Coilguns were declared a dead-end and never mass-produced, the cost of their construction for such a minor advantage over normal fire-arms, coupled with the extreme stress put on the gun (and subsequent cost of repairs) meant that they were useless as small-arms. Thing is, weapons tech never advanced much, as the weapons themselves never got much deadlier, or at least not enough to justify the massive spike in price. There might be prototype Gauss weaponry available somewhere, but it is extremely rare tech.

...Dude. That's not plausible at all. You don't seem to realize that in most SciFi, Gauss guns and railguns totally replace firearms. That's why projectile weapons are not affected by polarized hull, due to the fact that coilguns and railguns fire polarized projectiles by their very nature. I was kinda willing to ignore the fact that you said a weapon that's a relic even by modern standards is still used here, but this is getting a little ridiculous, to say that a weapon that's only getting cheaper to make and more practical as time goes on just suddenly stops being produced entirely.

If you already have everything laid out, why would you even ask for player input and say you haven't developed anything yet?

Why do you want magnetic weaponry so much?
'sides, I havent laid out everything yet. Although now I'm certain that the most advanced of tech won't be utilized. I want things like gauss rifles and plasma cannons to be special, advanced technology that you have to fight tooth and nail to acquire. If you start with things like that, what's the point in getting loot? you already have a gatling laser, why care about a magnetic gun? No, I like a sense of progression to be apparent. I've gone through it, and I tell ya, the day you throw out that craptastic hunting shotgun for a railgun is immensely satisfying.

I just fail to see how Gauss tech was considered a deadend, yet railgun tech wasn't. The two are extremely similar in nature. The only real difference is made obvious by the names: railguns use rails, and coilguns use coils. The coils allow a Gauss gun to become far smaller than a railgun, which requires a pretty long barrel. Railguns are usually ship-to-ship weapons, while Gauss guns are typically for close-quarters combat between people.

I assume our ship will be mounted with railguns from the start, since modern cannons as we know them will be totally ineffective in a vacuum.

I agree with Kala. Is this sci-fi space piracy or is it spaceships like in the Disney Treasure Planet movie?

I think Red Dwarf's a good compare. Laser cannons exist but they're expensive, and much rarer than in something like Star Trek.

Personal/handheld weapons are still more or less entirely ballistic (shoot metal) and you'd be hard pressed to find somebody with a laser pistol/plasma rifle.

Silver, I'm not arguing for laser weaponry. I'm arguing for magnetic weaponry (meaning coilguns and railguns). Those projectile weapons in Red Dwarf were most likely magnetic in nature.

Draco's pretty much summed up what I'm arguing here. If you're going to do a custom SciFi RP, you have to consider the science as well as the fiction. There's a big difference between science fiction and futuristic fantasy. Star Trek is science fiction, while Star Wars is futuristic fantasy. There's actual hard science backing up Star Trek and virtually none backing up Star Wars.

So please consider the science. Do you really, really think that the Browning M2, to use your example, would really continue being used centuries, or even decades, from now when it's barely used today?

Guess I'll stay out of this, then. I know nothing about the actual science of any weapon, except maybe poison. I'm a chemist.

I would defs like to join this.

Kalamadea said
Do you really, really think that the Browning M2, to use your example, would really continue being used centuries, or even decades, from now when it's barely used today?

It's not barely used today, it's used a lot. It's just not an individual weapon. It's a crew served weapon.

Kalamadea said
Do you really, really think that the Browning M2, to use your example, would really continue being used centuries, or even decades, from now when it's barely used today?

Just gonna jump in here and say that the M2 has widespread use. It is the main heavy machinegun of the U.S. military and many other NATO countries as well. Just about everything from Tanks to Ships to Humvees that can have one, does have one. Really, it depends how far in the future this RP takes place whether it would still be in use or not.

But everything I just said really has nothing to do with magnetic weapons. While I agree Kala that they shouldn't be randomly cancelled, it is the GMs decision what is and isn't in their settings.

Warrior in the Shadows said
I would defs like to join this.It's not barely used today, it's used a lot. It's just not an individual weapon. It's a crew served weapon.

Well, in the time it took me to type this, go do something else for a little, then actually hit "submit post", I got beat. :(

AdvancedJ3lly said
Well, in the time it took me to type this, go do something else for a little, then actually hit "submit post", I got beat. :(

Haha, sorry man. Better luck next round.

Alright, I'm gonna set the record straight before this argument escalates. This is not star trek. this is not Mass effect. Tech isn't pretty, that's the important part. And yes, consider this; On a colony world, how would you prefer to arm your poorly funded group of explorers, with Reliable, cheap, and easy to produce AK-47s, or extremely complex Coilguns that constantly need repairs from the stress put on them, not to mention a power source, a means to recharge that power source, and the ammunition itself. and conventional guns can operate in a vacuum. The shells are sealed, all the air to ignite them is inside the cartridge, and the round are propelled by the gas forcing it out of the barrel. In fact, with no gravity or air to cause friction, the rounds would have a longer range and be more accurate.

Point is, man-portable Gauss/rail technology was declared pointless for Railguns that small had a very small advantage over Fire-arms, one that did not justify the cost, upkeep, and complexity of the weaponry. however, railguns of a sufficient size are MUCH more powerful than cannon of the same size, and are a necessity. That's why the answer is no.

As for ship armaments, that depends on what kinda ship you guys want.

Fast and nimble?
Durable?
Powerful weapons?
Just pick one advantage and one weakness of your guys' ship, and I'll see what things I can whip up.

I would be very interested in joining this RP.

Anyhow, disregard what I said about the ship, I'm gonna get the OOC up with a 'store' where you guys can buy ship parts!

Kalamadea said
There's actual hard science backing up Star Trek.

Holodeck, Replicator, Shatner's acting.

Freeshooter92 said
Holodeck, Replicator, Shatner's acting.

Lol

For the ship?
BlackStar or WhiteStar or whatever color IDGAF
DarkVexen
The Nexus
Titan AE (heehee)
AbyssWalker

for the roleplay?
Journey of Eternity
Chaoticlism
SoundlessSouls (cause there is no sound in space)
StarHearted
Starred-crossed pirates (heehee)

don't judge me these are off the top of my espresso-filled head.

Freeshooter92 said
On a colony world, how would you prefer to arm your poorly funded group of explorers, with Reliable, cheap, and easy to produce AK-47s, or extremely complex Coilguns that constantly need repairs from the stress put on them, not to mention a power source, a means to recharge that power source, and the ammunition itself.

Really, AK-47's aren't used much at all nowadays as production of them was stopped in favor of the AKM in the 50's/60's. Its mostly AKMs and AK-74s or variants of those that are used. But, yeah, having weapons that can be run over by a tank and still work would be a valuable tool when resources and technological knowledge are lacking.

Freeshooter92 said
Holodeck, Replicator, Shatner's acting.

Holodeck is actually possible. It's not that different from today's virtual reality, just applied to an entire room rather than goggles.

I still don't see how there's extreme stress on a Gauss gun, or how it can possibly be expensive to make. That full-auto rifle I showed you probably only cost around 20 to 30 bucks to make, and most of that price is the metal. Electronics are dirt cheap even today, and they'll only get cheaper and better. If you're not gonna be realistic about this and go for futuristic fantasy instead of science fiction, I'm out. I was wanting science fiction, not fantasy.