26 replies to this topic

[infinite xaer0]

been working on the Zeus the last week or so.. It's still a WIP, but this is what I got thus far:



some of the design was traced from an existing Zeus pic, but I tweaked all the proportions and redrew most of the sections to my own liking. Next up I'm gonna detail the crap outta it

let me know what you guys think

[Kenyon Burguess]

not a bad start, cant wait to see the end product. dont forget the lyran scout markings.

[Nexus Trimean]

The barrel on the left arm is way too round for my taste, should be a flat end.

[LaorDeLove]

With this as the standard... I say you did an excellent job. I wouldn't want to try and draw it. It would end up like a giant stick person with cylinders for hands. Good job.

[Adridos]

I honestly think it lacks something and that there is a LOT to improve, but I'm unable to understand what, so I hope the final product will get better in that regard.

Amazing job otherwise.

[AlanEsh]

Recess the cockpit a bit, and make most of it armor -- looks like a big metal framed set of windows i.e. deathtrap

Keep up the good work!

[SGT Unther]

Good work, I can't draw that well. As long as you keep the same elements as the orginal design, I think it will turn out really well.

[Pvt Dancer]

I actually like the idea they came up with for how the LRM launcher is fitted into the arm... one of the few mechs to really address that fluff aspect of 'If it punches with that arm, wouldn't it blow up the next time it fired?'. I wish the artist thought of that more... kinda like how alot of the weapons end up looking like guns that can be slung or dropped.

[Kifferson von doober]

Cool, nice work infinite. Cockpit is starting to remind me of a wolverine!

[Fetladral]

Wait I always thought that the right arm was the arm for ppc/laser whatever direct fire weapon was mounted there and the left was the missle arm. Or am I wrong? Course it could change dependent on chassis. Like if a zeus had two ppcs 1 in each arm and missles somewhere in torso.

[Reno Blade]

There shouls be a AC5 in one and LRM15 in the other arm and the Large Laser in the torso (if its not switched with the AC) if i remember right

Sarna:

Description

The Zeus was first built by the Lyran Commonwealth in 2787, as the First Succession War began.^[2] Through the course of the Succession Wars, the Zeus had a long and storied history within the Commonwealth, becoming a well-respected assault BattleMech. In its original production form, the Zeus was designed to keep an enemy at arm's reach, although it could engage opponents at closer ranges if necessary. The Zeus has also seen newer upgrades using recovered and experimental technologies. Since it was the Lyran Commonwealth's pride and joy, it was usually one of the first 'Mechs to receive upgraded equipment.
Armament

The prototype Zeus carried a PPC, but the most common, best-known variant of the Zeus, the ZEU-6S, mounted as its primary weapon a Defiance Type J Autocannon/5, backed up by a Coventry Star Fire LRM-15 for engaging enemies at long ranges. It also had a Thunderbolt A5M Large Laser to engage enemies at intermediate ranges and two Defiance B3M Medium Lasers for close-in work. This made the Zeus a 'Mech that was deadly at any range

[Kartr]

Looks good, but IMO the cockpit is way to large for such a big 'Mech. It makes it look like its about 3 maybe 4 meters tall, not the closer to 15 meters it should be. Other than that it looks pretty dang good.

[Alexander Fury]

Really great start. My only suggestions would be a rethink on the right arm LRM pod. It was rounded and had the metal boss in the middle in order to allow the arm to be used in physical combat, so maybe a redesign of the pod more along traditional lines, the box launcher looks a bit like something they would have done in MW2 cuz curves were hard back then. Also I would suggest a rethink of the cockpit. Might I suggest you have a look at the way the Zeus was done in MW4 for a bit of reference. I know its hard to get the sloped front of the mech and how the canopy slopes back. Other than that dude the layout is excellent and the proportions are all in sync. I agree with Kartr that the cockpit should be smaller to give the illusion of size.

Can`t wait to see more of this. Keep posting!

[Stone Profit]

Good work, man! wish I had skills like you!

[BerryChunks]

Reno Blade, on 12 April 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:

There shouls be a AC5 in one and LRM15 in the other arm and the Large Laser in the torso (if its not switched with the AC) if i remember right

Sarna:

Description

The Zeus was first built by the Lyran Commonwealth in 2787, as the First Succession War began.^[2] Through the course of the Succession Wars, the Zeus had a long and storied history within the Commonwealth, becoming a well-respected assault BattleMech. In its original production form, the Zeus was designed to keep an enemy at arm's reach, although it could engage opponents at closer ranges if necessary. The Zeus has also seen newer upgrades using recovered and experimental technologies. Since it was the Lyran Commonwealth's pride and joy, it was usually one of the first 'Mechs to receive upgraded equipment.
Armament

The prototype Zeus carried a PPC, but the most common, best-known variant of the Zeus, the ZEU-6S, mounted as its primary weapon a Defiance Type J Autocannon/5, backed up by a Coventry Star Fire LRM-15 for engaging enemies at long ranges. It also had a Thunderbolt A5M Large Laser to engage enemies at intermediate ranges and two Defiance B3M Medium Lasers for close-in work. This made the Zeus a 'Mech that was deadly at any range

it's like a lighter version of the 7DS-k or whatever Atlas, which carries LRM 20, ac/20, 4 medium lasers, and 2 ER large I think?

For the OP, the torso and shoulders need more articulation. We've moved from an era of simplistic design in our sci-fi (2001, space odyssey, et all) to very complex designs (skyline, terminator 4, district 9), and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's better than amorphous blobs that blend together.

Edited by BerryChunks, 12 April 2012 - 04:09 PM.

[Monky]

Some suggestions;

Make the cockpit much smaller, but keep the proportions, make sure all weapons are covered in armor of some kind and in the right location on the mech, add details like ladders/additional armor plates. Overall a pretty solid and faithful interpretation of the Zeus, with few of the odd 80's era quirks. The LRM might need a little work as well, it looks a little too cramped for the space it's put into - maybe rotate the 4 missile ports on the corners of your 5x3 spread into the left and right sides and round it out a little more.

[infinite xaer0]

thanks for the feedback you guys. I'm still planning on putting a lot of work into this sucker, so details and tweaks to the geometry are forthcoming. as for concerns over the weapon placement; I'm working with the ZEU-6S variant, so I'm pretty sure everything is in the right place, except for the rear mounted med laser. incidentally, how LRM ammo is supposed to be loaded from the right torso into an under-slung right arm is completely beyond me.. anyway, i'm also not one to stay 100% faithful to btech, so i'll see what i'm going to do about the LRM arm.

[Karl Streiger]

Good work
but i think the arms look a littlebit to fragile..the Zeus had a perk that give him some bonus for physical combat.

infinite xÆr0, on 12 April 2012 - 05:33 PM, said:

incidentally, how LRM ammo is supposed to be loaded from the right torso into an under-slung right arm is completely beyond me.. anyway,

Good question...

[Alexander Fury]

This has been one of the concepts of btech that has baffled folks for years. How does ammo like missiles and autocannon rounds move around from torso to torso and down the arms. Some have theorized that some mechs which have AC's in their arms must straigten their arms out and lock the joints in place while the ammo moves down feeders to the autocanon. Other claim that the whole concept is ludicrous because a ton of 120mm shells is simply to large to fit inside the mech while leaving room for things like an Engine and Gyro.

The best explanation I have found is that all this is done by Magic....Black magic to be precise.

Edited by Alexander Fury, 12 April 2012 - 10:24 PM.

[infinite xaer0]

Alexander Fury, on 12 April 2012 - 10:24 PM, said:

This has been one of the concepts of btech that has baffled folks for years. How does ammo like missiles and autocannon rounds move around from torso to torso and down the arms. Some have theorized that some mechs which have AC's in their arms must straigten their arms out and lock the joints in place while the ammo moves down feeders to the autocanon. Other claim that the whole concept is ludicrous because a ton of 120mm shells is simply to large to fit inside the mech while leaving room for things like an Engine and Gyro.

The best explanation I have found is that all this is done by Magic....Black magic to be precise.

well, not to OT my own thread, but.. btech's numbers don't make a lick of sense, and allocating ammo per mass is completely nonsensical; it should be per available volume. the way things stand, it's ridiculous to get 120 rounds of LRM ammo per ton, when you couldn't physically fit more than one, MAYBE two launcher sized reloads inside a mech.. unless of course we're supposed to believe that LRMs are comically tiny missiles... That, and all the bore sizes on AC's have been depicted incorrectly in all the art that I've seen (except for maybe the MWO hunchback). In fact, the disparity is so large, that when you do size the barrels correctly, the guns look way too small in proportion to the rest of the mech. That's why the AC5 in my Zeus has such a small barrel opening, b/c technically most of the arm is armor, and the gun itself (barrel and all), which is MUCH smaller in diameter, is just contained inside.

just some food for thought, but this is a pic of a dragon model that I was working on a few months back, with "realistically proportioned" weapons. I hid the the barrel armoring to give you a shot of what the actual gun would look like next to the rest of the mech: