Why does the laser weapons have recoil?

[Jardenon]

That's just stupid.

[HeyYou]

They had recoil in FO4 as well. And the missile launcher, AKA "recoilless rifle" has recoil too. :D

[Mephitic]

Why would a laser rifle have recoil? It emits only energy that has infinitesimally small mass.

[HeyYou]

Originally posted by Mephitic:

Why would a laser rifle have recoil? It emits only energy that has infinitesimally small mass.

Realistically, they shouldn't. But, in beth games, energy weapons do indeed have recoil. :D

[Mephitic]

Oh, I see. Other games do it so this one should. I'm sure that makes sense to somebody.

[HeyYou]

Originally posted by Mephitic:

Oh, I see. Other games do it so this one should. I'm sure that makes sense to somebody.

I have no clue why they did it that way.... I never really understood their reasoning behind it either. But then, they didn't bother to try and explain it to me. :)

[wyodinosaur]

You could also ask, 'why is there sound in space and on airless moons?' It's most likely because it's a game and games have programming limitations and/or omissions. So, the answer is: 'because the programmers made it that way.'

[zpc]

The took that from Fallout 1 & 2* when Bethesda made Fallout 3 - and sticked with it for their non-fantasy games.

Fallout 1 & 2 laser rifle animation, plasma rifle animation as well as the gatling laser all had recoil. See this video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aLU9VQ_pmOg

[HeyYou]

Originally posted by wyodinosaur:

You could also ask, 'why is there sound in space and on airless moons?' It's most likely because it's a game and games have programming limitations and/or omissions. So, the answer is: 'because the programmers made it that way.'

I am curious if ballistic weapons (chemical reaction requiring oxygen) would work at ALL in a vacuum...... Unless there is an oxidizer included in the mix??

[wyodinosaur]

Originally posted by HeyYou:

Originally posted by wyodinosaur:

You could also ask, 'why is there sound in space and on airless moons?' It's most likely because it's a game and games have programming limitations and/or omissions. So, the answer is: 'because the programmers made it that way.'

I am curious if ballistic weapons (chemical reaction requiring oxygen) would work at ALL in a vacuum...... Unless there is an oxidizer included in the mix??

In real life, if the weapon relied on oxygen in the atmosphere to operate, then obviously it would not work in a vacuum. However, I doubt if Blender (or any other 3D modelling programme) would be sophisticated enough to detect a difference.

[Mephitic]

We have catalyst ballistic ammo that works under water. It should work in space too.

[jerrypocalypse]

Because it's a game set in a make believe setting where anything the creators want is possible.

(And also light has a physical force, which is why solar sails work)

[Grim@FU_BARRACUDA]

No, it makes sense, it ensures that soldiers remain accustomed to recoil in case they need to resort to "normal" weapons. It also makes sense from a gameplay perspective, as it's much more exciting when you have to control recoil. By the way, what I said first is part of the Wahammer40K lore aswell, I'm just saying,-)

[Mooman]

Capacitor discharge creates a magnetic field. That magnetic field creates the 'recoil'.

Electricity can create a powerful force and throw people some distance.

[Raven]

Originally posted by Jardenon:

That's just stupid.

Ther science bit:
As we all know, lasers work by converting electricity into photons and then bouncing those photons back and forth between two mirrors through a special gain material. According to the conservation of momentum, any momentum imparted on the projectiles, (in this case the photons), must be equal and opposite to the momentum imparted on the weapon itself. Therefore, a laser weapon would experience some recoil, albeit small.

[avacd]

Granted, modern lasers as weapons would have no recoil... but also pump less energy into a target than ballistic weapons. Maybe the specific types of lasers that they have generate enough punching power to work alongside bullets, but the builds themselves generate something akin to recoil. That said, the real answer is because the programmers coded it that way. ;)