Weapons.tbl

Made following the older guide (originally written by GE) by Wanderer

Retail FS2 - Standard Primaries

$Name:

• This is the name of the weapon. If it's going to be used by the player, keep it under 12 characters so it doesn't spill over the HUD box. If the weapon has an @ symbol in front of it, it means it's allowed in the demo. It doesn't really do anything in the retail version.
• Syntax: Name

+Title:

• This is the title of the weapon in the Weapons loadout screen. Only needed for player allowed weapons.
• Syntax: XSTR("Title", -1)

+Description:

• This is the description you see in the weapons loadout screen. Again, these aren't based on any hard numbers, just approximations. Only needed for player allowed weapons.

  XSTR(
  "Standard Issue
  Level 3 Hull Damage
  Level 2 Shield Damage", 3244)
  $end_multi_text

+Tech Title:

• Title of the weapon in the Tech room. Only needed for player allowed weapons.
• Syntax: XSTR("Title", -1)

+Tech Anim:

• Animation used for the weapon in the Tech room. Only needed for player allowed weapons.
• Syntax: Filename
  • Example: Tech_Subach_HL-7

+Tech Description:

• Descriptive text you see in the tech room. Only needed for player allowed weapons.

  XSTR(
  "The Subach-Innes HL-7 is a xaser weapon, firing an intense, highly focused beam of X-ray emissions. Until the Shivans appeared with their shield technology, these weapons were considered an unnecessary and costly extravagance. But Great War dogfights against Shivan craft taught the Allies that their ships didn't stand a chance unless they could punch through shields. The HL-7 works superbly against shields of all varieties and has become the standing issue primary weapon for all Terran fighters and bombers.", 3245)
  $end_multi_text

$Model File:

• filename of the model file (.pof) at data/models folder
• Syntax: Filename, lasers don't use specific models so usually name is 'none'.
  • Example: none
• @Laser Bitmap:
  • The graphic file to be used as the laser.
  • Syntax: Filename
• @Laser Glow:
  • The graphic file that determines the glow of the laser.
  • Syntax: Filename
• @Laser Color:
  • The color of the laser when you fire it.
  • Syntax: "Value, Value, Value (Red, Green, Blue respectively, value from 0 to 255)
    • Example: 250, 0, 0
• @Laser Color2:
  • The color of the laser at its maximum range.
  • Syntax: "Value, Value, Value (Red, Green, Blue respectively, value from 0 to 255)
    • Example: 0, 0, 250
• @Laser Length:
  • Length of the laser bolt.
  • Syntax: Value, (1/10 of a meters)
• @Laser Head Radius:
  • Width of the head of the laser.
  • Syntax: Value, (meters ?)
• @Laser Tail Radius:
  • Width of the tail of the laser.
  • Syntax: Value (meters ?)

$Mass:

• How much of a kinetic effect this laser has on its target. 3+ gives you the Flail effect. Set it to 10 and you can knock cruisers around.
• Syntax: Value, (blast effect)

$Velocity:

• How fast the laser bolt travels.
• Syntax: Value, (meters per second)

$Fire Wait:

• Time in seconds between shots
• Syntax: Value, (seconds)

$Damage:

• Base damage this laser does. The actual damage is this number multiplied by one of the factors below.
• Syntax: Value, (damage value)

$Armor Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to armor
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Shield Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to shields
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Subsystem Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to subsystems
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Lifetime:

• Time before the laser bolt fizzles out. Multiply this by the speed to get the range. If values are too low (below framerate) then the collision detection and graphic effect may suffer.
• Syntax: Value, (seconds)

$Energy Consumed:

• The amount of energy each bolt drains firing ship. Has no effect on turretted weapons.
• Syntax: Value

$Cargo Size:

• Cargo size, has no effect with primaries.
• Syntax: Value, usually zero

$Homing: NO

• You can't have homing primaries. If this is set to YES, then the bolts turn to face their target but keep moving in the same direction.
• Syntax: YES or NO, usually NO

$LaunchSnd:

• Corresponding sound effect when the weapon is launched.
• Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl

$ImpactSnd:

• Sound the weapon makes when it hits a hull.
• Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl

$FlyBySnd:

• The sound this weapon makes if it narrowly misses you. -1 is no sound. Is often left out from table parsing by having ; symbol in beginning of the line.
• Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl, usually -1

+Weapon Range:

• Defines the range to the target where the weapons under AI will start firing.??
• Syntax: Value, (meters)

$Flags:

• Flags are detailed below.

$Trail:

• This is used if you want your weapon to have a trail. Is often left out from table parsing by having ; symbol in beginning of the line.
• +Start Width:
  • How wide the head of the trail is.
  • Syntax: Value, (meters)
• +End Width:
  • How wide the tail of the trail is.
  • Syntax: Value, (meters)
• +Start Alpha:
  • The opacity of the trail head.
  • Syntax: Value value between 0 and 1
• +End Alpha:
  • The opacity of the trail tail.
  • Syntax: Value, value between 0 and 1
• +Max Life:
  • How long the trail lasts.
  • Syntax: Value, (seconds)
• +Bitmap:
  • The graphic file to use for the trail.
  • Syntax: Filename

$Icon:

• Loadout icon used in the weapons selection screen.
• Syntax: Filename

$Anim:

• Green grid animation used on the weapons screen.
• Syntax: Filename

$Impact Explosion:

• Impact explosion used. Must be defined in weapon_expl.tbl
• Syntax: Filename, usually 'none', as often primaries are not given impact explosion.

$Impact Explosion Radius:

• Radius of the defined impact explosion. If the impact explosion is not used then this line should be omitted (remove or begin line with ; )
• Syntax: Filename

Retail FS2 - Beam Cannons

• Most of the fields here are irrelevant, and included only so as not to break the parser. UNUSED indicates that the entry has no effect on beam performance but it has to be present so that parser is not broken.

$Name:

• This is the name of the weapon. If it's going to be used by the player, keep it under 12 characters so it doesn't spill over the HUD box. If the weapon has an @ symbol in front of it, it means it's allowed in the demo. It doesn't really do anything in the retail version.
• Syntax: Name

$Model File:

• filename of the model file (.pof) at data/models folder
• Syntax: Filename, UNUSED
  • Example: none
• @Laser Bitmap:
  • The graphic file to be used as the laser.
  • Syntax: Filename, UNUSED
• @Laser Color:
  • The color of the laser when you fire it.
  • Syntax: "Value, Value, Value (Red, Green, Blue respectively, value from 0 to 255), UNUSED
    • Example: 250, 0, 0
• @Laser Length:
  • Length of the laser bolt.
  • Syntax: Value, (1/10 of a meters), UNUSED
• @Laser Head Radius:
  • Width of the head of the laser.
  • Syntax: Value, (meters ?), UNUSED
• @Laser Tail Radius:
  • Width of the tail of the laser.
  • Syntax: Value, (meters ?), UNUSED

$Mass:

• How much of a kinetic effect this beamr has on its target. 3+ gives you the Flail effect. Set it to 10 and you can knock cruisers around.
• Syntax: Value, (blast effect)

$Velocity:

• Beams travel instantly so this field has effect only on weapon range and AI beam targetting with certain beam types.
• Syntax: Value, (meters per second)

$Fire Wait:

• Time in seconds between shots
• Syntax: Value, (seconds)

$Damage:

• Base damage this beam does is continous damage, damage is 5.5 times the damage value per second. The actual damage is this number multiplied by one of the factors below.
• Syntax: Value, (damage value)

$Armor Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to armor
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Shield Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to shields
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Subsystem Factor:

• Multiplier for the damage done to subsystems
• Syntax: Value, (damage multiplier)

$Lifetime:

• This field has no effect for the beams apart from weapon range and AI beam targetting with certain beam types
• Syntax: Value, (seconds)

$Energy Consumed:

• The amount of energy each bolt drains firing ship. Has no effect on turretted weapons.
• Syntax: Value, UNUSED

$Cargo Size:

• Cargo size, has no effect with primaries.
• Syntax: Value, UNUSED

$Homing: NO

• You can't have homing primaries. If this is set to YES, then the bolts turn to face their target but keep moving in the same direction.
• Syntax: YES or NO, usually NO, UNUSED

$LaunchSnd:

• Corresponding sound effect when the weapon is launched.
• Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl, UNUSED

$ImpactSnd:

• Sound the weapon makes when it hits a hull.
• Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl, UNUSED

+Weapon Range:

• This is the range at which the beams will acquire a target. Beams will still do damage to anything farther away than this, but they will not fire of their own accord.
• Syntax: Value (meters)

$Flags:

• See below

$Icon:

• Loadout icon used in the weapons selection screen.
• Syntax: Filename, UNUSED

$Anim:

• Green grid animation used on the weapons screen.
• Syntax: Filename, UNUSED

$Impact Explosion:

• Impact explosion used. Must be defined in weapon_expl.tbl
• Syntax: Filename

$Impact Explosion Radius:

• Radius of the defined impact explosion. If the impact explosion is not used then this line should be omitted (remove or begin line with ; )
• Syntax: Filename

$BeamInfo:

• Has special fields for different beam parameters
• +Type:
  • Defines the type of beam in question. Beam types: 0 is a standard non-slashing type beam. 1 is a slashing type beam. 3 is a beam type that fires pulses in anti-fighter role and acts like type 0 beam in other roles. 4 is a beam that is restricted to what is directly in front of it, along turrets firepoints normal. Nobody knows what Type 2 beams are.
  • Syntax: Value, only values from 0 to 4 are legal
• +Life:
  • How long it lasts once the beam is actually firing.
  • Syntax: Value, (seconds)
• +Warmup:
  • Warmup time
  • Syntax: Value, (milliseconds)
• +Warmdown:
  • Warmdown time
  • Syntax: Value, (milliseconds)
• +Radius:
  • Muzzle glow radius
  • Syntax: Value (meters)
• +PCount:
  • Particles spewed every interval. ??
  • Syntax: Value
• +PRadius:
  • Particle radius
  • Syntax: Value, (meters)
• +PAngle:
  • Defines the random "cone" where the particles are generated
  • Syntax: Value, (angle of the cone)
• +PAni:
  • Animation used to represent the particles
  • Syntax: Filename
• +Miss Factor:
  • The higher the numbers, the more likely that this beam will miss. One value for every difficulty level
  • Syntax: Value Value Value Value Value, Very Easy, Easy, Moderate, Hard, Very Hard respectively.
    • Example: 0.5 0.975 1.35 1.875 2.5
• +BeamSound:
  • Corresponding looping sound effect when the beam is firing.
  • Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl
• +WarmupSound:
  • Corresponding sound effect when the beam is beam warmed up.
  • Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl
• +WarmdownSound:
  • Corresponding sound effect when the beam is warming down.
  • Syntax: Value, identification number of the sound as defined in sounds.tbl
• +Muzzleglow:
  • Defines the bitmap used t create the muzzle glow
  • Syntax: Filename
• +Shots:
  • Defines into how may invidual shots the type 3 (AAA) beams are divided. Note total firing is the same as the +Life:
  • Syntax: Value
• +ShrinkFactor:
  • What percentage of lifetime where beam starts shrinking (0.1 == 10% life left)
  • Syntax: Value
• +ShrinkPct:
  • What percentage of max width we subtract per second
  • Syntax: Value
• $Section:
  • Beams are made up of up to five sections layered atop one another to create the effect. Each section has its own parameters.
  • +Width:
    • Width of the section
    • Syntax: Value (meters)
  • +Texture:
    • Texture for the section
    • Syntax: Filename
  • +RGBA Inner:
    • Defines the color and transparency of the center of the section
    • Syntax: Value Value Value Value, (Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha respectively, value from 0 to 255)
      • Example: 255 255 255 255
  • +RGBA Outer:
    • Defines the color and transparency of the edges of the section
    • Syntax: Value Value Value Value, (Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha respectively, value from 0 to 255)
      • Example: 150 150 150 10
  • +Flicker:
    • Defines how much the section flickers
    • Syntax: Value, value from 0 to 1
  • +Zadd:
    • Defines the 'thickness' of the section. The higher the Zadd, the closer the section appears to be.
    • Syntax: Value