Difference between revisions of "Weapons (Worms Unlimited)"

Revision as of 23:35, 9 February 2010

Introduction

The true number of weapon suggestions I have recieved number in their hundreds, but here I list only fifty of what I consider to be the better weapon ideas. The reason for this is not because I think other weapon ideas should not be included in Worms, but simply to prevent this page being cluttered up by ideas that are ugly, don't work, or were inadequately described to begin with.

It is important to remember that in Worms, you can choose what weapons you play with, and what weapons you don't play with. Ideally, if developing time was not an issue, there are no good reasons why any particular weapon idea, however bad it might seem, should not be implemented. If a suggested weapon seems as though it is flawed, unskilful, imbalanced, or doesn't add anything to gameplay, then players can simply opt not to use it. The Concrete Donkey and Armageddon are examples of this mechanism in effect: many people play online without it because they are too destructive, and require no skill to use.

One immediate problem that comes to mind when people consider a Worms game with over a hundred weapons, is the size of the weapons inventory in-game. But this concern is easily addressed: it would only be a problem if all the weapons are in use. Most schemes only include a very small number of the total weapons available. Another similar problem that crops up is that players will be overwhelmed by 'too many' weapons. Again, this is simple to debunk: most schemes will only use a few weapons. Furthermore, new players can be overwhelmed by merely 15 weapons, let alone 100. You might remember playing the "Beginner" scheme for the first time, and not having a clue what to use because you don't know what anything does.

Sixty weapons is a lot, when you think about it. But with time, everyone becomes familiar with every weapon. The same would be true of 100 weapons. It just takes time, and not a lot of it.

I have a confession to make. I lied. There is one reason why a weapon idea can be so bad that it should not be included by any means: if the idea is identical to a weapon that already exists. The only possible point of having a weapon that is essentially a clone of another weapon is the variety that comes with different sprites - which isn't really good enough to justify to space taken up in the weapons inventory or the extra pages on the Weapons Editor. This mistake has been made in Worms Armageddon, when Team17 included both the Uzi and the Minigun. These weapons run on exactly the same mechanism. The only difference between them is that the Minigun spills twice as many bullets and has a slightly wider spread. However, these qualities do not make the weapon unique as they could have been included as editable parameters for the Uzi. Think of it as having a slightly more powerful grenade and calling it a new weapon. It just isn't sensible.

There is an argument that having both an Uzi and the Minigun in the same game can make strategic sense, if the weapons are strictly limited. However, with suitable adjustments to the Weapons Editor, the need for the minigun even in this situation can be negated. If the player is given the ability to include two versions of the Uzi into one scheme, one with more bullets than the other, then the same effect is achieved. This is explained in more detail in the Editors section.

Contents

The following articles begin with a basic description of the weapon in use, followed by technical considerations, then strategical implications of the weapon in a Worms environment, and finally end in a comment on its aesthetics and suitability to Worms as an idea.

It should be noted that I often cite programming certain things as being 'simple' in the following articles... take that with a pinch of salt. I am not a programmer; everything I say concerning programming is speculation.