TODO/2.1/Extend weapon and ammo combinations

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Progress

This thing as done ... further features (like firemode-combinations and weapon extensions as mentioned below) will be handled in a seperate entry if needed. --Hoehrer 13:38, 10 February 2007 (CET)

[done] Extend weapon and ammo combinations

  • [done] Create a #Branch of the effected directories so myself any anybody who wants to help here can develop this without disturbing the trunk. --Hoehrer
  • [done] Add basic code and data so firemodes are split up in a per-weapon/multiple-firemodes structure. See #Implementation proposal 1. --Hoehrer
  • [done] [Priority low] Add c-code to display the new firemode gui. --Hoehrer
  • [done] [Priority high] Fix problems with sending (it's ok before writing) and receiving (the obj index is always 0) the firedefs on EV_ACTOR_START_SHOOT, EV_ACTOR_SHOOT, EV_ACTOR_SHOOT_HIDDEN and EV_ACTOR_THROW.
  • [done] [Priority high] Where in the code is distinguished between primary and secondary firemode and WHY? .. This needs to be changed to support more firemodes. This includes but is not limited to #Shoot types.
    • [done] Found cl.cmode in cl_input and cl_actors. It has the following states assigned right now: M_FIRE_PR, M_FIRE_PL, M_FIRE_SR, M_FIRE_SL
    • [done] #Shoot types
      • [done] Basic code changes as listed in #Shoot types and all related code (Major change)
      • (Postponed to TODO/2.1) Check if firedefs in AI_FighterCalcGuete in g_ai.c are calculated correctly.
      • (Postponed to TODO/2.1) Search for all uses of byte fmode1 and fmode2 and check if this needs improvement.
    • more ...
  • [done] [Priority low] Finalise the GUI stuff in menu_hud.ufo
    • [done] Change GUI so only one button for list-showing is needed.
    • [done] Fix the position of the lists.
  • [done] [Priority high] Merge the #Branch back into the trunk.
  • [done] [Priority medium] Additions for Reaction Fire:
    • Add variable to track the last selected firemode of each soldier.
    • Tweak reaction fire to use last selected firemode for reaction fire, or use default firemode if no previous selection exists.
    • Create a flag to prevent flagged firemodes from being used for reaction fire. Display note on the firemode selection box if it cannot be used for reaction fire.
    • My personal favourite (a combination of the above) is to let the user select one firemode (of a "reaction-enabled" list) for reaction fire. i.e. only the ones useable for reaction fire are possible to select. Default will be the first reaction-firemode in the list (or one that is defined in the ufo file if this proves to be inflexible). The last selected firemode is not needed here ... but it might be if he have other stuff that requries it. --Hoehrer
      • I think that would slow down play by an unacceptable amount and make the GUI seem more cumbersome. I don't support it. --Winter 15:54, 4 February 2007 (CET)
      • Why that? The selection would be in the same list (a small checkbox next to each firemode) and the user just switches the default firemode if we wants a different one. Doing this with the last selected firemode would leave us guessing what the user wants if he constantly uses a non-reaction firemode. --Hoehrer 17:36, 4 February 2007 (CET)
        • Ah, that sounds far more manageable than what I thought you meant. I withdraw the comment. Still, the default firemode of the soldier's weapon should be automatically selected/enabled for reaction fire at combat start. --Winter 19:26, 4 February 2007 (CET)
        • Ah, ok then :) Default firemode selected on combat start: Yes, that's what I had in mind with the "Default will be the first reaction-firemode in the list (or one that is defined in the ufo file)" part of my explaiantion above.. --Hoehrer

General discussion

We need to adapt the ammo-weapon stats so we can define different stats for different ammo that is used in different weapons. A possible solution might be "modifier" based (suggested by Winter) but this sure needs some serious discussion.

To quote him: 

(22:04:59) winter: Ah. But that's the case in the shotgun as well.
(22:05:23) winter: The flechettes fired from the Micro Shotgun should have significantly more spread and less range than the Riot Shotgun.
(22:05:48) hoehrer: they _should_ .. i'm sure thay do not do that yet
(22:06:07) winter: Ah. Hm. Can we code some simple modifiers?
...
(22:07:23) winter: Well, the simplest way -- it seems to me -- would be to make a modifier on the ammo item's stats based on the weapon it's loaded into.
(22:07:51) winter: So we'd place modifiers in the weapon entry.
(22:07:59) winter: Or something like that.

Additional note: This topic will also deal with other item-related TODO entries, such as "Grenades have no timed explosion secondary fire mode."

Desired behavior

We'll try to maintain a list of all possible weapon and ammo combinations and their properties so we can get a feel for what's needed.

List of shared-ammo weapons and their behavior:

Shotguns

Lasers

Other Items

  • Plasma Blade & other one-hit weapons (can be thrown or used to stab once)
  • Grenades
    • Lob firemode
    • Roll firemode
    • Time-delayed detonation, X-COM style. Should be useable with the above two firemodes; possibly using Winter's firemode concept from TODO/General:
So to sum it up, we would have two or more firemodes, represented by 2 or more bars of 3 options
each, and each bar can have a different set of options for using the weapon (e.g in the case of
the grenade there is the lob & roll, and in the case of the grenade launcher there would be the
airburst & timed mode).

Possibly any button on any bar could be set to have completely different fire modes?

Planned Weapon Extensions

  • None yet

Implementation

Current behaviour

  • The information on which ammo can be used in what weapon is defined in the research tree by "weapons" entries in the require_AND part of the ammo=tech. This stuff works fine and may not need to be changed.

Ok, currently we have 2 fixed fire definitions (primary and secondary). They are defined like this: 

typedef struct objDef_s {
	...
	fireDef_t fd[2];	/**< primary and secondard fire definition */
	...
}

/** this is a fire definition for our weapons/ammo */
typedef struct fireDef_s {
	char name[MAX_VAR];			/**< script id */
	char projectile[MAX_VAR];	/**< particle */
	char impact[MAX_VAR];
	char hitBody[MAX_VAR];
	char fireSound[MAX_VAR];	/**< the sound when a recruits fires */
	char impactSound[MAX_VAR];	/**< the sound that is played on impact */
	char hitBodySound[MAX_VAR];
	char bounceSound[MAX_VAR];	/**< bouncing sound */
	byte soundOnce;
	byte gravity;			/**< does gravity has any influence on this */
	byte launched;
	byte rolled;			/**< can it be rolled - e.g. grenades */
	byte dmgtype;
	float speed;
	vec2_t shotOrg;
	vec2_t spread;
	float modif;
	int delay;
	int bounce;				/**< is this bouncing? e.g. grenades */
	float bounceFac;
	float crouch;
	float range;
	int shots;
	int ammo;
	float rof;
	int time;
	vec2_t damage, spldmg;
	float splrad;
	int weaponSkill;		/**< what weapon skill is needed to fire this weapon */
	int irgoggles;			/**< is this an irgoogles */
} fireDef_t;

See also Com_ParseItem in scripts.c and q_shared.h

Where the primary firemode is stored in obj.fd[0] and the secondary is stored in obj.fd[1].

Ammo modifiers

Proposed by Mattn See the talk page for more

Modifiers in the weapon entry is not good - they would affect other weapons, too - they should be in the ammo entry imo. something like this is imageable 

item assault_ammo
{
	name		"_Assault Rifle Magazine"
	model		weapons/assault/assault_clip
	type		ammo
	category	0
	shape		"0 0 1 2"
	center		"0 0 0"
	scale		1.25
	price		130
	buytype		0

	primary
	{
		name	"_Snap Burst"
		skill	assault
		projtl	bullet
		impact	bulletImpact
		hitbody blood
		firesnd	weapons/assault.wav
		speed	0
		spread	"1.4 1.4"
		modif	0.7
		crouch	0.7
		range	60
		shots	3
		ammo	3
		rof		5
		time	15
		damage	"37 0"
		dmgtype normal
		modifier assault {
			range 70
		}
		modifier whatever {
			range 10
			shots 5
		}
	}
	secondary
	{
		name	"_Aimed Burst"
		skill	assault
		projtl	bullet
		impact	bulletImpact
		hitbody blood
		firesnd	weapons/assault.wav
		speed	0
		spread	"0.8 0.8"
		modif	0.7
		crouch	0.6
		range	60
		shots	3
		ammo	3
		rof		10
		time	18
		damage	"37 0"
		dmgtype normal
	}
}


Implementation proposal 1

Proposed by Hoehrer

As seen in #Current behaviour we currently have a simple list if fire-definitions/modes with two entries: fd[0] and fd[1].

Now if we want to add modifiers (see #Ammo modifiers by mattn) and multiple firemodes (i.e. more than 2 - i'll reach a bit into the future here) we need to overthink the whole structure of this.

We need:

  • Modifiers/stats per weapon
  • Firemode 1,2,3,4, etc... for each weapon.

So how about re-structuring this like the following: 

fireDef_t fd[MAX_WEAPONS_PER_AMMO][MAX_FD_PER_WEAPON];
char weap_id[MAX_WEAPONS_PER_AMMO][MAX_VAR];

fd[weapon1]
    [0] fire-def1
    [1] fire-def2
    [2] fire-def3
fd[weapon2]
    [0] fire-defA
    [1] fire-defB
    [2] fire-defC
  • MAX_WEAPONS_PER_AMMO = the weapon
  • MAX_FD_PER_WEAPON = the fd per weapon

If we need a default list of fire-modes we could define it as the first weapon-entry (i.e. fd[0])

If we use this thoroughly (i.e. we define the correct weapon for every single ammo) we could even use this as a definition for what weapons this ammo can be used in (i.e. we store the weapon-idx (weap_idx) as well here and replace the "weapon" requirements from the tech-tree with this)

Shortened ufo-definition example (coudl be streamlined): 

item assault_ammo
{
	...
	weapon_mod assault {
		firedef {
			name	"_Snap Burst"
			...
		}
		firedef	{
			name	"_Aimed Burst"
			...
		}
	}
	weapon_mod whatever {
		firedef {
			name	"_Snap Burst"
			...
		}
		firedef	{
			...
		}
	}
}

Simple throwing (in case of grenades i mean without activating) should be a default action for all items (except some special ones and doesn't need to be in here IMO.

Comments? Critics? Improvements? Please use the talk page and refer to "Implementation proposal 1".

Branch

The branch (http://svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ufoai/ufoai/branches/ufoai_firemode_patch/) is now defunct.

Shoot types

Problem solved

ReadFormat problem

Solved: Never every use byte variables for network ReadByte (and implicitly WriteByte as well). The network code always uses int for transfer, so this will just cause problems.

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