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Suspension of belief

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Nutter:

--- Quote from: ergotoxin on September 18, 2012, 06:52:58 pm ---Laser and railgun weapons might actually come to widespread use much much sooner than 2084.
Naval railguns are developed by the US. Laser weapons are actually used since the 90s. One of the more recent examples is the FIRESTRIKE:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/14/weaponised_rayguns_hit_shelves_in_time_for_xmas/?d=154600
I was myself quite surprised that UFO:AI takes place in 2084 and these weapons aren't developed yet.. guess army isn't funded so well in the future :D
I'd hate to lose the opportunity to research these weapons though, research is what I always loved about x-com/ufo! Much better solution might be what OllyG suggested - setting the starting year to 2020s or perhaps 2040s-2050s.
Just my two cents  :)

--- End quote ---

I'm talking about man portable railguns especially. Even if you can fit one on a ship, it doesn't mean it's actually worth making an infantry weapon out of it. And even then, I'm guessing you'll be seeing an anti-material weapon first.

And note:

--- Quote ---Portable blaster rifles or carbines aren't really on the cards yet, then. But a reasonably useful laser tank could well be a goer if Northrop can do what they say.
--- End quote ---
Okay, so it's probably closer than 70 years but still.


--- Quote from: Triaxx2 on September 15, 2012, 01:58:34 pm ---Pulse Detonation? You mean the thing that was invented by the time of World War II? So it could be used to power the V-1 Rocket?

--- End quote ---

No, that one is a pulse jet engine. It had moving parts and the combustion lasted longer.
The first pulse detonation engine flew in...08 with no practical engine in production to date. So I'm guessing it'll still take a while before it catches on. And even longer before someone decides to go VTOL with it.

Triaxx2:
Ah, got it. Was using an old definition.

And at the moment the problem with Railguns is that you only get a few shots before you've got to change the rails because they're too warped to make contact due to heat. Friction is HOT.

Nutter:
Fixed by only ever using a set of rails For one shot in the game itself.*
The main issue is supposed to be power generation/storage.*
*At least if I remember fluff correctly.


That said, I'm suddenly reminded of Silent Storm...might be I'd have to make a thread about that later.

homunculus:
the situation is bit complicated imho.

1) if the date would be 1954, i would be all in favor of that.
stereotypical ww2 weapons all over the place, and modern weapons would appear appropriately futuristic.
but then the geoscape would be more complicated with all the nations there, unless there is a way to unite several nations into an organization or council that would finance phalanx.

2) the secrecy and small scale of the human response after mumbai.
no matter how long the explanation, it just doesn't work.
in the original game, as far as i remember, the governments wanted to have a diplomatic option while secretly financing x-com.

3) aliens wearing casual clothing or being naked (like ortnoks) on earth.
if you would go to mars, would you go naked, or with casual clothing?
aliens seem to have no appropriate protective clothing nor protective glasses.
not optimal conditions could be part of the explanation why aliens on earth are more clumsy than humans.
for example, humans have penalties with alien weapons because those were designed for aliens, while aliens are clumsy at everything they do because they are not on their homeworld.
i doubt a human soldier would perform as good on mars as on earth at least compared to hypothetical marsians.

4) there is no hint at selling phalanx battlefield footage, and financing from that profit.
in real life it would be something like this:
"leaked: top secret phalanx agents against aliens battlefield footage, uncut."
if a flamethrower gets blown up when a soldier dies, extra cash next month.
civilian gets butchered by a bloodspider, extra cash next month.
(nation happiness would drop in such cases, though)

Triaxx2:
Frankly, I'm sorry, but the inability to sell things we've manufactured is really a killer in 2.4. No money is why I continue to lose. (Being mercilessly slaughtered by Aliens is another.) Even if it's a minimum amount or only those things we start the game with, production of items for sale is both a classic thing, as well as making sense. I mean, sure, the weapons for the most part are top of the line technology, but supposedly the rocket launcher is an antique, meaning no one is going to care if you're shipping out 50 crates of it, as opposed to top secret laser weapons, or handheld rail guns.

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