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[mickel]

Usually my suggestions are rather grandiose things, but here's something small and down to earth. How about being able to use raw glass instead of obsidian in those short swords we all love and cherish? It wouldn't really make a difference. Perhaps the damage should be a little less?

[Mechanoid]

Green, clear, and crystal should all be viable choices. I agree, it is definitely a good idea.

[Savok]

Note that if you get those swords to be fixed, you'll make them crumble quickly.

[mickel]

Obsidian swords crumble too. It's still glass, albeit black and naturally formed by lava. I don't mind them crumbling, they're a stopgap/decorative measure. And potential catapult ammo.

[Savok]

Not in the current version they don't.

Like I said, if Toady fixes the whole "glass swords" mess, they will crumble quickly.

[mickel]

In either case it'll be the same difference. In the current version, glass swords don't wear down irregardless of what type of glass they're made of. After this is fixed, glass swords will wear down irregardless of what type of glass they're made of.

Not to mention the fact metal swords ought to wear down too. Nothing lasts for ever, certainly not weapons.

[Fieari]

Artifact and adamantine weapons should last forever.

Artifact Adamantine weapons should last beyond the destruction of the universe, somehow, surviving even into the next world gen.

[Lightning4]

Ooh, that'd be neat. The cavemen discover this ultra-powerful weapon and soon learn to send their enemies flying 8402 tiles away.

Then eventually it ends up in some heavily trapped ruin that our adventurer must run through to get the weapon, Indiana Jones style!

[Anti-Paragon]

quote:Originally posted by Lightning4:
<STRONG>Ooh, that'd be neat. The cavemen discover this ultra-powerful weapon and soon learn to send their enemies flying 8402 tiles away.

Then eventually it ends up in some heavily trapped ruin that our adventurer must run through to get the weapon, Indiana Jones style!</STRONG>

Or it is placed in a forest called "The lost woods" by some strange elves called "The Hyrulians"

[Matias]

Obisidian is a form of glass. It was favoured over normal glass, because it was discovered before mankind knew how to make glass and because it is a lot harder than normal quartz glass (green or clear). Cyrstal glass comes near to it, but because of tempering, it doesn't form as sharp edges. I would also like to see flint weapons, like flint arrows, that aztecs used against spaniards and were more widely used during stone and bronze age. To the horror of the conquistadors, they went easily through two overlayed chainmails.

-Matias

[mickel]

I always thought armor is for people who can't fight well enough. Or people who are wary of friendly fire. Of course, friendly fire is a recent invention.

But I'm there with more stone weapons. They work well for things like spear- and arrowheads. Once thrown weapons start to make sense, I want to see javelins, too...

[JT]

I would say that anyone who didn't armour themselves is someone who can't fight well enough.  When you're in a dangerous situation, it all boils down to a matter of physics: when there are projectiles and sharp things flying around on a regular basis, odds are that you're going to get hit by something no matter how skillful you are. =)

[Tamren]

There are ways around that, roman soldiers wore chest protection only and carried a big shield. Arguably they are less vulnerable to a knight in full plate armour and much more mobile.

Glass weapons would be okay. You can grind a sharp edge into glass but it takes special tools. Shattering glass until you get a sharp edge is much easier. Obsidian is a bit different, it has different "cleavage" and striking the pieces at various angles will produce a sharp edge. The art of doing that has a name but i forgot it, it was crimming or something.

The problem with both of them is that they can not be repaired. You can sharpen an obsidian spear point, but what you will end up with is something much smaller. Also, when the weapon fails, it fails in a spectacular fashion with glass shards flying everywhere.

That said, in the absense of metal they do allow you to make serviceable bladed or pointed weapons. Just dont try to use them against heavy armour. If the weapon hits something it can not CUT through easily it will shatter. This does not include chainmail because you are trying to wedge the rings open not cut them. That of course, depends on the shape of the arrowhead.

[mickel]

I've long favored the school of thinking that says the best protection is to not be hit. Usually I choose the most elegant way: not getting into a fight in the first place.  

That glass shatters didn't come as a surprise to me, but the remark about it gave me a fun idea - shrapnel. Of course, shrapnel projectiles have been suggested before, and I have a feeling they'd be hellishly difficult to implement. At least realistically.

I wonder if Henry Shrapnel would be proud of his legacy?

[Eagleon]

It's called knapping. Most glasses pose no special problem to knap. All it requires is a material that fractures conchoidally - you can even do it with fired clay.

Human beings can only be so skilled in combat, and they can't see behind them. If you're in a large battle, and you're sane, you want to be the guy with good armor, even if the battle plan calls for mobility coughcannonfoddercough. Armor also isn't cheap. I'm sure if the romans had full-body armor ready and fitted for all their men, they'd have used it. For anything but the basics, it's difficult to standardize the stuff.