@DanielOr
I didn't know you were the one with PhD here... I haven't read these forums for several months, so I am not familiar with everyone yet. The reference to pop-science wasn't meant to offend you or others. All games are built on some science facts, so it's a good thing. Besides, I'm not against science here... or in general. Even more, I am quite fascinated with these topics and more, reading alot of science related books since I was a kid. But because I was poor with maths (I have an artistic talent that compensates) I couldn't go study physics at the University. But nevermind that...
My point was that we are talking about the game here, and that should be more focused on gameplay and design issues, rather than scientific talk. Sure, we can have a big forum thread about science and FTL physics, but I would rather talk about the game. The science talk doesn't bother me, but I think it's out of place. People are developing a game, not a jet fighter simulator. Ofc the science background is important, but secondary.
I had this post because I saw some good ideas dismissed just because they aren't totally valid from a scientifical point of view, and that's bad, because in order to have a game, you have to make some compromises and create a crude model of what happens in reality, or even ignore how things happen in reality.
One example is the medkit. According to UFOpedia, the effects of a plasma hit are so gruesome that not even the best surgeons in the world could heal such a wound. Besides even a small hit would incapacitate the victim completely due to the pain and shock. However, in game you can take alot of hits, heal, and continue with no probs. Is this a bad design idea? I think not. Is it totally unrealistic? Yes. Do I care? Not really. The soldier has a number of
hitpoints and you don't have to translate hitpoints into health. You can imagine that your soldier isn't really hit until his hitpoints reach zero, and then he is lethaly hit, and so he dies.
Regarding lightsabers, I heard Lucas saying that he knew the swords are unrealistic, but he liked the idea so much that he had to put in in the movies. He is a creative person, and knows when something is so good that it has to came on film no matter how silly is from a scientifical point of view. The Jedi are the SF version of the medieval knight or monk, and the lightsaber makes it all. If Vader had a broadsword then that would have been stupid, even if the sword is more realistic than the lightsaber.
@Darkpriest667
Regarding the minigun.... Even though they look cool, they are totally impractical as a personel weapon. Even if you are very strong with the help of a power armor like in Fallout, the minigun eats alot of ammo, so unless you are carrying a cart with ammo around, it's totally impractical. BUT, one solution could be a plasma minigun, so you don't have to carry a truck with bullets with you.
OMG wall of text