Zaius Ex, on 12 January 2012 - 08:24 PM, said:
If left to their own devices, groups of particles always form a sphere. That's why raindrops, hailstones, planets, stars, comets, old galaxies and many other naturally occuring phenomena are spherical. It's the most efficient shape in nature: maximimum volume for a given surface area. Also, the lighning bolts that we see aren't beams of energy so much as ionized gas turned into plasma by the intense heat and electrical charge passing through the air (which is why ppc's that are bolts of lightning wouldn't work in space, there are no particles to propogate the charge).
Taking all this into account a beam of energy just doens't make sense for a weapon that supposedly dumps a massive accumulated charge stored in capacitors in one go. That doesn't equal beam. The would have spherical head section fromed of the ionized particles excited during the initial capacitor dump and have a tail streaming from it opposite it's direction of travel due to energy being discharged into the atmosphere while in flight a.k.a. a sphere with a lightning tail behind like like they were in MW3 and the 2k9 trailer. You guys may want beam, but that's not what a PPC is based upon the physics behind how they would work.
Technically, a bullet is a chunk of particles. However, when using tracer rounds, you don't see a little nub of metal flying through the air with burning particles trailing. You see a streak because it's moving too fast for your eyes to see. So really, don't argue physics when you're not considering all things that affect our perception and reality. Also, there's no point in applying physics to this game unless you also want to explain where the 5 tons of auto cannon armor goes, or how, for some reason, the range changes even though they're firing the same round out of relatively similarly lengthed barrels. As people have said over and over again, this is a videogame.
I feel like the more recent MW games have done alright, except for the sound and perceived deadliness of the weapon. The PPC is supposed to have thermal AND kinetic energy. While the impact sound in MW4 was pretty good, the flight sound was too "pew pew" and less of a thunderous "bang". As for the appearance, I feel like all depictions have been too neat. I would personally like to see some random trails of lightning and static come out from the main path of the weapon, as well as some crackling to go with. Some crackling around the coils after firing would be pretty sexy as well.
Simply, less anime styled hadouken beams going pew pew, more loss-of-sphincter-control kablam.
5
