The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3x.html#nuke

This is a really neat website that among other things discusees the efectiveness of a nuclear explosion in space. I've heard a lot of complaints from SC players that the earthling cruiser just doen't do enough damage and have seen considerable debate waged over the actual potency of the cruisers armament. I hope the information here, which seems to be based on solid science is helpfull. Personaly after reading this and some follow up material put out by NASA I think the creators of SC had it prety right, a nuke just isn't that good without an atmosphere to transmit the force of the blast.

Right. I've always thought this too and I agree that the Cruiser's damage is fair in terms of gameplay and realism.

Now that I think about it, I'm starting to wonder if some of the other ship's weapons damage is realistic. For example, I would think the Marauder's disks would be devastating if it came in contact with a ship's hull. In terms of gameplay, its fair, yes. But I think it would prob do a lot of damage in a real situation.

Seems to me that the disks must be smaller than represented on-screen, because of ammunition limitations. Maybe the size shown on screen is the size they effectively are because their magnetism sucks them in to anything that's that close.

Perhaps the disks are wafer thin.

Also, the game seems to represent direct hits from the nukes, which should do horrible damage unless these ships are much stronger than most of the things we use today, and the warheads are relatively low yield.

Low yield warheads = larger inventory of onboard weapons.  Makes sense to a point.