 May 1, 2011 - 6:33pm | Never liked the goofy whacky Mechanon shown in Zeb's Guide to the Frontier. Why the artist chose to depict the Mechanons like walking pinball machines I don't know, but whatever. My version of a Mech can be found here http://ragnarr.webs.com/rimcoalitionraces.htm#734177384 So what's YOUR Mechanon look like? My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
 May 10, 2011 - 11:54pm | oh yeah it was in that movie!! [slaps head] at the bait-shop back in the woods.... duh!! And I had that movie in mind here too, but couldn't quite pull an angle out of it... good show!  yeah that sounds ok, if there is three castes, Thinkers, Warriors, Workers (not labor or drone type workers, but more like professional craftsman), some cross over in mentalities might still occur and be useful for cross-over tasks. Like Probes(Thinker/Worker), Scouts(Warrior/Worker), Spies(Thinker/Warriors)... or something like that, but I get what you are saying too, it's just to show that psychological determinate in use, within the utilitarian pyramid caste structure, which the Control Presence Unity would be aware of. Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
May 11, 2011 - 8:00am | TOBOR the 8TH MAN! A Japanese cartoon I watched when I was a youngun'. I think it was made by the same animators as Speed Racer, and Astro Boy. Tobor was able to change his appearance instantly to look like anyone he wanted when needed. Why am I mentioning 8th Man? Dunno; just popped into this captain's head. (looks at his cup) Must be this cheap instant coffee.  My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
 August 18, 2016 - 10:10am | Like the not human look they have. Always thought it strange a tailed race would build non-tailed robots. Hi, I'm still reading these old posts, so maybe this is covered further on, but I think if you look at the artwork, the Mechanons in the modules actually have tails. Maybe it's an idea of balancing their weight. Of course, some of the sub-Mechanon robots look like other things. The robot brain is a cube-shaped, if I'm not mistaken. Of course, we have plenty of robots nowadays that don't look humanoid. Joe Cabadas |
 August 18, 2016 - 1:36pm | Long story short: they never looked like the Zeb picture. The game creators flat out said that in a Dragon article. The image in Zeb is an organic-friendly propaganda illustration created by the Mechannons themselves for PR purposes. There are a couple of good illustrations in the Volturnus modules of what they really look like. |
 August 18, 2016 - 6:24pm | Long story short: they never looked like the Zeb picture. The game creators flat out said that in a Dragon article. The image in Zeb is an organic-friendly propaganda illustration created by the Mechannons themselves for PR purposes. There are a couple of good illustrations in the Volturnus modules of what they really look like. Which Dragon article is this. I don't think I have read it and would love to. -iggy |
August 18, 2016 - 7:12pm | Dragon #125 page 73 "A Second Look at Zebulon's Guide", which is an errata article for Zeb by Kim Eastland. Here's the relevant portion: Page 3: The Mechanon pictured is a propaganda illustration issued by the planet Mechano itself to better the Fron- tier?s image of Mechanons. In reality, Mechanons come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, and they are much dead- lier looking than this cartoon version |
August 20, 2016 - 10:00am | OK, I've read it before but forgotten it. I was hoping for some little known interview like the one given to the gaming group back in the 90's by telephone. -iggy |
August 20, 2016 - 10:52am | Sorry, but that's all I got. |
August 20, 2016 - 11:24am | Dragon #125 page 73 "A Second Look at Zebulon's Guide", which is an errata article for Zeb by Kim Eastland. Here's the relevant portion: Page 3: The Mechanon pictured is a propaganda illustration issued by the planet Mechano itself to better the Fron- tier?s image of Mechanons. In reality, Mechanons come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, and they are much dead- lier looking than this cartoon version Ah, I think I remember reading that blurb, though that's about the time I had given up on Star Frontiers as being too badly damaged by Zebs to be worth pursuing. Plus, I think word soon came down that the game was cancelled. I was already getting a bit miffed about the Gamma World rewrite, but I don't think they damaged that game as much as SF. Joe Cabadas |
March 25, 2018 - 4:04pm | Coming back to this topic a year-and-a-half later, what about combat with a Mechanon? Are they any different than fighting a regular robot? If all of them are considered as level 6+ robots (in the Alpha Dawn system) or level 8+ in a Zebs-like system, then all of them -- thinker, warrior, worker, etc. would get an IM of 9 (or 11 in Zebs) and a to-hit percentage of 90% (110% in Zebs). That just doesn't look right. Sure, the warrior type might be at this level, but a thinker and the worker caste models? Probably not. Would Mechanons need to learn weapons skills? Can they learn skills? What about their movement rates? I think Zebs gives them a walking seepd of 8 m/turn, running at 25 m/turn, and they can travel 4 km/hour. I doubt they need rest in the traditional sense. Do they need to plug into a wall cubical like the borg? Go to half-power and "dream"? Can they dream? Can they "sleepwalk" as in going into a depowered, semi-rested state yet keep moving at reduced speed? Are they all antrophomorphic -- looking somewhat like a robotic Eorna? Or can they have alternative forms of locomotion? Do they run on an Eorna type parabattery? A nuclear battery? Some sort of fusion generator? Inquiring minds want to know. Joe Cabadas |
March 25, 2018 - 4:50pm | Another thing or two... why are the Mechanons so ponderous? The Eorna... at least according to the fan-created stats... walk at 15 m/turn, run at 35 m/turn, and can move at 6 kph. The full-grown Eorna are some three meters tall and probably could move faster. One carried Col. Jamieson and rapidly outpaced any character during the second Volturnus module... If a Mechanon a robotic Eorna, they should move faster, right? Or maybe the warriors should... Joe Cabadas |
