-
If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
-
Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
OOC [OoC] Miharu Discussion thread
- Thread starter Wes
- Start date
Fred
Retired Staff
I - Fred - wouldn't have had much to go on with Rin, seeing how she is very young. I'm not sure. Play on her disdain of non-officers? Have her enjoy a fantasy of living with Tom and knowing something else than war? Reliving some parts of the Bowhordia mission?
I seem to have done a much better job with Asher, Tom, Nyton and Yukari - whom all had meatier backgrounds to play with - than the rest of the other characters.
I balanced that two ways: those whom enjoyed more background material were usually better fleshed out characters whom had enjoyed more spotlight. Those whom were not would awaken first to confront Melisson, thus end up doing the epic fighting-to-the-death which in turn placed them in the spotlight with the other 'veterans' sitting a good part of it out.
Seemed like a good way to be fair for everyone. At least, those whom weren't chainsawed in half.
I seem to have done a much better job with Asher, Tom, Nyton and Yukari - whom all had meatier backgrounds to play with - than the rest of the other characters.
I balanced that two ways: those whom enjoyed more background material were usually better fleshed out characters whom had enjoyed more spotlight. Those whom were not would awaken first to confront Melisson, thus end up doing the epic fighting-to-the-death which in turn placed them in the spotlight with the other 'veterans' sitting a good part of it out.
Seemed like a good way to be fair for everyone. At least, those whom weren't chainsawed in half.
Fred
Retired Staff
Guys, guys - when we started the Shlarvasseroth armor romp, I mentioned that I would give a 2 days grace period minimum - when the plot's pacing would be considered 'active'. Geez, I want to post and move things on too.
There's also the fact that Aendri mentioned before that he had trouble seeing new posts, so he had to be prodded for replies. I remember poking him the evening I made my last in-character post, but he might have forgotten / been preoccupied by other things and since have forgotten about it.
Tomorrow, the grace period is elapsed and seeing how I have players practically breathing down my neck and slavering for follow-up postage, I'll have no choice but to move on. But I'm going to grant Aendri the time I promised I'd allot .
There's also the fact that Aendri mentioned before that he had trouble seeing new posts, so he had to be prodded for replies. I remember poking him the evening I made my last in-character post, but he might have forgotten / been preoccupied by other things and since have forgotten about it.
Tomorrow, the grace period is elapsed and seeing how I have players practically breathing down my neck and slavering for follow-up postage, I'll have no choice but to move on. But I'm going to grant Aendri the time I promised I'd allot .
Aw, don't worry Fred; we're just chomping at the bit.
I don't know why we have no new Kyou post yet ... I've seen Aendri on IRC. *shrugs*
I don't know why we have no new Kyou post yet ... I've seen Aendri on IRC. *shrugs*
Fred
Retired Staff
I've been thinking on the helmet issue.
For Yamatai, we're used to the "biker's helmet' style, but as pointed out before, it leaves the necks fairly frail. Even if you protect it with an armored collar, any good power armor-level strength physical hit to the head would more often than not be good justification to break a human's neck.
It made me think about the issue, and I realized that present day astronauts do not work with helmets like that. When they go out in space, their heads are within a bubble-like transparent canopy.
At first, I figured that this sort of thing would be bad for our power armors due to not being able to turn the head around, look above and such... but then I realized that current technology allows for the armor's HUD to provide all-around 360 vision. The user could just glance up by looking up the armored canopy covering his head. It'd give ample room to justify sensors and life support components too.
That 'practical' points however makes departure from the humanoid Samus Aran/Bubblegum Crisis hard suit-style and goes further toward the Meltrandi power armor from Macross or mechas more like this and this in Bubblegum Crisis 2040. It's certainly going to depart humanoid form more.
It's more a styling decision than anything else. Staying with the Motorbike-style helmet would still, as long as it's the desired look for people wanting to wear Yamataian power armor. What do you guys think?
For Yamatai, we're used to the "biker's helmet' style, but as pointed out before, it leaves the necks fairly frail. Even if you protect it with an armored collar, any good power armor-level strength physical hit to the head would more often than not be good justification to break a human's neck.
It made me think about the issue, and I realized that present day astronauts do not work with helmets like that. When they go out in space, their heads are within a bubble-like transparent canopy.
At first, I figured that this sort of thing would be bad for our power armors due to not being able to turn the head around, look above and such... but then I realized that current technology allows for the armor's HUD to provide all-around 360 vision. The user could just glance up by looking up the armored canopy covering his head. It'd give ample room to justify sensors and life support components too.
That 'practical' points however makes departure from the humanoid Samus Aran/Bubblegum Crisis hard suit-style and goes further toward the Meltrandi power armor from Macross or mechas more like this and this in Bubblegum Crisis 2040. It's certainly going to depart humanoid form more.
It's more a styling decision than anything else. Staying with the Motorbike-style helmet would still, as long as it's the desired look for people wanting to wear Yamataian power armor. What do you guys think?
I definitely prefer the motorbike helmet-style. However, with the usual Samas Aran power suit style, there's at least reduced space between helmet and neck. Maybe that's a superior way to go? Or even make it like a Zaku MS, where the head can turn side-to-side (thus hiding the neck), but not up-and-down?
Nyton
Inactive Member
Hmmm, you make a very good point. The neck issue was something you brought up before. There really isn't any reason why they 'need' to look at each other. The 360 HUD on these suits is really good at keeping the pilot aware of what is going on around him. The examples in those pictures made some good design points I think. I don't see why future Armor designs don't incorporate the solid head.
I think what happened was that Power Armors inadvertently became human sized space ships without updating the design to be more sense for the fragile human pilot. So the 'helmet' design, while still very cool, just is not feasible with the speeds and impact being effectively used even in PA combat.
The thing about any Gundam designs that look around is that the pilot's head is not necessarily in the head. He's in a cockpit which has air bags and seat straps. If the helmet style is kept and you reduce the neck's ability to swivel then it really isn't much use to keep any neck mobility.
I think what happened was that Power Armors inadvertently became human sized space ships without updating the design to be more sense for the fragile human pilot. So the 'helmet' design, while still very cool, just is not feasible with the speeds and impact being effectively used even in PA combat.
The thing about any Gundam designs that look around is that the pilot's head is not necessarily in the head. He's in a cockpit which has air bags and seat straps. If the helmet style is kept and you reduce the neck's ability to swivel then it really isn't much use to keep any neck mobility.
Fred
Retired Staff
If we take a look at Samus Aran's suit, we can see how they treated the neck.
For the original power suit the neck portion of the user is actually pretty secure. The helmet is still face level, but the whole workings of the neck pivot goes within the armor itself.
The Fusion suit has another take on that as well. There's some movement room for the neck, but the head is pretty firmly supported in a cowl-like armor fashion. Also, rather than removing the helmet, the whole head-neck-shoulder assembly seems to be removable.
The latter part made me think: presently, power armors have removable helmets. They're not integrated by default with the rest of the power armor. If you remove the helmet, you have to hold it, keep it around if you want to put it back on and use the power armor in certain environments. It makes me think about the boarding sequence of the unit, and how the armor closing up could also include the helmet settling over the user's head.
Thoughts?
For the original power suit the neck portion of the user is actually pretty secure. The helmet is still face level, but the whole workings of the neck pivot goes within the armor itself.
The Fusion suit has another take on that as well. There's some movement room for the neck, but the head is pretty firmly supported in a cowl-like armor fashion. Also, rather than removing the helmet, the whole head-neck-shoulder assembly seems to be removable.
The latter part made me think: presently, power armors have removable helmets. They're not integrated by default with the rest of the power armor. If you remove the helmet, you have to hold it, keep it around if you want to put it back on and use the power armor in certain environments. It makes me think about the boarding sequence of the unit, and how the armor closing up could also include the helmet settling over the user's head.
Thoughts?
Kind of like an integrated helmet? That sounds like a good idea. Provides more security for it, no doubt about that. Could look pretty cool, too; it would make the boarding sequence possibly still like that of BGC, but with a helmet coming up and over the head.
Nyton
Inactive Member
Okay that fusion helmet concept looks like it applies to the matter of neck support well. I hadn't seen that before. I dunno, I would accept that as a means of allowing the helmet to swivel about while preventing the pilot from being injured. So long as the hoses don't break or anything but if that happens I'd say there's more serious problems at hand. The original power suit is also a nice take. I hadn't thought of the helmet attached to the suit and not resting solely on the pilot.
I can see adapting either a solid head or something like this.
I can see adapting either a solid head or something like this.
Yeah, 'cause we'd all be dead!
Fred
Retired Staff
It occurs to me that Samus does have one advantage in regards to her suit: she doesn't need to figure out how to put it on: her power suit tends to appear/vanish at her whim around her body, ending up stored who-knows-where. That's even more overpowered than the nanite-construction of the NDI's Phalanx.
Anyhow, I'll ponder on that.
Next, I'd like to weight in on mobility -
Considering what happened in my plot, I'm kind of the opinion that power armors in SARP are presently too mobile in comparison to the speeds usually required to them; especially if they don't end up being used as make-believe humanoid fightercraft.
I'm thinking of the Kishi as default, the Kishi with the propulsion enhancing back module and the Kishi with the Yamataian teleportation module.
Unaugmented, what kind of running speed are we looking at? Fast bicycles can go at up to 20m/secs in a short 'sprint' race (that's roughly 72 kph). That's crazy fast, especially when going at that speed inside the close confines of a ship and such... so, the standard 100kph hovering movement kind of feels more than significant enough for most in-ship/indoor/close-vicinity-of-ship/urban combat circumstances (when Doshii had Yukari order the Black Knights to advance at maximum speed to reach Melisson faster, I'm not sure he realized just how fast 100kph is within closed environments).
I figure all that'd be needed to achieve that would be maneuvering verniers at spots like the lower back, the shoulders and around the hip/upper leg connection.
I'm figuring that the propulsion pack would need - at the least - enough power to offer escape velocity from a gravity well since the go-between of dogfighting in an atmosphere is really more for fightercraft than power armor. I'm unsure even then of if it should offer anykind of fraction of the speed of light, as I'm reluctant to steal shuttles the possible role of troop transport.
The main goal would be to offer more independence and 'range' within areas around planetary orbits and similar closer confines in space (asteroid belts, etc...) rather than being purely terrestrial. On the other hand, I wonder if it's really worth having considering possible access to a teleport module.
The teleport module speaks for itself. Nothing too different from the Mindy's, though I'd expect reasonable advance in the tech to allow the chance to aid/rescue a fellow power armor without having to contemplate loss of limbs.
Anyhow, I'll ponder on that.
Next, I'd like to weight in on mobility -
Considering what happened in my plot, I'm kind of the opinion that power armors in SARP are presently too mobile in comparison to the speeds usually required to them; especially if they don't end up being used as make-believe humanoid fightercraft.
I'm thinking of the Kishi as default, the Kishi with the propulsion enhancing back module and the Kishi with the Yamataian teleportation module.
Unaugmented, what kind of running speed are we looking at? Fast bicycles can go at up to 20m/secs in a short 'sprint' race (that's roughly 72 kph). That's crazy fast, especially when going at that speed inside the close confines of a ship and such... so, the standard 100kph hovering movement kind of feels more than significant enough for most in-ship/indoor/close-vicinity-of-ship/urban combat circumstances (when Doshii had Yukari order the Black Knights to advance at maximum speed to reach Melisson faster, I'm not sure he realized just how fast 100kph is within closed environments).
I figure all that'd be needed to achieve that would be maneuvering verniers at spots like the lower back, the shoulders and around the hip/upper leg connection.
I'm figuring that the propulsion pack would need - at the least - enough power to offer escape velocity from a gravity well since the go-between of dogfighting in an atmosphere is really more for fightercraft than power armor. I'm unsure even then of if it should offer anykind of fraction of the speed of light, as I'm reluctant to steal shuttles the possible role of troop transport.
The main goal would be to offer more independence and 'range' within areas around planetary orbits and similar closer confines in space (asteroid belts, etc...) rather than being purely terrestrial. On the other hand, I wonder if it's really worth having considering possible access to a teleport module.
The teleport module speaks for itself. Nothing too different from the Mindy's, though I'd expect reasonable advance in the tech to allow the chance to aid/rescue a fellow power armor without having to contemplate loss of limbs.
Nyton
Inactive Member
While I like teleport modules I don't want them to go too far crazy outside what we have now. This is one tech I don't want to go wild on. I feel those need to be tread with caution. The upgrades you mention make the most safe sense to me. There should be a means to improve the teleporters to rescue a comrade. I've been following the teleportation discussion in the other forum and have yet to really add anything yet. But its a good topic to discuss and clarify.
I guess my feeling is, "The Daisy could go 100 kph, and it can help the user maneuver at that speed. And it can stop pretty darn fast. Why not go all out?" I'd keep that speed, honestly. (I learned kph when I worked on a boat.)
If we're dumping the anti-gravity, then yeah, we'd need some kind of winglets or something to guide the armor ... which likely would get shot off. Or broken. Maybe extending ones?
Propulsion pack otherwise sounds fine to me, at least; it's what the Daisy pack should have been able to do.
Teleporting sucks. S'all I can say about it.
If we're dumping the anti-gravity, then yeah, we'd need some kind of winglets or something to guide the armor ... which likely would get shot off. Or broken. Maybe extending ones?
Propulsion pack otherwise sounds fine to me, at least; it's what the Daisy pack should have been able to do.
Teleporting sucks. S'all I can say about it.
