[CA] Walker Designs

[Pressure Line]

will talk tonight neddie (approx 6-8 hours from now) got some thoughts on this subject you may want to hear :)

[Neddie]

Until you know you're good you should post frequently to get feedback and not commit the same mistake eight times.

Aye.

[Fanger]

Neddie you wanted me to post so here you go:

Attention modders and players of the spring forum, we have recieved a message from 3rd fleet headquarters. At 0115 hours a shivan cruiser and 3 fighter wings ambushed and destroyed the GTC Vigilant as it patrolled the Gamma Draconis jumpnode in the Capella system. Command deployed the GTD Carthage and GVC Dashor, though these vessels neutralized the immediate threat, all allied units are now in a state of enhanced vigilance. Command has ordered the Aquitane to spearhead the operation in Gamma Draconis as we investigate the extent and origin of this incursion. Gamma Draconis is a remote and uninhabited system discovered shortly before the outbreak of the great war, the system has no planets, no viable resources. The GTSc Eriksson visited the system 15 years ago and reported nothing out of the ordinary. Recon flights in Gamma Draconis detected activity near an uncharted jumpnode, closer examination has revealed this is not a natural phenomenon, but a massive subspace portal of unknown origin. We do not know why the Eriksson failed to detect the portal when it last visited the system, this device may have been inactive and thus invisible to long range sensors, or it may be of recent construction. The Shivan vessels that destroyed the Vigilant are not of any class encountered in the great war, the light cruiser, designated Rakshasa, and the fighters designated Mara, have been added to your onboard database. This is our first contact with this species in over 3 decades, our objectives are clear, we must secure Gamma Draconis or face annihilation a second time.

[Argh]

lol.

At least you quoted from one of my all-time favorite games

[Elkvis]

I am quite excited by this sphere-bot set. I like the character it gives the units.

Anti-Air - This, I think is the weakest of your overall excellent design - he just doesn't look different enough from the spherebot, shoulder work notwithstanding. He needs a large piece of equipment to stand out - some ideas... 1) Make him a humpback, with a large white dome on his back, to house the radar/targeting equipment. 2) Remove the forarm armor and include large, visible laser generators. 3) Weirder idea... Spikes? Eh, I guess they would conflict with the smooth lines... Tilt his head waaaay back (he should be looking at the sky after all. Maybe give him an eye on top of his head? That even might be enough.

Or, a set of (short) heatsink blades across his back, to deal with all that heat you mention. that would make him stand out.

Then it can be a porcupine when not being used, curled forward exposing the heat-sink armour, gaining a health bonus. Like a pop-up.

making it a more resilient front-line AA solution.

2. If there exists a really compelling reason why they all have a human form, why aren't they built off of the same basic chassis, with different attachments to perform different functions? After all, if it's a giant humanoid... it's a giant humanoid. Why waste valuable military resources on lots of variants?

you forget that it is not a conventional production line with inventoried parts. Raw materials are compiled directly into the unit.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Firstly, wow, neddie can draw!

Secondly, hey neddie had some free time and it didn't involve doing voice acks for IW =_=

Thirdly, I guess my main criticism here is a lack of distinctiveness between the units, as most people have all commented already. They are all mildly different, but I think one of the greatest successes of the TA set was that the units were so completely different from each other - and yet they still maintained a cohesiveness if you looked at them as a 'side' or as an entire 'universe'.

Most of them look highly derived from the spherebot; I don't think this is quite what you want for various units. I'd rather see totally new designs that use one or two driving elements from the spherebot. Stick in more legs, make some of them fat. Steal things from itch studios, etc

[MR.D]

A strong visual distinction between the units is very important.

While basic scale and outline can remain similar, units really need to be easily identified from each other quickly, especially when viewing from a normal gameplay zoom distance.

Color is a big part, but the shapes and border outline having key distinctive features will really help them stand apart from one another.

I personally can tell the difference between a Pewee and an AK, or a Pewee and a Hammer, or pretty much any OTA unit apart from one another at near maximum zoom without much effort or error.

[Machiosabre]

make one with four arms, NO! SIX! EIGHT!

[[Krogoth86]]

make one with four arms, NO! SIX! EIGHT!

It's "Arm" not "Arms" - meh...

So imo they all should be lefthanded!

[rattle]

ONE BILLION!

[Machiosabre]

hay guys

[Erom]

hahahaha, I love the two little chin-arms

[Neddie]

hay guys

Machio, you mind if I base a concept on your design?

[rattle]

Lord Grievous?

[smoth]

DAD?!?

[Warlord Zsinj]

[Saktoth]

Jethro: Cooling in water? Probably not.
Tick: Should probably be kept as a crawler (spidery dealio) due to all-terrain (though its hard to make it small, crawl, and make its legs move fast enough).
Flea: Ditto
Warrior: Combat, Antiswarm or Riot mech, not Assault, they're totally different roles. I was thinking belt-fed rather than clip-fed. Warrior also uses EMG-HE which needs a different weapon appearance to EMG.
Con and Minelayer/Catpure bot: Might be combined into one unit, just FYI.

Argh. THIS ISNT HARD SCI-FI. If we were trying to make a game representing the possible future of sci-fi warfare it would be nothing but huge numbers of nuclear weapons at extreme ranges. Hands be dambed- even having a bipedal mech at ALL is HUGELY impractical. If you can pretend that legs are viable on a giant killing machine, you can pretend that (yes, useless) hands are too. Just imagine that these mechs are getting knocked over a lot and need their arms to stand up again, pretend that it helps them climb things, pretend that it allows them to manipulate objects- doesnt really matter. These guys follow more of an eastern-style mecha feel.

1. What compelling reason, storyline-wise, is there for these units to all have a human form? Emphasis on "compelling"- militaries don't make such decisions for political or aesthetic reasons.

Now comes the fluff, though. Arm (Nova) has an emphasis on form and aesthetic, in mirroring its creator, man. It endevours to perfect its form and come closer to its creator. Its sort of a slight joke that all Nova units have two eyes, just like their creator, man, had two eyes... only they got the details a little wrong- Nova units eyes are facing the wrong direction and are asymetrical.

Core (Logos) focuses on perfection of code and reason, so they strike a sort of logic vs creativity, reason vs aesthetic, dichotomy.

These robot warriors are deeply philosophical, you know.

2. If there exists a really compelling reason why they all have a human form, why aren't they built off of the same basic chassis, with different attachments to perform different functions? After all, if it's a giant humanoid... it's a giant humanoid. Why waste valuable military resources on lots of variants?

Unit differentiation. This takes precedence over almost everything else. We can come up with fluff for why its so but in the end the graphics must facilitate the playing of the game. Same with scale- unit-to-unit scale will represent unit cost, more cost, larger unit (generally). Unit-to-map scale is just to ensure that at casual playdistance you can clearly see enough detail on all the units to tell them apart.

Take a look at Warcraft or Red Alert. Scale, be it infantry to tanks, or buildings to units, is really not that important. Yes we will be more 'realistic' in our scale than that but ultimately the graphics are to facilitate play and look cool- not to please futurists who want to nit-pick how the heat dissipation works on some energy weapon.

Steal things from itch studios, etc

yesyes. :)

Finally, id like to mirror everyone elses comments on 'This needs more different, but really obvious and unique weapons could help here' (Massive Rocketlauncher on the rocko).

P.S Machio plz come back to doing drawings for CA. :D

[Neddie]

Tick is going to remain a biped, I think - some people seem interested in modelling it as is - complete with morph to stationary. I have a revised design where the legs and arms collapse for four-limbed movement when it encounters a moderate slope. Flea doesn't need a replacement... we have an IP free one as is - if you can get the rest of the team to sign off on a remodel, however, I'll add it to the queue.

I can roll the capture/support unit into the constructor with ease, I'll convert the energy system and some portion of the hands, then insert the necessary active components. I was considering moving capture to the Flea and the mines to the Tick replacement myself.

Well, the EMG HE has larger projectiles, I was considering linked bands of ammunition from the rear, below the back armour, rounds ostensibly synthesized internally above the secondary battery array and repair system. The weapons will have shortened stocks with a heat shield before the grip.

As for the rocket skirmisher, I've done some mockups of a rocket launcher I'm actually proud of, it has a horizontal grip and slips over the hand; the barrel extends to reduce jerk upon launch, and I have three separate drive systems under consideration... magnetic, chain/band and live fuel. It will be quite formidable if somewhat complex.

I have some other notes, but somebody is at the door, and this is not my residence.

[Elkvis]

Wander out naked then. It can only lead to amusement.

[Otherside]

gief con bots with doctor octopus arms