Decided to give another go to a BattleTank HV, and came up with the SlamTek Spectre. I kept the profile a bit more close to center as opposed to the recently-built Grimlock. It was a bit of a challenge finding room for turrets, I admit, but I think the compliment it has now may be adequate. I kept the cockpit somewhat open-faced with Armored Windows so it could take a few hits but keep visibility for the pilot. I'll be giving it a proper paintjob and all the jazz before posting to the workshop Edit - Did the things stated above: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=788388152 Also here's some pics of the new paintjob behind this spoiler (in case you don't want to check out the Workshop link): Spoiler
Second SV done while work on the Contest Entry Alien Base continues. SV will be Posted to the Ship Sharing Thread soon enough.
Just spent the last several hours setting the mid part of the Titan up as a base. Finally get to the point where I can start saving extra ammo and weapons, so time to go mining.... uh-oh, no biofuel. Then THIS happened That's at least 8 spiders, 6 insect people, 5 plant monsters and 4 night rapters. They are walking on water, and I can't shoot them...... then they all dove at once and killed me...... Go to clone station....... Get my few extras...... These mofos are waiting for me and quickly kill me again....... I now have nothing, can't mine, and my backpacks have vanished..... time to start again...... I need to tone down the spawn numbers for creatures lol..
Or you can use a little console magic to salvage your game. "itemmenu" gets you the item menu (press h outside of console) which could bring you a spare drill or gun. tip: watch the first letter of the command in my system it always gets a "^" attached to it.
Continuing my HV bender, I produced a small single-seater scout/light assault tank, named the SlamTek NightShade. I originally intended it to not have the bottom tail, but balancing issues forced me to add it in there. Workshop link tomorrow if I feel like it's ready
Last couple of days... SV destroyed in PvP orbit. Fell to PvP lava planet. Worked by mining, scavenging, and buying from market and was able to build a basic SV and return to a safe PvP planet. It was difficult and took more time than just starting over, but added a level of difficulty that I enjoyed.
I take it ya haven't gotten used to Weight Distribution, Center of Mass, & such now being a thing? *Snickers* 'Safe' & 'PvP Planet' is an Oxymoron. For the Topic: Got a bit more work done on the Contest Entry Alien Base. I hope I can get it done in time before Due Date, let alone if I can make it & have it be any good... I'm feeling those familiar scary feelings of 'biting off more then I can chew'... but then again I was feeling that during building Tyrax Asymm "Barney" & that turned out well... so i'm not giving up.
The weight thing really is a touchy beast on HV's now indeed. Today I was messing with my experimental Land Strider, getting it functional again without drastic changes to its looks. I managed to get it 'level' and driving fairly well, but it does require pilot responsiveness now. Can't just push forward and drink coffee at the same time... gotta anticipate jumps, valleys, and obstacles to 'lean into/out of'. Very weird how the HV building process goes now. Its no longer a cheat vehicle like it was
Eh I've gotten used to em, but I saw a popular HV in the Workshop that had an arched bottom somewhat like that, and was curious if it would still maintain balance like that. As you can tell by the pics, it didn't. Regardless it is very refreshing to be able to go cruise over valleys and hills with little to no issue... even with the narrow-and-tall NightShade, it is able to flatten itself out with no input from me, due to the spread of the hover engines. Plus it can launch off the top of a mountain and do a barrel roll or two before landing
Umm... dude, you clearly have not gotten used to the new Mechanics. Remember your Post Above? Ya tried to stick a big fat unsupported Tail onto that HV & expected it to not screw with your HV's Center of Mass & cause it to flop backwards for no reason at all whatsoever, then were surprised when it DID flop backwards. 'Originally intended it to not have the Bottom Tail' = ya expected that Upper Tail to support itself for free, & ya were surprised it didn't work, except Translated from English to "Suave". Don't ya mean "Aileron Roll"?
Hehe, well, again, I saw a popular HV on the Workshop that had a similar set-up but appeared to cruise parallel with the ground, so I tested that theory with the above HV. There were Hover engines in the tail, so it wasn't "supporting itself for free." Not to mention the central section is about 10x the mass of the tail, meaning on the ground it balances perfectly, and it's not until it relied on the Hover Engines that it would tilt. Honestly it's pretty simple in the end I assume you've seen one of these before? Just because it doesn't look like it should balance, doesn't mean it won't. Distribution of weight and whatnot. I know people feel so proud about spending three weeks building a brick and calling it a combat vessel ("but look, this one has holes in it!" "... so it's a brick with holes"), but I prefer my unique designs need to be, well, unique.
So ya expected the Hover Engine on the Tail to exert the same force on the ground as the ones much closer to the Ground... nice one. Also even if the bulk of the Mass is in the Body that Tail is still causing CoM balance change & it was inevitably gonna become an Issue once ya started trying to get up Hills, & unlike Animal Tails, a HV Tail can't move around to adjust for this. Also, Bricks can take a beating & last, & imho that's a form of sexiness. Brawn can be Sexy in its own way.
To each their own. One mans trash is another mans treasure, just as one mans strife is another mans leisure. (Edit: Or is it one mans pain is another mans pleasure? Eh there's probably a million variations anyway) Without thinking outside the box, how can there be progress? If we only ever stick to what we know, then we never advance. Like Henry Ford said: "if I asked them what they wanted, they'd've said faster horses."
I just ran across that weird 'roll while yaw' issue with one of my older HV's I was updating. If I slid the mouse sideways fast, the HV would try to 'roll' LOL! I just chalked it up to a screwy HV to begin with (old crap, doesnt handle well with how weak the thrusters are). Still can't figure out what causes that to begin happening. RCS placement, lack of side thrust, too much side thrust, its a boggling.
I've been working on a HV tank. Trial runs are not doing well on rough terrain which makes me think I probably need to do more extensive testing with a couple of my other HVs too. /sigh
Took a fleet pic of the current SlamTek BattleTank designs at the new HV Lab on Omicron, due to better lighting there, as Zeyhines had a weird red tint on everything. Plus with the new Hover Engines, hilly terrain is not an issue, but rather a good testing gound, as opposed to the flatness of Zeyhines. (Front Row, Left to Right: NightShade, Krenshar, LBT1. Back Row, Left to Right: Spectre, Grimlock, MBT1. Far Right: Mammoth)
Boy, those six harvesters on the Mammoth make the whole thing totally overpowered, Slam. GEEEEeeeEEeeeEeeeeez.
Started a new seed and crashed not too far from the mid section of the Titan. One of the original hangar doors buried in a mountain and 3 drones in sight, I made base camp on a near by island. Taking advantage of local wildlife, abundant seaweed beds, and a magniesum and iron deposit conveniently located on the opposite shore of the Titan wreck, I managed to find food and supplies to make some needed armaments. I stormed the wreck, taking out the 2 mini-gun drones first then the rocket drone. By then a troop transport had landed. While I was dispatching assassins, crawlers, and Zirax, 2 new drones had shown up and another troop transport was on the way. Time to duck behind a downed drone and eat this green herb (Varona Root)..... always make me hungry though. Feeling good, I jumped back into action. Destroyed the last 2 drones and the ground troops. The wreck is mine. I dug it out and set up base On the right is a shop area, where all constructors will be. On the left is a general living area, with power generation, Food and banking, Health and Welfare center, and an elevator to the greenhouse. And the best part............................................................... I REMEMBERED TO MAKE BACKUPS THIS TIME!!!!! YYYAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!