Whoops, I've let the blog wither slightly. Not much to report, been quite busy in real life with assignments and uni work.
Here's a follow up on the previous post: A full blown New Mechwarrior Trailer. Be sure to watch it in HD. Ok, let's get a brief blow-by-blow look at it.
Just looking at the beginning, it does look like the Mechs have a sense of size, now. It feels like you're piloting a massive 60 ton behemoth right there in the intro. I'll admit it took me a little while to work out it was a Warhammer. An interesting concept is the use of unmanned drones to gain updates on the battlefield rather then just "Radar does all". The Developers have stated they want to try and give all weights of 'Mech a use, so I imagine light 'mechs will function as scouts effectively.
Despite the Jenner being massively outclassed by the Warhammer, the pilot is worried and makes a point of ducking behind cover. This says alot about how dangerous the combat will be. Plus, I have to admit I'm excited about the damage to the buildings. When the Jenner lands on the building you can see the windows shatter, showing how much pressure the building is under. A good missile launch and it collapses. Not to mention the building the Warhammer used for cover gets damaged by the shots fired at it.
In enters the Atlas. I admit I cheered when I first saw that. The Atlas feels genuinely MASSIVE, and watching it move carries across this feeling. I'll admit I'm disappointed that the Autocannon seems to be a single shot weapon, but what can ya do? The PPCs seem to be a weapon to genuinely fear, a couple of good shots from them and the Atlas is in trouble. Note after the PPCs fire, you can see the barrels glowing red, showing the heat build up. Perhaps most important, watch the Warhammer when it gets hit by an AC/20 shot, it gets knocked around massively. While I could understand the reason for this in Mechwarrior 4, it still bugged me a bit. Still, it'll add another element of difficulty to the game.
All in all, I am excite. I am very excite.
Showing posts with label battletech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label battletech. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, September 14, 2008
41st post celebration!
... at which point the Prince and the Pauper both picked up their Martinis and had a sip, resulting in the Pauper shouting "Wait a minute, this isn't a Martini!" Everyone had a hearty laugh, except the Prince, who ordered the poor person shot.
(Since I forgot a 100 list thing last post (I was drunk, lay off!) I'll put two in this post.)
Since I've been watching the anime recommended to me by a friend recently, I figured I'd dedicate this post to the wonderful topic of giant robots. In general, among various mediums there are three forms of robots. There are the 'real' robots, the 'super' robots, and the 'mystic' robots. Each of them, from a writing position, have their own special advantages and disadvantages.
Real robots are the type that're restricted by some forms of 'genuine' mechanics. The most obvious example are Battletech robots. They have their own rules for combat, and mostly cannot act outside of the realms of possibility for ten meter tall mechanical constructs. They still suffer from limited movement possibilities, although they do move far more impressively then any modern human construct of the same type could.
The primary advantages of storytelling with the real robots is that they allow human error, since they can be incorrectly wired, have mechanical faults, and are generally fallible. Also, since they're all constructed from similar basic principles, you won't have many situations were one lone prototype is capable of destroying billions of mass production models of supposedly similar specs. They follow simply understood rules, wherein a few basic presuppositions are understood. Heavier = better armour and weapons. Lighter = faster. That sort of thing. Their fallibility means that in appropriate cases, supposedly outclassed foes DO stand a chance, and there are few situations of "Oh, well the Gundam's here, let's all just go home."
The primary disadvantages are that since everything relies upon similar rules, the commonly used dues ex machina idea so loved in stories of all forms fails. If a Regiment of Battlemechs are slowly advancing through your city, destroying everything they come across, then any Dues Ex Machina to save you had better be another bloody regiment! You sure as hell aren't going to get any kind of small team of supermechs showing up and saving the day, which does limit some dramatic possibilities. In addition, unlike other giant robot styles where things are a little fuzzy, in Real mech types then everything is understood very well, meaning there isn't much wiggle room for "what can beat what" barring extremely lucky shots.
Super robots are the type commonly used in many anime shows. The scientific principles behind them are left deliberately fuzzy, often calling upon some super energy source that is never explained properly. The weaponry can vary from machine guns to heavy energy blasters (often in the same show). All this adds up to allow for immense differences between the potential abilities of two similarly designed models, often skirted around simply by saying "This one is a mass production model, while this is a specially designed experimental model"
The most obvious advantage of this method of story telling is that it allows the actions of the few (the main characters) to have major and dramatic effects on the world as a whole quite easily. The super powerful robots piloted by the heroes can show up as the true saviors of an entire planet, taking out many times their number. These fuzzy rules allow for enormous lengths of author alteration. It's impossible to say which particular model of robot is better then which other model outside of a direct battle between the two, since their capacities vary so much, and without specific explanations on what-does-what, there's no real basis for the authors interpretation to seem implausible. Perhaps most obvious is that this sort of ruleset allows the author to give an OBVIOUS reason to focus upon the heroes of the story. They have the awesome f-ing good robots.
The diadvantages are just as irritating, however. When the heroes robots are so ridiculously overpowered, the only real way to offer any sort of genuine challenge is to give the villains equally (or even more so) powered robots. This in turn reduces any 'grunts' involved in the battle to a level below useless. And if that's the case, well there's no drama involved in ANY battle if it's "Super robot versus army of grunts". This really lowers the tension, especially compared to the Real Robot style, in which EVERY battle can (but, let's face it, probably won't) end in peril.
Finally the Mystic robots. These are your Voltron style machines, completely non-understood 'magical' (or ridiculously technologically advanced) robots, sometimes placed among more 'mundane' robots to make their incredible capacities stand out even more. They have completely unexplained capabilities (such as merging into a more powerful robot, or just somehow being miles ahead things that should, by all rights, be comparable to them) and often interact with their pilots through a form of mental or spiritual interface.
This style of story appeals to younger viewers, more often, but in that way it works quite well. It doesn't overburden the story with meticulous details, and always leaves the good guys able to 'power up' their machine should they be in severe danger of some sort. Plus the mystical element adds an element of the unknown to the machine, giving it a layer of uncertainty. Maybe it'll pull out a super weapon never before seen, this episode. Or maybe due to events barely understood it could be heavily underpowered.
The most obvious problem with this method is, quite simply, the characters are obviously VERY rarely in any form of danger. Plus it requires an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief to think the characters just always happen to leave powering their capacities up to full to the very end of the story every single time. If I was fighting for my life, I'd go for overkill every single time, just to be sure. Finally, and this is a matter of personal opinion, but this type of giant robot just feels like a cheat. It feels like just another stage of "Character gets more powerful to defeat powerful opponent." You could substitute 'uses giant robot' with 'grows in size', 'activates power amulet' or 'charges up magic weapon' into the story line and it would look no different. It's not really any kind of Giant Robot, it's just a story vehicle.
So, hopefully that enlightened you a little on how much spare time I have.
(Since I forgot a 100 list thing last post (I was drunk, lay off!) I'll put two in this post.)
- 5. When I was young, I had to get checked out by professionals twice to see if I was 'special'. Yeah, that's a line that gets the ladies rollin' in!
- 6. I have never used a pick up line. Hell, I've been too shy to even be the one to initiate most conversations. Yet they often seem to spring up.
Since I've been watching the anime recommended to me by a friend recently, I figured I'd dedicate this post to the wonderful topic of giant robots. In general, among various mediums there are three forms of robots. There are the 'real' robots, the 'super' robots, and the 'mystic' robots. Each of them, from a writing position, have their own special advantages and disadvantages.
Real robots are the type that're restricted by some forms of 'genuine' mechanics. The most obvious example are Battletech robots. They have their own rules for combat, and mostly cannot act outside of the realms of possibility for ten meter tall mechanical constructs. They still suffer from limited movement possibilities, although they do move far more impressively then any modern human construct of the same type could.
The primary advantages of storytelling with the real robots is that they allow human error, since they can be incorrectly wired, have mechanical faults, and are generally fallible. Also, since they're all constructed from similar basic principles, you won't have many situations were one lone prototype is capable of destroying billions of mass production models of supposedly similar specs. They follow simply understood rules, wherein a few basic presuppositions are understood. Heavier = better armour and weapons. Lighter = faster. That sort of thing. Their fallibility means that in appropriate cases, supposedly outclassed foes DO stand a chance, and there are few situations of "Oh, well the Gundam's here, let's all just go home."
The primary disadvantages are that since everything relies upon similar rules, the commonly used dues ex machina idea so loved in stories of all forms fails. If a Regiment of Battlemechs are slowly advancing through your city, destroying everything they come across, then any Dues Ex Machina to save you had better be another bloody regiment! You sure as hell aren't going to get any kind of small team of supermechs showing up and saving the day, which does limit some dramatic possibilities. In addition, unlike other giant robot styles where things are a little fuzzy, in Real mech types then everything is understood very well, meaning there isn't much wiggle room for "what can beat what" barring extremely lucky shots.
Super robots are the type commonly used in many anime shows. The scientific principles behind them are left deliberately fuzzy, often calling upon some super energy source that is never explained properly. The weaponry can vary from machine guns to heavy energy blasters (often in the same show). All this adds up to allow for immense differences between the potential abilities of two similarly designed models, often skirted around simply by saying "This one is a mass production model, while this is a specially designed experimental model"
The most obvious advantage of this method of story telling is that it allows the actions of the few (the main characters) to have major and dramatic effects on the world as a whole quite easily. The super powerful robots piloted by the heroes can show up as the true saviors of an entire planet, taking out many times their number. These fuzzy rules allow for enormous lengths of author alteration. It's impossible to say which particular model of robot is better then which other model outside of a direct battle between the two, since their capacities vary so much, and without specific explanations on what-does-what, there's no real basis for the authors interpretation to seem implausible. Perhaps most obvious is that this sort of ruleset allows the author to give an OBVIOUS reason to focus upon the heroes of the story. They have the awesome f-ing good robots.
The diadvantages are just as irritating, however. When the heroes robots are so ridiculously overpowered, the only real way to offer any sort of genuine challenge is to give the villains equally (or even more so) powered robots. This in turn reduces any 'grunts' involved in the battle to a level below useless. And if that's the case, well there's no drama involved in ANY battle if it's "Super robot versus army of grunts". This really lowers the tension, especially compared to the Real Robot style, in which EVERY battle can (but, let's face it, probably won't) end in peril.
Finally the Mystic robots. These are your Voltron style machines, completely non-understood 'magical' (or ridiculously technologically advanced) robots, sometimes placed among more 'mundane' robots to make their incredible capacities stand out even more. They have completely unexplained capabilities (such as merging into a more powerful robot, or just somehow being miles ahead things that should, by all rights, be comparable to them) and often interact with their pilots through a form of mental or spiritual interface.
This style of story appeals to younger viewers, more often, but in that way it works quite well. It doesn't overburden the story with meticulous details, and always leaves the good guys able to 'power up' their machine should they be in severe danger of some sort. Plus the mystical element adds an element of the unknown to the machine, giving it a layer of uncertainty. Maybe it'll pull out a super weapon never before seen, this episode. Or maybe due to events barely understood it could be heavily underpowered.
The most obvious problem with this method is, quite simply, the characters are obviously VERY rarely in any form of danger. Plus it requires an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief to think the characters just always happen to leave powering their capacities up to full to the very end of the story every single time. If I was fighting for my life, I'd go for overkill every single time, just to be sure. Finally, and this is a matter of personal opinion, but this type of giant robot just feels like a cheat. It feels like just another stage of "Character gets more powerful to defeat powerful opponent." You could substitute 'uses giant robot' with 'grows in size', 'activates power amulet' or 'charges up magic weapon' into the story line and it would look no different. It's not really any kind of Giant Robot, it's just a story vehicle.
So, hopefully that enlightened you a little on how much spare time I have.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Phases of the geek
... And by returning his wallet, I was gifted with the name "Honest Rodriegez".
After much debate, I have concluded I am like the moon. Calm, serene, balloon shaped, and I go through various phases. A while back I transitioned from a Fantasy phase into a Transformers geek-out phase. Then I went to superheroes. Now I'm passing into a Battletech phase. I go through phases all the time, the trick is to find something I can do that will satisfy this phase, otherwise I will be bored trying to find stuff.
For those of you not in the know, Battletech is a game about giant walking tank-like things (that would be millitarily useless, for a number of reasons mentioned later) equiped with advanced weaponry that walk around battlefields shooting each other to pieces. It's kinda like a mix of modern tank warfare and medieval Knights, the world they inhabit. The day they make a Battletech MMO I will have a nerdgasm. You snicker, but I WILL become erect at the sheer awesomeness. If the MMO allows for RP I will be arrested for indecent exposure to the developers of said-game.
What precisely is the appeal of this over other generic large robots blowing up shit? I'm glad you, my hypothetical imaginary readership asked.
Funnily enough, the precise appeal to me only partly stems from the robots. It is a vast conquest of space inhabited by broadly defined nation aspects that correspond reasonably closely to modern day (and some past) aspects of certain cultures, which while resulting in stereotypes, also allows the 'viewer' of the societies a certain understanding of what precisely it is they're viewing, through a shared set of language standards.
Next, the predefined intergalactic nations allow for in-depth and cunning potential political simulations, massive geo-economical and political movements are capable with numerous factions vying for leadership within small regions, let alone the factions contending for control of massive nations.
Even further then that, it's a galaxy that allows for enormous combats. Hundreds of mechs can meet to battle over a planet in highly considered tactical manouvers and strategies. It evokes the wanna-be general in all of us to consider how to plot and plan those conditions of warfare between these vast forces more then capable of eliminating entire cities.
Finally, the actual appeal to me over the robots. Yes, giant f-off mechs battling over a war torn battlefield is awesome, but part of the awesomeness comes from both a personalisation and impersonalisation of combat. Since there are rarely more then a couple of dozen mechs meeting at once in the one area, suddenly battles become less about masses of kills, and becomes a more 'honourable' contest of a small number of combatants, few of which can be dispatched effortlessly. But at the same time since you're not directly fighting a PERSON, but a vehicle they're riding in, the warfare becomes less of a combat of trying to cripple or kill the other person, but to destroy their capacity to contribute to the fight by destroying their mech, an action they have a quite reasonable chance of surviving. It removes from the equation a strong degree of genuine loss, and instead of war casualties being reduced to cripples if they're lucky, it allows for the possibility of survival intact, removing some of the horrific sides of war.
Although I mentioned I was going to discuss why 'Mechs are an inpossible dream. Consider for a moment the only possible advantages a Mech might have over a tank.
1. Higher point of view that allows for shots over the horizon? When you're that much taller, it just means you're an easier target for explosive weapons.
2. Higher maneouverability stemming from the use of bipedal motion? Even if a giant robot that can perfectly emulate human movement would be a rather clumsy affair, and any situation where the terrain is so bad a tank can't get around wouldn't be much easier for a footfall.
Now let's consider the downpoints.
1. Armour spread. Take a box-shaped object and cover it in alfoil. Keep a vague track of how much you need. Then take a similarly sized humanoid shaped object and cover it in alfoil. Far more is needed to cover it entirely, and to cover it entirely limits it's mobility (part of the apparent advantage). More armour weighs more, which makes moving around more difficult since it takes more energy to do so.
2. Cost. For a bipedal mode of transport and warfare to be even possible requires massive amounts of money put into things like gyroscopic balancing, 'muscle' like controls and designing a war machine specifically to emulate human movements. A Tank needs none of those.
So, in short, Battletech style mechs are a complete impossibility.
They are fucking cool, though.
After much debate, I have concluded I am like the moon. Calm, serene, balloon shaped, and I go through various phases. A while back I transitioned from a Fantasy phase into a Transformers geek-out phase. Then I went to superheroes. Now I'm passing into a Battletech phase. I go through phases all the time, the trick is to find something I can do that will satisfy this phase, otherwise I will be bored trying to find stuff.
For those of you not in the know, Battletech is a game about giant walking tank-like things (that would be millitarily useless, for a number of reasons mentioned later) equiped with advanced weaponry that walk around battlefields shooting each other to pieces. It's kinda like a mix of modern tank warfare and medieval Knights, the world they inhabit. The day they make a Battletech MMO I will have a nerdgasm. You snicker, but I WILL become erect at the sheer awesomeness. If the MMO allows for RP I will be arrested for indecent exposure to the developers of said-game.
What precisely is the appeal of this over other generic large robots blowing up shit? I'm glad you, my hypothetical imaginary readership asked.
Funnily enough, the precise appeal to me only partly stems from the robots. It is a vast conquest of space inhabited by broadly defined nation aspects that correspond reasonably closely to modern day (and some past) aspects of certain cultures, which while resulting in stereotypes, also allows the 'viewer' of the societies a certain understanding of what precisely it is they're viewing, through a shared set of language standards.
Next, the predefined intergalactic nations allow for in-depth and cunning potential political simulations, massive geo-economical and political movements are capable with numerous factions vying for leadership within small regions, let alone the factions contending for control of massive nations.
Even further then that, it's a galaxy that allows for enormous combats. Hundreds of mechs can meet to battle over a planet in highly considered tactical manouvers and strategies. It evokes the wanna-be general in all of us to consider how to plot and plan those conditions of warfare between these vast forces more then capable of eliminating entire cities.
Finally, the actual appeal to me over the robots. Yes, giant f-off mechs battling over a war torn battlefield is awesome, but part of the awesomeness comes from both a personalisation and impersonalisation of combat. Since there are rarely more then a couple of dozen mechs meeting at once in the one area, suddenly battles become less about masses of kills, and becomes a more 'honourable' contest of a small number of combatants, few of which can be dispatched effortlessly. But at the same time since you're not directly fighting a PERSON, but a vehicle they're riding in, the warfare becomes less of a combat of trying to cripple or kill the other person, but to destroy their capacity to contribute to the fight by destroying their mech, an action they have a quite reasonable chance of surviving. It removes from the equation a strong degree of genuine loss, and instead of war casualties being reduced to cripples if they're lucky, it allows for the possibility of survival intact, removing some of the horrific sides of war.
Although I mentioned I was going to discuss why 'Mechs are an inpossible dream. Consider for a moment the only possible advantages a Mech might have over a tank.
1. Higher point of view that allows for shots over the horizon? When you're that much taller, it just means you're an easier target for explosive weapons.
2. Higher maneouverability stemming from the use of bipedal motion? Even if a giant robot that can perfectly emulate human movement would be a rather clumsy affair, and any situation where the terrain is so bad a tank can't get around wouldn't be much easier for a footfall.
Now let's consider the downpoints.
1. Armour spread. Take a box-shaped object and cover it in alfoil. Keep a vague track of how much you need. Then take a similarly sized humanoid shaped object and cover it in alfoil. Far more is needed to cover it entirely, and to cover it entirely limits it's mobility (part of the apparent advantage). More armour weighs more, which makes moving around more difficult since it takes more energy to do so.
2. Cost. For a bipedal mode of transport and warfare to be even possible requires massive amounts of money put into things like gyroscopic balancing, 'muscle' like controls and designing a war machine specifically to emulate human movements. A Tank needs none of those.
So, in short, Battletech style mechs are a complete impossibility.
They are fucking cool, though.
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