202 replies to this topic

[Zaius Ex]

=Outlaw=, on 31 January 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

I'm not a "big fan" of the windmill redesign. May I suggest to change it so it looks more like the original windmill design.

I dunno, the redesign of it "blows" me away and that's not just a bunch of "hot air". I'd love to take it for "spin" sometime. I bet you could "breeze" through the competition in it.

Ok I'll stop now. My roomie is already threatening to stab me in my sleep. XD

[EDMW CSN]

osito, on 31 January 2012 - 09:45 PM, said:

If you dont want hands on most mechs you will have to not play for a year longer and wait for the clans to show up. If i remember correctly a high percentage of their mechs are handless.

Great Papa Bear Kodiak disagrees.
Not only does he have hands, he has wolverine claws and fur !!

Edited by [EDMW]CSN, 31 January 2012 - 10:11 PM.

[Souske Sagara]

Am I the only one who notices the situational irony of these players complaining about fists all (or most) having the big blue steiner fist as their logo? Isn't punching out cockpits and holding your bloody, oily fist in the sky a thing for them anyhoo? Its like us DC complaing about all the lizard themes in mechs.

[Burned_Follower]

Paul Inouye, on 31 January 2012 - 07:27 PM, said:

"LOSE THE FISTS!!!"

No... and in fact.. just for that...

Spoiler

All BattleMechs will now have capes and laser swords. Way to go.. and it's allllll your fault!

[Burned_Follower]

You guys are so backwards with the transformers issue. I grew up watching the orignal transformers cartoon. If you look at the majority of the BT mech art on the back of the BT novels, they almost always look like transformers ripoffs. And every one of the hands always looks like something out of a transformers cartoon episode. Because of that i always considered the original BT art borderline embarrasing and i'm a hard core BT fan.

The new look the art team is giving these mechs is awesome. You guys took the centurion for example, which origionally looked half way like a transformers cartoon and you made it look dangerious! The hand you gave it looks more Terminator-ish than anything. That hand looks like it can claw a pilot out of his cockpit! Am i the only one on this site that thinks the hand on the centurion looks cool?

Edited by XxDRxDEATHxX, 31 January 2012 - 11:06 PM.

[Shalmyan Moonsong]

Go away troll, mech with hands are part of the world.










nuff said.

[Naga]

Fists (hands) are quite useful. What use is tens of tons that can only destroy? I can just imagine this conversation between an Urban Renewal Planner called Marge, and the successful campaign Battle Mech General call Robert:

Urban Renewal Planner: "So the war is over and we need to start rebuilding."
Battle Mech General: "Of course! We had a great campaign and crushed the enemy."
URP: "As part of that, we need to move hundreds of tons of rubble, scrap metal and more."
BMG: "Yes. Pity about that monument to peace. That'll take weeks to clear up."
URP: "And after the cleaning, we need to erect scaffolding, raise buildings and much reconstruction."
BMG: "Yes. A monument to winning the battle is earned for all soldiers that lost their lives."
URP: "So I was thinking. We can use these Mech's to help with that."
BMG: "..."
URP: "They can clear rubble, help erect building frames, move building materials off the trucks and more."
BMG: "..."
URP: "Can't they?"
BMG: "Well, no."
URP: "What do you mean no?"
BMG: "Look Ma, No hands..."

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Shalmyan Moonsong, on 31 January 2012 - 11:14 PM, said:

nuff said.

Ooooo! Is that a geniune leather grip handle on that 100 foot sword?!

nuff said.

Edited by mwhighlander, 01 February 2012 - 12:16 AM.

[HanaYuriko]

If I may...

[Naduk]

had to

[Alex Wolfe]

^ Oh hi Voltron, fancy seeing you here .

I don't really hate hands with mechs (from all the human-like features, they at least seem somewhat useful), but... there's nothing fundamentally wrong with this design, besides "amg y u no have fists" no?



I loved this little guy on Solaris medium circuit. "Smile for the camera, b****! *LBX'd*"

Edited by Alex Wolfe, 01 February 2012 - 04:49 AM.

[BlueDog]

No problem with hands here, especially if they have function and add to the game. I remember when I was a kid, I had a plastic model kit of a Battlemaster, and that thing had hands that carried a big gun.

The previous MW titles didn't use 'mech hands because they had no function in the game. The MW4 Atlas just has boxes on the end of its arms with lines drawn on them to vaguely represent closed fists.

[100mile]

tynaiden, on 31 January 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

There are a great many factions in the Battletech -universe-. Just as there are factions of player preferences, there were varied 'mech styles based on each factions' historical influences, doctrines, and purposes. Also want to declare here that while I say "hands", it is not to solely talk about designs like our own flesh hands. Any number of devices were used from strictly symmetrical graspers to claws and opposable thumb hands throughout the Battletech timeline.

Battletech started as a deep table-top game with a great many ways to play beyond just pew pew walking tank shooter. Extended campaigns were one of the things that was fleshed out quite a bit as it had a following and 'mech with hands added great utility. They were in a fair number of designs for a fair number of reasons. Melee does happen. Even in our real world current era with all our sophisticated long range weaponry, personnel carry knives and learn hand to hand fighting techniques. Beyond melee implications (there were hand held weapons and even built in melee weapons in some designs), there are utility and military applications for hands on 'mechs [notice apostrophe, it is what makes them Battlemechs and not mecha].

With the table top game, 'mechs with hands had better mobility as they could climb up to different elevations or even up buildings along with get up from being prone much easier. They could also make crude structures for hiding themselves (been years since i've read advanced rules but IIRC there was also traps), use limbs from fallen 'mechs to assault others or for salvage, heck; even just pushing an opponent over without damaging their own systems.

There are even rules in the TT game that gave benefits and cons to all three styles of arms: hand articulated, half-weapon [no hands, weapon lower arm but also still an upper arm], and weapon-arms where all weapons and armor are directly mounted onto the shoulder joint (this one had rules to swivel arms up all the way to point backwards and fire)

Yes, people talk about Atlases picking up light 'mechs because it was doable within the table-top rules. Guess what else -- it was a viable tactic albeit rather situational. Clearing Elementals was a big concern for awhile because you cannot always get them at range. Considering how obvious the devs are wanting electronic warfare in this game, ambush tactics -will- be used and they could very well be at or very near melee range.

Hands could even go so far as to add other game types which require carrying an objective to another point.

In closing:
Push come to shove; this is not your game, it is all of ours -and- the devs. You may like the brute look of weapon arms, others may not. I personally like the look half weapon arms like the old Panther, Dragon, and Zues but have also had hands help turn the tide of a TT battle.

ps. If you think Battletech / Mechwarrior is just about shooting stuff and big explosions so therefore no need for hands or shielding armor, you may be looking forward to the wrong game. There's at least a couple hundred other shooters out there that may satisfy you more. You are still entitled to your own opinion just as I am offering mine here.

outstanding!!!

[Alex Wolfe]

BlueDog, on 01 February 2012 - 04:50 AM, said:

No problem with hands here, especially if they have function and add to the game. I remember when I was a kid, I had a plastic model kit of a Battlemaster, and that thing had hands that carried a big gun.

That must be the single silliest and most glaringly out of place unseen design... "Most mechs have fists or guns. This one has hands that hold a gun! Infinite redundancy for double the price!".

It even has a clip. Grossness.

Edited by Alex Wolfe, 01 February 2012 - 05:06 AM.

[Deltex]

Alex Wolfe, on 01 February 2012 - 04:44 AM, said:

^ Oh hi Voltron, fancy seeing you here .

I don't really hate hands with mechs (from all the human-like features, they at least seem somewhat useful), but... there's nothing fundamentally wrong with this design, besides "amg y u no have fists" no?



I loved this little guy on Solaris medium circuit. "Smile for the camera, b****! *LBX'd*"

Also like that ice dispenser feature in the middle of its chest, very handy

[Chuckie]

SHORT List of Mechs with hand(s) :

Atlas
Axman
Black Knight
Black Watch
Centurian
Hunchback
No-Dachi

Not to mention there is a whole category of mechs known for Melee (most have at least one hand)
http://www.sarna.net...lee_BattleMechs

Funniest Mech name.. HammerHands ( Which BTW has NO hands Irony can be quite Ironic at times )

(BTW Without hands much harder to salvage mechs pieces off battlefield)

[BlueDog]

Alex Wolfe, on 01 February 2012 - 05:05 AM, said:

That must be the single silliest and most glaringly out of place unseen design... "Most mechs have fists or guns. This one has hands that hold a gun! Infinite redundancy for double the price!".

It even has a clip. Grossness.

Agreed that the design didn't make sense, just stating that it existed.

[Alex Wolfe]

BlueDog, on 01 February 2012 - 05:11 AM, said:

Agreed that the design didn't make sense, just stating that it existed.

Yeah, I know, but...

It was said (in different words) that the point of those new redesigns was partly to weed out some of the 80's-fueled nonsense. Using one of the most flawed designs (one lifted directly from a different franchise to boot) as a precedent isn't exactly helping, because someone could take it seriously...

"I want my mech to have mammaries, child-bearing hips and bat wings. Erinyes have them". Ughhhh.

Edited by Alex Wolfe, 01 February 2012 - 05:27 AM.

[Dihm]

Without hands you can't pick up the severed limb of your opponent and club them in the face with it. That would make life an infinately more depressing experience.

Hands/manipulators are incredibly useful. Don't get hung up on the fact that they haven't been functional in 20th/21st century video games. They're highly functional in the canon of Battletech.

[Fiachdubh]

I'm all for the capes part, I think we should bring them back in real life too.