Watching some fun mecha music videos on Youtube maked me realize how silly mecha are when you make them serious weapons. Armored Core, for instance, has mecha that spend more time skating and jet boosting than walking. It would make more sense just to have a hover assault craft, doing away with the gangly legs and arms. Now, this point doesn't prevent enjoying giant robot fights, but I think giant hover tank duels could be just as cool.
When set in a funny or ridiculous world, mecha and giant robots work great. But in grim worlds, they annoy me. Maybe its the balance between sci-fi nerd and military geek that does it. Once I get started tearing apart concepts, the flitterring gangly mech has become a sleek assault craft, more like a spacefighter than anything else. In a purely fantastical world, though, tearing apart concepts seems petty and mean. This is probably why I like fantasy a bit more. I can't argue with "a wizard did it" or "magic dilithium crystals" and can go on to enjoy the show.
Yes, I just called Star Trek fantasy. The humans are noble and pure, the aliens are humans with funny ears, and the technology is based on magic crystals. Star Wars is fantasy as well, but everyone knows that.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Enemy of the State
Because I believe the federal government has too much power, I am a potential terrorist, according to the Obama DHS. So are any returning veterans. This report on right-wing radicals has no real information that could help cops, and is an embarrassment. It basically lumps together federalists, abortion opponents, and skinheads into one massive group without mentionning a real threat.
Basically, if you didn't vote for Obama, they think you are a dangerous person. Note that the companion report on left-wing violence is choked with real cases involving violent animal liberation types, and does not blanket as many groups under the tent of radicalism. The DHS is an embarrassment. It takes barely ten years to go from targetting terrorist to targetting political opponents.
Basically, if you didn't vote for Obama, they think you are a dangerous person. Note that the companion report on left-wing violence is choked with real cases involving violent animal liberation types, and does not blanket as many groups under the tent of radicalism. The DHS is an embarrassment. It takes barely ten years to go from targetting terrorist to targetting political opponents.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
What I'd like to see in a sci-fi series.
While useless, it is sometimes fun to write down exactly what one desires out of entertainment. No series will ever live up to all your desires, but thats not the point.
First of all, there needs to be a balance between drama and having fun. Too many series focus on only drama, and end up very bleak and harsh. This is important to all series, and needs to be there before we even add elements of sci-fi.
I would like starships and energy weapons, but they need to be different enough from other series. Weapons that effect larger areas of space, providing indirect fire, might be fun to experiment with. If infantry combat occurs, they at least need armored spacesuits. Captains and higher ups do not go on infantry missions, period.
Multiple species that are more than humans with funny knobs. Hard to do on a small budget, you might say, but they could at least try.
Sadly, to get all this and decent actors, I would have to wait for eternity. Science Fiction books are still available, though, and I have yet to exhaust the wierd world of anime, so its not a big deal.
First of all, there needs to be a balance between drama and having fun. Too many series focus on only drama, and end up very bleak and harsh. This is important to all series, and needs to be there before we even add elements of sci-fi.
I would like starships and energy weapons, but they need to be different enough from other series. Weapons that effect larger areas of space, providing indirect fire, might be fun to experiment with. If infantry combat occurs, they at least need armored spacesuits. Captains and higher ups do not go on infantry missions, period.
Multiple species that are more than humans with funny knobs. Hard to do on a small budget, you might say, but they could at least try.
Sadly, to get all this and decent actors, I would have to wait for eternity. Science Fiction books are still available, though, and I have yet to exhaust the wierd world of anime, so its not a big deal.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Bread and Circuses
Yes, I think the world has gone mad. Yes, I have serious concerns about the future. However, we still have cheap food and an overload of entertainment. More people are able to enter into this world of bread and circuses. Now, you can still have a hard time in a world of youtube and decent food, but life is fairly good. However, this is a very new thing for humanity, so even though I think its good, being liberated from the basics allows people to become more bizarre. Like the Romans did. Being happily fed and entertained does not prevent you from being cruel, evil, and arrogant.
It doesn't force you to be any of those things, however. We have the ability to reason, and it won't be technologies fault if we go bonkers.
It doesn't force you to be any of those things, however. We have the ability to reason, and it won't be technologies fault if we go bonkers.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Elder Abuse
Have you ever seen Robert Byrd speak? He is so doddering that I almost want to charge the people who vote for him with abusing a poor old man. I do not like how we seem to put politicians in till they go senile. The Republicans do this too, and I really wonder if these parties support older politicians so they can take advantage of them. Or maybe its just easier than kicking them out.
A way to end this would be term limits, which is the last thing we will ever see. Getting rid of the seniority rules might help. I think politicians are less competant the longer they are in.
A way to end this would be term limits, which is the last thing we will ever see. Getting rid of the seniority rules might help. I think politicians are less competant the longer they are in.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Factions
One thing that has always fascinated me about Real Time Strategy games are the way factions are set up. I dislike playing RTS, because you have to upgrade your base and fight at the same time, but the way factions are balanced interests me. This is more pronounced in science fiction and fantasy games, and was first mastered by Starcraft.
We had Protoss, superior psychic aliens who had expensive, powerful units. We had the ravenous swarm of the Zerg, who like large numbers of cheap soldiers. The Terrans were kinda in the middle on unit cost vs. strength, but they had other things to seperate them from the other two. So, how do I take my love of factions with different units, and do something constructive with it?
Well, I can't write a story about it. "Techpirate Hijack Bot Number 543 (with rocketfeet upgrade from Chop Shop) screamed as the MethMonster Drill Wurmz (with metal digestion from the HiveShack) ate its face." doesn't come out well. Although it is hilarious.
Write out a ridiculous paper covering unit development and comparisons for a game that I don't have the financial power to make correctly? Well, that seems like fun. And it will confuse my only readers (hi mom!). It will also take forever. Meh.
Constructive is out, then. I will then describe a few factions for a crazy world my brain can come up with.
MethMonsters: Well, ole Billy added the wrong chemical to a batch of meth, and it exploded, opening a hole in space-time. He is now the mutated leader of a swarm of confused mutated animals and people. Redneck bugmonsters!
TechPirates: The reason no one has nuked Billy. TechPirates have cool robot toys and are just as slimy as normal pirates. I would make them have the most expensive units, as they are cowardly criminals who send robots to actually fight. Being attacked by bugmonsters has lowered the amount of time they spend screwing up the rest of the world.
Lizard Men: Ravenous lizard men from Venus! Hmm... I think I'd better stop.
We had Protoss, superior psychic aliens who had expensive, powerful units. We had the ravenous swarm of the Zerg, who like large numbers of cheap soldiers. The Terrans were kinda in the middle on unit cost vs. strength, but they had other things to seperate them from the other two. So, how do I take my love of factions with different units, and do something constructive with it?
Well, I can't write a story about it. "Techpirate Hijack Bot Number 543 (with rocketfeet upgrade from Chop Shop) screamed as the MethMonster Drill Wurmz (with metal digestion from the HiveShack) ate its face." doesn't come out well. Although it is hilarious.
Write out a ridiculous paper covering unit development and comparisons for a game that I don't have the financial power to make correctly? Well, that seems like fun. And it will confuse my only readers (hi mom!). It will also take forever. Meh.
Constructive is out, then. I will then describe a few factions for a crazy world my brain can come up with.
MethMonsters: Well, ole Billy added the wrong chemical to a batch of meth, and it exploded, opening a hole in space-time. He is now the mutated leader of a swarm of confused mutated animals and people. Redneck bugmonsters!
TechPirates: The reason no one has nuked Billy. TechPirates have cool robot toys and are just as slimy as normal pirates. I would make them have the most expensive units, as they are cowardly criminals who send robots to actually fight. Being attacked by bugmonsters has lowered the amount of time they spend screwing up the rest of the world.
Lizard Men: Ravenous lizard men from Venus! Hmm... I think I'd better stop.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Humans in science fiction
How come humans never get to be the sneaky race in sci-fi? We always seem to be put in the top dog or mewling prey department. Either we have a massive empire or we are barely surviving genocidal monsters. This is usually a bit more balanced in strategy games, but humans in games suffer from always the middle of the road race.
Why can't we be the sneaking spy or unruly horde? I guess because people want to believe humans are either inferior or average, and never give a thought that we might be one of the weirdo races in the future. But I think people might like to see humans as the clever and crafty sneaks, with a fleet of stealth ships, secret agents, and stealth suited space rangers. I would, at least. But we have to sell it, so lets try.
One) Stealth ships give some of that submarine warfare tension. It would also be a departure from the spacecraft carriers that fill science fiction. Plus, cloaking effects aren't that hard.
Two) Think a less slimy James Bond meets Mace Windu. No shiny stuff, he is about trickery and misdirection. In fact, the Jedi have made it acceptable for a "good guy" to mind fry people, add to that some cool gadgets and guns, and we've got our agent.
Three) Space Rangers (or Marines) are often done, but they are generally the first to get eaten or killed, and these guys are different. These Rangers will be a close-knit team, and while we can't go full "Predator" on their enemies, because of the lack of drama, we will make them scary to the enemy. They can lose a few members, just not enough to make a joke out of them (no red shirts).
So we have three ways to show sneaky humans. I believe their weapons will not be shiny or flashy, nor loud and rumbly. I like simple longarms that spit whispers of dark energy. No lazy tossing modern guns to them.
Why can't we be the sneaking spy or unruly horde? I guess because people want to believe humans are either inferior or average, and never give a thought that we might be one of the weirdo races in the future. But I think people might like to see humans as the clever and crafty sneaks, with a fleet of stealth ships, secret agents, and stealth suited space rangers. I would, at least. But we have to sell it, so lets try.
One) Stealth ships give some of that submarine warfare tension. It would also be a departure from the spacecraft carriers that fill science fiction. Plus, cloaking effects aren't that hard.
Two) Think a less slimy James Bond meets Mace Windu. No shiny stuff, he is about trickery and misdirection. In fact, the Jedi have made it acceptable for a "good guy" to mind fry people, add to that some cool gadgets and guns, and we've got our agent.
Three) Space Rangers (or Marines) are often done, but they are generally the first to get eaten or killed, and these guys are different. These Rangers will be a close-knit team, and while we can't go full "Predator" on their enemies, because of the lack of drama, we will make them scary to the enemy. They can lose a few members, just not enough to make a joke out of them (no red shirts).
So we have three ways to show sneaky humans. I believe their weapons will not be shiny or flashy, nor loud and rumbly. I like simple longarms that spit whispers of dark energy. No lazy tossing modern guns to them.
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