Well, the primary enemies it's designed for either sense spiritia/life energy and thus make camoflage irrelevant, or are kaiju with borderline intelligence and basic biological senses. I'll also agree that the max loadout SUO version is very visually busy - and completely unaerodynamic, to boot, but such is often the case with mecha shows. Although I did make a particular point of keeping the underside mostly clear, so you can increase angle of attack to thirty or forty degrees and power along on the equal and opposite reaction of the air bouncing off the bottom of the plane.
The actual color scheme of the Coral Snake armor is basically just go-faster stripes on the color scheme of the poisonous reptiles it's named for; in continuity this was the first production unit and got a special 'airshow paint job' instead of the standard functional grey. It was switched to Illemina Udet's green-brown-white personal fighter from the red-maroon-grey hangar queen it usually stays on because she doesn't usually use the armor (one is assigned per squad, and she prefers point to heavy gunner) but Company President Daddy put his foot down and declared that over equipped was better than under equipped when heading alone into an active combat zone. (If she negotiated a contract for the company's services, the rest of her usual squad would be sent along, without one they can't afford to send a whole squad and the support ship to carry them. While I never thought ahead that far, it would probably be called the Anvil Ferry (complete with Warner Brothers anvil fairy nose art) and be a Zentran-style Stealth Frigate (part of the original Macross 5 fleet) or one of the Valauta frigates) Out of continuity, I wanted a transforming super armor ala the VF-25 for my Macross-verse mecha, and by Primus I made one; choosing between the two paint schemes for the base mecha was quite difficult but seeing the Miliya Fallyna red reused in Macross F for Clan Clan decided me against it once I realized how similar what I had was to a variable Queadlunn Rau - one ripoff is enough, and the obvious comparison between her and Micheal and Miriya and Max only detracted from their story's development.
Purple cockpit swooshes are the same as on the Elgerzorn (which I really, really love - easily my favorite of the Macross setting designs) and it is in fact an Elgerzorn-style full armored hatch with inner escape/life support pod that has a full virtual environment rather than the traditional clear canopy - it's impossible to fly if the electronics go out anyway, and given the acid-spitting, armor-chewing, sheer nasty viciousness of some of the critters they've faced, two layers of energy conversion armor (plus the fusilage section it retracts into and the spade nosecone over that in battroid form) is just a prudent level of caution., the ability to eject from your escape pod and still have EXgear Micronian Power Armor to fly away in is just an added level of security. (Actually, the best way to breach the cockpit in battroid mode is just under the chin - there's a boarding hatch there where the pilot can climb in or out with a bit of difficulty if for some reason the unit is unable to transform, which can also blow off to allow EXgear-only emergency ejection - the head blows off first to clear the path, then the hath, then the pod hatch unde it, then the EXgear closes up from seat form and shoots out. Trying to shoot or chew in from any other angle puts at least four layers of armor in the way)
As to texture and bump maps, they could only make it better but they're a pain in the ass to set up and without any application for the design (game or movie, etc.) I lack the motivation to do all the fiddly little bits. Besides that, I like the semi-metallic finish on many of the red and yellow parts, which texture mapping would cover over.
I would be able to reduce some of the geometry by using texture maps instead of multiple materials, though only by a smidgeon. Still, every triangle counts for game optimization.
I recognise the name of the Ingram but I don't know that I've ever seen one to get the comparison. They're from Patlabor, yes? At least you didn't say it looks like a damn gundam, though the samurai-helmet-style 'antlers' do invite the comparison. Can't be helped, mecha design evolved visually from armor designs, so it's just a matter of referencing the same antecendants.
For that matter - anyone who can actually identify the inspiration for the Valauta Hostile Animal Control badge (on the left shoulder, and both engine pods in fighter mode) gets a whole packet of energon goodies. Hint one is that it can be found in Macross materials easily available online, as part of a different whole. Hint two is the chest. Hint three is the colors. The best view of the badge is on the unarmored fighter form, the closest to side-on.
My most frequent thought about this design is how much I'd like to see the face of the enemy pilot who thinks getting on its six is a good idea in a dogfight, as the pod doors open and he stares at the nosecones of 78 missiles...
- CD, my parenthetical comments will TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
The actual color scheme of the Coral Snake armor is basically just go-faster stripes on the color scheme of the poisonous reptiles it's named for; in continuity this was the first production unit and got a special 'airshow paint job' instead of the standard functional grey. It was switched to Illemina Udet's green-brown-white personal fighter from the red-maroon-grey hangar queen it usually stays on because she doesn't usually use the armor (one is assigned per squad, and she prefers point to heavy gunner) but Company President Daddy put his foot down and declared that over equipped was better than under equipped when heading alone into an active combat zone. (If she negotiated a contract for the company's services, the rest of her usual squad would be sent along, without one they can't afford to send a whole squad and the support ship to carry them. While I never thought ahead that far, it would probably be called the Anvil Ferry (complete with Warner Brothers anvil fairy nose art) and be a Zentran-style Stealth Frigate (part of the original Macross 5 fleet) or one of the Valauta frigates) Out of continuity, I wanted a transforming super armor ala the VF-25 for my Macross-verse mecha, and by Primus I made one; choosing between the two paint schemes for the base mecha was quite difficult but seeing the Miliya Fallyna red reused in Macross F for Clan Clan decided me against it once I realized how similar what I had was to a variable Queadlunn Rau - one ripoff is enough, and the obvious comparison between her and Micheal and Miriya and Max only detracted from their story's development.
Purple cockpit swooshes are the same as on the Elgerzorn (which I really, really love - easily my favorite of the Macross setting designs) and it is in fact an Elgerzorn-style full armored hatch with inner escape/life support pod that has a full virtual environment rather than the traditional clear canopy - it's impossible to fly if the electronics go out anyway, and given the acid-spitting, armor-chewing, sheer nasty viciousness of some of the critters they've faced, two layers of energy conversion armor (plus the fusilage section it retracts into and the spade nosecone over that in battroid form) is just a prudent level of caution., the ability to eject from your escape pod and still have EXgear Micronian Power Armor to fly away in is just an added level of security. (Actually, the best way to breach the cockpit in battroid mode is just under the chin - there's a boarding hatch there where the pilot can climb in or out with a bit of difficulty if for some reason the unit is unable to transform, which can also blow off to allow EXgear-only emergency ejection - the head blows off first to clear the path, then the hath, then the pod hatch unde it, then the EXgear closes up from seat form and shoots out. Trying to shoot or chew in from any other angle puts at least four layers of armor in the way)
As to texture and bump maps, they could only make it better but they're a pain in the ass to set up and without any application for the design (game or movie, etc.) I lack the motivation to do all the fiddly little bits. Besides that, I like the semi-metallic finish on many of the red and yellow parts, which texture mapping would cover over.
I would be able to reduce some of the geometry by using texture maps instead of multiple materials, though only by a smidgeon. Still, every triangle counts for game optimization.
I recognise the name of the Ingram but I don't know that I've ever seen one to get the comparison. They're from Patlabor, yes? At least you didn't say it looks like a damn gundam, though the samurai-helmet-style 'antlers' do invite the comparison. Can't be helped, mecha design evolved visually from armor designs, so it's just a matter of referencing the same antecendants.
For that matter - anyone who can actually identify the inspiration for the Valauta Hostile Animal Control badge (on the left shoulder, and both engine pods in fighter mode) gets a whole packet of energon goodies. Hint one is that it can be found in Macross materials easily available online, as part of a different whole. Hint two is the chest. Hint three is the colors. The best view of the badge is on the unarmored fighter form, the closest to side-on.
My most frequent thought about this design is how much I'd like to see the face of the enemy pilot who thinks getting on its six is a good idea in a dogfight, as the pod doors open and he stares at the nosecones of 78 missiles...
- CD, my parenthetical comments will TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows