1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Weapons Analysis A Look At How Range and Player Health Affect Weapon Effectiveness and Gameplay Balance -=B2Z=- Scallion

2. Overview Assumptions Arguments Principles for Picking Adjustment Graphical Analysis Proposal

3. Assumptions All analysis is based on values found in COD4 %game path%\main\iw_11.iwd file Ranges are assumed to be in inches (assumption from IW Forums) and have been converted to yards Range considerations based on map scaling,.iwd files and gameplay needs; not based on real weapons

4. Assumptions (ctd) Damage values between min and max damage ranges are scaled by a percentile (available on request, found on IW Forums) No perks were used for adjustment of values – Juggernaught and Stopping Power cancel each other out; adjustment based on these places one or the other at advantage to the expense of those not using these perks Analysis does not consider explosive weapons; may be included in future work

5. Arguments Normal mode requires an unrealistic number of hits to produce a kill Hardcore mode eliminates balance in weapons with (arbitrary?) health selection Weapon balance must be restored to make game more enjoyable to players

6. Adjustment Principles Headshots should typically result in a kill Engagement beyond 40 yds is province of snipers and allows relaxation of this point Reasonable limitations for weapon type should be considered 2 or 3 shots to kill are reasonable, depending on weapon type and range Non-headshots should not typically result in kill

7. Analysis Unless otherwise stated, graphs assume a non-headshot Root data available by request (contact Scallion at b2zclan.com) Drop-offs noted in second graph are fairly constant across all graphs; note classes

8. Note: This appears to be case if all minimum and maximum damage ranges are equal. Useful for comparing weapon power.

11. 2-D Plots These charts show the distribution of required shots at range Allows quick idea of number of rounds most guns require to kill These are normal (non-head) shots Note top section in 30 and 42 health is exclusively the two shotguns Additional plots for other health levels may be obtained by contacting -=B2Z=- Scallion (please specify health setting you require)

12. The problems with this are immediately evident and led to development of hardcore mode.

13. Hardcore mode allows a 1-shot kill for every weapon. Inherently, this skews favor towards a majority single-shot kills, reducing balance of weapons which do not provide this advantage.

14. Restores balance to weapons. Single-shot weapons tend to be lower firing-rate, slower-reloading, less accurate, etc

15. The Fix By adjusting modded server player health to 42, a balance is restored to the game, without loss of hardcore elements Allows a quick fix, without adjustment of 26 weapon files; retains quality of well reasoned adjustment

16. Conveniently: