Jagged Alliance 3

Jagged Alliance 3

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MMGGA - Make Machine Guns Great Again
   
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12 Aug, 2023 @ 1:31am
22 Aug, 2023 @ 9:22am
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MMGGA - Make Machine Guns Great Again

Description
Patch 1.03 has ruined Machine Guns. This mod tries to make them great again but preserves balance.
Compatible with 1.1.0.

Features
  • MG Interrupt count is not limited by AP but ammo in the magazine
  • Smaller MG magazines, more AP to reload
  • Break MG OW by Suppressing, Burning, or dealing Explosive damage
  • Adjustable OW range
  • MGs benefit from MRK, STR, and HLT. Less dependency on AGI/DEX.

The Elephant In the Room
The main reason why Machine Guns are so deadly (i.e., were before 1.03) is the dumb enemy AI. It feels like suicidal enemies are running into MG's Overwatch area on purpose - to die faster. In reality, AI simply does not take into account OW areas and behaves as if there are none. Enhancing AI is the ultimate goal to make MG powerful but balanced. But it is not a subject of this mod. MMGGA tries to adjust the balance within the current AI limitations.

The Bug That Should Be the Feature
JA3 1.02 had two MG "bugs": a) use MAX AP to calculate interrupt count instead of remaining AP; b) reset MG interrupt count on each kill. Those two bugs gave MG a unique feature - Area Denial. Patch 1.03 fixed those two "bugs", ruining the feature and turning MGs from unique weapons into worse versions of ARs.
MMGGA restores the area denial feature by removing interrupt count dependency on AP. Machine Gun operators can shoot until they run out of ammo. Speaking of which, MG magazines are made smaller, and reloads cost more for balance reasons.

Consume Next Turn's AP (Optional)
MG interrupt attacks still use Action Points. When the remaining AP is not enough to perform the attack, the merc "borrows" AP from the next turn. MG continues to shoot, but the merc will have less AP in the next turn. Making too many attacks leads to skipping the next turn due to AP=0. Nonetheless, MG will continue shooting (triggering interrupts) until running out of ammo.

Meat Shield Tactic
Since enemies are still dumb, MMGGA exploits their dumbness as a valid tactic against MG emplacement. Enemies act as meat shields, forcing the MG operator to use more ammo and eventually reload. MG reloads cost more, and the AP Deposit system may entirely drain the next turn's AP - making the merc skip the next turn.

Adjustable Overwatch Cone
MMGGA allows adjusting the range of MG Overwatch Cone - similar to other weapons, like AR. There is the minimum Overwatch range for MG, though. The maximum Overwatch range depends on Marksmanship. Overwatch angle depends on Strength. Stronger mercs can move/rotate MG faster, leading to a wider Overwatch cone.

Extra Options to Break MG Overwatch
MG Overwatch can be broken by:
  • Emptying the magazine. Opportunistic Killer does NOT auto-reload machine guns anymore.
  • Suppression or Burning. Throwing Flashbang or Molotov are good options to eliminate MG OW.
  • Nearby explosions. Depends on Health. If an MG operator receives explosive damage >15% HLT, the OW breaks.

Mod Options
The player can control the following MMGGA features:
  • Next Turn AP - whenever to use the next turn's AP to continue Interrupts (MMGGA special) or stop Overwatch (Vanilla behavior).
  • Min MG Interrupts - in case of "Next Turn AP" disabled, the player can set the minimum number of MG interrupt even if the merc does not have enough AP. Vanilla 1.0.3 has this set to 1 (which is ridiculous, especially when all other weapons have 2). The default option is "3", which somewhat restores the 1.0.2 behavior. Once again, this option is used only if "Next Turn AP" is OFF!
  • Short MG Overwatch Range - Vanilla hardcodes MG Overwatch Range to maximum distance. MMGGA allows scaling OW from medium to long. This option unlocks short ranges.
25 Comments
cockadoodledoo 21 Aug @ 9:10am 
I have reuploaded the Mod so it works with latest version:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3552447460
All credits to [SrcN]PooSH!
cockadoodledoo 17 Aug @ 8:53am 
This is absolutely brilliant!!!
Bump for an Update!
Masterpiece!
kaelis 20 Jul @ 12:22pm 
Adding my request for an update please :lunar2019grinningpig:
Night Stalker 6 Nov, 2024 @ 5:26am 
Probably a long shot but Could you pretty please update this ?
DarkGeneral 26 Mar, 2024 @ 6:10am 
Mod downloaded with errors! Does not work!
TangoHotelCharlie 6 Dec, 2023 @ 8:35am 
Ahh, ok. Thank you for your quick response :D
[ScrN]PooSH  [author] 6 Dec, 2023 @ 8:14am 
@TangoHotelCharlie By default, MG OW cone can be adjusted from medium to long range. Maximum range depends on Marksmanship. If the merc has low MRK, only one range is available. However, there is a checkbox in Mod Options to unlock short ranges.
TangoHotelCharlie 6 Dec, 2023 @ 3:13am 
Hey Poosh,

thank you very much for this nice mod. I enjoy realy it and I need some help: could you explain me how to adjust the range of the OW cone? It seems like I only have one range avaiable.
Night Stalker 9 Oct, 2023 @ 8:55am 
This mod is amazing thank you