[TF2] Fix Pomson 6000 projectile firing below crosshair

[juliarose]

Description

The Pomson 6000 currently fires projectiles below the crosshair to align with the muzzle. This leads to shots hitting below their target and sometimes being blocked by ledges which can feel unintuitive and frustrating for the user. The preferred behavior is that the projectile fires straight from the crosshair's location.

Mentioned in Uncle Dane's video https://youtu.be/-iYUMyXLZoo?si=M_k6G6vxJo-TEhGo&t=668

Mentioned in ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games#2592

The shots fired by the weapon are fired slightly below the reticule.

Changes

• Fixed the Pomson 6000 projectile firing below the crosshair.

pomson-6000-fix-before.mp4

pomson-6000-fix-after.mp4

Unlike the Pomson 6000, the Rescue Ranger's bolt does not share this offset. It looks odd in third-person, but this is rarely noticed in gameplay and is preferred.

rescue-ranger-firing.mp4

[HyperionCoding]

This is the case with all the rocket launchers as well, I don't think it will be changed.

[juliarose]

This is the case with all the rocket launchers as well, I don't think it will be changed.

Except for the Original, which spawns from Soldier's face. A popular choice for this reason.

After more review, the Scorch Shot, Flare Gun, Crusader's Crossbow, Grenade Launcher, Iron Bomber, Loch-n-Load, Stickybomb Launcher, Quickiebomb Launcher, Scottish Resistance, and maybe a few other projectile weapons I haven't tested. None of the projectiles for these weapons are aligned with the muzzle and are instead aligned with the crosshair. The Pomson 6000's projectile is inconsistent in this manner.

projectile-scorchshot-crossbow-stickybomb-spawn-point.mp4

Medic's needle guns (Syringe Gun, Blutsauger, Overdose) spawn a bit lower and align with the muzzle but aren't really something anyone complains about considering the arch of these projectiles.

[wgetJane]

the alignment is supposed to be in first-person

[juliarose]

the alignment is supposed to be in first-person

Yes.

I didn't include this earlier but if you check the commit there's a comment which mentions the offset was added to align with the muzzle. I'm not sure why the developers added this when every other projectile weapon doesn't function this way, aside from rocket launchers and needle guns it seems. It should be removed.

[FlaminSarge]

the alignment is supposed to be in first-person

Even in the original "intended" case it's looking like it's still not aligned with the muzzle, but rather with where the muzzle would be with viewmodel minmode enabled, so something's definitely not lining up here. (They probably aligned it for thirdperson instead of firstperson, honestly).

I'd be curious to see how reducing the offset to match non-minmode viewmodels would look instead of removing it entirely.
It might even work better in thirdperson, given the below screenshot of existing behavior, though I know that part of this is because the recoil animation plays before the projectile even spawns:

Separately, what does the Bison do for this?

[juliarose]

Separately, what does the Bison do for this?

The class for the Pomson CTFDRGPomson inherits from the Bison CTFRaygun and explicitly adds an override for GetProjectileFireSetup to offset the projectile so that it spawns lower. The Bison has no such override, only the Pomson. Presumably the intention from the developers was to have the projectile align with the muzzle in third-person as the Engineer holds the weapon closer to his waist, while the Soldier holds the Bison like a pistol, staring down its sights. Although it should be aligned in first-person instead.

[FlaminSarge]

muzzle in third-person as the Engineer holds the weapon closer to his waist, while the Soldier holds the Bison like a pistol, staring down its sights. Although it should be aligned in first-person instead.

Makes sense. Would be worth trying out different offsets to see if you can get it to sort-of look right in both thirdperson and firstperson; the current offset is definitely too low, but firing from eye position may be too high (despite making a bit more sense for gameplay). Try -4 just to see how it looks? Based off of this frame: