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DF General Discussion / Weapon Material; Mass and Sharpness
« on: September 13, 2022, 10:08:25 am »
Toady has created a robust system using real world, or as close to real world properties for materials. It has actually inspired me to try my hand at making an action rpg that does not use traditional HP and weapon damage but rather the material decides the outcomes.
However the least realistic property, or atleast numbers used, is sharpness. Sharpness is hard to quantify and i understand why its done that way. The issue is a weapon that weighs half as much as a steel counterpart has half as much force since force = mass * acceleration. Halving the mass does not allow double acceleration, also there is diminishing returns, eventually the weapon is so light that reducing it any further is met with the limitations of the humans reflexes and speed.
I feel this is the situation that candy and mithril get into, Middle-earth has no mithril weapons of note, and candy weapons are only good because the sharpness multiplier.
The issue is, if toady ever implements true sharpness calculations you wont have materials that are 10x sharper. In the modern age tungsten can be made to 1 atom thick, but with a tech cut off of 13-14 century i doubt this will be a thing. You would rely on bevel angles. Knives are around 17-20 degree angles, and most swords are 30 degrees. Steel swords cant be 17 since they wouldn't have the structural integrity to hold up in combat. However mithril and candy are stronger, and thus can be spread thinner and hold up in combat. question is, if a 3 degree angle would be considered 10x sharper than a 30 degree angle, and if its feasible to achieve these angles given the material properties and the tech limitations.
However the least realistic property, or atleast numbers used, is sharpness. Sharpness is hard to quantify and i understand why its done that way. The issue is a weapon that weighs half as much as a steel counterpart has half as much force since force = mass * acceleration. Halving the mass does not allow double acceleration, also there is diminishing returns, eventually the weapon is so light that reducing it any further is met with the limitations of the humans reflexes and speed.
I feel this is the situation that candy and mithril get into, Middle-earth has no mithril weapons of note, and candy weapons are only good because the sharpness multiplier.
The issue is, if toady ever implements true sharpness calculations you wont have materials that are 10x sharper. In the modern age tungsten can be made to 1 atom thick, but with a tech cut off of 13-14 century i doubt this will be a thing. You would rely on bevel angles. Knives are around 17-20 degree angles, and most swords are 30 degrees. Steel swords cant be 17 since they wouldn't have the structural integrity to hold up in combat. However mithril and candy are stronger, and thus can be spread thinner and hold up in combat. question is, if a 3 degree angle would be considered 10x sharper than a 30 degree angle, and if its feasible to achieve these angles given the material properties and the tech limitations.