An Experiment - Testing the Variable Robot

jonsills

We're currently trying to get CO folks to do a little (okay, a lot) more polish on the upcoming Variable Robot costume. However, being who I am, I had to try to make some of the parts work. Ultimately, the only parts from the new set I wound up using were the Chest, Arms, and Helmet.

Meet Hawkwing:


An angle shot:


And as a vehicle:


As you can see, the new set isn't nearly as useful as it could be, although it's not entirely useless.

meedacthunist

I find it very, very depressing that one of the supposed centerpieces of the upcoming set, a wings back piece, is coming flawed to the point than an already existing older costume piece was superior for this task, despite not even being made with vehicles in mind.

I really hope Cryptic will have enough courage to totally remodel at least this one part before it's released.

Oh, and your screenshot is a one more showing this prominent unsightly seam line going vertically across the chest layer. Just look at the windshield. Yuck!

This is a terrible UV unwrapping job, considering that it's a very blocky chestpiece, with plenty of hard edges and crevices to hide seam lines...

Now, about the costume itself. I find Sakura Mecha shoulders a very good alternative. They're not too big and have parts that looks like a small wings/unfolded panels.

andondarkmore

I was looking forward to this set back in 4/11/14


I tried the set and even with the issues the VR set has, Nothing I do makes a costume that says Mastodon Hover Tank.

I know work went into the set but not enough to make me spend anything on the set and with no set I do not want to buy the Hover tank..


Please remove the set and rework it or keep it in PTS for a few weeks/months till the community say "YES I WILL BUY THE SET AND THE VEHICLES TO MATCH."

eiledon

andondarkmore wrote: »

I was looking forward to this set back in 4/11/14


I tried the set and even with the issues the VR set has, Nothing I do makes a costume that says Mastodon Hover Tank.

I know work went into the set but not enough to make me spend anything on the set and with no set I do not want to buy the Hover tank..


Please remove the set and rework it or keep it in PTS for a few weeks/months till the community say "YES I WILL BUY THE SET AND THE VEHICLES TO MATCH."

Exactly - perfect opportunity for some new bundles in C-Store

Tank + Variable Robot Costume

Hawkwing + Variable Robot Costume

but only if they add all the bells and whistles meeda had in his submission - cannon back, heavy armor chest etc.

meedacthunist

andondarkmore wrote: »

I tried the set and even with the issues the VR set has, Nothing I do makes a costume that says Mastodon Hover Tank.

Well, to be honest, a Mastodon tank robot costume would be very hard to build even if this set was released exactly how it looks on the concept sketch.

It was drawn before Mastodon models were released, so it had parts only for the most generic looking rides.

If it had all parts and textures you could approximate probably a few hoverbikes, every tank with camo patterns, also jets and VTOLs (exocets are already doable without any new sets).

But Mastodon tanks have a rather specific model which is basically a big box of aerodynamic shaped plates with small wings and engines. A generic shuttle (which is actually quite cool, because it looks like a stereotypical superhero team shuttle, kinda "Quinjet-y" way, if it was only possible to have it in white paint and with selectable hull emblems...)

Pretty much the only really characteristic features, the ones that are standing out in its design, are door on its backplate and a central windshield.


Both would be very hard to build into a costume parts.

The best way I could think would be to build a chestpiece with a central windshield window shaped like kinda the same way as Mastodon's windshield, and that's all.
The back door are too big and too flat to place anywhere on a character costume part (they could be made into a nice shield, if CO had shiels powerset, though, but that's a pipe dream).

ealford1985

andondarkmore wrote: »

I was looking forward to this set back in 4/11/14


I tried the set and even with the issues the VR set has, Nothing I do makes a costume that says Mastodon Hover Tank.

I know work went into the set but not enough to make me spend anything on the set and with no set I do not want to buy the Hover tank..


Please remove the set and rework it or keep it in PTS for a few weeks/months till the community say "YES I WILL BUY THE SET AND THE VEHICLES TO MATCH."

And really I thought that was the point.

It's almost like cryptic is afraid to make money.

And they could of used their own touches and added extra pieces not in the design to match more vehicles.

orangeitis

If the rest of the costume parts meedacthunist made do not show up when or before this goes live, my drive to come back to this game will be effectively crushed. The post announcing that this set was being developed is the sole reason I came back.