Too many guns

[Sigma]

This is just something I've been thinking about for a while, and I'm wondering if those thoughts are shared.

I feel like there are too many weapons and armors in SMAC(X), and that the game could easily get away with having half, better distributed over the tech tree. The SManiac patch already sees this deficiency in the game's tactical design and adjusts it by relocated some of the weapons to smooth out the ladder from one stage to the next, but there are still issues.

In every game I've ever played of SMAC(X), I've really only ever used the following weapons:

Particle Impactor
Missiles (arguable; half the time I just run right for the Chaos Gun)
Chaos Gun
Plasma Shard
Singularity Laser

I've never had a war come down to who can field Gatling lasers first, I basically skip right over Fusion Lasers and Tachyon Bolts to get to the Plasma Shard, and by the time you're working through Quantum Lasers or Graviton weapon you are probably teching hard enough to just make a run for Singularity Lasers and consume your enemies in localized black holes.

I feel like if a Mod cut the weapon list down to something like what I posted above, it would make the conquest game that much more interesting, because it means that players could build and field armies with modern guns for longer periods of time before needing to upgrade with new equipment; I feel like it would also place more emphasis on tactics and unit design, as it would be harder to over power your enemy because your weapon has +1 over what they are fielding.

Take note that I don't play competitively so this experience may not be reflected in that environment.

[Buster's Uncle]

Its definitely true that easily half the weapons/armor lists ends up being superfluous in practice.

[Geo]

Superfluous for the teching attacker perhaps, but a lagging defender may be happy to have a weapon ready with only 1-2 points less combat value then an attacker.

[Buster's Uncle]

I do maximize research, always - but who honestly upgrades units 32 times, ever?

[Geo]

I do maximize research, always - but who honestly upgrades units 32 times, ever?

Few players, I'm sure. 
But when the need arises, it comes handy. 

[Sigma]

Superfluous for the teching attacker perhaps, but a lagging defender may be happy to have a weapon ready with only 1-2 points less combat value then an attacker.

With the large number of incremental upgrades, the lagging defender suffers more, because while he's trying to make the jump from the Gatling Laser to the Missile, the teching attacker has the opportunity to grab the chaos gun, then the fusion laser, then the tachyon bolt before he reaches the Plasma Shard. If the attacker has to jump from the Chaos Gun to the Plasma Shard, that's a much longer period in which his arms don't effectively improve.

[Green1]

You missed laser weapons Speaking of which:

When I read GURPS Alpha Centauri, they differentiated the weapons. You still had folks using impact weapons along with Plasma Shards and missiles. I would prefer each "item" have attributes and properties: strengths and weaknesses instead of just a higher number.

One thing I find kind of not immersive is that laser weapons are before impact weapons. Impact weapons from what I have read, are like futuristic recoiless bullet weapons. Think the movie Aliens. Now, from what we know of lasers as directed energy weapons, these things are poor. For early colonists good ol' modified kinetic impact machine gun would be the go to. A laser, particularly with 2010 (predicted 1999) tech is too big, bulky, too much energy and I doubt a rover is going to stand still and let you gradually melt it!

[Sigma]

You missed laser weapons Speaking of which:

When I read GURPS Alpha Centauri, they differentiated the weapons. You still had folks using impact weapons along with Plasma Shards and missiles. I would prefer each "item" have attributes and properties: strengths and weaknesses instead of just a higher number.

I like that as well; in my imagined SMAC successor there would only be like four or five weapons in total, and you'd get access to them fairly early in the game, but as you tech up you can improve the weapons you already have instead of just replacing them with new types.

[Green1]

You missed laser weapons Speaking of which:

When I read GURPS Alpha Centauri, they differentiated the weapons. You still had folks using impact weapons along with Plasma Shards and missiles. I would prefer each "item" have attributes and properties: strengths and weaknesses instead of just a higher number.

I like that as well; in my imagined SMAC successor there would only be like four or five weapons in total, and you'd get access to them fairly early in the game, but as you tech up you can improve the weapons you already have instead of just replacing them with new types.

Correct... because sometimes it just will not do to carry around a pocket singularity when a bullet will do. Plus, I have never understood... if I am carrying a weapon with a tiny black hole in it, why not send a probe team with that weapon and just release the black hole right on top of the enemy city?

However, I would like photon wall armor. I imagine like that duel scene off of Dune...

[JarlWolf]

I'm thinking that such weapons should have more statistics such as mineral cost+support costs as well as firing rate:
A black hole generator thing would require an INSANE amount of resources to maintain and power, as opposed to a grunt who is just using some dinky rifle.

[Sigma]

Well here is how I figured it could work:

You've got four weapon classes: Ballstic, Explosive, Particle and Laser.

As you tech up, certain techs will add a % bonus to your attach for certain weapon classes.

More importantly, you can equip units with Advanced Weapons abilities for each type which gives a much bigger boost to its power, but at the expense of one of your ability slots as well as making the unit more expensive and harder to replace. That way fielding super powerful weapons like singularity lasers incurs a much heavier cost on you compared with just sending out grunts with laser rifles.

But that is likely beyond the capabilities of a simple SMACX mod without someone cracking the .exe wide open. What I'm theorizing is modding the existing game to remove weapons from it. I know it's possible to select which tech an existing weapon goes to, but what about disabling them altogether?

[Green1]

Well here is how I figured it could work:

You've got four weapon classes: Ballstic, Explosive, Particle and Laser.

As you tech up, certain techs will add a % bonus to your attach for certain weapon classes.

More importantly, you can equip units with Advanced Weapons abilities for each type which gives a much bigger boost to its power, but at the expense of one of your ability slots as well as making the unit more expensive and harder to replace. That way fielding super powerful weapons like singularity lasers incurs a much heavier cost on you compared with just sending out grunts with laser rifles.

But that is likely beyond the capabilities of a simple SMACX mod without someone cracking the .exe wide open. What I'm theorizing is modding the existing game to remove weapons from it. I know it's possible to select which tech an existing weapon goes to, but what about disabling them altogether?

Yes. Look at Lost Eden. Prime example.

[Sigma]

I don't have access to my SMAC files right now, but am I missing any weapons here?

Hand Weapon (1)
Laser (2)
Particle Impactor (4)
Gatling Laser (5)
Missile (6)
Chaos Gun (8 ) <- had to add a space here otherwise the board would turn it into . The coolest weapon.
Fusion Laser (10)
Tachyon Bolt (12)
Plasma Shard (13)
Quantum Laser (16)
Graviton Gun (20)
Singularity Laser (24)
String Disruptor (30?)

[Geo]

IIRC, just the extra progenitor weapons, resonance laser (6) and resonance bolt (12) or something like that.

[JarlWolf]

There is also PSI as well.