| From: | Walter Whimpenny <73422.3454@**********.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Slow Weapon Tech |
| Date: | Thu, 26 Jan 1995 13:56:03 EST |
TO: SHADOWRN, INTERNET: SHADOWRN@*****
DATE: 1/26/95 10:00 AM
Re: Copy of: Slow Weapon Tech
I m new to this mailing list so please forgive me if I m covering old
ground.
First, I am assuming when we discuss weapons we are not refering to
advanced weapon systems such as aircraft, armor, etc. Advances in this
area have gone along pretty well I think, (Which is why making runs against
Boeings Seattle facility are so much fun), take for example T-birds and the
CS-MBT. As for personal and squad level weaponry, while it is true that
during times of crisis/strife weapons research tends to increase (And the
1st half of the 21st c. would fall under crsis/strife), the loss of data in
the Crash of 29 could in theory balance this out.
If you look at the history of firearms very little has changed since the
last century after muskets went out of style. The principals and theories
are all still the same. Weapon advances at the squad/personal level take
quite some time. The current (1995) weapon of the US Military, the M-16
(now the slightly improved M-16A2) has been the standard personal weapon
since the early 1960 s, about 30 years. The .45 auto was the standard
sidearm of the US military (with very little modification) from before WWI,
well into the 1980 s.
What advances have been made are generally in weight, rate of fire,
magazine size, and power of the ammunition (along with the corresponding
improvements in armor). While I haven t spent much time comparing the
weapons in Shadowrun to real ones, I think with a liitle stretch of the
imagination, improvements in these areas may be percieved. (And armor has
definitely improved)
As for other tech such as mini optical chips/assorted wetware-hardware
interfaces etc. I feel would be pretty much on track. In fact I'd be
suprised if we had biotech and neural interfaces as advanced as those in
Shadowrun by 2025-50 in real life.
Sorry for length of these two posts I was feeling a bit prosaic today (i.e.
I needed something to do besides work).
JMHO,
-Walt
aka -DarkJack-
