Talk:Weapons

Custom Sounds for Weapons

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post my question, or even how to post my question really, I'm more used to forums than wiki discussion pages.

I've made a few custom weapon models using Blender and NifSkope and added them to my game but I want to give them their own unique sound effects to complete them. I've actually got the sound effects ready to go but I don't know how to get the GECK to recognize them. With .nif files it's simple enough just get the pathing right then manually select the file, but with sounds there's just the "Select TESSound" button that brings up a list of preloaded sounds that I guess the GECK reads only from the .bsa file.

I created the right file pathing and put my sound effects in the right folder hoping the GECK would also read that and add it to the list but it doesn't.

So do I need to unpack the entire .bsa sound file, place my own sounds in the extraction folders and then rewrite the whole thing back into a replacement .bsa file to get the GECK to read them?

Is there any way around that?

If not, where can I find a program to write my own .bsa files?

Iron-sight texture files: Where are they used?

Can someone please teach me where or how to find the reference in GECK to the textures of a weapon's iron sights? And perhaps make a note of this info on the relevant page here?

For example, for a weapon like the Cowboy Repeater, I can see that among the textures, there are these two files:

cowboyrepeatertangsights.dds cowboyrepeatertangsights_n.dds

And while I can find a couple of references in GECK, in the Texture Set "1stPersonCowboyRepeaterTexture", like:

weapons\2handrifle\1stpersonCowboyRepeater.dds weapons\2handrifle\1stpersonCowboyRepeater_n.dds

I cannot find any references to cowboyrepeatertangsights.dds. So how does the ESP file determine which iron-sight textures to use for the Cowboy Repeater, or any weapon for that matter? And more precisely, how I can choose different iron-sight textures? —Rok (talk) 20:58, 5 January 2014 (EST)

Unlimited Ammo

Is there a way to stop the weapon from using ammo (effectively giving it infinite ammo) I have seen this acrticle and would assume therefore that you can set the value to nolimit in FO3Edit or similar. Is there anyway to do this in the GECK? --CodeMonkey 23:59, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Insert "NONE" for Ammo Type, and you have unlimited ammo for "Ammunition" in GECK. For Creatures, just check in "NPC's Don't Use Ammo" for the Weapon.

--MW2366 20:08, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Can't find the art files

I'm having trouble. I want to create a new weapon, but when I go to the art tab, I cant select any models. It takes me to a file with no models in it, and I've run a search on my computer for the model name I want and it doesnt return the data. So, I guess what I'm asking is how do I access these models? Also, is it possible to duplicate a weapon profile so you can just edit a few details (Like to make a unique variant of it)? Where are the models? Do I need to somehow export them? Help! Iron Angel 00:59, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

The files are inside of the the .bsa files in your DATA directory. You'll need to extract them using either FOMM or FO3Archive. Search for them on F3Nexus.

--Quetzilla 01:05, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Iron Angel 01:12, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Is it working out for you and if so could you please explain(or link to an explanation) how to make a new weapon from existing models. I'm having a difficult time making a variation of the .32 pistol.--LaughingBandit 08:36, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Duplicating a weapon (or anything, really):

 -Right click and Edit the entry you want to duplicate
 -Change the name in the ID field to a new unique one, click OK
 -Geck will ask you if you want to create a new form, answer Yes.

--Borgir 09:17, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Pipboy Images

Greetings, i am haveing a problem makeing the pipboy image for my weapon to show ingame. Ingame it is only shown as an error message, the weapon is still playeable though. I have exported an image called "weapon_sniper_rifle.dds" to use, and i have chosen it in the arts and sounds tab. Help appreciated. //Siphex

Try changing the name of the file to something else and updating your .esp

--Quetzilla 19:00, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

In Oblivion, at least, underscores in some file names (most notably textures) could cause problems. Try the filename without underscores.

Also, please sign your comments with ~~~~, thank you.

DragoonWraith · talk · 22:35, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

That can't be the problem -- BGS uses underscores all over, the "weapon_sniper_rifle.dds" is an included texture. I have replacer textures for those icons too and those work fine as well.

--Quetzilla 00:05, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

I've changed the name of the file but it still says: pipboy error [File not found].

At the moment im useing existing weapons to get the image right but in the future

it may cause problems with custom images.

--Siphex 19:24, 16 December 2008 (UTC)Siphex

The "File not found" icon is the default icon for any items without an icon defined. You'll need to give select an "Inventory Image" for it in the GECK

Cipscis 14:48, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Make sure that the texture size is a power of two (i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 128, 256 etc.) I had a similar problem using custom textures in Oblivion.

--CodeMonkey 07:35, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Problems with art file extraction

So I'm having difficulty as well with the weapons. Used FO3 Archive to extract files I needed to the same named directories as in the game (just using the existing models and icons for now) - So in my data directory I have interface directory (and subdirs all the way to 'weapons_10mm_pistol.dds') -- and I have weapons directory (with subdirs all the way to '10mmpistol.nif') When I attempt to select those files in GECK it gives me an error of invalid directory. Tried also placing the directories in the main fallout 3 directory (where the fo3 and geck exe's are) and it won't work there either. Any advice? --Gedrean 19:42, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

It sounds like you have things like this:

data/interface/subdirs/file.dds

data/weapons/subdirs/file.nif

it needs to be like this:

data/textures/interface/subdirs/file.dds

data/meshes/weapons/subdirs/file.nif

--Quetzilla 20:29, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, color me stupid. It worked. Thanks!

--Gedrean 21:21, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

As a side note, it's only the GECK that cares about these directories. If you use FO3Edit You can put new files in whatever directory (under /Data/) that you want.

--Quetzilla 23:01, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

True - but this Wiki regards the GECK and as I am practicing modding using the official tool, I would think it appropriate to follow its idiosyncracies. ;) Also, another question in a new Topic below.

--Gedrean

I can get the icon to show up in the GECK without an error message like the invalid directory one, but the icon still doesn't show up in the game. This is very strange since I can clearly see that the file is selected in the GECK. (It even has the thumbnail type image next to the file name.) Please help. I don't have any idea as to why this is not working.

--Alpha2

New Problem/Issue

Okay, so I was going over the Weapons page, and then the GECK, and realized something: The weapons page contains fields that are not actually in the current GECK release I downloaded this morning!

Some of these fields seemed useful -- but I cannot access them. Any reasons?

BTW, my previous mod, a test at creating an uber-pistol for the sake of creating one for my first mod, worked brilliantly.  :)
--Gedrean

You'll have to be specific about what it is that you think isn't in the GECK. you're probably not realizing that the Weapons window has multiple Tabs in the lower half that you'll need to switch to to see what they contain.

Also, make sure to sign your posts.

--Quetzilla 03:42, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Weapon Texture issues

Good morning all! I've managed to create a custom weapon in the GECK with all the parameters I want: I did a custom description for it, I altered the stats to my liking, I have it placed in the game world...The only issue is getting the new textures to bloody appear in the bloody game! Here's what I did to get them to appear in the GECK; maybe there is some issue in my process here...? and for the record, i used the hunting rifle as a base.

1.) After first creating my weapon, I went into the miscellaneous-->Texture set window created a new texture set for my item, and gave it a unique ID sorta thing so it didn't overwrite any existing set; so far so good, it seems. 2.) I navigate to form for the weapon that i've edited and then right-click, select edit, and then click on the 'edit model' button in the window on screen. The weapon model i'm basing my item off of is all red; no problem: I load the texture I want and that fixes the redness -- in the GECK, it looks as i would want it in the game. 3.) I place my item in the game world to test it out...and lo and behold, everything worked fine except the textures -- they're still the default textures for the hunting rifle! I have no idea how to get this working; my intuition tells me everything should work, but apparently something gets 'lost in translation' from the geck rendered item to the in-game rendered item.

The plot thickens: The texture I want to use appears when the weapon is on the ground, but not any other time...hmmmm

any help would be uber-appreciated! --kbbenson

weapons have two models -- the normal model and the 1st person model. In order to get your textures to work all the time, you have to edit the textures for the Static item that corresponds to your weapon. You'll find these under World Objects->Statics in the Object Window. The weapon models are at the top of the list.

--Quetzilla 18:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you Quetzilla; It works perfectly now.

--kbbenson

I added the relevant info to the Model section for future use.
--Quetzilla 23:32, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Range

In vanilla FO3, certain weapons appear to have a hidden accuracy problem or a range problem. For example, the Sniper Rifle. I can be within what seems a reasonable range, zoom in, put the + target in the middle of the back, with no physcal obstructions between me and the target, but when I pull the trigger, a round fires but nothing else happens. No damage is inflicted, yet the enemies are alerted as if I had missed. In addition, the non-zoom sight (the one that looks like > < ) is green, even though I'm aiming right at something (it should be red to confirm I'm aiming at an enemy target). What is the problem here? Is it range? If so, how to I increase the range? I've changed the Max variable in the Range box (from about 3750 to 6000) and nothing seemed to happen.

I've played the F3C mod and noticed that the range of the sniper rifle seemed much greater and that the > < sight turned red when placed over enemy targets at much greater ranges. What can I do? Servius 21:39, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

You are outside of auto-aim range. What happens then is that the bullet follows the line traced by the barrel of the gun - which is pretty much never pointed directly through the crosshair. You can't really tell much of the time, unless you are at very high range.

When you are in auto-aim range, the auto-aim eliminates this issue.

It's a very large annoyance and one I hope the community can fix with some standards - this would allow iron sights and manual aiming. But it only works if all guns are designed to meet the standard, which takes a very large degree of cooperation on the part of modelers...

DragoonWraith · talk · 19:04, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Is there a way to extend the range of auto-aim then? I think the F3C mod managed that, as their mod's version of a sniper rifle (actually, all weapons I think), had the red > < sights at incredibly long ranges, which based on your explanation seems to suggest that's what they did. I'd like to just make the auto aim feature's range match that of the projectile. Where can I go to edit the range of auto aim? Servius 02:12, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Did you try searching here before asking? Auto Aim Settings

--SnakeChomp 04:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm still a bit green with this site and am still learning the ropes. Thanks for pointing out the settings. Servius 13:34, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Need help with explosions.

Ok im trying to make a new weapon. its basically the same thing as the fat man but its an actual nuke and i wanted to use the megaton explosion or something similar. is it possible to use that explosion? if yes how do i do it? or how do i make an explosion of similar proportions and a large damage radius. thank you. -Nailcannon 21, December, 2008

Projectile weapons launch Projectiles and Projectiles can have Explosions attached. You need to create a projectile with the megaton nuke explosion attached (it's under Special Effects -> Explosions), then set your weapon to use that projectile (that part is under the Art and Sound tab of the weapon).

--Quetzilla 04:18, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Ok thanks. Nailcannon

Call me a noob but...

OK. So I'm new to this whole G.E.C.K. thing and the tutorial didn't really explain it well. So, I've made a custom weapon, and I do the checky thing at the data files launcher, and I made it an active file, but when I load my game, the gun I made isn't in the inventory. When you save your custom weapon, does it even go to your saved story mode game? Or do i have to make a new one?

You have to place the weapon in the game world or add it to your inventory with a script. It won't magically appear. Also, this page isn't a tutorial, it's a reference page to explain the weapons property window. A tutorial about creating weapons doesn't exist (yet). And please sign your comments in the future.

--Qazaaq 21:55, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

I have the same problem and if it's possible can you tell me what script you're talking about and how to get there? Or just how to place it in the game world because i've tried to place it and it looks like it is but it doesn't show up.Please Help me.R!s!ng-Dev!l 17:25, 23 February 2009 (UTC)R!s!ng-Dev!l

Ok i've found out what to do but i don't really get what they're saying when they say Open the Fallout 3 Mod index or whatever. If someone could tell me that would be great but i might figure it out on my own soon. R!s!ng-Dev!l 17:59, 23 February 2009 (UTC)R!s!ng-Dev!l

Does the GECK's DPS calculation take Critical Hits into account?

Over at the Fallout Wikia, I do a lot of work on the Weapons page. There's recently been a suggestion to modify the DPS stat we show there to include the effects of critical hits. I was about to begin work on a calculation, but before I went too far, I wanted to see if the GECK's DPS stat already takes that into account or not. I suppose I could test this by opening the GECK and messing with the Crit % Mult stat to see if it affected the DPS, but I'm away from my desktop, and getting an answer here will help future users with the same question. Anyone know the answer? Servius 02:15, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

No it doesn't. Its just a calculation involving weapon damage, clip size, attack rate (on art and sound tab) and reload time (also on art and sound tab). Its purely a convenience for developers so that they don't unintentionally create overpowered weapons.

--SnakeChomp 04:42, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Actually from what I've read the NPCs use the DPS figure to decide which weapons to equip, rather than just the Damage figure. They pick the highest DPS weapon in their inventory that is in range.

Mannon 11:56, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Rock-It Launcher's 666 DPS and the affect of the Semi-Automatic Fire Delay Min/Max

Over at the Fallout Wikia, we're going back and forth about the Rock-It Launcher's damage. It seems we've dispelled the myth that its damage is based on the weight of the junk used as ammo. The GECK says it does 50 Damage (per hit) but has a DPS of 666 (the mark of the devil!!!). Anyway, it seems clear that 666 is a mistake, but I'm not sure where the mistake comes from because I don't know how the GECK calculates DPS. For example, the Rock-It Launcher does 50 Damage per hit, and since it's not automatic, the rate of fire is found on the Art and Sound tab under Attack Shots/Sec. In this case, 3.3333. If that's all there is to it, then the DPS should be 50 * 3.3333 = 166.665. This means it does more DPS than Vengeance (110). It just seems rediculous that a hodge-podge weapon made of scrap parts can do 50% more damage than the most technolically advanced heavy weapon in the game.

Here on the main Weapon page, the Semi-Automatic Fire Delay Min/Max boxes are mentioned but not defined. Does anyone know what role they play in DPS for semi-automatic weapons?

Can anyone explain: a) Why the GECK says the R-IL does 666 DPS? b) Even if the 666 is just wrong, why may it still do 167 DPS (~50% more than Vengeance)? Servius 20:15, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

As far as B is concerned, most of the user-creatable items are very overpowered. --JT 04:47, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Base VATS To-Hit Chance

I'm not sure if the recent changes to the description of this value are really accurate. The previous description was very specific in saying it is the chance to hit this weapon in when it is targeted in VATS, not that it is the chance to hit targets in VATS when attacking with this weapon. Leaving this note here for me so I remember to come back to it.
--SnakeChomp 19:34, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

I did a test of my own. I gave the 10mm pistol a 90 base vats to-hit chance and the .32 caliber pistol 0 base vats to-hit chance. Sure enough, when targeting a .32 pistol wielded by enemies (using a 10mm pistol), I had a 0% chance to hit it. When targeting a 10mm pistol (again using a 10mm pistol) I had a 95% chance to hit it (higher than the chance to hit the torso of the enemy!). For this test I had 100 small guns skill, fVATSDistanceFactor was set to 0, no other mods loaded and used the 1.1 patch.

--SnakeChomp 01:25, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Animation mutiplier not working on reload animation?

I don't think the animation multiplier does anything to the reload animation time. I tried setting it to 2 and to .5 but the reload animation still takes the same amount of time to play. It affects the attack animation properly though. Can anyone else confirm this?
--SnakeChomp 03:58, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I think it's safe to say that the reload and jam animation values are unused. For every weapon I've tested, no matter what I set the multipliers to, the reload and jam animations play at the same speed.

--Syn23 04:19, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

That is most unfortunate. I added a note on the page.

--SnakeChomp 04:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Several Questions...

• Long Bursts (possible GECK bug)

When I check this option and close the Weapon Form window, I won't be able to disable it from that point on. I can uncheck it, but it will be enabled the next time I open the window. I can however use FO3Edit to disable the setting. Can anyone reproduce this problem?

• Semi-Automatic Fire Delay Min/Max

I'm not sure if this is an isolated incident, but I've tweaked these settings left and right with no difference in how the weapon is fired. I've set the variables to outrageously large positive and negative numbers, set them to zero, and even turned the Automatic setting on and off- nothing. I also haven't seen these affect the GECK's DPS calculation in any way. Can anyone confirm if these settings are actually used?

• Range - Fixed

Does this apply to all Combat Style multipliers, or just the "Ranged Weapon Min/Max Range" multiplier?

- Syn23 06:52, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

first shot on automatic weapons

Is there a way to make the first shot of automatic weapons have less spread then while automatic firing? And if so, could I add a delay for after taking the first shot for it to return to the lower spread to account for the recoil? It seems to me that you should still be able to carefully aim a assault rifle and get an accurate shot off if you don't auto fire. Smokemon64 15:01, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately, there is no way to do this directly through the GECK. It might be possible to create a workaround script, although I'm not sure how feasible it is since I've never tried it myself.

--Syn23 20:37, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

To be honest, I'd always assumed when playing that it did that already: was surprised to learn it didn't: knowing this, I shall be plinking a lot less! The Gun Spread Formula may be useful here. Looking at it, the best place to put a "first shot" thing might be a hidden, given-to-everyone perk with a "Calculate Gun Spread" Entry Point: add two separate rules to set it to multiply the spread by 1.5 or so if GetSecondsPassed <1, and by 0.5 if GetSecondsPassed >=1. Since it's really just the initial kick that knocks out the accuracy, it would be nice if there were a way to check whether you'd been firing for a certain length of time, and change the multiplier back to 1, but I don't think there is. Remember the point about perks needing to be removed cleanly or you'll crash the game, remember that I've not tested any of this, and most of all, do remember to let us know if it works :D DewiMorgan 01:02, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Looks like "Calculate Gun Spread" (and hence, the GetSecondsPassed) doesn't run when a shot is fired, but rather, runs more often than once a second (every frame?), even if you're not firing. It affects how much the weapon visibly waves around, even if you're just standing there. So the above idea does nothing but REDUCE the accuracy of weapons. Bah. DewiMorgan 23:15, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

Function on Spread in Gun Spread Formula

Ajunta: It seems it works in fact, it can be inhibitated by the other factors in the formula, put a 0 there and you will shoot always straight, give a 100 and you dont hit anything even point blank, i guess you missed it during testing maybee due to another spreadsetting like one of the many spread condition multiplier being set to 0.

Army L

It a very high value in Shutguns and other multi-projectile weapons. Perhaps it fuctions as a way to fling each bullet away from the precice aim of the gun. Setting this high on a weapon with low Min Spread seems to make the effects less noticeble. More later.

Later: Nope, I've done some tests, this value really doesn't seem to do anything at all.

Spread has an effect when combined with non-zero values of the fWeaponConditionSpreadX settings. See the Gun Spread Formula discussion page for details.

DomFada 00:46, 12 November 2009 (UTC)DomFada

The Spread Value appears to alter the spread of multiple projectiles like shotgun blasts (I testet it with a customized version of the railway gun because the projectiles stick to walls and are easy to spot).

The spread apears to kick in at "larger" distances and seems to be linked to the projectile count in some way.

G.E.C.K.o

Explosions on a melee weapon

Hi, I'm new to this whole editing thing and i was just wondering how you would attach an explosion to a melee weapon. Any help on this matter would be appreciated. Doomdoger 05:21, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Burst Shot

I'm wondering if the Burst Shot option uses the Spin Attack Anim and Attack Loop Sounds. It apparently needs to use Long Bursts to be fully enabled. --MW2366 19:04, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

And thus I have minorly solved the Burst Shot (I guess)... I just searched up "Burst" in the Filter of the Settings of GECK and I come up with "fAutomaticWeaponBurstCooldownTime," "fAutomaticWeaponBurstFireTime," "fVATSShotBurstTime," and "fVATSShotLongBurstTime."

"fVATSShotLongBurstTime" is how many seconds it fires off (1.75) in VATS, and "fVATSShotBurstTime" is the same but shorter in VATS Mode (0.43). You can probably see this clearly between a Burst Weapon, and a Long Burst Weapon, and is probably why it's under the Base VATS To-Hit Chance. --MW2366 20:05, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

How is the weapon damage show in pipboy calculated?

I'm always curios about how the pipboy showed damage calculated, so I use Xuanlong did a experiment:

Xuanlong Assault Rifle

Damage: 12

DPS: 48

Damage in Pipboy(100 skill and cond): 64

Damage in Pipboy(100 skill and cond, with superior denfender): 91

and then I got confused, 'cause they seem related in a non-directly way, anyone knows what exactly it is? --Dr.Xen 09:02, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

As far as I am aware, the "damage" shown in the G.E.C.K is the base damage, which is modified in game by the weapon skill level (weapon skills add, not having weapon skills doesn't subtract) and the condition (lower than 100% subtracts). I don't know the exact formula, though. Fayti1703 (talk) 06:33, 7 September 2015 (EDT)

Melee weapons use ammo

I hope this is an easy one... How do I go about making a melee weapon depend on having ammunition available? Is it as simple as giving it a clip size and ammo type required in the GECK?

Scope Movement

Hey, I've been using the GECK to create some wepons for Fallout NV lately and I've noticed that some guns (eg. the Trail Carbine) have little to no movement when looking down the scope, making them an effective sniper rifle, yet other guns have a large degree of movement when looking down the scope (eg. the Gauss Rifle) making it hard to get accurate shots in. I cant see any weapon stat in the GECK that makes any difference to this movement, can anyone tell me what dictates the movement and is there any way to change it? [unsigned]

The Gun Spread Formula controls gun waggle, far as I know. DewiMorgan 03:22, 17 November 2011 (EST)

Making an automatic weapon into a semi-automatic weapon

I recently tried to make my own semi-automatic version of the Bozar, and when i uncheck the automatic flag the DPS set to 0. Is there a way to make a semi-auto rifle out of a auto rifle or am I just wasting my time?--General Darkstar 01:29, 25 February 2012 (EST)

Also the attack shots/sec displays 1.#INF. I'm not sure how to fix that except to recheck the auto flag.--General Darkstar 01:36, 25 February 2012 (EST)

Nevermind it was the attack animation. I changed it to "Attack 3" and the DPS changed.--General Darkstar 01:42, 25 February 2012 (EST)

Aiming on the Move: Optic Sights

I've made a few weapon models with optic sights, which in reality enable much greater mobility while aiming. So I want the game to reflect that. How can I disable the function that forces the character to slow down whenever aiming? BUT, only when using certain weapons that have that optic sight?

min weapon spread question

I have read some info on G.E.C.K. and around the internet about the min spread value. Am I to understand that min weapon spread variable is supposed to be in degrees? If this is true can I set this variable to something a bit more realistic? Can the game engine handle low decimal values like 0.03333 or will it just set them to 0?

Thanks ahead of time