Fjaru's Flak cannon mod

[Fjaru]

!!!! This is the first prototype, which means it has not yet been balanced based on feedback, please give me feedback so I can make this thing balanced.

This is a Flak cannon mod I am working on. I dont like how the current flak feels, this version is what I want it to feel like.

- Shards travel faster
- Closer spread
- Less damage
- realistic shard behaviour
- Additional secondary functionality
- Slightly faster firerate
- Less "spammy" feel
- More visceral/powerful feel


Download here Version 2 here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81...RiTDZlMVk/view
Place the files in your Documents\UnrealTournament\Saved\Paks\MyContent folder and use the "Fjarus Flak cannon replacer V1" to replace the Flak cannon in your game, if you use the weapon replacement mutator the ammo type for the flak will be wrong.

Demonstration video:

Know issues:
- Muzzle sparks are coming from the center of the screen and not from the gun
-

Suggestion list:
- Allow player to manually control detonation of Flak shell secondary (Thanks Joel and Flikswich)

Thanks to Wail for creating the weapon replacement mutator!

[rawlph]

Downloaded the pak and had some bot games. I won't and can't give feedback on the damage any other balance matters, because a) I suck with Flak, b) I only played bot games.

I can say this though: the speed, sound and visuals of Fjaru's Flak Cannon simply feel rewarding to me. It's just fun to use it.. both the primary and secondary fire.
What I like about the secondary fire is, that it adds some kind of "depth perception" I haven't felt with any other weapon before. It seems difficult to time the explosion right and I can imagine it as being very rewarding, when you time it just right.

I dont wanna get too theoretical here and stick with the vague language and my gut feeling.. it's a prototype after all, and I think it feels: amazing. (of course that amazing feeling can quickly turn into frustraton when damage is too high, but.. first things first :P)


another thing, after watching your video:
the sparks might be annoying because they seem kind of blinding. Playing on low settings I probably had them disabled completely.

[biggamer21]

The secondary projectile seems far too fast to be able to avoid at reasonable distances in game.

The feel of the primary fire is really nice.. the rof, spread and damage are great, nice job.

[Fjaru]

The secondary projectile seems far too fast to be able to avoid at reasonable distances in game.

This could be true and I might chance this, just keep in mind that the shell does less damage now (75 instead of 90) and you wont get the benefit of the shard damage close range. The intended optimal way to use it is to detonate the shell just in front of the player so that he receives both the shell explosion damage and the shard damage.

Im just explaining my thought process but yeah this has a 100% chance of getting changed one way or another.

[biggamer21]

Yup understand your reasoning. The primary I think you're onto something really good there. It feels like it would be accessible to new players but still behaves in a way that has a really nice skill curve.

[Sir_Brizz]

How did you create your flak if the Weapon Replacement isn't working? It replaces the ammo with the ammo on the weapon....

[Spector CZ]

The primary is really nice. The secondary though... I feel it's the same, what Epic has done to RL "secondary". It does not feel like flak and is "overthought." I would miss the high arc, slowish velocity and impact on surface as it makes it really tough and rewarding to hit someone. Obviously not as it's done now in the game, as the collision is way too big as is the shell velocity.

[Fjaru]

How did you create your flak if the Weapon Replacement isn't working? It replaces the ammo with the ammo on the weapon....

Im not sure what you are saying, does the mod not work for you or are you asking how i got it to work?

[nukkuj]

Sounds are pretty cool, I like the primary and secondary looks pretty interesting. I was going to suggest something in the lines of manual detonation + bounce instead of explode on wall impact, but I guess it might overlap too much with bio launcher funzies.

[MegaLokey]

Playing against bots this seems more fun to use, less frustrating to face and like it has a better skill curve than the current flak.

It would feel more like the UT way of doing things if the secondary was slower, had more of an arc and only detonated mid air if you shot it with a shard.

I miss the "In your face!"-announcer, maybe keep the center shard bonus damage but make it very short ranged combined with point collision shards so you have to be in melee range and aiming at the target to get it.

[Infiadux]

Wow, the primary is perfect! It's the more fun to use than default Flak and UP Flak. This is basically exactly what I would do if I could create my own Flak lol.

As for some possible tweaks.. I would say it's a bit too easy to hit with it. Something to consider would be making the shards a little slower (somewhere between Epic's Flak and this). I like the damage but it does feel a bit weird that a point blank hit in the face doesn't kill a fresh spawn.

Not sure yet how it would feel on the receiving end of this Flak, and it's hard to say from just playing with bots. It might be a bit too hard to avoid.

As for the secondary... it feels like it would be really OP and I personally don't like the mid-air detonation idea. I'd rather have the normal secondary maybe with a slightly tweaked arc.

[scientistpac]

Yo fjaru. I really like the flak primary speed and sound but i kinda don't like the fact that the ball explode in the air, but it's a nice try !

[Sir_Brizz]

Im not sure what you are saying, does the mod not work for you or are you asking how i got it to work?

I'm saying I made the Weapon Replacement mutator and I'm curious as to why using it for the replacement doesn't work

[Fjaru]

I'm saying I made the Weapon Replacement mutator and I'm curious as to why using it for the replacement doesn't work

The Weapon Replacement mutator does not replace the ammo type on the map. If I could make my flak use the same ammo as the vanilla flak then that would be a solution.

[Danielito]

Primary feels nice!

Secondary should be slower and like it used to be.
You could add your mode in another way. For example explode flak shell "on release" of sec fire or "click-and-hold" + "prim fire" to explode the shell. It is an interesting idea to play with.