RPT_XM500 Sniper/Anti-material Rifle

[Raptorsaurus]

RPT_XM500 Sniper/Anti-material rifle for OFP-Resistance 1.91 or later.

This weapon is based on the Barrett XM500 .50 caliber rifle as well as the DARPA "EXACTO" experimental guided bullet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_XM500
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoOaJclkSZg

Some features of the RPT_XM500:

• Standard RPT_XM500 has a calibrated variable zoom scope for accurate shots out to 2000 m.
• The RPT_XM500IGP can fire guided bullets that are accurate out to 2500 m.
• Ammo types include standard, tracer and HEIAP (High Explosive Incendiary Armor Piercing) rounds.
• AI units can use these weapons to their full potential (with the help of incorporated scripts).
• Scripts are included to help mission makers use this addon.
• Detailed usage instructions in addon folder.

Attached are two zip files. One contains the RPT_XM500.pbo file, detailed usage instructions (RPT_XM500.pdf) and a demo mission. The other zip file is the "unPBOed" folder (so it is easier for you modeling and config gurus to examine it and suggest improvements).

Update Log:

• Feb. 12, 2013, Beta v1.0 : Original release
• Feb. 21, 2013, Beta v. 1.1: Reduced lag while firing IGP rounds by increasing trajectory segmentation in guided bullet algorithm.
• May 5, 2013, Beta v. 1.2: Increased accuracy by improving target relative position algorithm (now uses the drop function for relative position). Choppers tilting forward and fixed machine guns on sloped terrain now can be reliably targeted with guided projectiles.
• May 12, 2013, Beta v. 1.3: Added XM500SD weapon which is capable of suppressed fire mode (fires sub-sonic rounds) along with RPT_XM500SD and RPT_XM500SDI ammo for use in the suppressed fire mode; added RPT_XM500EMP ammo for temporarily disabling vehicles and electronics. A special “Level Scope” action was added to overcome the OFP bug that makes bullets deflect left or right if shooting while prone on an unleveled surface.

[Lenyoga]

Downloaded. Will try it out tomorrow - the thing with the guided bullets sounds too interesting.

[Raptorsaurus]

I hope you will have fun with it. Also, maybe you can help me with somthing. I used your suggestion to get the reticule to be "lit" so that it maintains its red transparent color even at night and through NV goggles, however, when I try to convert the model from MLOD to ODOL I loose the "lighting" of the reticule. I am using P3Dedit to save the MLOD model in ODOL format, but maybe you know of a better utility for doing that. Thanks for your interest.

[Lenyoga]

I just tried it out yesterday (had to increase the view distance) and it seems to work perfectly for the AI soldiers - I remember falling to the ground, thinking how the hell that guy could take me down with one shot from about 2 kilometers, then I heard the shot, a few seconds later. The HEIAP rounds work well as player (although there's some sort of weird lag after firing) - and I had no success in using the standard rounds (that's why I lost that sniper duel very fast - I missed by about 10 meters, although my reticule was placed on the soldier's center.) My AI group member was good at it again, though - he took out that officer holding a civilian hostage with one well-placed shot.

And about the lighting issue - so far, I have only used the MLOD format for my models (I plan on converting most of them for a mod project), so I don't really know which utilities are fit for lossless converting.

[Raptorsaurus]

Lenyoga,

Thanks for testing this!

Yes, increased view distance is needed in the demo mission since the XM500 is a 2 km+ capable weapon. I have updated the instructions to mention the need to set the view distance according to potential target distance (up to 2500 meters).

A weird thing happens in OFP when you fire from the prone position on even the slightest slope. For some reason, the bullets are deflected to the left/right or up/down depending on the angle of the slope relative to the target direction and the severity of the slope. This problem does not happen if you are kneeling or standing and it also does not seem to bother AI units. The user manual does mention this. The sniper duel in "non IGP mode" is very difficult because scope stability is greatly reduced when you are kneeling as opposed to lying prone (to avoid the "slope deflection bug"). If you run over to the wood platforms, you can then fire from the prone position without the “slope deflection bug”. From the wood platform to the snipers are about 1420 meters away, so, while in full zoom, put the 1400 reticule graduation just a little above their heads and you will nail them.

Regarding the lag you experienced when firing the IGHEIAP round, it is because those rounds are guided rounds and require functions and scripts to determine the intended target and then direct the bullet to the target. It is a resource stressing task to make a guided bullet when the game engine never intended guided bullets. Determining the most likely target by analyzing the initial bullet trajectory is especially CPU intensive. I have now uploaded Beta v1.1v1.2 in which I have modified the target search algorithm to reduce the lag and improved the targeting (v1.2). Let me know if you notice a difference.

[flossingdino]

I'm also interested in trying this out, hopefully a bump will help reinvigorate the download that is no longer available. 

[Raptorsaurus]

Reattached lost files (now version 1.3). Also fixed the information links.

[flossingdino]

Happy to see it back up. Downloaded quickly.