Bullet Counting Check

Bullet Count Hiding is a HAM 3.4 feature, originally suggested by Zoolw. During combat, this feature obscures the true number of bullets left in the gun, so that neither the player nor the merc himself truly know how many shots remain.

Do you feel lucky, punk? Edit

In the real world, during intense combat, it is quite easy to forget how many bullets you've fired, and how many are left in your gun. During military combat training, troopers are trained to keep track of the number of bullets left in their guns, but in the heat of battle many still get confused, even to some degree. Unless you're firing a six-shot pistol, or have great eidetic memory, counting through an entire magazine is very tricky business. Soldiers also become accustomed to their weapons, learning to estimate the number of bullets remaining in the gun based on how heavy it is in their hands. However, this is at best a rough estimate.

HAM 3.4 introduces this new feature, that attempts to simulate the difficulty of keeping a true count.

Bullet Counting in HAM 3.4 Edit

HAM simulates the estimate by running a check against the character's EXPERIENCE level, WISDOM, and DEXTERITY. If the character possesses enough skill to make a rough estimate, the result is then weighed against the number of bullets already fired. If the soldier succeeds the entire check, he will be able to tell exactly how many bullets are left.

Otherwise, the bullet count (which is normally visible on the gun in your inventory, and in the gun's Description Box) turns into "??", obscuring the real number of bullets left.

Bullet Counting Checks only occur only during TURN-BASED COMBAT. The bullet count is always displayed correctly during real-time mode.

Also, if the magazine is full or empty, there's no need for a check at all (the correct number will always be displayed).

Effective Skill = (WISDOM + DEXTERITY) - (200 - (EXPERIENCE LEVEL*20) )
If Effective Skill is a negative number, then 
   Soldier has failed the check entirely

"Bullets Fired" Penalty = Magazine Size - Bullets Left.

Skill Modifier = Effective Skill, after going through a ton of calculations which I won't explain here.
If Skill Modifier < Bullets Fired Penalty, then
   Soldier makes a rough estimate.
Else
   Soldier makes an accurate estimate!

The end result is that most characters will lose count at some point during combat, especially if they are close to emptying their gun. The higher their skill levels, the more bullets they can fire from the magazine before they lose count.

Experienced characters may be able to keep track all through the magazine. However, the larger the magazine, the harder it is to keep count. Therefore, even the most experienced characters may have some trouble counting all the way through a 100-round magazine. Conversely, most characters will probably be able to count through a pistol magazine. The most experienced characters (100 WIS, 100 DEX, 10 EXP) will be able to count through ANY magazine, no matter how large. Of course, such characters are extremely rare.

If the bullet count has disappeared, there are two ways to know how many bullets are actually left in the gun:

1. Wait for combat to end. If the game returns to real-time mode, the correct bullet count will reappear.
2. Take the magazine out of the gun and inspect it. Of course, putting the magazine back in the gun will cost you APs. Additionally, when the magazine is completely empty, it will show "0" bullets.

Example Scenario Edit

Ivan has an EXPERIENCE Level of 3. To be eligible for bullet counting during combat, he needs WIS+DEX of at least 140.

Fortunately, he has Wisdom 83 and Dexterity 95, which together are 178. He has beaten the requirement by 38 points.

This is not much, but in practice he should be able to fire roughly 10 bullets out of a 30-bullet magazine without losing count.

Once he's fired enough bullets, the count will disappear and be replaced by a rough estimate (HAM 3.5) or hidden completely (HAM 3.4). The true number of bullets left will only reappear when combat is over (Real-Time), or if the magazine reaches 0 bullets.

As Ivan's Experience Level or Wis+Dex increase, he should be able to fire more and more bullets from a similar-sized magazine without losing count.

If Ivan switches to a gun with a 100-round magazine, he could still count the first 10 bullets or so. However, he will then lose count, and will have to estimate the remainder of the magazine, I.E. the remaining 90 bullets. Compare this to 20 bullets in a 30-round magazine.

Of course, Ivan can count easily all the way through any magazine that has 10 or less bullets.

Disclaimer: The numbers above are just for example. Your mileage may vary.

HAM 3.5 - Hide "Unwanted Bullets" in Autofire Edit

This is a small feature that's automatically activated whenever Bullet Counting Checks are enabled.

In JA2 1.13 Auto-Fire mode, it is possible to fire more bullets than originally intended. An on-screen message pops up, letting the player know how many extra bullets were fired.

When Bullet Counting Checks are enabled, this message will not tell us how many extra bullets are fired.

Instead of:

"Ivan fires 4 more rounds than intended!"

We get:

"Ivan fires more rounds than intended!"

There is no other effect to this feature.

INI Settings Edit

Bullet-Count Hiding has two settings in HAM 3.4. One of those settings was really redundant from the start, and was henceforth removed in HAM 3.5.

BULLET_HIDE Edit

BULLET_HIDE_INTENSITY Edit