NT-88 Peregrine Rework + Resprite

[ASaltySeabass]

About the PR

Reworked the NT-88 from a battery based hitscan weapon into an ammunition based projectile one.

• Increased damage per shot from 35 to 65

• Decreased shots per magazine from 10 to 5 (3 for the improvised mag)

• Decreased rate of fire from 0.8 to 0.5

• Rechambered the Peregrine for 15mm sabot rounds.

• • Currently 15mm only used in the Peregrine, but it's free to be used in other future weapons.
• • 15mm currently comes in two types. The standard round which requires T1 research to print and does 65 piercing damage per shot, and an improvised round that is crafted by hand but only does 45 damage per shot.

• Added a scope when wielding the weapon, similar to how the Hristov functions.

• • The slowdown is less oppressive than the Hristov's, since the gun does less damage. (I'd imagine it's lighter too.)

• Increased the size of the NT-88 from large to huge. (You're telling me it's smaller than an AKM?)

• Reworked existing sprites for the NT-88, smoothing things out some and adding some glowy dynamic bits.

• Added new magazine sprites that reflect the number of rounds in them.

• Added new sprites for the new cartridges, and projectiles, as well as the box they came in.

• Ported an Impstation muzzleflash prototype that was missing.

• Tweaked the firing sound and muzzle flash of the Peregrine.

• Cleaned up filenames and tags so that they properly reference the NT-88 instead of just "railgun" (There are current discussions about adding new railguns to the server.)

• Removed hardcoded Peregrine mag exception from the SharedPowerCellSystem

• Added new lathe recipes for the magazine and ammo box

• Added a new construction recipe for improvised 15mm rounds

• Added 15mm ammo boxes to the Tier 1 "linear accelerator ammo" arsenal research.

Why / Balance

The peregrine is currently a battery based hitscan/laser weapon that uses removable cells. Outside of this not making much sense as a railgun, it also poses some balancing concerns. As a perfectly accurate hitscan weapon that can fire through windows, windoors, and other transparent entities like grilles, the Peregrine can be incredibly oppressive at medium to long range. It currently does 25 pierce, 5 heat, and 5 shock damage per shot, with an additional 20 stamina damage on top, while firing close to once per second. Additionally, the shock damage it deals is essentially true damage, since it isn't negated by armors.

To my knowlege, no other hitscan weapon does that amount of damage per shot, and none of them outside of the Svalinn (which does pitiful damage) recharges automatically or with swappable cells. Given that more magazines can be crafted by hand or printed in security, and that Peregrines are readily available from the Secvend to officers, or found on expeditions, it can be expected to be seen regularly and used against antagonists. Hitscan weapons oftentimes don't feel as fun to fight against, even less so to one that that does high damage per shot in addition to a non-negligible amount of stamina damage.

I feel that my changes make more sense thematically, in addition to being more balanced and offering a more distinctive role to the Peregrine. The projectiles it fires are still faster than any other handheld weapon, keeping some of its identity while still requiring the user to properly aim and lead their shots. Adding a scope reinforces its role as a marksman's weapon, allowing its user to engage targets from further away than normal.

I've balanced the rifle in such a way that it requires four shots to down a full-health nuclear operative (As compared to the hristov's three.) It's not meant to outclass the Hristov, but instead offer an alternative sniper rifle with different strengths and weaknesses.

Technical details

YAML

• Muzzle flashes
• Peregrine Gun
• Peregrine Mags
• 15mm Cartridges
• 15mm Projectiles
• 15mm Box
• Tags
• Construction Graph + Recipe
• Lathe recipe
• Research tweaks

RSI

• Peregrine Gun
• Peregrine Mags
• 15mm Cartridges, Projectile, and Box

FTL

• Localization tweaks for crafting descriptions

C#

• Removed hardcoded exception for peregrine batteries from SharedPowerCellSystem

How to test

• Test Peregrine weapon spawning, firing, loading, ETC
• Test Peregrine magazine spawning, loading, sprite states, ETC
• Test Construction crafting of improvised ammo and magazine
• Test R&D research of ammo and magazine lathe recipes
• Test Sec techfab production of ammo and magazines
• Test Emagged Protolathe, Mercenary techfab etc. for production of ammo and magazines with research.

Media

PeregrineRework.mp4

Breaking changes

The change in size of the peregrine from large to huge could cause some issues for those saved in ship stashes.
Tested this, it's a non-issue.

Changelog

🆑

• tweak: Changed the peregrine from a hitscan weapon to a projectile-based one.
• tweak: Increased peregrine damage per shot from 35 to 65
• tweak: Reduced peregrine magazine capacity from 10 to 5
• tweak: Added a scope to the peregrine
• add: Added 15mm sabot rounds, a new ammo type for the peregrine.
• tweak: Updated existing Peregrine weapon and magazine sprites.
• tweak: The peregrine now costs 15 FUCs instead of 10. (You get bonus goodies now though)

[Darkvulpine]

Please do not change it's function. It's one of my most used weapons, that I like BECAUSE it's heat based laser that does significantly well. The Xray cannon is no longer useful as it slows me down WAY too much, and the Sylvain laser is incredibly weak, and the Laser cannon is highly inaccurate. DO NOT change the Peregrine.

We have enough projectile weapons as it is, let alone ammunition based ones.

I only use energy weapons for IC reasons, as a means to simulate my fire abilities as a phoenix. already weak enough as it is, I don't need further nerfs to my ability to even do a level 2 exped.

I do think there should be more KINDS of lasers though, not just heat based. As a phoenix I don't want to be immune to lasers, just heat/fire damage.

[HighlandGearhop]

Agreeing on Vulps comment.
However. This being an MK 2 would be awesome.
Like NT 99 would be, kind of cool.
Just a thought.

[Darkvulpine]

Agreeing on Vulps comment. However. This being an MK 2 would be awesome. Like NT 99 would be, kind of cool. Just a thought.

I'd be fine with that too. A new peregrine mk2.

[jimmy12or]

One additional concern:
What happens to a Peregrin that is inside someone's stash that can't accommodate the size change?

[BlueNexus]

Given this is in part a well-reasoned balance change, it isn't necessarily appropriate to request this PR not happen just because you liked it

[NotLivyathan]

Both agreeing with Blue and OP.

I’ve been saying it since before the Peregrine was even merged; it’s OP. Its creator can say, “it was balanced very carefully,” but not once have I seen any of that balance. It’s a hitscan laser that does a total of 50 damage, per shot, including pierce, shock, and heat damage, meaning it’s a pain in the ass to heal since it’s a weapon that does multiple damage types per shot and a laser that causes bleed damage. It goes through windows despite not functionally being a laser. Its rate of fire is incredibly competent, especially considering both its damage and its magazine size. It’s also a MAGAZINE FED laser weapon with up to ten shots, meaning up to FIVE HUNDRED DAMAGE in one magazine.

It was also C2 and given overly abundant expedition spawns in order to inflate the number of them available.

I don’t think the current Peregrine ever should’ve been added, especially in the state that it was added in, but even after nerfs, it’s still begging for a rework.

[MsEpic59]

I agree with the rework as the peregrine is a balancing nightmare as it is though id like a normal heat laser that is mag fed in the future as its a fun niche and the svalin doesnt hit the vibe with its high RoF.

[Darkvulpine]

Guess I'm back to level 1 expeds with my sylvain pistol =/

[Darkvulpine]

I'd be fine if say the rate of fire was lowered, but completely changing it to something that already exists in great quantity does not settle well with me.

Lower rate of fire? That's fine
Lower Ammo per charge? that's cool too.
Updated Sprite? that's pretty awesome actually!

Increased damage? No, we don't need MORE damage
No longer Energy based? No, lacking in energy weapons as it is. Make a new weapon with these changes instead, instead of changing what people already have to an entirely new weapon.
Projectile? We have tons of those already, we don't need yet more.
Want a projectile based sniper? We have those already.
Scope? No please, main reason I don't use X-ray cannon. It's great as a nice mid-range
bigger size? There might be complications based on how it functions for existing weapons in storage.

[ASaltySeabass]

Please do not change it's function. It's one of my most used weapons, that I like BECAUSE it's heat based laser that does significantly well. The Xray cannon is no longer useful as it slows me down WAY too much, and the Sylvain laser is incredibly weak, and the Laser cannon is highly inaccurate. DO NOT change the Peregrine.

One of the main reasons why the peregrine currently performs so well is because it isn't a heat-based laser. The majority of its damage is piercing, meaning that it causes bleeding, and can't be negated by a Syndicate Elite hardsuit the same way any other energy gun might.

As far as scoped weapons go, the only ones currently available to my knowlege are the Hristov, Mosin, Ceremonial Rifle, and X-Ray cannon. The peregrine has a unique identity among this lineup as a magazine-fed rifle with a greater vision range than the bolt-actions and less slowdown than the Hristov.

I only use energy weapons for IC reasons, as a means to simulate my fire abilities as a phoenix. already weak enough as it is, I don't need further nerfs to my ability to even do a level 2 exped.

Thematically speaking, the NT-88 isn't an energy gun. It's just programmed like one. All of its in-game descriptions refer to it as a railgun, meaning that it should fire a projectile in the same way that ship railguns like the charon do.

One additional concern: What happens to a Peregrin that is inside someone's stash that can't accommodate the size change?

This is the one thing that I forgot to test. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

I agree with the rework as the peregrine is a balancing nightmare as it is though id like a normal heat laser that is mag fed in the future as its a fun niche and the svalin doesnt hit the vibe with its high RoF.

If you sprite something for me I'll add it! If not, you'll have to give me some time to get over my spriting burnout before I approach something like that.

Ideally you would have multiple weapons that use the same energy cell, similarly to how Impstation's blasters work (which are magazine fed energy guns.)

[Magniras]

I can't say I like the change necessarily, but they do seem to be balanced.

Though, adding a scope is generally a hard nerf to a gun.

[NotLivyathan]

Though, adding a scope is generally a hard nerf to a gun.

Funny. Guns do have a functionally useless right click that could be used for endless possibilities, such as toggling a scope.

[ASaltySeabass]

One additional concern: What happens to a Peregrin that is inside someone's stash that can't accommodate the size change?

Tested this. If you don't have enough room for the gun after the size increase, it just... extends outside of the bounds of whatever storage interface it's in. When you remove it, both the interface and the gun are the normal size, so there aren't any issues.

[Darkvulpine]

Please do not change it's function. It's one of my most used weapons, that I like BECAUSE it's heat based laser that does significantly well. The Xray cannon is no longer useful as it slows me down WAY too much, and the Sylvain laser is incredibly weak, and the Laser cannon is highly inaccurate. DO NOT change the Peregrine.

One of the main reasons why the peregrine currently performs so well is because it isn't a heat-based laser. The majority of its damage is piercing, meaning that it causes bleeding, and can't be negated by a Syndicate Elite hardsuit the same way any other energy gun might.

As far as scoped weapons go, the only ones currently available to my knowlege are the Hristov, Mosin, Ceremonial Rifle, and X-Ray cannon. The peregrine has a unique identity among this lineup as a magazine-fed rifle with a greater vision range than the bolt-actions and less slowdown than the Hristov.

I only use energy weapons for IC reasons, as a means to simulate my fire abilities as a phoenix. already weak enough as it is, I don't need further nerfs to my ability to even do a level 2 exped.

Thematically speaking, the NT-88 isn't an energy gun. It's just programmed like one. All of its in-game descriptions refer to it as a railgun, meaning that it should fire a projectile in the same way that ship railguns like the charon do.

One additional concern: What happens to a Peregrin that is inside someone's stash that can't accommodate the size change?

This is the one thing that I forgot to test. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

I agree with the rework as the peregrine is a balancing nightmare as it is though id like a normal heat laser that is mag fed in the future as its a fun niche and the svalin doesnt hit the vibe with its high RoF.

If you sprite something for me I'll add it! If not, you'll have to give me some time to get over my spriting burnout before I approach something like that.

Ideally you would have multiple weapons that use the same energy cell, similarly to how Impstation's blasters work (which are magazine fed energy guns.)

In fairness... I had thought it was a laser. It does need a nerf, this much is true, I just don't think completely changing it's functionality. Hitscan should certainly be weaker than projectile, but not by too much.

[Iisazel]

Could just make it a laser that doesnt pass the windows instead though, making it still viable as a hitscan that doesnt deal heat

[NotLivyathan]

Since no one else has said it, I'm pretty sure this hasn't been merged yet because it has a linter fail.

Error: /Prototypes/_HL/Admeme/AdminCharacterBundles/cyn182_colcomm.yml(305,11) No Content.Shared.Tag.TagPrototype found with id MagazineRailgunTag

[ASaltySeabass]

That one wasn't showing up in my dev environment for some reason.

I'll look into it

[github-actions]

This pull request has conflicts, please resolve those before we can evaluate the pull request.

[META-mahn]

Hi, this is the original creator of the Peregrine.

Please remove the Peregrine from the game; or at the minimum, please remove all attribution to my name. I no longer wish to be associated with this weapon.

I have concluded that there is no state where this weapon can be in that will make me, or any of the people wishing for nerfs or reworks happy.