I would like to say "both!" (randomized), but I assume that only one version is possible?
If that is so, I would choose the second (classic) version over the "dropping before dead" version.
Though it looks cool and would surely contribute to the atmosphere, it could potentially be annoying (reminding me of overlong dead animations in more recent game).

delaying the drop is trivial.

I think randomization would be possible (think something like two shotguns attached to the hybrid, NVscript randomly stimming one, the stimmed one would then have to destroy the other one, and then perform its animation - rigging this in the gamesys would be pure insanity. nuh-uh, not today), but lets just try to pick one for a start.

Any fix for this (very minor) issue that requires touching every single AI mod for it to not break horribly seems to me to be profoundly bletcherous.

A perfectly simple, self-contained fix would be to make shotguns just not show up as loot.

they get sweeped away upon level reload unless repaired, no change there.

Any fix for this (very minor) issue that requires touching every single AI mod for it to not break horribly seems to me to be profoundly bletcherous.

it's not just the hybrid shotgun - I believe that a (lootable) weapon shouldn't be part of the AI model, and if a detailattach can be made to work reliably, then it IS the way to go (would fix the Rebirth shotgun model bending problem, for example), and getting over the hump is worth it. and adding one more model/texture to Rebirth and Arcaniac pack is really a non-issue, it's not like we have tenths of AI packs floating out there.

if done right, it would also make dynamic weapon swapping very easy (want to change all shotgun hybrids to pistol or grenade launcher hybrids? you are just one dml away). same goes for world object mods - the modified model would be displayed on the AI properly.

also just for the record, the (community preferred) second setup (ripping out the shotty from hybrid's dead clutches) is way trickier than the fist one (drop upon death), so thanks for that, guys.

at the moment, the questions are, can I make it work reliably? and if I can, will it play nice? once the answer to both question is YES, we can start thinking about whether to implement this as part of SCP, or as a standalone mod, or whatever.

I am almost sure I can make it work properly, and I can already tell that it would improve the visuals. we'll see.

Mods like that can fuck off.

mostly agreed, but sometimes there is just no other way around. Rebirth has already received significant updates to play nice with SCP. also, ALL replacement shotguns had to receive vhots so they would be SCP compatible.

with a bit of external help, I have managed to convert everything into a regular dml mod format (new zips attached to the first post). as far as I can tell, everything works properly (checked level transitions, saving and loading, and all the states the sg hybrid can end up in, all looks good).

there are things you should know about though;
-SCP is REQUIRED (a vanilla version might be doable with the setup from the first video, maybe later).
-had to disable the (orig) shotgun fading, there is just no way to synchronize it with everything in a sane way. that means you can litter the levels with broken shotguns if you are hell bent on it. this would probably be a problem with oldDark, but I'm very sure NewDark can take the potential punishment.
-the orig AI model will now have a hole in his hand. fixing this would require a custom sg hybrid model. send booze and hookers to RocketMan.
-tiny, barely noticeable texture artifacts around the place where the orig shotgun was. again, booze and hookers -> RocketMan.
-the hybrid shotgun is a small bit smaller than the player shotgun. pretty sure you wouldn't notice if I didn't mention it here.

now that I have probably managed to scare you away, let me also say this - it looks nice, especially with Rebirth installed. if you like Rebirth, you should definitely try this out. another nice boon is that the hybrids will wield actual Tacticool shotguns if you have the mod installed.


testers are welcome - if nothing bad pops up, I'll move this into the mods subforum later.

Maybe it shouldn't.

added the Arcaniac version (why? because I can). this one is quite different from the previous two - it uses the setup from the first video (the other setup is not implementable without looking stupid because of screwed up Arcaniac joints), and works for both SCP and the (SS2tool patched) vanilla game (no user intervention necessary, the game knows whether the user is running vanilla or SCP and will activate the proper dml).

the good: this will conveniently unfuck the Arcaniac hybrid as much as possible without editing the model itself (the hybrid actually aiming the shotgun at the player now, and muzzle flashes spawn where they should), improve the visuals by using the real shotgun world model, and switch the model accordingly in case a shotgun world model mod (such as Tacticool) is installed (Assidragon's SCP shotgun can be seen on the attached picture).

the bad: when running vanilla game, it's quite obvious that the hybrid shotgun world model is smaller than the player shotgun. possible fix currently under investigation.

the ugly: Arcaniac model is still ugly.

dunno, there is just something about the Arcaniac stuff that makes me go "how about no!" for some reason - maybe it's my mind subconsciously rejecting the concept of converted HL1 (and other) models as part of SS2.

also, I have this weird relationship with the (Arcaniac) pack, one part of me wants it to be unmaintained and just die off already, but the other part always ends up fixing it anyway (probably because effort is one of the few things I recognize, and despite all the weird and broken stuff, there is no doubt that a considerable amount of it went into the mod).


anyway, if nothing else, I was able to get all the gears turning as I wanted them to, so satisfaction derived. and if someone actually enjoys using the Arcaniac (mini)mod, well, all the better.

Because I've been tardy in keeping up with current affairs... it's the vanilla shotty that has a missing polygon that you want fixed?  I mean I assume all sg hybrids from all mods are affected but does the scope of the mod plan to cover them all or u just want the vanilla one?

ok, a test version of a different setup - this one will remove the shotgun from the hybrid once you loot it from the corpse. needs SCP (no Rebirth or Arcaniac for now).

//attach removed.

I will try my best to do this tomorrow.