Removing Weapons from JK3

[MechWarrior001]

Hey, whats up?

 

I want to put JK3 on the computers at the Boys & Girls Club, but they don't allow first-person shooters or FPS content, and apparently the lightsabers-only option for MP doesn't cut it, so:

 

How would I remove the weapons from the *.pk3's without causing conflicts?

 

Is there a central weapons registry file or list the engine reads to tell whether the weapon is available or not? If so, would it be possible to edit this so the game thinks the only weapon that exists is the lightsaber?

[acdcfanbill]

This sort of an odd request, but you probably can remove all the weapon models and effects from the pk3's. The models should have their own folders, but the effects are probably mixed in with other effects. This however wouldn't really remove them, because you could still 'shoot' them, there just wouldn't be any gun on screen, nor any projectiles to be seen. Any invisible shots that hit would still do damage. You could probably remove all the weapons via a mod, but then the game would be pretty dull?

 

It should be possible however I would think it would be a lot of work and I don't really see how the arbitrary division of lightsabers from guns makes any sense...

[nizwiz]

So they don't allow any games featuring shooting, but mutilating with lightsabers/swords is ok? Weird policy.

 

Anyway, if you want the MP game only, someone could probably do a code mod that would disable any weapons but lightsabers.

[MechWarrior001]

If I remember correctly, dismemberment didn't work correctly in Multiplayer mode, something about model permutation data not syncing over the network, but then again, I may be wrong.

 

Anyways, is there some sort of list or database the game needs to read before it knows which weapons "exist"? For example, if I model & animated a Merr-Sonn "Power" 5 Heavy Blaster Pistol and put it in a mod, wouldn't I need to put it in some sort of reference table before it becomes available ingame? If so, couldn't I do the same to remove the ranged weapons by removing their references from the weapon database?

[nizwiz]

I think this table is mostly coded in. But I take it you in deed want the MP game only. So, I or someone else could try to do a code mod that removes all weapons but lightsabers if that is what you want; shouldn't be too much of a hassle, I guess. Still, I for one would only start doing it after you've checked whether this game has any chance remaining on the club's rigs (we wouldn't want to waste our time, now would we?).

[MechWarrior001]

They said the game is fine as long as any fps content is removed or disabled. And the comps there use 8500 GT's and Core 2 Duo's, so I don't believe performance is going to be a problem either.

[nizwiz]

Do you want it such that only the players are restricted in their armament (but bots / NPCs have their usual weapons), or do you want the problematic weapons removed completely. And exactly which weapons are problematic for you, anyway? All ranged weapons? What about explosives, stun baton, melee?

[MechWarrior001]

The problematic weapons are any weapons that utilize a first-person interface. Since light sabers can't be used in first person, they are fine. I think what I'm trying to say is, literally, remove every weapon but lightsabers from the game. remove them from the *.pk3s or modify the game qvm's (which, for jk3, are in the form of *.dll's, I think) to not make any references to any weapons except lightsabers, unless there is a way to modify the exe or qvm-dll's to permanently keep the Lightsabers Only option enabled for multiplayer games.

[nizwiz]

The problematic weapons are any weapons that utilize a first-person interface. Since light sabers can't be used in first person, they are fine...

 

Uhm, that sounds as if "first-person" were the crucial part in FPS. If that's really so for your intents and purposes, it's super easy to modify the cgame dll such that the game is locked in third-person mode (by making cg_thirdPerson read-only with value 1).

 

But it just occurred to me that a code change like that wouldn't really be failsafe, unless you could guarantee that the base directory of at least the server not be tampered with (so I could modify the server to enforce whatever needs to be enforced). Otherwise the individual players could simply install a PK3 containing the original dll on top of the modified game.

(On the other hand, the supervisors of your club probably don't know enough about q3 to be aware of this issue, so...)

 

Hmm, maybe your idea to remove all ranged weapons from the assets is really your best option.