Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Part of my inherent nerd-dom is that I enjoy tabletop wargaming, thanks to some bad choices as a young teenager, a little disposable income as a young adult and a brain that soaks up 'fantasy' like an axolotl eating a fish-food pellet (look it up if you need the visual reference...)
And so, within my now ageing brain rattle details that nobody cares about, and that have exactly zero effect in any real-life circumstance. Thanks brain! ... Within this mess, I include my contemplation of how machine-guns are portrayed in the game Battletech. It is with some annoyance I find myself at the wrong end of how these are perceived at large. But, it's annoying enough that I shall now go into a lengthy internet-bound diatribe detailing my upset on the matter.
Set in a fantasy future in which technological progression is halted by the spread and politic of humanity among a (widely spread) universe. Huge, stompy, gun-toting robots aka "mechs" (battlemechs) are a de facto way of ending future-space arguments.
But then comes "The Machine-Gun"... and here's where I differ greatly from nearly all flavours of Battletech machine-gun I'd seen put into video games, and from that, posted into the mind of players everywhere.
Too often, the machine gun is depicted, or enacted as though it were a trusty modern heavy machine gun probably around 12.7mm / 50 cal. in format and with that familiar thuuba-thuuba-thuuba noise associated to such weapons...
Well, in my head, this is just wrong... plain and simple, just, well... not right. It's the FUTURE... and also, the image of a 'machine-gun' in the reference materials looks like this:-
And to me it meshes well with the fact that in the canon (pun intended) of the fantasy universe that is Battletech, machine guns are supposed to be very fast firing, primarily anti-infantry defence weapons but (and it is a big but...) they are also supposed to be able to just about cause damage to some of the most highly armoured fighting machines ever made... And to me... a minigun has far more potential to find a weaker spot, an exposed gap or even just through impact tear away armour more so than a less lead-spewey weapon.
More so, I would hesitate on a side of caution to state that the weapons of the Mechwarrior sci-fi are more developed than any modern equivalent. I could guess that such a multi-barrelled weapon would likely be akin to the weapons we see on out attack helicoptors or even the ship-bound air-defence weapons...
All while firing some sci-fi armour-piercing tipped bullets of doom. It also follows that in the lore of battletech, one ton of ammo (including the cases and load-feed mechanisms) can fire a machine gun 200 times... Warning BORING MATHS AHEAD...
I would postulate the following;
And so, one ton of bullets, being 200 "shots" would allow each "shot" to be around 100 bullets of fire-effect. This means one ton is actually loading around 20,000 rounds. This would also make more logistic sense of scale in the 'fitting' of the ammo into the mech.
200 bullets can easily be carried by one guy in a small plastic bag, but 20,000 rounds, well that would require specialised ammo bins with enough ammo in them to be 'impressive' in a mecha sci-fi scale.
And so, this rant closes as I frown at the many computer games which portray an underwhelming concept of a firearm. When I shoot a machine-gun from my 10 meter tall death-robot, I want whatever is in-front of me to understand that fact and not just laugh at an impotent pea-shooter.
Credits: Sounds from-
And so, within my now ageing brain rattle details that nobody cares about, and that have exactly zero effect in any real-life circumstance. Thanks brain! ... Within this mess, I include my contemplation of how machine-guns are portrayed in the game Battletech. It is with some annoyance I find myself at the wrong end of how these are perceived at large. But, it's annoying enough that I shall now go into a lengthy internet-bound diatribe detailing my upset on the matter.
ELI5: Battletech-
Machine Guns
Along with lasers, and other 'future' weaponry, mech's have an array of more conventional ballistic weapons. Most are akin to what our modern battle-tanks might have, be it a 30mm automated cannon or a 280mm howitzer style weapon. These are easy for my minds-eye to envision as I get heated and excited mid game as we players discuss the battlefield carnage attempting to bring a cinematic edge to what otherwise boils down to grown men rolling dice and filling out a spread sheet.But then comes "The Machine-Gun"... and here's where I differ greatly from nearly all flavours of Battletech machine-gun I'd seen put into video games, and from that, posted into the mind of players everywhere.
Too often, the machine gun is depicted, or enacted as though it were a trusty modern heavy machine gun probably around 12.7mm / 50 cal. in format and with that familiar thuuba-thuuba-thuuba noise associated to such weapons...
Listen to some dakka:
Well, in my head, this is just wrong... plain and simple, just, well... not right. It's the FUTURE... and also, the image of a 'machine-gun' in the reference materials looks like this:-
I'm gonna need more Cowbell...
Now, as impressive as it might be hearing a 'machine-gun' slowly shouting pop-pop-pop. In my mind, and in my opinion, far more impressive/fear inducing is the BRRRAAAAAAAP of seevral hundred rounds all being spat out in near simultaneous succession.
More audio dakka:
And to me it meshes well with the fact that in the canon (pun intended) of the fantasy universe that is Battletech, machine guns are supposed to be very fast firing, primarily anti-infantry defence weapons but (and it is a big but...) they are also supposed to be able to just about cause damage to some of the most highly armoured fighting machines ever made... And to me... a minigun has far more potential to find a weaker spot, an exposed gap or even just through impact tear away armour more so than a less lead-spewey weapon.
More so, I would hesitate on a side of caution to state that the weapons of the Mechwarrior sci-fi are more developed than any modern equivalent. I could guess that such a multi-barrelled weapon would likely be akin to the weapons we see on out attack helicoptors or even the ship-bound air-defence weapons...
All while firing some sci-fi armour-piercing tipped bullets of doom. It also follows that in the lore of battletech, one ton of ammo (including the cases and load-feed mechanisms) can fire a machine gun 200 times... Warning BORING MATHS AHEAD...
I would postulate the following;
- A machine gun can be fired once in a game turn.
- One game turn lasts for 10 seconds of time.
- A rotary barrelled machine gun could expel up to around 100 bullets (not including downtime for cooling...).
And so, one ton of bullets, being 200 "shots" would allow each "shot" to be around 100 bullets of fire-effect. This means one ton is actually loading around 20,000 rounds. This would also make more logistic sense of scale in the 'fitting' of the ammo into the mech.
200 bullets can easily be carried by one guy in a small plastic bag, but 20,000 rounds, well that would require specialised ammo bins with enough ammo in them to be 'impressive' in a mecha sci-fi scale.
And so, this rant closes as I frown at the many computer games which portray an underwhelming concept of a firearm. When I shoot a machine-gun from my 10 meter tall death-robot, I want whatever is in-front of me to understand that fact and not just laugh at an impotent pea-shooter.
Some Reference Noise Dakka:
- Mechwarrior 2:
- Mechwarrior 3: I have to say... this is the closest to my liking.
- Mechwarrior 4:
- Mechwarrior 5:
Credits: Sounds from-
- https://freesound.org/
- http://soundbible.com/
- And a bunch of people on YouTube that have done sound sampling from the games...
- Oh, and then by fact of original production; the respective game dev companies that commissioned those sounds...
Wargaming Woes - Battletech
Spent some time streaming today, I keep hoping that perhaps 'someone' ... anyone... will give me some money pity for my efforts.
If you have any interest in a casual gamer with only marginal skill and zero personality then oh boy have I got the Twitch channel for you!
Visit me (on the very unlikely occasion that I am streaming) at my channel:
www.twitch.tv/rich_pl
I've spent some time making it more, well, I want to say "professional" - but that's a bit of hypocrisy really, I'm not professional in any way. Anyhoo, I've updated a donation partner thing so I can alerts and notifications while streaming (if anyone ever donates anything...) and I've made a graphic overlay for my webcam thing just because A: I could, B: I wanted to and C: why the fuck not.
Common games will include-
Today's picture (because that's a thing now...) is this 3d printed Ghostbusters logo. It was made for me before the 'new' movie was released so it's intended in good faith and memory of the original movies, which I loved.
All thanks to my estranged acquaintance Mr Steve C.
There's no reason I'm posting this other than I think it's pretty damn cool, thanks Steve.
If you have any interest in a casual gamer with only marginal skill and zero personality then oh boy have I got the Twitch channel for you!
Visit me (on the very unlikely occasion that I am streaming) at my channel:
www.twitch.tv/rich_pl
I've spent some time making it more, well, I want to say "professional" - but that's a bit of hypocrisy really, I'm not professional in any way. Anyhoo, I've updated a donation partner thing so I can alerts and notifications while streaming (if anyone ever donates anything...) and I've made a graphic overlay for my webcam thing just because A: I could, B: I wanted to and C: why the fuck not.
Common games will include-
- Ghost Recon Wildlands
- Killing Floor 2
- Mechwarrior Online
- Factorio (I know right, the most dull game to watch...)
- & other crap I'm interested in.
Today's picture (because that's a thing now...) is this 3d printed Ghostbusters logo. It was made for me before the 'new' movie was released so it's intended in good faith and memory of the original movies, which I loved.
All thanks to my estranged acquaintance Mr Steve C.
There's no reason I'm posting this other than I think it's pretty damn cool, thanks Steve.
So much time, So Little to do...
What a dull summer, the weather has been bloody awful and I'm being my usual self and staying indoors (even when it has been nice). I've been playing a lot of Mechwarrior Online and Factorio, My pal Mauler hasn't been about much, I figure he's got a lot going on and probably needs a little less 'internet' time.
If I'm honest, I could probably benefit from stepping away from the screen once every 60 hours or so... But I have little drive to 'do' stuff, now that things with my income stream have been more or less sorted out, the want to do more seems sapping. I very nearly tweeted someone today to enquire if they needed a consultant, they're local to me (a plus) and they're involved in work which I find interesting. But when it came to the crunch I just couldn't be arsed.
And so, another tumbleweed of days has passed and not a lot has happened, the only thing of note is that I finally made the better half and myself a rhubarb and strawberry smoothie. It worked out quite nicely, and the 'barb was free after all, and heck, the Mrs got the strawb's on an end of day yellow ticket, a whole punnet for 10p! Even counting the custard, honey, and milk I added the drinks cost us a total of about 7 pence each. Perhaps this 'austerity' nonsense isn't so bad.
P.S. Austerity can go suck it... of course, more money would be nice, but that isn't my reality.
[post ed]
Here's an image, because this blogger theme seems to need one on each post:
If I'm honest, I could probably benefit from stepping away from the screen once every 60 hours or so... But I have little drive to 'do' stuff, now that things with my income stream have been more or less sorted out, the want to do more seems sapping. I very nearly tweeted someone today to enquire if they needed a consultant, they're local to me (a plus) and they're involved in work which I find interesting. But when it came to the crunch I just couldn't be arsed.
And so, another tumbleweed of days has passed and not a lot has happened, the only thing of note is that I finally made the better half and myself a rhubarb and strawberry smoothie. It worked out quite nicely, and the 'barb was free after all, and heck, the Mrs got the strawb's on an end of day yellow ticket, a whole punnet for 10p! Even counting the custard, honey, and milk I added the drinks cost us a total of about 7 pence each. Perhaps this 'austerity' nonsense isn't so bad.
P.S. Austerity can go suck it... of course, more money would be nice, but that isn't my reality.
[post ed]
Here's an image, because this blogger theme seems to need one on each post:
