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Airgun - alternative starting weapon and movement tool

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    [PROTOTYPE] Airgun - alternative starting weapon and movement tool

    Basics: an new starting weapon that shoots nails and bursts of air that propels the user. Current state: functional prototype.

    Try it - for best results, use weapon replacement mutator and replace Enforcer with Airforcer. Include in hammer or enforcer weapon group.

    a10 is the stable version to upload to servers, and works online and offline.
    a12 and a13 only work online (issues offline), but are not stable for public play.

    Cheers to the modding channel, especially Zoh, Chatouille, Mogno and N0iz.

    A more functional and useful starting weapon. Primary shoots projectile nails at a slightly slower rate to enforcer primary with slightly higher damage. Secondary offers a jump mechanism like hammer, but the concept is that a burst of air pushes you in the opposite direction of your aim. If you are close to the ground, this launch is like impact hammer. If you are in the air, or using the gun horizontally, it's less of a boost. You can use it to gather horizontal speed, or achieve a double just like mechanic.

    A fast shooting and moving nailgun projectile based on the old mini shard. Stick to surfaces for a short time, and bounces players. Can be used for climbing walls. I've tried to emulate the DPS of enforcer in a more usable/satisfying form.

    Secondary shield mechanism as is on hammer (with stronger push), with the addition of a negative boost in velocity that propels you in the opposite direction you are facing. It has slightly stronger vertical propulsion than lateral. If you are near a floor, the vertical boost will be stronger than if you are in the air. So it is more effective for floor jumps, but can be used to clear some additional distance/height in midair.

    You can get some good lateral velocity happening by combining dodges, airbursts and walrus/slides. I think player velocity can get up to around 2000 for a few seconds if done well.


    Occasionally players who have not downloaded the weapon need to rejoin a game. If they join and don't see weapons in the map, they will get a download prompt on rejoining. I have no idea what causes this, would love suggestions.

    You can't fire primary and secondary boost at the same time. I was hoping to be able to try this, but can't see how to make that happen in the weapon BP. I think it may be ok as is.

    The primary shard functionality is not the same as the old mini shard from 2015-6. I hope to make it the same or very similar (especially maintaining the neat ability to pin bots to walls).


    Following is the original post: From June 2017:


    The main idea here is that the shield mechanic of the impact hammer could double as the impact/jumping mechanic also, and that the hammer and shield get amalgamated into one firemode.

    Currently, the shield already pushes other players away - it could also push the user away from other objects and the ground. It could also offer a mid-air boost. When used on the ground, the airforcer would proppell the user the same distance as the IH does - perhaps without the warm up time (it’s already hard to learn, making it accessible by making it immediate would make games more interesting across skill levels while not really changing it’s effectiveness at high skill levels).

    When used from the air, it could either act like a double jump (if not near ground) or somewhere between a full hammer or double jump (depending on closeness to objects / ground).

    Possibly, it could also do a small amount of damage and replace the enforcer on spawn. So with one weapon and one button we have shield / jump and possibly a low damage close/mid-range weapon.

    The secondary could be a sustained release thing, offering the user a second or two of float time in the air if pointed down, or a burst of speed if pointed behind, or a second’s shield if pointed in front (but you’d be pushed back while using or unable to move forward).

    Yes it will change balance but these considerations should be secondary to inventing the cool stuff that will need to be balanced.

    Yes it will 'break' existing maps in some ways, luckily they're mostly WIP and there aren't too many finished ones. Cool gameplay first!
    Last edited by the_hack; 08-20-2018, 12:13 AM.
    Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp

    Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp



      -Luigi Rapetta

      My projects list:
      Unreal Monsters | Armor Pickups | Dispersion Pistol for Invasion | Fusion Cannon - a Flak Cannon variant


        Yeah i get that it's similar, but the core thing here is the air-jump mechanic while in the air. Also using shield-gun air propulsion for the jump physics is very different. Didn't want this idea buried.
        Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


          a002 changes

          - if not within 200u vertical distance of ground, impart -1000 vertical momentum not -1500. (reduce strength of air jump by 1/3 to reflect the lack of nearby surface).
          - reduced damage of walking over nails to 5 (same as direct hit)
          -reduced bounciness of nails by 1/3 (to 100000).
          Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


            Amazing work hack, the secondary is quite powerful and has lot of potential.
            Primary i like he chaining impact like shieldgun. But shooting nails is to powerful and doesn't really fit, but its your gun.
            I would recommend charging shieldgun function. Then you have a nice close combat movement weapon, which can be used everywhere
            Projects: UT4BombingRun | UTCC wiki



              i really like the enforcer, especially in duel, or small dms, as it opens up to revenge frags if the map is not being totally controlled. Eg if you die but after a really close battle, you have a short advantage as your opponent runs for health. A starting weapon that is semi useful at distance plays an important part. I like the nails concept because it allows for some movement tricks, which compliments the air burst pretty well.
              Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


                Have updated to a004 on utcc, further balance to make it not too effective as a starting weapon. I think it should be about as easy to frag with as the enforcer, and have similar use cases.

                Also, the issue with the desyncing has been solved - I needed to attach the launch impulse to the 'continued fire' event, not just started firing.

                Thinking of whether to remove the shield functionality. Feedback on this would be welcome.
                Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


                  a12 makes big changes to the primary nail:
                  - a variable rate of fure: gun refires only if previous projectile has impacted.
                  - a variable damage based on projectile distance. min 10 max 50.

                  So you have a weaker, faster firing close range weapon that you can almost track with (with some leading), and a stronger, slower firing long range weapon which is like a slow projectile weaker sniper.

                  The experiment is to see if a starting weapon could be semi useful in a range of situations.
                  Last edited by the_hack; 08-19-2018, 02:37 AM.
                  Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


                    a13 reduces the minimum rate of fire so that it's not overwhelming and retains a solid feeling. It keeps a minimum damage of 20. The ROF for long distance is reduced though, and damage is increased (max 60). It works online, although there seems to be some timing/sync issues.

                    a10 is still the stable version for online testing of the basic starter weapon concept, to include on your servers.
                    Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp


                      a20 - added a push on other characters who get hit by the air "projectile" - allowing you to use the airgun as a pushing mechanism. The force is equal to the one that launches you, but has no z override. Will be great for teammate launching
                      Maps: DM-Dying_Sun WIP & DM-TokaraSwamp