If the welder does destroy a hive in under 20 seconds, I don't think I'd mind its damage versus at least the hive in particular taken down a little so that it takes at least 30 seconds for a lone marine to destroy a hive. I think that balance-wise, that's a fairly good rule of thumb: at least 30 seconds to destroy a hive with a single marine. But all in all I don't think it's that big of a deal.
Of course, you can always try to place defence chambers so that they heal the hive and help to stretch out the time. That's probably a good solution towards the problem.
Don't forget that it's impossible to quickdraw a welder. They have to like prep for a second, and that's vital. True, they do a little too much damage, but they're expensive and don't have much range.
People seem to be forgetting thats its not just the amount of damage which a welder does (what is the figure?) but its also the speed it does it. It seems to do damage several times a second. I've used it to take out alien buildings mainly to conserve ammo, but I would never use it to take out aliens themselves. I'm pretty sure those killed by welder had low health to begin with, so it doesnt't seem to be an issue
You all seem to forget that the welder in NS is not exactly real and that you can weld without making actual contact, it has a radius of like 2-3 feet I belive . . . Lets see, 2000 degrees being aimed into a creature 2 feet wide at most . . . Painful thats just gonna chop dem up
Hey now thats not a bad idea. Would stop the insane invincible heavy marine crawl as well. But yeah Id have to agree the damage is fine, and its hell funny when you see a knife or welder kill so its all in good fun <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
You see, I think it's a mistake to first think about the welder and what it should be like according to the laws of physics, storyline, or "real life". I'd rather start from what I consider to be a fairly solid balance concern: that a single marine should take perhaps about 30 seconds to destroy a hive, and that under 20 seconds is a little too short for a single marine.
Getting caught up in the tiny little specifics or psuedo-physics is counterproductive. I'll tell you a secret about sci-fi. You can make things up to suit your needs. I'm certain the game designers worried about their game, its balance and enjoyability, and then worried about tech explanations and storylines afterwards.
<!--QuoteBegin--mudjah [hive]+Nov 27 2002, 10:20 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (mudjah [hive] @ Nov 27 2002, 10:20 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->IMHO, The welders damage is utter Bs, come on. It's a welder, a tool! Now compare this tool to the Fades claws and no one can seriously tell me that you think it would inflict more damage than those. The welder should only do minimal damage as a weapon, something like the Engy's wrench in TFC.
A fade and meeting a bunnyhopping light marine with a tool shouldnt even be a challenge.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Well, when I shove something that hase a 3000C flame up your slimy maul, you tell me if it hurts.
I always enjoy knifing the aliens. Skulk, gorge, fade, lerk, or onos, knifed em all <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Comments
Of course, you can always try to place defence chambers so that they heal the hive and help to stretch out the time. That's probably a good solution towards the problem.
My $0.02.
Lets see, 2000 degrees being aimed into a creature 2 feet wide at most . . . Painful
thats just gonna chop dem up
If you're gonna change it at all, give it a little fuel meter that recharges exactly like the marine jetpack.
Getting caught up in the tiny little specifics or psuedo-physics is counterproductive. I'll tell you a secret about sci-fi. You can make things up to suit your needs. I'm certain the game designers worried about their game, its balance and enjoyability, and then worried about tech explanations and storylines afterwards.
A fade and meeting a bunnyhopping light marine with a tool shouldnt even be a challenge.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, when I shove something that hase a 3000C flame up your slimy maul, you tell me if it hurts.
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->