Using Modular Weapons 2 by Kaitorisenkou as a base, this mod expands upon the weapon customization by increasing vanilla weapon customization, adds new weapons, and tweaks research to make more sense. MW2 is required for this mod to function.
I recommend reading the full description to get an idea of the changes, but at the very least read the known issues and bugs section so you know what to expect.
Research
For my fellow Tribal enjoyers, there are no longer significant tech jumps, like going from bows to industrial bolt actions in one step. You now have muskets and breech-loaders to play with. Some other research has been modified, for example greatbows are unlocked by default, and machine pistols are now unlocked with blowback operation. Some projects are also renamed. Certain attachments are also attached to research
Attachments
Nearly every weapon, including things like bows and muskets, are customizable to varying degrees. More advanced weapons can typically accept more attachments like better stocks, underbarrels, laser sights, etc.
I tweaked the default stat changes from MW2 as well to my own liking.
There are the usual suspects like stocks and barrels that affect accuracy, aiming, and cooldown, but also attachments like different calibers and different bullet types like armor piercing rounds, explosive arrows, flechettes, etc. Overall, you should be able to fit weapons to your needs, or create “new” weapons like DMRs.
Balance Changes
I balanced weapons in a few ways.
First, each weapon should be somewhat viable, or at least have some sort of niche, even if that niche is just X but cheaper. I generally did this by buffing stats, though I did have to nerf handgun range. You will notice this most with short range weapons which are now very fast and accurate up close. Weapon damage have also been streamlined with access to small, medium, and large calibers. As such, some weapons were slightly nerfed in damage, but others were buffed. Weapon descriptions were updated to give you a general idea on what you can expect out of the weapon.
Second, stats are affected by weapon build: More compact weapons aim quicker and are generally better at short range, bulkier weapons are generally better at long range and have shorter cooldowns. Other aspects include weapons with manual actions shoot slower, more powerful rounds have better range, worse cooldown, and affect accuracy in bursts, and longer bursts have less accuracy.
Third, bullet type affects armor penetration. Arrows and shotguns have the lowest penetration, followed by pistols, then rifles, then finally charge-shot weapons. Special ammo types can help mitigate or increase penetration downsides.
Presets
MW2 has a preset system that allows weapons to generate with different attachments. You may find fully customized assault rifles, or cut down carbines with a short barrel and light stock. Several have been added from including assault carbines, slug shotgun snipers, snub revolvers, and many more.
Barring a single exception, weapons will only ever shoot whatever their default ammunition type and caliber is. This allows consistency between presets and means once you get used to the weapons, you don't need to worry if it's shooting something more powerful or weaker than expected. A pump shotgun always shoots buckshot, a battle rifle always shoots medium caliber rounds, etc.
The single exception is that weapons with a sniper scope will always shoot the highest caliber it can. An assault rifle can only shoot small caliber, so a scope won't change that. A battle rifle by default shoots medium caliber bullets but can also be modified to shoot large caliber, so if you see one with a scope, treat it with higher caution. This should visually give an indication that a particular enemy is more dangerous. Beware scoped bolt-actions, they shoot sniper rounds.
Known Bugs/Issues
- If you inspect a weapon’s stats from the recipe menu, it will show its BASE stats which are often lower than the stats after the weapon is created. This is a limitation with MW2/Rimworld. Inspecting an existing weapon will show the correct adjusted stats.
- I replaced the defs of the Modular battle rifle, hunting rifle, and assault carbine with new defs instead of keeping the DefNames the same. A bad move in retrospect. If you have a game with the original MW2 and add mine, existing variations of those weapons will disappear, you'll get a bunch of errors, but then it'll be playable.
- AP and HP rounds MAY be unbalanced. During my testing, I found more damage can often make up for lack of penetration, but I decided to still include these rounds for the sake of variety and niche uses.
- Most art is done by me, either traced from existing images, or modified from vanilla art or MW2 assets. Most look fine, but things like the breech rifle, crossbow, compound bow, and musket could probably use a facelift if any artist is willing to donate their time to making art. I would give you credit if anyone is willing to do so, but is not necessary for the mod obviously.
Q&A
Q: Will you be adding more weapons?
A: Possibly, though it would need to fill some sort of gap in the current weapons. Right now there is a lot of variety for each weapon type, with different strengths and weaknesses.
Q: Is this compatible with X mod?
A: Yes and no. As long as it doesn’t modify vanilla weapons, there won’t be any incompatibilities. However, if you have a mod that adds other weapons, it may just not mesh with the research progression I implemented, or you may get duplicate weapon if something adds say, a musket. Obviously, other modded weapons won’t have attachments by default. I may make patches if a mod is popular enough and there is enough demand.
Q: Combat Extended?
A: Never used it, defer to the original MW2 to see if compatibility has been implemented yet.
Credits
Tynan and the Rimworld team for Rimworld and its assets
Kaitorisenkou for MW2 and some assets
The military industrial complex for having enough weapons to trace
Halo for the Charge Railgun inspiration
Recommended Mods
[url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1446523594] Dubs Mint Menus[/url] - Makes the default recipe menu way easier to look at and adds a search function.
Closing
Feel free to report any bugs or note anything you think is poorly balanced. I tried to balance everything as best as I could, but there are a lot of weapons, so I could have missed something.
