I'm working on a futuristic game right now, which for the most part falls in the "science is what gives us funny cool stuff" genre of science-fiction, and I'm running out of unique ideas for weapons. One interesting aspect of this game is that combat is designed to be largely nonlethal; it's more beneficial to almost kill someone than it is to kill them outright, and as you might expect that means that quite a few of the weapons are designed to not kill people. So far the main attributes I'm planning on using are rate of fire, raw damage, lethality of damage (weapons with low lethality ratings will do less and less damage as the target's health decreases), and penetration factor (determines effectiveness against armor). Anyone have any interesting or off-beat futuristic weapons they'd like to see in a game? I'm not looking for ultra-realistic scientific stuff, but I am aiming at stuff that does at least make a little sense, and more importantly, doesn't fit standard commonly used molds for ballistic or energy weapons.
[EDIT: I should note that this is strictly personal arms; we're not talking battleship ordnance here.]
ID:154212
 Apr 2 2002, 10:53 am
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Apr 2 2002, 11:13 am
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Ebonshadow
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Hmm, the kewlest weapon I have ever seen was from the movie, "Mystery Men". There was a gun that made people's clothes shrink. They used it on a group of very visually pleasing women =D. That was my favorite part of the movie!
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Ebonshadow wrote:
Hmm, the kewlest weapon I have ever seen was from the movie, "Mystery Men". There was a gun that made people's clothes shrink. They used it on a group of very visually pleasing women =D. That was my favorite part of the movie! I've never seen that movie -- but that weapon, in reality, would be one of the most lethal weapons possible: rapid asphyxiation and crushing of the ribcage. =P | |
Leftley wrote:
I'm working on a futuristic game right now, which for the most part falls in the "science is what gives us funny cool stuff" genre of science-fiction, and I'm running out of unique ideas for weapons. One interesting aspect of this game is that combat is designed to be largely nonlethal; it's more beneficial to almost kill someone than it is to kill them outright, and as you might expect that means that quite a few of the weapons are designed to not kill people. So far the main attributes I'm planning on using are rate of fire, raw damage, lethality of damage (weapons with low lethality ratings will do less and less damage as the target's health decreases), and penetration factor (determines effectiveness against armor). Anyone have any interesting or off-beat futuristic weapons they'd like to see in a game? I'm not looking for ultra-realistic scientific stuff, but I am aiming at stuff that does at least make a little sense, and more importantly, doesn't fit standard commonly used molds for ballistic or energy weapons. Anything with penetration to get through tough armor would also kill an unarmored combatant outright and probably kill an armored one too. For almost-kill weapons, you'd want to go with hand-to-hand combat weapons designed to throw the opponent against obstacles, generally whack them about the head. Three things you should consider: Shields, chains/nets, and staves. A shield based on forcefield technology would be a powerful deflector of weaponry and at the edge could be used as a cutting blade (or a rounded blunt edge, depending on the field shape). A staff could be used to get in close to an enemy and deliver a local stunning charge in a short-range field; a glancing blow or a near miss would be almost as good as a poke. Chains and nets have the advantage of being able to tangle up an opponents weapons, or limbs--very good for taking away their offense, or knocking them to the ground. Lummox JR | |
Oh, I'm aware of the fact that penetrating power and lethality are very closely tied for conventional weapons (hence why I'm using lots of unconventional ones). I am perfectly happy taking a few liberties with physics as well, although it is a reasonable enough assumption that most armor is still designed to protect primarily against piercing force, followed by concussive force; being the future and not a particularly scientific future, there are plenty of other ways to inflict injury, and most armor doesn't fare too well against these (particularly since players aren't generally using military-grade equipment).
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Just take some cues from what our police force is beginning to use in terms of non-lethal weapons...
Sticky goo guns... Rubber bullets... Sonic pulses... Tazers (and other electrical shock devices)... Something that emits a low frequency sonic pulse is used to basically make some violently ill (incredible stopping power...lol)... This type of weapon could be fairly dangerous but generally non-lethal and would be essentially armor-piercing (since no average armor can stop sound)... | |
Aaaactually, I saw a really neat demo of a crowd control wep the US army is working on.. Basicaly acts like a microwave and heats the water -just- below the persons skin by several degrees. Not enough to do any damage, but enough to hurt like a b*****. ^^
Then theres also the realm of sonic weapons. Different pitched noises have been noted to have different effects on diferent species. For instance most people react badly to fingernails on chalkboards.. Now imagine that sound coming at you from all around at 200 decibles >:P Just a few ideas ^_^ Elorien | |
Something that emits a low frequency sonic pulse is used to basically make some violently ill (incredible stopping power...lol)... This type of weapon could be fairly dangerous but generally non-lethal and would be essentially armor-piercing (since no average armor can stop sound)... The brown noise! | |
one thing to consider is a shock to the muscles making them have spasms and flail about, not able to do anything. although if u approached the flailing person u could still get hit by him/her. another cool idea i had was this: a gun that some sort of x-ray thing that goes through the victim, recording him, and saving him like information on a computer, then after u kill the person u have him/her "saved" and can reconstruct the person in a cell.
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Well, let's see.
One effective anti-riot tool police have developed is basically a stink ball fired from a shotgun. The noxious odor causes the crowd to disperse and makes people less likely to follow an agitator. A stink gun or stink bomb might be a good incapacitating weapon with almost 0 lethality. Another fun one is the goo guns and nets. The weapons are designed to surround the victim in a quickly hardening, but porous, foam. End result- incapacitation without asphyxiation. Small energy bursts can disrupt neural function and so many varieties might be implemented. Traditional incapacitation tools such as saps and blackjacks are potentially more lethal, but cheap and effective if used properly. Nerve manipulation is another tactic employed primarily by unarmed fighters, but there is no reason why a sci-fi game could not have a 'pincher' weapon that does the same thing- selectively applies pressure to sensitive nerve clusters. Visual manipulation is another route. Perhaps a pistol like device with a spinning wheel on one end that hypnotizes or disorientates victims? Or maybe a device that disrupts a person's "dimensional anchoring" and causes them to be partially stuck between dimensions. And then there's the legal route. Nothing ties someone up like months of litigation followed by a jail sentence; the pen truly is mightier than the sword! -James | |
Visual manipulation is another route. Perhaps a pistol like device with a spinning wheel on one end that hypnotizes or disorientates victims? The suggestions seemed practical up until that point... No offense, but I just couldn't see myself running with a pistol-like device held in my outstretched arm, while shouting, "LOOK INTO THE DISC! LOOK INTO THE DISC! YOU ARE UNDER MY CONTROL!" ;-D What would probably make more sense is a pistol like device that shoots off concussive shockwaves and bright flashes of light in one direction only. Point and knock out. (Incidentally, that's what the sonic pistol does in TekForce, but I'll never finish that anyway.) | |
Elorien wrote:
Aaaactually, I saw a really neat demo of a crowd control wep the US army is working on.. Basicaly acts like a microwave and heats the water -just- below the persons skin by several degrees. Not enough to do any damage, but enough to hurt like a b*****. ^^ Hey I heard of that to, said to feel like putting a lightbulb to your skin. Then theres also the realm of sonic weapons. Different pitched noises have been noted to have different effects on diferent species. For instance most people react badly to fingernails on chalkboards.. Now imagine that sound coming at you from all around at 200 decibles >:P | |
Leftley wrote:
I'm working on a futuristic game right now, which for the most part falls in the "science is what gives us funny cool stuff" genre of science-fiction, and I'm running out of unique ideas for weapons. One interesting aspect of this game is that combat is designed to be largely nonlethal; it's more beneficial to almost kill someone than it is to kill them outright, and as you might expect that means that quite a few of the weapons are designed to not kill people. So far the main attributes I'm planning on using are rate of fire, raw damage, lethality of damage (weapons with low lethality ratings will do less and less damage as the target's health decreases), and penetration factor (determines effectiveness against armor). Anyone have any interesting or off-beat futuristic weapons they'd like to see in a game? I'm not looking for ultra-realistic scientific stuff, but I am aiming at stuff that does at least make a little sense, and more importantly, doesn't fit standard commonly used molds for ballistic or energy weapons. Since I now surmise this thread was meant for Lode Wars, I'd like to refine my answer. One of the neat things about Lode Wars is the way opponents drop items when wounded. How about something, then, that forces an item drop but inflicts very little damage? How about one that temporarily reduces carrying capacity (and by a proportional amount if the player is wearing a belt)? Short-range weapons are another possibility. If there's a lash-type weapon that's only effective within, say, 3 tiles, but does more damage as one gets closer, it also has a strong defensive advantage: It convinces another player to run for it, not to move in and retaliate. (I've hit a number of kill-or-be-killed situations, myself.) What about a field device to protect an area of the map? This could cost a modest amount, like $800, and prevent other teams from entering its field. It would have a "health" rating (preferably a high one) and could be attacked (by hitting the outer shell of the field), but that health would regnerate slowly just like for a player. Ideally this should protect an area about 7 tiles in diameter--that makes it just weak enough to justify the lowish cost, just strong enough to do actual good. It can be deployed near a team's base or a rich ore field. (I'm just itching to write some code to generate a nice set of icons for a forcefield; let me know if you're interested in that.) Another worthwhile piece of equipment would be a beacon. An arrow icon might show for all team members, leading the team to it. This sounds cheap but should be expensive because it's an obvious advantage if a rich ore deposit is found. And on the subject of other equipment: I liked the idea of the orefinder a lot when I had access to it, except for one problem: The flashes it generates are hard to see, and short-lived. It's also not available to all teams, which is a darn shame. Maybe it should show permanent icons (images attached to the ore, or whatever it takes to show up as long as ore is there and not mined) to the player who uses the orefinder--but it should then cost more, like $350. I also think the micro-charge should be a smidge bigger and easier to detonate. As it is it's kind of worthless, even at $60. Lummox JR | |
Another worthwhile piece of equipment would be a beacon. An arrow icon might show for all team members, leading the team to it. This sounds cheap but should be expensive because it's an obvious advantage if a rich ore deposit is found. A beacon could also necessitate the purchase of a "tracker" which would cost a modest amount as well. Without this device, you don't get the arrow. If people were required to get a tracker as well, it would behoove one to make the beacon more reasonably priced. Altogether the tracker/beacon combo would be much more pricey for the whole team in general -- it'd have practical uses, granted, but just enough of a high-price tag to make people think twice about including it in every package at the beginning of the round; and naturally, it'll take up inventory space. And on the subject of other equipment: I liked the idea of the orefinder a lot when I had access to it, except for one problem: The flashes it generates are hard to see, and short-lived. It's also not available to all teams, which is a darn shame. Maybe it should show permanent icons (images attached to the ore, or whatever it takes to show up as long as ore is there and not mined) to the player who uses the orefinder--but it should then cost more, like $350. Or, at least, the orefinder should display the images (to the owner) for tens of seconds. If the orefinder got bumped up to $350, I would think that, as it stands, it'd be cheaper just to bomb everything with blast packs. I also think the micro-charge should be a smidge bigger and easier to detonate. As it is it's kind of worthless, even at $60. I agree with that. Also, I'm not sure if this was a bug or intentional, but when I set a microcharge on the wall and clicked it, all of my other carried microcharges exploded as well. I think the microcharge should be changed entirely into remote-detonated explosives -- that is, actually require people to buy a detonator device (oh, say $50) and then select that and click to set off ALL of the microcharges within a 2-screen radius. This includes other teams' microcharges as well (but for sake of making things a little less lethal, charges in your inventory are assumed to be unprimed and completely inert). (Yes, yes, I'm a remote-detonated explosives fanatic, as Skysaw can attest to. Big deal! =P) | |
Whatever you do, make SURE to create a clear alternative to combat; in a weapon-heavy game, I am in hell unless I can obtain armour that will allow me to safely escape an encounter, even if it means that I have to compromise all but the most simple weapons. Basically, I'm asking for you to make avalable a super-armour that protects well from everything for people like me!
-Lord of Water | |
Lord of Water wrote:
Whatever you do, make SURE to create a clear alternative to combat; in a weapon-heavy game, I am in hell unless I can obtain armour that will allow me to safely escape an encounter, even if it means that I have to compromise all but the most simple weapons. Basically, I'm asking for you to make avalable a super-armour that protects well from everything for people like me! Combat occurs often in Lode Wars but weapon-combat does not. Most people are forced to fight with their bare hands, due to monetary concerns and the overall risk of losing a rented firearm. | |
Combat occurs often in Lode Wars but weapon-combat does not. Most people are forced to fight with their bare hands, due to monetary concerns and the overall risk of losing a rented firearm. Actually, I think it's mostly due to the fact that people seem to invest 100% of their earnings into blast packs. This might seem like a good idea, but more often than not the map is thoroughly ripped apart well before the round ends (which, ironically, means more time for running around attacking each other). I am probably going to be increasing pay rates... equipment does seem altogether too scarce. | |