Form & Function (ACV Aesthetics)

[Kashim]

A moment of your time if you so allow, I find myself curious to everyones thoughts on the new design principles that are being used on ACV for the different damage types. Also a secondary question to anyone that has had access to the beta and seen frame parts outside of what we are shown in the demo, do they follow the same as what is presented in the demo?

 

What I mean is the following breakdown:

 

Kinetic - Hard angles with flat or angled protrusions to redirect or block incoming fire from key areas.

 

Chemical - Broad spaces with grating or secondary frame work to allow expanding heat and gases from explosions to pass through or wash over areas with reinforcements bracing them

 

Thermal - Smooth curves with projections to deflect energy or channel it to certain areas to be dissipated

 

So what are your thoughts? Prefer the older styles with main differences being from company and form or this new style with function playing the key? Is style worth a loss or is winning all that matters to you?

For all of the older AC games I have a horrible habit of designing form over function, so with this new one I think it may balance out my bad habit of that.

[Harakiri Tiger]

They were like that in the beta too, yes. What's even funnier is you know a lot of people will mix and match parts to try and cover defensive weaknesses, so stuff will really look out of place on some ACs. The games have always followed a general trend of sharp/square parts being solid defense and smooth/round parts being energy defense, though. It's just... a bit more noticeable now. Hahahaha.

[Kashim]

Added bonus of a sorts for it being so extreme now is that at close range even without scan mode you can have an idea of what their overall weakness is, sure most times you are to busy to figure it but still. It is possible to get some good looking mixes on the armor.

[Gay Uncle]

Form vs function plays no role in this game for me, probably for (at least) three reasons:

 

1. My vanity and ignorance is inversely correlated with my age (ie. the older I become, the less I am concerned with pure aesthetics compared with functionality)

 

2. ACV has taken the direction of 'form-over-function' itself, in that this game - overall - seems to be more realistic in a sense. Afterall, a top-spec Ferrari Enzo racer is never to be as pretty as a GT-focused Aston Martin.

 

3. Online PvP.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Sandra Bullock

[Pendragon]

I'm always up to learning a new style of combat. I did notice that my shots usually got reflected off when I shot at another AC, and I guess I know why now. Edited January 25, 2012 by Pendragon

[Hoppy]

I don't mind new concepts in design, AC is a lot about trial and error in all aspects of design, so it just feels natural.

[Aokiryu89]

I'm always up to learning a new style of combat. I did notice that my shots usually got reflected off when I shot at another AC, and I guess I know why now.

 

It could also be because the armor is flat out tough, I've seen KE rounds bounce of the Thermal Armor of the Test Heavy.

 

I've also seen this when attacking the MTs, even the lighter fast moving ones.

[Red Shirt (Grayscale)]

Well it does make sense, considering how parts with KE-based defenses (LW and MW biped sets from the demo) end up being sloped (http://en.wikipedia....i/Sloped_armour). Then some of the heavier parts seem to be outfitted with either chobham/composite-based armor or spaced, including that fat humanoid leg.

 

Then there's the caterpillar leg from the demo that seems to be have a combination of characteristics from different kinds of vehicle armor, including some sort of sloped-reactive pieces layered around the tank. That unusually high thermal defense is strange though, but then again it's just a game.

 

^ Which might also have to do with this (http://www.dcr.net/~...oweredarmor.htm). Look for the term 'SWNT'. Of course, I can't say for sure; I'm not that updated to stuff like these nowadays. Not to mention that was made around 2002 iirc.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Goat

[Draxus]

I didn't know of the armor changes. I hope it doesn't make my AC look ugly when I change up the parts to counter weaknesses. I like function more, but I do care about form.

[Exorcet]

I'm not quite sure how much more functional AC5 parts are than past parts. Some of the guns look ridiculous, and tanks barely had space to hold their arms up (at least the demo tank).

 

AC's are a bit stubbier now, which helps with balance issues I guess (though booster position still don't seem to make much sense), but they are still full of exposed joints and weaknesses

 

This guy is asking for his arms to be blown off.

 

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/arcor55.jpg

[Aokiryu89]

I'm not quite sure how much more functional AC5 parts are than past parts. Some of the guns look ridiculous, and tanks barely had space to hold their arms up (at least the demo tank). AC's are a bit stubbier now, which helps with balance issues I guess (though booster position still don't seem to make much sense), but they are still full of exposed joints and weaknesses This guy is asking for his arms to be blown off. http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/arcor55.jpg

 

I like how it makes more structural sense why light armor is weaker than heavy armor with this. That red frame is using light armor arms. The one flying is a full light frame while the one in the background is a heavy. Just looking at the amount of armor it's pretty easy to spot out who's in what weight armor class.

 

This was pretty obvious to me when they first started showing different frames (when they came back with the new V logo). It annoyed me so much when people complained about only seeing heavy weights when all the major demo vids were of a middle weight.

[Nemphtis]

When building an AC I'm always having that good old internal battle between form and function. I'm really into the aesthetics of things but I also primarily play to win, it's a testing balancing act to say the least.

 

I often start out with something designed to look good and go fast, but then I start to lose again people who actually think when fighting. I see the flaw in my design (or in myself) and I correct it, because I know I'm not going to win if I stubbornly leave things as they are.

 

With dedicated servers I'm hoping there will be a major reduction in lag, making lightweight designs which depend on speed and cover to effectively block/dodge incoming fire much more viable.

[Moon Walker]

90% of my design making/thinking process goes to Form, looks and Aesthetics. You wouldn't believe how long I spend time in the garage screen just tweaking with part tuning and internal parts swaping just to fit the visible AC parts. Not to mention painting and repainting the AC atleast 4 times and creating emblems and decals to finish everything.

 

One thing I'm laughing at myself about is that if I'm on any team in ACV, if I go to the garage to change something on my AC, I may never come back out.... Unless I already have a prepare schematic for what I want.