Author Topic: A Silly Question  (Read 2167 times)

YingJanshi

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A Silly Question
« on: 13 December 2011, 13:37:33 »
Ok so is a completely silly question and really more of a fluff question. So 'Mechs are at the most basic level based on the human body ('cepting Quads of course), myomers are muscles and all that. So how far could a 'Mech without jump jets jump? As I said, a silly question, but I've been very curious about it lately. Its scary what weird stuff my brain thinks up sometimes.

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Fat Guy

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #1 on: 13 December 2011, 21:56:44 »
Under 30 meters across and under 6 meters high, so negligible in game terms.  #P
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worktroll

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #2 on: 13 December 2011, 22:03:12 »
'Mechs aren't, on the whole, designed to perform the exact range of motions a human body can make. I'm sure they could jump over a pipe, with some care, but don't work exactly like longjumpers.

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majesticmoose

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #3 on: 14 December 2011, 10:52:23 »
Ok so is a completely silly question and really more of a fluff question. So 'Mechs are at the most basic level based on the human body ('cepting Quads of course), myomers are muscles and all that. So how far could a 'Mech without jump jets jump? As I said, a silly question, but I've been very curious about it lately. Its scary what weird stuff my brain thinks up sometimes.

enough to navigate rough terrain and climb multiple elevations in a single round.

Not enough to make it a seperate movement mode.

JPArbiter

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #4 on: 14 December 2011, 11:11:36 »
probably enough to bunny hop equivalent to it's own height.
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rlbell

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #5 on: 14 December 2011, 12:13:42 »
A problem with describing mech movement is that the source material basically shrinks the world so mechs are not just human shaped, but human sized (if humans were not also shrunk), so a walking pace of two 1m strides a second inflates to 60km/h.  An actual twelve meter tall mech trying to walk with humanoid motions is basically bouncing along the ground like an Apollo astronaut on the moon.  So a 3/5 mech, at a walk, hops about 1.25 meters into the air and covers 10m.  Once a humanoid mech gets up to 10 hexes a turn, the foot only comes down once a hex, so a fast mech should be able clear a 30m sinkhole, but putting the foot down too early, or too late, will be disasterous.  If myomers are good elastics, mechs should hop about like kangaroos.  If a mech can jump as high as 5m, it only comes down every other second, so running long jumps of 30m would be doable for a MAD II and a rediculously fast mech with MASC and a supercharger could leap 150m (while still only rising 5m).

Even an Annihilator moves too quickly to really walk like a human.  To actually maintain a good connection to the ground, a mech would have to move like an ostrich:  The thigh is kept mostly parallel with the ground, and it pumps the knee up and down, so the center of mass stays at the same level (what looks like a backwards facing knee is actually the ostrich's ankle).
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Morpheus1975

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #6 on: 14 December 2011, 13:34:54 »

Assuming these heights
Light - 10 Meters
Medium - 12 Meters
Heavy - 14 Meters
Assault - 16 Meters

A battletech Hex is 30 meters wide.

So if I multiply height by walking movement you get this.
Locust 10 x 8 = 80 Meters, or 3 Hexes
Wolverine 12 x 5 = 60 Meters or 2 Hexes
Archer 4 x 14 Meters = 56 Meters or 2 Hexes
Battlemaster 4 x 16 = 64 Meters or 2 hexes
Atlas 3 x 16 = 48 Meters or 2 Hexes

Assuming that jump height without jump jets is 1/3 the distance and the apex is in the middle

That means a locust could jump up onto a level 1 hill 2 hexes away or he could jump 3 hexes straight across.

An Archer could jump 2 hexes.

So the only real use is IF you need to jump over a canyon or maybe a minefield. 

I'd allow it as an optional rule with the following stipulations.
Jumping Mech cannot fire torso weapons and gets a +3 to hit
Jumping mech DOES NOT get the usual +1 to be hit for having jumped
Jumping created 3 heat
Mech cannot jump into woods or rubble or will automatically fall.
A piloting roll is required to jump.
Jumping is based off of actual walking MP so actuator damage not only makes it harder to jump but also makes it more likely that you'll fall.
Mechs with Hardened armor cannot jump or have non-assisted jump range reduced by one.

YingJanshi

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Re: A Silly Question
« Reply #7 on: 15 December 2011, 15:01:25 »
Wow. Didn't figure I'd get this many responses. Thanks.

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