97 replies to this topic

[Bandilly]

The Japanese version of FASA's Earthdawn got hit with the same wtf stick.

[kuma8877]

For anyone interested, Heavy Gear launches on Dec. 15th on Steam EA.

[davoodoo]

El Bandito, on 06 December 2016 - 08:46 PM, said:

Original designs are too ugly and sluggish for modern Japanese tastes. Form > function.

It sounds so ridiculous when you consider that mechs themselves are form>function

[El Bandito]

davoodoo, on 07 December 2016 - 05:35 AM, said:

It sounds so ridiculous when you consider that mechs themselves are form>function

BT mechs are much more functional looking than that of Macross mechs.

[Snowbluff]

Kasumi Sumika, on 06 December 2016 - 11:55 PM, said:

I started watching Gundam Wing as a kid and that hooked me up with Mechas. I recommend watching Stardust Memories, 08th MS Team, and War in the Pocket. Build Fighter is alo good, but it have many fanservices and cliche shounen anime. Current Gundam series, Iron Blooded Orphans is good though you can watch freely here, Seasons two is currently on going.

Gundam Build Fighters is good. Gundam Build Fighters Tri will make you have a fit. GOd, that was such a ****** follow up...

CMDR Sunset Shimmer, on 07 December 2016 - 12:01 AM, said:

After that is Unicorn, then Gundam F91. Unicorn is a lot of fun, but I recommend the OVA for better animation, they're remaking it as a TV series, but I'd argue the OVA's better.

The TV version is available for free on gundaminfo's official youtube channel.

[jonfett]

Kasumi Sumika, on 06 December 2016 - 09:21 PM, said:

He's still working as Mech Designer at Macross Delta with Studio Nue.

Fun Fact : Aside a original designer of Macross Unseen, He's also design G1 Optimus Prime and other Transformers.

Also worth a long read about his interesting story on mech design.
http://www.forbes.co...-never-credits/

So, he created my beloved Warhammer / Excaliber mech and the G1 transformers? No wonder Jetfire was a VF1 Veritech.

[Valhallan]

RestosIII, on 06 December 2016 - 11:41 PM, said:

On the subject of mechas I have watched/read though, the more misery the main cast has, the better. In one of my favorites, literally the entire cast is dead by the end, and that's one of the ones with children pilots! (Not talking about Eva here. 12 dead kids in the one I'm talking about) Still, there's always the good fun time ones like Eureka Seven for when you want to turn your brain off for a day or two and don't care about realism.

Given the casualties and the children pilots, it's probably Bokurano. The manga/anime with op mechs that can survive nukes and are powered literally by the pilots.
"like Evangelion, but even more depressing, to the extent of making Evangelion look like Care Bears."
For fun good time nutty mecha action nothing beats gurenn lagann though

Edited by Valhallan, 07 December 2016 - 08:42 AM.

[RestosIII]

Valhallan, on 07 December 2016 - 08:29 AM, said:

Given the casualties and the children pilots, it's probably Bokurano. The manga/anime with op mechs that can survive nukes and are powered literally by the pilots. For fun good time nutty mecha action nothing beats gurenn lagann though

We have a winner! And I remembered less kids dying than there actually were. Didn't realize they made a show of it either, only read the manga.

[Maker L106]

Log on to see both Mechwarrior and Armored Core art in the same thread... Ah, so good. many mechs much nostalgia. (**** you giant ceiling spiders in the sewers and every train ever....)

[Brenden]

OP here.
Alright, so from what I've gathered;
1. Shoji is king of 'mech designs.
2. Since almost all the mech anime I see nowerdays is either Gundam or derived from Gundam, I will have to take a look at those suggested. I will admit though, Armored Trooper VOTOMS looks interesting.
3. I'm a moron because I think the Japanese designs were for the most part pretty silly.
4. FASA didn't design the mechs, Studio Nue did.
5. I think I just remembered one more mech game that puts Studio Nue and FASA on a pedestal for design, and I'm cringing that I still own the disk.

[Saint Scarlett Johan]

I Zeratul I, on 06 December 2016 - 09:51 PM, said:

I don't think there exist toys of any of the model designs OP posted.

Those designs could be an absolute nightmare to fabricate having so many compound curves.

If you look at modern mass vehicle designs they're normally optimized to have as few compound curves as possible to make them cheaper and easier to mass produce.

Those japanese mecha designs are the extreme opposite to that.

It's actually due to the way they're made, what they're made of, and why they're made that way.

Look at the Leo 2A6:



Those turret cheeks are doctrinal design to prevent APFSDS rounds from penetrating by simple causing them to ricochet and by increasing LOS thickness so HEAT rounds can't burn through the turret armor.

And using highly angular armor reduces the number of flat points for incoming rounds to hit to reduce the chances of penetrating. It's why the Russians designed the T-14 Armata the way they did and why the T90MS uses a welded turret construction over a cast construction.

Carl Vickers, on 06 December 2016 - 09:11 PM, said:

Lol, good point you made there, cause BT is soooo grounded in realism. GG

Well, I'd extrapolate why mechs would never happen from an engineering and combat standpoint, but the majority of mech fans are this kiddo:

Spoiler

Gaden Phoenix, on 06 December 2016 - 11:04 PM, said:

Sadly no idea why, mech shows degraded after that to now you have WTF, Gundam Seed and all it's descendants. Mechs have gone from war machines to flying music platforms and/or Super Man replacements. And Pilots have gone from soldiers to antsy young kids, that have abilities that would make Luke Skywalker jealous. Oh also, I guess they must have stopped wearing Red Shirts because NO ONE (main characters) near EVER DIES!

Because the target demographic (13-18yo kids) are angsty edgelords and they need the NewType stuff to handwave away that trained and experienced soldiers aren't going to be defeated by some whiny emo kid.

Edited by Saint Scarlett Johan, 07 December 2016 - 09:03 AM.

[Kasumi Sumika]

Brenden, on 07 December 2016 - 08:51 AM, said:

Shoji is king of 'mech designs.

Yes my brother, spread the word and praise our holy mech father, Shoji Kawamori.

[Lightfoot]

[Brenden]

Kasumi Sumika, on 07 December 2016 - 09:02 AM, said:

Yes my brother, spread the word and praise our holy mech father, Shoji Kawamori.

I think I'll try drawing a mech in that style.

[Valhallan]

Saint Scarlett Johan, on 07 December 2016 - 09:00 AM, said:

Well, I'd extrapolate why mechs would never happen from an engineering and combat standpoint, but the majority of mech fans are this kiddo:

Welp i blame mechwarrior for those crazy mech biases in this community that think tanks are useless vs mechs. In Battletech TT if you use the optional vehicle rules that basically "unnerf" them (they got some strange arbitrary nerfs), the mechs themselves suddenly aren't that "good". The perks to a mech will be melee combat, rough terrain mobility (jumpjets and walking profile) and the fact that you only need 1 person, which are still useful advantages but essentially relegating them to only flanking/skirmishing and guerrilla/irregular warfare, Gunline/Mainline units will predominantly be combat vehicles because their armor is so much thicker due to the reduced profile (they can pack double the armor of a mech per location and can allocate freely, yes you could stuff all your armor to the front and have like 780 in mwo terms for frontal armor on a 100 tonner just watch out u don't get rear/side sniped) and can pack more firepower because of the more compact structure (and they are still cheaper even with all this), its also nice that in a gunline the threat of getting melee'd is significantly reduced haha.

PS: if only those nutty clanners actually made that star league Tank JJ work better instead (good enough computer that it jumping will never damage the mobility systems) it would have been so op that mechs would probably be obsolete

[Mark Nicholson]

Yes, Shoji Kawamori is basically the king of good and popular mecha design.

I watched the first 3 episodes of Armored Trooper Votoms last month, and couldn't get into it, which made me sad.

I also did this a couple years ago (it's the panther);

[SmithMPBT]

El Bandito, on 06 December 2016 - 08:44 PM, said:

Japanese market has... different taste. I'm just surprised that those mechs cannot transform into ultra mode.

Ya, like how most of their mech pilots are 13 year old girls in mini skirts, different tastes...

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

Snowbluff, on 07 December 2016 - 06:29 AM, said:

Gundam Build Fighters is good. Gundam Build Fighters Tri will make you have a fit. GOd, that was such a ****** follow up...

The TV version is available for free on gundaminfo's official youtube channel.

Build Fighters is the best commercial for Gunpla ever.

[TheLuc]

Blasphemers, all of you... heretics you should burn to not have mentioned Hajime Katoki

[Saint Scarlett Johan]

Valhallan, on 07 December 2016 - 09:57 AM, said:

Welp i blame mechwarrior for those crazy mech biases in this community that think tanks are useless vs mechs. In Battletech TT if you use the optional vehicle rules that basically "unnerf" them (they got some strange arbitrary nerfs), the mechs themselves suddenly aren't that "good". The perks to a mech will be melee combat, rough terrain mobility (jumpjets and walking profile) and the fact that you only need 1 person, which are still useful advantages but essentially relegating them to only flanking/skirmishing and guerrilla/irregular warfare, Gunline/Mainline units will predominantly be combat vehicles because their armor is so much thicker due to the reduced profile (they can pack double the armor of a mech per location and can allocate freely, yes you could stuff all your armor to the front and have like 780 in mwo terms for frontal armor on a 100 tonner just watch out u don't get rear/side sniped) and can pack more firepower because of the more compact structure (and they are still cheaper even with all this), its also nice that in a gunline the threat of getting melee'd is significantly reduced haha.

PS: if only those nutty clanners actually made that star league Tank JJ work better instead (good enough computer that it jumping will never damage the mobility systems) it would have been so op that mechs would probably be obsolete

If I played TT for the rule of cool I used mechs. When I wanted to win I took no mechs. Infantry, aero, and conventional vics all day.

Also in the words of Scooter, "my deddy always said wheels are better'n heels."

And tracked vics ain't nothing more than a giant wheel.

Edited by Saint Scarlett Johan, 07 December 2016 - 12:31 PM.