>>13375985CoDE lasers and nuclear rockets are based on 60s tech.
Some simulation models are inaccurate.
Laser ablation doesn't account for black body radiation and mechanical stresses.
Coilguns are only of reluctance variety (ferromagnetic projectiles) and are broken.
Railguns don't account for friction.
Super efficent micronukes.
Component damage model is based around 1 penetration equals death, so compontents are much more fragile then they would be irl. It is even worse when comparing turreted guns vs spinal guns because spinals are penetrated through barrel while turreted are penetrated through turret. Spinals also don't have any bonuses to accuracy from bracing.
Detection is handwaved as "lol space".
Tracers are used on unguided kinetic projectiles, but computers don't need tracers.
Other errors are not scientific inaccuracies but are combination of schizotech setting, stupid AI and missing features.
Missing features:
No electric power from NTRs. No 3rd gen nuclear weapons (casaba howitzers, nuclear frag/efp, bomb pumped lasers). No power storage. No hitsinks. No remote power/propulsion. No combat mirrors. No CLGGs. No other power generation methods than thermocouple. No advanced solid core NTR designs. No real attitude control.
Schizotech:
Vanilla designed are based around unrealistic tens of kms combat ranges using mostly unguided kinetic projectilles at less than 10km/s of muzzle velocity. Lasers on anything but largest ships are useless.
Optimized custom designs just devolve into slow and fragile lasers platforms and swarms of suitcase nukes (because AI can't aim with kinetic or fragmentation missiles). Because fragments magically disappear after 50m those slow and fragile laser platforms are much more effective than they would be irl.
AI struggles with more complex thruster configurations, and aiming missiles/unguided projectilles limiting useful designs to as stated above laser ships and swarms of suitcase nukes.