This is 3000+ years from now and we're still using projectile weapons?

[KingKnee]

Imagine the sex robots 3000+ years from now. I mean, the guns are unrealistic.

[TheMeInTeam]

My understanding is that this game presumes not-FTL so a lot of that is travel time while in cold sleep.

Even so, if you want to go pure realism/plausibility the weapon distribution is silly.  Fortunately the game is not so constrained.

[LordMunchkin]

Imagine the sex robots 3000+ years from now. I mean, the guns are unrealistic.

The guns are realistic (not their stats which aren't). Kinetic weapons are just that efficient. 

[PotatoeTater]

Imagine the sex robots 3000+ years from now. I mean, the guns are unrealistic.

It mainly goes with how people travel in cryosleep, so every planet is a different tech level. You have glitterworlds that are all power armor and lazer guns (pew pew), to planets stuck at earths 21st century tech. Basically, some of the people might have been in cryo for a 1000 years and to them, a combustion pistol is a common thing, while those that spend 20 years in cryo would be expecting to have a lazer gun and a combustion pistol to be an antique.

[b0rsuk]

Well, do you have a convincing alternative to fossil fuels ? They are incredibly energy efficient per unit of mass.

There is a reason people fantasize about lasers IN SPACE: no dust in space, no clouds, no fog. And what if enemy covers itself in mirrors ?

[KingKnee]

Still, you didn't address my point about advanced sex robots.

[TheMeInTeam]

Well, do you have a convincing alternative to fossil fuels ? They are incredibly energy efficient per unit of mass.

There is a reason people fantasize about lasers IN SPACE: no dust in space, no clouds, no fog. And what if enemy covers itself in mirrors ?

US military has drones that can destroy other drones with lasers.

The advantage to a non-kinetic weapon is the lack of need for ammo/ease of transport of alternatives to ammo.

However even relatively weak nations militarily have much better arms today than end game Rimworld colonies have.  To an extent that makes sense, since none of these settlements are near nation-levels of industry, but if you're making a space ship, launching drop pods, pulling strings of mechanoids, researching advanced tech like cryogenics then it's strange that arms are so constrained.  Even power armor is inconsistently strong with the weapons available :p.

It's not a game trying to be super tight with lore consistency though, it is pushing for gameplay consistency which is the correct approach IMO.

Still, you didn't address my point about advanced sex robots.

Constant +12 (arguably more considering) mood would be a little overpowered :p.

[Trylobyte]

Kinetic weapons are simple, hard to screw up, and easy to maintain - Perfect for a trip into the unknown aboard a sleeper ship.  They also work without the need for any fancy things like power sources or charging or specialized mixtures of gases.  If you have a projectile and a way to make it go very fast, you've got a weapon.

[TheMeInTeam]

Kinetic weapons are simple, hard to screw up, and easy to maintain - Perfect for a trip into the unknown aboard a sleeper ship.  They also work without the need for any fancy things like power sources or charging or specialized mixtures of gases.  If you have a projectile and a way to make it go very fast, you've got a weapon.

If we're going this route I'd expect to see a LOT more 12 gauge shotguns and a lot less ARs which require manufactured ammunition your target planet is unlikely to self-produce a while.  Said shotguns can push a lot of non-standard stuff to lethal speeds easily and are easier to maintain than the automatic weapons in the game. 

I'm a bit disappointed the shotgun has a high-ish cooldown time compared to machine pistol and bows, because it would be a great stick-and-move weapon otherwise.  It's damage profile is also JUST low enough that clothing will keep limbs intact, a pity really.

[Trylobyte]

I'm a bit disappointed the shotgun has a high-ish cooldown time compared to machine pistol and bows, because it would be a great stick-and-move weapon otherwise.  It's damage profile is also JUST low enough that clothing will keep limbs intact, a pity really.

Yeah.  The general lack of oomph shotguns have makes me sad too.

[Limdood]

dunno what you're talking about with primitive weapons...

even the bow's self-replicate endless arrows!  now that's technology!

[TheMeInTeam]

dunno what you're talking about with primitive weapons...

even the bow's self-replicate endless arrows!  now that's technology!

Frags and molotovs are the most impressive TBH.  Must have one of those interdimensional bags or a hand-held factory going on.

[Boston]

Velocitas eradico...... "speed destroys"

Note that Rimworld doesn't actually have DEW, or Directed Energy Weapons. The Charge Rifle is more along the lines of a railgun than a lazer. It fires extremely small projectiles, "coated" with electrically charged particles, which change phase when they hit a target, causing an explosion.

However, the point remains that, no matter how far in the future you get, hitting anything hard/fast enough will destroy/kill it, be it a person, an animal or a vehicle. This is what bullets do. They travel so fast, they effectively vaporize flesh when they hit.

Plus, ballistic firearms are easy to make, easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy to keep supplied, especially when compared to energy weapons.

I mean, you can make an AK-pattern rifle on a blacksmith forge, if you really wanted to.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter

You could also make a blackpowder musket, along with powder and projectiles, using stuff you have around your house/farm.

[b0rsuk]

The word "Rimworld" is another way of saying "backwater world".

[Fuhman]

On the rimworld every game is based on, a previous civilization had risen and destroyed itself, and all technology and knowledge was lost. The survivors are the primitive tribespeople you encounter, hence the primitive weapons.