Musket Add-On Concept

[Aldebaran 8]

Given the number of requests that have been made to add firearms to the game (enough to where Dunk even posted that he would personally  not add them in under the do-not-request page), I am surprised that nobody has actually stepped forward to build it as an add on.  I myself am not a programmer in any capacity and I won't venture that it is possible for me to build an add-on (sometimes I am amazed that I can even turn on my computer). 

 

Having said that, I can't build an add-on... but I can build a musket.

 

I know it is a bit of a shot in the dark, but if there are any skilled mod builders who would be interested in building a mod I would be more than happy to assist you however possible.  A flintlock would be doable but I can see a matchlock being more viable with simpler construction and less work. 

 

A matchlock musket recipe could easily be something as simple as:

Lever + Fuse + Barrel + Stock

 

Lever: New casting recipe made of steel, blue steel or red steel

Fuse: Made from yarn/rope (possibly combined with suet if using assets from extra-firma

Barrel: steel, blue steel or red steel tuyere x 2

Stock: Wooden Plank + knife

 

Ammunition could also be done simply as well via a paper cartridge recipe:

Paper + Powder + Musket Ball
Paper: Just regular Paper

Powder: Gunpowder

Musket Ball: New Clay Mold Recipe filled using lead

 

Matchlock: (an overly complicated one, but still)

 

Flintlock:

 

 

 

Comments, concerns and prayer requests are all appreciated!

 

[Mannymous 0]

how would this be different from Extrafima's Cross bow?  Other than requiring top tier materials, it would still take time to load, would it be useful against skeletons? I'm all for adding uses to the red/blue steel/mid-to-end-game, but other than the wish-fulfillment of bearing arms in most mods what would be the point?  (no offense intended).

[Miner239 47]

Why not using metals currently unused? Something like brass.

[Peffern 94]

brass.

lead

[Miner239 47]

lead

[Mannymous 0]

lol... miner wins the internet.

[Visitor 36]

I don't feel particular need for such device but I guess it could a very nice, not overly overpowered gimmick (expensive ammunition, slow reload but very powerful attack with relatively straight projectile trajectory?) - not only it'd be another potential goal late-game but I really like the idea of using currently rather worthless metals (though technically, I don't see why a flintlock or musket and their ammunition couldn't be made with all kinds of those metals as well, as long as they're not overly soft). I wouldn't even mind such thing showing itself in the core mod - seems not less fitting than pumps, pipes and other such bits that were planned.

[Aldebaran 8]

I won't say a real musket has a straight trajectory... hell if somebody with a musket (note: musket, not rifle) shoots at you at about 100 yards and actually hits you, you are terribly unlucky.  However, for the purposes of an add-on such as this the trajectory would of course be straight.

 

The difference between the musket and the crossbow is that...

You can't regather fired ammunition for a musket

A musket hits with substantially more force than a crossbow, enough to where enemy defenses just don't matter

For the purpose of the game we will go off traditional standards and claim it takes 20-30 seconds to load a musket, a bit longer than a crossbow

[Visitor 36]

I won't say a real musket has a straight trajectory... hell if somebody with a musket (note: musket, not rifle) shoots at you at about 100 yards and actually hits you, you are terribly unlucky.

Well, obviously the 'straight' trajectory is straight only to a degree. Even modern rifles won't let a bullet carry on indefinitely before starting to lose altitude. At the same time, at certain distance an arrow shot from regular bow with certain force behind it will go relatively straight.What I meant is that musket's projectile should retain it's altitude for far longer than an arrow does and hit the target when shot straight at them from longer distance that it happens with currently available ranged weaponry.

[Aldebaran 8]

Well, obviously the 'straight' trajectory is straight only to a degree. Even modern rifles won't let a bullet carry on indefinitely before starting to lose altitude. At the same time, at certain distance an arrow shot from regular bow with certain force behind it will go relatively straight.What I meant is that musket's projectile should retain it's altitude for far longer than an arrow does and hit the target when shot straight at them from longer distance that it happens with currently available ranged weaponry.

 

I was actually making a joke about how inaccurate muskets tended to be... 

 

Muskets don't have rifling which puts a twist on a bullet helping it to fly straight (think the way an American football seems to roll but not end over end after it is thrown).  They also used projectiles which were often smaller than the barrels they were being loaded into.  Wadding could help compensate if it was packed tightly enough but most of the time the bullet would be bouncing about in the barrel as it was propelled forward.  This resulted in the bullet not traveling straight forward, but instead would instead exit at a slight angle to the left, right, up or down.  This was the reason why infantry regiments would line up in formations to fire at their enemy, because instead of being a precise weapon, the regiment would function as a sort shotgun.  This was the reason why the American Civil War tended to be more bloody than the Napoleonic war, because during the American Civil War both sides tended to be equip with rifles... and it doesn't even take a competent marksman to hit a target the size of an infantry formation at 100 yards.

 

That being said, I absolutely agree, a musket ball would travel much further than a bow or crossbow fired at the same angle

 

Physics Time

 

Also, as a bit of a comparison on force:

An arrow weighs roughly: 400-500grains*

A musket ball for a 75 cal weighs roughly: 500-600 grains**

 

*weight variance intended to include variation in wood for shaft and assumes a simple steel arrowhead

** weight variance intended to include round ball between 69cal and 75cal which all function in a 75 cal musket, also assumes a simple round ball projectile

 

Peak FPS for Bow: 180-200fps*

Peak FPS for Musket: 1500-2000fps**

 

*This is for a Recurve bow, not a compound bow

**This is for a standard powder charge of blackpowder

 

and what matters...  Kinetic Energy (what kind of power will it hit with)

Bow-

Low:28.748

High:44.365

 

Musket-

Low: 2495.563

High:5323.868

 

So the musket would be hitting with about 10x the momentum of a bow on average.