the white drew carey

It looks a lot like one of the racers from Wipeout. But, if I had to give any advice, get rid of, or alter, the stabilizer. It just looks out of place with the rest of the aesthetic.

"I'm looking for... sailors."

-Shenmue.

That is probably good. As much as I wanted to like QoS, I didn't.

Evidently, finding proof of any licensing agreement between TCI and Tatsunoko is as elusive as finding any proof of the Loch Ness Monster. Though I'd expect to see Nessie make an appearance at the local aquarium before I see proof of any model kit license between TCI and Tatsunoko.

There's nothing I can say that will improve on what 505thAirborne said.

Hmmm...

That is all I am going to say right now.

If you read Harmony Gold et al v. FASA Corporation et al, the court could not confirm that Twentieth Century Imports had ever entered into a licensing agreement for model kits with Tatsunoko. If Tatsunoko denied involvement with TCI, and FASA wasn't able to prove otherwise, then I don't believe a licensing agreement ever actually happened. Moreover, Big West's 1982 merchandising agreement with Tatsunoko specifically excluded Macross model kits, so Tatsunoko never had the model kit license to begin with. If you have any pictures of old TCI/Battletech "Macross" model kits that bear the Tatsunoko seahorse sticker, that would be an earth-shattering revelation (at least to me). About Nichimo, you're right, they were only the product supplier, and it looks like TCI was the actual distributor.

While the 1996 settlement is indeed confidential, FASA's attempt at burying the Warhammer/Destroid Tomahawk immediately after the settlement speaks volumes to me.

If you are referring to No. 95 c 2972 then, yes, I have read it. At no point does the judge say that TCI didn't have the rights. He merely states that Fasa's argument that they had model rights doesn't apply here.

"Contrary to defendants' assertions, plaintiffs do not rely on the rights to Japanese model kits in bringing this suit. Rather, plaintiffs dispute FASA's use of the Macross designs for its entire "Battletech" product line."

He is basically saying that the model rights, whether legally obtained or not, are not the basis for the lawsuit. But he never even touches whether or not TCI had the legal right to distribute the model kits.

True that. It does speak volumes.

Some have argued whether or not TCI actually had any rights to pass along to Fasa. It could be that Fasa was duped by TCI into thinking they had more than they had any right to. Who knows? None of us.

It definitely didn't end well for Fasa, but we can't go around passing off speculation as fact, either.

FASA obtained permission from Nichimo to repackage their models kits under the Battletech label. However, Tatsunoko and Harmony Gold were not involved with that deal, directly or indirectly, and that's where the problem began. After the district court ruled against FASA, they privately settled with Tatsunoko and Harmony Gold. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but from my experience, settlements for losing parties usually involve paying out X amount of dollars as a penalty and an agreement to cease the infringing operation.

I think you are wrong here. Given, I haven't bothered with the whole HG/Fasa thing for a while, but I used to own three of the aforementioned kits, and did a lot of research back in the heyday of HG licensing debates, and the kits WERE licensed by Tatsunoko to Twentieth Century Imports (I found the right name). Nichimo was not part of the deal on that, or, if they were, they were a minor participant only to supply product

Since the final resolution between HG and Fasa is undisclosed, we have no way of knowing exactly who did what wrong.

VF5SS- see above. Fasa might legitimately have thought they had full rights to the designs. What you are saying is speculation, as well. Reps from Fasa and, to this day, HG, still state that there is a non-disclosure clause in the settlement. Because of this, the particulars about who had the rights to what are locked away from our prying eyes.

Anyhow, regardless of who had the rights to what, I really enjoyed the Mechwarrior games. The idea of bulky, walking, tanks just comes off so much better in these games than the likes of Armored Core, which wants to have their cake (big heavy mechs) and eat it, too (jumping around like a bunch of fairies on meth).

I'm hesitantly curious about how Mechwarrior Online is going to turn out.

You know better than that.

I just believe Battletech needs to let go of something they used without the right holder's consent due to 80's fookery.

Do we know FOR SURE that they didn't have the rights?

Remember that FASA sold the original Nichimo kits under Battletech name, and that was done through a company called (I think) 21st Century Imports, who dealt directly with Tatsunoko.

All I'm saying is that, IIRC, we don't know exactly what went down, or who did or didn't have the rights to what. For all we know, FASA could've sincerely (or naively) thought that they had every right to use the designs. Sure, it was all 80's fookery, but I'm pretty sure Tatsunoko sold to whoever was paying, and didn't give a sh!t about who should end up owning what here in America.

@Penguin- re: Scout roles, you and me both, buddy! Let the heavy hitters stand there and pound each other. I want to be running around like, gathering info, taking quick shots, etc.

@raptormesh- I totally agree with you. A lot of the designs may have stunk, but the world of Battletech is pretty cool, and playing that game was always a blast.

I'm usually not the kind of guy to play games online because I know how addicted I get to games, and I really, really want to have a life.

However, it seems that in 2012 Mechwarrior Online will go live. And I've always loved piloting a mech. I remember back in the day going to the Battletech Center in Chicago. Uff-da!

Anyhow, here's a link to the site. I guess it is F2P, and from an article on Ars Technica, they say that there will be items that you can buy with real world cash, but "any item that would give players a tactical advantage will have to be earned by playing the game."

Right now you can sign up to "reserve your pilot name". I was tempted to use my old Battletech Center call sign, Pavarotti, but opted for the white drew carey.

It also seems like they have tweaked some of the designs, as shown in the media page, specifically the Atlas, Jenner, and Hunchback. I've attached a comparison sheet to see the improvements (?).

Maybe it had to do with Saurons (spelling) gathering strength and influence on the one ring by the time the Rings trilogy started. Maybe he was to weak to really effect the ring in the Hobbits time period?

Chris

I think that is what they are going to try to explain (outside of the film) to cover any discrepancy. However, I think that they dug themselves into a hole with this one. I mean, it was pretty retarded the first time around.

So, I've been thinking about this lately and decided to see what you guys think.

As much as I like Jackson's LOTR movies, one thing that always bothered me was the noise and cacophony that accompanied wearing the one ring. IIRC, in the books one's perception while wearing the ring was mostly dimmed, shadowy sight, and other senses heightened.

And so that leads me to where this could go wrong in The Hobbit. How the hell is the audience expected to sit through the Bilbo and Smaug scene with all that noise, bass rumble, and visual windiness going on? I mean, they haveto tone that down or else it will just look like sh!t, you know?

Was anyone else disappointed at how generic he was as an actor in Tron: Legacy?

Just another reason why this will be bad.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Raptor One, I'd love to, but gotta spread the love around. Still trying to put together a VF-9 girl, though...=p

Grapetang- yeah. Using that #D was a grand idea. Still made a few changes because the 3D model is off proportion in a couple of places (mainly because it is a build for papercraft).

What's in your wallet?

It probably is but, to be completely honest, I wouldn't know. I only require it because the program is free.

Having full plates seem to be our lots in life lately, huh?

Hey guys, I'm looking for someone to throw together some quick 3D models based on some schematics I've been doing. I'm crap for 3D modeling and, while I could probably figure it out on my own, my plate is DEFINITELY full and I've got no time to learn it right now.

I'm not looking for anything fancy and super-detailed, I just want some basic models to manipulate and light so I can use them as references for drawing.

The three caveats are that it must be viewable with Google Sketchup (I'm cheap), you gotta keep hush hush on what you are working on, and I can't pay you in cash (I'm cheap because I'm low on money). But I can send you a unique TWDC Studios t-shirt for your involvement in the project, and you get full credit for "3D Realization of Mechanical Designs".

I should have two designs for now, and maybe more for the future, but those will be handled separately (and, hopefully by then, I'll be able to start paying).

Let me know if you are interested.

Hey peeps, just finished the Millia and VF-9 drawing I posted up on the WIP thread earlier. Anyhow, here is the drawing.

As usual, you can read all about it here: http://www.twdc-studios.com/2011/10/millia-and-her-vf-9-cutlass/

Since picking up these art markers (and finally completing the set last week), I been on a tear trying to figure out the best techniques with these. Still some speed bumps but, otherwise, I am happy.

For being a terrible game, I personally think the M3 designs are the best after DYRL?.

Pretty nice! Is that all done via a pen tablet?

Got a little sidetracked. Here's a project to practice my markers on.

Hello everyone! After spending some time roving through the Fan Works section, I once again had cause to appreciate the talents in art that many MWers possess. I thought it would be a grand idea to share some of our non-Macross artwork, too. And so I have created this thread as a place to showcase any and all non-Macross artwork.

I am sure that, like me, many others tend to stick the realm of sci-fi, anime, and manga with their artwork. But this thread is for all genres and styles of visual art, including sculpture and photography (of course, don't just start posting any and all photos, please be sure that they are "artistic" in nature).

Without any further ado, I will kick this off with a recent drawing I did of the EX-s Gundam. I began working with markers in August and have really begun to enjoy them. A lot of my new art is very clumsy in this respect because I am still learning to use them. Of course, in hindsight, it doesn't help that I made some grievous design errors with the EX-S, as well!

Follow this link to read more about the image, as well as a quick explanation of the subject matter for the uninitiated.

So let's see what everyone else has got!

I would say the price is a little too high, but with the work going into this, it seems on second glance to be pretty good.

I wish I had more money to afford things like this...