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About this mod
Removes camera transforms from the first-person rifle ironsights animations to ensure accuracy.
- Permissions and credits
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Update Sept 16 2013
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Three new packages added to the Optional section, one each for NVEC, WMXUE and Weapon Animation Replacer. As before, blame Befo for it.
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Update Sept 13 2013
>>>>>>>>>>
Two new packages added: one contains the vanilla game animations with a few of said animations having Bethesda-sourced bugfixes applied, the other package contains the above and, at long last, the animations added by DLCs.
Full credit for both these packages goes to Nexus user Befo; without his interest and work they wouldn't exist, since I no longer play NV or have it installed.
>>>>>>>>>>
Update Sept 12 2013
>>>>>>>>>>
Added a tutorial video to the Videos section that shows, much more clearly than I can possibly write out, how to change animations yourself.
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Introduction
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This is a wall of text. Just saying. Skip to the TL;DR section if you don't like reading.
So you got your spiffy new Hunting Rifle. You load up on some .308 hollowpoint rounds, and head out to smite some mudcrabs. In the head. Because that's what rifles DO, amiright.
You crouch down on a small ridge and sight in on a mudcrab bathing itself in a small irradiated lake. It pauses for a moment, instincts telling it that something hostile is nearby, giving you the perfect opportunity to get a good bead on its tiny head. You squeeze the trigger...
...and your %$^*ing beautifully-aimed shot goes 5 feet above its head. The next several minutes are spent trying to sight in and kill it with even a basic shot, while the mudcrab comically rushes around to your straying bullets' impact points. Finally you get a solid shot on it...20 wasted bullets later.
Many of you have, no doubt, fallen victim to Bethesda's imperfect shot system at one time or another. I can't tell you the exact cause of the problem, but I can speculate; the engine detects the input button to fire, then plays the animation. At the beginning of the animation are two important things --- the "hit" trigger, which tells the game engine to create and throw a projectile (visually, the gun firing a bullet), and the beginning of a set of transforms for a node named "Camera1st", which causes the kickback effect on your first-person view. Now, these two events are very close together, naturally, and this wouldn't normally be a problem, except that the camera transform doesn't require that the projectile has been shot before doing its thing. You would think that the animation would automatically pause at the firing event until the engine told it to continue, but you would be wrong and shame on you for even thinking that stop it.
So occasionally (or often, depending on your processor speed), you end up with a projectile being created and shot in the middle of the gun's recoil, when the camera is no longer centered on the target. Since in first-person the center of the camera == the crosshair == the point your bullet will hit (assuming world geometry doesn't screw you over with imprecise hitboxes), this is....a slight problem. Even switching the weapon's animation to AttackRight, as has been suggested in the forums at least once, won't fully work, since (in my experience) AttackRight in the rifle animation set has a small "recoil" that shifts the aim to the right slightly, making it occasionally miss at long ranges as well. Not to mention you lose certain weapons' special animations (bolt/lever-action).
Fortunately, I have devised a fix of sorts. Going into the animation files reveals that one can change which nodes will be affected by a given set of transforms. Changing "Camera1st" to something useless/invalid, say "null", causes transforms to no longer be applied to that node. And so, this is what I have done; all (even Varmint Rifle's, even though I've never had an issue with it) rifle animations, assault rifle animations, and most pistol animations have had their transformations redirected from the first-person camera node to a non-existent node. The result is that the camera no longer moves during a shot, meaning that it will remain centered on your target, but you still get your spiffy bolt/lever-action animations. It feels a bit floaty, especially with high-recoil guns like the AMR, but it's certainly better than missing perfectly-aimed shots just because the engine doesn't want to behave, or giving up sexy bolt-action animations just so you can hit something. This tweak is even self-balancing; you no longer have to deal with view recoil, but the gun model itself will usually be more than happy to block your view while it's recoiling.
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TL;DR
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Removes the camera movement while aiming down ironsights, so your shots will no longer mysteriously miss their target.
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Installation
>>>>>>>>>>
Click Download With Manager and activate the package(s).
For the old package, copy all contained files into your New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson folder. Overwrite as necessary.
>>>>>>>>>>
Uninstallation
>>>>>>>>>>
Deactivate the package in NMM. It will (in theory probably maybe) remove the replacement animations.
If you installed using the old manual package, delete the following from New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson
1hpattack3is.kf
1hpattack4is.kf
1hpattack5is.kf
1hpattackleftis.kf
1hpattackright.kf
2haattack3is.kf
2haattack4is.kf
2haattackleftis.kf
2haattackloop.kf
2haattackrightis.kf
2hrattack3is.kf
2hrattack4is.kf
2hrattack5is.kf
2hrattack6is.kf
2hrattack7is.kf
2hrattack8is.kf
2hrattack9is.kf
2hrattackleftis.kf
2hrattackrightis.kf
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How can I do this to my own animations/animations others have made?
>>>>>>>>>>
Holy crap that was a long bolded title.
I would suggest not screwing with the camera at all when creating your own animations, at least not until the engine is tweaked so this will no longer happen (assuming it ever is). If you really must, transform the camera so it pushes BACK, not UP, as it's somewhat more realistic (handguns, especially revolvers, tend to "flip" upwards due to the firing line being above the user's hand; rifles tend to push back more than up, since the firing line is more inline with the stock) and won't mess with the aim point.
As for others' animations, you'll need Nifskope.
That all said, check the Video section for a visual tutorial. It's much, much easier to follow than written instructions.
Alternatively, step by step:
1) Open the offending animation file in Nifskope.
2) Select the NiControllerSequence block. Should be at the top, labeled with the animation's internal name, you can't miss it.
3) In the lower pane (Block Details), look for an expandable section named "Controlled Blocks" with the type "ControllerLink", and expand it.
4) A list of Controlled Blocks will come up, each able to be expanded. Pay attention to the Value of each. You're looking for the one with the value "Camera1st".
5) Expand the block when you find it, and look through its contents for "Node Name" with the type "String". The one you want has the value "Camera1st".
6) Right-click that entry, and select "Edit String Index". Clear Camera1st from the text box and enter something invalid; "null" works fine.
7) Press Ok, save the file where you loaded it from, making sure to change the type from .nif to .kf. Overwrite when prompted.
7.1) NOTE: if you extracted an animation file from a BSA and edited it, save the new copy in the same place that the other animations go (New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson).
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Compatibility Issues
>>>>>>>>>>
Anything that overwrites these animations will, of course, remove them and the replaced string index values contained therein. If you find an animation you like or a weapon comes with an animation, you'll have to edit them yourself as per the above instructions.
That said, since nothing is actually edited in the game engine or via esps, nothing should conflict ever. The only thing I can think of offhand would be nifSE (trying to edit the Camera1st blocks, which are no longer labeled as such), and I'm not even sure there's a version out for NV yet, nor do I think that anyone would want to mess about with animations through it.
>>>>>>>>>>
Credits, usage, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>
These animations are not mine, they are created for and packaged with the game that you are playing with your grubby little appendages. I will gladly take credit for figuring out how to make the animations not screw up gameplay, but the (excellent in my opinion) original animations are Bethesda's.
You may probably NOT use these animations in your mod or whatever, since as they do not belong to me, I can't give you permission to use them.
(that said, if you were to stick ironsights onto a normally-scoped rifle like an AMR and include the appropriate animation to make it functional, I very much doubt anyone would complain)
>>>>>>>>>>
Revision History
>>>>>>>>>>
Update 1
Added vanilla pistol animations, since some pistols can be used for mid-range sniping after all. Really didn't occur to me, a rifle user, before recently :v
It should be noted that a couple of the animations are odd without camera movement. You'll see what I mean.
Also added the assault rifle loop by request. No more shaking for your camera, wooo. (I personally recommend finding a recoil mod though, to keep at least a tad bit of realism)
Update 2
Didn't think to check my own mods when NMM released, so the package had no folder tree and thus dumped the animations into the Data folder when installed with NMM. Being there, they didn't override anything, so NMM users experienced absolutely no improvement. Woops :v
Repackaged the package, so NMM should install it correctly.
Update 2b
Folder path was incorrect; set to /character/ instead of /characters/. This drops the files into a location the game won't use, thus no changes to the camera's behavior. Thank you to LukeEndo for pointing it out.
If you tried to install 2a with NMM and nothing happened, this is why. Please install this revised version.
>>>>>>>>>>
Final Words
>>>>>>>>>>
Bethesda, you've made an awesome game, really you have. But next time, please either split fire animations into two nifs (so the engine can perform the animation to Fire, Fire, then play the second animation file containing the rest of the animation, so as to ensure that recoiling will only happen after the game engine has created and sent a projectile), or tie animations into the engine better (so the animations and the engine can continually confirm that they're on the same page, so to speak).
Update Sept 16 2013
>>>>>>>>>>
Three new packages added to the Optional section, one each for NVEC, WMXUE and Weapon Animation Replacer. As before, blame Befo for it.
>>>>>>>>>>
Update Sept 13 2013
>>>>>>>>>>
Two new packages added: one contains the vanilla game animations with a few of said animations having Bethesda-sourced bugfixes applied, the other package contains the above and, at long last, the animations added by DLCs.
Full credit for both these packages goes to Nexus user Befo; without his interest and work they wouldn't exist, since I no longer play NV or have it installed.
>>>>>>>>>>
Update Sept 12 2013
>>>>>>>>>>
Added a tutorial video to the Videos section that shows, much more clearly than I can possibly write out, how to change animations yourself.
>>>>>>>>>>
Introduction
>>>>>>>>>>
This is a wall of text. Just saying. Skip to the TL;DR section if you don't like reading.
So you got your spiffy new Hunting Rifle. You load up on some .308 hollowpoint rounds, and head out to smite some mudcrabs. In the head. Because that's what rifles DO, amiright.
You crouch down on a small ridge and sight in on a mudcrab bathing itself in a small irradiated lake. It pauses for a moment, instincts telling it that something hostile is nearby, giving you the perfect opportunity to get a good bead on its tiny head. You squeeze the trigger...
...and your %$^*ing beautifully-aimed shot goes 5 feet above its head. The next several minutes are spent trying to sight in and kill it with even a basic shot, while the mudcrab comically rushes around to your straying bullets' impact points. Finally you get a solid shot on it...20 wasted bullets later.
Many of you have, no doubt, fallen victim to Bethesda's imperfect shot system at one time or another. I can't tell you the exact cause of the problem, but I can speculate; the engine detects the input button to fire, then plays the animation. At the beginning of the animation are two important things --- the "hit" trigger, which tells the game engine to create and throw a projectile (visually, the gun firing a bullet), and the beginning of a set of transforms for a node named "Camera1st", which causes the kickback effect on your first-person view. Now, these two events are very close together, naturally, and this wouldn't normally be a problem, except that the camera transform doesn't require that the projectile has been shot before doing its thing. You would think that the animation would automatically pause at the firing event until the engine told it to continue, but you would be wrong and shame on you for even thinking that stop it.
So occasionally (or often, depending on your processor speed), you end up with a projectile being created and shot in the middle of the gun's recoil, when the camera is no longer centered on the target. Since in first-person the center of the camera == the crosshair == the point your bullet will hit (assuming world geometry doesn't screw you over with imprecise hitboxes), this is....a slight problem. Even switching the weapon's animation to AttackRight, as has been suggested in the forums at least once, won't fully work, since (in my experience) AttackRight in the rifle animation set has a small "recoil" that shifts the aim to the right slightly, making it occasionally miss at long ranges as well. Not to mention you lose certain weapons' special animations (bolt/lever-action).
Fortunately, I have devised a fix of sorts. Going into the animation files reveals that one can change which nodes will be affected by a given set of transforms. Changing "Camera1st" to something useless/invalid, say "null", causes transforms to no longer be applied to that node. And so, this is what I have done; all (even Varmint Rifle's, even though I've never had an issue with it) rifle animations, assault rifle animations, and most pistol animations have had their transformations redirected from the first-person camera node to a non-existent node. The result is that the camera no longer moves during a shot, meaning that it will remain centered on your target, but you still get your spiffy bolt/lever-action animations. It feels a bit floaty, especially with high-recoil guns like the AMR, but it's certainly better than missing perfectly-aimed shots just because the engine doesn't want to behave, or giving up sexy bolt-action animations just so you can hit something. This tweak is even self-balancing; you no longer have to deal with view recoil, but the gun model itself will usually be more than happy to block your view while it's recoiling.
>>>>>>>>>>
TL;DR
>>>>>>>>>>
Removes the camera movement while aiming down ironsights, so your shots will no longer mysteriously miss their target.
>>>>>>>>>>
Installation
>>>>>>>>>>
Click Download With Manager and activate the package(s).
For the old package, copy all contained files into your New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson folder. Overwrite as necessary.
>>>>>>>>>>
Uninstallation
>>>>>>>>>>
Deactivate the package in NMM. It will (in theory probably maybe) remove the replacement animations.
If you installed using the old manual package, delete the following from New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson
1hpattack3is.kf
1hpattack4is.kf
1hpattack5is.kf
1hpattackleftis.kf
1hpattackright.kf
2haattack3is.kf
2haattack4is.kf
2haattackleftis.kf
2haattackloop.kf
2haattackrightis.kf
2hrattack3is.kf
2hrattack4is.kf
2hrattack5is.kf
2hrattack6is.kf
2hrattack7is.kf
2hrattack8is.kf
2hrattack9is.kf
2hrattackleftis.kf
2hrattackrightis.kf
>>>>>>>>>>
How can I do this to my own animations/animations others have made?
>>>>>>>>>>
Holy crap that was a long bolded title.
I would suggest not screwing with the camera at all when creating your own animations, at least not until the engine is tweaked so this will no longer happen (assuming it ever is). If you really must, transform the camera so it pushes BACK, not UP, as it's somewhat more realistic (handguns, especially revolvers, tend to "flip" upwards due to the firing line being above the user's hand; rifles tend to push back more than up, since the firing line is more inline with the stock) and won't mess with the aim point.
As for others' animations, you'll need Nifskope.
That all said, check the Video section for a visual tutorial. It's much, much easier to follow than written instructions.
Alternatively, step by step:
1) Open the offending animation file in Nifskope.
2) Select the NiControllerSequence block. Should be at the top, labeled with the animation's internal name, you can't miss it.
3) In the lower pane (Block Details), look for an expandable section named "Controlled Blocks" with the type "ControllerLink", and expand it.
4) A list of Controlled Blocks will come up, each able to be expanded. Pay attention to the Value of each. You're looking for the one with the value "Camera1st".
5) Expand the block when you find it, and look through its contents for "Node Name" with the type "String". The one you want has the value "Camera1st".
6) Right-click that entry, and select "Edit String Index". Clear Camera1st from the text box and enter something invalid; "null" works fine.
7) Press Ok, save the file where you loaded it from, making sure to change the type from .nif to .kf. Overwrite when prompted.
7.1) NOTE: if you extracted an animation file from a BSA and edited it, save the new copy in the same place that the other animations go (New Vegas\Data\Meshes\Character\_1stPerson).
>>>>>>>>>>
Compatibility Issues
>>>>>>>>>>
Anything that overwrites these animations will, of course, remove them and the replaced string index values contained therein. If you find an animation you like or a weapon comes with an animation, you'll have to edit them yourself as per the above instructions.
That said, since nothing is actually edited in the game engine or via esps, nothing should conflict ever. The only thing I can think of offhand would be nifSE (trying to edit the Camera1st blocks, which are no longer labeled as such), and I'm not even sure there's a version out for NV yet, nor do I think that anyone would want to mess about with animations through it.
>>>>>>>>>>
Credits, usage, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>
These animations are not mine, they are created for and packaged with the game that you are playing with your grubby little appendages. I will gladly take credit for figuring out how to make the animations not screw up gameplay, but the (excellent in my opinion) original animations are Bethesda's.
You may probably NOT use these animations in your mod or whatever, since as they do not belong to me, I can't give you permission to use them.
(that said, if you were to stick ironsights onto a normally-scoped rifle like an AMR and include the appropriate animation to make it functional, I very much doubt anyone would complain)
>>>>>>>>>>
Revision History
>>>>>>>>>>
Update 1
Added vanilla pistol animations, since some pistols can be used for mid-range sniping after all. Really didn't occur to me, a rifle user, before recently :v
It should be noted that a couple of the animations are odd without camera movement. You'll see what I mean.
Also added the assault rifle loop by request. No more shaking for your camera, wooo. (I personally recommend finding a recoil mod though, to keep at least a tad bit of realism)
Update 2
Didn't think to check my own mods when NMM released, so the package had no folder tree and thus dumped the animations into the Data folder when installed with NMM. Being there, they didn't override anything, so NMM users experienced absolutely no improvement. Woops :v
Repackaged the package, so NMM should install it correctly.
Update 2b
Folder path was incorrect; set to /character/ instead of /characters/. This drops the files into a location the game won't use, thus no changes to the camera's behavior. Thank you to LukeEndo for pointing it out.
If you tried to install 2a with NMM and nothing happened, this is why. Please install this revised version.
>>>>>>>>>>
Final Words
>>>>>>>>>>
Bethesda, you've made an awesome game, really you have. But next time, please either split fire animations into two nifs (so the engine can perform the animation to Fire, Fire, then play the second animation file containing the rest of the animation, so as to ensure that recoiling will only happen after the game engine has created and sent a projectile), or tie animations into the engine better (so the animations and the engine can continually confirm that they're on the same page, so to speak).