Hey, guys. I've recently been messing around with the Soldat weapons and had two spots of bother relating to weapon modding, among other things. So, I have some suggestions to fix 'em.
1. Test Mode
This may have been suggested before, but I still have problems with editing weapons. Namely having to go into the weapons.txt, not knowing if it's the most recent and if I'll have an outdated, potentially unbalanced base stat set for my weapons mod, then having to save, start up Soldat and make a server running the mod, screw around for a bit to test the balance, find it's not that great, then quit Soldat and go back to editing the weapons.ini file.
So, I propose a separate testing program. Start it up and you're given a screen with a (nearly) new set of options. Basically the gist of it is it will give you an in-game weapons and bot editing screen. This screen docks with the game window, and contains two tabs. Obvious, these are Bots and Weapons. On the bots screen you can edit everything and the changes can be immediately applied to the game if you're playing. So, if you're playing on a premade shooting range map, and you change a certain stat and hit APPLY, if that bot is on the map it'll change. Functionality of the Bot editor would be similar to the Soldat Bot Creator/Editor program some useful forumer put out.
Weapons will be similar; you can immediately apply new settings and they'll be changed. This is useful if you're attacking the default target range bot, Mr. Target. He has a very simple AI script: sit there and wait to die, and helps you test how fast a certain weapon kills someone.
The weapon settings are accompanied by a slider and numerical input box. You can either use the slider for a visual reference or type in the specific number you want. For bullet types and such, however, there's a pull-down list with the different types of rounds.
The other options of Test Mode will what level to give the bot AI: none (the bot just stands there and does nothing), stupid, poor, good, et cetera. You can also can set what bot(s) you want to add to your map, or if you want a target poly to test weapon effects such as bullet speed.
2. Global Sound/Graphic/Weapon Name Implementation
This is another of my issues that has recently come up. I want to give the AK74, among other things, the sound of an AK47 from a particular game, but AFAIK I can only change it so it's different on my computer.
So, I propose a new option in the weapon.txt and potential Test Program: specify .wav file and .bmp graphic for the thing to use. All players joining your server without those files will have to download them, and all players on your server will hear and see the custom files. The same goes for weapon names: you can just change the file and they'll show up for all players on your server--but not on any other server. So you won't go around with your weapon names screwed up, but nobody else will see them.
Anyway, this would allow people to have much more bizarre servers. Such as they could have a technicolor level, with the AK47 shooting pink fluffy bunnies, the M79 screaming "[CENSORED]!" every time it fires and firing a red-colored expletive, and people making Napoleon Dynamite quotes every time they're injured. Or, perhaps, you could make a server-side Vietnam mod where everything sounds, looks and is named like 1960s weapons--the Ruger 77 is an M1 Carbine, the SPAS12 is a Remington 870, the Desert Eagles are a USM3, the MP5 is a Thompson SMG, the Steyr AUG is an M16, et cetera.
Wow, that was a long post. I guess I just got carried away... anyhoo, what do y'all think of my suggestion(s)?
1. Test Mode
This may have been suggested before, but I still have problems with editing weapons. Namely having to go into the weapons.txt, not knowing if it's the most recent and if I'll have an outdated, potentially unbalanced base stat set for my weapons mod, then having to save, start up Soldat and make a server running the mod, screw around for a bit to test the balance, find it's not that great, then quit Soldat and go back to editing the weapons.ini file.
So, I propose a separate testing program. Start it up and you're given a screen with a (nearly) new set of options. Basically the gist of it is it will give you an in-game weapons and bot editing screen. This screen docks with the game window, and contains two tabs. Obvious, these are Bots and Weapons. On the bots screen you can edit everything and the changes can be immediately applied to the game if you're playing. So, if you're playing on a premade shooting range map, and you change a certain stat and hit APPLY, if that bot is on the map it'll change. Functionality of the Bot editor would be similar to the Soldat Bot Creator/Editor program some useful forumer put out.
Weapons will be similar; you can immediately apply new settings and they'll be changed. This is useful if you're attacking the default target range bot, Mr. Target. He has a very simple AI script: sit there and wait to die, and helps you test how fast a certain weapon kills someone.
The weapon settings are accompanied by a slider and numerical input box. You can either use the slider for a visual reference or type in the specific number you want. For bullet types and such, however, there's a pull-down list with the different types of rounds.
The other options of Test Mode will what level to give the bot AI: none (the bot just stands there and does nothing), stupid, poor, good, et cetera. You can also can set what bot(s) you want to add to your map, or if you want a target poly to test weapon effects such as bullet speed.
2. Global Sound/Graphic/Weapon Name Implementation
This is another of my issues that has recently come up. I want to give the AK74, among other things, the sound of an AK47 from a particular game, but AFAIK I can only change it so it's different on my computer.
So, I propose a new option in the weapon.txt and potential Test Program: specify .wav file and .bmp graphic for the thing to use. All players joining your server without those files will have to download them, and all players on your server will hear and see the custom files. The same goes for weapon names: you can just change the file and they'll show up for all players on your server--but not on any other server. So you won't go around with your weapon names screwed up, but nobody else will see them.
Anyway, this would allow people to have much more bizarre servers. Such as they could have a technicolor level, with the AK47 shooting pink fluffy bunnies, the M79 screaming "[CENSORED]!" every time it fires and firing a red-colored expletive, and people making Napoleon Dynamite quotes every time they're injured. Or, perhaps, you could make a server-side Vietnam mod where everything sounds, looks and is named like 1960s weapons--the Ruger 77 is an M1 Carbine, the SPAS12 is a Remington 870, the Desert Eagles are a USM3, the MP5 is a Thompson SMG, the Steyr AUG is an M16, et cetera.
Wow, that was a long post. I guess I just got carried away... anyhoo, what do y'all think of my suggestion(s)?