Fixing the Boondoggles

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AmaroqStarwind
05/02/18 05:26 PM
13.84.155.127

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Fixing the Boondoggles: Introduction
I have always been a little reluctant to post designs on here due to not having the best luck figuring out proper design formatting, especially on mobile devices or the occasional clucky laptop. However, I am going to give it a try here, though it probably won't be in the neatest format. It is also probably going to be heavily summarized, due to my tendency to multi-task (still working on my program over in another thread), but I will try to give context wherever I can.

Part One: The Ostscout IIC
Some of you might remember the Ostscout IIC from XTRO: Boondoggles.

Brief Summary: The Clans eventually decided that they wanted a dedicated electronic warfare mech of their own, and they really screwed it up bigtime. A 35-Ton light mech with an impressive (and expensive) 385 XXL Engine, a Partial Wing and 11 Improved Jump Jets, along with an Angel ECM Suite, a Bloodhound Active Probe, and Target Acquisition Gear, as well as a Small Cockpit. it seems awesome on paper, but there are some pretty big problems with this design.
1. First off, it doesn't have any weapons.
2. Second, it has negligible armor protection, even using Ferro Fibrous and Endo Steel.
3. Third, in a pathetic attempt to cut down on costs, they used ten single Heat Sinks. At that engine rating, they could have switched to Doubles without worrying about an increase in bulk.
4. Improved Jump Jets using an XXL Engine produce the same heat as regular Jump Jets using a different engine, and the engine rating is high enough to actually allow them to use 11 regular Jump Jets instead.
5. The weight distribution was horribly imbalanced, causing the mech to easily topple over.
6. It had no ejection system.

So, time to fix this thing...

Step 1: The Partial Wing and Endo Steel internal skeleton each weigh 1.75 tons, rounded up to 2.00 tons for a total of 4 tons. If we reduce the mech to a 30-ton design, then each of those components would only weigh 1.50 tons, for a total of 3 tons (this saves us an entire ton). A 30-ton mech would also be overweight, but we'll fix that in a moment.
- Total Weight Savings: 1 Ton (ignoring the overweight part)

Step 2: Using a lighter tonnage means we can downgrade to a 330 XL engine, instead of the 385 XXL. This engine not only gives us the same top speed, but is two tons lighter, vastly cheaper, occupies considerably less space, and most importantly produces far less heat.
Total Weight Savings: 3 Tons (ignoring the overweight part)

Step 3: Switch to Double Heat Sinks. The engine can fit all of them nicely, and it helps with the heat issues considerably.

Step 4: Switch to standard Jump Jets, saving us 5.5 tons of weight and thus correcting the overweight issue and also freeing an additional 0.5 tons on top of that.
Total Weight Savings: 3.5 Tons (and no longer overweight!)

Step 5: Remove the Angel ECM Suite, Target Acquisition Gear and Bloodhound Active Probe, giving us 4 Tons of weight.
Total Weight Savings: 8.5 Tons.

Step 6: Install a Full-Head Ejection System and make it an OmniMech. We now have 8.5 Tons of Pod Space! In the Prime configuration, we would have an Angel ECM Suite, a Bloodhound Active Probe, two ER Medium Lasers, a C3 Slave Unit, a Target Acquisition Gear, and an extra half-ton of armor.

Step 7: Remove all existing design quirks, except Bad Reputation because it's already had a tainted past. Make up for that bad reputation by giving the Prime variant Improved Sensors and Improved Communications, both of which would help it fulfill its battlefield role as an Electronic Warfare and Scouting unit quite well. The fact that the smaller, lighter Jump Jets can be distributed more evenly is also what allows it to overcome its previous lack of balance.

Because of its positive design quirks, increase the total Battle Value of the Angel ECM Suite and Bloodhound Active Probe by 35%, since the range of the Bloodhound Active Probe is increased by roughly 25% and the sensors are now 1 level less susceptible to sensor ghosts.

It is important that you don't keep these design quirks on any configurations which remove the electronic warfare equipment, because otherwise the mech will have a free Active Probe with a range of 5 hexes, which isn't exactly conducive to game balance.

Enjoy your new and improved Ostscout IIC, and don't forget to come back for my next attempt at fixing the boondoggles.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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05/31/18 03:02 PM
174.70.184.145

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I really don't think the Improved Sensor quirk w/o a probe is that game breaking, it's basically just a crappy active probe effect.
AmaroqStarwind
05/31/18 07:57 PM
99.203.154.175

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What unit should I fix next?
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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05/31/18 08:17 PM
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Dunno. A lot of stuff is just plain illegal under the current rules as opposed to just being bad but some of them have no real reason why (Scorpion LAM, Champion LAM). Something like the Liberator LIB-4T literally lacked functional heat sinks so just removing that quirk would make it functional.
ghostrider
05/31/18 08:40 PM
66.74.61.223

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The preferred post form is under the star new posters thread at the top of this section in the forums.
Not all programs give out some information that is very handy and helpful when glancing at a design.
Converting to the preferred design status can be a pain, though it is not mandatory.
Some missing data makes it hard to figure out what is going on.

The ostscout should have died in the upgrading of mechs, but it seems either greed (needing to fill space in a tro) or maybe just having ultra specialized mechs was the key to it being ported over. Or maybe the developers made a mistake and gave the fast scout mech to marik aka the spider. Instead of equipping them with electronics, they decided to go with the ostscout, which was supposed to have advanced electronics on it in the first place. Which 3025 era didn't really explain.
Much like the pegasus scout tank had the extra weight in sensors, yet did nothing in the game.

I would think quirks might be better off by changing things on the unit, like improved sensors. Add more weight to them. Maybe just have some rules to help it, like they don't work well while the unit it is on is moving. This might keep it more in line with the game anyways.
wolf_lord_30
05/31/18 11:38 PM
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I did not even realize they made a small little TRO with failed designs. It just seems kind of like, why?
AmaroqStarwind
05/31/18 11:51 PM
108.255.82.176

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Some of the illegalities are purely arbitrary or did not previously exist. Additionally, not all things that would qualify as Boondoggles are in that one book, and there are actually many examples of canon designs that are just bad.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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06/01/18 12:08 AM
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Quote:
I did not even realize they made a small little TRO with failed designs. It just seems kind of like, why?



Some of them were to show how some concepts didn't work well in-universe (monitors, that one Aerospace fighter with a twin-engine design, submersible flying boats) and others just seemed like fun things some engineer in-universe thought he could do. It's like all those obscure little military projects that are fun little trivia to hear about like the XF-85 Goblin that was supposed to be a "parasite fighter", or that soviet SPG 2B1 Oka with a Naval Gun so big that it blew itself up when firing, or one time, or the Japanese submersible carrier that could carry, like 2 spotter planes. It can be fun to look at the exceptions and outliers sometimes, even if they don't... function.
AmaroqStarwind
06/01/18 07:32 PM
99.203.154.175

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Seeing a modern variant of the Liberator which not only fixed its design flaws, but also revitalized the design with newer technology, along with appropriate fluff for why the design was resurrected and how they fixed the problems, would definitely be a boon for House Marik over the short term.

Marik needs more love, man.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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