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No.8583 [View All]
Some guys in the US built a killbot and now they want to challenge the Kuratas to a duel.
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No.18480
>>18479
To be fair, Megabots was quick to point out that weight classes are needed to make this thing legit, and they are definitely right. I am more talking about how we can actually achieve a good amount of visible damage on these robots without putting the pilots at an unrealistic amount of risk. I think that armor panels made out of a breakable material like ABS plastic would be a good way to go, as the force required to shatter them could be safely achieved.
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No.18481
>>18480
If you're okay with making them remote controlled then you could add all sorts of crazy shit, like actual guns.
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No.18482
>>18481
Yeah, but I feel like that may take away from the mystique, and make it to similar to Battlebots (nothing against Battlebots).
I think that there needs to be a balance struck between Mech damage and safety, and that if it is visibly appealing enough, then Mech Combat could be pretty popular to watch. As it stands, we already have multiple teams interested in competing and we don't have any real rules yet.
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No.18483
>>18482
*too similar. God dammit.
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No.18484
>>18340
>don't mock the punch-tractor, it's adorable and i love it
>>18378
>There are already spider leg robots, but they're for cutting trees I think.
>>18381
>Maybe so, but make them
>WAR MACHINES
Indeed, this is why we need someone like Deere or CAT in on this, they have the Spider Leg machines already, and could probably produce pretty impressive grapplers if incited properly.
>>18364
>I'm not sure if it was entirely fake or anything, but the announcer pretending to panic really made it so I have to assume it was. When they grabbed the lighting truss I assumed the guys were saying, "You know what would be cool?"
I kinda assume it was a bit of both; The Light truss stunt looked a little staged (Why have an easily destroyed set of lights on the floor where the robots could break them?), but actually trying to deflect paintballs by spinning the truss and the pointless drone were so lame they had to have been ad-havok.
I'd guess of the six minutes of ACTUAL ROBOT FIGHTING footage we got was paired down from about an hours worth of fucking around with the bots, allowing them to get a rough choreography of a fight down.
>>18368
>Square-cube law. Bipedal legs don't work very well on a scale that large.
Actually it's not the Square-Cube law that fucks bipeds up at Megabots/VOTOMs scale, it's the active balance control.
Just standing on two points of contact is actually a pretty complex task, while moving is basically a controlled topple in one direction that can easily land you flat on your back, face, or side with a single misstep.
This is actually why most bipeds robots right now do this:
>>18367
>shuffle around a little like retarded toddlers
Because they simply aren't capable of staying in that tiny sweet spot between NEARLY falling and actually falling over.
>>18382
>so much as a bunch of guys trying out their big expensive toys against each other after making an agreement not to break them too much.
Well yeah, they're expensive toys that are custom machined/a modified special production run, if shit breaks there's no corner giant robot store to run over to pick up a replacement part from.
At best they'll get to the point of Monster Trucks; Having a small Micro-industry built off
an existing commercial manufacturing one that caters to those who want to own one of these expensive toys.
>>18388
> it's still a nice thing to get people interested and possibly have this as a real annual competition with multiple countries eventually. I could see these robots getting better and more innovative/functional.
Exactly, I personally want to get the local heavy machine manufacturers in on this, because nothing fuels a machine-sport industry more that using it as a brand dick-waving contest.
Ford, GM, International, Deere… These are all companies big enough to have the resources to throw at this sort of shit, and if NASCAR is any indication, they can innovate it enough to make the spectacle half way safe to actually participate in.
>>18464
>Their endgame isn't to make a bunch of robots, though. It's to make a sports league. They've said it outright many times. They're using their robot to start this process, but they'll end up doing logistics, organization, rules, etc. for giant robot fighting as a sport. Nobody else in the world has experience in shipping massive battle robots across the ocean, and they can lend that expertise to other teams who want to show off their own engineering. On top of that, they'll make bank from advertising and merch sales. Companies like Autodesk get to advertise by slapping on branding the same way that racecars do. Any and all advertisers will reach an audience normally averse to sports and sport styles of marketing. And money from advertisers and sponsors can flow right back into making even more robots (you have to keep in mind here, these things still cost far less than an F1 car).
True, and I don't fault them for wanting to create Robot Fighting NASCAR, but they really need to start reaching out to industrial machine manufacturers so a proper brand dick-waving contest can help fuel that, otherwise you're just going to have a bunch of one-time art-student start-ups trying and failing to scratch build Fighting Robots without any supporting infrastructure.
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No.18485
>>18484
>Cont.
>>18467
>the stage play narrative of it ruined the whole experience
>>18474
>As far as I'm concerned, the wrestling-style commentary doesn't work.
Indeed, but to be a proper machine-sport, there has to be an industrial push to get there.
>>18476
>This could be good, but it really needs standardization. The armor material needs to be the same for both bots, and the weapons need to be set at a certain "power level" to avoid pilot deaths. If both teams are using similar thick ABS armor and some type of kinetic weapons that could blow chunks off of each other without risking gibbing the pilot, then this could really be feasible.
>>18482
>I think that there needs to be a balance struck between Mech damage and safety, and that if it is visibly appealing enough, then Mech Combat could be pretty popular to watch.
Well yes and no…
One of the reason I feel they need the support of the Industrial Machine manufacturing industry is they would both standardize common components (REALLY fucking important to have readily available replacement parts for shit you can't jerry-rig on the spot) and tap into their valuable pool of knowledge on Operator Safety (Robot slug-fest would be a lot more do-able with NASCAR level driver safety set-ups preventing the pilots from scrambling each others brains and spines).
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No.18486
>>18485
I think a slugfest aspect would be really neat, but there needs to be more impact to punches. Actuators alone don't seem to be very capable of delivering a knockout blow right now. A Big O or Scopedog piston punch would be fantastic. Some sort of piston in the wrist or arm that expands with a pneumatic or explosive charge would really help deliver some force. As far as ranged weapons go, it's really hard to establish something that would be capable of damaging a robot on direct hits, but not turning the pilot into salsa on a cockpit hit.
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No.18487
>>18486
>I think a slugfest aspect would be really neat, but there needs to be more impact to punches.
Actually they're plenty of impact force.
It's what makes a slug-fest so dangerous in the first place; Eagle Prime couldn't actually "Punch" Kuratas because that would concuss the pilot too hard, turning Kogoro brain to jelly with just the INSIDE of his own scull.
>As far as ranged weapons go, it's really hard to establish something that would be capable of damaging a robot on direct hits, but not turning the pilot into salsa on a cockpit hit.
I think the Kuratas team had the better ideas here with their Drone and Paintball gun; You have to be more esoteric with your Range Weapons, using them to blind, entangle, or otherwise inconvenience your opponent before closing into Melee.
Anything powerful enough to do damage from impact alone is going to be super dangerous for the pilots to begin with, and WAY too dangerous for any spectators to safely watch a match in person.
And if you can't use anything that makes the match too dangerous to watch from a grandstand, you run into the same problem Battlebots did where only the boring and practical safe stuff wins.
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No.18492
>>18487
I think the paintball cannons were an idea leftover from their original testing when they tried them out. They used the cannons on their original mech concept, and it literally would have instantly killed whoever was in the cockpit, and even tore up some of the metal. I'm betting that they were too impressed with that and just kind of forgot to reconsider how much it would actually do against a real armor plate.
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No.18493
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>>18492
>I think the paintball cannons were an idea leftover from their original testing when they tried them out. They used the cannons on their original mech concept, and it literally would have instantly killed whoever was in the cockpit, and even tore up some of the metal. I'm betting that they were too impressed with that and just kind of forgot to reconsider how much it would actually do against a real armor plate.
Yeah, it's clearly a vestige of when Mega Bots was going to be a soft-contact paintball sport; A big air cannon that looks impressive but doesn't really do shit.
Kuratas instead used it's Air Submachine gun like the head vulcans on a mobile suit; A small caliber, rapid-fire weapon for either taking advantage of openings or trying to create them.
Also, here's a little breakdown vid I found on the fight!
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No.18494
>>18452
>why did they pick a fight with an art piece?
Because Kurata wanted it that way. He said he wanted "survival games" and "hand-to-hand combat" for his robot long before the gauntlets were tossed. Face it, he's a mech nerd who made it real. He saw the cartoon, then he wondered how it would look, so he built a VOTOMS statue. Then he wondered how it would be to ride it, so he made Kuratas. Then with the megabots he got the chance to feel what it would be like to battle with it, staged or not. It may seem lame as fuck from the outside but can you imagine the adrenaline rush and feeling of absolute ecstasy he would have had in that first round, steaming ahead at 18 mph to slam into a 5-ton robot and punch it over? Rewatch the video from 9:40, he looks like a kid in a candy store. i can only imagine how gratifying it must have been to turn your dreams into tangible reality like that.
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No.18496
>>18494
I agree, my respect goes to the kuratas team who wanted to make their anime dream real, whereas the megabots hucksters just wanted to start a cash-cow clone of battlebots.
Anyway, the mecha age IS coming, it's just still in it's embryonic stage. In 20-30 years development, Patlabor will be reality
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No.18502
>>18496
Mechs will never be as fast as they are in games and shows, though. They simply can't be due to their weight.
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No.18508
>>18484
>and if NASCAR is any indication, they can innovate it enough to make the spectacle half way safe to actually participate in.
Once again the underaged cuckchanner faggot makes a post that is utterly retarded.
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No.18511
>>18502
We'll see, if we get some quadrupedal types with some 'skating' functionality we might see things going 50+mph.
Would certainly have to be built around hovercraft principals and braking would be a bitch, but I could imagine it happening, though it'll never be as smooth as a Rick Dom
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No.18512
>>18511
The main problem with a skating robot is that it would only be able to go on a completely smooth surface.
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No.18520
>>18511
I was thinking it would be better to build down from a helicopter than build up from a tank. Something like a V-22 Osprey with it's VTOL, but more humanoid. You could probably build something fast, bipedal, and 30 feet tall as long as it's weight is largely carried by rotors and the body is made of aircraft grade material. And it could have fairly heavy armor and armaments, comparable to an A-10.
Alternatively, battery tech in the future could make something ground based, like Labors. The science doesn't matter at the end of the day. If we can meme it, we can make it
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No.18530
Hey, hope this is okay, but I archived this thread in case it gets bumped off into oblivion someday.
http://archive.is/3GbWN
It was fun hanging around with you guys, and I look forwards to the next shit-show we get to watch together. Take it easy /m/.
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No.18532
>>18530
It'll take a long time for a thread to fall off the catalog on this board, easily over a year.
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No.18536
>>18532
yeah, I know dude, that's why I said "someday" instead of soon. Just wanted to make sure it didn't sink off without anyone noticing or archiving.
Hell, we still have the old launch theme thread going even though no one has posted in it for over a year. Kinda sad, but at least we die hard… or slow. Hopefully a tolerable newfag or two might post something and decide to stay
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No.18537
>>18536
Well, the board's been picking up in speed for a few weeks now, so I don't think we'll be dying anytime soon.
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No.18578
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Megabots uploads a live-ish video off them messing around with the drill on targets that don't have a squishy person in them. They're also announcing a series of live twitch streams where they do things with the Megabot live.
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No.18579
>>18578
>They're also announcing a series of live twitch streams where they do things with the Megabot live.
Hopefully interesting things.
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No.18631
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The megabbots team has a meeting discussing an upcoming event where a piloted Mk III is going to be fighting the remote-controlled MK II Live on November 5th.
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No.18641
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The megabots team plays with knives.
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No.18644
>>18641
So they're going to do an actual live fight with their old robot?
At least it's something. I can't imagine how awkward it'll look to see the robot using a knife in a fight, though.
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No.18691
>>18631
It's on today.
Let's see if they screw anything up.
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No.18704
>>18493
They totally blew it. Kuratas knocked Eagle Prime onto its ass in the first round.
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No.18708
I didn't watch the Kuratas/Prime duel but I heard it was scripted as hell.
Only way they could make it work is by having either remote control or some mandatory tough as fuck rollcage.
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No.18713
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For those that missed the previous stream of the manned MK III vs the unmanned MKII, here you go.
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No.18714
>>18713
Much better than the first one, though they really need to amp up the speed and get a 'real' opponent for Prime.
Thread's over 500 posts, might be time to start a new one, especially for the coming livestreams.
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No.18715
>>18714
We still have around 250 posts to go.
We don't have a bump limit so threads get bumped until they hit 750.
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No.18808
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Yet another kickstarter
This time for the actual fighting league
Hopefully the low energy fight didn't turn people off too much to keep the naive idiots from donating
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No.18809
>>18808
Also this art is cool
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No.18810
>>18809
they should just make pictures like this
it's a damnsight better than those shitshow fights they put on
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No.18811
>>18808
OY VEY GIVE US MORE MONEY
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No.18812
>>18809
Seeing the Method 2 in the video does give me a little hope, even if it is pretty rigid at this stage.
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No.18813
>>18810
>>18812
Well, arm articulation isn't that hard comparatively, and the pictures they made all feature the ranged weapons mounted on the shoulders, so there's hope for the close range combat even if physical movement will forever be retarded
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No.18819
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Here's their apparent secret weapon to making their retardedly expensive mech fighting league that nobody will want to watch a reality
A single UFC promoter
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No.18820
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No.18833
>>18819
>>18820
To be fair, the guy isn't just a promoter but a founder of UFC, and they really do need standardization in order to get more competitors on-board.
Still, they should be going to heavy industrial machinery manufactures with this instead of Kickstarter…
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No.18848
>>18808
Unfortunately, it did.
The kickstarter just got cancelled. They know that kickstarters get their biggest spikes at the beginning and end of the campaign, and they only pulled $54k. They're going to look for alternative sources of funding - god only knows what that means, I'm willing to bet that they've exhausted the Palo Alto VC scene, and they've already got a bunch of corporate sponsorships.
I was going to toss them $20, but couldn't this week because Paladin Press announced that they're closing so I snagged a good $100 worth of books that have probably landed me on a couple watchlists.
It sucks, because I was really hoping they'd pull together the funds to R&D something much faster, even if it ends up smaller. This entire time, I've still fantasized getting a few of my more mechanically minded friends together and building some scrapheap shitbot from junkyard pieces and old hydraulics. If Kuratas can commercially sell parts kits for about $1m USD, a couple of autists and engineers should be able to throw something together from a junkyard on a shoestring budget.
I just don't want the dream to die.
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No.18868
>>18809
flyingdebris again. does OC, batletech, some game concept art, like the mechs in FEAR 3.
>>18848
if you think this little flim flam kike sham is the beginning and end of mech fighting you're mistaken. let it die and move on to better.
make a hobby of it, with your buddies. the schubs at megabots almost made something work. even thought they're clueless soyboys LARPing as engineers and metalworkers. just aim small, the smaller you build it the more functional and easier it will be, the Kuritas Mk1 is a perfect size. both Megabots were too big, too heavy, and under-designed. for fucks sake they powered it with a Chevy crate motor.
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No.19122
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Megabots begins design of a newer, better, faster arm, citing that speed and responsiveness are of greater importance than raw power.
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No.19374
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Oh, who could have possibly seen this coming
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No.19375
>>19374
Why did they ever think all the overly edited videos shot on expensive cameras was ever a good idea? How did they not realize they were wasting too much time and money on something that wasn't a giant fighting robot? Why did they build shit they knew wouldn't work when they would just have to build a new one that does work? Why did they not have someone in charge of the money to tell them to stop being retarded?
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No.19392
>>19375
None of it was ever going to work, the only way to get any funding and to have any part of this work in real life was to make it look good and get people excited- and then when the actual fighting happens, fake the shit out of it like wrestling, it doesn't matter as long as people can suspend their disbelief, but it's so unworkable that they couldn't even accomplish that
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No.19393
>>19392
iirc the one Chris Jericho hosted seemed to be worked and it was pretty dismal too
maybe there's some chicanery to get smaller robots over, like maybe aim for 5' or so with really light metal frames, shoot it in a set designed to make it look big, and get Rey Mysterio jr to host it and let him stand next to them so they look gigantic.
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No.19406
>>19392
You're probably right, but it's still annoying since it feels like they went out of their way to use their money in the dumbest way possible.
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No.19409
>>19374
These idiots got several times their desired funding, it's their own fault they spent it all.
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