used the backdrop for the Laser Weapons and replaced them with the images I made.

@Buzzles:

At some point I might try to swap it out for the MP5K, but after how long it took me to get the MP5 together it will probably be a while. What I felt like I wanted was an ability between 2 handed and 1 handed. Namely a weapon that would fire better if both hands were empty, but allowed the option to have something in the off hand.

[Oathbreaker]

This is absolutely awesome. I always like regular-tech ballistic weapons better in these types of games than the ultra-OMG-super-alien weaponry.

I, too, would suggest you swap the MP5 to something more one-handedleable like the Uzi or somesuch. Just change the name and the graphic and you're good to go.

[Gorlom]

Yeah, just swap out the hard part real quick!

[DarkArk]

Yeah, just swap out the hard part real quick!

I'm glad someone gets how hard image editing is (I work a graphics mod for another game, I understand these things).

Anyway great to see more mods coming about, will have to try this out.

[Gazz]

You can buy pictures with a license, like this one for something like 1 €.

Cutting extras like a stock goes quickly when you have good base material.

[Tam Elbrun]

those are first two look like modern designs though, you might want to use their period accurate counterparts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR-15 & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_submachine_gun might be suitable.

the Car-15 is mostly the same as the image you used, but has a less complex stock and a few other subtle differences, and the sterling is completely different.

EDIT: Nevermind, forgot how old the MP5 is still see it in games from time to time so i tend to assume it's modern.

My point regarding the carbine though still stands, the one you used looks too new (it's the way the stock is shaped, doesn't look right. I'm used to old rifles looking simpler than that.)

Edited September 5, 2012 by Tam Elbrun

[StellarRat]

Nevermind, forgot how old the MP5 is still see it in games from time to time so i tend to assume it's modern.

My point regarding the carbine though still stands, the one you used looks too new (it's the way the stock is shaped, doesn't look right. I'm used to old rifles looking simpler than that.)

The MP5 is still in use. It's a classic. As far as the carbine goes, I think the whole carbine thing kind of fell out of favor after WWII then was revived when urban fighting became the "standard" type of conflict in the 90's and forward. I can't really think of any well known carbine until the M-4 came out. Maybe you have some ideas. Since the carbine requires research it's not too much of a stretch to assume it would look more modern than the 70's. BTW, I modded this mod, LOL, to get the firepower "right" comparatively, and it's quite interesting. Against Selbians the MP5 is nearly useless unless you can get really close.

[Tam Elbrun]

the car-15, which i linked in the above post is an AR-15 derivative from the 60s, as opposed to the M-4 which is from the 90s.

[StellarRat]

the car-15, which i linked in the above post is an AR-15 derivative from the 60s, as opposed to the M-4 which is from the 90s.

I read the article, interesting. I learned something new. I didn't realize there was a full auto version of the AR-15. Now I know. Well, I guess it's up to QM if he wants to change his picture.

[Quartermaster]

Of the potential weapons, the CAR-15 could make the cut. It simply takes a lot of time to edit an image to make it right, but the CAR-15 would be a pretty easy image to make since we have the existing M16 which is similar looking. Any changes to mod will have to wait for a couple weeks, because of obligations I have at school.

[Buzzles]

Of the potential weapons, the CAR-15 could make the cut. It simply takes a lot of time to edit an image to make it right, but the CAR-15 would be a pretty easy image to make since we have the existing M16 which is similar looking. Any changes to mod will have to wait for a couple weeks, because of obligations I have at school.

Er, there's a short M16 (aka M4) image pre-made in the assets/weapons/ballistic folder under the alternate weapons. A quick cut and move job to shrink the barrel down and there's your CAR-15 all done.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Buzzles

[Quartermaster]

Er, there's a short M16 (aka M4) image pre-made in the assets/weapons/ballistic folder under the alternate weapons. A quick cut and move job to shrink the barrel down and there's your CAR-15 all done.

Well if you want to modify the image within the next two weeks I would be happy to swap the image out. However, as I said before, there are other more important things for me to be doing in the next two weeks.

[Lunawolf]

I was looking at your RPG stats and I noticed it had recoil, this obviously defeats the purpose of a RPG being a recoilless rifle.

[StellarRat]

I was looking at your RPG stats and I noticed it had recoil, this obviously defeats the purpose of a RPG being a recoilless rifle.

Good point. They have very little recoil.

[Gauddlike]

Depends on what recoil does in the game I guess.

If it affects subsequent shots then it doesn't matter as the RPG only fires one.

[StellarRat]

Depends on what recoil does in the game I guess.

If it affects subsequent shots then it doesn't matter as the RPG only fires one.

Good point.

[hullwykearlfc]

Does installing these and other mods cause any issues? is it just install and play?

[StellarRat]

It works fine. I have a mod of this mod that I play that changes some of the weapon characteristics to what I consider more "realistic" values. Hopefully, I will put out the combined mod this week. I'm trying to identify the files that I've changed to put them all into a proper zip file for applying the mod.

[hullwykearlfc]

cheers used this and very much like it

thanks

[jars_u]

those are first two look like modern designs though, you might want to use their period accurate counterparts.

I'm in favor of any options that introduces more ballistic weapons into the game. For me considering the timeline of the game the ideal sub-machine gun would be a "Special-K."

[Mantaray]

minor sugestion for the scout weapon, you could use an MP5K, that's 1976 work.

if you intend to have it as a 1-handed weapon, that'd probably be the best model for the job.

[Lunawolf]

I was thinking about it and I wondered why in every X-COM clone do they always abandon ballistics weapon when the weapon tiers go up. Why do the army never develop better bullets or guns. Depending on what type of laser it is say electrolaser like those in use today can be neutralized by magnetic fields or anything that would be like a Faraday cage. If it is a particle laser like those commonly depicted and I think what the game uses, it can be reflected by a mirror, or it can become weaker through refraction through objects.

What I suggest is that after you study alien biology and alien alloys, you can get a research option to study better ballistic weapons like the G36 or SA80 for an assault rifle, or a much heavier sniper rifle like the m82 or hectate etc. Just make the weapons that would be research be like 10 years from beyond 1979. To increase their effectiveness you could make them use depleted uranium rounds which would cost money to make and would require the workshop or have them explodable. It would make the guns have much better penetration against the aliens and the bullets would do some fire damage. When you get the option to create Power armor, you could put in really futuristic guns, and a minigun.

To balance out the guns to prevent people from just using ballistic weapons, make the guns buildable, have the guns use depleted uranium which would cost slightly less than the laser, either make them use more ap or make the guns heavier since uranium is slightly heavier than lead.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Lunawolf
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