[DEVBLOG#269] Bioferrite weapons (Patreon)

Hey folks!

I know I promised you another VFE-Insectoids 2 development blogs, outlining the next few hives we will be adding. However, before I write that, inspiration struck me over the weekend to make a cheeky new little mod. A real small mod, something of a 'back to the roots' when it comes to VE.

I'd like to tell you about this mod.

 Anomaly DLC features a very underwhelming amount of Bioferrite-powered weapons, I think. You've got your standard incinerator, as well as a basic hellcat rifle. I think bioferrite could be used in my other different ways, and I think it should naturally allow you to make weapons that ought to help with different anomaly entities.

As such, I've designed three new weapons (so far), as well as two extra weapons if you have some other VE mods installed!

FLARESTRIKE RIFLE

Description: A versatile semi-automatic battle rifle with good range, decent power and great accuracy.

It comes equipped with an underbarrel bioferrite-powered disruptor flare gun. On impact, the flare burns a capsule of bioferrite, which creates a bright flash and a local psychic disruption. The flare gun can be used four times before the rifle needs to be reloaded with bioferrite.

Flarestrike rifle is essentially a VWE Battle rifle. It fires bursts of two accuracy shots over a medium-to-long range. On top of that, it has an underbarrel flaregun, giving you access to the following ability:

Flarestrike Flare

The battle rifle contains an integrated disruptor flare gun which gives the user the ability to fire four disruptor flares at will before requiring a reload.

• Gizmo description: Fire a disruptor flare over a medium distance.

• The flare can be fired at 33.9 range.

• Warmup should be 1 second.

• Uses the same projectile as Disruptor flare pack.

Four flares can be fired before the unit must be reloaded with 5 Bioferrite per charge. The reloading process takes 1 sec. The pawn will never automatically use the unit, instead, it must be manually activated by the player by use of ‘Flarestrike flare’ gizmo, similar to using Utility items. The gizmo should only appear if the pawn is drafted.

FIRESTORM SHOTGUN

Description: A strong, short range shotgun that fires a tight-packed spray of pellets. Very deadly, but only in close quarters.

It also comes equipped with a bioferrite-powered mini-blazer unit which generates a short-ranged blast of flame from pressurized bioferrite charges. The mini-blazer unit can be used four times before refueling.

Firestorm Shotgun is a spin on the standard pump action shotgun. While it has a slightly shorter range, it has a following ability:

Firestorm Blazer

The shotgun contains an integrated short range flamethrower which gives the user the ability to fire four strong bursts of flame before requiring a reload.

• Gizmo description: Fire a short-ranged flame blast over a short but wide area.

• The burner fires in a 5 range cone, thin close to the pawn and expanding to five tiles wide at a range of 3 to 5 tiles when fired in a cardinal direction.

• Four gouts can be fired before the unit must be reloaded with 5 bioferrite per charge.

• The reloading process takes 60 ticks (1 sec).

The pawn will never automatically use the unit - instead it must be manually activated by the player by use of the "Firestorm blazer" gizmo, similar to using Utility items. This gizmo will only appear when the pawn is drafted.

Pyromaniac pawns receive a +2 Pyromaniac has incendiary weapon mood buff while equipped with a Firestorm Shotgun, a further mood buff will not be granted for using the weapons ability. Note that they must be equipped, not merely carried.

CYCLONE MINIGUN

Description: An unwieldy, multi-barrel machine gun. Once the barrels spin up, it fires very fast. While most self-loading guns are powered by the gunpowder energy, minigun uses an electric motor to rapidly cycle cartridges through the weapon.

It comes equipped with a separate, overdrive engine that utilises bioferrite to greatly accelerate the rate of fire. The overdrive can be used two times before the minigun needs to be reloaded with bioferrite.

Cyclone minigun behaves similarily to the standard minigun, albeit with slightly worse accuracy due to the shorter barrel length. It does however have a unique ability:

Cyclone Rapid Burst

The minigun contains a bioferrite engine allowing it to fire a much more rapid burst of shots. After two rapid bursts, it needs to be reloaded with bioferrite.

• Gizmo description: Fire a rapid volley of shots by utilising the bioferrite-accelerated engine.

• Warmup should be 2.5 second.

• Same range as the basic attack from this minigun.

• Fires a burst of 50 shots

  • Ticks between burst shots: 2

  • This is twice as many bullets as it fires normally, fired over even shorter burst duration.

Two rapid bursts can be fired before the unit must be reloaded with 10 Bioferrite per charge. The reloading process takes 1 sec. The pawn will never automatically use the unit, instead, it must be manually activated by the player by the use of ‘Cyclone Rapid Burst’ gizmo, similar to using Utility items. The gizmo should only appear when the pawn is drafted.

WARBOLTER (REQUIRES VFE-PIRATES)

Description: A downscaled variant of a swarmer missile turret mounted on a rifle frame, warbolter fires semi-precise missiles over medium range with the fire rate of a machine gun. Due to the very large recoil caused by the missiles leaving the barrel, it can only be fired in short bursts.

The weapon also comes equipped with a bioferrite-powered long-burner unit which generates a very narrow blast of flame from a pressurized bioferrite charge. Due to the tight stream of the long-burner, it can be fired over very long distances. The long-burner unit must be refueled after each use.

This badass gun is only available to those with VFE-Pirates in their modlist, and requires a warcasket to be used. Inspired by Warhammer 40k Bolters, it's a battle rifle that fires small swarmer missiles. Each shot explodes in a small radius, and it has a huge range too!

On top of that, it has a unique ability:

Warbolter Long-burner

The warbolter contains an integrated long range flamethrower which gives the user the ability to fire one long burst of flame before requiring a reload.

• Gizmo description: Fire a long-ranged flame stream using the bioferrite-operated long-burner.

• This burner works a little bit differently than the hellcat one. Instead of being a typical firespew, it’s more like an Incinerator arc.

• Consumes 20 bioferrite with each use, which means it needs to be reloaded after each use.

• It has a 34.9 tiles range, which means it's a very long range but high precision flame spewer.

The pawn will never automatically use the unit - instead it must be manually activated by the player by use of the "Warbolter long-burner" gizmo, similar to using Utility items. This gizmo will only appear when the pawn is drafted.

Pyromaniac pawns receive a +2 Pyromaniac has incendiary weapon mood buff while equipped with a Warbolter, a further mood buff will not be granted for using the weapons ability. Note that they must be equipped, not merely carried.

HEAVY INCINERATOR (REQUIRES VWE-HEAVY WEAPONS)

Description: A powerful, experimental incinerator that can spray a stream of flame into an area. It can shoot in an arc over allies without harming them. The flame burns off rapidly, so it will only ignite the most flammable targets.

Being an extremely heavy weapon, this gun requires a power armor to be effectively used.

While the main incinerator flamethrower has limited number of uses, the weapon also comes equipped with a bioferrite-powered vaporizer unit which generates a massive blast of superheated plasma from a pressurized bioferrite charge, destroying everything hit. The vaporizer unit must be refueled after each use.

Heavy Incinerator only exists if you have Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy Weapons. Just like other heavy weapons, it requires powered armor or tough trait to be carried.

While normally it behaves similar to the standard incinerator (except longer range and wider fire cone), it has a unique ability:

Heavy Incinerator Vaporizer

The heavy incinerator contains an integrated short-ranged vaporizer which gives the user the ability to fire a much shorter flamethrower arc attack, but colored blue, and with a huge damage boost.

• Gizmo description: Fire a short-ranged vaporizer stream, melting everything in front of the user.

• This burner works a little bit differently than the hellcat one. Instead of being a typical firespew, it’s more like an Incinerator arc.

• Consumes 30 bioferrite with each use, which means it needs to be reloaded after each use.

• Has a very short range: 9.9 tiles

• The flame is colored blue

• The flame deals x3 as much damage, essentially vaporizing anything hit.

The pawn will never automatically use the unit - instead it must be manually activated by the player by use of the "Heavy Incinerator Vaporizer" gizmo, similar to using Utility items. This gizmo will only appear when the pawn is drafted.

Pyromaniac pawns receive a +2 Pyromaniac has incendiary weapon mood buff while equipped with a heavy incinerator, a further mood buff will not be granted for using the weapons ability. Note that they must be equipped, not merely carried.

Let me know what you think! I'm really excited about those. I didn't want to overbloat the weapon selection, but I think 'just 1 rifle' is not enough to warrant all that dangerous dark study. A rifle, a shotgun, a minigun, bolter and a heavy incinerator on the other hand...