From the maker of Markistan RPG comes Hatchet. Hatchet is a heavy duty conversion mod for Deus Ex with a campaign all its own. Hatchet contains a unique storyline & employs free-roam mechanics to present a world we think will shock, satisfy, & puzzle you to the end.
Back from school-heavy crap, I've worked on the Hatchet skill system. Currently there is a potentially bottomless number of skills (individual weapons as well as weapons types and non-weapon bits all get skills) each with 100 separate ranks that gradually advance the more you use the skill in question. Weapons have 2 governing skill types, one for weapon class (such as pistol, rifle, or melee) and the specific weapon model (glok vs 10mm pistol type stuff). This is a simple demonstration of me firing the infamous "Test Glok" and raising my pistol skill in the process. At the end is showcasing a bit of the new skill screen, which is much slicker than the old one.
So the skill goes up even if you're not shooting an actual target?
because from the looks of it it seems that your ability went up while shooting the wall
Sorry for the insanely lat reply on this, but to answer the question, yes. The idea is that by firing the weapon, even without hitting anything, the character becomes used to the motions of operating it, and in turn learns to handle it better. Although one could theoretically just shoot a wall all day for free skill, the ammo spent and condition damage done to the weapon would be very costly in resources, not to mention the process itself would be slow. With 100 levels of skill for both weapon family and weapon model, each taking several vollies of shots to raise per level, and higher requirements each next level, the best method of raising a skill is combat application. In combat, at least you can kill something and hopefully plunder some resources to make it worth your while... and hey, it's fun too.