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

[SpaceDorf]

In concur with boston.

Lets move away from High-Tech look alltogether and look in the other direction of
50's Science-Fiction, Steampunk and Mad Science. With the western background this is really low hanging fruit.

Also Nanotech and Biotech are clearly canon in the game. ( Luciferium, Boomalopes, VatGrown Soldiers ) so why not harvest from there a bit.

Acid Throwers, Exploding Mushrooms, plasma grenades and other Weird Shit ..

As a propable explenation why everything looks nearly the same across the rim, Warhammer 40k
has the concept of the STC, standard template construct's , without going into details, it is a settlers
library and construction manual on how to build sturdy and working stuff with local materials.

[b0rsuk]

A good example of weapon designs I consider shitty weapon design is Aliens (the one with sentryguns). No one makes a weapon the size of a radiator (wall heater). It would be impractical and get in the way. All the bulkiness of an anti-tank weapon with no perceptible benefits, they got owned and hard.

My point with sounds and other effects (particles, ricochets) is that effects of projectile weapons are well known and there are libraries for it all. They make distinctive, menacing sounds, which are frankly quite satisfying for example when you one shot a Scyther. What are you going to replace them with to make weapons NOT sound and feel worse ? I mean look at EMP grenades. Does charge rifle, by far the most damaging weapon in the game, sound terrifying ? Does heavy charge blaster(hahaha!), a weapon whose DPS is off the scale ?

How are you going to improve the situation ? That would take a dedicated audio technician who likes to experiment.

If - by realism - energy weapons should have no ricochets, no loud sounds etc then they need to compensate with something, like very nice impact particles and sizzle sounds.

[Mikhail Reign]

A good example of weapon designs I consider shitty weapon design is Aliens (the one with sentryguns). No one makes a weapon the size of a radiator (wall heater). It would be impractical and get in the way. All the bulkiness of an anti-tank weapon with no perceptible benefits, they got owned and hard.

Just randomly - which gun are you talking about? The sentrygun? The pulse rifle that they all carry? Or the MG42 on a camera sling that they use as a SSW?

My point with sounds and other effects (particles, ricochets) is that effects of projectile weapons are well known and there are libraries for it all. They make distinctive, menacing sounds, which are frankly quite satisfying for example when you one shot a Scyther. What are you going to replace them with to make weapons NOT sound and feel worse ? I mean look at EMP grenades. Does charge rifle, by far the most damaging weapon in the game, sound terrifying ? Does heavy charge blaster(hahaha!), a weapon whose DPS is off the scale ?

That just an opinion tho. I don't find that current guns sound intrinsically 'scarey'. A .22 sounds just as menacing as a .303 - both can kill the shit out of you. 'Gotta be big boom' seems like an American way of thinking to be honest...

Like me? I loved the shit outa the sci-fi noise that the sentry guns made.

[b0rsuk]

The weapons they wield in those twisty corridors. Sentryguns can be as bulky as they want, they're not there to dance.

[brcruchairman]

I, personally, would want them chunky, built-to-last, able to take a licking and keep on ticking, with sounds and effects to match.

Think about it: you are on a frontier world, a rough-and-tumble place at the best of times, you want a weapon that can stand up to that.

I just wanted to say that these designs are something I could 100% get behind. It seems to perfectly encapsulate what CrazyEyes and SpaceDorf were saying, with the clearly non-contemporary look while at the same time looking cobbled together, sturdy, relatively simple, and functional, not high-tech "whee, space lasers!" So bravo, Boston. Bravo.

That just an opinion tho. I don't find that current guns sound intrinsically 'scarey'. A .22 sounds just as menacing as a .303 - both can kill the shit out of you. 'Gotta be big boom' seems like an American way of thinking to be honest...

Like me? I loved the shit outa the sci-fi noise that the sentry guns made.

Two notes, here: first is nitpicking (sorry, guys! D: ) that the Aliens Sentry Guns were actually ALSO slug-throwers. According to the wiki¹ they're chambered in 10x28 mm Caseless ammo. So those were definitely slug-throwers. ^ ^

Second note is that you're entirely correct that impressive sounds are subjective, and I wanted to thank you for acknowledging this. It's really easy for people (like, for instance, myself. <.< ) to consider their opinion and fact to be the same, so it's always refreshing when people like you and B0rsuk make the distinction clear. Thanks, you two!

Also, as always, adding my own two cents, there is, to me, a difference between the various calibers in terms of sound. When I fire my dinky little .22 LR, it makes this loud but not deafening "crack" which almost just sounds like breaking wood. When I fire my 12 guage, or a borrowed 9 mm or (oh god why did I even let my friend talk me into firing his) 8 mm Mauser, they all had a very different sound and feel to them. I swear I could feel that 8 mm Mauser even when somebody else was firing it. Much more of a full-throated "BOOM!".

The above said? As you pointed out, the sound doesn't make for a terribly good indicator of lethality. Firing a 5.56 mm almost feels like shooting a toy, with the sound to match (in my experience) but those are designed people-killers. Firing a 12 ga. loaded with birdshot feels powerful, both in recoil and sound, but at more than forty or fifty yards, those lil' pellets barely penetrate plastic; to be frank, I'm not sure they'd even get through a thick leather coat at that distance.

My opinion is that it may be worth discarding realism in favor of the "rule of cool" when it comes to weapon sound effects. Though it sounds like everyone here is firmly agreed that DEWs wouldn't be a good fit for Rimworld, for the sake of example I present this² sound bite as an example of an utterly unrealistic but still kinda cool- and satisfying-sounding effect. In a similar (and more relevant vein, as I think we all concur that a modern-style slug thrower fits Rimworld best) such sounds could be found or manufactured for the reskins. Personally, I'm content with the sound effects as they are, but I think I'm also a bit less discerning than some of the players here; after all, I'm usually to wrapped up in "HOMG LET'S MAKE MONEH!" to pay much attention to the weapon sprites. >.> Nobody ever said I was cool, okay?! :p

¹: http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/UA_571-C_Automated_Sentry_Gun
²: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StO9wHYuYPM

[SpaceDorf]

did someone allready mention that the turrets and mortars are also projectile weapons ?

[Mikhail Reign]

did someone allready mention that the turrets and mortars are also projectile weapons ?

This is EXACTLY why I had the 'people need to start appropriately using the terms 'projectile', 'kinetic' and 'ballistic'. 

EVERYTHING is a projectile weapon. Even plasma guns PROJECT plasma. A rail gun and a regular gun are both kinetic weapons. A mortar and a sniper rifle can both be ballisitic weapons.

I have no problem with kinetic weapons , ballistic weapons or kinetic weapons.

I have a problem with weapons that look exactly like today's weapons.

I THINK there should be a higher amount of non-ballistic kinetic weapons in game (rail, coil, plasma, etc) considering that it isn technology that we are using to day.

Also, b0rsuck - (it's almost a tangent at this point) but I still do get which one you mean - the pulse rifles don't seem any bigger then the M16 they are based off, but I'm sure there would be a carbine variant (Aliens is Vietnam in space - the M16/Pulse Rifle being unwieldy to use in convinced quarters/a jungle is intentional). Seriously tho - friggen love that squad based weapon tho - and MG38/42 (can't remember which) attached to a video camera mount strapped to their chest.

100% modern/current/even painfully outdated.

Still looks 'cool' as shit because is 'cool' and not just a stock MG