Sounds good! I hope to fit in a few games today, and add to your feedback soon.
I can easily imagine how something based on the mass driver can slow the game down. My "microparticulate duster" in Drives'R'Us sometimes has that problem.
As for the crashes, this link might be helpful for figuring out what's causing them:
http://weirdworldsmods.wikidot.com/s...es-during-game
That covers most of the things I know can cause a crash, along with symptoms and solutions. If it turns out it's not one of the causes listed (or linked to from) there, please feel welcome to add your eventual solution to the wiki. (Password is "shrapnel and eel")