12-29-2007, 08:44 AM
Quote:All righty: sweeeet!
...what, are you people going to make me beg? Comments, please? ^_^
![[Image: smile.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif)
Shaping up to be even niftier than your idea-bouncing made it seem.
--Sam
"We are not ninjas. We are a hedge. Please move along."
Shaping up to be even niftier than your idea-bouncing made it seem.
--Sam
"We are not ninjas. We are a hedge. Please move along."
12-30-2007, 02:42 AM
12-30-2007, 09:01 AM
Okay Nate, you win, it was cool, it was great, we love it. Will you write some *more* now?
Kidding aside, this is interesting. One thing that jumps out at me is that this is the first Gundam setup I'm aware of (not that I'm an expert) where the "colonists" are the underdogs from the get-go - IIRC, most of the canonical Gundam universes begin with the Colonists running rampant over the Terrans for the first part of the war, from either Newtype Powers, Super Tech, or Genetic Tweaking -- usually as a plot device to offset Earth's huge numerical and resource advantage.
Another is that this is happening (so far) on Mars -- no orbital colonies or space-based action seems to be in the offing so far, though of course the story is very young. That makes a looong logistical stretch for the Earth forces, unless we're dealing with plausibility-busting Magical Fusion Torch[1] drives, which in turn makes a rag-tag rebellion more plausible. It also means that the number of Gundams, as opposed to lesser mecha, will probably be pretty limited, unless someone opens a Gundam factory on Mars (unlikely, but not impossible).
Unless I miss my guess, Ana is this story's Amuro/Kira, and I suspect she just *created* her Char/Rau opposite number....
[1] MFT is a term of art used by the SFCONSIM-L mailing list, which is populated by a mix of game designers and honest-to-gosh Rocket Scientists and High-Energy Physicists who try to model out real, workable space-combat systems, tactics, and technologies. Unfortunately, as long as they stick to Real Physics(tm), things get boring from a game-playability standpoint. But listening to people who actually know what they're talking about debating the relative merits of X-Ray lasers vs Fusion Torch Missiles is a lot of fun.
Kidding aside, this is interesting. One thing that jumps out at me is that this is the first Gundam setup I'm aware of (not that I'm an expert) where the "colonists" are the underdogs from the get-go - IIRC, most of the canonical Gundam universes begin with the Colonists running rampant over the Terrans for the first part of the war, from either Newtype Powers, Super Tech, or Genetic Tweaking -- usually as a plot device to offset Earth's huge numerical and resource advantage.
Another is that this is happening (so far) on Mars -- no orbital colonies or space-based action seems to be in the offing so far, though of course the story is very young. That makes a looong logistical stretch for the Earth forces, unless we're dealing with plausibility-busting Magical Fusion Torch[1] drives, which in turn makes a rag-tag rebellion more plausible. It also means that the number of Gundams, as opposed to lesser mecha, will probably be pretty limited, unless someone opens a Gundam factory on Mars (unlikely, but not impossible).
Unless I miss my guess, Ana is this story's Amuro/Kira, and I suspect she just *created* her Char/Rau opposite number....
[1] MFT is a term of art used by the SFCONSIM-L mailing list, which is populated by a mix of game designers and honest-to-gosh Rocket Scientists and High-Energy Physicists who try to model out real, workable space-combat systems, tactics, and technologies. Unfortunately, as long as they stick to Real Physics(tm), things get boring from a game-playability standpoint. But listening to people who actually know what they're talking about debating the relative merits of X-Ray lasers vs Fusion Torch Missiles is a lot of fun.
12-30-2007, 11:04 AM
01-02-2008, 07:04 AM
01-13-2008, 10:37 PM
Well, rather than force Nate to beg for C&C again, I guess I'll get preemptive...
And, yup, he's lost his eyeballs. Given the extent of cybernetic tech this universe appears to have, I'm guessing he'll end up with prosthetic vision, but whether it'll look like regular eyes or something like Char's mask remains to be seen.
Rather a Boer-ish name, especially given the prevalence of African references so far. Are you sure this isn't Gundam Draka?
And the mysterious unidentifiable system aboard the Gundam? Some hints *must* be in that database somewhere...
I'd swap "plumbing" for "bathroom" in the suit descriptions, myself.
What "chassis"? Is she sitting in a pilot's seat, or in some kind of Gunbuster-esque full-body frame? The cockpit interior description could use just a bit more fleshing out, IMO.
I guess next chapter we get to the Good Stuff -- MECHA FIGHT SCENES!!!![[Image: happy.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/happy.gif)
Quote:Hm. PhD? I wonder what he majored in? A field-grade officer with a doctorate is hardly unheard of, but it is a bit unusual. I can't help but think it'll be significant.
Major Christiaan Boshoff, Ph.D, sat in his cramped-but-comfortable seat and reminded himself that the physician had insisted that his eyes were no longer bleeding and that any trickling he thought he felt was strictly psychosomatic.
And, yup, he's lost his eyeballs. Given the extent of cybernetic tech this universe appears to have, I'm guessing he'll end up with prosthetic vision, but whether it'll look like regular eyes or something like Char's mask remains to be seen.
Rather a Boer-ish name, especially given the prevalence of African references so far. Are you sure this isn't Gundam Draka?
Quote:Tells us something about the Empire's internal politics, and the people who serve it. Chris is definitely getting set up as the "sympathetic antagonist" here.
Chris had never been prouder to work with them, let alone be permitted to claim to lead them, but he'd overruled the motion to draw straws to do the actual dirty work. When the Imperial Army's power blocs started to move to squash this insolent independence, they'd find only a single staff officer who'd gotten too big for his britches and ordered his subordinates into compliance, rather than a full unit mutiny or some similar pretext for a crackdown.
Quote:Ooooo, shiny. Of course, a competently-run security apparatus will minimize the usefulness of the security-related data, but still...
"Yeah. No encryption, just basic internal passwords. But as far's I can tell without tangling with those, it's got everything - research work, personal files, security calls and responses... everything."
And the mysterious unidentifiable system aboard the Gundam? Some hints *must* be in that database somewhere...
I'd swap "plumbing" for "bathroom" in the suit descriptions, myself.
Quote:Mm. Utopian, aren't we? Ah, well, I'm the reader, I can afford to be cynical. Still, this is another insightful tidbit about the underlying causes of the rebellion, without resorting to infodumpage.
'to liberate the colonies from the burden of Earth's past hatreds and vendettas,'
Quote:Eh, *Lunar* dust is the real nasty. Mars dust shouldn't really be any harder to handle than Earth dust. But far be it from a self-respecting mechanic to let that little fact stop him from asserting his territorial prerogatives...
"And far's I can tell he's right. You watch your pretty ass, though, lady - I can't make heads or tails of half his innards and I just do not trust a Terran to handle dust right."
Quote:Makes sense in every respect. I suspect that the sphere might end up being one of those brilliant ideas that end up having more drawbacks than benefits in the long run, but that's neither her nor there right now.
"I'll be careful," she promised, and hit the key and hung on as the wince yanked her off her feet and up to the cockpit ledge. In this position she had to squeeze up along the short ladder in a narrow access way to reach the front and main opening of the cockpit sphere - as designed, it was stable and level with the ground, completely insulated from the attitude of the machine it was mounted to. Ana'd memorized the override to that function - it might be useful for pilot comfort, but in a fight the disconnect between her inner ear and the feedback she'd be getting from her suit would be nauseating, at best.
Quote:winch
"I'll be careful," she promised, and hit the key and hung on as the wince
Quote:electronics, no apostrophe.
link her pressure suit's electronic's to
Quote:Not something we've ever seen in a Gundam universe, AFAICR. Though how your average canonical Gundam pulls off all those melee maneuvers with just joysticks and pedals is a heck of a question...
as the MS computer synchronized with and started to take inputs from her braintop. When her vision had cleared and she could let her breath out again, they had edited the mobile suit's cockpit out of her field of view and replaced it with a detailed construction of what was being fed in from the two main cameras. Combined with the force-sensor feedback from the chassis, the illusion that she was suddenly twelve meters tall and kneeling bent-over on the front of a child's toy wagon was almost irresistable.
What "chassis"? Is she sitting in a pilot's seat, or in some kind of Gunbuster-esque full-body frame? The cockpit interior description could use just a bit more fleshing out, IMO.
I guess next chapter we get to the Good Stuff -- MECHA FIGHT SCENES!!!
01-14-2008, 01:43 AM
08-30-2008, 07:05 AM
08-30-2008, 01:26 PM
08-30-2008, 03:30 PM
09-16-2008, 12:42 AM