-let laser rifle come with generator as standard.
No. Not unless the generator is strong enough to power the laser at max power. We pretty much never run out of laser battery power, unless people use it as a cutting device, and if that's a problem we should probably just make a better cutting device.
-new basic weapon: that gauss rifle/rocket rifle combo, but smaller scale.band maybe non-rocket propelled, but bit of old fashioned chemical explosive to augment bullet speed. Bullets size of regular bullets we use now perhaps?
Chemical explosives are a
terrible idea. Electricity is practically free in ER, plus chemical explosives are a extremely inefficient way to propel a bullet- most of the force is lost in escaping gasses after the bullet leaves.
Using bullets closer to 5mm makes sense though. You only really want big bullets if you're shooting long range, and we pretty much never have long ranged engagements.
-if previous 2 becomes new standard assault weapons, mod standard gauss rifle to be more powerful, but without increasing weight too much.
...Why would we make them
more powerful? They're already at the level you can shoot a guy in the shin and you'll blow his leg off. And nobody uses armor unless it's basically tank armor. The only real improvements I can see for gauss rifles are a higher fire speed, and higher accuracy.
Oh, and a reliable nonlethal weapon, though that might be covered by my goop launcher, if that works as hoped. Though there arz still other options as well of course (e.g. microwave cannon).
I like Anton's red hand design. It has a non-lethal level, although I guess it's not necessarily reliable. It's still a wonderful sidearm.
Okay, so basically here's what I'm coming up with so far.
Gauss Rifle replacement: Hybrid Metamaterial Rail Cannon, bit of a Fun With Acronyms - will probably find better name later
> Basically take a page from Mass Effect and store the weapon's ammo as a semi-liquid metamaterial that hardens into a magnetic metalloid solid instantly when exposed to some form of radiation or electric current. Weapon will use magnetic fields to draw and shape the projectile, allowing the weapon to effectively adjust its caliber, projectile shape, ammunition capacity, and fire rate - on the fly.
> The weapon will use a combination of standard Gauss Rifle and Coilgun designs to achieve both rapid-fire and overcharge capacities. Possible shot types are standard round of varied caliber, cluster shot, AP rod (aka crossbow bolt), cluster flechette (needle shotgun). Spent metamaterial could theoretically be recovered and returned to semi-liquid state without much trouble.
> The cost and complexity probably push it a bit higher than "basic weapon", but the increased flexibility (sadly, probably not power) should make it a worthwhile venue - besides the metamaterial, the design is fairly simple.
This is... really relying on sci-fi, so I can't exactly argue against it very well, but I'm just gonna guess the weapon would have to be especially complex, and probably quite heavy, to do this. Most of the time, I'd think having a normal gauss weapon with a standard caliber would be sufficient.
It's certainly a neat idea though, and that might be enough. It really just depends on how much more costly it would be compared to standard designs.
Laser Rifle replacement: Portable Free-Electron Laser Rifle - "Hellgun"
> The current laser rifles seem to be solid state lasers of some kind. Changing the design to a FEL introduces several possibilities.
> The operating principle of the FEL means it can create anything from X-rays, to visible light, to microwaves, with pretty much a simple turn of a knob. Variable intensity and focusing options can mean that it can be used for a whole lot of things, including nonlethal deterrent (low-intensity microwaves over wide angle).
> The power of a FEL increases with length - or, when the output is reflected back into the stream, with time spent charging up the laser. So even a compact rifle can produce a very high-power beam if given enough charge-up time. Used in conjunction with preparing a dynamic bonus to aim, the extra power afforded can be quite useful indeed.
> The design makes generator-power the most viable, since the laser is not instantaneous, and repeatedly charging up could quickly deplete any battery. However, a different design with a conventional laser (say, a hand laser emitter) to seed the electron stream can immediately produce a laser of sufficient intensity to fire, which may allow a battery-pack design to be used as well. A seeding laser can still be used with generator power too, but in both cases the quick shot can only be made on the frequency of the seeding laser, meaning that fancier things like microwaves and X-rays will still need charging up before firing.
> In short, a different design of laser optimized for generator power, with a wide range of uses and charged shot capability.
This seems odd, but I don't understand the driving science well enough to argue anything. Good idea, if it works.
Grenade launchers and mini-rocket-launchers could easily fit R_C's third weapon type, being high-power but with costly ammunition.
I touched on this with my qualification Tinker session, with the BEARD-9. I plan on adapting the weapon into a more multi-role squad support style thing, with different types of missiles for different problems. It'd basically be used as a larger version of Simus' grenade launcher, with the added ability of firing automanip missiles.
My ideas:
First, Fix the gorram MK.1. The UWM found some way to do away with heat fins, so we should probably copy that. Then, add a large generator to the back, at least large enough to power a red hand. Add a power port to the back of the forearm on each arm, and connect weapons to that. This way, basic suits would cost more, but weapons would overall be cheaper because each one doesn't need it's own power supply.
Taking a page from Anton's MCS, add hardpoint all over it to accept things like a larger generator, a (sod) brain box, or special weapons. Don't include stuff like exoskeletons and cameyes by default though.
Also, make sure it has a robust computer system so I can make WAFFLES very advanced.
No, I don't know what that stands for. It's a battlefield awareness thing.Then, make an automatic sub-machinegun of some form. We have a distressing lack of them, and they are very powerful weapons in CQB. Especially considering how little armor most people wear, this should be a no-brainer.