[CODEDOG ND]

Well, they didnt say they did have beam weapons or had had them in the past.

[CP5670]

I personally would like to see some large ship-to-ship missiles here, and these sound more feasible too story-wise. (you could say that these fell out of usage later on due to the high costs per missile since the GTA and PVN were heavily strained on resources by the time FS1 started) It may be a good idea to make a new model for these as they would be much larger than the standard fighter missiles and bombs.

[Thor]

We have upgraded weapons that work much better on the project.  I also want to propose Torpedeos, much like WC, for the earlier ships (Pre-Orion ships).

[Blue Lion]

I have a question, does it even matter if they didn't have them in T-V war? Put them in, so it's not accurate with the main story line, so? Is it a good story, good missions? Then who cares? Put them in if you want to.

[Knight Templar]

remember, it's all about content!

to me, a certain level of realisticness (or canonness) makes it funner to play. But thats just me, so

[LtNarol]

Originally posted by CODEDOG ND
Well, they didnt say they did have beam weapons or had had them in the past.

By the same token, it was never stated that they _DIDN'T_ have beam weaponry before the Great War.  Creative lisence its called.

[Stunaep]

Why they got phased out, long reload times, occasionally get stuck in the tube(not a good thing to be around when that happens), semi-short range(5-6 klicks), and can be shot down by fighters(but the shockwave can easily kill any fighters in a 1-2 klick area). So they were replaced with more laser turrets on the capships, and more fighters in the hanger bays.

Long reload times? ahem... check the turret on the Fenris.
occasionally get stuck in the tube - I'm sure they figured a solution to that by the 24th century
semi-short range - yes, and plasma cannon turrets (they're not lasers) are ooooh so longer ranged
getting shot down by fighters - so cyclops' . so why do they still use them?

[Levyathan]

Originally posted by LtNarol
By the same token, it was never stated that they _DIDN'T_ have beam weaponry before the Great War.

Yeah, it was. During a FreeSpace 2 mission (can't remember which one, most likely the one with the Pegasus test) a female pilot says something like "I can't believe we won the Great War, by that time we didn't even have shields or beam weapons."

And if it's not about having a consistent story, then why even make it in the FreeSpace universe, with Vasudans and Terrans? Just use the same ships with a whole new story, at least that way it won't be contradicting anything.

[LtNarol]

that said nothing of beams _before_ the Great War, just that they didn't have them _in_ the Great War .

[Thor]

The T-V War Project WILL NOT HAVE BEAMS!!! EVER!

That's my final answer!

As for you guys, do what you want, but rember its not true to canon.

[mikhael]

Beams of any sort before Freespace2?

DEFINATELY A BAD IDEA.

REALLY BAD.

DAVID HASSELHOFF BAD.

SURVIVOR BAD.

Just say no to anachronistic beam weaponry.

[Levyathan]

Originally posted by LtNarol
that said nothing of beams _before_ the Great War, just that they didn't have them _in_ the Great War .

But that's a matter of interpretation. She also talked about shields, so was she just referring to the time during the Great War? I don't think so, honestly.

[LtNarol]

Play Exposition and then Shadows when they come out, you'll see why the beams from Exposition wouldn't carry over past its short-lived age.  I'll give you a hint: Subachs are more effective against armor.

[aldo_14]

Beams = no.  Bas idea for pre FS2.

If you insist on it, make them like cutting lasers.. thin, weak and ineffective.  Once the GTA develops the ability to safely store and release large energy bursts, these take over as the main weaponry.

[Su-tehp]

I agree with Aldo (and most everyone else); Beams for a pre-FS2 game are a BAD idea.

It's implicitly stated in FS2 (maybe in the tech database?) that the GTA and the PVN didn't even concieve of beam weaponry until the SD Lucifer (with its flux/beam cannons) was encountered in 2335. It took the GTVA several more years to get the design of beam cannons right. In fact, when beam cannons were first installed on some of the older Vasudan Typhon destroyers, they caused engine overloads and power failures on these ships. New ship classes (like the Sobek corvette and the Mentu cruiser) had to be designed just to be able to use these new beam weapons without malfunctioning or endangering the ships.

In light of that, making any sort of beam weaponry before the GTVA managed to design them in the years leading up to FS2 would be going COMPLETELY against FS canon.

And LtNarol, as for your comment that "that said nothing of beams _before_ the Great War, just that they didn't have them _in_ the Great War," you have to remember that the T-V War (which led directly into the Great War) lasted for 14 years. Before that time when the Terrans encountered the Vasudans at the start of the T-V War, the Terrans hadn't even encountered ANY space-faring life and would have had no need to mount weapons on their ships. Thus, the only time the Terrans could have downgraded their weapons would have been DURING the T-V War, which makes no sense. What kind of military downgrades its weapons during wartime? That's suicidal and completely against all logic and common sense.

Ummm, beam cannons before FS2 are bad, so don't put beam cannons in a pre-FS2 campaign, mmmkay?

[Black Wolf]

How about if you made a red AAAf beam with a long and messy chargeup time and 0 damage, and then had a specific mission that involved keeping Vasudans away from a test site of a new highly experimental 'Laser beam Weapon' (not a photon beam weapon - and yes I know the relationship between photons and lasers - work with me here ;D). Anyway, you fend off a few Anubises or whatever, and then the test fire happens. Bang, you fire this laser at, say an asteroid, which doesn't blow up, but the ship that fired at it does, rteactor overload or whatever. Your debriefing talks about how "We lost over a dozen of the GTAs top military research minds" and "GTA Command has ordered the laser beam weaponry research halted indefinitely die to it's inherent instability and danger". Boom - you have beam fire (only one, but hey, it exists ) and a logical explaination for why it could exist. Not they way you may have wanted it, but it's just a suggestion. Could use it if you run out of mission ideas.

[an0n]

*misses the way that FS1 cap-weapons used to glide towards you silently then fshoomf as they hit/went-by*

FS2 cap-weapons were kinda fast, in both firing rate and weapon-speed. Aaaanyway......

[NeoHunter]

I disagree. I think that to make a campaign based in the FreeSpace Universe, you should make it as true to the story and timeline as possible.

Beam weapons were never developed and used until FreeSpace 2. So, if you are going to make a campaign based on the Terran-Vasudan War, you should not include beam weapons in there.

[RandomTiger]

Originally posted by NeoHunter
I disagree. I think that to make a campaign based in the FreeSpace Universe, you should make it as true to the story and timeline as possible.

Beam weapons were never developed and used until FreeSpace 2. So, if you are going to make a campaign based on the Terran-Vasudan War, you should not include beam weapons in there.

Come on, this is sci-fi. People hate inconsistancy. I consider myself a moderate in that sense, I dont know why people say the FS2 intro and stuff is so inconsistant and dont care but...

on beams:

 Pre the Great War Vasudens and Terrians never had them. Full stop.

[LtNarol]

Cutting lasers are exactly what will be used in Exposition, not the particle or flux beams of FS1 and FS2.  

Why you ask? Because capital ships firing missiles and bombs doesn't show up very much in the FS2 engine, not unless you make them as big as fighters and as slow as fighters; lasers are just boring; and beams just look cool.  They will be more powerful than your fighter mounted lasers, but not powerful to the point where they actually kill things as fast as the beams of FS2.