Tank Designs

Just some tank design I've been playing around with, what i really want to do next is to crate one in Maya and play about with it. the designs here kept getting stranger, it was really just an experiment to break the existing tank frame and try to make something different, i did do a wheeled on which is the 7Th drawing, was interesting but I want to keep to the tracks for tanks thing not to completely break away from what makes a tank.

6Th tank

i might take this one thrver into development, its only a basic design at the moment but it has that shape that i wanted to make when i was talking about designing a mobile fortress, with powerstations on the rear on a type of balcony. the bottom part I will design with more detail and try to add more componants.

Tanks and Tracks

Tanks

I've been looking into tanks for my leg modification, tanks can support a lot of armour without compensating speed they are a well balanced and mostly unstoppable force capable of suppressing any enemy. Tanks have changed only slightly since the introduction of a rotating turret, only slight modifications have been developed with the help of new materials and computer guidance. Tanks are a perfect platform for any weapon to be mounted upon, and because they have all terrain tracks they can be used in almost any situation.



Tank Development


Mk 1

Tanks started out as the one above, low profile sluggish tanks that had cannons mounted either side of the vehicle which could rotate left and right you can see the HUD of the tank in the center. this type of tank is a good design because of its multiple cannons it can attack two targets simultaneously.

It wasn't until the French created the Renault FT 17 that things started looking like the tanks we know today this is because the FT 17 was the first to feature a rotating turret rather than the side mounted ones which were ineffective at certain angles, the FT 17 was considered a light tank due to the heavy machine gun mounted inside the turret instead of a cannon.

Renault FT 17


The Land Ironclads

A short story written by H.G. Wells about large land vehicles which had remote controlled guns all around it, which some say is the idea behind the creating of tanks, Wells was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci (1) who also had an idea similar to his. Wells tanks were steam powered monsters Which could house many soldiers

"The Ironclads are 100 ft long machines with remote controlled guns and accommodation for 42 soldiers, including 7 officers.

They move with small wheels with feet called "Pedrails", and attain a maximum of 8 mph. Many politicians during WWI wished to apply the concept and make real Ironclads. The First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill and the Landships Committee developed the first tanks in WWI without Wells' involvement, Wells was embittered and developed an aversion to politics for a short time. It is said that this story was the starting point of tanks in World War I." (2)

H.G. Wells - Land Ironclad


Leonardo da Vinci's 'tank'


Fantasy Tanks

unlike in real life tanks in games is always evolving some keep the same basic designs but develop them with high tech fantasy elements, because there are no limits a tank can become anything.

Stealth Tank
Command and Conquer has made changes to the classic tank design to Incorporate strange weapons and details, the Stealth tank by the team NOD is one such tank it has existing track supports but they're segmented, it does have a turret but its equipped with a salvo of rockets rather then the traditional cannon and it has optical camouflage more than just radar stealth.


NOD's Stealth Tank

tachikoma

is a fantasy tank from the series 'Ghost in The Shell' its used as a light assault tank used mainly for suppression and light vehicle disposal it features its own AI and passenger transport in the rear, a main grenade launcher in the center and duel machine guns in the front hands, like how it looks it also has synthetic spider like strands that it can attach to walls and objects to swing around. in the series the Tachikoma is fitted with various components to suit different situations and civilian duties.

tachikoma


Land Raider

The Land raider is a super heavy tank in the Warhammer 40k Universe it has a design consistant with the MK 1 tank but bigger with a huge amount of weaponry attached to it, instead of cannons it has lazers and bolters engaging multiple units around it making it similar to a battlefortress, its large structure and heavy armour makes this tank suparse top rotating tanks.


Land Raider
(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/gallery_tank_01.shtml
(2) http://www.ozebook.com/ozebook/landironclads.htm

Mobile Bases

Mobile Platforms

I've been looking into mobile platforms and bases ever since i got to a level in Fallout yesterday where you encounter a huge mobile base which the team 'The Enclave' occupy its equipped with many features including research facilities weapons bays satellite up link towers and self refineries in side is a complex of rooms and corridors leading to dormitories toilets and every thing you would need to have a permanent living condition. the whole structure is supported by four heavy tank tracks which move the monster from place to place.

When looking into other types of this machine in games i found that this platform was based on a Mobile platform used in real life to transport rockets from place to place (1). this huge machine doesn't have the features of the Fallout mobile platform but you can see the transition from the live one to this one. the shear size of this machine is what appealed to me, and gave me a new angle on how to build my mechs. because if i were to plan to build these machines a complete self sufficient platform or component would seem more efficient if it were to be moving all the time without leaving vulnerable structures in place, the factories that you would obtain would be the only vulnerability left but that would be to balance out the game play.

for the combined effect i want this mobile platform is perfect as it is a flat base and anything can be built on top of it, the only problem with this design is that it is rather bland and the base which i would build on wouldn't look completely different no matter what i put on it. i will be taking this idea into account but will be looking into other was of modifying the shape of the base to give it more definition with variables such as technology and texture.

the model below shows the way other components below can be attached to the frame, the circle in the middle could be bridged to join with whatever frame i wanted through the use of extensions of metal frames.


Appleseed

The 3d animated film 'Appleseed' has a mobile fortress in it, a huge AI controlled battle fortress with multiple eyes and weapons to engage any target from any angle its a really strange looking structure with a flatbed on the to which accommodates a large siege cannon, the real thing that draws me to this design is the multiple eyes surrounding the fortress it seems logical if a structure be that big as to have no blind spots.

hovercraft designs

I drew eight hovercraft designs to try out some of my ideas i tried to change the technology in each one but i ended up playing about with them which isn't such a bad idea because some turned out alright, they're not amazingly detailed but its a spring board for when my real ideas come into play.

Hovercrafts

I've been looking at hovercrafts to build my hover leg attachment which a player could acquire. most of the hovercrafts i could find were just generic ones with the odd exception of a military one there isn't a huge amount of experimental hovercrafts that were any different so i had to try and merge a few ideas.



the matrix hovercraft is a really good example of how i could go, its like a large container with magnets all over it generating a repulse field so it can navigate around the metal as if to hover. I've been looking at plane engines as a form of lift because the basic term is the same to move air around.

i found this image when i was doing research for my last project its an experimental train with the use of jet engines to move it forward, if i can remember its Russian design to try to increase the speed of travel without the reliance on powering the lines. an interesting idea although it does seem strange to look at.

Randomness

When talking to Alan awhile ago we discussed how the game needed some more unpredictability, without this key feature the game could be very repetitive with users becoming aware of where the best upgrades are and playing the same style to complete the game. One of the features we talked about was that the upgrades the user would pick up would be random so that you could pick up a powerful weapon or a leg modification which would completely change the game plan of the user increasing re playability.


Worms uses this randomness very well, you could have a perfect game plane but the minute it's your turn the wind could change in your enemies favour causing you to change the weapon, angle and power in which you fire the weapon so in turn not giving a guaranteed hit. this system is very simple but so effective, easy to play hard to master.



Boarderlands has this new mod Called Moxie's Underdrome is a small expanstion containing three arenas which you battle out alone or with friends against numerious enermies, there are five rounds in the lower teir each with five waves, the fith wave is always a random boss with a few grunts gaurding him which you have to defeat.
i have a quote below only because when i was reading its exactly what i was going to say bar the halo part.

"The Ring o' Death is similar to the Skull system from Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode, but it's implemented so cleverly that it gives this game the edge. The Ring o' Death allows Moxxi to arbitrarily bypass several laws of nature. Some of these are believable; when Naked is turned on, your shields are removed from the equation. Others are simply insane; Body Shot nerfs headshots to the point where they do almost no damage at all. Every now and then, Moxxi will issue a gun challenge, which all but forces you to use a single gun type. If you're caught with an SMG during a Sniper Rifle Challenge, you're pretty much screwed (unless you're insanely good)."
-Jon Carlos -