148 replies to this topic

[Nexolate]

Link's broken but all I have to say in response to that last post is:

AC2
AC2: AA (Mate's)
AC3
SL: AC
AC: N

^__^

Edited by Nexolate, 10 June 2007 - 05:13.

[Hobbesy]

You know some of the units from Total Annihilation would be great for this mod.

[Zeke]

Vengence, on 9 Jun 2007, 21:32, said:

Like this one It is all heels and toe. In fact this leg has 2 heels and one toe. I used that config for my Whitestar.

DUM, DUM, DUUUM

[Vengence]

Removed. Well I never knew that happend :???: Well should've known they would have pulled that off anyways.

Quote

You know some of the units from Total Annihilation would be great for this mod.

Not the Kbots. The KBots don't exactly fit in. Some tanks might be a good inspiration but other than that not much is going in from TA. Besides... we don't have lasers or plasma cannons yet in this story .

Ok then official unit announcement and descript. Been holding this one off for a while:



CHI-55M-MAAW Mustang
Champion Industries 55 ton Medium Mechanized Armored Assault Walker

Speed: ***
Armor: ****
Firepower: ***
Cost: 1400

This here is the Mustang. One seriously good mech to have. Now just to clear up, if you see blue and silver stripes, it is Homeworlder. If you see crimson, grey, and silver it is Katarate.

The Mustang is quite possibly the second, if not, the most famous mech ever made. Historically it is the second ever war mech made and designed. Through its glorious history it has been remade and modified since its first incarnation. This class of mechs first saw action during the Trade War against Tharcadia's tank battalions and literally crushed them under their feet. For 150 years they have been upgraded and never phased out.

Gameplay:
Mustangs are what non katarate players will soon learn to hate. These mechs are the absolute BEST of the medium class. They combine very high armor ratings with good speed and good firepower with an absurdly cheap cost compared to the Homeworlder's STAR series mechs. In a direct fight one on one the Mustang will beat ANY mech of the same class. That includes Whitestars and Knights. It wields 2 CARMAGs (Conventionally Accelerated Railed Magnetic Accelerator Gun) and 3 machine guns making it well suited for the Assault role. However like every Katarate unit it is a specialized unit. Not Versatile like the Homeworlder's units. This unit has no anti air firepower whatsoever. To top it all off the rear armor is quite weak with the reactor almost jutting right out of the rear. Though Mustangs will easily win a direct conflict with a whitestar, a whitestar only needs to jump over it and blast that rear open with ease to win. However to trade off the cheap price, this unit takes a bit longer to build than usual since the Whitestar is so expensive but can be built faster than its price would say.

Secondly: The Mustang's CARMAGs are not armor piercing. They use hollow tipped rounds that flatten on impact. These "IMPACT" rounds don't pierce armor rather they crush it and damage the interior instead. Given the huge caliber of this weapon and the speed of the projectile the impact would be devastating. Especially against whitestar mechs. Whitestars are not hardened against IMPACT rounds, they are hardened to resist armor piercing rounds. A Mustang gains a firepower bonus against the Whitestar's armor type.

Summary: The Mustang is the best mech of the medium class and can easily win a direct confrontation with all of the other side's medium class mech. This unit is fast, strong, and cheap. However the build time is fairly long. Warning, the rear armor is weak, don't let Whitestars jump over or flank Mustangs. The Mustang has no AA ability. Mustangs are especially effective against Whitestars

Advantages:
High Armor
Good Firepower
Good Speed
Cheap
Strong vs Whitestar mechs

Disadvantages:
Long build time
Terrible rear armor
Specialized unit
No AA capability


Artist notes: This is one of my favorites . Of all of my units that were redesigned and remade, the Mustang was barely modified. Think of it as a sort of signature unit that must not be changed. Also the Mustang is one of this faction's first designed units, actually it is the second that I made for them ever . This design is based off a mech I saw in a sort of virtual board game, I think it was called Titans of Steel. I can't exactly remember but the most notable similarity is in the torso where it is a stretched hemisphere. Other than that not much is similar. One thing I wanted the mustang to keep was its big guns. That was the signature image.

[Waris]

This is one of your best design yet.

Keep it up.

[Nexolate]

The red and grey really compliment the death and destruction this design eminates. Awesome work dude...

[Vengence]

Well I might as well show this one too:



CHI-75H-MAFSW Trebuchet
Mechanized Armored Fire Support Walker

Speed:**
Armor:**
Firepower:****
Cost: 2400

Some of you may recognize this walker. It is the model that got me 3rd place in the CNC Files unit contest. What that means is that this model needs to be redone for CNC3. This model was made specifically for ZH in both poly count and skin. The skin was not made to have normal mapping and ZH's bad handling of skins meant that tiny details aren't exactly needed. Anyways, the story behind this unit:

Of all mechs in existence, none hold as much honor and fame as the Trebuchet mech. This walker holds the title of being the first war mech ever created! Around a decade before the Trade War, the Katarates developed the Trebuchet as a Fire Support unit with emphasis on maximum collateral damage and efficiency in the open fields. The Trebuchet does just that, it launches dozens and dozens of small dumb firing ballistic rockets that arc and drop on top of the target. This technique was however useless in the tremendously urban combat of the Trade Wars and almost cost the Trebuchet its future. However the numerous upgrades to the mech have yielded amazing results that contributed to its usage to this day. When it first appeared many claimed it to be useless in battle because of its thin armor and armor-less flimsy legs. However these drawbacks are welcomed by the pilots. The extreme stride of the legs allows them to travel long distances fast and the long legs also allow them to see above any obstructions. This makes for perfect forest fighting when a target is called, the mech need only to stand tall for a second to launch the munitions.

Gameplay:
This mech is similar to the Juggernaut given that it is a weakly armored artillery unit. However the Trebuchet puts more emphasis on splash damage rather than accuracy. This artillery mech is deadly against large groups of tanks and infantry. Mechs are significantly tougher against these attacks however, a heavy mech can easily shrug off these low yield missiles and plow through the storm. On the other hand these missiles are fairly effective at tracking slower mechs meaning Heavies may be able to survive a single barrage, but under a constant rain they will fall one way or another. Tanks will find themselves in trouble against these Trebuchets because tanks have little top armor. These missiles will strike directly on the top and may penetrate. This was the reason why the Trebuchet was so effective in the Trade War. The Tharcadians only had tanks and armor and were not prepared to fight mechs. Now many of you may see my mod as being a mech mod but that is not 100% true. There will be tanks, plenty of them. And the Treb is their worst nightmare. Trebuchets are a bit slow but not cumbersome, they have astounding agility for their weight but a fairly slow max speed. Like Juggernauts they can use spotters to spot a location and bombard it from a distance. Now comes the part where it shines. If you have a treb attack from clean across the map, the missile spread will be so large that these missiles might encompass the entire base. Now since the radius will be so big each missile will barely hurt a base, but if 6-8 of these work together the damage will become impossible to ignore and those spotters will have to go.

Summary: The Trebuchet is an aging artillery unit with little to no armor but decent speed and fast rotation speeds. They fire missiles that hit in a large radius and do large splash damage. They can also use spotters to attack across the map but the missile dispersal depends on the distance.

Advantages:
Strong Vs Infantry, Vehicles, Light Mechs
Large disperse radius is great against large groups
Can back out of a fight fast
Spotting ability allows to attack entire bases from across the map

Disadvantages:
The armor sucks
Dispersal at long distances may not do much damage
Kinda pricey
minimum fire distance is quite far

The Trebuchet is kinda tough to work out. It cannot be too easily destroyed but it cannot do too much damage against entire bases when using spotters. This unit is also the very first unit I have ever designed for my mod ever. It is a founding unit and really built up this side's foundations so it cannot be removed that easily.

[Vengence]

Right. I'm on a small roll here. This is the Jackal tank for the Empire. Like most of their units this tank is good against everything and doesn't need a dedicated anti infantry or anti air unit. However although it can fight alone its all round potency is not as good as a dedicated unit. Anyways here it is:



Jackals are armed with a relatively large railgun, flamer, and a missile launcher making it another omni potent unit. However the armor is quite limited. In actuality the frontal armor is seriously thick and tough while the rear has little at all.

Well these make good early rushers but their role in this game are a bit blurred. Perhaps I should make them opposite of the mechs?

[Warbz]

Im lovin the skins

[Sgt. Nuker]

More and more I see the Mech Warrior references. The Trebuchet and the Mustang look like Thoroughbreds rather than warriors. Their legs and paint jobs don't exactly scream "Come fight me", but more "race me and you'll lose by a mile". However, the Mustang does look lethal, and I can imagine if a stable of them can running towards me, I'd be wishing I was in Hawaii or some place tropical.

The Jackal reminds me of the tanks from the MW universe, like the Demolisher II. Tanks like the Jackal are packed chock full of weapons, with little regard for speed or armor. Weapons like the railgun and flamer take up a lot of room, or generate enormous quantities of heat, therefore taking up valuable weight for armor and a large engine.


Regards,

Nuker

[Vengence]

I need to finish the skins I guess. The treb never got a truly finished one rather it got a stylish one for the CNC files contest. And I guess I can change the Jackals room though just keep in mind that the Empire loves their versatility and are willing to give up armor to get it to keep speed.

[Nexolate]

The Trebuchet looks a bit slim for an Artillery Piece.
It looks like it'd be the GLA Rocket Buggy except 5 times faster.

As for the Jackal, I think it's perfect.
A really nice, streamlined tank. =)

[Vengence]

Yeah well the Treb was made for the CNC Files contest so it isn't that good, I owe it another remake.

[Sgt. Nuker]

No need to restructure the Jackal's room. It looks perfect because it is streamlined. Tbh, one of those racy skins would probably look good on the Jackal. Going a little further, the name "Jackal" does have an air of speed to it, so maybe that kind of skin wouldn't be completely out of the question.


Regards,

Nuker

[Vengence]

Sadly that is on the wrong faction. The 'blues' own the jackals. I might give it a similar appearance but the 'reds' are going to need a bit of a recoloring. You see, this coloring patter was made years ago when I made a sort of 'elite' group paint scheme and it basically evolved from there. I could go back to my roots and redesign the paint scheme but for some reason this feels so fitting for them.

[Vengence]

Big problem my computer's PSU went dead and some articles online say there can be a chance that the hardware within the PC might get damaged. Some might some might not. Either way this is a major set back and I won't have access to my resources for 35 days while I'm out on the other side of the country. Basically I won't have access to my photoshop skin layers, model refs, drawing refs, or anything located on my other PC and this pc I'm using now does not support SATA harddrives and its power supply is a weak 300 watt with a 20 pin main connector, my other pc has a 450 watt and a 20+4 connector. Because of these incompatibilities there is no way I will have access to my harddrive over the next month or so. However I do have access to 3ds but I feel more like making high poly models and animating them rather than making game models.

[Waris]

Bad news

I hope you can get back to modding soon. Or at least as soon as you think of continuing.

[Nexolate]

That's a shame, I was starting to wonder where you went and then this happens.
Hope you can get 'back in the saddle' as soon as possible. Your mechs are my Opium.

[Sgt. Nuker]

Life hands us these little presents sometimes. It sucks, but remember you'll have adoring fans of your work waiting patiently for your return. Come back when you can.

About the paint schemes: I guess I should have figured you had different colors for each team, and that each side had a specific paint style. Ah well, do what you think is best when and if you reskin them.


Regards,

Nuker

[Nexolate]

'Patiently' may not be the right word...
Anxiously would be a better term on my part.

[Whitey]

The Jackal has an awesome design, the mech above it looks really flimsy, the mech above that is awesome though the barrels look like they need some supports.

[Vengence]

I was thinking of adding a bit of a Ground Control flair by adding recoil springs onto those barrels but that wouldn't make it any better ya? Mr Flimsy needs a touch up but trust me, V2 of that design (for VGEN) was even MORE flimsy! This is currently V3 and just needs a bit more modifying. And yes each side has a sort of primary parade colors but if possible I might be able to make 2 sets of skins for all sides that can be turned on or off much like the Kane Edition skins.

Unit list modifications:

I have decided to scrap the Redstar mech in favor of a cheaper scout tank/vehicle or just have the Jackal take its place. After all the Redstar and Jackal wield the same exact armaments (rail gun, flamer, and missiles). If I still need a good scout I have an idea about the design, no probs.

I have also figured out a way to at least minimize the possibility of mech spamming but it is not solid right now.

[Vengence]

Well I am all settled here in Arizona visiting my dad. Boy is it hot... Anyways I gave him my Geforce 6800XT and Athlon64 3300+ and installed 3ds Max 7 and Photoshop. Though I lack the resources of my home PC in Georgia I plan on making some high poly versions. Whether it be for fun or cinematics I am on the path. I also got some movies planned in my head but nothing solid since I don't have my resources.

[Nexolate]

That's awesome man, glad to see you're starting to get back on your feet. ;D

[Vengence]

Blue Star remodeled from scratch and memory. The old one was a simple rip of the older whitestar mech. This one fully captures the design.

Just remember that this thing can fly indefinitely ingame. Took me a while to make because we were on vacation for a great deal of time. Oh, I also got a new weapon sound for this unit. Absolutely perfect too. Ok pancake time.