Version 2 Plans
When I first released this mod, the intended purpose was to provide extra customization options for people who had already beaten everything and were sick of looking at the same three weapons all the time. I tend to just play through MH one time, and then hunt for fun on that character for the rest of my game time, and I didn't really think about the weapon tree when making this, since it hasn't really been relevant since Safi. The two optional files to "make it compatible with the weapon tree" were complete afterthoughts I made the day before release on a whim.
However, it's become apparent from the reactions to this mod that there is significant interest in a version of this mod that can be used for the entire duration of the game's story without glitchyness or clipping, and it is theoretically possible to produce a version like that.
So, I'd just like everyone to know that I have heard you and I am working on a version of this mod that can be used without making a single weapon invisible. At the very soonest I could see it being ready in two weeks, but I thought this mod would be ready in two months, and it ended up taking eight. I guess I'm not great at estimating completion time.
If this version of the mod interests you, here are some things you should be aware of.
The Good
- Many restrictions the original version faced will be lifted here. That means gunlances will have parts that glow after wyvern's fire, glaives will change colors properly, many cut weapon details will be added back, etc.
- Every weapon will have three new custom weapons for the combination Lunastra weapons. One for Luna/Nergi, one for Luna/Ruiner, and one for Luna/Xeno. Making these and adding back the features listed above will be the majority of development time.
- Nothing will be made invisible.
The Bad
- This version will NOT include the "extra" fun weapons I put over any redundant parts in the original version. These are the weapons at the bottom row of every image, if you want to know which in particular will be cut. Obviously these will still be in the original part replacer version, if you need them.
- Weapons added in this version will be unable to be layered.
- This is the big one. Any weapon added in this version will have NO sound effects. MHW is extremely particular and restrictive about sounds, which is why so many music mods don't loop properly. Certain actions, like gunlance shots, or attacks that connect will still have sound effects but the VAST majority of actions will be totally silent. There is no fixing this, it's just how the game works.
There is no ideal way to make this mod, it's down to you if you'd rather have invisible weapons or silent weapons, but at least now you'll have the choice.
The plan is to have two versions of the "weapon tree version" as well as all the files for the "part replacer" version.
- One version will maintain Capcom's vision of weapons starting out as slap ons, then becoming unique after a few upgrades (base game weapons become unique in high rank, Iceborne weapons become unique after one upgrade).
- The other will completely remove all slap on weapons from the tree, making unique designs only, even for weapons that transitioned from slap on to unique mid tree.
Here's a preview of the new Lunastra great swords. Nothing super crazy, but this way they all match.
But that's not all!
In addition to the new option on how to use the mod, I'm also planning on fixing a small number of issues I had with the mod. Namely, two sets of weapons I'm planning on changing.
Girros Weapons
There's been a lot of complaining about my Girros weapons, and not without merit, since they're just Gogmazios weapons painted yellow.
When making a weapon for a monster that never had one, I always try to match the armor set rather then the monster directly. There are two reasons for this. One, Capcom usually already had a concept going that I can play off of, and two, players are going to see a monster's weapon and armor right next to each other a lot more often then they'll see the monster with the weapon. So when making Girros's weapons, I needed something to go with a plague doctor. There's really only two good choices here, Khezu weapons and Gogmazios weapons. Ultimately I went with Gogmazios.
The problem was that editing Gogma's weapons felt like blasphemy. Early on I wasn't even planning on recoloring them. So I ended up leaving them mostly untouched. Now that I've made a standalone Gogmazios weapon pack, I'm totally over any compunctions with editing them.
I'm going for an alchemy motif with Girros's "new" weapons. I don't know much of anything about alchemy, so please don't read too far into the designs and tell me that my circles don't make any sense.
The charge blade opens to reveal the philosopher's stone...or at least, a drawing of it.
The gunlance is covered in writing that lights up after wyvern's fire is used.
If you're wondering why Girros weapons glow, it's supposed to be Girros's paralyzing toxins. I've toned down the glowing significantly for the redesigns.
Jagras Weapons
I was expecting to catch a lot of flak from Jagras fans for not changing his weapons at all, but surprisingly, no one has even mentioned it.
If you were wondering why I left them alone, here's why, just for fun.
- Great Jaggi's weapons are very similar in appearance to slap ons, being jaggi hide on a bone or metal weapon. In a world where slap ons never existed, Jagras's weapons would probably still look like what we got.
- Jagras weapons share a lot with anjanath weapons, such as the strings of beads and metal ring decorations. Anjanath's unique weapons are anja hide and fur on unique bone weapons, and jagras's one unique weapon, the heavy bowgun, is also just jagras hide on a unique bone frame.
- Leaving Jagras weapons unchanged would be a way to include the bone weapons I had to remove to make this mod work.
I'm satisfied with leaving his weapons alone, but it does pose a problem when you make a weapon tree version of the mod. I can't say I replaced every slap on in the game if I don't change Jagras's somehow. So, my plan is to make unique Jagras parts and/or bone bases. I haven't thought much about it past that, though.
I hope you look foreword to the update!
3 comments
and if I put this anywhere else I will probably lose it
Weapon Tree edition:
-Rusty bow is invisible when sheathed
-symbols on artian gunlance shield are glowing all the time
-Rusty and Artian lances are too close to the back when sheathed
Part Replacer edition:
nothing yet
Please report any bugs if you find them (in the bug reports section, not here), I checked over everything many times, but there is a lot here, and I definitely missed some things
It's been a few days since I wrote this, so I figured I'd write a small progress report for anyone interested. I'll leave these in the comments whenever I feel like there's something worth saying, and maybe someone will see it.
The scope is expanding slightly. I've decided to rename the slots in the weapon tree where my weapons will be. It just adds a bit more polish and fun to the whole thing, I find it very satisfying to see them with their own names.
The naming scheme of slap ons goes (Name) I, II, III, while unique weapons tend to just have (Name) and (Name)+ before changing. Because of this, I'm not planning on changing weapon descriptions, because they'd be rolling over at different times then the names, and the whole thing would just be a mess. Plus that'd be way more time consuming.
Secondly, I've "finished" two Jagras weapons. I'm not totally happy with these yet, the great sword especially needs some more time in the oven, I think. Here's a picture though, to give you an idea of what to expect. The theme is "Junk the smithy had lying around, stuck together into a weapon." It's a pretty fun theme imo, but so far the designs have come out a lot more busy then I'd like. Lunastra weapons are coming along well, but you'll have to wait for the full release for those, there are just too many to photograph.
I'm adding a lot of details I had to leave out back to the weapons. For example, a lot of the glaives have parts that move now when you prepare to shoot the bug, just like in 4u. It was a lot of fun to make this effect work, I hope all the glaive users like it.
Finally, I'm probably not going to make the version of the mod where it totally removes slap ons from the game completely. At the time I put that in the initial plan, this whole thing was just a short project to crank out so people who wanted the weapon tree version could have it, but now I really want to make a more immersive and seamless experience. I really would like to keep the number of different versions of this mod in circulation to a minimum as well (this is why I waited to release originally until every single weapon was done), and the idea of having one version of the weapon tree edition that has a carefully constructed vision and one that completely circumvents it just doesn't sit right. Plus, making more slots unique means I'll need a lot more names, and it just complicates everything.
TL:DR, it's coming along well, but a bit slowly.
Thats great news! Also it so important that you have fun making this and that you define the scope on this project solely by your own personal preferences. :)
I wish you best of luck with this mod and I'll be looking forward to more updates!
P.S. The Jagras designed CB and GS look really really good!!