During my tests I noticed something else with NCTH that should be fixed (probably a known problem to other players). 10x scopes are basically useless with NCTH because they have their perfect range at 70!!! tiles. Aiming at any target below that will apply a hefty penalty. So basically 7x scopes have become the new sniper scopes with a perfect range of 49 tiles (usually enough for the common maps). For the standard assault rifle I will probably use a 4x scope.

Stock 1.13 serves more or less just as a new feature dump today. Before HAM 5 the CTHConstants.ini had a value of 0.7 for SCOPE_RANGE_MULTIPLIER, that partly solved the out-of-sight-range problem for the high power scopes. With HAM 5 Headrock deemed that unnecessary, item transformations should simulate switching between different magnifications in the future, so the value was changed back to 1.0. But noone bothered with implenting proper item transformations for that in stock 1.13, which lead to the problem you decribed.

factor 1.0:
scope		2x	4x	7x	10x
range		14	28	49	70

factor 0.7:
scope		1.4x	2.8x	4.9x	7x
range		10	20	34	49

[...]Please remember that the current "default" for SCOPE_RANGE_MULTIPLIER is just a modifier I basically pulled out of thin air mostly because it set 10x scopes so that the minimum effective range matched the standard sight range for the scope (i.e. 49 tiles). In other words, a "normal" merc using a 10x scope with a 0.7 multipler has 0 tiles of unpenalized usage. But at least this merc never gets a double penalty (too close AND invisible which is what you get above a 0.7 multiplier). 0.6 would give about 7 tiles of unpenalized usage and 0.5 (which I've been working with in my recent tests) gives about 14 tiles.
Otherwise, yes. the "sweet spot" is 70 tiles and the minimum is 49, based on the numbers you're using. But that "sweet spot" is not actual vision range. You'll get hit with the "invisible target" penalty because the games LOS calculations will say that this same 10x scope can't actually see a target beyond 49 tiles. All that 70 tile "sweet spot" means is the "distance aperture" at 70 tiles with a 10x scope is identical to the "distance aperture" at 7 tiles without a scope. This has nothing to do with visibility, LOS or muzzle stability (those are all factored in subsequent steps).[...]

Quote:

[...][I found SCOPE_RANGE_MULTIPLIER was 1 in the HAM 5 data][...]

For a reason. Especially now that you have multi-length scopes, using this at 0.7 skews the game towards scopes, making them better than iron sights in any situation. It was something me and ChrisL had a big disagreement about - and now that scopes are adjustable I think his side of the argument is no longer valid (or is less valid than the argument against using this constant).

Quote:

[...][Laser-Scope balance is better now][...]

This is the result of raising the Scope Coefficient from 0.7 back to the original 1.0. ChrisL, for a reason I couldn't understand then and still can't, increased the efficiency of scopes to make them more useful at lower than their "optimal" range (14t for a 2x scope, 49 for a 7x scope, etc). As a result, most if not all scopes received a high Mag Factor even at iron-sights range, thus being better than lasers.

Whatever his "fix" was supposed to do (and again, I didn't even understand it back when he put it in), it's going to be meaningless once we get multi-mode scopes (and already have them in UC thanks to Wil473). So that's what you're experiencing, basically: scopes working as intended.

In some instances the "." button doesn't even work to change to metal sights.

Is it even possible to tweak the sight range of a scope?

I understand that one can change the scope range with the scope range multiplier... After what I've read here, I think it would be better to set it even to 0,5... What would this imply?

Let's say we can get the scope sight range to 60 for a 10X scope instead of 49.
and change the NORMAL_SHOOTING_DISTANCE: 6

Then optimal range for the different scopes would change to:
2X: 12 tiles/120m instead of 14 tiles/140m
4X: 24 instead of 28
7X: 42 instead of 49
10X: 60 instead of 70

How does that sound?

Another problem at the moment is that "MinRangeForAimBonus" is a fixed value that is not altered by "SCOPE_RANGE_MULTIPLIER". This means that you won't get the AimBonus even though you made your scope not suffer a penalty. Maybe this should be changed?

I think that this would penalize the shooting without scopes because iron sights (scope factor 1.0) depend on "NORMAL_SHOOTING_DISTANCE". Iron sights would be even worse than now.

I would rather lower the "SCOPE_RANGE_MULTIPLIER" (I'm using 0.7 at the moment) and maybe raise the "AIM_TOO_CLOSE_SCOPE" value a bit.

Do you have "ALLOW_ALTERNATIVE_WEAPON_HOLDING = 3" in your "Ja2_Options.INI"?

The "." key is supposed to be used in tactical screen. As long as you don't have your inventory open you should see a little symbol on your weapon:



From top to bottom:
Scope
Reflex Sight
Shot from hip
Iron Sights

So, I'm going to need a reflex sight if I want to be effective at short ranges without removing the scope?