Better Weapon Mod Descriptions
DESCRIPTION
Update v1.1b released (Minor bug fixes. New Optional Lite Version which only lists weapon mod differences as compared to the slot’s Standard mod. Check the images for examples! Note: The Range values in percentages are not exact values but guesstimates. Take with a pinch of salt (or a whole salt mine, more like it))
New Optional File: Now Compatible with Vazeron1’s Weapon Balance Overhaul v1.3, listing the exact stats of all weapons including the balanced values of the mod!
New Optional File: Now Compatible with phobos2077’s Simple Weapon Rebalance v0.6, listing the exact stats of all weapons including the balanced values of the mod!
New Optional File: Now Compatible with frogs345’s Cut Weapon Mods Restore v2.1, listing the exact stats of all weapons including those of the restored mods!
New Optional File: Now compatible with test_this’ No Lowered Suppressor and Bayonet Range v1.01, listing the exact stats of all weapons including the altered range values of the mod!
New Optional File: Now compatible with teaLz’s Legendary Modification v1.55, listing the exact stats of all weapons including the now modifiable legendary mods! Use with LegendaryModificationMisc.esp and make sure you have the BWMD version corresponding to the LM version.
Tired of Better Recoil, Exceptional Damage or Poor Range? Try some actual numbers on your weapon mods!
Better Weapon Mod Descriptions strives to give you some actual information on what each weapon mod does by changing the descriptions of each and every modification.
As such, BWMD unfortunately will not be compatible with any other mod that modifies any weapon mod.
It leaves all values at their vanilla setting and merely lists them all – including some which weren’t actually noted in the old descriptions but still present.
So, what does Better Weapon Mod Descriptions do exactly? Here’s an example, using the Hunting Rifle .50 Receiver:
Old Description: Exceptional Damage. Changes ammo type to .50 Caliber. Improved rate of fire.
Okay, we get the picture. Kind of vague though.
Better Weapon Mod Descriptions: +75% Damage. Uses .50 Rounds. +25% Fire Rate. -25% Reload Time.
Ah, actual numbers. And who knew that the .50 Receiver actually increases Reload Speed by 25%?
These kinds of changes have been applied to all weapon mods (including unique weapons and legendary modifiers) in the game, revealing actual numbers and sometimes even previously unknown modifiers for those who like their descriptions actually, well, descriptive.
Prefer it in video format? Zimta was so kind as to make a showcase of it:
Thanks a lot!
To better understand these new descriptions, here is a list of all the terms used in the descriptions (with a simple version at the end of each):
Firemode
Also known as: Automatic, Semi-automatic
This denotes how a weapon operates and will only be listed if it can be changed via mods. For example, the 10mm Pistol Receivers list their fire mode, as it can made either automatic or semi-automatic, but the Hunting Rifle Receivers do not, as it’s always bolt-action.
Simple: Automatic = May benefit from Commando Perk. Hold Fire to keep firing. Semi-automatic = May benefit from Rifleman Perk. Repeatedly click to fire.
Not listed if only a single firemode is available to the weapon.
Weapon Type
Also known as: Pistol, Rifle
Usually found listed on stocks/grips, this shows what kind of weapon the mod will make. Laser weapons, for example, are laser pistols if equipped with grips but laser rifles if equipped with stocks. If a weapon cannot be modified to another type, this info is omitted.
Simple: Rifle = May benefit from Rifleman Perk. Usually has a stock and is more accurate while aiming. Pistol = May benefit from Gunslinger Perk. Usually has a grip and is more accurate while hipfiring.
Damage
Also known as: Bash Damage, Bleed Damage, Burn Damage, Poison Damage, Critical Damage, Sneak Damage
This denotes the damage dealt. Usually will come in the form of ‘+25% Damage’ and denotes exactly how much more (or less) damage a weapon will deal.
In the case of Plasma weapons, this includes both ballistic and energy damage.
Bash Damage refers to the damage a gun deals when being used in melee.
Some damage types are dealt over time. These are Bleed (over 5 seconds), Burn (over 3 seconds) and Poison (over 10 seconds).
Critical Damage is the damage dealt by Critical Strikes (in VATS). Sneak Attacks are not increased by this value.
Sneak Damage is the amount by which the Sneak Attack multiplier is increased.
Simple: More Damage = better (makes stuff deader). Less Damage = worse (makes stuff not as dead).
Mag Size
Previously known as: Ammo Capacity
Mag Size is very straightforward: How much a weapon’s magazine is increased (or decreased) by a mod, based off its base value (usually with the standard magazine equipped). Larger Mag Sizes mean a gun can fire more rounds before needing to be reloaded.
Simple: More Mag Size = better (bigger). Less Mag Size = worse (smaller).
Reload Time
Previously known as: Reload Speed
Reload Time denotes how long it takes to reload a gun. Less Reload Time means it takes less time to complete a reload. Usually larger magazines have longer reload times.
Simple: Less Reload Time = better (faster). More Reload Time = worse (slower).
Fire Rate
How fast a weapon fires. Note that the weapon info menu in the game lists fire rate as the amount of shots a weapon can fire in 10 seconds and displays rounded values.
Simple: More Fire Rate = better (faster). Less Fire Rate = worse (slower).
Range
Also known as: Min Range, Max Range, Damage At Max Range, Reach
Range determines how far a projectile can travel and still deal maximum damage (Min Range). Once it passes this mark, it will lose damage in a linear fashion until it hits Max Range, at which range and beyond it will only deal 50% damage (unless modified by Damage at Max Range). Some weapons have a very limited range (e.g. Flamer) and seems to be governed by different rules than normal projectiles. In this case range is referred to as reach to differentiate (with Reach being the maximum distance out to which the weapon can deal any damage at all).
Note that Range values are usually given in ’10x Min Range’ or ’18x Max Range’ format and denote how much they affect their respective distance. I’m afraid I don’t know that measurement these ranges are in and thus can’t give any comparison.
Simple: More Range = better (less damage loss at range). Less Range = worse (more damage loss at range).
Spread
Other terms: Sight Spread, Min Spread, Max Spread, Spread Increase Per Shot
Previously known as: Accuracy, Hip-fire Accuracy, Sighted Accuracy, Accuracy Penatly While Firing
Spread is the amount by which any shot you fire will possibly stray off center. The higher the spread, the further it might deviate, making a weapon less accurate. Conversely, a highly accurate weapon has very little spread. Weapons are generally also more accurate when aiming down sights (referred to as Sight Spread, which is based off Min Spread and Max Spread below) and not being hipfired (firing while not using a sight).
Min Spread is the minimum amount by which a shot will go astray when firing from the hip. Max Spread is the maximum amount by which a shot will go astray when firing from the hip whilst moving. Spread is both of these combined (usually when a mod increases or decreases both values by the same amount).
If one keeps firing continiously, spread starts building up (up to Max Spread). How much it does so is governed by the Spread Increase Per Shot, which is only modifed by a single attachement (Long Finned Barrels for Pipe Weapons).
Simple: Less Spread = better (more accurate). More Spread = worse (less accurate). Sighted Spread = while using sights. Hipfire = firing whilst not using sights. Spread Increase Per Shot = Weapons become less accurate if fired continuously instead of in short burst.
Sight Sway
Previously known as: Better aim with scopes
Sight Sway modifies how much a sight randomly moves around when the user isn’t holding their breath. Low zoom optics seem to be unaffected by sight sway. Less sight sway means the scope will move around less.
Simple: Less Sight Sway = better (less scope movement). More Sight Sway = worse (more scope movement). Sight Sway can be temporarily reduced by holding breath whilst scoped in.
Sight Time
Sight Time refers to the time it takes to bring a weapon’s sight up fully from the resting/hipfire position. Longer barrels and stocks usually increase this time whilst lighter versions usually decrease it. A lower Sight Time is preferrable.
Simple: Less Sight Time = better (faster aiming). More Sight Time = worse (slower aiming).
Recoil
Also known as: Horizontal Recoil
Previously known as: Per-Shot Recoil
Recoil is the amount by which your weapon physically moves up or to the side with every shot. This is distinct from spread as a weapon might have low recoil but high spread, meaning the user won’t actually see any movement of the weapon but the shots will go wild. Converesely, low spread but high recoil would also be inaccurate beyond the first shot as the recoil would throw the user’s aim off but could be countered by moving the mouse.
One odd case is the Compensator Muzzle Modification: it reduces Horizontal Recoil by 100%, something the more advanced Muzzle Brake or Suppressor mods don’t do.
Simple: Less Recoil = better (weapon jumps around less). More Recoil = worse (weapon jumps around a lot).
Other
Armor Pierce: A percentage of enemy armor is ignored, causing more damage to be dealt.
Disarm Chance: Target may drop their weapon.
Night vision: Scope has a green tint and makes it easier to see at night.
Stun Chance: Target may be briefly stunned.
Suppressed: Suppressor installed. Weapon sound reduced, harder to detect for enemies and benefits from Sandman Perk.
Tracks target: Recon Scope tags a target with a red diamond over their head.
Uses X Rounds: A receiver mod causes the weapon to use a different kind of ammunition (X = .308, .38, .45 or .50).
Zoom: The amount by which a sight zooms. Ranges from 1x (Standard Sights) to 10x (Long Scopes).
COMPATIBLITY
Has been made compatible with: Weapon Balance Overhaul v1.3 by Vazeron1. Check the Optional files!
Has been made compatible with: Simple Weapon Rebalance v0.6 by phobos2077. Check the Optional files!
Has been made compatible with: Cut Weapon Mods Restored v2.1 by frogs345. Check the Optional files!
Has been made compatible with: No Lowered Suppressor and Bayonet Range v1.01 by test_this. Check the Optional files!
Has been made compatible with: Legendary Modification by teaLz. Check the Optional files!
Is currently being made compatible with: Caliber Conversion Kit by undyne777. Thanks to Khormin and his F.R.U.M.P. – Multiple Mod Patching!
Better Weapon Mod Descriptions is not compatible with any mod that changes any values of weapon modifications. This doesn’t include custom textures, sounds etc., only the actual statistics and values.
BWMD could be made compatible with any such mod with a small bit of work, just leave a request.
KNOWN ISSUES
-Weapon Mod descriptions appear fairly small due to increased text length. This cannot be changed unfortunately. Sorry if you find reading small text difficult!
-This mod can be a little overwhelming to get used to. If you don’t know what a value does, check the list above (which can also be found in the readme).
-Range values as stated by the Lite version are guesstimates and not actual values. They’re mainly to give an approximate view without too much useless clutter (until we can figure out exactly how the Range value works).
Created with FO4Edit 3.1.3 for Fallout 4 1.1.30
MANUAL INSTALLATION
Check the following articles with videos by Gopher on how to enable and install mods for Fallout 4:
Enabling Mods for Fallout 4
Fallout 4: Installing Mods on PC (Manually)
To install this mod, simply place your chosen .esp into the Fallout 4/Data folder.
If you haven’t done so already, enable mods by adding the following line to your Fallout4Prefs.ini file under the
[Launcher] section: bEnableFileSelection=1If this line is already present but ends in 0, simply change it to 1.
Once this is done, the mod should automatically be loaded when you next start Fallout 4. If it is not, you need
to add it to your load order, found under AppData/Local/Fallout4/plugins.txt in your User folder.
Add a new line with your chosen ESPs full name (e.g. ConsistentAluminium.esp) and save the file. It should now
load the mod if it it placed in your Data folder.
MANUAL UNINSTALLATION
To uninstall this mod, simply remove the ESP from your Fallout 4/Data folder.
Other mods by the same author:
Consistent Aluminium and Aluminum
Reduced Energy Recoil
