Weapons

Weapons are essential to CnC, even more than harvesting. A Weapon is a combination of Weapon-specific data, warhead, and projectile.

If a weapon gets fired, the game first checks for the animation & sound set in the weapon to display them;
The warhead is then delivered to it's target by the projectile;
On impact, the game reads the rules for the impact from the warhead, and then calculates the damage inflicted, basing on the Damage= value supplied in the weapon.

Note: Even though there is no explicit [WeaponTypes] list in the rules, the game builds one internally from all the weapons that are loaded via objects. This list is used by certain ingame functions.

Making new weapons (by DCoder)

New weapons are easy to create, as long as you know these facts:

• weapon needs to have a projectile
• weapon needs to have a warhead
• weapon needs to have a range

When a unit is ordered to fire, it moves towards the target until it is in Range=, then fires the weapon. It travels through the air (directed by the Projectile=), impacts and deals a certain % of weapon's Damage= (directed by the Warhead=).

Enough theory, let's make a new weapon, projectile and warhead to replace the Destroyer's cannon with a RA1 style missile launcher. So set [DEST] Primary=OldMissile, then create this section:

[OldMissile]
Damage=60 ;how much damage points to deliver
ROF=60 ;how often (in frames) to fire
Range=8 ;how far (in cells) can the weapon fly?
Projectile=HeatSeekingMissile ;our new projectile
Warhead=HeatMissileWH ;our new warhead
Speed=25 ; how fast does the weapon fly?

Report=AegisAttack ;the sound of aegis missile launcher

But the [HeatSeekingMissile] does not exist yet. So create it:

[HeatSeekingMissile]
High=yes ;fly in an arc (IFV missile like) instead of straight (cannon like)
Shadow=no ;don't draw shadow on the ground (the missile is too small)
AA=yes ;can it hit air targets?
AG=yes ;can it hit ground targets?
Image=MEDUSA ;this is the image that Aegis missile uses
ROT=20 ;(not zero means it can 'home in' on the target)
SubjectToCliffs=no ;can cliffs mess up the targeting (we're in the water, no cliffs here)
SubjectToElevation=no ;does the weapon get a range bonus if fired from a high place downwards?

SubjectToWalls=no ;can the walls stop it?

The [HeatMissileWH] also doesn't exist. So we need to create it as well:

[HeatMissileWH]
CellSpread=.3 ;in map cells, how far can you still feel the impact
PercentAtMax=1 ;at the edge of the area effected (determined by cellspread) this is the percent of damage done.
Verses=100%,100%,100%,100%,100%,100%,0%,0%,0%,100%,100% ;(see armor types tutorial)
InfDeath=3 ;which infantry death to use when infantry is killed by this weapon?
AnimList=EXPLOSML ;what animations to play at impact point?

ProneDamage=100% ;% damage to deal to infantry that is prone (deployed counts as prone)

Now, add the HeatMissileWH to the [Warheads] list. I haven't seen anything wrong when I don't put it there, but since the list exists, it can be necessary for something.

Applicable INI Flags

These tables show all INI flags applicable¹ to Weapons. The flags are grouped by the internal classes the flags are inherited from, and then listed in the order they are read in by the game. You can re-sort the rows by column values by clicking the arrow icons in the column headings. Each flag can be clicked to visit its page for detailed information.

Please note that this section is accurate only for Yuri's Revenge. All other C&C games use different sets of flags.

¹ ↑ "Applicable" in this context means "read from the INI files". Certain flags listed here don't have any effect ingame , but they are read and in certain cases cause a crash if not present. Again, refer to each flag's individual page for detailed information.

AbstractTypes

INI File	Section	Key	Value Type	Default Value	Adds to list
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Name	string(48 symbols)	ID
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	UIName	string(31 symbol)	""

WeaponType

INI File	Section	Key	Value Type	Default Value	Adds to list
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	AmbientDamage	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsSonic	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Spawner	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	LimboLaunch	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DecloakToFire	boolean	1
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	CellRangefinding	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	FireOnce	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	NeverUse	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	RevealOnFire	boolean	1
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	TerrainFire	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	SabotageCursor	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	MigAttackCursor	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DisguiseFireOnly	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	InfiniteMindControl	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	FireWhileMoving	boolean	1
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DrainWeapon	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	FireInTransport	boolean	1
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DisguiseFakeBlinkTime	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Suicide	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Supress	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Burst	int	1
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Damage	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Speed	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	ROF	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Range	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	MinimumRange	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Report	vector<Sound>	{}
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DownReport	vector<Sound>	{}
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Anim	vector<Animation>	{}	+
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	AssaultAnim	Animation	0	+
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	OccupantAnim	Animation	0	+
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	OpenToppedAnim	Animation	0	+
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Camera	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsLaser	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DiskLaser	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsLine	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsHouseColor	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Charges	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	TurboBoost	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	UseFireParticles	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	UseSparkParticles	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	OmniFire	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DistributedWeaponFire	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsRailgun	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Lobber	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	LaserInnerColor	Color	{0;0;0}
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	LaserOuterColor	Color	{0;0;0}
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	LaserOuterSpread	XYZ	{0;0;0}
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	LaserDuration	int	10
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsBigLaser	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Bright	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IonSensitive	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	AreaFire	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsElectricBolt	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	DrawBoltAsLaser	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsAlternateColor	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsRadBeam	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsRadEruption	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	RadLevel	int	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	IsMagBeam	boolean	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	AttachedParticleSystem	ParticleSystem	0
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Warhead	WarheadType	0	+
Rules(md).ini	Object's ID	Projectile	ProjectileType	0	+