Quote from: Yellow Alien on Dec 24, 2007, 02:41:02 AM
Didn't Hudson mention laser weapons?
"Particle beam phalanx" - which is not only a completely different thing to 'plasma' weapons (as in, a totally different branch of science and application), but is basically an extension of technology already studied and explored decades ago.
It just needs enough money pumped into the refinement to make the stuff viable.
There were "phased plasma pulse rifles" mentioned, however, but quite whether they actually fired plasma or used it as part of the firing process for whatever ammunition they
do require (or energy), is quite open to interpretation.
Personally, I'd like it so that the Predator weapons are kept ambiguous, but somehow proven that they are
not based on plasma. Mostly, because it's totally unworkable for actual weapons.
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/PlasmaWeapons.htmlAnd yeah, superficially fun, but the film version of '
Starship Trooopers' was really crap as an actual story. The entire planets would simply be glassed from afar.
The book version was much better
and had technological 'bugs' which were a great deal more frightening than those in the films. They were like tarantulas who discovered weapons, robotics and spaceships. The book was almost completely about boot camp, but at least that species gave the human faction a reason for having to use soldiers and stuff against them.