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Tracers


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Im posting this in the CMBN thread simply as it seems the more active one, but it pertains to CMFI and aslo SF equally.

My chaps with SMGs and Rifles all seem to be firing tracers. At least some of the time. Perhaps Im wrong here but Tracer was really only used in General Purpose machine guns? I think the ratios of normal slugs to tracer may of been lower.

So to my question, is the above correct? Is this just a game aid to help you see where you are taking fire from. Is there a mod that does away with this and removes the star-wars visuals from the game?

Or am i simply wrong?

Many thanks

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Im posting this in the CMBN thread simply as it seems the more active one, but it pertains to CMFI and aslo SF equally.

My chaps with SMGs and Rifles all seem to be firing tracers. At least some of the time. Perhaps Im wrong here but Tracer was really only used in General Purpose machine guns? I think the ratios of normal slugs to tracer may of been lower.

So to my question, is the above correct? Is this just a game aid to help you see where you are taking fire from. Is there a mod that does away with this and removes the star-wars visuals from the game?

Or am i simply wrong?

Many thanks

I'm a fan of Veins_tracers_CMBN_v3 mod. See URL = http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=1127

Aris also has his own at GreenAsJade. See URL = http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/search?search=tracers&commit=Search

Download 'em all and check out which one(s) you like best. Good luck and good gaming!

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As far as I know there's no "lesser tracer" mod. But if there were it would effect all tracers because they are shared. To tell the truth I don't even know if the tracers could be shortened...I believe the game stretches the BMP. I could be wrong though. You could probably fudge a mod to where there are no tracers but then you'd never know what is going on.

I am hoping one day we could have different tracers for each side as the Germs used a different color as far as I know. Plus it would be easier to tell if they are incoming. Sometimes you have to watch a scene a few times to tell which way the shooting is going—it's some kind of optical delusion. Speaking of which, has BFC ever stated why they didn't do this?

Mord.

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What if you screwed with the alpha channels and made all tracer transparent? From my seat currently I would rather have none than the laser fest. Well I would at least like to try it. Yes I wouldnt know whats going on, but my pixel truppen wouldnt be affected. Just the visuals. So yes perhaps less realistic, perhaps more. Again it would be intresting to try it out.

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Thanks for the replies chaps, but just to clarify, i am after a mod that creates less tracers (perhaps only for Machine guns and not rifles or SMGs). Is thre such a thing (its really for SP play).

I haven't seen a pre-existing one. It looks like there are nine bmp files associated with tracers in the game (download the special effects file to see them listed - http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=112480 ). As they are just bmp files I'm sure there must be some way to make it so they don't show in-game but you'd have to fiddle to see what each file is associated with (different weapon systems?).

It could be interesting to try without tracers. It might be one way to reduce the player's God-like abilities another thread was talking about. For a start you wouldn't know where to aim fire/artillery strikes until your troops had a proper contact.

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Well I tried a couple quick and dirty tests using a method I had success with in the past but it didn't work. I was hoping that by renaming a completely different BMP to the tracer or changing the bitrate of the tracer, I could have it to use nothing making the tracers invisible. Neither did any good. They just used either a lower bitrate or the colors from the different BMP.

I was wrong though about the BMPs being stretched. That doesn't happen. They are different sizes. But they could possibly be for different sized weapons muzzles. Someone with more time should test it out. If they are for different sized weapons and some kind of alpha channel manipulation worked you could get the effect you wanted where only certain tracers showed up. That's a big if, though.

Mord.

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I've just tested and the tracers can be removed simply by filling the alpha channel of the bmp with 100% black.

We'd just now have to check which tracer bmp goes with what weapon(s). I'd start with the assumption that the bigger ones are for bigger weapons. I strongly doubt they are force specific.

EDIT: file added containing modified tracer files to make them invisible in game.

Transparent tracers.zip

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but it seemed that the size differences were just like the mini ground/regular ground textures...larger ones for close-up, smaller for distance.

I hadn't thought of that and I think you are correct. It would explain the file names too - the 'mip' in the file name probably refers to mipmapping.

I just did a quick test anyway and found that replacing the textures singularly made no difference. To remove the tracers I think you need to include all the modified tracer files, which means this looks like an all or nothing deal. I don't think it is possible, for example, to remove just the small arms tracers and leave the rest. Bummer.

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The only problem then is that you wouldn't have an easy indication of at what (or whether) your troops were firing. You'd have to get behind every squad at really low level for the minute, to see whether they were actually engaging anyone... You might get an indication from the activity monitor, bottom left, but "Firing" isn't always reliable, if LOS is marginal (or it's not for vehicles...). I can see "no tracers" adding a lot of chore to playing the game.

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