Realistic Combat Tweaks
If you like hardcore shooters with realistic gunplay and fast TTK like Insurgency Sandstorm and Metro 2033 (Ranger mode), then you’ll love this realism mod.
I always hate it when games have artificial difficulty where playing on hard just means enemies become bullet sponges and your weapons are less effective. Harder difficulty should mean enemy AI is more aggressive, has faster reflexes, and their weapons are more lethal… But yours are too.
Easy, Normal, and Hard only affects player vulnerability and supplies quantity. I recommend playing on Normal starting out. Hard requires tactical approaches and using cover. Easy can be used to get yourself out of a pickle.
- Damage scaling has been increased for both receiving and inflicting. Headshots are deadly.
- Pistol accuracy has been increased. Metrocop "stitch" reaction time increased. (spotting and tracking vehicle).
- Ammo capacity has been increased only for AR2 (60 -> 90) and crossbow (10 -> 20). Pistol ammo reduced 150 -> 90 (5 perfectly divided magazines).
- Buckshot pellets changed to 8 (default is 7 which doesn’t make sense realistically).
- Explosives are more dangerous for everyone. Frag grenade radius increased.
- Health and HEV chargers have more juice but still run out.
- Airboat/Buggy guns are more efficient.
- Gunships and striders do not mess around. Use cover.
- Combine Snipers will dust you in 2 shots (1 if no armor) on any difficulty. Don’t get hit.
Ragdoll limit set to 80 for more immersion (and save file stability). Tested with 200+ ragdolls and didn’t lose a frame while capped 300fps. Be immersed post gunfight and count your kills!
(If excessive corpse build-up in ep2 Vortal Coil chapter are making that level’s transition/savefile unstable, just type "g_ragdoll_fadespeed 1" in console to clean up after the vortigaunt fight.)
I recommend typing "hud_quickinfo 0" into the console to get rid of the yellow infobar crosshairs. They take up too much screen in my opinion. HL2 always remembers this command so you only have to type it once.
This mod will make Sandtrap’s "floor is lava" section a little more punishing, and Nova Prospekt’s bugbait much more rewarding: 1.25x Speed Antlions
(Bugs should swarm the enemy like locusts)
This is nice too: Faster Combine Elites (specialized overwatch with improved senses and extensive anatomical modifications should be deadlier than regular units)
I also recommend this realistic bullet cracks & impacts mod which pairs nicely with new ballistics: Bullet Crack SFX
(Not only will bullets hurt more, but they’ll sound much scarier too)
CHANGES:
-APC guided missiles have been nerfed in Water Hazard (they would insta kill you lol)
-AR2 damage increased for more usefulness to set it above the smg since it’s a battle rifle.
-Gunship health increments defaulted so it can trigger its injured panic stage and blow up Nova Prospekt entrance consistently on each difficulty.
-Strider and Gunship damage reduced.
-Combine Sniper damage substantially increased for player and citizens. Will insta-kill citizens.
-Heavily reduced antlion health to make ep2 Vortal Coil chapter balanced, especially with 1.25x speed increase mod. They still steamroll through combine in Nova Prospekt.
-Ragdoll sleeptime (physics freeze) increased from 5 seconds to 20.
-If excessive corpse build-up in ep2 Vortal Coil chapter are making that level’s transition/savefile crash, just type "g_ragdoll_fadespeed 1" in console to clean up after the vortigaunt fight.
-Made compatible with Script MultiLoader. I use the Friendly Fire mod to confirm this as it also increases realism and brings back memories of Half-Life 1.
