[nvsblmnc]

I've just put a small mod up onto www.freespacemods.net (it's pending approval now) under miscellaneous/general called nvsblmnc's rebalance.  It's an experiment to add a bit more variety to the FS2 fighters by modifying their weapons capability.

Broadly, I've split the weapons into three categories (light/medium/heavy) and have limited the ship's compatibility based on these divisions.  I've also adjusted the firing points on the Erinyes to a 2 / 6 layout that (in my mind) makes more sense given their layout on the model.  There's a readme with a list of weapon categories and what each ship can carry.

It's still very WIP, but I'm looking for a bit of feedback as to whether or not it makes your ship choice something of a more tactical decision.  If anyone wants to try it, let me know what you think.  If the feedback is good I'll develop it to include secondaries as well.

[TopAce]

I don't know if making the primary bank division on the Erinyes 2/6 is a good idea. Having 6 guns in one bank is insane. It doesn't leave much more tactical choice than before. It encourages players to use destructive weapons instead of tactical ones even more.

One bit of advice: Read the Veteran Comments in the Wiki to see what people like/dislike about a particular weapon.

[nvsblmnc]

I agree, it's probably not a good idea.  I've tried to balance it out with the new compatibility scheme though: (2 heavy guns, 6 medium).

At the end of the day though,  the whole concept is just an experiment.

[Solatar]

You might try to find Lightspeed's alpha/beta of a new weapons system. It was only for primaries, but the way it worked was that most lasers could be mounted on almost any fighter. You could mount a heavy laser on a light fighter, for example, but the light fighter would only have enough weapons energy to shoot off a few blasts making it ineffective.