eXcalibr Bullet Physics

eXcalibr Bullet Physics

Requires eXcalibr

Current Version:

Description:

What does this mod do?

This is a crude attempt at making the physics of bullets closer to the real world. As we all know, Fallout 3/Gamebryo is a terrible platform for emulating real world ballistics and physics in general, but this can help a little.

The main thing this mod does is try to copy the velocities of the real world bullets represented by the bullets in xCALIBR, and also the vanilla bullet projectiles. The data I got is gathered from various internet sources, featuring the average velocities these bullets travel at muzzle when fired from various guns. I also tried to pick a middle ground between the various weights and kinds of the same round (full-metal jacket, jacketed hollowpoint, etc.). The result is an abbreviation of all of that data. I used the formula with the assumption that 10 "Speed" = 1 foot per second. This may be inaccurate, but from some testing, it seems that firing the weapons in-game brings somewhat similar results to what you might expect when you fire the same cartridge from the same gun in real life.

I also applied a very subtle bullet drop element. It's so subtle that you might not notice it for most guns, but it definitely works for higher ranges, and also allows you to aim more accurately when you get used to it (with 100 Small Guns skill, I'm able to hit a headshot accurately with my main sniper rifles at a range of about 130m, according to this rangefinder mod). I mainly did this to counter how bullets seem to rise at a range because of the scopes for most guns being zeroed for ranges below 75m.

I removed a lot of the tracers (but not all). Sniper rifles from mods might use the tracer version of the projectile, especially if they share an ammunition type with a machinegun, which needs tracers (the 7. 62x51mm, 7. 62x54mmR and 5. 56x45mm NATO rounds are typical examples). I have not touched any weapons with my mod, and it's generally not an issue. I left tracers in many pistol rounds, because it's a little harder to aim in third person at close range. It's nice to see where the bullets are going so you can easily adjust.

Maximum ranges are also adjusted for all projectiles. You should be able to see some impact effect if you fire into a hill some 500m away (if you have your LOD/distance settings up that high), and you won't be able to see the same effect if you fired a shotgun or a pistol into that same hill.

Lastly, I also adjusted the impact force. I actually did this part just for fun, but I based it on the formula of 1 impact force per 10 ft-lbf. If you fire a high-powered gun like a Barrett M105 into a tin can, for example, it should cause the tin can to fly up into the air. It's not really realistic but it sure is fu