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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Warlock on March 04, 2003, 11:57:20 pm

Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 04, 2003, 11:57:20 pm
Ok, I'm working on designing a D20 Modern campaign based off a Mecha article in Polyhedron, but I'm having hellish writer's block lately and could use some good idea hooks. Since I know we've got alot of Anime lovers here, I thought it a good idea to start a thread to get some ideas rolling.

So far we've got the basics :

Main Players will have Mecha in the style of Gundam Wing : Endless Waltz (Concidering having the standard military mecha to be like the old school battle tech mechs, no hand manipulators and such,...basically just advanced walking tanks)

Main theme is Colonies (Mars) vs Earth

Timeline Roughly 2500 AD

Roughly 20 years prior to game start an ancient structure was found on Mars under one of the Polar caps during Ice mining , although much of the technology found hasn't been completely understood it did lead to advancements that have made the Players Mecha possible, which the Colonies think will give them a chance over the much more powerful Earth. One ofthe major technological advancements is an organic like technology that gives the mecha a muscle-like internal structure allowing more human like movements.
     Sideeffects: Known, the Mecha's neural interface is highly receptive and rejects most pilots. Unknown, the organic technology has deeply inlaid what is basically a 'personality' into each mech. This part will come out during the course of the game,...but think Evangelion (only without the "Inbedded Soul" bit)


Timeline I'm working on so far:





So if anyone has any ideas or thoughts, please post them ;)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Shrike on March 05, 2003, 12:04:55 am
Other than 'tanks are better than mechs'?  ;)

Need to see more about your timeline first.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 12:07:49 am
Yea I'm working on that a bit too,... just having one of those "must write down ide...........what was I gonna do ? " things going on :nervous:

Hence my frustration and coming here to get a few ideas ;)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 05, 2003, 02:18:36 am
hey, have tanks and 'mechs ah la Battletech or heavy gear
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Gortef on March 05, 2003, 05:37:25 am
this is quite far fetched

The second FTL model that got away (and assumed structural failure) could land on a Moon (the dark side of the moon so that it's easy to explain why it got there unnoticed). Then you could add a big colony into the Moon (heck if there is going to be one in Mars then why no in Moon too).

Now, in every colony there will also be some "troublemakers" and this time the "troublemaker"s in Moon will find the lost FTL (in quite good condition) and this group will use their own skill's (and perhaps kidnap some assistance) to make their own Armored force (a bit crappy but fast for example... for guerilla tactics). And when the game starts you will have one group of people more (NPC's for example) who could bring more tension to the story.

*whew*
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 10:34:43 am
Quote
Originally posted by Gortef
this is quite far fetched

The second FTL model that got away (and assumed structural failure) could land on a Moon (the dark side of the moon so that it's easy to explain why it got there unnoticed). Then you could add a big colony into the Moon (heck if there is going to be one in Mars then why no in Moon too).

Now, in every colony there will also be some "troublemakers" and this time the "troublemaker"s in Moon will find the lost FTL (in quite good condition) and this group will use their own skill's (and perhaps kidnap some assistance) to make their own Armored force (a bit crappy but fast for example... for guerilla tactics). And when the game starts you will have one group of people more (NPC's for example) who could bring more tension to the story.

*whew*


Hmmm not a bad idea at all :) Could make for a great adventure hook :)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 10:38:37 am
Quote
Originally posted by Turnsky
hey, have tanks and 'mechs ah la Battletech or heavy gear


Yea that's something I had in mind for the normal Earth and Mars military. actually found a few of my old Battle tech books today :)

Player mecha will be as in the following examples I pulled off a few sites ;)

(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/dengekihobby/msz-006-titans.jpg)

Alternate styled Wing Zero
(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/dengekihobby/wg0c-hikaruspecial.jpg)

(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/hobbyjapan/rx-178re-01.jpg)

(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/hobbyjapan/project-a-12.jpg)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Nico on March 05, 2003, 10:53:40 am
to be honest I don't like the gundams at all. I like the series', but the gundams themwselves, they're so cheesy :doubt:
give me a labor or an armored shrike!
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 10:57:30 am
Quote
Originally posted by venom2506
to be honest I don't like the gundams at all. I like the series', but the gundams themwselves, they're so cheesy :doubt:
give me a labor or an armored shrike!


*Throws Plate mail on Shrike and hands him over to Venom*

OK here ya go ;7

BTW Most of the reasoning for the Gundam style,. aside from most of the group likes them,...is the anime them. Mecha like the Madcat, Warhammer and such from Battletech just never jumped out at me as Anime styled :)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Nico on March 05, 2003, 12:32:34 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Warlock


*Throws Plate mail on Shrike and hands him over to Venom*

OK here ya go ;7

BTW Most of the reasoning for the Gundam style,. aside from most of the group likes them,...is the anime them. Mecha like the Madcat, Warhammer and such from Battletech just never jumped out at me as Anime styled :)


mmh.
labor: from the anime series patlabor. labors are robots, patlabor stands for patrol labor ( police labors ). probably my favourite mecha design ever. the ingram is a reference when it comes to japanese mecha design, as much as a gundam or an eva.
in the series you have all kinds of labors ranging from those used to build buildings, to military labors.

armored shrike: from the anime series blue gender. it's the same kind as above, but they have guns and stuff.
imagine starship troopers with anime-like mechas, you'll get an idea of the series.

both series are absoltly brilliant by the way :)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 12:49:39 pm
I'll look them up then ;)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Nico on March 05, 2003, 01:27:47 pm
PATLABOR:

the AV-98 INGRAM
(http://www.robotoys.com/LIAIngram1.gif)
models are cool :D

(http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/everyanimerpg/images/Patlabor.JPG)

(http://www.store666.com/vcd_img/771295.jpg)

the Griffon ( a prototype built by a company, it keeps teasing the police, it's used in secret operations and is a demonstrator: clients watch the scene from the distance. it kicks ass ):

(http://double.adam.ne.jp/robotpic/patlabor/patlabor6_2.jpg)

yeah, it has wings in this version ( but it flies VERY bad, it seems, if you see the OAV you'll understand :lol: )

It's easy to find stuff about Patlabor, it's very popular.

BLUE GENDER:

a nice painting with two different armored shrikes ( the orange one is a two seated one ) and a blue:
(http://xrayanime.com/bgns2.jpg)

lots of blue gender pics ( I love that anime ). WARNING: it contains some nudity ( surprisingly, tho, no gore - blue gender is VERY gore ).
http://xrayanime.com/images.html

a very nice blue gneder site for some infos:
http://www.bluegender.com/profiles.htm

armored shrike pics aren't easy to find :(
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 01:47:14 pm
Thanks I was having a bit of trouble locating pics I could actually see clearly :D

That GriffonLabor looks pretty sweet :)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Nico on March 05, 2003, 01:51:02 pm
yeah, that's my favourite labor, but I prefer when it has the swimming back thinguy rather than those wings.

for the armored shrikes, check the second ink, pics are small but list all of them.
I could make screencaps too, but only if somone wants me to.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 05, 2003, 03:55:52 pm
Aside from mecha,... anyone have any ideas for timeline events ? Trying to 'roughly' cover until 2500, and I'm kind of stuck for ideas at the moment.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: RangerKarl on March 06, 2003, 02:10:06 am
Where's the Macross, baby?:D  And your storyline sounds suspiciously like Zone of the Enders to me...
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 02:13:12 am
Does the macross actually count as a mech? i always thought of it as the "big arse transforming ship" the valks and the like though are mechs
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: RangerKarl on March 06, 2003, 02:21:44 am
Well, I meant Macross in general, but I suppose a mech is a mech, no?
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 02:24:25 am
ahhh, now is see, i thought you meant the macross (sdf-1 to some of us) not all the mechs seen throughout the entire series *wishes he had a cyclone*
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: RangerKarl on March 06, 2003, 02:38:22 am
Bah, gimme a VF-22s anytime
(note: Cyclone armor is in Robotech, not the original Macross series)
(Another note: the VF-22 is what some would call a 3rd gen. Variable Fighter. Look it up)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Kamikaze on March 06, 2003, 02:48:41 am
I prefer the VF-19 Exclaliber to the VF-22 Strumvogel :D Probably the fault of VF-2X for the playstation, the VF22 sucks in that game for some odd reason.

Anyway I prefer more utilitarian designs (usually) so Patlabors are good, gundams just look... erm.... wacky. They may be pretty-ish but they don't look like war machines.

I really like the Gasaraki mechs (haven't seen the anime, grr) so I'll give some pics:

(http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/ta.jpg)
(http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/fake.jpg)
(http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/fake3.jpg)
(http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/1ta.jpg)
(http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/dvd3.jpg)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 02:50:27 am
They look like big red x's too me :P
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Kamikaze on March 06, 2003, 02:59:08 am
damn, geocities links, go here: http://www.geocities.com/tactical_armor/TApics.html
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: RangerKarl on March 06, 2003, 03:33:31 am
The VFX 2 Excalibur was cool, yes, but all round, you have to go with the Sturmvogel. You just can't beat it!:D
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 06:58:44 am
Quote
Originally posted by RangerKarl
Where's the Macross, baby?:D  And your storyline sounds suspiciously like Zone of the Enders to me...


Or like Gundam's story line....or at least half a dozen oher Anime shows ;)

While I'm a big fan of Macross (heh I grew up with Robotech) that's just not the style I'm going for in this campaign.

The reasoning for Gundam Type mecha, a major part of the storyline will be the pilot/mecha intermix. As the players not only learn to control the mecha more effectivly (heh they're being "tossed to the wolves" sort of speak) but they'll become more aware that each mecha is matched to them and them alone and becomes basically an extention of themselves.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 10:35:42 am
More onthe timeline



Still working on the rest of the timeline, if anyone has any ideas for an event let me know ;)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Gortef on March 06, 2003, 12:43:17 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Warlock


Hmmm not a bad idea at all :) Could make for a great adventure hook :)


Thanks, I'm glad if that helped :nod::yes:
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 01:32:00 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Gortef


Thanks, I'm glad if that helped :nod::yes:


Thanks for the help too :)


More Timeline Data:


Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 04:20:26 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Warlock


Or like Gundam's story line....or at least half a dozen oher Anime shows ;)

While I'm a big fan of Macross (heh I grew up with Robotech) that's just not the style I'm going for in this campaign.

The reasoning for Gundam Type mecha, a major part of the storyline will be the pilot/mecha intermix. As the players not only learn to control the mecha more effectivly (heh they're being "tossed to the wolves" sort of speak) but they'll become more aware that each mecha is matched to them and them alone and becomes basically an extention of themselves.


Okay, gundams are cool to look at but if you're going for a military style here, i'd suggest changing the colour scheme a little. That's just my two cents of course
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 04:22:20 pm
It's actually going to be fairly Anime themed instead of hardcore military.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 04:25:53 pm
i see, well good luck
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 04:31:15 pm
Thanks ;)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 04:35:03 pm
i must admit i've never actually seen any of the gundam series only heard of them, don't have cable or sattilite where i live *SOB* :(
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 04:40:31 pm
I've only seen a very FEW of the Gundam Wing series and the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz movie (or was it a mini-series?)

Currently Cartoon Network has G Gundam ,.... which is way too much like some wacked out StreetFighter wanna be for me :) It's sort of the "Each Country picks a warrior to fight in their name".

Sometimes I think a good series dies out because the writers just run out of ideas and then start doing silly crap LOL
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Turnsky on March 06, 2003, 04:50:40 pm
just like the x-files..
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 04:54:28 pm
lmao
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Kamikaze on March 06, 2003, 06:13:34 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Warlock
I've only seen a very FEW of the Gundam Wing series and the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz movie (or was it a mini-series?)

Currently Cartoon Network has G Gundam ,.... which is way too much like some wacked out StreetFighter wanna be for me :) It's sort of the "Each Country picks a warrior to fight in their name".

Sometimes I think a good series dies out because the writers just run out of ideas and then start doing silly crap LOL


I agree that the whole thing seems like the developers were on crack :p (BTW: I'm pretty sure G is older than W, it's just that toonami has no chronological sense or doesn't care)

There's Gundam X too, judging from the first episode it has sucky animation and is based around the original gundam concept.

My favorite gundam series would be Gundam 08th MS Team, nice animation, nice dubbing and it has more of a militaristic, war feel to it... (Oh and I love Zakus and Doms :D)

(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/08thmsteam/ms-06f.jpg)

Zaku :D

(http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/08thmsteam/ms-09.jpg)

Dom

Oh and a really good site for image/data resources (for any mecha thingy) http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/index.htm
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 06, 2003, 07:44:44 pm
Heh actually buddy that's the exact link I've been using for our Players Mecha.  :D

Although mostly these will be used for visual effect and weaponry will most likely be different ;)

Currently I'm concidering added some extra "spiritual" aspect to the game. Probably because I just finished watching Final Fantasy Spirits Within again  lol Just not sure exactly what I want to do with this idea yet. Although I already have the colonies discovering ruins from the ancient Martians :)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: neo_hermes on March 06, 2003, 08:22:21 pm
the GAT-X103 Buster Gundam looks pretty cool

LOL the Aegis Gundam looks kinda like the Santhanas.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Stryke 9 on March 07, 2003, 01:14:21 am
 LINK (http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?Stryke 9)
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Kamikaze on March 07, 2003, 01:17:01 am
[random-jedi-voice]You underestimate us[/random-jedi-voice]
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Nico on March 07, 2003, 03:08:44 am
Quote
Originally posted by Stryke 9
LINK (http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?Stryke 9)


funny how I check all your links before actually clicking on them :p

btw, gundam seed sounds like it's very good.
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Gortef on March 07, 2003, 04:18:27 am
G Seed? It's AMAZING! I was hooked to it the moment I saw the first episode.

I don't need to tell you anything more... just go and get it somehow :D

Oh and good luck to your project Warlock, I'm really hoping to see more from it in future :)
It sounds really promising
Title: Calling all Mecha lovers,... ideas needed
Post by: Warlock on March 07, 2003, 10:09:14 pm
Little bit more on the timeline only 128 years left to cover ;) *whew*