So it seems Kennedy is trying to claim that the leaks and reveals were an intentional part of her grand plan, not a strategic one according to her, but a "plan" nonetheless to try and encourage fan speculation and theories... Are there honestly any Palpatine theories going around for IX? Because all I've seen are shitposts. Nothing on par with the shitty Snoke theories.
How that is supposed to work is anyone's guess.
What kind of speculation is "Palpy is still around" going to lead to. "I think he might still be evil!".
Wow. Great speculate, much theories!
Fair enough; helicopters/hover/repulsor craft come with thier own issues, which is by scifi rules they are less well armored.
Does the Star Wars background state that you can't make repulsor-based vehicles with the kind of defenses and armaments an AT-AT carries at the same size? If so, that's the only significant aspect to all this. Still, a tracked vehicle would serve this role better.
But saying legged walkers aren't realistic is incorrect, especially with advanced technology.
Never said legged vehicles are unrealistic, I am, however, pointing out that they excell absolutely nowhere to a degree to be really useful, since the mobility of hovering/flying attack-craft outperforms them signifcantly in the mobility-aspect and if it's defenses and armament you want, you go with a tracked vehicle (which will also be quicker and cheaper).
Legged vehicles are used in Star Wars cause they look cool. They aren't used cause they are sensible. This isn't a question of technology. When your awesome walker sinks knee-deep into soft ground and gets stuck while any given tracked vehicle of the same mass just merrily runs cirlces around it, you can't really argue in favor of legs and their awesome mobility.
They've got serious short comings, but tow-cables aside, they probably wouldn't be relevant in the sort of battlefield the Galactic Empire would operate in, where they have supremency (that is, the ability to fire from an elevated position trumps being able to use terrain as protection).
You know what else can fire from an elevated position? An attack aircraft. While having nowhere near as many significant shortcomings. And frankly I find it dubious at best to say that shooting from an elevated position is more desirable than being able to use terrain for cover and protection.
A legged vehicle is trumped by tracked or flying vehicles and made obsolete. Legged vehicles look awesome and I am a huge fan of Battletech and similar franchises, but the truth of the matter is: The moment you evaluate their actual usefulness on the battlefield, you'll find out that they hardly serve any function that isn't covered by other vehicles much better already.
Now a bigger challenge would be to try and make this thing fit into Star Wars.
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I mean at the end of the day, its just a jet with a Y-Wing cockpit. The only way I could see this work is if instead of making it a fighter, they make it a luxury personal transport like those in Coruscant's upper district. And if its a fighter, make it one of those ships that can only be found in some remote planet's unique design aesthetic rather than something like the Resistance secret weapon that doesn't appear in anything outside of a pointless Porsche ad. Also why is it called a Tri-Wing when it only has two wings? Did Disney run out of letters in the alphabet? I know they ran out of colors and letters for squadrons since they have a squadron called Alphabet Squadron led by a lesbian who is possibly also a tranny.
I kind of like the design, but I have to say, it looks nothing like it belongs in Star Wars. Would feel right at home in Star Citizen, though.