What role do mechs serve?

>hard sci-fi
>mechs
pick one

On high-gravity worlds where for whatever reason you REALLY REALLY need some guys on the ground somewhere.

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>>50602013
Consider that on EDN in Lost Planet, where your OP pic comes from, Vital Suits are used rather than tracked vehicles because they can trudge through deep snow that a treaded vehicle would sink in, jump or climb up sheer cliff faces, and are mobile enough/strong enough without guns to fight off Akrids without getting swarmed and destroyed since melee ability is something you actually need on EDN where the local fauna can rip a tank apart in seconds, and ones with limbs can manipulate objects without exposing the user to the extreme elements and hungry space bugs.

Lost Planet also has VSs that are more like traditional tanks (Pic related), smaller VSs that are basically an exo suit, and some that are more like an artillery piece that can walk and jump over obstacles, in addition to "normal" vehicles like jeeps and tanks that can be used in areas where it's not covered in literally hundred foot deep snow and helicopters that carry said mechs around.

Powered armor definitely qualifies as mech despite being miniature in scale. It's also very much hard sci-fi given that DARPA is actually researching stuff like that.

>>50602013
You've made this thread before.

They're just extremely mobile weapons platforms.

Think about what role tanks serve in combat. With mechs, you get that, but all over the fucking place. Mechs could immediately respond to new positioning data for better shots at key targets, and also move out of the fucking way when fire starts coming their way

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Terrain can justify spiderleg/quadraped mechs over treads/wheels but not the balancing required for biped mechs.

Mechanized pods with manipulators or even hands for flexible tool use can do work in space but again, no reason for legs in space

>>50602026
Small mechs make sense in hard sc-fi, large ones don't. I think OP's pic is of a somewhat human sized set of power armor?

>>50602144
>trudge through deep snow that a treaded vehicle would sink in

It's far, far easier to go over snow than through it.
That's why man invented skis and snowshoes, and why arctic vehicles have treads or giant balloon tires.

I love giant robots as much as the next guy but trying to justify them always ends up taking a faceplant.

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If you need to justify mechs, the setting you are playing in is shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koesW3xMKtY

>>50602254
The fact that mechs have feet is huge disadvantage in combat though. Especially if their bipedal. Tanks can keep fighting even if their tracks are blown off, but bipedal mech would be easily crippled out of fight with well placed AT missile. Not to mention that field repair would be much harder.

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>>50602342

>>50602013
Logstics.

>Hey fuckstick, get in the in the MPAW1775(mechanized pilot operated walker) and move those quad cons over by Bravo company's gear. We're on your time.
>Aye corporal.

>>50602013
In-universe foolishness. Acknowledge that mechs /don't/ make sense, but the enemies or evil scientist or crazy pilots or whoever use them because they think they're cool or intimidating or whatever.

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>>50602013
In HAWKEN they were used to travel where other mechanized ground forces couldn't go without risking exposure to the Hawken virus. The fact that they only ever had two points of contact with the ground meant they were less likely to pick up and transfer infectious material.

That said, the setting also had a material which allowed them to mostly ignore the square-cube law if you baked it into a steel alloy, which is the only reason the mechs worked as combat units at all.

>>50602322
>It's far, far easier to go over snow than through it.
Not when your mech has strong enough legs even a basic broken down old one can jump roughly 25 meters straight up over rough terrain. Besides, VSs are shown to raise their legs enough that they only plow through snow up to it's waistline, which is something like 7-10 feet on an average.

Maybe T-ENG powers hydraulic legs more efficiently than a driveshaft for a treaded vehicle I dunno nigga, that's why it's Sci-Fi.

>>50602466
>"Only" 10 feet of snow

Stop talking, you're making it worse.

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>>50602013
I'm using mine as deep sea construction vehicles that pirates and other rogue groups occasionally use as weapons platforms on the ground and in space.

Pic related. Mine are humanoid, though.

>>50602505
nigga the entire fucking planet is nothing but snow, rocks, and ice, and temperatures can get to -100C due to T-ENG fuckery shitting on thermodynamics.

So yes, "Only" 10 feet of snow.

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>>50602013
>Is there any situation where walking vehicles makes sense?

Yes
In anyplace that has dense counture and lots of obstacles, like forest, canyon, mountain ranges, and urban areas, which is like almost 80% of modern combat anyway, if that was your focust.

>In a semi-realistic Hard sci-fi setting how could you best fit in mechs? what kind of mech would be most realistic.

Depens on the setting definition of 'realism' actually, that word is kinda relative. if you talk about our world's modern physics of 'realism' then they will be a crossbreed unit between infantry and tanks, and not ought to replace both. They will be a multirole unit that was as armored as light tanks that serve as MBTs armored support, infantry's heavy mobile weapons platform and scout, and can double as field construction/demolition unit.

As for the size, it will not be a 18m MSes, 5-8 meters 'Labor' will be enought.

This is going to be another great thread of people getting triggered, one side shouting "Yeah uh!", one side shouting "Nuh uh!" and both sides pretending to know shit about engineering or military tactics.

>>50602373
If you think mech as clanky tanks with legs then sure.

If its an compact mech that act like an oversized infantry, then it will just crawl out and sit themselves on strategic position since it can't feel pain, then blast whoever come to him, as long as the sensors still serve the pilot well.

>>50602342
Fuck, something about the Desert Storm aesthetic is just too good.

>>50602647
You're missing the point, and rocks and ice hidden in the snow only make it that much more retarded to try and trudge through it.

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>>50602278
You think that a mecha show would have designers do that

Just slap legs on to look cool?

>>50602013

>Is there any situation where walking vehicles makes sense?

No. Pressure is greater than treads or wheels, more easily crippled, and the silhouettes are (typically) taller. Just do it because it's cool.

>In a semi-realistic Hard sci-fi setting how could you best fit in mechs? what kind of mech would be most realistic.

Man-sized powered-armor/exoskeleton.

Anyone who doesn't understand the limitations of modern vehicles needs to drive onto unpaved grass or dirt for a half mile and see how it feels. Pedal locomotion is slow and mechanically complex, but it can dominate any terrain. Any place you need to engage someone that's outside of developed civilization, you want Mecha deployed from orbit or aircraft to get around.

Also they are fucking cool.

>>50602778
Bipeds just sell more toys.

>>50602712
Well, you're in /tg/, where everyones panders to wikis and memes as a viable source of modern enginering to satisfy their autism. Hell they don't even realize that the world 'realism' is heavily convoluted with many factors either.

The high consentration of /k/ and /pol/ aren't helping to....

>>50602013
> semi-realistic
> mechs
Pick one

Mechs are an aberration from an engineering PoV (in a war context, at least). Tanks serve the same purpose but without all the incredible weaknesses of a Mech - and there is no technological advancement that would make Mechs better without benefiting even more to tanks.

The "increased mobility" often argued is actually very thin :
- on roads : tanks tracks are more durable (and cheaper) than running on leg
- on soft terrain : legs provide much worse ground pressure (also a problem on bridges)
- on moderately difficult terrain : tracks where created exactly for this
- legs and hands only come ahead on extremely hard terrain, like wanting to climb a very big pile of rubbles
Basically, if your terrain is bad enough that Mechs get a mobility advantage over tanks, you should probably use helicopters as your firepower source.

The only realistic reason to see Mechs would actually be among police force, due to the "intimidating" factor (one of the reason some police force are still using horses). Or exoskeletons, to allow some soldier the use of heavier weaponry - but I'm not sure if you count that as "Mech".

>>50602013
Typically robots exist for rule of cool. I have the vague handwavery in my own setting that thanks to international law, you couldn't have combat vehicles in space, so instead people strapped guns to construction frames instead for 'security' purposes and things escalated from there. But robots exist to be cool.

>>50602013
The mech would take the place of a light support/heavy infantry. it could be a boon in urban settings.
I would design it to be a bipedal system for standard movement with access to a 20mm weapons platform that would be semi automatic, meant for accuracy and range. this system would be convertible in field to a 4 legged stationary system (probably have the legs split for stability) and would adjust the weapons platform to fully automatic for suppressing fire.
>tl;dr a small mech designed for being a heavy sniping unit that can change into a turret.

>>50602884
>one of the reason some police force are still using horses
They also provide a better vantage point and can just push through people way better than you'd be able to do on your own.

>>50602013
I was always fond of Muv-Luv's use of them. A mech is never going to be as good in an armor role as a tank, or in an air support role as a plane. But their adaptability means they're great for Wild Weasel operations, getting past enemy lines to take out their air defenses and leave them open to bombing and artillery fire.

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>Mechanised Infantry
The mobility of soldiers with the beefiness of armour a couple of inches thick.
>Humanoid shaped tanks
I think the intimidation factor is probably the biggest factor. Seeing a giant person crushing things underfoot and with giant guns attached to its forearms would probably unlock some sort of primal prey-like fear in someone.
>Non humanoid mechs
Thinking in particular about the Gekkos from MGS4, which are basically heavy weapons platforms which are able to get to places traditional tanks could not like climbing over buildings, being able to peek into rooms several stories up, etc.

>>50602454
I want a mech so I have a heavy weapons platform\really comfy places to drink with buds.

>>50602380
I should get the new Armoured Core...

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>>50602013
Short anwser: yes.

long anwser: I'm making a WH40k Fanfiction where the main characters are part of an armoured regiment with mechs. The idea is to create a very mobile direct fire support unit for use in large scale Factories. Specifically for tech priest aligned worlds where collateral damage could slow down production.

Basically the theory is mount a some heavy weapons on legs (re: shock absorbers) and get some jump jets on them. In practice you've got some pretty dramatic vertical battlets with awesome dodging action. Basically 2002's Phantom Crash with squad tactics. Man that game was fun.

>>50602013

High-tech cranes. Impoverished nations would attempt to technical-them up into something combat worthy, but you really shouldn't be seeing them outside of logistics and engineering units.

>>50602013
They only really make sense in a situation where there's no chance to get a tracked or wheeled vehicle to the objective, and air transport is unrealistic due to either weather conditions or extreme losses from lack of air superiority or enemy aa, and only to give some fire support for ground troops like any other tank or mgs.
That said, bipedal vehicles would be more difficult to produce, maintain and field repair, so quadrapedal would make more sense.
Outside of combat, the research purposes are much the same, serving only to go where other vehicles cant, and protect from harsh or unservivable conditions.

>>50605198
So, planet exploration?

>>50605747
Essentially, that or hazmat/radiation clean up

>>50602013

The only way they make sense is if their the primary tool armies are built around, like tanks are today.

I feel like centipede+ mechs (IE consider a 3 x 10 array of clawed legs) ought to be better than tanks or bipeds. Superior terrain versatility, and an unmatched capacity to position a hull mounted main gun into a firing position downrange.

>>50604398
Infinity uses mechs (known as TAGs). The basic idea is they can shoot/climb/duck/dip/dive/dodge like a human, while providing the pilot with heavy armor and weaponry.

They're also designed for multi-environment usage. They can manuver in zero-g or underwater (for the most part) as well as they can on land. They're also compact enough that they can fit through some doorways and climb up stable buildings.

Essentially, rooftop chase, helicopter insertion, urban combat style mechs similar to the Tachikomas from GitS.

Really big power armour, that's literally the only way it can make sense. And even then you're sort of stretching the definition of the word mech.

Industrial applications more than military.

>>50602416
>what is a forklift

The big problem mechs have from a realism standpoint is that in real life if we need a vehicle capable of vaguely human like stuff like picking things up we just stick an arm on a regular vehicle (space shuttle, garbage truck, forklift etc.).

>>50602712
It seemed to me like so far we were having a pleasent and relatively civil conversation about the types of fiction we enjoyed and then you had to butt in and be a fucking asshole.

Go fuck yourself, people like you are what is ruining this board not fucking /pol/ or sjws or whatever fucking assholes like you who prefer drama over civil discussion, no matter what your agenda.

Fuck you.

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Mostly as a deterrent. They're big, they're flashy, they're in NO FUCKING WAY ECONOMICALLY VIABLE HOLY FUCK, and a bunch of tanks can do pretty much the same job for a fraction of the resources, but there's just something about a giant robot standing on the horizon to put the fear of God into some grease spots and it's better for the environment than just nuking them.

Just stand there and look pretty, maybe fire off a shot or two to get the message across and PRAY we don't have to use the thing in extended conflict for more than an hour or so or we'll have to make some more cuts to the welfare and healthcare budget.

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>>50602013
In my setting, they're called Armored Frames. Frames are kind of the middle child between vehicles and cyborgs, utilizing technology from the two schools of design in unorthodox ways. The standard sized Frames stand from anywhere between 8 to 15ft tall and serve purposes like construction, support vehicles, and heavy artillery. Anything bigger isn't really viable due to humanity's current shortage of resources.

While normal vehicles are still in use, Armored Frames are used for their versatility in the extremely varied alien environments of the planet humanity is currently exploring. Many Frames are modular by design, enabling ease of conversion or adaptability if the right equipment is present.

Additionally, some Frames can be outfitted with special interfaces, enabling one to control a Frame like they would their own body instead of a standard cockpit. These new interfaces are based on cybernetics technology and greatly benefit from a much higher degree of dexterity than a vehicle can provide, becoming especially useful in construction or handling external weapons systems like a big ass rifle.

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>>50606668
Advanced forms of the technology are currently in the works to enable those with cybernetic body parts to link into and control a Frame as their own body. This has lead to a small sect of people eager to overcome their disabilities by merging with small scale Frames in order to explore the alien world instead of rotting away on humanity's mothership. Frames are used for this instead of cyborgs as cyborgs are too small to properly carry adequate life support technologies for its pilot.

Regardless of size, purpose, or systems, Armored Frames are really popular among the Ranger population, a group of people dedicated to exploring the alien world and discovering all kind of weird xenoforms. Within Ranger society, possessing an Armored Frame is somewhat of a status symbol. Rangers adorn them much like their power suits with custom ensignias, paint jobs, and trophies of previously hunted xenoforms.

Rangers also utilize Frames and cyborgs in particular as unmanned drones for the planet's expansive cave systems. A popular model is the Brushknife, a scrawny and inexpensive Frame standing about 8 feet capable of traversing almost any terrain that isn't aquatic. It's outfitted with multiple tracking and scanning systems and possesses a data probe and deployable quad copter for terrain data collection.

Also mechs are cool and I wanted them in my setting so there's that. Why the hell did I even type this all out?

>>50606702
Context is very appreciated in /tg/.

>>50606702
You seem to use the word "cyborg" as some kind of piloted vehicle.

What's up with that?

>>50606767
Not that anon, but after enough cybernetics, you pretty much end up as a blob of meat piloting what may or may not be a you shaped robot.

>>50602013
Do whatever macguffin you want
>They are still worse than a tank but: they are much cheaper: they have syntetic muscle that use chemical energy that its cheaper than refining petroleum, because reasons.
>They are not mecanical mech, they are some animal gmo with some armor and a neural bridge. They are cheap to produce, and they can eat other mech or organic resources. As the first example feeding them is cheaper than refining fuel for tanks.
>Mech range from 3m to 5m. They are better use in planets with mega flora or very irregular terrain or megacities. Or they are very versatile.
>Their humanoids form means that the pilot can react much quicker to threats, thanks to an special interface that simulates an artifical cerebelum that take ordes from the pilot cortex and also simulate the human coordination and danger reflexes.

>>50606797
That's not what he's implying, though. He describes cyborgs as not carrying adequate life support systems and as being used as "unmanned drones."

If it was a cyborg, you wouldn't be able to to describe is piloted OR unmanned. because as you said, man and machine would be indistinguishable.

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>>50606737
A setting I'm writing. Currently has a campaign running in the setting but it's a solo campaign. Still enjoyable

>>50606767
A cyborg in this setting is simply a human sized mechanical body resembling a human. Whether or not an AI or human consciousness controls this body isn't really important to the engineers. Also, after a certain point, a cyborg with enough shit strapped to it can't really be called a cyborg anymore; it'd just be a small Frame. It's kind of a case-by-case scenario I've been trying to clarify a bit better but I get distracted with other things so I keep forgetting

>>50606797
That's what the people I mentioned earlier are kind of striving towards. You can't really cram that level of mass life support onto a cyborg's smaller body, so they're utilizing Frames and their larger builds to accommodate for life support

They essentially want to be Dragoons from StarCraft, with more or less ion cannons and religious zealotry

>>50606864
>A cyborg in this setting is simply a human sized mechanical body resembling a human. Whether or not an AI or human consciousness controls this body isn't really important

Why not come up with another name for this (like "cybershell" from Transhuman Space, which describes basically the same thing) instead of using a real word with a well-established meaning?

What would you call an *actual* cyborg in your setting? Even if they aren't made in the setting, they probably still exist as a fictional/theoretical concept that people can discuss.

>>50606078
Ever driven a forklift? I have, did for years, multiple kinds. They're great, right up until what you're attempting to pick up is angled more than the tilt of the forks can compensate for, or one slat is Slightly lower than the other so you can't possibly get under it. They have limitations.
Now, I'm not saying mechs are the answer but there were time when more dexterity would have been great, especially the times where it was me or some other poor fuck who had to try and compensate the payload by hand while some other dick had to try and get under it without crushing us with the backplate or the tires, or severing something with the forks.

>>50602811
Mechs are just shittier tanks

>>50602013
Basically for extreme future sports or an expensive toy for overpaid private military groups.
Generally, anything much bigger than a simple exo-suit like an advanced version of modern stuff would be better off in a more specialized form like a tank or plane or boat or sub.
Even considering the growing role of drone technology and fewer humans on the ground, more specialised forms make more sense than humanoid mechs even for more technical and support roles.

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>>50606940
>What would you call an *actual* cyborg in your setting?

While it's true I said either an A.I. or human can be in control of the body, the technology to stuff someone's brain into a cyborg and make it work isn't really there. A person can have a lot of replacement or modified body parts but not really rip out their brain and spinal cord like Raiden and shove it into a brand new body.

I guess calling a variant of cyborgs an unmanned drone in that example was just a bad part on my end. It'd just be a proper beep boop robot or android. Androids are based mostly on the cybernetics technologies developed in setting though, as it's just taking a bunch of artificial human body parts and stapling them together. I think I just mixed up the term, then got mixed up when you asked about it

Thank you anon. I've notes to review to see if I mixed anything else up

>>50606993
This.
Do it like Five Star Stories but with less bullshit.

>>50606975
Dude, tank IS mech, how they can be better than themselves?

>>50606833
But he describes cyborgs as being too small for the life support of its pilot. Implying that there IS in fact a pilot for the cyborg.

minovsky particle
adding a single, believable, and simple background elements that makes mechs a natural inculsion

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If you want to be realistic then look at real life. What big mecha we use?
None, except this I guess.

>>50602013
Above jeeps but below an MBT, deployable only in mountainous or heavily urban dense environs.

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>>50607196
I was mixing up cyborgs and androids. Androids are too small for pilots but their technologies are still helpful to Frame tech, as well as cyborg tech. Androids are used for unmanned drones, not cyborgs

I've had a long day so the fatigue is probably getting to me

if you have power armor in your setting, then having a slightly bigger rideable armor would make sense, for when you need more firepower than mech infantry, but more subtlety than a tank

>>50607107
>Thank you anon. I've notes to review to see if I mixed anything else up

No worries. I was just confused when the word popped up. Glad I could apparently be of some help.

>>50607196
That was my point. He's already explained it.

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>>50607282
Many industrial and agricultural machines out there could be considered mecha, even if they don't have legs. It's also the most realistic sort of mech, which means the biggest challenge is finding compelling reasons for using legs vs. treads. The terrain would have to be quite challenging.

Military applications aren't out of the question, but their intended purpose would be building infrastructure on short notice, like fortifications or bridges. They wouldn't be meant as a front line unit, but they might see action in a dire situation, and bored soldiers might find "creative" uses for them.

The most plausible scenario I can think of for a setting that really needs a lot of walking mechs is a new planet or other location in the process of being terraformed. Having a multipurpose, mass produced machine that has intuitive controls can put a lot of people to work on large scale projects.

>>50602013
This question is asked a lot in writing groups. I gave some thought about that some time ago and while my argument WILL have flaws in it, it may lead you to a more solid argument to use it in your setting. Implying that by mech you mean a relatively big bipedal robot and not quadrupedal or other variant... A mech could find use in points where other systems are lacking, mainly if it had very long range and operated more independently, you could move them over rough terrain and set in a forest, valley, mountain, etc, meaning it wouldn't need to be incredible fast, just be very good in moving on rough terrain, the high profile problem is somewhat solved by better camouflage, it could be even useful for visually spotting radar/heat-camo'd things, and if the mech is very good at sniping, it wouldn't need that much armor anyway, decreasing size and weight. In summary a snipe and move tactic would be ideal.

Comparing to Main Battle Tanks, MBT are kinda shit in asymmetrical war (which are making them phased out) and generally need support from other units, like infantry and air support, mines hinders their mobility/use, they can only move in certain terrains, making ambush and mine placement easier, they lack (very) long range capability, relaying on air support for that.

All that said, tanks are still very good IMO, and for asymmetrical war it's much easier and cheaper to just send a drone and snipe-bomb your target or use proxies than built a oversized rocket/projectile launcher, but hey, scaring your enemy is useful as fuck.

>>50606702
>Also mechs are cool and I wanted them in my setting so there's that.
This is the best reason to have mechs in your setting. Kinda the only reason as well.

Also your setting sounds pretty well thought out, kudos.

>>50604398
>I should get the new Armoured Core...
the one in those WEBM's, V is actually several years old and has dead MP(and it's semi-sequel After V is barely alive either)

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>>50608810
Thank you. It's the default setting for a system I made. Originally it was for a fan game for the Metroid universe, but I wanted to do something more with it, so I split it off and began writing a donut steel setting.

It draws a lot from Ghost in the Shell, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Lost Planet 1/2, Mechwarrior, and Monster Hunter along with a bunch of other sources. Big focus on exploration, interactions with xenoforms (including combat of course) and resource management in the form of recruiting mercenaries and known NPCs to complete sidequests for you or join you on a deployment.

Humanity uses various Frames to explore a hostile alien planet with a toxic atmosphere in attempts to settle it. Their mothership's engines are completely shot after an emergency warp drive, so the nearby planet is the subject to new human colonization in attempts to eventually fix the engines and colonize the new solar system before the remnants of humanity rots away in a giant space coffin.

It's mostly done but I've been in a depressive slouch for the better part of four months due to unemployment and I can't stay focused long enough to work on it. Was hoping to offer it to /tg/ when I was done but it'll be a while

>>50602013
honestly I say don't bother beyond the vaguest suggestions and reasons, any attempts at a serious explanation will either require phlebtonium and/or heavy handwaving, and will end up getting henpecked to death by people overly obsessed with "realism"(although many of these people have a definition of realism that has little to do with reality in the first place)

TLDR: just apply the MST3K maxim and don't worry about it

What about Think Tanks from Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex? Like the one from season 1 ep2.

It can travel on roads quickly without damaging them. It can turn on a dime. And it has legs that can walk and jump over small obstacles. And the smaller mini tanks (tachikomas) can climb walls, and jump over rooftops.

>>50602884
So what if you were fighting in caves or something? Terrain too difficult for tanks, and too confined for helicopters. Mechs could fulfill the mobile armor/heavy support role in a world where subterranean combat is the norm.

>>50609512
That's what bunker busters are for

>>50609546
But what if the caves are really, really big. Like humans are mining all their unobtainium a couple miles beneath the earth's surface, and all the aliens/rebels/bad guys are way down in the mines fucking up vital mining efforts. So we use mechs to bring some heavy support to the lower mine levels?

Super niche, but if the resource is valuable enough, there might be a need.

>>50602013
industrial fabrication. such as using mechs in starship production in place of other construction equipment.

>>50602013
The only way mechs make sense at all (sadly) is as mobile weapons platform crewed by a single person. Think the Stryder from Titanfall.

-The humanoid shape makes it easier for the pilot to identify with than the rolling box that is a tank (didn't HARKEN use that as justification too?)
-having only a single pilot controlling things cuts down on the command&coordination lag within a traditional crewed vehicle (if there's actual tankers here, I'd love to hear from them how long their tank needed to react to new circumstances on-the-fly, from the moment the new circumstances occured tto the point when everyone had their new orders. Also, is there any autonomy for iE the driver to act without order?)

>>50609512
Thermobarics, my man. Thermobarics.

>>50602013
mechs work because you cannot win a war solely from the air or sea, you have to have people on the ground to secure objectives.

write a mech like a tank of the future, it breaks fortification and holds positions.

>>50608124

>A mech could find use in points where other systems are lacking, mainly if it had very long range and operated more independently, you could move them over rough terrain and set in a forest, valley, mountain, etc, meaning it wouldn't need to be incredible fast, just be very good in moving on rough terrain, the high profile problem is somewhat solved by better camouflage
This would kinda limit it to engaging in areas where the enemy can not sortie some birds to gun down the giant cheeky robot that took a shot at the fob not too quickly leaving the area. Why not just shoot a missile at it, have a gunship piss at it, or huff some mountain artillery to shoot it instead of the giant robot.

>it could be even useful for visually spotting radar/heat-camo'd things
why send a giant robot to look at something when you could have a unmanned drone, satellite, or dudes with optical equipment and radios look at something?

Honestly, if a need for giant bipedal robots existed we would have them already, but the combination of bombs, boats, aircrafts, treads, wheel, and feet get the job done.

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>>50602013
Sports.

No wait, seirously, hear me out:

>The year is 20-something fuck if I care, you didn't come to hear me talk about the damn year
>You came to hear about the suits, right? Well, lemme see.
>It started like it always does, with people being dumb as fuck. Robotics had easily advanced enough by then, it was only a matter of time before some knuckleheads deciding to do something stupid.
>So, the decided the best idea was to wrap themselves in a tin can and duke it out in underground arenas.
>The problem got so big, and everybody loves it. The feds did the only thing they could to handle it...they sanctioned it.
>That ended up setting off the whole works. Standardized rules, teams, contracts, merchandise...all of it.
>Shit, it became the biggest new sport...literally. The suits underground fighters wore were sometimes barely more than just a suit, but the professionals got themselve some pretty sweet tech.
>And that's how the National Mech League got started.

So guys, completely unrelated, but does anybody know awesome Mech art books? I've seen some that are just stylized as hell, and others that go all the way down to blueprint-like detail. I want to buy several to study, and improve my art, hopefully, more than likely just read them over and over.

>>50605989
This infinity tags are beef up power armour they only to honestly say that looks like a monster tank on legs is the Joutm

>>50610643
sounds like IGPX

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>>50606884
>Picks an objectively shitty mech design
>"Man this design is so shitty. Aren't mechs just so shitty?"

I agree mechs don't make practical sense, but you could at least post something other than cherrypicked.jpg

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>>50604398
>I want a mech so I have a heavy weapons platform\really comfy places to drink with buds.
HAWKEN's aesthetic was easily the best thing about it once the new guys ripped all the good stuff out of the mechanics.

This thread almost makes me want to pick it back up, but last I checked it got infected with P2W bullshit.

a good way to excuse mechs in is to use the same excuse that ring of red used: small , mountains or fucking dense jungle a la vietnam, places so cramped that only someting that imitates human locomotion can move relatively well

>inb4 why not bomb/napalm the place
you want conquer a country not a crater

>>50602013
Yes. Once you have some form of locomotion for the legs that outpaces tracks, there will be mechs. Mobility will trump armor in most combat situations. Therefore you merely need to have something that can handle a faster pace then the tracks on a tank.

Also you need to not have any sort of contragrav for tanks. Once they have that, they are queens again.

>>50608124
>which are making them phased out

You're talking out your ass. The MBT certainly wasn't intended to fight asymmetrical conflicts, but the combination of a 120mm direct-fire gun and several machine guns is too useful to replace. The fact that infantry, which tend to be kinda squishy can hide behind them is also rather useful as well, as is the infantrymans ability to suppress enemies with AT weapons so the tank can drop a shell on them. It's a symbiotic relationship, really.

It's also telling that no one besides some people who think they know what the future looks like actually want to replace the MBT.

>>50609921
>Also, is there any autonomy for iE the driver to act without order?

The commander is supposed to make all the important calls, a tank isn't a democracy, after all. However, drivers can act independently in an emergency or what have you.

>>50602013
>Is there any situation where walking vehicles makes sense?

Neural bridge controls require a humanoid body shape or otherwise the pilot can't "relate" to his vehicle and gets mind-fucked upon linking. Since neural bridge controls offer superior finesse and reaction time, not to mention a highly augmented engagement efficiency, humanoid war machines start to show up as elite shock troops.

Neural bridge control gives too much edge over conventional weapon systems, and since it needs mechs to be a thing, so mechs it should be.

>>50602373
>Tanks can keep fighting even if their tracks are blown off, but bipedal mech would be easily crippled out of fight with well placed AT missile.
This wouldn't be any less true of a mech, assuming it had a turret somewhere.

>Not to mention that field repair would be much harder.
Okay, there's that.

Really, under modern tech, despite that mechs could get into all sorts of places that tanks couldn't, good a reason as any not to do it.

I suppose if you had some sorta sci-fi nanite construction/repair device, it might make more sense, but at that point, you're probably just going to send the nanites into battle to gray goo the enemy anyways.

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After the successful test and usage of the EM drive, Humanity had to accept the fact that their progress and knowledge was based on incomplete data.

200 years later, they were again smacked in the face by reality when a hive of enormous insect-like beings passed through our Solar System. Having to accept the truth that Humanity was small in many ways, Mecha were developed to interact with the numerous large races that make up the galaxy as well as to defend themselves from the less agreeable races that roam the space lanes.

>>50614093
Having hands could actually help with field repair. Being able to pick up and manipulate your own spare parts and hold the proper tools to install and uninstall them could be a big deal. Any battle unit has an entire convoy of support vehicles anyway, so a support mech to carry around tools and parts wouldn't be too far beyond having mechs in the first place.

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Power armor can work in any hard sci-fi setting. You need justification to upscale them into mini/full fledged mecha territory. So, probably by seeing them only operate in Zero-G enviroments primarily? Places like space colonies or in the asteroid belts. They avoid having to deal with the square cube law or their primary competitors, wheeled and tracked vehicles that way.

Fluff them as a development of exoskeletons, you don't need raw power assisted strength in space to support itself or move things. So you can upscale them. Having greater reach and more leverage could let one engineer perform the work of an entire construction crew while also being shielded from the myriad dangers of space. Then it's only a matter of time before some asshole decides to take out his frustration on some neighboring assholes hab unit with a repurposed electro magnetic bolt driver.

>>50614243
Cyber Knights was a great game.

>>50602013
https://www.flickr.com/photos/syriafreedom/6861504633/
Tanks are too easy to identify and hit from orbit. Mecha can peak over obstacles or the horizon, while tanks are fully exposed to satellites.

>>50606864
I'm having horrible flashbacks of poor pathfinding from that picture.

>>50602013
>Is there any situation where walking vehicles makes sense?
Sure!
When controls become so complex (brain interface? full body glove? plain old magic?) that a non-human form would be harder to manouver, it makes sense to have mechs.
At the same time, tanks could be piloted by AIs, and that would be cheaper and more effective, so you need to find a way to say no to AIs.
It's contrived, no way to cut it, but if you want to make things sensible then only air force matters, possibly something like grav-tanks that can become jet planes, and maybe the space force.

>>50608938
Sounds great, hang in there bub

>>50610643
Actually this is best way to make even humanoid mechs fun and not annoying (IMO).

To bad we have sports anime with tanks and tons of war anime with mechs. (At least GuP is awesome).

>>50602013
Just copy the way Front Mission or Armored Core do it, it's not that hard, don't overthink shit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhPmmxZQHe0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pH08Nb8AkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDk0IDa3ODw

>>50602013
Anything larger than power armour makes no sense, but power armour makes perfect sense. Basically tanks will always do better as tanks than humanoid mechs, but a dude who can walk through a standard doorway and generally go wherever the infantry does, while sitting behind a few centimetres of steel and ceramic plating - that is useful. Think MAX from Planetside 2 at the biggest, and the power armour from Fallout as a more realistic option.

For larger stuff the best you can fluff your way into is probably space-borne engineering platforms or 10ft -ish logistics vehicles on the ground. For space combat mechs are uselessly cost ineffective against dedicated space combat vehicles because they are carrying an awful lot of locomotive machinery that has absolutely no purpose in a space battle. For boarding actions, power armour with a disposable jump pack is obviously better because it can fit into the corridors of the enemy ship.

Tank replacements would likely be limited to quadrupedal remotely piloted or autonomous turrets. Literally just a turret sitting on top of an engine of some description, with four legs attached. Again though, this has no advantages over tanks except for in extremely dense environments and would never be able to completely replace tanks.

Direct replacement for foot soldiers.

>>50602013
I tend to think along the lines of a supporting role for the infantry. Sort of like a distraction that lays down covering fire so the grunts can get shit done.It can take plenty of damage, but it serves as a heavy weapon platform. It would also be very useful for recovering wounded soldiers. But aside from that they are too bulky, expensive, and impractical.

If you mean exoskeletons, then they would probably be used alot by special forces and if it is relatively cheap officers too.

It makes the most sense however if these mechs were just regular mining mechs that were quickly gathered together to be used as a force, and their role is closer to that of an APC. Like if there was a bunch of ropes tied around the back which the infantry holds onto, and the mech lays down heavy fire so that the infantry could unload and flank the enemy. It would be a cool addition to a force of plucky rebels.

>>50609633
Collapse the entrance, wait a few months and then dig it out yourself.

Why spend billions in R&D and production for such a niche situation?

>>50619531
I would assume R&D could be automated in the future.

>>50618020
RIP this franchise. They should've gotten From Software to do Front Mission Evolved.
https://youtu.be/atp4qLLNW2I
https://youtu.be/S911skFPB3M

>>50602322
It's more to work around the uneven terrain than just the snow. They've actually got a VS that turned into a snowmobile for personal transport.

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I like the small Metal Gear ones, seem a lot more viable

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In my setting MECHS or Multi-Environment-Combat-Hard-Suits run the gamut from slightly large Power Armor around 9-15ft to Large Scale Mobile Weapons Platforms that shit drones and missiles at everything they can't hit with a railgun

In my setting material science and physics basically discovered shit that make Mechs possible and feasible and the reasons they are humanoid is because they are controlled via a cybernetic interface that effectively merges man and machine and a humanoid form is easier on the Pilots psyche

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>>50618638

Yeah, this guy's got the right of it. Mechs are great, put them in games if you like them! But there's no logical reason for any machine bigger than a human to be bipedal; other shapes are better.

There have been many attempts to concoct a set of circumstances, made up technologies and whatnot, where mechs actually make sense. My favorite is in Muv-luv, where the combat profile of the alien invaders actually does require highly-agile ground-based fighting vehicles. They're basically wild-weasel fighters: they scoot in and take out the enemy anti-air capability, so that shitloads of conventional bomber aircraft can do most of the actual killing. But even then, why a giant humanoid robot instead of a ground-effect chopper or something? Take off the arms and legs! You just need a cockpit, weapons, and engines!

>>50617655

The mind-body interface justification always annoys me. It seriously underestimates humans.

We drive CARS. A car is nothing like a human body! And the interface is bizzare! Push right foot down to go forward? Spin this wheel to turn? But we learn it, and we learn it so well it becomes totally subconscious.

There's no reason a human with a mind-body interface and a little practice couldn't control a totally nonhumanoid vehicle. We do it already, with worse controls.

>>50620329
There you go senpai. All the reasoning you need. Sounds like a dope ass setting.

>>50620496
Make them alien artifacts in the ruins of an ancient sports arena. Imagine a people so advanced that they used superpowered mechs for sports, like basketball and such. I mean, everyone suddenly had to leave wherever the fuck they have Formula 1 racing, then some of the race cars would be forgotten, right?

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>>50620496
Thanks
For a little more background, In the early 2050s humanity basically discovered it knows a lot less then it thinks about the universe due to the discovery of a new element known as Element 115 that is used in Warp Drive engines among other things. This discovery kicked off a revolution in science leading to new capital E exotic materials that are used in the construction of space habitats, vehicles and military equipment including MECHS which were originally used for construction, exploration and EVA when in space

It wasn't for close to 100 years until MECHS became truly militarized when humans discover an alien Zerg/Nid/Bug species with the ability to naturally manipulate Element 115

>>50602013
>Is there any situation where walking vehicles makes sense?
Deliberately over-engineering something and spending ludicrous amounts of bux to make it combat effective to piss off people who hate mechs.

That or as combat sports for your civilian masses.

>>50602745
>drive tank on EDNIII
>hypothetically this tank is built to drive over snow so sinking isnt a concern
>make it half a mile before coming across a 90° cliff face or chasm
>have to drive several miles to get around this
Meanwhile VS with legs
>pilot up to cliff face
>jump up it, maybe using your limbs to climb if it's too tall to clear in one jump
>continue on your way

>>50614092
>Neural bridge controls require a humanoid body shape or otherwise the pilot can't "relate" to his vehicle and gets mind-fucked upon linking. Since neural bridge controls offer superior finesse and reaction time, not to mention a highly augmented engagement efficiency, humanoid war machines start to show up as elite shock troops.
>Neural bridge control gives too much edge over conventional weapon systems, and since it needs mechs to be a thing, so mechs it should be.

THIS.

I've had this same idea, and it's really the only logical reason I can come up with for humanoid war machines.

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Pacific Rim had a fun reason for mecha -- we needed to make mecha so that we could fistfight the giant monsters!

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There are some very creative anons in here. It's cool reading your mecha ideas and original settings.

Big question: what games/rules systems do you use for these original mecha settings?

>>50624237 wants to know.

>>50602745
I think you're missing the point. Basically, in Lost Planet, it was considered more cost effective to have a type of vehicle that, while it can't go over snow, can climb and jump with most of the nimbleness of its pilot, but without putting the pilot at risk of encountering potentially -100 degree temperatures without any protection.

You could have mecha where instead of carrying the pilot, you just have a cyberbrain with a human mind in it installed in the chassis and the mecha is effectively the pilot's "body".
It has to be humanoid, so that a human mind can most easily control a human-format body. For some reason AIs are shit/not trusted.

Alternatively, we might be in a war with giant, 5-10m tall aliens. So when we storm their facilities or starships, everything's built for a 5m tall being - the door handles, the alien's cargo containers, their captured weapons. A normal human could never pick up an alien railgun in the heat of battle, and a human-scale rifle does sweet fuck all against them, so we need big guns, mounted on platforms with the same mobility their infantry have - mechas.
Effectively, humans would be using the mechas as prostheses to interact with the scale of the enemy's tech.

>>50624800
>Effectively, humans would be using the mechas as prostheses to interact with the scale of the enemy's tech.

Which was how Macross went about it.

>>50602013
Exosuits on crack for that real tricky work. Alternatively small tanks with hands, for more city fighting, especially if you keep them small enough to get inside of things.

>>50602778
They did though, technically that's the incomplete version. The legs are shit

>>50610440
>why send a giant robot to look at something when you could have a unmanned drone, satellite, or dudes with optical equipment and radios look at something?

Because you also need to immediately get that thing. Drone's too tiny, satellite doesn't have long enough arms, and it's too heavy, toxic, or covered in spikes for some guys to just pick it up.

Also make your mechs smaller. All this talk of giant robots this and that. Small to medium only please, they need to be able to fit places.

>>50605989
Don't they usually get rekt by hackers in play?

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>>50602373

>Tanks can keep fighting even if their tracks are blown off

The same goes for a mech. It can just sit on its ass and shoot on people.

Heck, it could even start crawling forwards.

And there's no reason to make a bipedal mech.

>>50602013

I don't really expect manned mechs realistically. I think a niche for units like tachikoma from GitS:s exists though. A highly mobile fire support unit that supports its human operators. They'd be especially useful in urban warfare since all the paved roads would let them move very quickly without having to incorporate the sort wheels that allows for rough terrain.

>>50623637

I don't like how "realistic" designs always got all these exposed components.

Compare it to the patlabor, where exposed joints are drapped over with some sort of durable cloth or something to stop dirt from getting into the components (and to stop people from getting caught in them I guess)

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>>50625747
Yeah exposed cables and wiring bothers me too, I mean your car doesn't have exposed brake lines

>>50620543
Ah shit, this was meant for the OP
>>50602013

>>50625203
Not that often, really. Only if the player is dumb/playing against Nomads.

Usually ap ammo gets them first.

can we have some mecha arts up in this bitch?

>>50626676
No.

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>>50626010
Gundam does have Mobile Suits with covered joints. It's usually just reserved for specific situations like the Ground Types or stuff from the Thunderbolt Sector, both during OYW.

>>50602013
Intimidation.

>>50620402
A mind-body interface would be much different than physical input based operation methods. With the former, you would become one with the machine - there would be no intermediate devices that would make you feel separate. If you wanted to, say, spin the wheels of your car, then you shouldn't just kick the pedal and the machinery do the job, but you would have to spin the wheels all by yourself, the same way you would lift your leg.

At which point the question arises: do you really know how to lift your leg? It is an action fully controlled by your subconscious, and you subconscious only knows how to lift a leg, not how to spin a wheel. Trying to consciously spin the wheel would require immense concentration, so that's a no go. Getting an intermediate "translator" would just make the neural interface pointless. So you need legs on the vehicle.

>>50626752
I'll have you know that I identify as a Buick Regal. Thank. You. Very. Much.

>>50626010
I dunno, my car's pretty shitty mate

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>>50602013
Modular utility vehicles that can be adapted as weapon platforms if the need arises.
I believe that's how the titans of Titanfall started out with.

>>50610643
#RealSteel?

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>>50602013

Technicals.

Say, robotics got some neat advancements, synthetic muscle fiber gets cheap enough, and walkers oriented towards heavy labor take the civilian market by storm. Lumberjacking, mining, cargo lifting, etc. become far easier when you're sitting in a 3-4 meter tall workbot.
And if you're planning interplanetary/interstellar mining and colonization efforts, it'scheaper to ship vehicles with the size and mass of a car, rather than full blown bulldozers.

Sure, the military is going to keep tanks & co because they're better in combat roles, no doubt about it. But should shit hit the fan, if you can't afford a tank, if your dedicated warmachines are somewhere else and/or on fire, and it's fucking GO TIME, you can strap some steel plates, DHsKs and rocket pods on your glorified forklifts and get some cheap support vehicles for your infantry.

>>50607282
>>50607826
>>50628159
These anons get it.

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>>50626010
In 00's defense, the technology for the Gundams wasn't as advanced as later models so the Astraea and the Exia had to make due with the exposed cables because of some GN particle bullshit.

After the 00 Gundam, the cables were fully integrated into the body and were no longer exposed.

Essentially the tech they were dealing with was a bit too advanced for them so they made due with cables hanging out until they learned how to fix it, so at least they corrected their shit eventually

IIRC
Exia is still mai waifu doe

>>50613127
I'm just reposting an old image from /k/ because we get asked this stupid crap on there too. If you ignore the criticisms specific to the mech in the image it still does a good job at concisely arguing why mechs are impractical/silly.

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>>50602380
>>50602342
I fucking love that game so much.

What about super mountainous regions where wheeled/tracked vehicles have trouble going, but would benefit from a way to easily transport artillery? The Italians had this problem in both world wars, and fighting guerrilla wars with something more mobile like that would make it easier to terrorize civilian targets while still keeping a low profile.

Also because the mech can go more places without leaving a trail visible from overhead, it'd be easier to hide. It's hard for a group to hide a tank, but hiding a mech carrying a tank cannon might be easier.

Maybe also in urban warfare. Seems like anywhere a tank has trouble going, a mech could help.

>>50632630
Biped would still be shit. Quadruped is what you'd want for extremely harsh terrain.

>>50620337
The actual fighting in that show was baller, I hated it so much that they decided to focus mostly on their harem waifu bullshit.

>>50633305

Biped with arms that can flex as legs is superior. Best of both worlds since you get the scaling ability of a simple set of legs and arms while you get the stability of being a quadruped when moving on slightly more even terrain.

>>50633324
You might want to check out the source material if you think you can stomach a lengthy VN.

>>50626752
>At which point the question arises: do you really know how to lift your leg? It is an action fully controlled by your subconscious, and you subconscious only knows how to lift a leg, not how to spin a wheel. Trying to consciously spin the wheel would require immense concentration, so that's a no go. Getting an intermediate "translator" would just make the neural interface pointless. So you need legs on the vehicle.

While I appreciate the attempt at a logical explanation, that's not really true.

First, the idea that needing to translate the pilot's thoughts into control inputs defeats people of a mind-machine interface is patently false. Electrons and electrical circuits can easily be faster than manual input, and can allow for the execution of more complicated tasks than might be possible with manual controls (you only have so many hands and feet).

Second, you assume that your brain will recognize the foreign mechanical leg as its own leg just because it's the same shape - a foreign limb is a foreign limb no matter the format, and the brain will have to learn the new leg as much as it has to learn the wheel. This is true for a legged vehicle, or for a cybernetic prosthetic.

But the brain is very good at things like that - we call this trait neuroplasticity. It is precisely that quality which would allow the brain to learn how to control foreign appendages as naturally as any limb is was born connected to.

If you need any proof, here's a disembodied rat brain hooked up to a wheeled robot running around a guy's office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QPiF4-iu6g

>>50620337
Another reason for the humanoid design was traversing difficult cave terrain where using conventional armor proved impossible.

>>50602026
Jovian Chronicles has mechas and is hard scifi

>>50633365
Yeah I guess the concept of arms/legs is kind of just there because we can't turn our arms into legs

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>>50635362

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It's been a -very- long time since I've watched Gundam, but I liked their in-universe explanation for the first mechas in the Universal Century canon. (I'm sure someone with a better memory will correct me on the details):

Space battles were originally determined by long-range, ultraprecise gunbattles between capital ships (makes sense, that's probably how we'd do it at first too). But Earth had bigger and better capital ships than Zeon, and were proverbially wupping some metaphorical ass.

Out of desperation Zeon flooded the solar system with Minovsky Radiation, a plot-device particle that fucked up long range sensors (and also neatly explained why humans were still manning guns instead of having computers auto-target them). This took the 'ultra precise' out of long range gun battles and made them bullet-hell battles. This helped out Zeon some, because they couldn't make long range sensors like Earth could, but it was only a stop-gap measure. Earth still had bigger and better capital ships and simply had more bullets to spray and pray with than Zeon did.

Knowing their battleships just couldn't stand toe-to-toe with Earth's, Zeon turned to one last desperate strategy in what was thought to be Zeon's Last Stand:

Zeon replaced all of their capital guns with boarding bays, filled their ships with men in powered armor instead of bullets, and suicidally hurled them at Earth's amassed fleet. As expected, every Zeon capital ship was destroyed, but not before disgorging it's payload of jetpack-powered boarders called Zaku.

The sleek and clean and organized capital ship battles gave way to a zerg rush of powered armored dudes. The Zaku landed with a mere third of their forces as casualties and the gun battle became a melee. The small detachments of marines on Earth's capital ships were no match for even a single powered armored boarder, and the swarms of jet-fighters were of no use once a Zaku had cut it's way inside of a capital ship.

>>50634148
I always liked how in JC "giant robots are cool" is actually one of the in-universe reasons they use mecha.

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>>50636031
yeah basically. Minovsky particles are the big thing that makes MS a viable thing in UC Gundam.

>>50636031
mobile suits aren't power armor

>>50634020
The rat brain robot isn't really a good example, since it's more like a small scraping of neurons from a rat embryo being used in place of circuitry. The robot's responses are hard-wired from the beginning, when the researchers first hook up the Bluetooth components, and all that's happening is they fire more and more reliably as the robot scuttles around.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/biomedical/bionics/rat-brain-robot-grows-up

>>50636031
you got some very basic details right, but most of what you said was so incredibly wrong it hurt to read

watch the first couple minutes of this for a more accurate view of how the Battle of Loum went;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjpULn3jXR0


and here's a video showing what Mobile Suit combat is like between two highly advanced models towards the end of the war;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXQQpxhiQ4o

and one showing how the ground war went;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJBT74plP6A

>>50620796
Better bump your mystery element up a few periods, boy. 115 is called Moscovium now.

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>>50636561
Yeah I originally came up with the idea of using Bob Lazar's Element 115 before it was officially recognized and named.
But I decided to keep using it after Lazar said in an interview after its discovery that stable 115 that possesses the properties he described is simply an as yet undiscovered isotope of it
Also it's my own fictional setting so if I want it to work then it works, same reason a ship traveling under relativistic speeds use EM Drives

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>>50636838
say pal does you setting involve mechs fighting kaijus in a cold war setting?

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>>50636910
Depends on when you are in the timeline
The setting is basically a loose framework for whenever I run a mecha game
Early in the time line MECHS are either none existent or incredibly rare with power armor being the most fielded, later after the discovery of the Hive species MECHS come about, a little further down the line the Hive are beaten back and you begin to have conflict with Colonies seeking independence, and then later still you have the Hive coming back with semi-intelligent to actually intelligent Kaiju

The time line pretty much goes from Starship Troopers/Appleseed Landmates/Votoms style mechs early on that then progress to Gundam syle real robots then the crazier Gundam shit like Turn A's Moonlight Butterfly and at the far future it turns into Super Robots like Mazinger and Getter

I generally play fast and loose with specifics and certain details change like ships going from Ion Drives in the original conception to EM Dives in it's current incarnation, the setting is like I said more a framework than than something fully fleshed out

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>>50637100
I see I ask because I while back one anon was making a setting that had the coldwar setting expect NATO and the Warsaw pact fled to space colonies after kaiju emerged/ invaded and mankind now fight each other and the kaiju with smaller mechs that require teamwork to bring down and every mecha thread I go looking for the guy hopingmost likely in vain... to find him and get him to post his setting. one day perhaps...one day...

>>50602013
Mech combat is highly stylized and a form of extreme entertainment in the setting.

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>>50637100
>Gundam syle real robots
>Gundam
>real robots

>>50620337
That sounds kinda like Blue Gender.

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>>50638120
Yeah I know but I meant more along the lines of the RX-75 Guntank and the rest of the early UC stuff before brogressing to the really ridiculous stuff down the line

>>50602013
My setting with mechs: The first mechs were built for space construction. They retain humanoid form because they are piloted, in part, by means of neural connection and the brain has an easier time adjusting when the thing being controlled is closer to standard human configuration. They were first used in military service because of the ease of rearmament and reconfiguration compared to a tank. As such, mecha tend to be equipped with cutting edge weapons as a kind of field test of the technology before the gear finds its way onto a tank or battleship or whatever.

Their use dirtside is limited to small teams embedded in more conventional units. They serve as fire support and short range artillery, never fully entering combat unless strictly necessary. They are always screened by infantry, tanks and air elements.

Note: we use the Gundam style of mecha in our games.

>>50636068
Aesthetics have always played a role in military hardware, so it's not necessarily even that rediculous.

>>50602454
The Hawken lore has a virus?

>>50602013
>>50604398
>I think the intimidation factor is probably the biggest factor. Seeing a giant person crushing things underfoot and with giant guns attached to its forearms would probably unlock some sort of primal prey-like fear in someone.

I'd go with this honestly. Make them terror units, meant to do special forces stuff and terrorize populations. Go all out and include psychologically mind-fucking livery and prosthetics into the units. Make them monsters.

Along those lines make them into hardsuits/powerarmor +1. Carry big enough weapons to massacre enemy PA and kill IFVs, maybe make heavy armor cautious.

Alternatively, set up the realm so that human life isn't so cheap and the environment is very hostile. Make background EM radiation shitty enough that drone soldiers/units need close range command to be useful.

Or they could just be like some have said and be future "technicals".

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>>50602013
Space stations, space ships, low gravity environments.

A spider tank or similar with manoeuvring jets is superior to a tracked vehicle if you are navigating the cramped inner workings of a big space structure, even if there is simulated gravity tt would be incredibly easy to design a military station to make it a pain in the ass to effectively move a tracked or wheeled vehicle around inside.

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we all know the best mech is the Tone right ?

>>50639935
>titanfall
>mechs
dirty word!

>>50634020
>Electrons and electrical circuits can easily be faster than manual input, and can allow for the execution of more complicated tasks than might be possible with manual controls (you only have so many hands and feet).

The problem is that you lose time with the "translation", so your neural interface will not work at full capacity. Not to mention that you are risking "mistranslation".

>neuroplasticity

Yeah, I assumed that neuroplasticity is a thing, and thus your brain can control servos instead of muscles. But I think getting used to transmissions and differentials is pushing it.

And this is only for controlling the thing. The neural feedback from a multi-wheeled vehicle should be one hell of a tripy experience too.

>>50602013

A mech that can fulfill and excel in the three key aspects of what a frontline military fighting vehicle that expects to see the bulk of the combat.

It needs to have qualities in areas of:

Mobility
Flexibility
Firepower

In most fictional settings where mechs are predominant they usually beat ground vehicles in these areas. More mobile(THRUST VECTORING OWNS THE SKIES) which allows them to reach areas a tank could not like the top of a building or mountainous/hilly areas that have a steep incline that a tank could not aim its guns at with full degree range.

More flexibility being that they would be able to adopt different type of weapons depending on the mission or battle requirements plus the loadouts can be interchanged much easier than the vehicles since the mechs in most of these settings are designed to field a wide array of weaponry.

More firepower is simply them being able to field more weaponry in a single mech instead of spread across multiple vehicles. Consider in these fictional settings that a tank usually requires about 2-3 people firing one gun where as a mech in these settings requires a single mech pilot(some settings may have 2 pilots for very large mechs) that is capable of firing 3 or more of these guns. So theoretically a mech could beat a single tank in most of these settings since they would have the equivalent firepower of anything like 3:1 or 5:1 or whatever ratio depending on the setting and loadouts.

Now bear in mind these all work for the settings in mechs because there's something in that setting that makes them work. Be it Minovsky Particles(Gundam) or super lightweight armour(Battletech, an Atlas only weighs 20 tons more than a Modern Abrams Tank!) Mind you one of my favourite mech settings is Heavy Gear because the mechs in those games don't absolutely dominate but are still quite strong.

tl;dr I love mechs

>>50608124
>Comparing to Main Battle Tanks, MBT are kinda shit in asymmetrical war (which are making them phased out) and generally need support from other units, like infantry and air support, mines hinders their mobility/use, they can only move in certain terrains, making ambush and mine placement easier, they lack (very) long range capability, relaying on air support for that.
MBTs are invaluable in asymmetric warfare. Too many times have people fallen for that very meme, including military and political leaders. Then, when they are used, they prove to be incredibly useful.

>>50638768
>I'd go with this honestly. Make them terror units, meant to do special forces stuff and terrorize populations. Go all out and include psychologically mind-fucking livery and prosthetics into the units. Make them monsters.
>Along those lines make them into hardsuits/powerarmor +1. Carry big enough weapons to massacre enemy PA and kill IFVs, maybe make heavy armor cautious.
Intimitation only works if what causes the intimidation is powerful on its own right, and something like a mecha would have a massive number of issues that a enemy could and would ruthlessly exploit. I suggest you read about about the stuka sirens, to get a better idea why pure intimation is a ridiculous idea.

I was thinking about making a setting that mixes mechs with frontier, western type themes. What would I need to include to really make it pop?