Equipment/Tweak weapons

From UFO:AI

Weapons are tweaked for game balance, as well as for eye candy (and for fun). Currently some weapons are still in need of the initial tweak (e.g., mines) and some others are half-broken (e.g., particles are off). To tweak a weapon (or any other equipment item) you have to find it in one of the base/ufos/weapons*.ufo files. Tweaking armor or other non-weapon equipment piece is similar to tweaking a weapon.

The weapon is described by a multitude of variables. Tweak the variables and test the results in-game. A nice setup for testing weapons is the test campaign featuring samples of all equipment in your starting base inventory. The campaign is accessible by typing cl_campaign test in the game console while in the campaign menu and then pressing the Start campaign button. You can then type research_all on the game console to see the stats of all equipment (only works in the debug build, not in "make release").

Weapons often use some sound effect files and particle effect files. If you want to change these then find new ones somewhere, request them on the forum or create them yourself.

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FAQ

Why do the name fields begin with underscore, as in "_Assault Rifle"?
The underscore indicates that the following text will be translateable via Gettext.

What is the in-game effect of the "weapon" variable?
Among others, when an alien is assigned one primary weapon from the equipment, the flag is used to tell weapon from ammo, even if it has the same "buytype".

How do the "category" variable integers correspond to the rifle, biggun, etc, animation types?
I don't know.

Does "shape" or "scale" variables also influence the size of the weapon in the battlescape?
No. So take care that small things do not have huge inventory icons. On the other hand, it might a good idea to keep most primary weapons the same inventory shape (even if, e.g., Rocket Launcher is very long in the battlescape) and most secondary weapons the same (smaller) inventory shape. This way they fit nicely in the backpack or holster. As for ammo shapes --- enjoy yourself.

What is the meaning of the "center" vector? Is it a translation vector or rotation or what?
I know the middle coordinate has something to do with the z axis, probably a rotation (see the stats of IR Goggles). The first is a translation to the right, the third is a translation downwards.

Should I scale the weapon (with the "scale" variable) so that it fills all the "shape" variable inventory box?
Approximately, but just try to make it look nice. In particular, if the weapon has high area to background ratio (e.g. the 9mm Pistol), usually it looks better slightly smaller, unless you feel the bulkiness fits the theme (for the pistol, IMHO, it doesn't, even if it's Desert Eagle).

Why do some weapons have identical primary and secondary shooting modes? Is it a placeholder, until a new secondary mode is devised, or will it remain that way? Should I start brain-storming for secondary modes of all such weapons?
I don't know. Just make sure that any weapon has both primary and secondary modes, even if they are the same, lest alien bugs oppress you.

This is all too difficult! I want my weapon right now!
Then just voice you opinions about weapon balance on the forum and leave the actual tweaking for nerds. If you flatter them enough they might even make the changes quickly. :)

What should be the splash damage radius for my weapon?
I think 2 for incendiary, 3 for tachyon, 5 for plasma, 4 for anything else. Easy to remember.

What the proportion of damage and splash damage should be for explosive weapons?
For simplicity, let damage be half as big. With exceptions, e.g., for tachyon.

What links should I put on the page of my weapon on the wiki?
Link most of the weapons from the description, alternative weapons for a similar role, weapons that are obsoleted by that one. Generally, do not put links to very advanced technologies (e.g., the weapons that obsolete that one), not to spoil the player.

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