Requires Perfect View Models (PVM) by Luffy - https://modworkshop.net/mod/17618
Heavily, heavily based on the excellent Apex Legends Viewmodel mod by Scharlone :3 - https://modworkshop.net/mod/33072
As in, I actually liked it so much I used some of the same settings here, so please go check their one out too, you may prefer it.
This is just a personal preference pack of various viewmodel values for all of the guns as of May 2023 that I thought others may want to try out themselves. Just download the file and extract the the "saves" folder into your "mods" folder - if you already have a "saves" folder in there with data from your other mods, you should open up the "saves" folder from this mod to find a .txt file containing my settings for the Perfect Viewmodels mod called "PerfectViewModel_Options.txt" - Simply place this file into your own "saves" folder, replacing your old .txt file if necessary.
Most of the players weapons are now held in a Center Axis Relock style when crouched (think how John Wick often holds guns at a roughly 45° Angle in front of him) to give it a more modern "tactical" FPS feel and a clear(er) visual distinction between standing and crouching. For the guns I haven't made such a drastic adjustment to, I sometimes still angle or otherwise change the weapons position slightly to achieve a distinct standing-vs-crouching effect.
THIS DOES NOT EFFECT ADS! You can still utilise your sights just fine while crouching - this is purely a cosmetic effect when holding the gun/hipfiring from a crouched position.
Some of the weapons don't follow this same trend, simply because they either suffered from bugs (like my M308, KS12-Urban, Gewehr 3 and my Sniper Rifles which I already use 45° sights on) or because I just didn't personally like them being handled at such an angle (like the revolvers and WW2-era pistols, which don't strike me as guns that particularly lend themselves well to that kind of "tactical" handling). In these cases, I may have still made some small tweaks here and there, but nothing quite so extreme - look out for the DOOM inspired Minigun crouched stance though.
In the case of the Akimbo weapons for example, I've just tweaked them a bit here and there as I wasn't able to angle them individually - most players probably wouldn't even notice any of these small changes without a direct comparison.
Please bear in mind that these are just done to my personal preference, meaning that I based my settings on the attachments I had equipped for each weapon - if your weapon looks weird or you don't like what I've done with it here, it may just be as simple as the attachments we use are different, but you can easily tweak all these viewmodel settings yourself to your own satisfaction with the "Perfect View Models" mod this requires using your F7 key by default (in fact, I wholeheartedly encourage you to play with these options to your hearts content) and just use my settings here as a foundation to work from.
Oh, it also gives the LMGs proper ADS, because why never had that in the first place, I don't know.
Guns that DON'T have an obvious angle while crouching and instead only have some minor adjustments -
Sniper Rifles (all of them):
Bernetti Rangehitter
Repeater 1984
Nagant
Contractor .308
Platypus 70
Lebensauger .308
Desertfox
Rattlesnake
R93
R700
Grom
Kàng Arms X1
Thanatos .50 cal
Pronghorn
North Star
Aran G2
Amaroq 900
Shotguns:
Joceline O/U 12g
Breaker 12g
Reinfeld 88
LMG:
Buzzsaw 42
Rifles (Only because I already use an angled sight on them so editing them at that kind of angle is unnecessary and causes the model to over-rotate):
M308
KS-12 Urban
Gewehr 3
Special:
Compact 40mm
China Puff 40mm
Commando 101
HRL-7
SMGs:
MP40
Chicago Typewriter
Pistols:
Broomstick
Parabellum
Castigo .44
Frenchman Model 87
RUS-12 Angry Tiger
Peacemaker .45
Matever .357
Bronco .44
Khan .357
Known Issues - the players right hand looks a little funny for a few frames during one of the Argos III reloads if the player is crouching, and similarly the ejector port on the Akron HC LMG noticably looks a bit wonky when firing from crouched - these aren't actually my fault, they're janky looking animations anyway, it's just hidden normally by the standard viewmodel. Some guns may clip a little through the players head during a crouched reload, but when they do it doesn't effect gameplay in any way and there's nothing I can really do about it anyway - the Akron HC LMG being an example, where if it has a large scope on it, the scope is a bit invasive in blocking part of the players view during a reload animation.
If you have any questions, suggestions or requests please let me know.
You know it's pretty hard to think of the mod as realistic when angling the gun does 3 bad things:
Removes your aim away from the sights
Gets the stock out of your shoulder
Ensures that you eat brass
These are all only applied under the circumstances of the gun and its attachments itself, however it seems rather unrealistic. I seem to recall Jonathan Ferguson talking about angling the gun when looking at the guns of Back 4 Blood, and him commenting that you usually impair at least one of your abilities to:
Aim down the sights
Shoulder the gun
Not eat brass
I'd never have the patience to adjust everything like this, cool mod.
CAR-style shooting is definitely controversial, but it's also definitely a real thing - and with the inclusion of John Wick (who popularised it for Hollywood) in the game and the growing number of FPS games with this kinda gimmick it seemed like it would fit in the Payday universe (in fact I think I remember seeing Chains do it in the webseries), even though there's only so much you can do as far as manually modding in a whole new gunplay technique - this was the best alternative I could do to manage adding this style of firearm handling to the game, hence the "Reasonably Realistic" title.
all of that isn't a deal braker when its really a situational system, and you cant the gun anyway using infrared aimpoints, canted red dots and the grip and shouldering the gun is accounted for in the system
CAR (Centre Axis Relock) stance is a very real thing; and it doesn't actually take the stock from your shoulder, just tilts your whole arm along with the firearm, so you're still in the same braced position, it's just that your position, or axis, has been rotated, or relocked, so your firearms is closer to the centre of your body, while you're positioning your body at an angle, usually between 45 and 90 degrees, away from the direction you're shooting.
it's mostly used for self defense or very tight quarter situations, but it's still a real thing.