AH64 Crew 0.3.1 — ability prototype

Companion addon for JohnstonStu's AH64 1.3.3. Requires the original mod and its dependencies. No helicopter model or original mod binaries are redistributed.

Loadouts

Input	Pilot (AH64)	Seated Crew Gunner
Mouse 1	24 rocket charges; hold to fire. Full-magazine reload scales with attack speed.	Minigun: 100 rounds, automatic 2.5-second reload when empty.
Mouse 2	Original Longbow lock-on barrage, moved to secondary; hold to paint locks, release to launch.	Hold Railgunner-style scope; highlighted weak-point hits with the minigun critically strike.
Shift	Original evasive barrel roll plus a 3-second speed boost, including vertical flight. 8-second cooldown.	Charge for 2 seconds, then steer a 6-second Stone Titan beam. Minigun pauses. 12-second cooldown.
R	Gain barrier equal to 30% maximum combined health and 100 armor for 5 seconds. 18-second cooldown.	Refill magazine, gain 10% damage plus 50% minigun fire rate and consume no ammo for 6 seconds. 18-second cooldown.

These are initial balance values. The laser reuses native Titan beam/charge visuals and sounds with player-controlled aim, rather than the enemy's automatic target-tracking behavior. Its base damage is 1800% per second, with low per-tick proc scaling. The pilot's 100 bonus armor gives 50% damage reduction at zero other armor; actual reduction depends on total armor. Barrier decays according to normal game rules.

Pilot rockets retain the original damage and full-magazine reload behavior, with 24 base charges and attack-speed-scaled reload. Barrage charges and targeting are unchanged. Pilot icons are retained. Crew Gunner has four custom generated ability icons, embedded in the addon DLL. Character selection displays the mounted abilities and their tooltips; on foot, the gunner still uses Commando's default skills. Minigun base fire rate and damage remain configurable. Weak-point hits use the game's native sniper detection with no extra Railgunner damage multiplier; unscoped fire retains normal random critical chance.

Flight and crew

Unlimited airtime remains enabled by default. The configurable climb allowance defaults to 100 units above resting hover, with extra-jump bonuses retained. Stage boundaries and kill zones still apply. While unlimited airtime is enabled, no input holds altitude, Space (Jump) climbs, and C descends by default. Classic release-to-settle behavior is overridden. Missing terrain below the helicopter retains the last ground plane instead of disabling lift.

One player selects AH64; another selects Crew Gunner. The gunner uses Commando's model and on-foot skills. At each stage start or body spawn, the gunner automatically attaches to the nearest available allied helicopter as soon as both characters are ready, regardless of distance. There is no eight-second delay. If the pilot spawns later or all seats are occupied, the gunner waits on foot and keeps checking for a free seat. After exiting, automatic reboarding requires being within 25 units. The mounted skills replace the on-foot kit while seated. Interact exits and pauses automatic reboarding for ten seconds. The pilot keeps all four abilities while occupied.

The gunner has a centered third-person camera and an unscoped crosshair, retains independent scope camera settings and does not inherit helicopter rotation. Exiting cleans up scope and beam states. Mounted ammo and cooldown progress are saved on exit and restored on reboarding; cooldowns pause while on foot. Overdrive ends on exit. Pilot ejection or death releases the surviving gunner; shared health is not implemented. Seated gunner hurtboxes remain disabled in this prototype.

Install a private test

1. Create a test profile in r2modman with JohnstonStu-AH64 1.3.3 and its dependencies.
2. Remove the previous AH64Crew test version from that test profile, if present. Import AH64Crew-0.3.1.zip using local mod import. Alternatively, place its AH64Crew.dll in BepInEx/plugins/AH64Crew within the test profile.
3. Every player must install the same addon version and use matching addon configuration. Restart after changing the Enable prototype gunner setting. Disabling that setting disables both the new loadouts and seat, retaining only flight changes.
4. Select AH64 and Crew Gunner, start a normal run, and wait for both characters to spawn; boarding then happens automatically.

Generated settings: BepInEx/config/local.ah64crew.cfg. Existing fire-rate and damage settings are retained when upgrading.

Required gameplay testing

The centered gunner camera has been confirmed in a local two-instance playtest. Broader multiplayer and recovery edge cases still need testing. Check both host/client role assignments:

• Hold flight above the original cap for over a minute; boost forward, backward, sideways, up and down, and test the evasive roll without crossing the flight cap.
• Fire rockets while acquiring barrage locks. Release Mouse 2 to launch; pressing R should only activate defense.
• Confirm barrier gain, armor duration, cooldowns and return to normal speed after boost.
• Fire 100 minigun rounds; verify empty reload and that ammo does not refill while partially full.
• Scope without changing the pilot's view; compare body hits, highlighted weak-point hits and unscoped shots.
• Charge and steer the laser while the pilot moves; verify both clients see the beam, walls block it, and the minigun pauses.
• Trigger Overdrive during reload: magazine fills immediately, ammo stays full while firing, then consumption resumes after six seconds.
• Exit during scope, charge, beam and Overdrive; verify visuals/camera restore, then reboard.
• Test death, disconnects, stage transitions and item interactions.

The original turret model has limited rotation even though gunner aim is unrestricted. Camera placement, balance, buff presentation, multiplayer synchronization and interactions with other mods need playtesting. A startup asset check is included in the log as ABILITY CHECK PASS/FAILED; this is not a gameplay test.

Install or update AH64Crew through r2modman/Thunderstore. All players must use the same version. Required dependencies are declared in the package manifest.

Build

Source is distributed in the separate source ZIP. Run Build.ps1 with the game's Managed directory and an r2modman profile containing AH64 and its dependencies. Requires a .NET SDK capable of building netstandard2.1. Dependency binaries are referenced locally, not bundled.

Original AH64 by JohnstonStu: https://thunderstore.io/c/riskofrain2/p/JohnstonStu/AH64/

Original source: https://github.com/johnstonstu/ror2-ah64

Unlimited flight now resumes hover at the current altitude after ordinary external impulses stop carrying the helicopter upward. Boost climb is not treated as an external launch. Scripted custom-gravity launch behavior remains supported. Flight recovery events are logged for playtesting.

The original airtime gauge is hidden. Unlimited flight no longer requires a previous ground hit; open-space flight seeds a virtual altitude reference, and C can descend past that reference. Overdrive's damage buff ends after six seconds or on seat exit.

The seated gunner now uses the occupied helicopter pilot's actual camera pivot and base camera parameters (distance, vertical offset, normal FOV and pitch limits). The forward gunner seat no longer defines camera centering. Passenger-to-pivot raycasting is disabled while seated to avoid displaced centering; normal camera wall collision remains. Independent gunner look, Mouse 2 scope, and scoped helicopter hiding remain enabled. Exiting restores the on-foot pivot and collision setting.

The pilot receives 10% higher base movement speed and base maximum health. This multiplies the original AH64 prefab values; the gunner and per-level health growth are unchanged.

Pilot ejection and rebuild (0.3.0 prototype)

Lethal damage to a player-controlled AH-64 ejects the pilot as Commando with Double Tap, Phase Round, Tactical Dive, and a new R: Rebuild AH-64. The gunner is released before the helicopter is removed. When the stage provides a safe ground destination, both crew members are placed there.

Rebuild starts unavailable for 180 seconds alive on foot. The server keeps the timer on the existing player master across stage changes. Cooldown items and skill refills cannot bypass it. Press R when ready to return to a full-health helicopter. Ejection also restores the on-foot pilot to full health; inventory, money, and master progression are retained. On-foot death uses normal game death/revival rules. Each subsequent helicopter loss starts a fresh timer.

This intercepts lethal damage, not explicit game-ending kills such as obliteration or commands that directly kill the player. The ejected pilot is not a separately selectable survivor. Disabling the prototype crew content also disables this feature.

Playtest with the pilot as both host and client: crash while occupied and scoped; confirm ejection and normal on-foot controls; try R early and with cooldown/refill items; survive 180 seconds and rebuild; reboard the gunner; crash again; transition stages partway through the timer; and confirm dying on foot is a real death. Network transformation and stage persistence remain unverified in gameplay.