AH64 Crew 0.2.3 — 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	Original rocket pods, moved to primary; hold to fire.	Minigun: 72 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	3-second speed boost, including vertical flight. No roll or forced rotation. 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 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 3600% 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 missiles retain the original mod's damage, charges, reload and targeting behavior. 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 death ejects the surviving gunner; shared health is not implemented. Seated gunner hurtboxes remain disabled in this prototype.

Install a private test

Create a test profile in r2modman with JohnstonStu-AH64 1.3.3 and its dependencies.
Remove the previous AH64Crew test version from that test profile, if present. Import AH64Crew-0.2.3.zip using local mod import. Alternatively, place its AH64Crew.dll in BepInEx/plugins/AH64Crew within the test profile.
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.
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

This is an experimental build, not a verified multiplayer release. Check both host/client role assignments:

Hold flight above the original cap for over a minute; boost forward, backward, sideways, up and down, without rolling or 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 72 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.

Nothing has been published to Thunderstore. The ZIP uses Thunderstore structure for later distribution after testing.

Build

Source is included beside this README. 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