The Omniframe Revealed

[Btabc]

@Grummz .... you know I can only handle so much and this has set me overboard!!!!! Would you mind if I asked if you minded if I "tatted" this up?!

*drools at the possibilities*

I know I probably don't HAVE to ask, but I'd rather be polite than just go ahead and do something that someone didn't want me to do.

 

[Beerdog6]

I agree with @Vladplaya . Make the primary visual of the suit a wrap around armor. But have it where we can expose the front for in base activities. Like in this setup. This also makes sense with unass-ing the armor.The Armor retracts back exposing the Driver. after all in an FPS you really don't look at yourself that much.
And since you can customize the armor anyway people can recognize you.
You can add cool helmets that way and tiki the heck out of it.
and put a graphic plate across the chest or helmet for the character name

 

[EviltwO]

so... some melee this time?

 

[Fabricio21RJ]

I don't know... Only thing I really missed on Firefall was the personal force field protecting the pilot. On that game, it really feels I'm a person in a very light armor. Those concepts makes me feel I'm playing with a giant robot, which is a very different feeling. I don't know, really, I'll wait and see. Still believe a more "humanized" character would do better (I mean, look at the girl on Ember's first artwork - there is a giant robot but not meant to be playable).

By the way, two questions: If player's character can leave the Omniframe at any time to take control of other vehicles and the Omniframe provides a force field which protects the pilot (explaining the ingame damage resistance), then:

1 ) Player's characters outside vehicles will be extremely fragile (remembering we will be in a world where we rely on giant robots to fight evil and enviroment)?

2 ) There will be diferent weapons for the Omniframe AND the pilot?

 

[Beerdog6]

I also agree with the recoil/muzzle climb issue somewhat. A full mecha will minimize it, but could be brought in for higher power cannons, etc. as a trade off mechanism. M1 tank and Navel,,,errr Naval guns still have issues, although FDC compensates for that.
still drooling.
Hmm, on the gripping hand, You could have a personal spacesuit/armor option , tight fitting. It would snap into the Frame. This would "solve" the problem of unassing in an hostile environment and you could have personal/melee weapons also.

 

[Aphaz]

i like the "IS" feel of it...this should be fun!
(thumbs up)

 

[Firemoth]

actually reminds me of these guys from the matrix reloaded

 

[Earth_Soldier]

You can create stealth versions, heavy armor versions, mobility based versions, and specialize your Omniframe for any given role. You can collect more than one frame, customize them for different roles, have them in you garage and switch between them.

 

[OziriusSVK]

actually reminds me of these guys from the matrix reloaded

Yeah, but we got much better version , hmm such enemy would be also great to encounter in Ember xD

 

[TankHunter678]

I want a version with an armor layer over the pilot please, can have it retract when its time for the pilot to hop out and run around.

Also an armor layer over the spine. That feels a bit too exposed like one good hit in that spot will split the entire thing in half.

 

[Sik San]

The mech's head looks redundant in this "open" frame concept IMO.

 

[Vladplaya]

So I finally just got a chance to read through the blog, and this part right here is just bugging me:

The pilot sits exposed, but protected by energy shields. This is a what I like to call a “design conceit.” I wanted a way for players to fully customize their character and not have it hidden by a an armored suit all the time. Yet, I still wanted the feel of a MEK you can ride and customize like a car in a racing game. A classic problem with mech designs is how dehumanizing they are, reducing the connection between player and character. By keeping the character visible, you can identify with it more and form a closer bond to both your avatar and your personalized Omniframe.

Mechs are dehumanizing because of nature of their purpose. They are large suits of armor with big weapons, taking those parts away kinda takes away the cool factor of what mecha is. It's like tanks, everyone knows what a battle tank looks like, it has armor and a turret and crew, inside of all that armor. Nobody messes around with trying to change a look of a tank, because the tough look of it, is the whole point that contributes to the cool factor of that vehicle.
I don't have a problem with having my character wrapped in armor when I am in a hostile territory fighting stuff, because I am kicking ass in a mecha, I don't need to see color of my character's shirt, or his cool hat when I am doing that.
Same with other characters, when I am out exploring and fighting, I couldn't careless about what silly costumes with whatever colors people around me are wearing. All I want to see is heavy armored and armed mecha suits kicking ass. My heart doesn't ache because I don't feel connected to my character or everyone around me because they are wearing armor.

Furthermore I can't help but feel that they are trying to stuff to much into one thing with this double customization of the frame and the character inside the mech. It's like come on guys, yes we like to customize our characters, but let's not make character and frame customization compete in one entity.
As I mentioned earlier, make it so when we are in towns and other social places, we have to get out of our suits and walk around with just our characters (I can't even image a town where everyone is running and jumping around in pretty massive mecha suits.), so character customization and clothing would shine there. That way we can show off our mecha in the hostile territory and we can show off our characters at the bases, which makes prefect sense, and the two don't have to be clumped together.

All that said, I realize that this look most likely not going to change, so at the end of the day I would be pretty happy if we can, at least, get a cosmetic item that does put armor around my character, making the MEK looking more like a proper armored killing machine it is. I want it to be dehumanizing, because that's what mechas are, and I am all right with that.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Sik San]

All that said, I realize that this look most likely not going to change, so at the end of the day I would be pretty happy if we can, at least, get a cosmetic item that does put armor around my character, making the MEK looking more like a proper armored killing machine it is. I want it to be dehumanizing, because that's what mechas are, and I am all right with that.

I'm with you. I doubt alien lifeforms are digging into fashionable costumes anyway.

 

[Devakia]

All that said, I realize that this look most likely not going to change, so at the end of the day I would be pretty happy if we can, at least, get a cosmetic item that does put armor around my character, making the MEK looking more like a proper armored killing machine it is. I want it to be dehumanizing, because that's what mechas are, and I am all right with that.

Thanks for reading!

The advantage here, is that we can add in a more Mech feel to it, as we have yet to see the cosmetic/customization options.

 

[Astro]

So it's not a frame or even a suit, it's actually a mecha.

Not a big fan of exposed pilot, this might work for moving cargo around in a safety of a base, but not exploring hostile territory and fighting.

Things don't have to be realistic in video games, but the feeling of immersion into the world comes from believing that this might work. And I would expose my arms and legs before my chest and head with all the vitals .

I doubt it will happen, but it's never too late to put some armor around the pilot, if you want to make a game with mechas, might as well make mechas look like mechas. Just allow (or require) players to walk around the base without the mecha, so character customization would still be important (and that actually would make sense, soldiers don't walk around safe bases in full battle great )

Seems like most of the people who have already commented, haven't even bothered to read the article

Anyway, I love the concept. I've never been a fan of Mech games, but this blends the two quite nicely for me. I do agree with those who want a full on Mech, about adding customization down the road for that.

Nicely done!

 

[Grammaton]

It's up! The post about the Omniframe, the player's primary mode of fighting. Read more about it on the Ember site:

http://crixa.io/2016/08/the-omniframe-a-m-e-k-battlesuit/

Two problems with the visual design leap right out at me here:

1) What is the purpose of the MEK head if the pilot's own head is exposed?

I would consider the purpose of a "head" assembly on such a piece of equipment as to support an interface for sensors mounted on the MEK which enhance the pilot's own senses. How does that work if the pilot has no actual interface with the MEK beyond his hands and legs, as illustrated here?


2) What is the purpose of MEK armor if the pilot is exposed?

b) The idea of allowing the pilot to wear as much or as little physical armor on his person mitigates the logical issue of an armored compartment for the pilot, but how would that translate to the health pool for the MEK? How would that translate to the pilot's damage resistance while moving about in the field sans MEK?

a) I would contend that the purpose of armor is to protect vital systems from kinetic impact and abrasion. Given that, what system is more vital than the pilot, himself? The idea of a protective energy shield as the solution to this issue is a problem in and of itself. By what means would an "energy shield" protect against kinetic impact from something consisting of a non-magnetic material? Even a lead bullet would pass through any sort of practical energy shielding which could be constructed based on what we know of our physical reality. Sidestepping that issue and relying on the notion of a "force field" to protect the pilot still presents the need for a massively dense energy source which will quite possibly be depleted over time, limiting the utility of the MEK simply based on power constraints. Even the frame systems design at one point during Firefall closed beta dealt with power constraints as a point of immersion and practicality for preventing insanely overpowered frame equipment loadouts. I would contend that the "energy shield" solution is actually immersion breaking on these grounds alone.

Besides these issues, as someone else mentioned here, the player is unlikely to spend much time, if any, viewing the pilot while using an Omniframe in-game. If the purpose of the visual design choice is driven by "humanizing" the experience, then I suggest you go with something closer to the design of the frames in Firefall. Otherwise, the specific design elements as presented here can and will break immersion, given what the MEK is supposed to be used for; and that's not counting the issues with pilot model constraints to make them appear properly while piloting the Omniframe in the first place. How will you deal with operating in low atmosphere, toxic or radiated environments (certainly not out of the realm of belief that this would be possible, given the nature of the Reaper mission) if the pilot is not able to benefit from on-board systems and at least a semi-sealed environment?

 

[Astro]

Two problems with the visual design leap right out at me here:

1) What is the purpose of the MEK head if the pilot's own head is exposed?

I would consider the purpose of a "head" assembly on such a piece of equipment as to support an interface for sensors mounted on the MEK which enhance the pilot's own senses. How does that work if the pilot has no actual interface with the MEK beyond his hands and legs, as illustrated here?

2) What is the purpose of MEK armor if the pilot is exposed

1. Mark talked about it in the discord channel, and that's essentially what it's for.

Head will give you different sensors, show up on your AGR hud

Perhaps it projects a HUD onto the energy shield surrounding the player? Firefall had a HUD system and the pilot heads were exposed. *shrugs*

AGR = Augmented Reality

 

[Grammaton]

1. Mark talked about it in the discord channel, and that's essentially what it's for.



Perhaps it projects a HUD onto the energy shield surrounding the player? Firefall had a HUD system and the pilot heads were exposed. *shrugs*

That was dealt with in Firefall via SIN implants. The HUD information would have actually been injected directly into the pilot's visual cortex independently of any frame.

 

[Tarus]

Looks interesting. However in my opinion it is a bit too much like Lost Planet 2. I would prefer it to be somewhere between where it is not and Firefall smaller but versatile frames.

 

[zdoofop]

It's beautiful, but it's a little big, and how am I being protected when the armor doesn't cover me?