@Origin
Indeed, AO bakes are very useful. You can use them for high quality self shadowing, to see where unconnected geometry intersects in UV space, and for scorch or grit effects. I just finished a final quality AO bake for this model earlier today.
Out of curiosity, what's your strategy distributing your AO bakes across the diffuse and specular textures?
@MCR
Thanks. I think I'll look for more direction from the design folks directly though when it comes to replacing more of the legacy weapons' graphics, to cut through some of the red tape of the approval process.
As for levels of detail, this model is only 500 tris, which is the max the wiki said weapons should be, and LoD's don't make sense for a model that will at most add 16,000 tris to a battlescape scene, which is nothing. So the polycount for weapons would need to be raised for there to be any sense in making LoDs, imo.
@Hertzilla
My guess is dynamic camo on weapons probably isn't supported either.
A non-reflective, matte look would basically make the normal, specular and roughness maps pointless. It could be done, but it wouldn't enhance the visual quality over the model it is replacing. Plus, looking at some real world references, it wouldn't be any more accurate or realistic, I don't think.
But if there is no disagreement put forward, I think I'll go with your second choice of glossy black.