35 replies to this topic

[Aegis Kleais]

Captain Hat, on 05 February 2012 - 04:36 PM, said:

Actually, I think you'll find that given the number of Victors I can afford to throw at you for each Mad Cat ( ) you put in the field, we more than outmatch you .

Plus, after, you know, completely destroying one of your strongest Clans, we do have a fair chunk of your stuff stashed away just now, and we're itching to see what it handles like when there's a real MechWarrior at the helm instead of one of your defective test-tube experiments .

You let us know how the invasion goes second time around.

Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of ANOTHER Victor falling to a salvo from my wolf.

Maybe you guys are so adamant about calling them cats because you're trying so hard to get a scratch on them, and because you can't, it's driving you mad.

[Halfinax]

Just remember the Unseen designs are gone forever, but they've been replaced by the Reseen design. It's the artwork that's deep sixed not the chassis, so there is absolutely no reason that PGI or any MechWarrior game cannot use those chassis. That said I vote Marauder all the way, and look forward to FD's Marauder.

[Aaron DeChavilier]

KGC-001 King Crab

[Jehan]

AFAIK, there are 4 main types of legs in Battletech:

Humanoid (Atlas, Hunchback): Better stability?... Easier piloting?
Chicken legs (Catapult, Locust, Raven): Better speed?
Hybrid (Tanathos, Nova Cat): Best of both worlds? Middle-point between the 2 above?
Arachnid (Scorpion): Superior balance?, superior maneuverability?

[Strum Wealh]

Jehan, on 08 February 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

AFAIK, there are 4 main types of legs in Battletech:

Humanoid (Atlas, Hunchback): Better stability?... Easier piloting?
Chicken legs (Catapult, Locust, Raven): Better speed?
Hybrid (Tanathos, Nova Cat): Best of both worlds? Middle-point between the 2 above?
Arachnid (Scorpion): Superior balance?, superior maneuverability?

Humanoid 'Mechs (Atlas, Centurion, Dragon, Hunchback, Jenner) are "plantigrade" - the whole of the foot is normally on the ground and used to support weight during standing and locomotion.

Quote

The primary advantages of a plantigrade foot are stability and weight-bearing ability; plantigrade feet have the largest surface area. The primary disadvantage of a plantigrade foot is speed. With more bones and joints in the foot, the leg is both shorter and heavier at the far end, which makes it difficult to move rapidly.

"Double-knee" 'Mechs (Hollander, Nova Cat, Thanatos) are "digitigrade" - they stand and walk on their toes and the balls of their feet (the lower/second "knee" is actually the ankle) rather than walking on the whole of the foot like the plantigrades.

Quote

Digitigrades are generally quicker and move more quietly than other mammals.

Reverse-joint 'Mechs (Catapult, Marauder, Timber Wolf) are something of a hybrid of plantigrade and digitigrade - they are technically plantigrades, but attempt to mimic the quickness advantage of true digitigrades by their design.
As actual chickens (and most if not all walking birds) are in fact true digitigrades, referring to such mecha as "chicken-walkers" or "bird-walkers" is a bit of a misnomer.

Finally, tripodal 'Mechs (Ares, Hedgehog) and quadrupedal 'Mechs (Balius, Goliath, Scorpion) tend to have well-defined feet upon which they stand and walk, and so are not ungulates (stand and walk on the ends of their toes; hoofed animals fall into this category) nor are they digitigrades - these, too, would technically be plantigrades.
With a greater number of contact points and (typically) lower profiles, the combination of a wider base and lower CG makes them more stable on uneven terrain than bipeds.

Your thoughts?

[Conjure]

Mogoose

[Felicitatem Parco]

Mongoose = digitigrade

Digitigrade Mechs are always sprinting, if you think about it. They are standing like a sprinter... at all times. A runner or a walker pushes their entire foot flat on the ground over the course of their steps; a sprinter's foot only touches the ground from the tip of their big toe to the ball of their foot.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 10 February 2012 - 10:16 PM.

[CCC Dober]

VB, I think you could just swap the title for NEEDS MOAR CLAN MECHS KTHXBYE
They got more than enough of them and personally speaking, I can't wait to see the Great Death stare down an Atlas in this game.
Blood Asp, Masakari, Mad Cat, Nova Cat, Vulture, Ryoken, Hellhound (MW4 version), Shadow Cat, Puma, Uller and many more on the list waiting to happen.

[Archtus]

One issue with lowering the 'knee' in some of the reverse jointed mechs(My beloved RVN-1X among them), is the loss of stability and increase in stress on the materials. I higher location is almost necessary for reverse joint mechs, both for stability, and endurance.

(I know, I know, Get my real world physics out of your sci fi sim. It's mine too!)

[Thorn Hallis]

CCC_Dober, on 10 April 2012 - 06:43 AM, said:

I can't wait to see the Great Death stare down an Atlas in this game.

The Great Death would have to jump to do that.

[Aegis Kleais]

Mchawkeye, on 04 February 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

you could have fixed the spelling in his title too, there, boss...

Exactly. I can't now, nor ever, take a person serious who can't spell 'more' correctly. Not to mention the other rampant spelling atrocity.

[Kiyoshi Amaya]

Aegis Kleais™, on 10 April 2012 - 08:11 AM, said:

Exactly. I can't now, nor ever, take a person serious who can't spell 'more' correctly. Not to mention the other rampant spelling atrocity.

Spelling atrocities? Wear?

[Aegis Kleais]

Shrekken, on 10 April 2012 - 08:30 AM, said:

Spelling atrocities? Wear?

And yet, despite the obvious sarcasm, I honest to God think that you don't know you misspelled the word.

[Helmer]

Poor verybad. And after everything he's done for Battletech too.

[CCC Dober]

Thorn Hallis, on 10 April 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

The Great Death would have to jump to do that.

No, the Atlas would just bow down. Either in terror or supplication.

[warner2]

I quite like the Champion. NBT-HC had a good one. Based on the interesting discussion of the different types of leg in mechs in this thread I suppose it's humanoid, but the overall shape of it would lend itself to being a fine looking reverse joint or chicken leg mech.

I'd love to see a Marauder though, obviously.