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sketchley

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  1. sketchley
    It's unclear what they are. I pulled out my copy of the book and there aren't any descriptive notes. However, they are present on ALL variations Kawamore-san drew. Therefore, they are either a) something the client asked for, or b) a design greeble that Kawamori-san was obsessing about. The later makes a lot of sense, as Kawamori-san is very picky about differentiating the silhouette between various designs (Valkyries and otherwise). So, I suspect they are something added to give it a different silhouette. What are they? I haven't seen the game it appears in, so I can only guess, but either antenna, or some kind of light (to help the player spot it on the game screen).
  2. sketchley
    Text descriptions (Japanese) 1st picture: Minmei Fold Projector 2nd picture: 3D (illegible) projector [left], Minmei Fold... [right - text cut off] 3rd picture: Minmei Projector From what we've seen in various Macross shows, these appear to be 3D holographic projectors for the 'Minmei Attack'.
  3. sketchley
    In researching my earlier post, I came across this description on Wikipedia that may help others grasp the unique circumstances that are colouring Kawamori's depiction of the internet, Galaxy Network, and so on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Japan The most relevant to existing Macross series (and perhaps the next Macross series) is about the circumstances and problems unique to Japan: The middle and last paragraphs tie directly into my earlier points about trunk-line bandwidth limitations (many local 'small scale' providers licensing certain percentages of the overall bandwidth, etc.), and about the local caching of data (if the Emigrant Fleet is akin to multiple local connections each with huge bandwidth, but the trunk network itself has limited capacity and 'internal router' bandwidth problems).
  4. sketchley
    Fixed. You also seem to be approaching this from the perspective that MF is the be-all and end-all of Macross. This is at odds with what Kawamori-san himself has said: each Macross series is an in-universe dramatization of historical events. Also note that I based my earlier post on what was depicted in MF, M+, and so on. "Seems" being the operative word there. In short: we don't know. There's that "we" again. You're also speculating that it is based off of current (as in early 2020) capabilities. I'm approaching it from the perspective of "what was the state of things when XYZ series was released?"—which is what was informing Kawamori-san when he was producing the shows and deciding how to describe future technology to his audience. For example the addition of cell phones and smart phones in Haruhiko Mikomoto's SDFM, but the lack of them in the original TV series simply because that technology existed (in palm-size) in 2009 but not in 1982. Therefore, "we" think that this topic should be approached from the perspective of 'what were the communication capabilities in Japan in 1994 and 2007*?' * when M7 (when the Galaxy Network is first mentioned) and MF were being produced.
  5. sketchley
    There's a bit of artistic licence going on in the Macross shows—heck, all SF shows—as the reality of space travel is rather boring and we are being shown what is effectively a highlight reel. At work today I was thinking about this: what are the costs (energy, etc.) involved in maintaining a constant connection on the Galaxy Network? Such as we know that multiple relay satellites are used, and that there is a significant energy/material cost when an Emigrant Fleet undertakes a (long range) space fold. Do those relay satellites have the power resources and/or capabilities to continuously open multiple (micro) space folds in multiple directions? Or are they more like repeater stations that only 'dial' the next relay satellite after 'receiving' a data transmission? I'm sure they would have protocols in place for high priority (ie military emergency) communication, but in so doing, how much would that impact, reduce or otherwise delay the non-high priority (e.g. civilian) communication? Then there's the physical network itself. From what we can glean, it is more akin to a series of cell phone towers rather than an all-powerful network that covers the entire galaxy. Therefore, just like a cell phone network, would there be areas where the signal drops out, or is otherwise very poor? ... and that's not even taking Fold Faults into consideration! (Would they be akin to a tree falling on a telephone line during a windstorm?) I also came to the same conclusion as JBO: it just makes much more sense to send regular updates and cache things locally.
  6. sketchley
    I'm approaching it more from the perspective of 'what was available when Kawamori-san made his comments' coupled with how long it takes for the material to come after you ask for it—as in, it takes milliseconds to display a request when I select a link in MW, but that's planet wide. Even with using Fold Communication relays, it will take significantly longer for the request to go down the network, and a response to come back. To clarify, what I'm getting at is a "speed" limit rather than a "volume" limit.
  7. sketchley
    It's not so much "TV network" as it is "internet network". In one article, Kawamori-san stated that the setting for Macross F (and so on) is like "the great age of exploration with Internet". It's not clear what version of the internet he's referring to, but I'd hazard a guess that it's somewhere between dial-up (40-56 kb/s) and broadband (1~25 Mb/s). Definitely not fibre-optic class (250~1,000 Mb/s).
  8. sketchley
    Expanding on that a bit: at a certain point the top speed (in an atmosphere) is limited not by engine output, but aerodynamic shape and the melting point of the materials used in the airframe. The most vivid example is in Macross Plus when Guld disengages the limiter, and his VF is literally melting around him because he's flying so fast.
  9. sketchley
    Expanding on that point: the ramjets would not work at all unless the VF-4 was travelling at high speed in an atmosphere. At the speeds required (apparently they're most efficient at Mach 3 and work up to Mach 6), the turbines wouldn't be used at all*. * At high mach speeds with the VF-1, they closed the air intakes and turn the turbines into what amounts to a rocket motor. While it is unclear if the VF-4 has the same capabilities, it defeats the purpose of the ram jets: to use the atmosphere as much as possible to conserve fuel. That "rocket mode" of the turbine engines uses propellant in lieu of atmosphere, consuming fuel at as high a rate—or higher—than in space. So, without any published specifics, I'd hazard a guess that the ramjets produce an equivalent (or somewhat greater) amount of thrust as the turbines, but they do it much more efficiently at high speeds.
  10. sketchley
    A decade or so ago, there was a pilot on a Discovery show that said something along the lines of: modern air combat is firing missiles at beyond visual range and then bravely retreating. Due to that, I don't think that the ground-to-air/air-to-ground combat will disappear from these kinds of movies. For starters, seeing ground scenery rushing by not only gives the viewer a sense of how the jets are spatially moving, it's also a lot more exiting than planes looping in blue sky! Nevertheless, I agree with your sentiments about more air to air combat—the writers just have to come up with a good reason to send the ace pilot(s) into aerial combat after finishing air combat school!
  11. sketchley
    I wouldn't write off your story right away. Pluto is definitely a viable place to build... something. There is frozen water on the surface (literally mountains made of ice), and in the real world places with water ice are where we are most likely going to explore and build (permanent) settlements on first. In short, water also provides air (oxygen) and fuel (hydrogen). As the fuel thirsty VF-1 (and other Valkyries) apparently rely on 'hydrogen slush' for fuel, it makes perfect sense to build at least a mining outpost/refinery on Pluto. I understand that you are being a bit facetious, but it makes perfect sense to have some kind of orbital platform to facilitate the transfer of fuel to cargo ships. So, a McDonald's orbiting Pluto isn't completely out of the question—though, shouldn't it be 'Humburger Popo'*? 😋 * where Hikaru and Minmei went on their date in DYRL
  12. sketchley
    I meant more that "cryo-sleep is a thing in SDF-1" rather than the other part (in that we first see cryo-sleep depicted in Macross Plus). Anyhow, I've been pouring over my SDFM books, and scanned what few pictures there are on South Ataria Island after the space fold. Keep in mind that they are all immediately after the fold: ① What was transported and its state immediately after arrival (note the dispersal direction arrows in the lower right of the bottom right image): ② One of South Ataria's emergency shelters floating in space: ③ A pair of mystery objects floating in space from the same episode. While the second one looks like some type of tug or rescue boat, the first one could be a fuel tank from the airport (based on the 'JP-7') or even some kind of satellite. The text that accompanied the images is equally baffling: 'stuff floating in space':
  13. sketchley
    The official description of the island is: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/Stats/Locations/EarthTransNeptunian.php#Ataria Due to its depiction in series, and just the nature of a (massive) chunk of rock with little—if any—internal support that was subsequently slammed into by the SDF-1 shortly after defold, I've always interpreted the remains as: "It is slowly spreading over a larger area due to events that occurred immediately after its arrival and subsequent interactions with gravity fields and the Solar Wind. The area looks more like an icy 'smudge' (perhaps occasionally being mistaken for a comet) in space." So, while it may be possible to convert 'some' of the remains into a Satellite City*, it would be significantly smaller than what the island was prior to the space fold. * I'm presuming you mean a city floating in space, as we're not sure exactly where the SDF-1 defolded (1). In this scenario it would be cheaper just to build a new Satellite City from scratch in situ than sending someone to collect the floating debris and transport them back to Pluto's orbit (2). (1) It's incredibly vague where the defold happened. At worst, it is in the frustratingly expansive "in Pluto's orbit" (as in any part of the path Pluto takes in its 247.94 year orbit). At best, it would be "near" Charon (based on the assumption that the SDF-1 was attempting to fold to the opposite side of Earth's Moon, and the guidance computer they were using mistook Charon for the Moon). (2) We know the Unified Forces were deploying space patrols after the First Interstellar War. It's plausible that they used the remains to build some type of (hidden) monitoring post and/or front-line base in the ruins for the Super Valkyries and other patrol vehicles. It would certainly be nicer on the pilots than putting them into cryo-sleep for the journey to/from Pluto's orbit. Which is apparently a thing!
  14. sketchley
    as per http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRtechnology/15aNatureRegenerationProject.php : "millions (some say tens of millions)"
  15. sketchley
    Here's the Macross Chronicle article detailing the effects, and the (ongoing) cleanup measures: http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRtechnology/15aNatureRegenerationProject.php And the complimenting article about the Earth (generally describing the state just before and during SWI): http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRworldguide/03aEarth.php The key statement in the latter article is "Much of the planet has become a wasteland, but cities were built by those who survived."
  16. sketchley
    The way that "Mobile Weapon" is used in the original materials, it appears to explicitly mean Zentradi mecha. Obviously there's a lot of overlap between the human ground mecha and Zentradi mecha. So, the way "Mobile Weapon" and "Destroid" are used in the original Japanese is more to describe the primary user rather than the purpose or use (especially as such things as the "Fighter Pods" are also described as Mobile Weapons!)
  17. sketchley
    Did someone say chainsaws on a VF? https://www.deviantart.com/studiootaking/art/VT-1CS-Silviculture-Valkyrie-Lineart-605492693
  18. sketchley
    Yesterday, when I picked up the latest Great Mechanics G 2023 Winter issue (the one with the awesome Mospeada cover, BTW), and was surprised to find an article on Macross Zero, specifically the upcoming Macross Zero BD release. Apparently it's using the "latest AI remastering technology"(!), The official (?) release site with the BD particulars (cost, content, extras, etc.): https://v-storage.bnarts.jp/sp-site/macross_zero_bdbox/ And the Macross Youtube channel has a promotional video—which thankfully shows a side-by-side comparison on some shots:
  19. sketchley
    Seto gave a great response. But there was one thing that appears to have been neglected: the Battroids and Destroids were scaled the size they were to facilitate communication (I like to think this means in such things as peace talks). It may also be one of the reasons why the VF-1's Battroid doesn't have guns and missile launchers poking out of every crevice like we see on the Destroids.
  20. sketchley
    I would describe the differences as "not insignificant". That said, Hasegawa is the company that produced both versions of the SDF-1 kit with few changes to the central "core" ship between the movie (released first) and TV series versions. It suggests that if they produce a TV version of the Q-Rau, it will mostly be the movie version molds, with a few key elements changed (i.e. the top antenna).
  21. sketchley
    The technology to do that didn't exist at that time. While it is easy to strap any old sharpened piece of metal to a gun pod, it wouldn't be very effective against armoured targets using Energy Conversion Armour (like the Battle Pods). Therefore, an effective anti-mecha blade weapon isn't seen until something like the 2040's—after a good 20 or 30 years of humanity both micronizing and working the kinks out of OTEC to enable a viable Valkyrie-scale bladed weapon.
  22. sketchley
    Which begs an interesting pair of questions: where was that "rainforest"? And when did it grow? As indicated by the Macross Chronicle sheet I linked to above, global temperatures rose drastically, and sea levels fell. Therefore, what we think is "a tropical rainforest" may not necessarily be in the Tropics. Also, some plants grow wickedly fast. While that rainforest could have survived the destruction, given enough time (and a place devoid of nasty radiation), it could have grown within a couple of months to a couple of years. Anyone who has had experience with Japanese knotweed will appreciate what I'm getting at.
  23. sketchley
    There's not much—if any—specifics on it. I think it was mentioned that a single VF-24 (or a small squad of them) could successfully overcome the defences of something like an Eden class planet. As for specifics, we've only been able to infer some of its capabilities. Such as the comparatively "limited" capabilities of the YF-24 being brought up to something equivalent to the VF-24 by using Ex-Gear (in the VF-25), or cyborg pilots (the "Cyber-grunts" in the VF-27). In other words, the 'impressive' capabilities of the VF-24 aren't so much the destructiveness and variety of its weapons, but its speeds and manoeuvrability.
  24. sketchley
    Which brings to mind this still from Macross Plus (that's not the Moon in the background): From what few appearances there have been in subsequent Macross series, there are several major metropolitan areas. There are also many in orbit, too. However, it's nothing like the Earth that we know. Going by the hard facts mentioned in the Macross Chronicle article, the arctic regions (where Macross City is located) are the new habitable zones, the tropical regions appear to be too hot, and there probably isn't much ice—if any!—in the polar regions any more.
  25. sketchley
    I recently translated the Macross Chronicle page on the cleanup after the orbital bombardment (Technology 15A: The Nature Regeneration Project): http://sdfyodogawa.mywebcommunity.org/MCRtechnology/15aNatureRegenerationProject.php It has some rather unsettling details (like what happened to the oceans, and subsequently the atmosphere), and some neat things like the orbital sunshade.
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