Alright, it’s been a while since I’ve made a post of any substance, so here we go.
Currently within the base 3.0 we have several basic types of firearms (by “weapons” I am referring to firearms only in this topic). These are: Handguns, Carbines, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Rifles, Sharpshooter Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, Machine Guns, and Miscellaneous. This categorization system, however, is rife with error and mistakes.
For example, the submachine gun category was not added until the advent of Empire and Machinenengewehr, leaving prominent and iconic submachine guns such as the Viper (MP5A2), Bulldog (IMI Mini-Uzi), Peacemaker (FN P90), Yuri (PP-19 Bizon), and Scalar (Kriss Vector). All in all, almost every weapon in the “Carbine” class, with the exception of the PDW (Honey Badger), is in fact, a submachine gun.
In addition, many rifles are categorized incorrectly as well. For example, the Chimera (H&K G3) is chambered in the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, which is reflected in its damage. However, automatic rifles that are chambered in full-sized rifle cartridges (such as the G3 and FAL), are in fact, battle rifles.
Another weapon in a similar situation is the Matamorez (VSS Vintorez). By all definitions, it should be classified as a designated marksman rifle, or as known in-game, a sharpshooter rifle.
So, what to do? I guess we shall begin with the actual topic (that was just the introduction if you didn’t realize by now).
Classification
To begin with, I’ll start by listing out what I feel should be the actual types of weapons, along with an image of a weapon that is iconic to that category.
Pistol
Beretta M9
Revolver
Colt Python
Machine Pistol
Stechkin APS
Submachine Gun
MP5A3
Carbine
M4A1
Assault Rifle
AK-74M
Battle Rifle
FN FAL
Designated Marksman Rifle
Dragunov SVD
Sniper Rifle
Walther WA-2000
Bolt-Action Rifle
Mosin-Nagant Model 1891/30
Semi-Automatic Rifle
M1 Garand
Antimaterial Rifle
Barrett M82A1
Antitank Rifle
PTRD-1941
Light Machine Gun
M249 SAW (FN Minimi)
Medium Machine Gun
Vickers MkI
General-Purpose Machine Gun
PKM
Heavy Machine Gun
Degtyarev DShKM-1938/46
Shotgun
Winchester Model 1887
Automatic Shotgun
USAS-12
Grenade Launcher
M79
Automatic Grenade Launcher
AGS-17 “Plamya”
Rocket Launcher
RPG-7
Alright, so that that’s done and over with, let’s put a couple more things out there. For ease of coding, these weapons types will be a category in name only. Therefore, the item card for an AKM, for example, would appear somewhere along the lines of:
AKM
Rare Assault Rifle
The standard by which all modern assault rifles are judged, taking part in hundreds of armed conflicts and wars throughout the entire world, and arming insurgents, mercenaries, and soldiers alike. A rugged and reliable weapon, the Kalashnikov design has proved itself in environments ranging from the desert sands of the Middle East to the freezing tundra of the Arctic.
(Oh, and by the way, yes, I did write that description myself. This is why I should be allowed to write all the descriptions for Unturned items, as I clearly write them better than Nelson himself.)
All firearms should be classified according to their designation in real life - with a few exceptions. For example, this weapon here:
Is the KS-23M. It’s official designation by the Russian Armed Forces is a “Special Purpose Carbine,” however, it is, in fact, most definitely a shotgun.
If the designation is not readily apparent, then the next best possible course of action will be to classify the weapon according to its action and type. For example, despite the fact that I included “Shotgun” as a single category, it should instead be divided into four subcategories (I was too lazy to do so): Pump-Action, Lever-Action, Break-Action (note that sawed-off shotguns that only have the barrel sawed off cannot be referred to as a “sawed-off” or “sawn-off”, instead, it should be classified as a “coach gun”), and Semiautomatic. (there are bolt-action shotguns, however I don’t think their use is justifiable so Nelson can choose whether or not he wants to add them). The same applies to rifles and pistols as well, what I categorized was a very broad category, as there are both break-action and bolt-action pistols, as well as pump-action and break-action rifles.
When it comes to weapons that do not seem to fit a particular designation, nor does its method of operation warrant a classification by action, or the weapon seems to be stuck somewhere in between two categories, then the best possible solution would be to add a “Unique” prefix before the type of weapon.
Let me provide a couple examples of classification when the type is not readily apparent.
This here is a MTs-255 shotgun. You can probably see that it is fed by a cylinder instead of a magazine as opposed to other types of shotguns. Due to the fact that it has a cylinder, this can be classified as a “Revolver Shotgun.”
This is a Thompson/Center Encore. It most closely resembles a pistol, and operates by breaking open the breech to load in a new cartridge, therefore this is a “Break-Action Pistol.”
This is an Obrez, a cut-down Mosin-Nagant. By all accounts it is meant to be used as a pistol, as it was cut down for that exact purpose, however, shortened rifles are almost always referred to as carbines. Therefore, this Obrez is a “Unique Carbine.”
This Model 1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle somewhat resembles the FAL and M14, it fires the .30-06 full-sized rifle cartridge, and has an anemic magazine capacity of 20 rounds. It should be a battle rifle, right? No! It was meant to support squad-sized infantry units. Therefore, it is a “Light Machine Gun.”
Finally, I’d like to put out some rules of thumb and tips for those who approve of this suggestion:
- Submachine guns are always chambered in pistol caliber cartridges.
- Sniper rifles are always purpose-designed, as opposed to bolt-actions that just have a scope stuck onto it.
- General-purpose machine guns are able to fill the role of both light machine guns and medium machine guns, if mounted on a tripod or other stabilizng platform for the latter.
- Carbines are always shorter versions of an existing rifle.
- Assault rifles are always selective-fire, are chambered in an intermediate-sized rifle cartridge, and have generous magazine capacities. If your “assault rifle” is semiautomatic only, then it’s a semiautomatic rifle with an oversized magazine. If it’s automatic only, as is the case with the Federov Avtomat (in all reality it should actually be an LMG or battle rifle), then it is an automatic rifle.
Well, that took me only…checks watch…about two hours or so. I sure hope Nelson goes with my classification system for firearms…