15 replies to this topic

[DaZur]

My therapist suggested the best way to deal with the "PENDING" status was to divert my attention with simple and non-confrontational forum discussion. That and knitting...

Anyway... Let's vote, discuss and generally do something constructive other than obsess over that mocking, yellow, vindictive button from hell...

[Infine]

Non-confrontational you say. Well well well.

Guess what.

The thing that was always bugging me. The "chicken legs". They call them chicken legs while, in fact, they are not chicken at all. The last time I've seen a chicken, it's "knee" was not a reverse joint, and what you call a "knee" was, in fact, an ankle or something like that. In short, I firmly believe, that the real chicken leg has same joint directions as a human leg, but the thigh is shorter and the foot is longer, and the poor bird walks on it's toes. So, in fact, a real chicken leg is closer to the "demon leg" in your poll, and the "chicken leg" is a horrible abomination that probably would be functionally impaired compared to its counterparts.

Edited by Infine, 05 June 2012 - 04:58 AM.

[DaZur]

A kindred spirit...

I too am aware of the inaccuracy of the "chicken-leg" generalization, but for the sake of making this poll accessible to our less astute members... I elected to continue utilization of the said generalization.

[whiskey tango foxtrot]

Atlas fan......so thats pretty much how my vote went

[Redshift2k5]

all real-life digitigrade legs are in fact like the Thanatos. Thigh, calf, and a long foot, with weight beared on the toes. Ankle is off the ground.




BUT, most mechs with so-called 'chicken legs' are actually very different, and 'reverse-knee' is a much more accurate term. But, calling them chicken-legs will suffice as a shorthand or layman's term, and I'm pretty sure we all know chickens actually have knees and an ankle but chicken-leg mechs are reverse-knee legs. you don't notice a bird's thigh, you only notice the calf and foot which appears like a reverse knee.

suffice to say, I love reverse-knee leg configurations, but I love the fact there is a variety of leg types even more

[AlanEsh]

So did any of you eggheads actually take the poll yet?

[SideSt3p]

So my favorite 'Mechs all pretty much share the same design ideals.

I like Bipedal 'Mechs with slung/nested weapons. If I were to 'pilot for real' a 'Mech I would want to have hand acutators so that my 'Mech could be used for other operations besides just war (construction, salvage, rescue operations, etc). For example:

The TDR-10SE Thunderbolt:



I know a lot of people don't care for this redesign but I actually love it. The 'Mech to me looks like it's there to do WORK. It looks functional, rugged and built to last while dishing out tons of pain. Plus the under-slung ER PPC leaves the hand acutator in place for work.

[cipher]

It looks like the options that correlate to a Marauder and Clan mechs seems to be winning.

[Infine]

Angelicon, on 05 June 2012 - 05:43 AM, said:

So did any of you eggheads actually take the poll yet?

Who cares about the poll?
DONT YOU SEE? They are brainwashing us! They spread their lies, they twist your mind! They make you not care about the important things! They want you to remain blind to The Truth! Wake up sheepie! The worms in your brain, you must fight them! The harsh cold Truth, it's more important than your sense of false security they impose on you with their sweet lies...

But it was only fantasy
The wall was too high
As you can see
No matter how he tried
He could not break free
And the worms ate into his brain

[DaZur]

I'm a bit

cipher, on 05 June 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

It looks like the options that correlate to a Marauder and Clan mechs seems to be winning.

Agreed. I'm a bit surprised with the demons legs though... I personally think they look far more functional (From a kinesiology stand-point) than the reverse-joint / psudo chicken legs. Knowing the physiology behind a bipedal gait, the reverse joint would require the Mech to literally lurch forward with each stride, making the "ride" pretty harsh....

One would have to have some Dramamine on hand for those long sorties!

Edited by DaZur, 05 June 2012 - 12:23 PM.

[Kobold]

I love me some chicken-legs. Mechs like the Vulture just look like they were designed specifically for their job. No superfluous parts. Functionality leads to form.

[Sassori]

Anytime things become a popularity contest the results skew to what people think is 'kewl' which is why we see so many omnimech love threads. People just love the brokenness and the 'powah' and that makes them blind to everything else.

I love the quad leg system, that dates back to my love of the At-At from Empire Strikes Back even as slow and clunky as that thing was.

I love hands, I dislike mechs that don't have hands as to me, the battlemech is king of the battlefield because of it's versatility, otherwise Tanks > Battlemech, and without hands it's just a walking tank which is lame imho.

Same with weapon systems, the arm mounted weaponry without losing the hand is a good design to me. Not a lot of people will agree but hey, 'best' is never decided by popular opinion, it's decided by performance.

[Victor MacGregor]

Maybe you should knit a Valkyrie? Preferably a VLK-QD

And the more Robotech a mech looks, the more I like it. Wasp and Stinger are a comfortable choice...I do not know this "Atlas" of which you speak.

[Adrienne Vorton]

Legs: chickenlegs better for highspeed, they can gain more thrust (i think, see raptors and other reptile predators) humanoid legs are more stable i think...
arms...hm i think it depends on the weapon, humanoid arms are more agile, greater range of directions possible,(same for the slim flexible arms of timberwolfs...) but weapons with high recoil are better mounted like those of the Rifleman... at least that sounds logical to ME^^ i´m no engineer

Edited by Adrienne Vorton, 05 June 2012 - 09:15 AM.

[cipher]

Adrienne Vorton, on 05 June 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

humanoid legs are more stable i think...

I think humanoid legs would be less stable. With chicken or reverse chicken (demon) legs, there's less stress on the overall structure but more stress on the actuators (joints).

But it doesn't matter much either way since all mechs have gyros (stabilizers) to keep them upright regardless of leg design.

Win for using parentheses (brackets) in every paragraph!

Edited by cipher, 05 June 2012 - 12:26 PM.

[Solis Obscuri]

I like either humanoid of digitigrade legs. Digitigrade are great for speed, but in the end I voted humanoid for better stability. The 'mech is a weapon platform, after all, and that stability is a good thing.

For arms: I love the rifleman, but for utility I have to vote for hands. Useful for carrying things, physical combat, and getting up after a fall, all of which suffer penalties without. They do require more maintenance, however, and take up an extra crit, so I personally like the "one hand, one gun barrel" setup of 'mechs like the Centurion and Awesome as a compromise.

Omni pods are great, but if they are "like the Timberwolf", then they preclude a hand actuator (if they are "like the Executioner, Firemoth, or Uller" they wouldn't, of course ). I'm operating on that assumption and voting for "slung"... Besides, Omni technology, while wonderfully flexible, is very expensive to produce and maintain, which are significant drawbacks to large-scale deployment.