@tobbe
Can you please explain this a bit more detailed? How is a weapon imbalanced if the soldier is able to handle it more quickly? If swiftness and accuracy under stress -if that is as well a proper interpretation of the speed variable- enables one soldier to aim quicker it is not the weapon which is imbalanced but rather the soldiers advantage for his higher speed.
I think your argument would merely point out that we should consider less additional TU per speed point?
But this has nothing to do with realistic impact on weapon use.
I would agree that TU should be considered carefully as a trained soldier is not that much slower than a very good sprinter.
I will try.
First: I accept the Real life effect that there is no difference in the time needed to pull a trigger...be it a MG, a SMG, a Plasma Blster or Particlebeam Cannon...it takes lets say a second - done.
I am talking about the
game mechanic of damage ratings of weapons.
There are losts of others factors balancing (e.g. spread, crouch, range, effect vs. various armours)weapons, but i will limit the analysis towards this one factor (damage/TU)
In the game you obviously try to use the most efficient weapon possible. This can be represented be damage/TU. Right now all weapons are fairly balanced. There is no real Uber-weapon because the higher damage potential a weapon has, the more TUs you need to "pull the trigger". The damage/TU varies around 5 to 30 damage per TU, most high damage values have to be calculated down due to spread, whereas low damage values often have a much higher chance to hit. This narrows the damage/TU values to about 8 to 15 damage per TU. So there are differences but not within small limits. If you equalize the TUs needed for firemodes, simply choosing weapons with higher damage becomes a "No-Brainer"...ill try to give an example:
atm the particlebeam cannon requires 24 TU for rapid shots (not even full auto) and deals up to 600 points of damage (assuming all shots hit, not very likely with a spread of 2.5...). This means the weapon deals about 25 damage/TU
the Assault rifle requires 18 TU for full auto and deals up to 336 points of damage, with an equal spread chance. This equals about 18 damage/TU.
This way PHALANX has at least a chance to deal sufficient damage to kill the aliens.
If you would reduce the TUs needed for the P-Beam cannon (argument: just pull the trigger!) to lets say 18, the Cannon would be able to deliver an enormous amount of about 34 damage/TU. (The hardest hitter right now is the flamethrower (30 Damage/TU) and this weapon has a severely limited range.) So after i have researched particlebeam cannons, i switch with as many as possible soldiers to cannons, to inflict the most damage/TU, and this would result in having most of your forces running around with p-beam cannons. This would reduce the variety of the game a lot and make the game less interesting.
So you are right to claim that in RL there is no difference in the time needed to pull the trigger, right.
But implementing this into the game would cause an imbalance as in creating Uber-Weapons.
Concerning the Speed/TU-System: If you want to keep it simple, there is simply no chance to make it completely "realistic"...just consider the fact that you need e.g. 10 TUs to fire a laser pistol pulse. Ans you need the same amount of TUs to move 5 squares, a distance of about 20 feet...not realistic at all. But it is a simple, easy to understand und working mechanic. I am quite content to sacrifice as much realism as needed to create a well working and balanced combat system.
About the comparison between sprinter and trained soldier: You might be right, but I WANT to see my stats go up and I WANT to feel/see the effects! So if id only gain 1 TU per 10 speed, the game would become less interesting for me, almost boring. In fact, i discovered UFO:AI a few months ago and once i realized that your soldiers did not improve, i stopped playing...not enogh development..or to discribe it with Robin D. Laws "not enough tiny bits"...
All of this is of course just my own personal preference how this kind of a game should be be, feel free to disagree...
