Dual Wielding: Sword and Pistol

Check it out.



That's not done in Photoshop, that's an actual game screenshot. To attack with the sword, you click on the enemy like normal. To shoot the gun, you click on the crosshair (or press the "1" key) and then click on the enemy.

For a technical discussion about how it is done, check the Sierra Arcanum WorldEd forum. It should still be the top post, it's like the crypt over there.

Peace,
Luck

 

Holy motherfucking shit!!!!!!!!

THATS SO AWESOME!

does anyone else suddenly find that the crotch of their pants has just gotten a little cramped?

Luck that is so great, did you figure this out yourself? this is by far the coolest thing i've seen outside of hard arcanum.

 

Hmm *imagines walking around with a Pyro axe and a Warbringer*. Such a pity I can't use mods and patches.

 

I used Da Real Asrudin's tutorial on how to get art into Arcanum, and of course DU's AMTUT is the king of all things WorldEd.

But other than that, yeah, I figured it out myself. It's actually really, really simple once you get into the right frame of mind. My other modding experience is for the game Escape Velocity, and in that community it's common practice to use two items that give the impression of one. Like everything in life, easy/hard is just what you are used to.

That crosshair is just a potato with a different graphic and some scripts attached. Here's the short version of how it works:

1. The gun is a shield with the picture changed (note the defense number...)

2. Each type of gun sets a global flag when it is equipped, and removes the flag when unequipped.

3. The crosshair, when used, checks the flags to see which gun is equipped and uses the correct damage/to hit/speed/etc.

That's it, the whole ball of wax. I want to say upfront that I won't be making this work for standard Arcanum. First, I have no idea how chrisbeddoes does what he does, and second this would require major rebalancing of Arcanum for it to not be stupid. (Heh, the game would be a bit easy with a pyro-axe and a warbringer, wouldn't it?)

So now you all have at least one good reason to play my mod when it's done. I'm going to work hard to make sure it's not the only reason.

Luck

 

Far freaking out! But what is up with the damage rating of 7 & a Charged Sword?

 

I think that's because the character has no melee skill.

To make this screenshot I just dumped those items on the ground with the editor and started a new character.

The map this character is on has one trashcan and 2 Ailing Wolves. :lol:

Luck

 

I suddenly want to play arcanum - again. Thanks Luck

 

does anyone agree with me when i say that i think its time we petitioned chris make hard-arcanum2.0: "ultra-hard arcanum" and add in this feature? of course i'm also looking forward to playing luck's mod as well...

god dammit! this is so awesome!

 

that's awesome... truly awesome... can you make it so you can use two swords or two guns? that's my true dream... two hushed pistols... it's like every thieves dream... and would you be willing to allow others to use this in there Mod's? (read 'Team Building' in the scripting forum) oh, and you should post this in the scripting board, as it could truly benifit the masses of modders (if your willing to let them use it)... even if we aren't allowed to use it, you've set the ground works for what will be a beautiful new generation of Arcanum Mods... Luck, I owe you loads...

 

Sure, you could use this method to dual wield anything. Right now it's limited by the number of prototypes that are off-hand wielded. There are something like 9 shields plus the lantern, electic lantern, and that trap detector thingy. So if you're willing to replace all of those, that's 12 off-hand weapons.

Now, if I or anyone else can figure out how to hex-edit prototypes to make them off-hand, the sky is the limit.

As I said, I'm not going to integrate this into basic Arcanum. Thus, I have no objections to anyone who wants to do so (credit where credit is due, of course). I do have some suggestions, though:

1. Give the player the crosshair at character creation rather than trying to attach it to the various weapons like I originally planned. Then just have a big nested if-then script that figures out what weapon is equipped and act accordingly.
2. Dual melee is harder to make look right. Remember, you can only use one OR the other weapon in any given action. I suppose if you had a weapon that did fire damage in one hand, and one that did electrical in the other you could use the proper weapon for the proper enemy. Not that it's THAT big a deal to go into your inventory for those rare occasions...
3. Balance, balance, balance. I'm totally revamping melee, rifles, bow, and pistol/saber in my mod. I want every type of character to have noticable strength's and weaknesses to enhance replay value. Further, npcs will react to you in very different fashion based on your weapon type. Pistols are currently planned to be single-shot heavy damage weapons. (Two wolves approach, shoot one dead, attack the other with the saber.) As balance, pure melee will be able to use stronger two-handed weapons (or maybe one-handed and shield).

I haven't decided what to do about the "guns use per and swords use dex" problem. Maybe I'll do something wacky like make pistols use dex/haggle and rifles per/firearms, and merge the original effects of haggle and persuation (something that has often bothered me.)

I guess I've started to ramble, but my POINT is that dual wield should be one more viable (if extremely cool) way to build a character, rather than the best of all possible builds. That would be really hard to make happen in basic Arcanum.

Unless you all just want to blast through Arcanum once as a dual wielding god, in which case more power to you. :lol:

Luck

Going to the mountains with me saber and me gun,
Cut you if you stand, shoot you if you run.