Weapon Range Rebalance for Combat Extended
A problem I've always had with Combat Extended was the absurd ranges that firearms had. The weapons' effective ranges might technically be realistic, yes, but it does not play well when the average Rimworld map is 250x250 and the game actively advises you against playing on bigger map settings. Combat Extended's base ranges *could* work if the maps were, say, 600x600, but they're simply not. Vanilla values are not that great either, so I decided to sit down and make a full weapon range rework for all the weapons, both vanilla and modded.
This mod aims to be gameplay-first instead of realism first.
Design philosophy
- Big emphasis on weapon type - Sniper rifles now outrange assault rifles by a factor of two. Handguns and SMGs are better in CQC and self-defense situations.
- Curb weapon ranges to reasonable levels - Once again, gameplay-first. We can't make the maps gigantic to compensate for massive weapon ranges so we reduce weapon ranges instead.
- Full coverage across a wide variety of mods - A rebalance at this scale simply would not work if it did not cover everything. Everything from mounted turrets to vehicle cannons must be patched.
- Defenses reign supreme - Most mounted weapons outperform their handheld variants, but not to the extent that base Combat Extended makes them. Let both the AI and the player use a tactical approach to outsmart defenses.
- Bring pre-gunpowder weapons up to par - A sling from the medieval era had a longer effective range than most pistols do today. Combat Extended nerfs bows, slings, etc. in the name of realism and while actually being both quite unrealistic but also bad for gameplay. We don't make them equally as good as industrial weapons, of course, but we make them worth using.
Here's a small comparison of weapon ranges
Weapon
Vanilla range
Combat Extended range
Weapon Range Rebalance range
Sniper Rifle
45
75
60
Assault Rifle
31
55
32
Autopistol
26
12
14
List of covered content so far
- Core
- Biotech
- Ideology
- Royalty
[b]- The entire Vanilla Expanded series of mods, including...[/b]
- [b]All[/b] Vanilla Weapons Expanded mods
- [b]All[/b] Vanilla Factions Expanded mods
- [b]All[/b] Vanilla Furniture Expanded mods
- [b]All[/b] Vanilla Vehicles Expanded mods
...and more. I have tested this mod with all Vanilla Expanded mods.
- Titan Vehicles
- Titan Vehicles Upgrades
- VVE: Tier 3 Upgrades
- Alpha Mechs
- Reinforced Mechanoid 2 (Continued)
- Grenade launcher Added to Vanilla Weapons Expanded*
* Only when used alongside the Generic Ammo Experience, as the mod itself is not patched for Combat Extended.
- Weapons from base Combat Extended
- Combat Extended Guns
- Combat Extended Armory
- Advanced Armaments
- Black Powder Extras for Combat Extended
- Altered Carbon 2: ReSleeved
- Rimsenal - Augmented Vanilla Pack
- Cinders of the Embergarden
- [RH2] Faction: Gruppa Krovi
- [RH2] Faction: Bounty Hunters
- Giant imperial turret
- Giant uranium slug turret
- Charge FAL Rifle and Modifications
- Strain Tactics - Weapons
If you ever come across a mod that you think should be patched or notice a weapon missing a patch then feel free to leave a comment down below! I'm open to suggestions.
Unofficial submods
If you'd like to patch a mod yourself, or don't like any of the values in this mod, you're free to make a patch!
- [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346828179]Weapon Range Rebalance for AEMC[/url]
This mod includes patches for:
- Ancient urban ruins
- ExGT UrbanCombat
- Mono Weapons Pack
- Combat Extended Attachments
- Hideous Destructor - 4.26mm Weapons
- [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3451410015]Weapon Range Rebalance more mod patches[/url]
This mod includes patches for:
- Rimsenal - Spacer Faction Pack
- Impact Weaponry
- Vanilla Arsenal
- Integrated Implants
- The Dead Man's Switch*
- The Dead Man's Switch - AncientCorps*
- The Dead Man's Switch - MobileDragoon*
- The Dead Man's Switch-more dozer*
* These patches used to be included in the main mod but I decided to donate the patches to this submod. I honestly just don't play with the Dead Man's Switch series of mods and I believe someone that does play with those mods will have a better grasp of the intended balance of the mods.
Recommendations
- Install my other mod, the Generic Ammo Experience. It's not technically necessary but this whole mod was designed with the Generic Ammo Experience in mind.
You're probably not interested in full realism if you're playing with this mod. I don't personally find realism for the sake of realism interesting and have made multiple mods to mend Combat Extended more to my liking. If you have the same mindset then I can recommend the Generic Ammo Experience alongside this mod. It contains thousands of lines of patches, all hand-made to build a cohesive combat experience alongside many mods.
You can get the Generic Ammo Experience here: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3284460811]https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3284460811[/url]
- Try to load this mod towards the bottom of your mods list.
Notes and credits
I would apperciate feedback on these weapon range changes. I did mess around a bit to make sure everything felt alright but a good chunk of it, especially mechanoid stuff, was pretty much eyeballed into numbers that felt right to me. I'm open to feedback on all changes.
This mod works great with CAI 5000. You could have a few problems, with Combat Extended, stemming from the vastly increased weapon ranges, but this mod solves most of those problems since it curbs weapon ranges across the board.
Patches for Anomaly and VWE - Bioferrite were provided by FlamingLlama.
The weapon on the thumbnail was drawn by timesnewroman910 and commissioned by me.
Interested in participating in the development of my mods? Join the Discord server!
[url=https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscord.gg%2F8XJKpGx2Ax][img]https://i.imgur.com/ySSveRf.png[/img][/url][discord.gg]
