Lestat

Ok, well, in light of that information, I've made a little progress. The macross is an incredibly detailed ship... it's going to take time... Most of the detailing I've added now is on the main hull and on the mounting for the buster cannon...

Well, this sequence looks much better now. My only complaint is that the speed of the beam itself should be much faster? Looking forward to seeing what comes next. Oh, and it sucks that your renderer sucks.

Ah, crap...

Ah! Now I have some ideas... I think one of the things that is missing is a little translucency - you can't see the turret when the beam fires. If you made it like, 90% opacity, you'd be able to make out the outline of the cannon underneath the brightness of the beam. Also, I think the main deal with the particle build-up along the barrel is that it should start slow and build into a much faster (as well as more numerous) pattern. Looking great though!

Wow, looking good Chrono. I think there's a few things. It's too bad you can't really control the width of the beam. It would be great to start it smaller in the recess, and have it expand later. I think the energy particles prior to firing need to be a little longer, and more random perhaps? It's kind of lightning-like in the show. But I don't know how easy particle effects are to get to look right, so, don't take it to heart if it's beyond possible. Keep it up. Your work is awesome.

Yes, it is quiet. I haven't had time to do anything more. I think in theory we're close to some kind of release. But it's not really up to me.

I prefer d20 (mostly D&D3.5, d20 Star Wars), not because it's realisitic, but because it's simplified. Realism tends to slow down the pace of a game to a standstill, and I prefer to emphasize the actual 'roleplaying' in my games. Abstract combat, especially arial combat is much lighter on the brain, which I like, and players need to use their imaginations anyway. I also like using a grid and miniatures to visualise combat. More realistic rules can easily be added onto the d20 system without affect the system so much. The skill system, involving rolling a d20+modifiers versus a DC (Dificulty Class) is simple and works. The same is used to resolve saves, and combat attacks are rolled with a d20+modifiers verses the enemy's AC (Armor Class). I find it to be an enjoyable system, and it's very easy to drop or pick up rules as they're needed. The Open Game Licence is also great, but of course I'd think that as a published d20 author. I DM Ravenloft at the moment, but not much else.

Well, if they still had the licence now, I really think they would have rereleased the old material. They get questions all the time asking about it. Robotech has also increased in popularity again (probably due by no small part to actually having a web presence and a place where it's fanbase can interact). I think now, a new edition would do well. It's too bad that Palladium isn't much into new editions. I read they're releasing a new version of the original Rifts rpg, but that's after 15 years! It's only a set of rules clarifications, rewrites to encompass a more modern Coalition Army, and a few other updates. Their press statement sounds alot like Wizards when they announced the 3.5 rules, but something tells me there's not going to be that much of a change. While I admire their notions to keep their customers happy, I really liked Rifts, but I refuse to play it because of the system. Megadamage seemed to make some sense in Robotech due to its applications, but it's just pointless in Rifts.

That's sad. The system sucks, true, but the gaming ideas, the concept of rifts, was and still is awesome. I think the author is nostaligic, and would never switch systems (I think also he's one of the few authors that is still price conscious of how much Palladium's books cost on the market) because he's both stubborn and it's been there for so long. The only problem with Rifts is it's a munchkin parade. If Palladium still had the licence for Robotech/Macross, I'm sure they'd have made new editions by now. Especially now. Still, because of the system, it's good they haven't.

Palladium and game balance? Are you joking? There is no such thing. In my experience (And I played Rifts and Robotech for about 5 years back in the day) Palladium Books if anything is about variety, but not balance. Each successive book had better and better OCCs (which really offered no variety except for the skills you could pick), then RCCs, and of course mecha, etc. There is no balance system whatsoever. Even the experience system sucks (and looks like old style D&D anyway). Having said that I really enjoyed those formative years of gaming. The robotech RPG game was the first I ever played. Now I write d20 Material, so that's kind of a milestone for me. But I must say, I was fifteen at the time, and brought the Robotech RPG and the Sentinels. Needless to say, we played the Sentinels, because the mecha was (statistically) tougher. Later generation mecha are so weak compared to VF's in comparison. I mean, they move from starships that can deal literally millions of mega damage (the SDF-1 is like the toughest opponent Rifts has ever seen because of it's main gun) and mecha with 20-year power supplies, to pissy new generation ships that can do a lousy 1d4x1000 mega damage and mecha that run out of batteries in less than six months. But hey, on the plus side, they had more MDC! God my early gaming experience was so about being the biggest munchkin.

That is not a VF-4. It is a VF-X-4. Many differences. For example, the VF-X-4 has only a fighter and Gerwalk mode. It is indeed also seen in the television series.

Love that sight yellowman, but I'd love to see some updates. It was good to see some of that material again, because I left my books in Australia when I moved to Sweden. Keep it up. The macross community is quiet when it comes to praise for things, but they are out there, looking at your website.

It's not really. That's about 30% of the actual image, just a single picture. Some of the SD valks and things are great though. This is Animation #11 is relatively common on Ebay for a reasonable price. That is the book that image is from.

Sweet. Little progress (lots of work lately), but should get back into it soon.

That's a comic of a Nousjadeul-Ger (Zjentohlauedy Power Suit) being chased off the surface of the ARMD by a VF-1. Just some humour thrown into the designs. There's a fair bit of it in the TIA books.

In Alpha HX's post: 1. ARMD-01 - DYRL 2. ARMD-01 - TV Series 3. ARMD-02 - DYRL 4. ARMD-01 - DYRL (schematics) 5. ARMD-01 - TV Series hope that clears it up.

Looking good. Some points to note. That thing at the front is the forward bridge. I think it should probably curve a little more. I won't say anything else for now, because this is obviously unfinished. Keep it up.

Damned straight. ARMD's rock. I'd love a nice big 30 cm ARMD-01 or 02 for that matter (but DYRL, not TV)

I thought I said last page to send it either to either the major or cmdr.

Ok, not much to show, but this is the direction the macross' model and textures are taking (ignore the texture under the bridge, it's from the old model).

That rpg book's design views actually originate from the ones shown above from TIA #11. Look carefully and you'll see. Don't bother buying the book for the sake of the designs. They're just reworked from the lineart, shaded, etc.

While it looks awesome, it's definately too invidy... Speaking of progress, I'm actually making some headway now texturing the macross... Screenshots to come in the following days.

Roycommi has it: http://www.roycommi.com/ships/unspacy/armd_v2/armd_v2.html I think hte lower image is what you want. Nanashi has better scans if you can catch him or convince him though. This page on Roycommi also has ARMD-02, including the last image, which I haven't even seen from nanashi/windjammer before.

Thanks, and good luck with it. It's a complicated, organic model. No walk in the park for anyone.

Tough call. The internet is pretty sparse with macross lineart. I got mine from a combination of TIA #11 and some gold book scans that Nanashi made for me when modelling the version for the DYRL mod. Nanashi's site doesn't have it up at the moment, but you can find some lesser quality scans on the Roycommi Automated Factory Satellite.