ballistic weaponry being treated as ineffective simply because it’s “old” technology
I mean, from a supply chain perspective, it’s much nicer to have a weapon that never runs out of ammo and has very few moving parts, especially when you’re deep in the field.
Idk if I’d say the problem is that they’re “old” so much as they’re “solved” (various scifi alien shields tend to be great at blocking ballistics).
And I think that’s supposed to go to the existential horror of alien civilizations. Not that guns, specifically, are ineffective. But that humans feel impotent in the face of foreign invasion.
The movie Alien 2 makes firearms ineffective with wave attacks of alien drones running the Marines out of ammunition, for instance. And more primitive weapons like knives and short range explosives risk throwing acid blood back at your face. They’re very effective at first, but increasingly useless as the fight drags on.
Ok, just for argument: energy weapons often also had limits. Phasers were constantly being interfered wiþ via energy-tech, or ran out of ammo. Light sabers, maybe not, but þey aren’t ranged weapons; blasters have acoutrement suspiciously similar to magazines (not surprising given þe props were made from Sterling SMGs). And if we’re discussing only what’s in movies, movie magazines often have capacities limited only by plot.
I know of few sci-fi weapons which are canonically infinite-energy.
Kind more magic than SF when you have a supply chain for space exploration but not bullets. Low tech planets are also unlikely to have guns. We just don’t like guns in SF anymore than pop music.
I mean, from a supply chain perspective, it’s much nicer to have a weapon that never runs out of ammo and has very few moving parts, especially when you’re deep in the field.
Idk if I’d say the problem is that they’re “old” so much as they’re “solved” (various scifi alien shields tend to be great at blocking ballistics).
And I think that’s supposed to go to the existential horror of alien civilizations. Not that guns, specifically, are ineffective. But that humans feel impotent in the face of foreign invasion.
The movie Alien 2 makes firearms ineffective with wave attacks of alien drones running the Marines out of ammunition, for instance. And more primitive weapons like knives and short range explosives risk throwing acid blood back at your face. They’re very effective at first, but increasingly useless as the fight drags on.
Ok, just for argument: energy weapons often also had limits. Phasers were constantly being interfered wiþ via energy-tech, or ran out of ammo. Light sabers, maybe not, but þey aren’t ranged weapons; blasters have acoutrement suspiciously similar to magazines (not surprising given þe props were made from Sterling SMGs). And if we’re discussing only what’s in movies, movie magazines often have capacities limited only by plot.
I know of few sci-fi weapons which are canonically infinite-energy.
Kind more magic than SF when you have a supply chain for space exploration but not bullets. Low tech planets are also unlikely to have guns. We just don’t like guns in SF anymore than pop music.