So for some reason I've had mecha on the mind. Some people love them, some people would rather the world moved on. So I would like to hear every ones opinion on mecha. Magical mecha, clockwork mecha, steam mecha, realistic mecha, power armor or super advanced mecha. Bio-mecha or Cthulhu-mecha? Lets hear your comments.
Elemental_Elf mentioned in a different thread (the Subgenre thread) about pseudo-medieval mecha, like massive armor. This is used in the anime Escaflowne. I found this was a pretty cool idea. It wasn't remotely possible but it was well done, it had a nice aesthetic and that's always a plus. I think more people should use this kind of thing, it can be really neat I think.
Another thing that is rarely seen is biological power armor. The only place I can recall ever seeing this is in a book, Fallen Dragon. They were well done in the book, and I thought the idea was fantastic. A living exoskeleton with muscles that interfaces directly with your body a living second skin.
I love Gundam, its my mecha show of choice. I always loved the concept of a the Earth Sphere (the Earth, the moon and the 5 Lagrangian points) being the backdrop. In fact, I've always loved the concept of the O'Neil cylinders (space colonies in Gundam) because its such a foreign and yet familiar setting... I've toyed with creating a fantasy campaign setting, set inside an O'Niel cylinder; the people would worship the autonomous computer mainframe that controls the various functions of the station (weather, station movement, etc.). But that is a topic for a different thread...
At any rate, I've created my own Gundam-esque setting called Eddaic Mars (http://eddaicmars.pbwiki.com/)but like most things I create, I never finished it.
As for Mecha itself, the best book I've found is d20 Mecha and the various books based off of it. It gives you hard and fast rules to use when developing Mecha for different types of campaigns (from Escaflowne-style Fantasy Mechs, to WWII What If Mechs to realistic Gundam Mechs to the ungodly uber awesome stuff seen in other shows). The inherent problem with Mecha is, like all TTRPG Sci-Fi, there just isn't a large enough market for it to be mainstream.
There are two types of mecha I like. Realistic futuristic versions (power armor and exoskeleton stuff... not the gigantic gundam stuff) are the style I most enjoy. On the other hand, when it comes to steampunk I do like the colossus of steam and twirling gears.
Quote from: NomadicThere are two types of mecha I like. Realistic futuristic versions (power armor and exoskeleton stuff... not the gigantic gundam stuff) are the style I most enjoy. On the other hand, when it comes to steampunk I do like the colossus of steam and twirling gears.
Gundams aren't Colossal! They're like 20 feet tall! That's barely Huge!
Oh I forgot to mention, I love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex style Mecha... So cute and so deadly! :)
I like things like power armor and ED-209-ish robots. So, I will cast my vote as well for "small and realistic" mecha.
Quote from: Elemental_ElfQuote from: NomadicThere are two types of mecha I like. Realistic futuristic versions (power armor and exoskeleton stuff... not the gigantic gundam stuff) are the style I most enjoy. On the other hand, when it comes to steampunk I do like the colossus of steam and twirling gears.
Gundams aren't Colossal! They're like 20 feet tall! That's barely Huge!
Oh I forgot to mention, I love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex style Mecha... So cute and so deadly! :)
20 ft tall? We're talking gundams here. The real world life size models are gigantic.
For example:
(http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2007/july/biggundam_1.jpg)
Quote from: NomadicQuote from: Elemental_ElfQuote from: NomadicThere are two types of mecha I like. Realistic futuristic versions (power armor and exoskeleton stuff... not the gigantic gundam stuff) are the style I most enjoy. On the other hand, when it comes to steampunk I do like the colossus of steam and twirling gears.
Gundams aren't Colossal! They're like 20 feet tall! That's barely Huge!
Oh I forgot to mention, I love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex style Mecha... So cute and so deadly! :)
20 ft tall? We're talking gundams here. The real world life size models are gigantic.
For example:
(http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2007/july/biggundam_1.jpg)
Oops, in my rush to post, I mixed my meters and feet up, lol. My bad :)
I can't tell. I actually prefer my fighting done up-close and personal, most likely via CG-and-wires wuxia. A big machine just creates a "separation" feeling and I'm not as invested in the combat.
Are we talking "power armor" as a bulky thing maybe a bit larger than a human? Or does that actually include "power suits" like Iron Man? If it's the latter that's the kind I'd most go for because there's still a bit of personality to it.
I think I saw a mecha design in animé that might of been biological: the series Maze has mecha-like giant armor that ropes its operators in with tentacles and just basically looks more bio than tech.
CBT all the way!
(In this case at least, I'm referring to Classic BattleTech. . .)
Iron Mans armor is a type of power armor (would be along the lines of more fantastic types, not that realistic).
Ya I'll agree with Elemental_Elf that Gundams are about 20m tall (~60 feet). Not all that big compared to some others, like Neon Genesis Evangelion (name? its some anime) whos Evas are immense.
Heck yes, mecha thread!
This is my mecha:
(//../../e107_files/public/1229398496_14_FT59934_mecha.jpg)
Power armor/exoskeletons for life. Gundam Wing-style stuff is just no for me... kind of like almost everything else that has any direct links to anime. :/
I like mecha. I like Robotech mecha. I like Gundam Mecha. I even like the Power Rangers's Megazords, although the Power Rangers TV shows are really bad.
I once ran a Mekton Z campaign based on a kaiju versus mecha set-up not entirely unlike Power Rangers.
Good example of the type of mecha style stuff I like:
(http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/49753/2002851531656157197_rs.jpg)
I'm not very fond of humanoid-form mecha. I'd rather have something akin to the tripods from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Power-armor OTOH could be very cool if done with the right style.
I agree with Ghostman that it is mostly their humanoid form that ruins them for me. It's like you just took a human, turned him into a robot and timed their size by a factor 100. Sometimes they even have human weapons timed by a 100. It's... silly. Sorry. Although i'm not going to call myself an expert on the subject; this is just my primary reaction to them. That being said, giant robots can have their place and i like some of the giant d&d constructs: the eviscerator and warforged titan amongst others. Those are the ones i can think of anyway. And yeah, tripods are cool-ish.
Also, i like power armors and exo-skeletons of a small size. Although they can seem sorta awkward in fantasy sometimes depending on design. (hmm, wearable golem? I think i was actually working on that idea as an artifact for one of my first settings)
Quote from: Crippled CrowI agree with Ghostman that it is mostly their humanoid form that ruins them for me.
So you prefer mecha based on things like animal designs, ala Zoids?
Quote from: LlumIron Mans armor is a type of power armor (would be along the lines of more fantastic types, not that realistic).
Except that this type is what will, most likely, become reality in the future. It's small, self-contained, doesn't encumber the wearer, is no more easy to target than a normal soldier, and powerful.
Quote from: Stargate525Quote from: LlumIron Mans armor is a type of power armor (would be along the lines of more fantastic types, not that realistic).
Except that this type is what will, most likely, become reality in the future. It's small, self-contained, doesn't encumber the wearer, is no more easy to target than a normal soldier, and powerful.
I didn't mean its size, I meant its capabilities. Stable flight with a man shaped body is ridiculously difficult. Also the energy requirements for hand lasers is as far as I can see, completely impractical anywhere in the remote future.
About the size your spot on, they already have prototypes of something a little bulkier right now that enhances strength.
I agree with Ghostman, I much prefer the non-humanoid robotic forms. I do like the idea of 'Power Armour' in a lot of ways, but not to ridiculous sizes. The size of a Warhammer 40k dreadnought is about as large as I'm usually willing to go. The AT-STs from star wars (y'know, the two-legged walker-type things) as well as the AT-ATs were pretty damn cool, too. But I don't like the big robot-shaped anime-connected stuff that usually springs to mind with mecha, mainly just because the lack of realism annoys me.
Quote from: SilvercatMoonpawQuote from: Crippled CrowI agree with Ghostman that it is mostly their humanoid form that ruins them for me.
So you prefer mecha based on things like animal designs, ala Zoids?
Hmm, okay, let me rephrase, i'm bothered by the fact that they try to look like anything but big robots. A tank wasn't built to look like anything, it was built in that shape because that is a practical shape for a tank. Giant robots shouldn't resemble anything. It's the scale issue again, you can do the same process to animals: making robot copies and making them 100 times bigger. If there is a reason to have giant robots, then they should resemble nothing but that. In zoids defense though, i haven't seen it and therefore this comment is purely based on mental imagery of giant robotic animals)
And i've also heard that the military has been working on a functional exo-skeleton prototype for their future force warrior project (i think that's what it's called).
As an anecdote of unusual use of mechas i just remembered that in a small setting called Amerikkka (comical game about the US disbanding into various groups of extremism,) the Papal States had access to mechs called Cardinals for some obscure reason...
(by the way, is there any real difference between mech and mecha?)
While not really a fan of any Japanese mecha media I was a really big fan of a cartoon called exo squad. The mechs ranged from body armor, to 15 foot tall walkers. The story was rather good; it involved humans fighting to liberate Venus, Earth, and Mars from their own genetic creations, the neo-sapiens
There's no difference between Mech and Mecha. The word is interchangeable.
Personally I use Mech to refer non human looking walking vehicles, like an AT-ST. I use Mecha to refer to very humanoid vehicles like Gundams.
The military and other various people have been trying to make mecha for the last fifty years or so. *Everyone* wants one. The oldest that comes to mind is some GM built in the late fifties early sixties.
Well, if that's your definition i, personally, like mechs and dislike mechas.
Quote from: Crippled CrowWell, if that's your definition I, personally, like mechs and dislike mechas.
Agreed (with exception to power armor, but then again that is more of a third class then part of either one). And yes for big stuff I like the steampunky and totally inhuman looking constructs (the tripods from war of the worlds).
If those are the definitions than I choose mecha over mechs (with mecha including non-human yet recognizable as a life-form, such as the animal mecha of zoids). Big unrecognizable machine = impersonal. Recognizable shape = more personal.
Not to start an argument or anything, but why should a big robotic machine be personal? In my opinion the exact idea with something robotic is that it should be exotic, inhuman, and dead/mechanical. If you try to make your machines resemble life you might as well have life.
Fixed. (If you'll note my first post on this thread I did say that I thought vehicles were impersonal.)
Ok I will give zoids a point... it was pretty dang awesome... though not practical at all (which is why you don't see the army pursuing mecha design... just powered exoskeleton type mechs). That's probably why I like my big impractical mecha to be steampunk... easier to hand wave those.
(http://wildwildwest.warnerbros.com/img/thefilm/tarantbig.jpg)