Armored Core

[White Devil]

Never played ZotE, so can't really compare, I do remember I loved Omega Boost, but it was finished in a couple of hours, so definitely would have wanted more meat in there. though it was very arcade like so it may have overstayed it's welcome otherwise... but yeah, something a bit more smaller scale like that would be great.

Check out Strike Suit Zero on steam.

 

[Tarka Dhal]

So, does this game have a designated waifu bait like other FromSoftware games?

I can't recall a single instance of even seeing a woman in the series. The story's mostly delivered through narration and mission briefings, so you'll hear the odd female voice on the comms, and that's about it. It's all about the robots. The sexy, sexy robots.

 

[Judge Dredd]

This is the curse of being a mecha fan. The mecha fanbase overall has always been somewhat niche, especially outside of Japan.

A large problem with mech fans in the west is that for 90% of them, the entire genre begins and ends with Battletech. So much so that when I was working on my own mech sim, people kept asking about AC20s and double heat sinks.

It means anything that doesn't have the specific mechanics of MechWarrior 2 gets condemned as a dumbed down babies game for casuals (Titanfall 2) and anything more complex is derided as an autism simulator for no-life losers (Armored Core).

 

[Tarka Dhal]

A large problem with mech fans in the west is that for 90% of them, the entire genre begins and ends with Battletech.

Western mecha fans also tend to be more autistic about ‘muh realism’. Which usually means that the mechs must behave like tanks on legs, and any kind of speed is anime bullshit. Don’t get me started on Battletech fans that don’t realise that many of the franchise’s most iconic mechs are actually Japanese.

 

[Love Machine]

The main issue is that it's been over 10 years since ttgl came out and and we haven't had a hitter like that for mecha since. We aren't selling anyone on the genre with aldernoah zero or Valvrave the liberator. Then there is the already stated reasoning that they just want to watch old anime. But I also posit that it also has a lot to do with length, and there just being a lot of land mines in the genre generally. Imagine you watch 50 episodes of gundam seed and like "wow that was young and serviceable, I'm sure this show will really take off when I get to seed destiny." That situation could make someone never touch a mecha show again. A lot of mecha shows are fucking long, and are at least slightly more plodding and cerebral then the seasonal anime garbage. It's hard to sell an audience on characters talking about space politics for 15 minute stretches.

 

[Croaking Spider]

It means anything that doesn't have the specific mechanics of MechWarrior 2 gets condemned as a dumbed down babies game for casuals (Titanfall 2) and anything more complex is derided as an autism simulator for no-life losers (Armored Core).

Anyone who shits on Titanfall is coping. Even though Titanfall 2 didn't have the same feel and success as the original, I think a lot of people enjoyed that the Titans controlled more like an extension of infantry as opposed to, as you say, an autism simulator. The 5v5 Titan matches were actually fun and was a nice pace change from wall running and zipping through the air.

I agree with the sentiment that Armored Core games up until 4 were an autism simulator. NEXTs and later gen mechs handle much quicker then the lumbering war machines of old. An odd aside, I noticed in the Armored Core 6 story trailer about 20 seconds in the handler refers to the mechs as "Hounds". I'm assuming it's referring to a faction, but HOUNDS were the designation for the Chromehounds mechs. Fingered crossed that they converge the two universes, I would be forever content with FromSoft if we got more Chromehounds.

Even then, Armored Core and MW are distinctively different playstyles. Fire Control Systems in AC take a lot of the busy work out of the combat, whereas you have to actually have decent aim in MW as to not waste ammo/heat. The movement in modern AC may be sweatier, but I feel like MW is mechanically more challenging. They both have build autism, but location-based damage, heat buildup, and having limbs/weapons that can be shot off changes the whole dynamic.

Either way, I love both series for what they bring to the table. I just wish MechWarrior would lean a little harder into the lore. I recently finished MW2 on Saturn but never really got into BT as a whole. I decided to browse through Sarna.net for a bit to fill in the circumstances of the plot a little better, and I was shocked at the sheer amount of BattleTech lore. I feel like BattleTech and Warhammer both suffer the curse of having their lore massively under-represented in their digital formats.

 

[NIGGO KILLA]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

 

[JesusChristDenton]

Which usually means that the mechs must behave like tanks on legs, and any kind of speed is anime bullshit.

The sad thing is that speed and mobility is the only reason I can think of that could help make a mech practical in combat compared to conventional ground vehicles. Yet "MUH REALISM!!1" fags never seem to get that and dismiss it as stupid flashy weeb trash.

 

[ShitLurker]

Imagine you watch 50 episodes of gundam seed and like "wow that was young and serviceable, I'm sure this show will really take off when I get to seed destiny.

I'll give you an even crazier scenario, imagine starting directly with Destiny because you didn't know better and you notice that you hate the main character, there is a useless blond that constantly fucks up and a faggot with sunglasses that always seems about to cry and then out of nowhere some dude called "kira" singlehandedly hijacks the series.

Now that was a fucking experience. then I watch Seed base and well, I had a hard time respecting most of the characters knowing where they would end up.

 

[Tarka Dhal]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

White and blue, with yellow trim - as is tradition.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I feel like BattleTech and Warhammer both suffer the curse of having their lore massively under-represented in their digital formats.

This is one of the big problems with BattleTech I didn't mention as I went into it in other threads, but yes. I hear about how great BattleTech story and lore is, but all the games I've played don't have it. It's either a rich kid looking for revenge, or a mercenary where various factions, people, and places are name dropped with no context. I later learned the lore is contained in novels long out of print, and in walls of text in some of the games. I remember when Destiny got shit on for having the story in plain text on a website instead of in the game itself, but MechWarrior gets a pass.

 

[ZMOT]

Now if only MechWarrior would make a comeback. MW5:Mercenaries is kinda meh (the DLC helps a lot) and MW Online has pretty much gone stagnant. Mechwarrior 2 was one of the biggest milestones for the mech sim genre and there really hasn't been anything revolutionary to come out of the series since.

there isn't really anything to revolutionize tho, unless you go VR or full deep dice. that's not necessarily a negative, but waiting for a mindblowing new mech experience is futile.
there's this, just in case: https://store.steampowered.com/app/334540/Vox_Machinae/

EDIT: thinking about it now I want a shogo and earthsiege remake.

This is one of the big problems with BattleTech I didn't mention as I went into it in other threads, but yes. I hear about how great BattleTech story and lore is, but all the games I've played don't have it. It's either a rich kid looking for revenge, or a mercenary where various factions, people, and places are name dropped with no context. I later learned the lore is contained in novels long out of print, and in walls of text in some of the games. I remember when Destiny got shit on for having the story in plain text on a website instead of in the game itself, but MechWarrior gets a pass.

I assume because unless you go heavy with cutscenes or scripted missions it's kinda meh to do a properly deep story. and if you have open/rpg gameplay sooner or later someone will cry railroading.
plus most battletech-fags probably either already know the story or don't care. for anyone else there's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_novels

 

[White Devil]

that don’t realise that many of the franchise’s most iconic mechs are actually Japanese.

That hasn't been the case for a long time now since that lawsuit, but yea they copped designs from several animes, most notably Macross.

 

[Kheapathic]

So, does this game have a designated waifu bait like other FromSoftware games? (Ranni, Lady Maria, Fire Keeper etc)
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Quite the opposite, I'm actually very appreciative when beauty, especially feminine beauty, is portraited in a medium.
It's just that I don't give two shits about mecha genre, so I probably won't play it, but I'm still curios enough to ask the most relevant and pressing question.

The most female interaction you get is voice comms; whether it's your AC's computer (different head parts give different voices), or actual named characters. There isn't any (that I can remember) character models in any game; everything is either a war machine or part of the environment, and interaction is either voice comms or email (or at the business end of a Moonlight blade).

If you want a waifu, you can make her an emblem and paint her onto your war machine.

 

[Snekposter]

If you want a waifu, you can make her an emblem and paint her onto your war machine.

Vierge, my beloved...

 

[M3xus]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

Blue with white trim, missiles on the back, right-hand machine gun, and the biggest energy blade I can find on my left hand, built and tuned for speed. Served me well in most games unless they threw something like SL's Fat Vixen at me, and it's what's fun to drive. Going to be fun being a reverse-leg hopping maniac again.

 

[Kheapathic]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

Gonna have to see how everything is; but aiming to do my lower-mid-weight / normal legs, something energy weapons with the Moonlight. Color scheme will be something in deep or royal purple.

 

[White Devil]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

Maroon or some shade of dark red has usually been my go to. Highlights and secondary colors usually depends on how it looks but the main is always maroon.

 

[Biggie Smalls' Taint]

I agree with the sentiment that Armored Core games up until 4 were an autism simulator. NEXTs and later gen mechs handle much quicker then the lumbering war machines of old.

I get what you mean, but remember that in AC4 and 4Answer you could calibrate the individual stabilizers on every part of you NEXT. Typing out that sentence alone gave me autism.

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

Hot pink, electric blue and black with white accents. The arms and legs painted different colors. Everyone's eyes start bleeding whenever ASSDICK shows up in his machine RAPECIRCUS. (I was 14 when I played AC. Could you tell?)

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

So, what color, weapons, design are you going to rock on your AC?

Whatever weapon gives me the biggest "fuck you, I'll nuke both of us" available. I'll autism out at least one mech that is a one trick pony for dropping nukes.