I don’t want to just leave it at a minor update for today but I don’t have any other options this late. Nothing’s quite ready for its own blog post. Thursdays. I was poking around though and ran into my old Gelgoog J profile draft. That’s a good reminder of more things I can do on the blog when I’ve got the time. I’ll put in a side panel or something similar for it and the others, but for now I’ll repost the draft here shortly.
EDIT:
This needs some expanding, but I’ll handle that part once I get a dedicated page for it. This will basically be part of a collection of my favorite mecha and vehicles. Not strictly anime, but across all media.
GELGOOG JÄGER ARTICLE: 1ST DRAFT
This is going to be an attempt at a mech article for one of my favorite fictional machines, the MS-14Jg Gelgoog Jäger. There’s no ä key on my keyboard, so outside of formal use, I’ll just be referring to it as the Jaeger. Since this is my first draft, keep in mind that the wording and format are likely to change, but eventually I’ll give this article its own page somewhere on the site. These articles are meant to stick around and be easily found. I may also add in some things relating to Gundam Battle Operation 2 at some point since I’m also a Jaeger extremist in that game and having some of my thoughts posted there is convenient.
Lastly, credit where it’s due. Most of this information is sourced from the following sites: Gundam Fandom, Mahq, and Anaheim Journal. With that, let’s begin.
(Why can’t I text wrap this? Issues for later.)
A variant of the MS-14A Gelgoog, the Gelgoog Jäger, or simply Gelgoog J is a limited production mobile suit first fielded in U.C. 0079 at the tail end of the One Year War. The Jäger is a general purpose machine with a well-rounded suite of weapons focusing on ranged combat. The Gelgoog J variant is one of several enhanced mobile suits to emerge from The Principality of Zeon’s United Maintenance Plan. Not only was it the best Gelgoog available for its time, but its performance far surpassed Zeon’s other machines, boasting phenomenal speed and weaponry. With waning resources and limited numbers produced, the Gelgoog J, despite its unprecedented capabilities, had a vanishingly small impact on the One Year War.
FEATURES
Zeon mobile suits manufactured under the United Maintenance Plan had many similar internal systems and parts, prominent examples including the nuclear reactors powering the suits and the general layout of their cockpits. For most pilots, being able to pilot the Zaku II Kai or the Rick Dom II meant a relatively easy transition over to the Gelgoog J.
Beam MachinegunThe Gelgoog J’s beam machinegun is a hard-hitting, rapid-firing beam rifle that uses e-caps and has its own mounted scope for target acquisition and range finding. The beam machinegun is capable of destroying other mobile suits with a single well placed shot, though burst fire, even while lacking penetrative power, is preferred in skirmishes.
Although the Gelgoog J is a general purpose unit, the suit’s all around enhancements allow for precision shooting at long range, allowing the Gelgoog J to adopt a sniping role without any additional equipment or calibration. The beam machinegun’s ‘one shot kill’ potential eliminates the need for larger beam weapons.
Beam Spot GunsThe Gelgoog J’s integrated beam guns, also known as beam spot guns, are powerful close range weapons meant for defense. One is mounted in each arm beside the wrist. It can fire more precise shots, or be discharged in volleys depending on the pilot’s needs. The beam spot guns allow the Gelgoog J to stave off aggressive enemies when the beam machinegun isn’t ideal or the head-mounted Vulcans aren’t up to the task. Despite their defensive purpose, the beam spot guns are just as powerful as a beam spray gun, and a precise hit on an enemy mobile suit is capable of destroying it, making the spot guns too dangerous to ignore in combat.
Beam SaberStandard equipment on most mobile suits, the beam saber is a melee weapon utilizing Minovsky Field Particles to encase and shape a blade of superheated plasma for devastating strikes. The saber is only used when the Gelgoog J is unable to keep an opponent at range or has been successfully flanked. Like with most of the Gelgoog J’s weapons, the beam saber is capable of destroying a mobile suit with a single direct hit.
Head-mounted VulcansThe Gelgoog J’s integrated Vulcans are its only non-beam weapons. They fire solid rounds at an extremely high rate. What they lack in firepower they make up for in utility, acting as an effective Close-In Weapons System or CIWS against missiles and smaller, lightly armored targets. They can also be used to damage enemy sensors by skilled pilots.
External Propellant TanksFeaturing a dual-layer construction containing both propellant and coolant, the external tanks greatly extend the operation range of the Gelgoog J. They also help offset the increased fuel consumption at the cost of significantly increasing its overall weight. Once expended, the propellant tanks can be jettisoned from the unit.
ShieldWhile not normally carried on most missions, the Gelgoog J is capable of equipping a large shield for more dangerous missions. The specific model is the same as the MS-14Fs Gelgoog Marine Commander Type. Due to the introduction and mass dissemination of beam weaponry, many shields are treated with an anti-beam coating. This allows the shield to take up to several direct hits from beam weapons before being damaged directly.
Electro-Optical Sensor Suite (Mono-eye)The Gelgoog J features a modernized version of the mono-eye sensor suite common to Zeon mobile suits. The mono-eye allows for excellent targeting at longer ranges even with heavy Minovsky particle interference.
2nd Generation Mobile Suit Cockpit
As a part of Zeon’s United Maintenance Plan, the Gelgoog J features a 2nd Generation Cockpit, complete with standardized controls, communications systems, monitors, and an ejection system with a survival kit.
SPECIFICATIONS
General Characteristics
Crew: 1 Pilot (in 2nd Generation MS Cockpit in the torso)
Dimensions: Height of 19.2 meters; Width (estimated) 6.7 meters
Weight: Base of 40.5 metric tons; Max of 80.3 metric tons
Armor: Titanium Ceramic Composite
Performance
Powerplant: Minovsky Type Ultracompact Fusion Reactor (Output of 1,490 kiloWatts)
Propulsion: Rocket Thrusters: 178,500 kilograms total (3 x 24,500 kg, 5 x 21,000 kg); Vernier Thrusters/Apogee Motors: 24
180 Maneuver Time: 1.4 seconds
Equipment and Armament
Internals: Laser and Infra-red Sensor Suite (Mono-eye), Unspecified Radar System, multiple sub cameras
Sensor Range: 6,300 meters
Fixed Equipment: Blade Antenna, Backpack Antenna, Laser Communication System
Optional Equipment: 2 x External Propellant Tanks
Fixed Armaments: 2 x Beam Spot Gun, 2 x Vulcan Machineguns
Optional Armaments: 1 x Beam Machine gun, 1 x Beam Saber, 1 x Anti-Beam Treated Ballistic Shield
Well, let’s not let the Heinrich hold up a good post on the other build I was working on. I’ve made some major progress on the Cosmo Messerschmitt. Actually, let’s just call it the Cosmo Messer for short. It does resemble a comically oversized knife.
A heck of a lot has changed since the previous version, some things I’m ecstatic about, and other things I’m just begrudgingly accepting as limits of my first ‘from scratch’ fighter design. I put two cameras on the tailfin and ditched the modded blast doors for a more conventional look. The side profile actually looks a lot better with vanilla blocks anyhow. The big losses from the older version are the connector and the retractable landing gears. This new version is working with just a piston mounted magnetic plate for the purposes of landing on the ground or docking to a ship or platform.
Note: The missing landing gears and connector
I ditched the aforementioned components for several reasons. I wanted the bottom of the Cosmo Messer to have enough space for both internal and externally mounted ordnance. This is also why the magnetic plate is on a piston. I needed something with variable height–suspension basically–so its ‘landed’ height could be adjusted per loadout. Not only could the hinged landing gears not do this very well, but connector placement severely limited weapon placement, among other things. The landing gears were also modded and a bit glitchy, so eliminating them knocked yet another mod off the Cosmo Messer’s required mods list.
While this means the fighter has to be manually reloaded in a survival setting, the base model is far more customizable than before. I even took a step back with the armaments because of that. The current version only uses vanilla weapons. While it’s modestly armed for its size, I think the workshop version (date pending, probably not by October) will be a better sell. Even so, this build is not likely to reach a pure vanilla state. Even if I let the shape go a little and got rid of the sloped armor, the thrusters are a unique problem, one well beyond my current level.
The current build carries 4 gatling guns
… and one four-tube rocket launcher with its own magazine
Fewer mods makes it more likely to function well out of the box, so that’s a priority after form and functionality. Future variants will have modded weapons, but that’s for my use. If people have other modded weapons they’d like to try on it, the Cosmo Messer has a decent conveyor system, a medium container, and seven medium sized batteries to accommodate them. That’s not even the best part; there’s still room in there for more parts and whatever other gizmos you might want to put under the hood.
So what’s with the paint job? I started painting the Cosmo Messer’s basic accents to see if there were any changes I needed to make to the outer shape right now, before I got too deep into the internals and things couldn’t be moved around anymore. I’m glad I did because this thing looks great. I can’t copy all of the paint schemes from Space Battleship Yamato, but the options are pretty good. I used more light panels than I’d making better coloring angles on the wings and tailfin, but other than that there’s very little compromise with the design of the ship.
Current cockpit view
The cockpit’s also seeing a lot of work and runs about 5 separate scripts by my count: Whip’s Artificial Horizon, Whip’s Turret Based Radar (currently reliant on friendlies for target acquisition), SIMPL Ship display, Delta Steering, and a Cruise Control script. I’d like it if the radar was on a larger, better fitting screen, but artificial horizon really should be prominent in a fighter. That’s critical to safe navigation, especially in atmo.
One last thing I want to bring your attention to are the engines.
I’m going to suffer for not optimizing these images someday …
I’m still using modded thrusters because I like the look, but I set up conveyors to the back of these so if someone wanted to spawn this without the modded thrusters, they could easily put in hydrogen thrusters without any extra work. For the most part. I haven’t set up conveyors for the internal and ventral thrusters because figuring that out would have driven me insane; four of those seven medium batteries I mentioned are situated around the internal strafing and reverse thrusters. Just know that the visible rear thrusters have conveyors set up and ready to go. The ventral thrusters will follow once I figure out what I’m doing. The rest is up to you, fellow engineer.
Last note: I also changed up the look of the nozzles. They’re very Raptor-esque just like the Cosmo Falcons.
That should just about to it for now. Progress is looking good and so is the Cosmo Messer. I wanted to do an update on the Heinrich too but I’m in the process of removing another mod from the ship completely which takes time and consideration. Soon, though.
I almost got the Heinrich updates finished, but I knew I was going to run out of time when I got the urge to replace a few old systems. I’m not just trying to cut down on the number of mods used in the build, but also the size of the mods. With the goal of eventually publishing these ships to the workshop, it’s important to make them not just aesthetically pleasing, but also user friendly as far as requirements go. The fewer mods and the lighter said mods are, the better. I might try again tomorrow since I’ll have most of the afternoon to poke at it, but for tonight, just know that there’s a hold up. The good kind. The, “Oh there’s so much more I can improve here,” kind.
Yesterday I mentioned doing short stories on the blog. I intended to do this eventually from near enough the beginning of the blog, I just had other priorities starting out. Things like making sure posting daily was even a routine I could manage was one of the big ones, and I even gave up on that at one point. Of course, when you don’t have to post everyday, you’re going to have multiple ‘meh’ days in a row. Next, you get used to not posting. After that, you find it’s even harder to write than usual. Whatever you’re not doing, you’re in the habit of not doing it, so things just keep piling on from there until you get crushed and a whole month goes by with not so much as a peep. Never again–unless there are health or technical problems.
Anyway, I mentioned that so I could go ahead and confirm that this short story idea is happening. The only thing I’m trying to figure out now is which one I want to start with first. I don’t tend to make up new stories on the fly; I’ve got a backlog that almost matches my age. It’s better to just pluck something out from there that seems like a good fit and run with that. Right now I’m leaning toward a story about two army deserters inadvertently shifting the war in their side’s favor. I’ll bet money it’s not an original idea but I’ll also bet money that I can make a ‘fleeing victory’ scenario a lot more interesting in a setting like Praedia. Look forward to it.
I really wanted to do another tour of the Heinrich today since I made some hefty changes recently, but I’m out of time to work on a larger post like that. It’s better to do those in the late morning or afternoon when I won’t be rushing and I can get the right screenshots I need. I’m a presentation guy, so it’s not worth writing about a particular topic just for the sake of writing about it. So that’s the first thing to point out. Look forward to another look at the armored cruiser sometime this week; Wednesday or Thursday I think.
The next thing is at least one update for the Zavodia height map. I’m going to try hit a certain milestone before showing each step in my process, so this could take a while. Otherwise I’ll try to finish one big area on that map and just show that off instead. Either way this is probably going to be late in the week, probably Sunday. We’ll see.
The last thing isn’t a sure thing–at least not for this week, but I want to start doing short series to get some regular practice in and keep myself laser focused. Something like this can also help me expand aspects of ZAP lore without having to treat it like a colossal project. If I do this, the goal post is three a week minimum, so I’m hesitant to start this week, but I’ll take the plunge if I can get my head cleared. There’s a lot going on right now.
I’m not sure if I’m going to split this into a two part site update, but so far the results have been decent, barring one or two cripplingly annoying limitations of the Divi theme builder.
So far I’ve:
Standardized some elements across the site
Dropped the ‘glow’ from most text for easier reading
Removed some old plugins I don’t need/want
Did some front and back-end optimizations
Fixed a couple of old nags in the theme editor
Did some view testing on various screens
I think the LGT page gave me the most trouble. I liked the old layout I was using for that page, but while I was trying to bring everything in line with the rest of the site changes, I wound up deleting the synopsis. That’s the last time that’s happening. Due to the way rows, columns, and borders work, there wasn’t any way for me to use the type of border I like around the whole thing without merging all of it; mobile users would have been in for one nightmare of a margins and padding mess otherwise. I’m going to do some research at some point to see if I can’t have separate versions of a page for PC vs mobile. That would let me do a lot more with both individually instead of the balancing act I went with.
I may decide to go back in and do another round of changes across the site, but I’m going to see how things feel for at least a few days before deciding one way or the other.
