Thoughts on energy weapons.

[Kevin247]

Any thoughts on how any of the energy weapons seen in the shows are welcome here. I would be especially interested in how ion cannons might operate.

[thekillman]

It largely boils down to "fantasy" because stuff like this simply doesn't work that way in real life. The plasma weapons, for instance, would be puffs of smoke a second after they leave the barrel.

[StargateMillennium]

It largely boils down to "fantasy" because stuff like this simply doesn't work that way in real life. The plasma weapons, for instance, would be puffs of smoke a second after they leave the barrel.

I can usually forgive the fiction part as long as it makes some degree of sense. My gripe is how useless most energy weapons are. We scrap one weapon for another because this 'new' weapon has a clear advantage over its predecessor. A lot of sci-fi energy weapons pale in comparison to the "primitive" projectile weapons used by the SGC. (And I believe there was a thread talking about that bit where the guy who started the forum was rude to everyone with a different opinion, including you).

A lot of energy weapons, including those in stargate, are slow firing, have a slow moving projectile, have no sights to aim with, and its stopping power is equivalent to a regular bullet. Even if it is lighter and doesn't have to reload, the user of the laser is still gonna get lumped by a P90 of M16 in a fight.

Not all the energy weapons are like this. Zats and wraith stunners excel in their particular field (hence why the SGC and Atlantis begin using them) and Ronon's particle magnum may have a slow moving bolt and have to recharge the energy cell but its three firing modes and impressive stopping power on the kill and incinerate modes are impressive and is the one pistol that surpasses projectile weapons.

But that's just about the only three energy weapons I felt had any use in any sci-fi TV/movie. The only other one is a predator plasma caster with its auto-aim and terrifying stopping power.

But, then other energy weapons like the staff weapon, Eurondan pistols, Lantean stun rods, and even the Tollan side arm just pale in comparison to the human projectile weapons. (How do you even aim with the Lantean stund rods/ Tollan side arms anyways?)

[Aesop]

The only viable weapon in the series, besides the existing projectile weapons used by Earth infantry, is (or rather may be) the rail gun. That's still far from a real world application though.

[thekillman]

I can usually forgive the fiction part as long as it makes some degree of sense. My gripe is how useless most energy weapons are. We scrap one weapon for another because this 'new' weapon has a clear advantage over its predecessor. A lot of sci-fi energy weapons pale in comparison to the "primitive" projectile weapons used by the SGC.

Yea i agree. the Zat makes sense (though the wraith stunner is better because it can't be lethal on accident, though harder to get). Ronon's gun still fires pretty fast bolts so it's not that bad. It also seems to have quite the destructive power (repeated shooting to get through a wall in "travelers"). You did forget the Intar (as did the writers). Completely ineffective as a weapon. Very effective as a training device (it was an energy weapon that could inflict some pain, but wouldn't stun or kill).

Other than that, most stuff was hugely inferior, surprisingly bulky and largely meh.

The only viable weapon in the series, besides the existing projectile weapons used by Earth infantry, is (or rather may be) the rail gun. That's still far from a real world application though.

Well it still largely counts as a projectile weapon and not an energy weapon, but i do get your point .

[StargateMillennium]

I'm also debating the effectiveness of a TER (which the writers also forgot about). Like, it still suffers the drawbacks of the regular energy weapons but it was made for the specific purpose of killing cloaked enemies. But, then why don't they take the decloaking ability of the TER and slap it on a projectile weapon?

[P-90_177]

I'm also debating the effectiveness of a TER (which the writers also forgot about). Like, it still suffers the drawbacks of the regular energy weapons but it was made for the specific purpose of killing cloaked enemies. But, then why don't they take the decloaking ability of the TER and slap it on a projectile weapon?

Who is to say they didn't? Stargate didn't see a great number of cloaked enemies.... Pardon the pun.

[StargateMillennium]

Who is to say they didn't? Stargate didn't see a great number of cloaked enemies.... Pardon the pun.

Well, when Teal'c went into his virtual training in that one episode, they created a model SGC based off of everything they had at the time and when it came to fighting cloaked kulls, Teal'c grabbed a thermal imaging scanner. Could just be the writers forgetting about the TER but they didn't have TER decloaking stuff on their guns.

[thekillman]

I'm also debating the effectiveness of a TER (which the writers also forgot about). Like, it still suffers the drawbacks of the regular energy weapons but it was made for the specific purpose of killing cloaked enemies. But, then why don't they take the decloaking ability of the TER and slap it on a projectile weapon?

AFAIK it was designed specifically for the Re'tu. Nirti copied that cloaking ability, so it worked on her too.