Removal of the WT-550

Hotpocketsneverchang · June 25, 2022, 2:01am

I am curious about why the WT-550 was removed. I was gone for a pretty long while so I am a bit out of the loop when it comes to it’s removal. Was there a programming issue, a visual one, did people somehow dislike it. I’ll be honest I am a bit biased towards it cause I was a big fan, but ultimately I would just like to know why it was removed. Thanks for any answers in advance!

Delta · June 25, 2022, 2:09am

github.com/tgstation/tgstation

Ballistic to Energy: Autorifles for Thermal Pistols; Adds .38 Crate to Cargo

tgstation:master ← necromanceranne:energy_weapon_conversion_part_one

opened 03:20PM - 20 Jan 22 UTC

necromanceranne

+167 -78

## About The Pull Request The design doc behind this PR, which is only mildy …been deviated from on some of the end particulars. Cobby-Approved! Maintainer Discussed! https://hackmd.io/@6DbtsAKCTtW_9MByKFjZqg/r1xYKCNOt ### Cargo Changes Cargo has had all WT-550's removed and replaced with Thermal Pistols. Cargo can now order Thermal Pistols, a kind of energy/ballistic hybrid weapon shooting chunks of altered nanites into people. We couldn't use them in people, so maybe we'll use them as bullets! Magma/Ice bullets, to be exact. You can, after paying a whopping 4K on a goodie pack (you have to pay from your own personal account) buy a .38 revolver. This is mostly to help some poor detective who lost their revolve in what I'm sure will be an inevitable scramble for ballistics. If even the 4K pricetag isn't enough, at least it requires detective access to open the pack...I hope. Some of the crates that contained autorifle related items have been changed/removed. ![unknown (2)](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/40847847/151899184-133fb8c5-051b-4ab4-9da2-a08f3a15d118.png) ![securarevolver 4 0](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/40847847/151899210-c26aeb53-1fc6-42ec-a6a6-5d0339b8bdf2.png) ### Science Changes Ballistic Weaponry node no longer exists, and has been replaced with Exotic Ammo as both the pre-requisite to other nodes, as well as being able to be researched as soon as the Weaponry node is unlocked and not Advanced Weaponry. ## Thermal Pistols -Fairly average bullet statistics; 10 AP but shooting into Energy armor. 20 damage (Brute for cryo, Burn for inferno). Decent wounding potential, but individually much lower ammo counts than lasers. -Bought in twinned pairs in a two gun holster (just for normal sized energy guns). They're normal sized. -Each gun has 8 shots (thereabouts). 16 between two. -Cryo pistols do a knockdown and extra damage against extremely hot targets. Inferno pistols do an explosion cantered on the target against extremely cold targets. -The guns are EMP-proof. ## Why It's Good For The Game The current gameplay loop of crew combatants is them relying on backup and retreating as necessary to reload their weapons during fights. The ability to repeatedly harry opponents in the field reloads is something that should be moved away from for crew equipment, as it emphasizes lone wolf tactics and one-man army problems, with boxes full of spare ammo usually allowing any single combatant to outlast multiple foes. In addition, ballistics often are not subject to the same (interesting) limitations of energy weapons, so they're typically a no-brainer choice. We shouldn't have such an easy choice be readily available like that. The thermal pistols present a more challenging weapon to use as a solo combatant but become far more versatile and potent when paired with a decent buddy and basic level co-ordination. They're not a straightforward choice for every situation, but instead are a weapon employed given the right circumstances for them to shine. In addition to the gameplay issues that ballistics pose, we're in a goddamn spacegame. Unless the ballistics are noticeably weird (they're not), we should expect that our more advanced research station has some pretty odd guns of the energy variety. ## Changelog :cl: Necromanceranne, quin add: Adds the Inferno and Cryo Pistols. A hybrid energy/ballistic weapon, to cargo. It can be purchased in either a goodies pack or a normal crate order. add: Thermal Pistols do more damage and a special based on temperature of the target hit. add: Inferno pistols cause an explosion when they hit a severely cold target. add: Cryo pistols cause a knockdown and extra damage if they hit a severely hot target. add: There is a special nanite pistol, which is admin spawned. Don't tell anyone about the forbidden ballistic energy gun. add: You can order a .38 revolver as a goodie pack. It is expensive. del: Removes WT-550's from cargo and related content from the techweb/protolathes. balance: Exotic Ammo is now much earlier in the tech web to take the place of Ballistic Weaponry. /:cl:

this is why

Hotpocketsneverchang · June 25, 2022, 2:14am

Thank you for bringing me this grave news. I must retreat to sulk over my loss in privacy.

Mr_carp · June 25, 2022, 9:21am

I honestly dont see the reason for outright removal. What purpose does it even serve theres no reason they needed to be removed for a worse item

Guillaume_Prata · June 25, 2022, 1:58pm

WT-550 was the best sec weapon so that is a silly point, any new one would be worse. It was the best weapon in the game for 99% of the threats a security officer would face.

Any game needs some balance around ammunition, WT-550 had none as you could easily carry 300+bullets of it on yourself while the standard laser guns have 10-20.

They could rebalance the ammunition values but used the chance to make new weapons that are simply more interesting than pew pew lead machine gun spam.

Delta · June 25, 2022, 2:19pm

tbh despite the change the new guns are still really good they just need to be reloaded at a recharger

Mr_carp · June 25, 2022, 3:15pm

That wasnt the point i was trying to make? I was trying to say they shouldnt have just been outright removed. I would have liked a rework with ammunition or how the gun worked other then plain removal