So THAT'S why the plasma rifle is so bad.

[G-Flex]

I think it's common consensus that the plasma rifle is kind of disappointing in Deus Ex, but I just found out why, and boy is it stupid and simple. I have no idea why nobody found this out sooner.

Weapons and projectiles in Deus Ex tend to differ in accuracy, damage, explosion radius, and so forth between singleplayer and multiplayer modes.

Example from the tranq dart script:

Code: Select all

simulated function PreBeginPlay()
{
	Super.PreBeginPlay();

	if ( Level.NetMode != NM_Standalone )
		Damage = mpDamage;
}

PreBeginPlay() is called when the projectile is spawned. Basically, if it's not in singleplayer, it sets the damage to the special multiplayer damage value.

Now, here's the one for plasma bolts:

Code: Select all

simulated function PreBeginPlay()
{
	Super.PreBeginPlay();

	Damage = mpDamage;
	blastRadius = mpBlastRadius;
}

Notice anything? Specifically, note that the multiplayer damage and blast radius values are being set even in singleplayer, completely overriding normal damage and blast radius values in all cases.

This is pretty important, since the multiplayer values are 8 damage and 300 radius, compared to the normal values of 40 or 50 (seems to vary depending on the patch?) and 128 radius. Higher radius generally does mean more damage, but the difference between 8 and 40/50 is so great that it's pretty obvious here why direct shots with the plasma rifle do not work very well.

The mistake involved is confirmed by looking at the plasma rifle code in the unpatched, non-multiplayer version of Deus Ex, where the damage is 40.

Fixing this does make the weapon a whole lot more dangerous in enemy hands, though... or makes Energy Shield more appealing, depending on your perspective.

[Salk]

Good discovery, G-Flex!

One more fix for the Human Renovation patch... Speaking of which, I am looking forward to the next version!

[Cybernetic pig]

Good find.

Since it will be 2 shot kill to the player in the enemies hands on average consider reducing the singleplayer value a touch.
Once the player puts some points into heavy weapons it will get alot better anyway.

Even as it is atm using the plasma with master heavy weapons is quite deadly. Anything less than master skill and it is quite frustrating though.

[G-Flex]

For now, I've changed the singleplayer values to 20 damage with a 256 radius. I might drop the radius a bit, I guess, maybe to 192 or 224.

Also, don't ask me why, but for some reason I like using values that are powers of 2, or sums of powers of 2. This seems common in the game itself, so maybe it's just a weird programmer quirk.

[Hassat Hunter]

Multiplayer ruins everything again... a common happening (not limited to DX).

But yeah, nice find!
Consdering TNM 1.0.5 isn't out yet, suggested it to Jonas to fix? Not sure how common a Plasma rifle is in TNM though...

[G-Flex]

I've got a santa sack full of bugfixes in Human Renovation that any modders can feel free to grab, for the record, some notably more important than this one. :P

[Jonas]

We'll look at it, but we do tend to give our bosses plasma rifles a lot, because it blinds the player in a pretty effective way. This fix sounds like it would make those characters somewhat overpowered.

Plus, our plasma bolts go through the walls a little bit, so the plasma rifle finds its use that way.

[Neveos]

Does energy shielding protect against flame throwers? I've got a group that strictly uses plasma rifles (some also carry flamethrowers) because I want them to be arguably impossible to deal with early in the game. However, I got rid of the splash damage (reduced the draw scale to make it appear concentrated) and increased the damage per bolt. It's over-powered for the player, but the enemies asplode so the player rarely accumulates ammo for it unless he is a knock out junkie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWqhxBV8 ... e=youtu.be

[G-Flex]

Energy Shield protects you against the Burn and Flamed damage types, yeah, so it protects against the damage from flamethrowers and the damage from being on fire. It doesn't prevent you being caught on fire in the first place, though.

[Baldur]

Cool

This is a good example where patches and fixes are equally important than just making mods!!..Great find GFlex..looking for another improved version of HR!!..

[Y|yukichigai]

Wow, I didn't even notice this one, and I've been modding Deus Ex for how long again?

In my defense, Shifter inadvertently corrects this anyway, since it alters default weapon behavior to manually override projectile damage on spawn to match what's listed on the weapon.

Anyway, great catch, still fixing this on my end. The HDTP update will have slightly more than just a pretty facelift.

[login23]

The article I saw was interesting because of the presentation.
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