45 replies to this topic

[Anjian]

Your 'realistic mechs' reminds me of the grunt hounds in Armored Core 4 and 4 Answer, like you see around 2:28 of this video.



Or around 1:09 in this video



I am in the habit of calling them hounds because they resemble some of the grunt hounds in Chromehounds, which are also from the same developers of Armored Core.





The Sniper hound in Chromehounds would reappear as in Armored Core V.



The use of four legs is to maximize stability and absorb recoil while firing.

[StompingOnTanks]

Anjian, on 27 November 2014 - 11:03 PM, said:

Your 'realistic mechs' reminds me of the grunt hounds in Armored Core 4 and 4 Answer, like you see around 2:28 of this video.



Or around 1:09 in this video



I am in the habit of calling them hounds because they resemble some of the grunt hounds in Chromehounds, which are also from the same developers of Armored Core.





The Sniper hound in Chromehounds would reappear as in Armored Core V.



The use of four legs is to maximize stability and absorb recoil while firing.

Being a total nerd when it comes to Armored Core lore, I can't resist the urge to correct you and say that those grunt hounds you were describing are actually MTs or Muscle Tracers.

They are the earliest form of mech to ever exist in the Armored Core universe before Armored Cores (or ACs) were developed. They were originally designed as contruction vehicles to aid in rebuilding after the world was destroyed by nuclear war, but the military took interest in their power and reliability and quickly developed them into weapons.

As time went by, they become faster, more powerful, and more humanoid, until somebody decided to make them modular and then the AC was born.

But ACs are rediculously expensive to manufacture and maintain and are harder to pilot than MTs, so MTs are still mass produced as standard issue combat units for national and corporate armies. In most games, MT pilots who prove themselves in battle are given rights to become mercenaries piloting ACs.

In AC4 and AC4A, "Normals" are actually high-end MTs, not Armored Cores themselves.

[StompingOnTanks]

AWOL 01, on 27 November 2014 - 07:41 PM, said:

When your mech spends as much time in the air as an F-16, you know you're doing something wrong (Even though it's totally awesome).

Could not agree more, the Playstation 1 and 2 AC games got it right. I have no idea why they changed it so much. Were they losing sales?

AWOL 01, on 27 November 2014 - 07:41 PM, said:

Also, I reeeeally hope the first time mechs are used isn't in 2150. I want to see mechs on the battlefield in my lifetime!

Well, we're kind of there. The technology will be around soon enough. But the problem isn't the technology, it's convincing the military that it's better than what they've currently got or at least useful enough to warrant spending lots of money on it for R & D. We're far more likely to see mechs in construction sites and mech-based sports first.

Edited by StompingOnTanks, 28 November 2014 - 11:38 AM.

[AWOL 01]

StompingOnTanks, on 28 November 2014 - 11:38 AM, said:

Well, we're kind of there. The technology will be around soon enough. But the problem isn't the technology, it's convincing the military that it's better than what they've currently got or at least useful enough to warrant spending lots of money on it for R & D. We're far more likely to see mechs in construction sites and mech-based sports first.

It seems as though that's already started



Even though it's not armed, mechs have to start somewhere. This machine supports a group of troops and could be a valuable part of the squad in the future.

Also, I would just like to say, it would be so much cooler to have mech football. It's not like NFL teams have a shortage of money.

Edited by AWOL 01, 28 November 2014 - 03:21 PM.

[StompingOnTanks]

I'd prefer something like IGPX, with high-speed mech racing and combat as an international sport.

[AWOL 01]

I watched a couple videos and that could actually be pretty cool. Expensive, but cool. Also, it seems as though the Japanese are ahead of us once again with a construction robot called the T-52 Enryu.



It would be pretty useful for there to be a few smaller versions of these on construction sites, or even have every worker have one of these as a sort of exoskeleton once they're cheap enough.

There's also this:



It's called the Timberjack and is used in Finland by a subsidiary of John Deere.