Why Walkers?

[mrtwosheds]

Why walkers? cos their so much fun!
Look what I gave the Emperor for Christmas.



The head part (the dalek on a ball) rotates 180 degrees and can fire straight up too, still needs a bit more work.

[Dianoga4]

That's a pretty cool walker and yes, once I figured out how to get them to work, I started liking walkers more myself as well.

Dia

[Avatar]

I think it's very hard to balance a brand new Walker for a mod...  The Krahanos is basically an Attilla, while the Drath is very Mauler-like.  I'm not just talking about looks, I mean what they're supposed to do and how they're supposed to do it, in the game.

The Krahanos is a walking GT, tall, slow, very powerful, but vulnerable to a mortars or fast, light, strafing enemy.

The Drath is fairly quick, dark, low, and just runs up and eats your GT's before you even know they're nearby.

I've tried to make my Titans, which have a LOT of Walkers, a little different...  The Behemoth is almost a building it moves so slowly and is pretty much invulnerable and all-powerful, so you have to do something to stop it other than attack it. (good for plot points)

The Fireworm is low and slow, but good against anything because it just makes a fog of fire around itself so you have to attack from a distance. 

The Tripod is a goof, tall and fast and lightly powered/armored.  It's a rapid strike unit for field use, running out and eating a couple of Scavs or Scouts and then high-tailing it back to base.  You might even let it eat you because you'll be laughing at it running around like crazy.  Then again it's very low poly, paths independantly, so there are usually dozens of them running around and it might be more effective than it looks.

IOW I'd love to see some Walkers that fill unusual roles on the battlefield...  not all of them have to be Attillas or Maulers...   something like the 'Landmaster' I made for GAIPS can be an effective unit while not being an Attilla or Mauler...

-Av-

[Red Devil]

Sounds like Av has been BUSY.

I like that Strider in HL2.  Dog, too.

[Avatar]

Naw, the Titans have been pretty much done for ages.  Haven't had much time for anything fun lately.  Now that the weather has settled and the Holidays are done I'm finding more free time.

Forgot about that, it was an awesome robot...  Loved it when it looked in the dumpster and, finding nothing, decided to throw the dumpster at you...   

-Av-

[TheJamsh]

Ive got a 4-legged isdf walker for the AAN in serenesis.

it has twin shoulder-mounted assault rocket pods and twin assault guns. it can jump, spin faster than an attilla and run at higher speeds. Its low center of gravity also means it can push things around a fair bit too. THe idea was inspired from Ratchet & Clanks landstalker vehicle.

EDIT: I LOVE those models youve got Avatar. Really cant wait for BZC =]

[mrtwosheds]

Well that spider Dalek is a sort of cross-breed between the Arachnoid I made before and my generic assault dalek type.
Its got a fast top speed (50) but at the moment the weapons are 2 assault cannon 2 assault rockets and 1 assault mortar type(they are not all mortars)

I haven't figured out what its default weapons should be yet, Daleks have allot to choose from...

[Sabre Tank]

If walkers WERE real, there would be no real significant need for them. We already have Tanks, they can go an just about any terrain. So what we would be basically making is a tank on legs.

[bigbadbogie]

True... but they look cooler.

[AHadley]

The military doesn't care how stuff looks, just how it works. A bit like OM, actually.

[bigbadbogie]

You've gotta admit that they would be useful in fending off an alien invasion of Earth though, because they are very high tech and would probably frighten the living hoot out of them.

[Nielk1]

The military doesn't care how stuff looks

Actually they go for things that are intimidating and scary on purpose.

[AHadley]

They don't really go for 'coolness' though, and funcionality always overcomes looks.

[Avatar]

Treaded tanks can't go anywhere...  there were numerous pictures of them stuck in the sand during Desert Storm and I've seen a lot of terrain you'd never get a wheeled or treaded unit through.

Hovering vehicles can be a different story, depending on how high they hover and what method they use to keep in the air.  Something that depends on a field effect pushing on the ground is just as limited as a wheeled or tracked unit when it comes to severely broken terrain.

Walking units are what you'd use if you didn't have something that could fly or hover without being dependent on the ground level, and you wanted to cross broken terrain without having to use a bulldozer on it first.  That's why I say most of the time they're limited in games to hauling the really heavy weapons around that can't be carried by flying or hovering units. 

There are also limits to how large a treaded unit can be, in terms of the power needed to move the treads.  Some of the walkers I've seen in games would need such huge treads that gearing to move them would be ridiculously large.

Finally, all that flying and hovering must use energy, and energy in war is usually traceable which is a disadvantage.  Treads, wheels, and walkers are usually lower energy and can shut down completely to avoid being detected.
 
I think the true issue with using walkers over anything else is that a walker can be set up so that each leg senses and adjusts to the terrain.  Ideally a walker would be able to run across a broken field, jump over boulders or other barriers, scale a sheer cliff, and cling under an overhang. 

-Av-

[Zero Angel]

Actually they go for things that are intimidating and scary on purpose.

True, theres something about functionality that makes things look good. Take fighter jets, for example. Theres a saying that "if it looks good, it flies good". Most modern fighters look fricken sweet, and handle just as well. The air forces would probably go for an uglier aircraft though, if that aircraft was much more effective that the cool looking ones.