Narz’ Weapon Customisation Overhaul
V1.1 is live! see changelog for full list of changes.
The optional handgun file has a minor incompatibility with Pipe revolvers from v1.05. These weapons will be invisible when held and will not allow pipe gun mods at a workbench – only handgun mods. They will still fire just fine, though they may be a bit hard to aim 😉
Not game breaking, but i thought i should keep the file separate just in case.
The Locational Damage optional file is just for a bit of fun, to make combat a bit more rewarding at the price of being a bit more deadly as well. If you’re not running any kind of difficulty increase mod, it will probably make the enemies feel paper thin, though with this mod running in tandem, they’ll put out quite a bit more hurt than you’re used to, too.
This mod was born out of my dissatisfaction with the limitations on how you can modify weapons, as well as my disbelief that military grade ammo would still be so common 200 years after major production ceased that it remains not just the most widespread but the only ammo in common use.
To those ends, i present…
Weapon Customisation Overhaul
My overarching philosophy in designing and balancing this mod was that every weapon should be both useful & modifiable from the first moment you can find it, and every weapon should be viable at the highest level of upgrading.
to that end, i have attempted to give every weapon its own unique niche. Rechambering a weapon to another ammo type should see a gun outperform other weapons using that ammunition in one regard, while being outclassed in others.
e.g. The submachinegun, rechambered to fire 10mm bullets, will do more damage per shot and have a larger ammo capacity than an automatic 10mm pistol, but will be significantly slower firing and thus lower dps.
By the same token, the 10mm pistol, refitted to .44 bullets, has a larger (potentially 3x) clip size than the .44 revolver and has a much better rate of fire, but significantly lower damage per shot.
All ballistic weapons now have additional customisation categories, and all ranged weapons now have a ‘quality’ rating from -3 to +3. a (—) Makeshift weapon will fire 25% slower, 25% less accurately and deal 25% less damage. At the other end of the scale, (+++) Mastercraft weapons are 25% more effective in all three categories.
In addition, modified weapons will now be found with much greater frequency. Anyone above the most basic raider can (and probably does) carry a weapon with many of the same mods available to you. As such, it’s now much more viable to play into the mid game without ever taking ranks in gun nut. You’ll still want to max that perk out to get access to the most powerful mods, however.
Most guns can now be rechambered to additional ammunition types besides the default. This is now separate from the receiver fitted to a gun, allowing you to potentially create an automatic .38 combat sniper rifle.
The Combat shotgun/Combat rifle are no longer different weapons. They are now (almost) completely interchangeable.
Likewise with the three pipe gun variants. Pipe guns now have a ‘firing mechanism’ mod category which allows you to pick from Semi-auto, Full auto, Revolver or Bolt-action. Each variant has its own benefits and drawbacks.
The basic ammo for pipe weapons is now the Copper Slug, an improvised, non-standard round which is the best that can be produced by raider gangs who lack both the knowledge and equipment to create ammo to military specifications. While pipe guns can be (and are) rechambered to fire any ammo type, by default they will use the copper slug.
The Institute laser is now the Ion Beam, and deals 1/3 of its damage as physical. Though slower firing than the Laser gun, each individual shot hits harder and the mods available to it increase the physical damage it deals independently of its energy damage.
Known Issues
Some weapons simply do not play nice with the changes i’ve made. This is mostly limited to the very early game – the raiders in the Museum of Freedom appear to have guns that completely ignore any changes made to the basic pipegun form – they work properly in their hands but when picked up they are missing the added categories and may not have any attached parts at all.
This applies also to some unique weapons – though it is able to have an ammunition mod attached, the weapon Spray n’ Pray will not ever appear with either a chamber or a quality mod already affixed.
Mods will sometimes by unable to apply if they have other prerequisite mods (ammo switches often require a basic magazine) if any other weapon of the same type in your inventory would not also meet those prerequisites. e.g. You are attempting to convert a combat rifle into a combat shotgun, which requires a standard magazine be fitted, but you have another combat rifle with a drum magazine fitted in your inventory.
This appears to be a flaw/restriction in the system itself, and without abandoning the idea of having different magazine sizes for different ammunition types, i can’t see any way to get around it.
Some weapon mods appear in an unintuitive order in the weapon station. I have no idea what controls the order in which mods are displayed, and have thus far been completely unable to influence it. at all. in any way, shape, or form.
While this mod makes no changes to leveled lists or the like, it makes extensive changes to almost all weapons and mods in the game. Since that renders it incompatible with mods such as Detailed Weapon Mod Descriptions, i took the time to detail more precisely what exactly each mod does. However, this mod will almost certainly be completely incompatible with any that modify the default weapons or mods in any way at all. If for some reason you can’t live without some such mod, i recommend putting this mod further down in your loading order, otherwise it could behave extremely unpredictably.
YOU ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY GOING TO HAVE TO START A NEW GAME. While existing weapons may recognise the additional mod slots i have added in, they will not be furnished with those mods. Attempting to install this mod on an existing save is, again, very likely to lead to weird/buggy behaviour. I don’t advise it.
Apart from that, enjoy (and endorse if you do!!!)