ArmA 3 magazine handling improvement ideas

[macieksoft 11]

I'd like to discuss some issues with current magazine handling system in game.

It is all fine when you use weapons that use magazines, but that system doesn't works well when using weapons that use internal magazines.

 

Good example are 12g pump action shotguns from various mods.

In real life you just load them with 12g rounds one by one. They don't require any special magazines that fits only in one type. You just load the 12 gauge rounds.

In game however, there is a magazine system forcing you to use certain magazine for certain weapons, even know they are in reality loaded with separate rounds not carried in any magazine.

That means that if you'r shotgun has 5 round magazine in game, you cannot load it with 7 round magazine. Even know in reality they use exactly the same "raw" ammo (not stored in magazine).

 

Another good example is M32 grenade launcher. In game it requires special 6 round magazine. That 6 round magazine cannot fit in M320 or M203.

In reality you just load it with 6 separate grenades.

 

That is not only annoying for the players, because you need separate magazines for M32 and M203, so you cannot share them between your buddies with different weapons. That also forces DEVs to create different magazines for different weapons (so they have more work to do).

 

Wouldn't it be good to make system that allows multiple "raw" rounds (not packed into magazine) to be loaded in the weapon?

So if you load M32 it gonna just take 6 separate rounds from your inventory instead of requiring fake 6 round magazine.

That would be a good improvement to the engine.

 

The other idea is to allow magazines to be turned into separate rounds. Just add option for the player to unload magazine and turn it into pile of separate rounds. Then player could be able to load them into a different magazine (assuming that magazine support this type of ammo) or used them as separate rounds. That would be even more flexible than magazine repack option found in some mods.

[drebin052 324]

Your suggestions aren't exactly new. This is something that's been requested for since OFP.

 

By the way, there is no M32, M320 or M203 in vanilla outside of mods so that's got nothing to do with the BI devs. The only weapon that this would apply to is the Kozlice, which would benefit from a more robust magazines system.

 

Even so, this probably isn't going to happen for Arma 3 as it would require a significant overhaul to CfgMagazines. But for Arma 4? Who knows. We'll just have to wait and see what BI comes up with.