ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[HuDaFuK]

It sounds like you want a magic weapon that covers every possible contingency.

I'm not sure that's what he's saying. From a logical point of view, the Smartgun is incredibly dumb, for exactly the reason's he's pointed out. You can try and justify it by saying you can lie down with it, it doesn't overheeat, whatever, but at the end of the day, you're mobility is still hugely restricted and you're going to have difficulty getting to cover, while the enemy is going to be largely focused primarily on you because you have the biggest, most destructive gun. You wouldn't last five minutes.

But then again it's sci-fi, so it works in the context.

[SM]

It autotracks targets with a cyclic rate of 1200rpm, holds 600 rounds, with a range of 1500m.
It's going to have cons to go with those pros.

[Nostromo]

A lot of smartgun talk in here. Here's my field notes from my time of use with it in AVP-AVP2 back in the day..lol.

Close combat...sucked, possibility of getting splashed by acid very high...possibility of getting flanked..high.

Support or stand alone from mid distances 20-70 meters in open or semi open areas without any squad members in front of you...very high effectiveness..ultimate bad ass.

[HuDaFuK]

It's going to have cons to go with those pros.

Sure. But when the major con is "stood right out in the open and offering a prime target", it starts to seem a little unbalanced. You can send as many auto-tracked bullets at the targets as you like, at the end of the day, unless you're facing a single solitary gunman or an enemy that has no access to firearms, a high volume of fire isn't not gonna shield you from return fire and if you're lumbering about in the open you're going to get shot before you can do much good.

More to the point, if the gun automatically tracks individual targets, it's gonna be useless for suppressive fire, which is what keeps the enemy's heads down and is the main reason we use machine guns in the first place.

A lot of smartgun talk in here. Here's my field notes from my time of use with it in AVP-AVP2 back in the day..

Always got a kick out of the fact the Smartgun can somehow track Xenos with it's infra-red tracking systems in those games... even though Aliens specifically shows us the creature gives off no infra-red signature

[Xenomrph]

The CMTM I think is available because it's the old edition without the A3 add ons. All versions on sale appear to be the May 29th 2012 edition which means that the old one is now discontinued.

As far as I'm aware, the only difference between the 1995 and the 2012 editions of the Tech Manual are the cover, the actual content is the same.

If someone has both editions, feel free to correct me on that one.

More to the point, if the gun automatically tracks individual targets, it's gonna be useless for suppressive fire, which is what keeps the enemy's heads down and is the main reason we use machine guns in the first place.

While I agree that the Smartgun is a goofy weapon from a logic standpoint, it's worth pointing out that you can turn the tracking off (in the games) or at least fire it without tracking targets (we see both Vasquez and Drake do it).

[HuDaFuK]

While I agree that the Smartgun is a goofy weapon from a logic standpoint, it's worth pointing out that you can turn the tracking off (in the games) or at least fire it without tracking targets (we see both Vasquez and Drake do it).

True, but in that case you may as well ditch the harness entirely and have a regular machine gun that allows you to move around more freely.

[Local Trouble]

Maybe they have conventional machine guns for "stand up fights."

[HuDaFuK]

Maybe they do. Doesn't make the gun in Aliens any less contrived.

[Local Trouble]

True, but if I can buy smart guns much more easily if they're reserved specifically for the extermination of bugs who can't shoot back.

[SiL]

Fully auto weapons are designed for suppressing fire. Two smartgunners with overlapping arcs would be able to put down a hell of a cover fire while their teammates moved.

People realise we have mounted guns, right? As in you sit still and fire a BFG while everything within a hundred meters shits itself. Sure, they're normally on vehicles, but that just makes a bigger target, particularky for anti materiel rounds (since these arguments always assume the enemy is perfectly equipped for every situation).

[HuDaFuK]

Two smartgunners with overlapping arcs would be able to put down a hell of a cover fire while their teammates moved.

They'd still be stood wide out in the open. And if they weren't, they'd be so slow to move to the next point of cover they'd be easy targets. Especially if they had a giant machine gun strapped to them that the enemy would want to put out of action as quickly as possible.

People realise we have mounted guns, right?

On vehicles or in fortified positions, both of which offer protection.

Case in point, a Challenger 2 in Iraq was hit by 70 RPGs and kept on truckin'. A man stood in the open with a .50 cal wouldn't stand a hope.

[The Cruentus]

It's going to have cons to go with those pros.

Sure. But when the major con is "stood right out in the open and offering a prime target", it starts to seem a little unbalanced. You can send as many auto-tracked bullets at the targets as you like, at the end of the day, unless you're facing a single solitary gunman or an enemy that has no access to firearms, a high volume of fire isn't not gonna shield you from return fire and if you're lumbering about in the open you're going to get shot before you can do much good.

More to the point, if the gun automatically tracks individual targets, it's gonna be useless for suppressive fire, which is what keeps the enemy's heads down and is the main reason we use machine guns in the first place.

A lot of smartgun talk in here. Here's my field notes from my time of use with it in AVP-AVP2 back in the day..

Always got a kick out of the fact the Smartgun can somehow track Xenos with it's infra-red tracking systems in those games... even though Aliens specifically shows us the creature gives off no infra-red signature

Actually the tech manual only mentions that they have no signature either when they immobile or when they pressed to their hive structure which is highly humid....but when they move, they might generate heat

[Engineer]

We don't fully know why the aliens didn't show up on infrared

Maybe they don't give off body heat (cold blooded or something else 'alien' to us)

Maybe the hive camouflaged their body heat since it was so hot in their to begin with

Maybe their exo/meso skeletal structure acted as an insulator

Could be any number of reasons, but I don't think the reason was that they were motionless.

[Bughunter S. Thomson]

So I got this in the post finally.

Gotta say, I'm disappointed. The illustrations look very cheap and the whole design of the book feels like it's aimed at kids, which kind of contrasts with the content. Kind of reminds me of the DK Publishing info books.

[Local Trouble]

Could be any number of reasons, but I don't think the reason was that they were motionless.

Do we know for a fact that motion trackers key off of body heat?  That would make them somewhat useless against machinery, wouldn't it?

Gotta say, I'm disappointed. The illustrations look very cheap and the whole design of the book feels like it's aimed at kids, which kind of contrasts with the content. Kind of reminds me of the DK Publishing info books.

What sort of illustrations were you expecting?