Muskets and Blunderbusses?

[dStreamline]

IMO the addition of revolvers makes a great addition to the lower end of the tech tree, something that Rimworld has really expanded in later development.

Something that could liven up the primitive side of the game are the more 'piratey' black powder weapons (muskets, blunderbusses etc.)

Especially with the expansions to the tech tree, these types of weapons might bridge the gap between bows and more advanced rifles.

My guess is they would be very slow to fire (even compared to bows and pila) but with a good damage per shot (something along those lines).

Comment your thoughts! 

[Boston]

I agree.

There is a whole slew of potential technologies that could be added to the game: crossbows, other armor, shields, and blackpowder weaponry.

Right now, the game goes from Stone Age (timeless, really, but in-game they are referred to as Neolithic) clubs, spears and bows straight to bolt-action rifles and revolvers.

10,000 years, basically skipped over.

[Kirby23590]

The Tribals would love to see these!

Here how i would see the weapons progression if this gets implemented.

Bows -> Muskets -> Modern Guns -> Charge Rifles

We got tech from the Neolithic age, (Clubs and Pemmican.) To Medieval Times. (Longswords and the Gladii and Spears.) and the Technology from the 20th-century and later the usual Sci-Fi Advanced Tech.

It would be nice to see muskets and blunderbusses from the 18th or 19th century from Steamworlds in the fiction primer.

[Call me Arty]

 Well, actually, the plural of "blunderbuss" is "blunderbi", casual.

A popular(ish) suggestion and one I wholly support. Don't forget things like, say, cannons and flintlocks to go with them. Might as well flesh-out the rest of the stuff from the age.

[Boston]

Several things i would like to note:

1) firearms and bows are not differentiated, skill-wise

What do i mean by this? In real life, one of the reasons (arguably the MAIN reason) that firearms toook over from bows is that firearms are really easy to use. REALLY easy. With a bow, you have to practice for quite a long time, not only to become proficient, but also to build up enough strength to use it. An old saying is "if you want a good archer, start with his grandfather".

On the other hand, with firearms it can take as little as a week to achieve basic proficiency. You can take 12 year old Scouts that have never handled a rifle before in their lives, and after a week for shooting 2 hours a day at aummer camp, they can put 5 shots within a US $0.25 coin at 50 meters. On the archery range, said boys consider themselves lucky if they can put an arrow on the paper at 30 meters.

What does this mean?

Firearms should be effective at lower Shooting skill levels than bows.

2) the accuracy issues of snoothbore blackpowder weapons is hilariously misconsteued in modern pop culture.

Are smoothbore muskets laser weapons, capable of MOA accuracy? No, of course not. Are they usable beyond the 50 or so meters most people think of?

Yup. Ive done it, and it was done back in the 1700s.

When most people think of blackpowder smoothbore muskets, chances are they think of massive blocks of men, lining up and shooting at each other at close range. And..... Well, that isnt -incorrect-. Muskets were used in that fashion in MASSED BATTLE because that was how they were effective in MASSED BATTLE. Military thinking of that day and age revolved around putting as much fire down range as possible, as fast as possible, aka the "more dakka" theorem. This is because blackpowder, when used in large quantities, produces a large amount of opaque smoke. This smoke makes it hard to see, and therefore prevents long-range fire. That, coupled with how fast you can load a musket when youbdrill properly (20 seconds for average troops, 10 seconds for crack veterans) means that dheer weight of fire was a more effective use of musketry as opposed to accuracy. Soldiers would use undersized musket balls, so the bullet would fit easier into the barrel, use light or -no- patching, for the reason stated above, and slam the ball down onto the powder withbthe ramrod. All this was done in thebinterest of loading speed. And, yes, that makes a blackpowder musket loaded in that fashion rather unaccurate. The loose-fitting ball bounces dowb the barrel when fired, leading to an unpredictable trajectory upon leaving the barrel. Therefore, yeah, usable range of about 50 meters or so.

Skirmishers, on the other hand, loaded their muskets differently. They used a tighter-fitting ball, with a thicker patch ( i like using deerskin), and -gently-seated the ball onto the powder, so it sat even in the barrel. All those actions meant it took -much- longer to load (it generally takes me a minute to load a musket like that), but that style of loading also lends greater range. Power and accuracy. With a smoothbore musket resting on a bench and loaded skirmisher-style, i was making shots on a paper target at 100 meters.

And i had never fired that musket before.

3) blackpowder weapons are sustainable, where other firearms are not.

Blackpowder can be made with three ingredients: saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. If you have livestock or an old latrine, you have saltpeter. Sulfur is the limiting reagent, but finely-ground rust can be substituted. And charcoal is readily available if you have wood.

Smokeless powder, on the other hand, requires several noxious chemicals and a degree of chemical synthesis. Not to mention primers, which require -more- toxic chemicals, like mercury. And the brass for casings has to come from somewhere.

You can literally make the entirety of a smoothbore blackpowder musket on a blacksmith forge if you have to. There is an old video on YouTube of someone doing just that.

[jasiek0202]

Muskets and Blunderbusses would indeed be great! I feel like variety is the sauce of life, and the more weapons the better. I don't know much about programming, but I feel like adding new weapons is not very difficult compared to a lot of suggestions - it would be awesome if each new update carried a few new weapons with it, and those two are definitely top tier candidates. I would defo also like to see crossbows, and more energy based weapons akin to the charge rifle.