Subject:
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Re: IRON MECHA Results!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.build.mecha
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Date:
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Thu, 9 Feb 2006 22:37:13 GMT
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Viewed:
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3262 times
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Brian Cooper wrote:
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This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I
often like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor
and logic. You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self
consistent. Similarly, you can come up with a totally bizarre mecha, unlike
anything that has ever existed, but every single detail has to conform to
some sort of rationale or it’s just a form of junk art - interesting to look
at, even beautiful, but not in any sense realistic (conforming to any
possible reality).
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Hmmm... Science Fiction has little to do with reality. Allow me to use my
absolutely most favorite sci-fi space ship, Imperial (Imperator) Class Star
Destroyer. I love Star Destroyers, I drool over any image of a Star Destroyer,
however, at the same time, it is the most idiotic design when it comes to real
physics: ISDs have no maneuvering thrusters, have no thrusters to stop the ship
out of light speed or any other speed for that matter, the main cannons are
aligned, they can’t fire forward at the same time!!! the main hangar bay has no
door, the bridge, which is quite exposed has a clear see through windows with
nothing as simple as an armor plating that can go over them in case of shield
failure or even better, the whole bridge can simply sink into the internals of
the ship. Continuing further: the armor to internal system ration is terrible,
shield generators are exposed, no practical device for fleet control ever
illustrated, heavy reliance on computer controled inaccurate beam weaponry with
no alternatives... do I have to keep going further? Yet with all its flaws and
stupidity, there is no ship in the sci-fi universe that I will ever love or
respect more than the Star Destroyer!!!
So is it fantasy or sci-fi makes no difference to me, and please don’t let me go
into Gundams and how ridiculously improbable it is to build one with current
technology (hence, fantasy, the idea behind new materials that will allow cheap
mobile suit construction).
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If you look at anime mecha designs, even the outlandish ones, the best ones
(IMO) have reasoning behind their details, and are thought out to the level
of having practical internal structures, even if they are never shown!
K
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Anime mechas have the advantage of being animated, we get to see how they move!
Sadly, with Lego we rarely have this luxury.
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ps - If a rocket motor isn’t positioned to give thrust behind a ship’s center
of mass, it isn’t going to fly very well, and a top heavy mecha with tiny
legs also isn’t going to walk very well. Realistic considerations. ;-)
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Let me say clearly that I completely agree with you. I like mechs in general,
but I LOVE mecha where I can see the actual details: power supply, extra fuel
tanks, sensor array, power transfer system, protection of the frame vital
points, good articulation even if the mecha will never be animated, correct
balance... but at the same time there is a flaw with this reasoning and
competitions because: I have never seen a 3meter + robot in real life!
example of above idea: how thick should the iron mecha legs be? I believe that
the legs shown in the image are absolutely, unquestionably too large, too bulky
and far too long, impractical, no wheel mechanism even! yet, I can bet that
there are many people that thought the legs were either just right or perhaps
even too small!
So, for the past week I have been toying with the idea that for the next contest
there could be multiple categories. For example:
Best Color Design,
Best Copy of Image,
Most “Playable” (Sturdy to handle by kids)
Best microscale
Best minifig scale
Best large
and why not,
Most realistic/believable
Most unusual brick use (example: helm visors for armor plating / brick separator
for legs)
why have all these categories? Because we all interpret mecha differently.
Bobby
p.s.
I haven’t posted in a while so once my enthusiasm starts wearing off a bit my
posts should become much shorter and more to the point : p
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: IRON MECHA Results!
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| (...) Sorry, but Star Wars isn't science fiction.:-) Really, it isn't. The technology is contrived for the sake of the story, which is why it's unrealistic. The space ships have windows! Cap ships exchange broadsides a few feet away from each other! (...) (19 years ago, 10-Feb-06, to lugnet.build.mecha, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: IRON MECHA Results!
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| (...) This is like the difference between Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I often like to explain. :-) Science Fiction requires some intellectual rigor and logic. You can certainly make up weird new science, but it has to be self consistent. (...) (19 years ago, 9-Feb-06, to lugnet.build.mecha, FTX)
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