From: kgnome@cs.concordia.ca (MATIS stephane)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Re: BTECH: Re: ??Batech vs Robotech
Date: 9 Nov 92 00:30:10 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

From: lunatic@netcom.com (Lunatic Johnathan Bruce E'Sex)

    > ___
     > |he LAMs were designed before the BattleTech Valkyrie was.  By the
 > time the first Tech Readout came out, I sure FASA was already having
 > legal hassles about them, so they couldn't add any more.
 
I personally would love to prance through Dana Knuston's art book of
that era :-)

> >For the clans retrofit art, that shows again a strong influence of
> >Japanese and Japan-American comics. That time it's not a copy but
> >something I could call "learning the lesson". The art recalls me
> >Shirow and Sonoda style, maybe wwith more sharp edges and less curves.
> 
    > ___
     > |ake a look at the mecha in Macross II and tell me if you see
 > anything familiar....
 
Yup, Lunatic is on the right path. Actually, the 3055 art contains
pieces by VictorMusicalIndustries, the Japanease bunch who designed the
Sega game pieces. As for the INCREADIBLE Japanease edition of
BattleTech, it has none other Shoiji Kawamori doing designs. The look is
very "new", very much like that movie (shit the name escapes me), which
was a live action with a transforming tank, a US Green Beret, etc ...

Anyways, it is "Way Cool", and I'll probably scan all the art and post
TIFFs or (ugh) GIFs of them. (Don't hold your breath!)


     > _
    > /-\ctually the Crusader is an armoured VF-1A Valkyrie, and the
 > shoulder misile pods it has are NOT the same as the ones on the
 > Destroid Tomahawk and Destroid Spartan (if you're going to say
 > "Macross" then you can at least use the names from Macross --
 > otherwise say "RoboTech").  Like all real military hardware, many
 > of the weapons on the Tomahawk and Spartan are very similar, but
 > not absolutely identical, like their shoulder missile pods and
 > multi-gun pod (hidden under the center cowling on the Spartan).
 > They're close enough to identical in game terms, though.
 
Also, there is that entire idea of upperbody switch around among
destroids, which never made it into the Macross technical specs. But as
usuall, they published it in one of the Perfect Books. I have been
contemplating of using some of the "alternate" looks for 2750-3025 era
'Mechs that would fit into the mold. 


    > \_/
     > |ou forgot the Locust, Galleon tank, and AeroTech box art from
 > Crusher Joe.


The biggest problem with BattleTech, taken from a "look" standpoint, is
that we are playing with figurines that are over 10 years old in Japan,
well past their prime. Now they draw designs that are more in tune with
technology, with enough provisions for the lack of technology as well.
Just compare sizes... BattleTech has some of the heaviest Mecha
around... yet they're only 12 meters tall. Man, that's a strange
comprimise with the size of cockpits that they draw, pilots, Omni-'Mechs
etc ...

I mean, when was the last time you looked at a BTech picture and said :
"Wow, those guys really look about 1.5 meters tall compared to the
Marauder!". Well, don't hold your breath.... and hope that Laubenstein
can be persuaded to do more 'Mech art.

> -- 
   > _______________________________________________________
  > /         -= Lunatic Johnathan Bruce E'Sex     (:      /
 > /  lunatic@netcom.com  GEnie: LUNATIC  CI$: 76170,672  /
> /______________________________________________________/


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Stephane I. Matis |  E-Mail : kgnome@cs.concordia.ca  | Viva NeXTSTEP 3.0 ! |
|.............................................................................|
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|------------ aka : Major Adrian Hammerhand, WolfNet Intelligence ------------|
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