Tracer Mod for Bullets, Bolts and Arrows + Guide for applying the mod in the rest of MTW2

I've been looking for a mod that makes musket bullets have tracers like in Napoleon or Shogun, but there doesn't seem to be one for MTW2, so I poked around and made one myself.

I did find a mod here @ http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?640264 that claims to make bullets more visible, but I've tried it and it doesn't work very well.
The other mod replaces the musket bullet model with a bigger slingshot rock model, but because the bullets zip around too fast, even if the bullets are bigger you still can't see it unless you pause. Furthermore bc the other mod replaces bullets with the slingshot model, it seems to makes bullets do less dmg than before (but this could just be my imagination).

Why do you want tracers on bullets you say? Well I find tracers immensely helpful to see which enemy units your gunners are aiming at. In a hectic battle when using fire at will with invisible bullets, its often impossible to see where your units are firing at or even if your shots are getting blocked. With tracers on you can easily see who is aiming at who. If your units are aiming at sub-optimal targets (eg routed enemies when another unit is closer), you can immediately see and refocus. Or if your shots are getting blocked by other units or terrain you can quickly stop and reposition. Plus its very helpful in range finding and determining the max ranges of your units.

Tactical value aside, I also enjoy zooming in on the enemies and watching the bullets and arrows land. There's nothing quite like seeing a cloud of arrows slicing through entire formations or watching the whole battlefield riddled with gunfire :). Seeing the enemy drop dead from invisible bullets is just not as satisfying.

Originally, I only wanted to make bullets visible but in battle the trajectories of arrows are kind of hard to see as well. So I thought, what the heck and applied tracers to them too. Now arrows can cover the sky once you have enough units. ^^




Other notes about the mod:

I put white tracers on arrows+bolts, and orange tracers on musket fire to differentiate between the two during a firefight.

Since this mod only adds trail fx to existing projectiles, it doesn't mess up the dmg or any special effects the units may have. It works with all units (including later units modded in). All standard bows, crossbows and muskets will use the new tracers as long as the unit uses standard ammunition.

This mod can also used mid-save without starting a new campaign.

While this is a mod for COW, the same method can also easily work for other mods or vanilla MTW2. (See guide below)


Screenshots:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://i.imgbox.com/3LKqDeYw.jpg

http://i.imgbox.com/8O5Qu6VM.jpg

Note this has only been tested with 1.5.1. The beta 1.6 version seems kinda buggy so I never dled it. But as long as it doesn't add any new projectiles this mod should work. If it doesn't then just manually edit the changes yourself.

Link:
Its a simple drag and drop if you have 1.5.1.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/75b1jthq127n2td/



Update: also added more visible trails for standard cannons and mortars. It normally has trails already but I buffed the alpha values to make it easier to see in certain areas such as snow.

Instructions for manual editing:


This method works for all MTW2, whether its Call of Warhammer, vanilla or any other MTW2 mod. It might even work for other total war games since the engine is pretty much unchanged.

For some helpful references on what each values in the files mean I recommending having a look at Custom Effects for Projectiles thread @ http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...or-Projectiles
It explains nicely what each of the values does. Its also a helpful guide if later you want to change how the tracers look yourself or add other crazy effects.


Now lets get started.
First go to your /*mod name*/data folder and open descr_flaming_projectiles.txt
(for editing vanilla it'll be just /data, but if you can't find it you'll prob need to unpack the files first, see other guides as to how to unpack).

Now add the following entries to the file:

Code:

---

effect arrow_tracer1
{
    type ribbon
    {
        alpha_max    255      ; Alpha value at start of trail
        alpha_min    64      ; Alpha value at end of trail
        fade_start    100      ; Distance to start fading out.
        fade_end    200
        head_width    0.1      ; Width of the ribbon at arrow end
        tail_width  0.1  ; Width of the ribbon at the tail end
        texture        models_effects/textures/arrow_trail.texture
    }
}

effect bullet_tracer1
{
    type ribbon
    {
        alpha_max    255
        alpha_min    128
        fade_start    100
        fade_end    200
        head_width    0.1
        tail_width  0.1
        texture        models_effects/textures/arrow_fire.texture
    }
}

---

You can put the entries anywhere, either at the very bottom or top or middle. Just make sure to keep the same format as the rest of the file.
What you're doing here is basically creating two ribbon type custom tracer effects which you can attach to any projectiles. After which all the weapons which use the said projectiles will come equipped with tracers.
I like using the ribbon effect as it cuts down on resource usage. But if you're a modder, you can later change it to anything you like, like particles or glows or whatever. Back in day I remember changing all normal arrows to have fire arrow effects in Rome TW for example.


Alright next step is to find the projectiles you want to add the tracer effects to.

Open export_descr_unit.txt
Find the unit you want to use with tracers. (like a gunpowder unit)
Now check what weapon the unit uses in the stat_pri row.
Eg for the unit called Handgunners, it'll be like this:

stat_pri 10, 5, musket_low, 140, 12, missile, missile_gunpowder, piercing, none, musket_shot_set, 0, 1

musket_low - so this is the weapon the unit uses


Next open descr_projectile.txt
Search for the same wpn (musket_low) and find the "set" used in the effect row here.

Eg:

Code:

---

projectile musket_low

effect                    bullet_model_set      - what we're looking for
end_effect                bullet_impact_ground_set
end_man_effect            man_impact_tiny_set
etc...

---

See the "bullet_model_set" in the effect row? Now copy that and open descr_flaming_projectiles.txt.
(or descr_arrow_trail_effects.txt if its not in descr_flaming_projectiles.txt. Its in one of those two)
Search for bullet_model_set (or whatever its called in the effect row of the wpn you want)

It should look like this:

Code:

---

effect_set bullet_model_set
{
    lod 1000
    {
        bullet_model
        very_small_shockwave
    }
}

---

Add bullet_tracer1 after the very_small_shockwave line while keeping the formatting.

So that it'll be like this:

Code:

---

effect_set bullet_model_set
{
    lod 1000
    {
        bullet_model
        very_small_shockwave
        bullet_tracer1
    }
}

---

Now you're done with bullets.



For arrows, just do the same thing as before.

Eg Empire archers will have
stat_pri 7, 1, longbow_low, 200, 24, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, none, 0, 1

Look for longbow_low in descr_projectile.txt.

You'll find it has:

Code:

---

projectile longbow_low

effect            arrow_warhammer_model_set

---

Ok go to arrow_warhammer_model_set in descr_flaming_projectiles.txt
Add arrow_tracer1 after the arrow_warhammer_model line so that it'll be like this:

Code:

---

effect_set arrow_warhammer_model_set
{
    lod 1000
    {
        arrow_warhammer_model
        arrow_tracer1
    }
}

---

And you're finished!

Other notes -
You might of noticed that in descr_projectile.txt all of the bows and crossbows actually use arrow_warhammer_model_set as the projectile effect. So this means all you have to do eg is to add one arrow_tracer1 to arrow_warhammer_model_set and all the bows and crossbows will have tracers!

Once you get the hang of it, you can just browse the descr_projectile.txt and change descr_flaming_projectiles.txt and skip chking through export_descr_unit.txt. The entries are all straightforward and identical for nearly all the wpns anyway.

In other mods and vanilla bullet_model_set and arrow_warhammer_model_set may go by a different name or have more than 1 set. But it doesn't matter, just add the tracer lines to whatever the proper entries are called and the effect will be the same.


Hope this helps anyone who wants to add tracers in MTW2. (or in case I lose my MTW2 files haha)

Oh hey, it's like my Warpstone tracers in Beginning of The End Times. People love them on 'em.

I believe Med 2 has a standard arrow trail that most mods have deliberately turned off, though. Still, your white and orange makes for a different option. +rep

Really cool and useful mod dude. It just makes missile battles more enjoyable and who doesn't enjoy some shiny Star Wars projectile trails, eh? I would would like to give however a sugestion: instead of making crossbow and bow trails white you could however give arrows and bolts a much more visible colour something like a darkish brown would be welcome. Also if possible you could make bolts and arrows a bit more thick (especially bolts which were substantially more thicker and also shorter than arrows arrows). This thing is not perfectly ilustrated in M2TW anyway.

Never mind what I said about darkish brown colour of arrows. Medieval type arrows had a very white-yellowish colour so any other arrow colour would kill the.. realism. Anyway there is a sub mod for Stainless Steel called Historical Accuracy Project or something like that.. In that submod arrows don't have a projectile trail but are very much visible.

You can make the arrow trails more visible by increasing the alpha_min value in descr_flaming_projectiles.txt.

Eg:

Code:

---

alpha_max    255      ; Alpha value at start of trail
alpha_min    64      ; Alpha value at end of trail --------- change this to ~128 or so
fade_start    100      ; Distance to start fading out.
fade_end    200
head_width    0.1      ; Width of the ribbon at arrow end
tail_width  0.1  ; Width of the ribbon at the tail end
texture        models_effects/textures/arrow_trail.texture

---

I've actually increased it to 128 on my end as it seemed too faint for me as well.
But I just haven't had the chance to update the mod on this page yet.

If you want to make the tracer trails even thicker, you can do it by adjusting the head_width and tail_width values to as much as you like.

How would I change the color for the musket trails? I have successfully implemented the trails, but I would like for them to be white, similar to the arrows.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ruffles301

How would I change the color for the musket trails? I have successfully implemented the trails, but I would like for them to be white, similar to the arrows.

---

I think you can simply apply "arrow_tracer1" instead of "bullet_tracer1" in your bullet_model_set