Bullet Tracers

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

I'm really glad that machine guns have now been changed to use intermittent tracer rounds.

However soon after noticing the new effect, something didn't appear right...

Tracers are not used for every fifth round, rather their frequency is determined by the following code in the weapon file:

{traceFreq 0.25}

This results in a set random chance that each bullet fired is a tracer or not.

i.e. with the above example each bullet fired has a 1 in 4 chance of being a tracer.

This makes the tracer effects look sporadic, strange and unrealistic.

One round can be a tracer, then another, then the next three are regular rounds followed by three tracers and so on.

I really appreciate that you guys wanted to add this as a feature but please can you try and tweak the code so that the frequency can be locked to the correct amount i.e. every fifth round in the belt is a tracer.

I would rather have all or no tracers instead of the present settings.

Thank you,

G.F.

[Yeti]

Seconded. I haven't noticed that myself but I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention.

[Instinct]

I really appreciate that you guys wanted to add this as a feature but please can you try and tweak the code so that the frequency can be locked to the correct amount i.e. every fifth round in the belt is a tracer.

Yes, we will look into it.

[Yeti]

Take note, nearly-illiterate denizens of this board, this is how you get a dev response from a complaint.

Not "y u tak away direkt contrul i wil fireboom ur head quarters if u don brign it bak i sware."

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

Originally posted by Instinct:

I really appreciate that you guys wanted to add this as a feature but please can you try and tweak the code so that the frequency can be locked to the correct amount i.e. every fifth round in the belt is a tracer.

Yes, we will look into it.

Thanks!

I hope it can be done

[DeltaDude]

Originally posted by Yeti:

Take note, nearly-illiterate denizens of this board, this is how you get a dev response from a complaint.

Not "y u tak away direkt contrul i wil fireboom ur head quarters if u don brign it bak i sware."

Kind words get you a lot further than yelling. I think the same can be said for just about everything.

A well written and thought out post will get our interests peaked :)

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

I also have another idea about improving the tracer effects

Have you ever thought about attaching a light source to the tracer rounds?

Its really simple to do - just create and attach a new FX (light source, no other particle/sprite effects) to the ammo file.

We've done this in mods for a while now (i.e. for blasters in the various Star Wars mods and others) so I don't think it would take alot of work for you professionals to implement it in a polished way.

This would actually look awesome in the new night vision mode as well.

The only small complication would be ensuring this idea works alongside the one above i.e. the light source can be attached to only the fifth tracer bullet and not the rest.

[Malus131]

I must say that this is a refreshing change to see a well worded and polite thread here for a change haha. Similarly, I must say now hate you Faust because I will never be able to unnotice it.

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

Originally posted by Malus131:

I must say that this is a refreshing change to see a well worded and polite thread here for a change haha. Similarly, I must say now hate you Faust because I will never be able to unnotice it.

Haha I took a short break when the alpha went public - I knew the forum would go full ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for a while.

Back on topic though...

Does anybody have an opinion on tracers being used for all weapons in the game?

I've long thought that only machine guns should use any sort of tracer ammuntion and a "tracer removal mod" has become something I can't play without - its something thats always griped me about the franchise.

Isn't it time the game moved away from using tracers for every round in every weapon (pistols, SMGs, rifles etc) and move to a more realistic approach like the one above?

Or will this idea gain no traction because the tracers are there for "gameplay" reasons i.e. to see where are soldiers are shooting.

I'm sure we don't need this though, it seems really unnecessary and sometimes when everybody starts shooting in the vanilla game, I think I've left the Star Wars mod on by mistake

[Malus131]

I tend to agree with you really. I think tracer rounds in lmg's and deffinitely the heavier calibre machine guns etc is a must, but smaller arms... Well it's not a huge thing for me, but since you so *ahem* kindly... pointed all this out, it seems I have to come down on your side.

[Nocturnal Supremacy]

Originally posted by Malus131:

I tend to agree with you really. I think tracer rounds in lmg's and deffinitely the heavier calibre machine guns etc is a must, but smaller arms... Well it's not a huge thing for me, but since you so *ahem* kindly... pointed all this out, it seems I have to come down on your side.

I think Call to Arms would be a great opportunity to tweak several small things in this series towards a more "realistic" aesthetic.

A long time ago I made a quick mod for Assault Squad that removed the tracers and it received a few thousand downloads, so I wanted to come on here and ask others about if the tracers should finally be removed/toned down?

[Ghost]

While I agree it is a little weird that every gun has tracer rounds. However, tracer rounds kind of provide an important gameplay element of telling you what your guys are shooting at.

I think this is something you have to kind of forgoe realism a little bit for gameplay.