Welcome to Mecha Monday! Here we dedicate ourselves to mecha RPGs, war games, and board games alike. Here we start games, tell campaign stories, share resources & assets, and seek advice for our games and homebrew.Let us know what needs to be updated with the pastebin.Assorted Mecha Goodness:https://pastebin.com/E2wi55AZ (embed)Embryo Machine Translationhttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r_cjOLuUp3HussVRhbQYU3G0zK6hwy1rPrevious Thread: >>93147037Thread Question: Do you prefer terrestrial or space settings? Why? What Kinds?Thread Theme: https://youtu.be/W43gxaC8QpU?si=a1G92VXLjXJgqSlR
>>93219314TQ: I've never liked space as a battlefield as much as terrestrial ones, but I like space as a setting & space opera as a genre. I think this largely comes down to the emptiness of space often times & how as a GM players almost never capitalize on the Z axis of those battlefields much.
>>93219314Colonial settings.
>>93214858>what exactly do (You) consider important in a mecha setting?why the mechs are there, even if only in universe, making sense. doesn't have to actually make sense, just sound reasonable enough for the setting, instead of them just being there 'just because'.personally i actually prefer mixed arms, mechs not having randomly made everything else obsolete, just having found their place among them, and yes they can be more popular than other options, but thats different than them fully replacing them.mixed arms can also be a good way to show off a mechs strengths but also keep mech pilots humble if they're not supposed to basically be super soldiers/heroes. that said, replacing them CAN work, but you need a much wider variety of mech types and sizes to me to explain how they are filling in all the gaps.>My immediate answers are how the mechs themselves work should be clearly definedalways good, even if its 'basically magic', so long as it feels like theres something there to help get you into the setting and know some of what to possibly expect out of them as a base, its good.>mechs should be broadly available to enable more character concepts,this part im a bit more middle ground on, as i think it can work on either side of the extremes or anywhere in the middle, just so long as its written well. long term for a multiplayer setting made to host different campaigns though, probably is best to only go slightly below medium level availability though, i can understand that.>that you should have factions, groups that characters can do work for, against, run into and shape.well this is very important, but to any setting honestly, not just mecha.
>>93219314>TQTerrestrial, wild/undeveloped settings with a bit of play in cities occasionally to provide more thought to how you fight or move around or interact with people.
>>93220198>personally i actually prefer mixed armsSame. One of the things I like about series like Patlabor, Muv-Luv, etc is how the mechs are very much important but they haven't entirely replaced all other forms of vehicles of war. Despite the Muv-Luv Alternative anime being pretty mediocre it had one scene that I absolutely loved. They were attacking a hive. The ships are in the bay laying down suppressing fire while landing boats drop armored cars and tanks onto the beachhead meanwhile the mechs squadrons fly in overhead at low altitude. It was a nice rare moment of combined arms warfare in the mecha genre.
>>93222672Those helicopters look so damn goofy
>>93215031>I actually have a pertinent question for this thread, one I ask because I’m reaching the point where I start defining my project’s setting, and that is - what exactly do (You) consider important in a mecha setting?>My immediate answers are how the mechs themselves work should be clearly defined, mechs should be broadly available to enable more character concepts, and that you should have factions, groups that characters can do work for, against, run into and shape. But that’s just my opinion, and I’m likely missing a lot of perspective here.I think you're asking for things which are really based on personal preference, so I'll say this:I like mecha settings that take place in the future. Of Earth. I like mecha settings that involve Earth somehow. And I don't (generally) like the idea of mecha settings with lots of different alien races, ala Star Wars or Star Trek or whatever.
>>93223828i don't usually give people shit for their bad taste but goddamn dude
>>93222672see I prefer it if mechs are pretty much all there is, and they're ground-bound. I hate mechs that spend all their time flying, or even worse roller-skating around.
>>93219314>Do you prefer terrestrial or space settings? Why? What Kinds?As with most things, I like both. Space combat can be a little generic, but adding in a space station or ship or an asteroid field or whatever helps a lot.>>93219431>as a GM players almost never capitalize on the Z axis of those battlefields muchHm! That's a good point. I need to think about ways to integrate that into space combat rules. I want them to be different from atmospheric flight rules... But not TOO different. But a little bit can go a long way, it shouldn't be annoyingly complicated. Any suggestions?
>>93223920I think the biggest differences for space combat compared to atmo is that there's no gravity without external sources. So you don't fall like you do in atmo. On the other hand there's nothing to stop inertia in space, so they should drift if they don't anchor themselves or use thrusters to maintain their position and any weapon with a kickback will send them reeling without counter-thrusters. Naturally ideally those things would be automated on any mech from a sufficiently advanced setting, But it is something you can mess with via Electronic Warfare (which imo is something else most mecha settings don't ever capitalize on) perhaps.In my mind Atmospheric combat is more of a balancing act, you have to maintain your altitude while fighting & worrying about the strain, heat, & fuel consumption pretty much constant use of your engines and thrusters causes.
>>93220198Combined arms make any setting cooler only fools disagree
If you're gonna do combined arms do something interesting with them. Otherwise it feels like a tax for people afraid of being seen as mecha nerds. "of course there needs to be a bunch of generic cold war to modern tanks and helicopters alongside the mechs, we don't want to come of as weeaboos!".
>>93224382My reason is it simply makes it really easy for me to fill out an enemy list of different stuff to fight as a mech.
>>93224382Or maybe I just like tanks and choppers too. Where is this shame of being a mecha nerd coming from? In terms of interesting is adding mecha not enough? In someway I guess I agree. Add even more combat vehicles. I think satellite weaponry is pretty kick ass that should always show up in combined arms stuff. Spaceships are also always a plus, even if it rarely impacts stuff on the ground.
Lamearth is getting a remake. I know it's pointless but I'll boo anyway.
>>93224382Holy projecting. I like combined arms because I like to see a bunch of different unit types all doing their part to win a battle. Mechs are cool. Tanks are cool. APCs are cool. Battleships are cool. Starships are cool. Aircraft are cool. Helicopters are cool. Infantry is cool.
>>93224604>>93224700Why are they so frequently depicted as forgettable stock art realmilitary like it's some kind of tax to include them? Like background filler. All I'm saying is, if you're coming up with a fantasy scifi setting with crazy robots, put some effort in and don't just drop in the marines and their apcs like they've walked straight over from next doors iraq war drama. It doesn't take much to keep an aesthetic consistent.
>>93224742Huh, had no idea that the Type 61 A+ existed. Neat.
>>93224742Why would they not look realmilitary? The Zaku is a piece of military equipment too and even is painted to match here. Also the twin cannon barrels are anime af.
>>93224742>Why are they so frequently depicted as forgettable stock art realmilitaryah yes, the grounded and staunchly realistic non-mecha designs of mobile suit gundamthe tanks look like tanks because tanks are coolthere's mobile suits that are still fucking tanks
>>93224742I really how Heavy Gear those it. You have the IFV-like gears/apes and other small mech, and then the striders than are more like tanks on legs for difficult terrain, while a Tank, helis and fighters/bombers still exist and are extremely good in they niche. The only kind of mechs than lack in heavy gear for my taste is Bio-mechs made from kaijus, EVA-like ones and the space-fighter equivalent (but here you can just use the Jovian chronicles ones).
>>93225407If you really wanted to be mean, you could have posted some of the completely dumb stuff that Zeon came up with when they realised they had to invade Earth and needed planes and tanks that could work in the atmosphere.I'm not even going to get started on the Marine Mobile Suit crash development. They went from nothing to MULTIPLE working models, the first ever equipped with zeonic MS scale beam weapons as well, in six months.SIX MONTHS.
>>93225301>>93225407No, I posted gundam tanks because they are cool and inventive and try different things. These are good things. All gundam's military technology is a remix. Or completely bonkers, that's cool too.
>>93226077I love that dumbass gigantic helicopter like you wouldn't believe
>>93224382>>93224742Have you ever seen an actual tank with two barrels like that (you haven’t because it’s not realistic)But even if it was, who fucking cares? Tanks and helicopters and fighter planes are all cool, and they don’t make mechs any less cool unless you’re insecure about liking mechs. Now fuck off back to /btg/.
>>93224742If it's a near future setting it makes sense. We still use Cold War era tanks that we upgraded. Even the newest tanks are iterations of cold war designs. We likely wouldn't stop using them even if we had the secret sauce to make mechs, because they are practical designs and they work. Even if you apply that secret sauce to a tank, you're now making a super tank that is in the same realm of the mechs and like the mechs compliments rather than replaces the standard tanks.
>>93219314Is Battle Century G any good?
>>93228344In fact, infantry and tanks make mechs look way cooler, because it gives them a concrete relative scale in both dimensions and capability. Two mechs fighting alone on a flat plain mostly wind up looking like two regular dudes in halloween costumes to me.
>>93229177Seconding that. Mecha's impact is always decreased when a sense of scale is taken out of the equation.Guess that also answers the >>93219314 TQ for me - definitely terrestrial
>>93223837>And I don't (generally) like the idea of mecha settings with lots of different alien races, ala Star Wars or Star Trek or whatever.What are some settings like this? I'm curious.
>>93229815Not him but Macross comes to mind.
>>93224382i dont like this argument because it implies all mecha IS weeaboo in aesthetic.no flak to those that do like it mind, im just saying in terms of those look and how they operate, theres a big difference between say, Gundam, and Battletech and Heavy Gear Blitz.im just more of a fan of the latter two (HGB to be exact) specifically for the mechs, but i specifically like the grittier, less 'superheroy' feel of how they use and depict mechs.in more fair wording though, i think someones said before mechs are either depicted as replacements for planes, or tanks, in a vague sense. i've just never been a fan of planes, so super fast mechs simply dont appeal to me, but i've always liked tanks and ground combat, so the latter does.
>>93231270>i dont like this argument because it implies all mecha IS weeaboo in aesthetic.Well, yeah it kinda is. Most any Heavy Gear nerd is also a Votoms fan because where do you think the aesthetic came from. Not to mention just how "deviantart manga" Barbes art is. Battletech might be an even worse offender since the Unseen designs are lifted right off Dougram and Macross. Hell BT has quite the Dougram DNA in general in a similar manner that Heavy Gear shares a relationship with Votoms. I guess my ultimate question for you is, what makes Gundam weeb-y but not Votoms or Dougram?
>>93231349theres a reason i used gundam as an example, not votoms. you having to change it from gundam to votoms basically says everything in and of itself better than i could ever articulate.
>>93231399NTA but it's all anime. All of it. Trying to paint something as "not weaboo" and thus western is nothing but cope.
>>93231399That more has to do with just how vast of an identity Gundam has at this point. I can tell you that Votoms shares a lot of DNA with the original 0079 series, at least imo. It feels like when people call "Gundam" weeaboo or some other similar label they're almost 90% thinking of something more modern like 00 or Wing. The original MSG series is just as "grounded" as Votoms is.
>>93231407i consider anime and weeaboo vastly different.its kinda a dumb argument too, because its actually a very dumb western thing to stuff all of anime into one box, when it very much is not, and from what i understand the japs dont themselves. >>93231454true, and very much i will admit that is not the ones i was referring to. but, at least from my own experiences, the mainstream gundam nowadays the majority talks about isnt really that 'grouping' of gundam anymore. even the old stuff did get into the 'super' themes a bit too though, it was just done, well, imo, much better than most later series. mind you, i liked the og, and iron blooded orphans is one of my favorite shows i think i've watched, so i have nothing against anime or even a bit of weeaboo.as i said, i just dont think you have to be a weeaboo to be a mech fan, is still my point i stand by.
>>93231588>and from what i understand the japs dont themselves.Well considering that everything animated is called “anime” in Japan because it’s literally the Japanese word for animation…..
>>93231606yes, exactly my point.
>>93231270All mecha is weaboo in aesthetic, anon. Where do you think Battletech got it designs from?
>>93231588I feel like the definition of "weeaboo" must have been dragged through 5 layers of mud because I think that's why there's a slight disconnect in the point you're trying to make. To me I guess "weeaboo" means fan and frequent enjoyer of anime, in which case you would have to be a weeb to also be a general mecha fan and not stick to just Battletech. But I think I get what you mean in that obviously different mecha shows and franchises are going to cater to different mecha aesthetics. Liking Mazinger Z doesn't mean you're guranteed to like Patlabor. That's also why bringing Gundam as a franchise into the discussion really muddy the waters as Gundam basically has IP schizophrenia. It's always a gamble as to what you're getting out of Gundam. besides I guess the titular Mobile Suit itself (and even then a Turn A hardly looks like a Gundam). To me when I hear Gundam as is, my mind thinks of 0079 but that must not be the case for most, especially outsiders that have never watched a Gundam show or movie at all.
>>93231763i suppose. anime is just as >>93231606said to me and alot of groups i've hung out in. just a very broad term.'weeaboo' to said groups always was more of the... sketchy stuff, or the really kinda silly/over the top stuff. basically panty shots and/or Japanese 'super hero' stuff, though that last ones also a bit era based i'd argue.gundam is... well like i admitted to and others have said, is very schizo on where it falls in there depending on the specific series, and more of the looser 'super' stuff even when it is a bit more 'weeaboo'... usually. while super anecdotal a big disconnect too is just...i know people who just do not like weeaboo or even anime (in the definitions im giving), but like some mecha stuff and/or theres some i know i could introduce to them without them cringing. it seems just against the grain i've regularly seen to say you have to be a fan of one to like the other, or vise versa. to be fair alot of this is probably because i'd argue theres been a bit more stuff on the vidya side that tries to appeal to a different/wider audience than alot of anime does, but that could just get into the over simplification of categorization many give to anything from japan.
>>93229815>>93229845Regarding the prospect of "mecha settings with lots of different alien races, ala Star Wars or Star Trek or whatever" it's actually quite rare.Macross does indeed come to mind at this point, but for the fact that virtually every alien race in Macross is just humans with some slight alteration (green skin, pointy ears, etc). The giant Zentraedi are distinctive, but it's made clear humans and Zentraedi are basically the same when they go through a shrinking/embiggening process.Yamato has the same issue. There are many alien races, but they're all just humans who are green or blue or gray or whatever. The original 1970s show had bee people and some other space weirdos, but they were not a major part of the show.Outlaw Star, Space Dandy, and Lensman are sci-fi anime series that have lots of different alien races ala Star Trek/Wars, but they don't focus on giant robots much. They have varying amounts of mecha content, but they're no Macross or Gundam or anything.One of the main reasons I don't like mecha settings with a Star Trek/Wars alien melting pot style is because it's so damn rare in mecha anime. To me it feels like a misunderstanding of the genre.Weirdly, 1983's "Mission Outer Space SRUNGLE" does have a Star Trek/Wars alien melting pot setting, complete with E.T.-like weirdos... But even then, nearly all the aliens that actually have spoken lines are humans with purple skin or green skin or whatever. Almost all mecha anime that have aliens usually have just US versus THEM. And even then, the "them" (the aliens) are almost always just humans with a different color palette. I chalk this up to Japan's relatively isolated development as a nation and its history of foregin invasion. I mean, at least Mospeada, Muv-Luv, and Gall Force have alien invaders that are inhumanly alien.
>>93232547Wait a sec, there are BETA TSFs?
>>93219314>Thread Question: Do you prefer terrestrial or space settings? Why? What Kinds?Terrestrial settings. I like space settings but I don't like mechs in space. It's mostly because I'm a fighterfag as well as a mechfag, I don't like it when mechs become these universal machines that make every other piece of equipment useless. I'm not even opposed to flying mecha and can enjoy stuff like Gundam just fine, it's just that if I'm in control of the setting I'm not letting mechs fight space battles. As for examples, there are a ton of them. I'll even include Votoms here since most of the action tends to take place on planetary surfaces and ATs are quite clumsy with their space thrusters.
There is DEFINITELY a Western aesthetic to mecha that stands apart from the Eastern aesthetic to mecha. It doesn't matter that the Western aesthetic draws from Japanese sources originally. Put simply, Western 'Mechs' generally look like Destroids. Simple as that. Japanese mecha design is mare varied and, to grossly generalize, "smoother and slicker."Perhaps the correct comparison is beautiful versus ugly. Both can look cool and great, but Gears of War games are very Western looking video games: very cool in an ugly way. Final Fantasy games are very Eastern looking video games: very cool in a beautiful way.Now I know all of this is highly subjective and overly broad; there will always be exceptions. Of course there is Japanese mecha fare that is ugly-cool (Dragon's Heaven and Maschinen Krieger) and Western mecha fare that is beautiful-cool (Sym-Bionic Titan and Dynamo Joe). But at the end of the day, when one speaks of a Western-style 'Mech' one thinks a bulky, reverse-kneed, walking gun platform. When one speaks of Eastern-style mecha, one thinks of flying, agile robots with swords and rifles.
>>93228344Again I'm posting those because those are cool and creative. Do you think I'm posting FSS because I think it's boring and unimaginative lol>>93231270>mecha IS weeaboo in aestheticThat's because mecha IS weeaboo in aesthetic. >Gundam, and Battletech and Heavy Gear BlitzThese are literally all the same flavor. They're all based on what gundam brought to the table. Gundam is the origin point of much of what battletech and heavy gear took, even if they have have much more direct "sources of inspiration" lol>>93232615Or we could not base any of our thinking on stereotypes that don't actually suit the full breadth of the genre.If you're a fan of giant robot fighting media that's very massively, frequently copyright-threateningly based on animated japanese media, then it's just something you have to accept. They didn't literally trace these designs from anime just for people to turn up their nose and say "actually there's a mysterious, inherent difference that can't be explained but is certainly there".
>>93232615Prevalence of a style isn’t the same thing as a style being exclusively unique.
>>93233105I... don't think anyone said it was?
>>93232547>One of the main reasons I don't like mecha settings with a Star Trek/Wars alien melting pot style is because it's so damn rare in mecha anime. To me it feels like a misunderstanding of the genre.While I also don't like melting pot-type stuff for different reasons, I wouldn't say part of it is that it's a "misunderstanding of the genre." A big part of the core of the genre is the psychology of war and its effects on the people fighting the wars and their families, and that can be extended to any species, humanoid or not. It just depends on how it's handled. And I'm not one to say that mechs need to specifically represent the human form.Even then, though, I won't push away the thought of mecha stuff not based around around constant war and the like, because, of course, that can also be pretty nice if handled well and it does well to show other facets of life possible in the kind of setting that mechs may exist in.
yooo odin god i'm glad to see starcraft getting some representation
>>93233047>Or we could not base any of our thinking on stereotypes that don't actually suit the full breadth of the genre.Indeed. That's why I wrote "Now I know all of this is highly subjective and overly broad; there will always be exceptions. Of course there is Japanese mecha fare that is ugly-cool (Dragon's Heaven and Maschinen Krieger) and Western mecha fare that is beautiful-cool (Sym-Bionic Titan and Dynamo Joe).">If you're a fan of giant robot fighting media that's very massively, frequently copyright-threateningly based on animated japanese media, then it's just something you have to accept. They didn't literally trace these designs from anime just for people to turn up their nose and say "actually there's a mysterious, inherent difference that can't be explained but is certainly there".Absolutely no idea what you're on about here, but whatever. I said what I had to say. Moving on!pic unrelated
>>93225407I love that hover truck so much. It makes sense to have a support vehicle like that for a mobile suit team.>>93229021I think it is. But what are you looking for in a mecha RPG? What do you want to try and run?
>>93233047>That's because mecha IS weeaboo in aesthetic. lol no>These are literally all the same flavor. the absolutely most wrong and disgusting take imaginable.
>>93224382I’m sorry, do you think there’s been a single period of history outside of the very initial stage of humanity that involved only one kind of belligerent?
>>93233047>If you're a fan of giant robot fighting media that's very massively, frequently copyright-threateningly based on animated japanese media, then it's just something you have to accept. They didn't literally trace these designs from anime just for people to turn up their nose and say "actually there's a mysterious, inherent difference that can't be explained but is certainly there".Now this is a case study in Paranoid Schizophrenia
>>93234271You're using a japanese loanword to even start the discussion, it's weeaboo. Battletech is bootleg anime for americans.>>93234439>single period of history How many did they fight using giant robots?>>93234475People will try to psychoanalyze you rather than accept the crown of thorns that they consider being a weeb.
