[NGTM-1R]

Precisely.
And that explanation sucks. Even that grain of sand has to come from somewhere, and you can fire off thousands during a mission easily.

Take a handful of fine sand.

That's a thousand grains easily. Probably more. The gun has plenty of room for many handfuls worth of tungsten sand or something else with a high melting point.

Secondly, a grain of "sand" fired at railgun-like speeds would be rather innefective. It would burn up from friction in an instant, or would really cause such pitiful damage it would be unnoticable. A microscopic wound would heal in a minute - what you describe is LESS than being pricked by a needle (ok, more like, a super-small needle going trough you, but with a opening that small, you wouldn't even need a band-aid)

Over the ranges involved the projectile will still be effective. If we were firing twenty kilometers or something you might have a point, but we're not, are we? Engagement range even for sniper rifles is usually under 500 meters.

See, the problem with this concept is the Tunguska lesson. A low-mass very-high-velocity object hitting a many times more massive object at rest will transfer its velocity explosively. Similarly due to the behavior of living tissue your exit wounds will be considerably larger than your entry wounds, the higher the velocity, the larger the exit wound. The wonder is not that these do damage, but that if you hit them in the torso a single shot doesn't cause their whole back to explode outwards.

At least the roleplaying and story is as good as ever. Better, if anything. The new characters have a lot of personality and the dialogue seems sharper. I like it.

I haven't gotten too much out of the personality of the new folks yet, honestly, but I'll say that I'm pleased by the dialogue. The whole reaction of "Now with more F-bombs!" was bogus. The addition of swearing makes them feel a bit more...human, like they're actually reacting to stress. Shepard's dialogue is a bit tighter over all.

[CP5670]

I'll play this in a month or two, after I have gone through my current backlog of games.

I'm hearing people say that this has more FPS elements than the first game, which is a good thing in my book. The gameplay and combat was where the first game fell short.

[TrashMan]

See, the problem with this concept is the Tunguska lesson. A low-mass very-high-velocity object hitting a many times more massive object at rest will transfer its velocity explosively. Similarly due to the behavior of living tissue your exit wounds will be considerably larger than your entry wounds, the higher the velocity, the larger the exit wound. The wonder is not that these do damage, but that if you hit them in the torso a single shot doesn't cause their whole back to explode outwards.

No. Tunguska was a massive piece of rock that was so large it didn't burn up in atmosphere.
Even seen the railgun tests?
The faster you fire, the bigger the shell should be to avoid it burning up.

And no, your back wouldn't explode. I don't know where you got that from.

[General Battuta]

NGTM-1R is correct that a small enough object going fast enough will transfer kinetic energy explosively assuming it doesn't completely overpenetrate. That's why the impact of even dust particles at relativistic speeds is really bad for spaceships. Similar principle.

We don't actually quite know what Tunguska was. Probably not an asteroid - more likely a comet, I believe the consensus is.

[Colonol Dekker]

Didn't Tunguska blow up in the lower atmosphere?
 
 
I did like reading up on FTL in the Codex in Mass 1. Pretty colours explained

[TrashMan]

NGTM-1R is correct that a small enough object going fast enough will transfer kinetic energy explosively assuming it doesn't completely overpenetrate. That's why the impact of even dust particles at relativistic speeds is really bad for spaceships. Similar principle.

It's bad for spaceships because they are in vacuum, and the crew needs air...and it might damage electronics.
A human body has the advantage of self-repair.

And let's not forget the advantage of a big bullet - bigger hole.

And fireing a bullet at a human at relativisitc speeds? You can be your a** it will overpenetrate. Even regular bullets are known to do that on occasion, let alone a faster and smaller one.

[Turambar]

Commander William Shepardama, ready to load as a save file in mass effect 2

now i just need dialogue options that will let me growl, have dramatic pauses, and point guns at people

[General Battuta]

NGTM-1R is correct that a small enough object going fast enough will transfer kinetic energy explosively assuming it doesn't completely overpenetrate. That's why the impact of even dust particles at relativistic speeds is really bad for spaceships. Similar principle.

It's bad for spaceships because they are in vacuum, and the crew needs air...and it might damage electronics.

No, mate, at those speeds, it's bad for the spaceship because it's going to blow chunks out of it. Remember, we're talking c-fractional speeds here.

And fireing a bullet at a human at relativisitc speeds? You can be your a** it will overpenetrate. Even regular bullets are known to do that on occasion, let alone a faster and smaller one.

Once the bullet is going fast enough - no matter how tiny it is - the simple impact will release so much kinetic energy that the cavitation will tear the body apart. NGTM-1R's 'back explode' idea is headed in the right direction.

The gravguns in John Ringo's Posleen War books operate on a fairly similar principle, although their projectiles are more substantial.

[Turambar]

iirc, the ammunition is a block of metal, stored inside the gun, and the gun computer shaves off the proper amount for the shot, which is accelerated using a railgun combined with using mass effect on the 'bullets,' locally reducing their mass and reducing the amount of energy needed to accelerate them to very high speed.


also, this exchangeable heat sink ammo business seems like something i would invent if i needed to make a gun that would fire, regardless of whether or not it was in atmosphere.  They mention having problems on spaceships, where the real enemy is heat buildup, since the only way to get rid of heat in space is by radiation  (which doesnt work so great).

[SpardaSon21]

Also, I believe the projectiles from infantry weapons are designed to fragment on impact to prevent over-penetration.  ME weapons also don't have magic systems that eliminate recoil, its stated that the biggest impediment to more powerful weapons is recoil.  I'm guessing that the ME infantry weapons aren't that much more powerful than the ones we have now, since if they were your ceramic body armor wouldn't be useful.

[Demitri]

Well i finished the game last night. And finally today i get my email with the unlock code for my terminus assult armor

[Colonol Dekker]

I've downloaded my pc version. . . Except I don't own the pc version. And I don't have XBL. Oh sweet potatoes. . . I got my e-mail the day I recieved my game.
 

Spoiler:

So where's my pet Geth?

[SpardaSon21]

Spoiler:

Legion shows up pretty late in the game sadly.  You get him when you pick up the Reaper IFF signal on the disabled Reaper that's hovering above a gas giant, and that's only after you've gotten the rest of your team.  Watch out, Tali'Zorrah vas Neema and he won't get along, especially if you've done Tali's loyalty quest.

[Colonol Dekker]

I'm trying to bang yoeman Kelly redhead at the moment. Plus my fish died. . . . . . . . DAMNIT. I like the boo reference though.
 
SQUEAK.

[Ghostavo]

The dialogue so far has been hilarious.

The best lines I remember are:

"I am a biotic god!" - by small volus facing Grunt, Shepard and Garrus.

The "I had reach, but she had flexibility" conversation by Garrus

[NGTM-1R]

I'm trying to bang yoeman Kelly redhead at the moment.

Spoiler:

She dies. Unless you've got like everything all together immediately before you do the Reaper thingie. Which isn't possible since Legion has a loyalty quest. Or I'm just talking out my ass here, maybe, and you're given a set and not a flexible number of missions after the IFF one? I grabbed Thane and did a couple loyalty missions after the Reaper IFF, then got hit with Thane's loyalty mission and the crew getting 'napped. So I got No One Left Behind achievement, except for half my crew. Also if you continue, then the Normandy actually does appear undercrewed. More testing is required.

Did I mention she dies directly in front of you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it? I liked Kelly as a person. After that point everyone got the Incendaries in the face whether that was most effective or not. Even the Reaper got some because I was angry, dammit.

YOU DON'T SEE TALI'S FACE. I WAS ROBBED.

[mxlm]

Shepard's dialogue is a bit tighter over all.

Does Shepard still sound pissed off all the time?

The gravguns in John Ringo's Posleen War books operate on a fairly similar principle, although their projectiles are more substantial.

OH JOHN RINGO NO!

(It had to be done, sorry)

[NGTM-1R]

Does Shepard still sound pissed off all the time?

No, but then as far as I know, he never actually did to begin with.

...we have concluded his smile is a bit creepy with the default body, however, but analysis of why it's creepy is still pending. I suspect Uncanny Valley'd due to having to work with a range of possible faces resulting in exaggeration.

[mxlm]

No, but then as far as I know, he never actually did to begin with.

Sorry, I meant the Jennifer Hale version. My read on her performance in the first game was...well, angry might be too strong, but she was pretty damned intense all the time, and also seemed to have a hair trigger if I chose any dialogue option other than the 'most paragon points please' one.

[Colonol Dekker]

The amount of drinking I can do is BRILLIANT!