Hey. I've been lurking on the forums for awhile, but only made an account today. I have a few questions that I would like help with because I can't seem to find the answers myself.
I've been messing around with some mods, and enjoy a good session of experimenting in the editor with no intentions other than to learn me something new.
I'm trying to get an overall grasp of the system used in OFP. I understand how alot of it works and currently I'm working on config files and what makes them tick. (Actually the only things I don't understand with those are how everything is connected\how I can connect everything... I.E. How the PBO's, P3D's, PAC's, PAA's, WCC's (?), and such are all reference files... If it is just a reference name I use to bring up the file or if I have to sync it/set reference file locations... I am not quite through config files yet...)
Aaaaanyways to my questions....
I am playing around with the idearrr of making a mod myself. Maybe just a partial mod to start or something to experiment with. One of the things I am wondering is how universal JAM is. This is partial to some of my other questions.
Another is what the 'count' entry in weapon config files really are... Relative weight of the weapon? Amount of space it takes up in the inventory? Orr.... As it seems, just the number of rounds a clip for this weapon has? I haven't been able to find out anything solid on this. I haven't had time to experiment yet either. One tutorial said "how much the weapon takes up in the players inventory"...
I am playing with the idea of using lower accuracy weapons/mags with my mod. I've been using JAM HD mags for a few days and I think something a little more accurate, but not as precise as the regular JAM mags would be better for me... As I was testing and playing I noticed that, well for one thing, a (Non HD) M4 can make a fairly precise shot up around estimated 1000 meter range. It must have been around 800m range, I brought in AI and they would identify the target person as a vehicle, 1000m. Three shots and you guarantee yourself a kill, this is a non-moving prone target though. I find this to be pushing it abit. A Kalashnikov can get fairly high results aswell, yet not quite to the point that the M4 was.
(Thinking about it... I was on a small hill, so the distance to the target would be shorter. Yet perhaps the AI uses ground level meters to measure. Heh, a little position script and some trigonometry could find the true distance to the target.)
These things intrigued me so I took a stroll through JAM's Config file. In it I found a few more things. Okay, so a M4's dispersion/accuracy is better than the Kalashnikov's which is understandable. The AK47's 'initspeed' is lower than the M4's which makes sense if 'initspeed' is only for muzzle velocity. If so then those numbers are pretty accurate to the real thing. My concern is in that I don't know how OFP's engine works. Does it factor in the mass of the round, which I would doubt because I haven't found out about it yet! I think that 'initspeed' works more like the bullets energy. -Simplified, more 'initspeed'/bullet energy = more overall range?- A heavier round should get a higher 'initspeed' so that its range would be farther than an equal weapon with a smaller round. Yes, the smaller round does have a higher muzzle velocity most likely, but because of physics should not fly as far. So it seems to me that the M4's round will actually fly farther/hit harder (?) than the flying brick of a round that the AK-47 uses. Shouldn't the AK-47 should have lower accuracy, but a higher 'initspeed' if it works the way I think it does?
Yes, I know. A small change... Yet I think that is 'wrong' if it works the way I believe it does. I would rather have the different rifles have their own advantages equally.
Also do bullets in OFP have the same estimated projectory a real round would?/Any kind of trajectory? I think I have seen some examples of this changing 'initspeed' and using different ranges without zeroing the sight. (If I have to) Which I think I can do with the sights settings...
Now if I go ahead and make a base mod or campaign I will most likely want to use a modified JAM 3. How/where could I contact the makers to ask them if I could modify and use their system with my mod. I would have to change the name from JAM 3 to prevent people from mistaking it for the real jam 3. Also, I am 'playing' with BAS's Tonal Isle right now. Thats probably what I would like to base my mod on. Where would I ask for their permission if I want to use that as a base-mod. The site
http://www.ballistic-studios.com/ which came with the mod does not work... I would of course give credit where credit is due.
Really cool community, and game. (Props to BIS!) I plan on putting up some MP missions for beta testing eventually. Most likely other mods too.