The Newbie and Short Questions thread

[pengbuzz]

16 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Pretty much the only place the Regult's compact thermonuclear reactor could be is in the mecha's "pelvis", for want of a better term.  It's a safe bet that the battle suits keep theirs in the "backpack" so it's close to the engines it's powering and protected from the front by the body of the mecha.

Wow...talk about an "ejection seat" for the pilot... O.o

  

16 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

One of the virtues of Overtechnology-based thermonuclear reactors is that they can be made VERY small if need be.  The one in the heart of the VF-1's FF-2001 engines are less than half a meter long and maybe a third of a meter in diameter.  Basically, about the size of a standard 16" beach ball.

One of the other, highly relevant virtues of Overtechnology-based thermonuclear reactors is that the reaction with standard fuel is aneutronic and the reaction itself produces little in the way of harmful radiation.  The vast majority of the reaction's energy is released as heat, with byproducts including small amounts of neutrinos, positrons, and gamma ray photons.  The reaction is contained by an intense artificial gravity field, so exposure is essentially a non-issue though the reactor is well-shielded by overtechnology super-alloys and a lot of the byproducts are still used to generate energy.

Which probably solved a lot of energy issues for Planet Earth when they developed that (before the orbital bombardment, at least). Only trouble is that they made the fuel storage for the VF-1 too small and limited the fighter severely in space (expected a terrestrial war). I wonder how Space War 1 would have differed if the Unity Govt had planned for a spaceborne war?

[Bolt]

19 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

I find it interesting that Windermere's production aircraft are on par with the custom units that Delta uses, in light of the difficulty Delta seems to have with fighting the Aerial Knights (that's the impression I have, anyways). Although to be fair, the machine is only so much of "the show"; the pilot is a different factor. I don't think Delta is exactly on-par with the likes of Diamond Force, for example...

I assume it's because Xaos is no SMS. And doesn't have the dosh to put into VF's that SMS ( or NUNS ) has. And the Delta flight is apparently a bunch of second rates..

And Windermere had a big grudge. Fighting for home and country.

[Seto Kaiba]

37 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

I find it interesting that Windermere's production aircraft are on par with the custom units that Delta uses, in light of the difficulty Delta seems to have with fighting the Aerial Knights (that's the impression I have, anyways). Although to be fair, the machine is only so much of "the show"; the pilot is a different factor. I don't think Delta is exactly on-par with the likes of Diamond Force, for example...

It shows how much forethought and planning the Kingdom of the Wind put into their preparations for their second war with the New Unification Government.

The Aerial Knights knew going into it that the New UN Forces in the Brisingr globular cluster had significant advantages in training, experience, and sheer weight of numbers.  Few Windermereans who served in the last Zentradi attack on the Brisingr cluster c.2059-2060 were still fit for duty, so their forces were mainly combat virgins banking on their greater natural abilities, the far greater performance of their Sv-262's compared to the New UN Forces' VF-171's, and weaponized Var syndrome to make up the difference.  As we saw late in Macross Delta, once Walkure started actually supporting the NUNS the playing field leveled fairly quickly.

Xaos is definitely not on par with Sol system-sourced New UN Forces... or even SMS.  I've argued in the past that Macross Delta is basically a war between two bush league powers... the Aerial Knights, and Xaos.

 

 

28 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Which probably solved a lot of energy issues for Planet Earth when they developed that (before the orbital bombardment, at least). Only trouble is that they made the fuel storage for the VF-1 too small and limited the fighter severely in space (expected a terrestrial war). I wonder how Space War 1 would have differed if the Unity Govt had planned for a spaceborne war?

Yeah, one big thermonuclear reactor was enough to meet the energy needs of Mars Base Salla easily enough.

The VF-1's problem wasn't so much the expectation of a terrestrial war as the expectation that they'd be fighting infantry.  The fighter's size was constrained by a perceived need to match a Zentradi soldier on foot, little realizing they don't fight that way.

 

15 minutes ago, Bolt said:

I assume it's because Xaos is no SMS. And doesn't have the dosh to put into VF's that SMS ( or NUNS ) has. And the Delta flight is apparently a bunch of second rates..

And Windermere had a big grudge. Fighting for home and country.

Yeah, Xaos is not as upscale a PMC as SMS, since their parent company is a conglomerate that started as a communications firm rather than one of the biggest interstellar shipping concerns in the galaxy.

Where SMS was able to recruit from the wealthy and well-maintained Frontier NUNS and even pick up troops from the Earth NUNS in a couple places, Xaos's troops are mostly local boys from the Brisingr Alliance NUNS and not really up to the same standard.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Seto Kaiba

[pengbuzz]

9 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

It shows how much forethought and planning the Kingdom of the Wind put into their preparations for their second war with the New Unification Government.

The Aerial Knights knew going into it that the New UN Forces in the Brisingr globular cluster had significant advantages in training, experience, and sheer weight of numbers.  Few Windermereans who served in the last Zentradi attack on the Brisingr cluster c.2059-2060 were still fit for duty, so their forces were mainly combat virgins banking on their greater natural abilities, the far greater performance of their Sv-262's compared to the New UN Forces' VF-171's, and weaponized Var syndrome to make up the difference.  As we saw late in Macross Delta, once Walkure started actually supporting the NUNS the playing field leveled fairly quickly.

Xaos is definitely not on par with Sol system-sourced New UN Forces... or even SMS.  I've argued in the past that Macross Delta is basically a war between two bush league powers... the Aerial Knights, and Xaos.

 That Windemere could do what they did whith what they had definitely speaks to planning and forethought. So, one side was outmatched and knew it, so they got the most for their resources. The other was...well... hmm.

 

9 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Yeah, one big thermonuclear reactor was enough to meet the energy needs of Mars Base Salla easily enough.

The VF-1's problem wasn't so much the expectation of a terrestrial war as the expectation that they'd be fighting infantry.  The fighter's size was constrained by a perceived need to match a Zentradi soldier on foot, little realizing they don't fight that way.

 True. Fighting out where a lot of fuel was needed didn't help matters any I would venture.

 

9 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Yeah, Xaos is not as upscale a PMC as SMS, since their parent company is a conglomerate that started as a communications firm rather than one of the biggest interstellar shipping concerns in the galaxy.

Where SMS was able to recruit from the wealthy and well-maintained Frontier NUNS and even pick up troops from the Earth NUNS in a couple places, Xaos's troops are mostly local boys from the Brisingr Alliance NUNS and not really up to the same standard.

Not exactly talking "Top Gun" here, are we?

Edited April 6, 2021 by pengbuzz

[JB0]

8 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Depends on how you want to define "a small amount".  In MOSPEADA, a single Type-3 HBT cylinder was enough fuel for 380km of driving.

(An HBT canister doesn't contain straight hydrogen, though.  It's a room-temperature hydrogen storage medium similar to cycloalkanes like methylcyclohexane.  A way to store a lot more hydrogen in less space at room temperature for combustion use.

Good to know.

[Bolt]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Not exactly talking "Top Gun" here, are we?

I guess for the Brisingr cluster, they might be..

[Invid99]

Before the Unification war started, mankind had civilian outposts on Mars and Moon, but not anything military until they reversed-enginereed the Overtechnology right?

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Invid99 said:

Before the Unification war started, mankind had civilian outposts on Mars and Moon, but not anything military until they reversed-enginereed the Overtechnology right?

The only space installation mentioned prior to the outbreak of the Unification Wars was Space Station New Frontier, in orbit over the Phoenix islands.

Construction of the first permanent Lunar settlement, Apollo Base, didn't begin until two months after the outbreak of the first armed conflict that the timeline generally considers to be part of the Unification Wars.  Construction of the first Martian settlement began about a year after that.

[Seto Kaiba]

21 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Not exactly talking "Top Gun" here, are we?

"Bottom Shelf Gun", I suppose.

I'd have just said "bottom gun" with suggestive emphasis before it came out that Messer's lack of interest in women was because he was a creepy stalker, not playing for the other team.

[pengbuzz]

44 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

"Bottom Shelf Gun", I suppose.

I'd have just said "bottom gun" with suggestive emphasis before it came out that Messer's lack of interest in women was because he was a creepy stalker, not playing for the other team.

"Discount Gun".

 

[Invid99]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The only space installation mentioned prior to the outbreak of the Unification Wars was Space Station New Frontier, in orbit over the Phoenix islands.

Construction of the first permanent Lunar settlement, Apollo Base, didn't begin until two months after the outbreak of the first armed conflict that the timeline generally considers to be part of the Unification Wars.  Construction of the first Martian settlement began about a year after that.

Did the Overtechnology found on SDF-1 played a huge part on how fast Earth could build these settlements on the Moon and Mars? Because without it, it would have taken decades I guess. 

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Invid99 said:

Did the Overtechnology found on SDF-1 played a huge part on how fast Earth could build these settlements on the Moon and Mars? Because without it, it would have taken decades I guess. 

Perhaps not decades, but it would've been a lot more resource-intensive and painstaking than it ended up being.

Plus there wasn't all that much incentive to do so until the prospect of an alien invasion reared its ugly head.

Building a permanent installation on Mars would've been especially tricky without the ability to power it with a thermonuclear reactor.

[NightmarePlus]

On the subject of the Unification Wars, is there any details of which countires comprised the UN and Anti-UN factions?

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, NightmarePlus said:

On the subject of the Unification Wars, is there any details of which countires comprised the UN and Anti-UN factions?

"All" and "None", respectively.

The Unification Wars weren't a single conflict.  It was a collection of little brushfire wars, terrorist campaigns, and other armed interventions that sprang up all over the world for a wide variety of reasons, many of which were largely unrelated to each other.  We're talking everything from nations fighting over territorial disputes down the scale to pre-existing ethnic or religious tensions boiling over, unrest caused by the immense economic toll the Unification Government's defense initiatives were incurring, or simply violent nationalist hissy fits over the whole idea of a supranational world government.

The Anti-Unification Alliance wasn't an alliance of nations opposed to the Unification Government.  It was a loose confederation of various regional violent nationalist hissy fit throwers from around the world who were opposed to the Unification Government for their own reasons and, in a moment of breathtaking cognitive dissonance, banded together into a global alliance dedicated to carrying out guerilla campaigns aimed at opposing or hindering the newly formed Unification Government.  The Alliance had grassroots support and clandestine backing from some corporations, regional governments, and nations, but it doesn't look like any nation was willing to paint a target on itself by supporting them openly. 

It's noted that a fair amount of the Alliance's clandestine support came from the former Warsaw Pact nations, where the defense industry was salty about lucrative UN Forces contracts mainly ending up in the hands of companies based in former NATO nations and their close allies.

This ultimately led to the Alliance's collapse.  When they attacked the UN Forces in regions where their own supporters were, they ultimately lost that support.  The tipping point was when they deployed reaction weapons against the UN Forces in central Russia and destroyed St. Petersburg.  That poor decision led directly to the Russian separatists backing out of the Alliance entirely, costing them much of their support and leading to the Alliance's total collapse after the debacle on Mayan.

[Invid99]

Since the Supervision Army(Pre-Varauta) consist of Zentradis and Protoculture, did they use the same Zentradis vehicles and ships? Or did they have their own units?

Edited April 8, 2021 by Invid99

[Seto Kaiba]

29 minutes ago, Invid99 said:

Since the Supervision Army(Pre-Varauta) consist of Zentradis and Protoculture, did they use the same Zentradis vehicles and ships? Or did they have their own units?

We don't know what the original composition of the Supervision Army looked like when it first emerged during the height of the Protoculture's Stellar Republic.  Thus far, we've only seen one class of warship belonging to the Supervision Army: the medium-scale gunship that would later be rebuilt into the SDF-1 Macross.  (Another derelict of the same class was discovered after the First Space War by the UN Spacy force sent to capture a factory satellite.)

Their force was likely a mixture of captured and original ship designs initially.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Seto Kaiba

[Invid99]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

We don't know what the original composition of the Supervision Army looked like when it first emerged during the height of the Protoculture's Stellar Republic.  Thus far, we've only seen one class of warship belonging to the Supervision Army: the medium-scale gunship that would later be rebuilt into the SDF-1 Macross.  (Another derelict of the same class was discovered after the First Space War by the UN Spacy force sent to capture a factory satellite.)

Their force was likely a mixture of captured and original ship designs initially.

I would like to know more about the Stellar Republic and the Supervision Army in future Macross installments. Again, thanks for the answers!

[Seto Kaiba]

34 minutes ago, Invid99 said:

I would like to know more about the Stellar Republic and the Supervision Army in future Macross installments. Again, thanks for the answers!

Odds are we've gotten about all we're going to get about the Supervision Army from Macross 7 and Macross R, and pretty much any coverage of the Stellar Republic concerns its collapse and the aftermath thereof.

[Bolt]

Macross 7 fo sho. Fire Bomba!

[Invid99]

In the last battle against Gol Boddole Zer, did all of the Zentradi male forces defect or were the still some who are loyalists and not affected by Minmay's song? 

[Bolt]

They were all affected. But that doesn't mean they all defected.  Probably some stayed and fought on . And some got the hell out of there.

[Seto Kaiba]

On 4/14/2021 at 6:32 PM, Invid99 said:

In the last battle against Gol Boddole Zer, did all of the Zentradi male forces defect or were the still some who are loyalists and not affected by Minmay's song? 

As in the Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series, a portion of the Zentradi forces defected to the UN Forces while the remainder retreated as per standard practice when they lost their command ships either during or at the end of the battle.

Many of the defectors and stranded Zentradi managed to live on Earth and integrated successfully into human society.  Some tried and failed.  One area where Macross II's timeline is different is that a small group of those who tried and failed were able to secure a ship and flee into deep space... resulting in the events of Macross 2036 and Macross: Eternal Love Song.

[Dressykamila1]

I wonder who's going to be an enemy in the new movie. It would be interesting if it turned out to be a megaroad-01 fleet or a macross galaxy (mainland), but it could also be some kind of rebellion on the part of Windermere (which I conclude from this guy similar to Keith in the trailer). It is known that the Delta six will be there, but I wonder if it will be a replacement for Messer or just a new, added mecha pilot. Funny, the ship in the picture looks like the one Sheryl came on .

I am also curious whether the new macross f short movie will be a continuation of the anime or the movie. What do you think? I don't understand the end credits scene of Sayonara no Tsubasa where Sheryl wakes up and her earring glows. Does that mean Alto is alive? And after the throat operation, will Sheryl be able to talk, let alone sing? (Grace proposed laryngeal surgery, but she said she would rather die than stop singing.) I am also surprised that no one mentions Brera as a hero. If it weren't for him, the Frontier Queen might not have been defeated. Even Ranka was not surprised that Brera "disappeared" on the battlefield ...

My final question concerns the new Macross class ships. Were they built and produced on this huge production satellite? Were the ships still produced after, for example, 2058 or was the colonization already stopped?

Edited April 17, 2021 by Dressykamila1

[pengbuzz]

I think the new enemy will probably be some race we haven't seen before. Kawamori isn't one to repeat himself with storylines or revisit stuff typically.

[Seto Kaiba]

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

I wonder who's going to be an enemy in the new movie. It would be interesting if it turned out to be a megaroad-01 fleet or a macross galaxy (mainland), but it could also be some kind of rebellion on the part of Windermere (which I conclude from this guy similar to Keith in the trailer).

What little information has been made available for Absolute Live!!!!!! has indicated that the antagonist in the movie is a new threat rather than the return of an old one. 

The trailer suggests whoever it is, Windermere IV is willing to put aside its differences with the Brisingr Alliance and New UN Government to stop them.

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

I am also curious whether the new macross f short movie will be a continuation of the anime or the movie. What do you think?

Insufficient information to make any determination at this time.

Mind you, with Kawamori's loose attitude towards continuity in general the answer could well be "Both" or "Neither".

(For instance, in the Macross Frontier side story light novel Macross the Ride, the setting is generally based on the Macross Frontier TV series but the movie-exclusive YF-29 is talked about briefly in connection with Macross Galaxy's YF-27 program.)

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

I don't understand the end credits scene of Sayonara no Tsubasa where Sheryl wakes up and her earring glows. Does that mean Alto is alive?

Yes.

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

And after the throat operation, will Sheryl be able to talk, let alone sing?

As popular as Sheryl (and May'n) is with the fans, I think it's a safe bet she will.

(Certain works outside the official setting mention her continuing her music career beyond the events of the Vajra War, including Variable Fighter Master File: VF-25 Messiah.)

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

I am also surprised that no one mentions Brera as a hero. If it weren't for him, the Frontier Queen might not have been defeated. Even Ranka was not surprised that Brera "disappeared" on the battlefield ...

He was a pretty minor character in the movie version, and spent most of the film nominally aligned with the "bad guys".

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

My final question concerns the new Macross class ships. Were they built and produced on this huge production satellite?

Yes, with the exception of the first few Megaroad-class ships, all emigrant ships have been built in repurposed factory satellites.

 

5 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

Were the ships still produced after, for example, 2058 or was the colonization already stopped?

There has not been any explicit mention of new emigrant ships being built after the 2040s, but the answer is almost certainly "Yes". 

The New UN Government had multiple planets launching emigrant fleets in the 2040s and production was ramping up not down, so it's very likely that production of those ships is ongoing in the 2050s and 2060s, albeit with ever-more-modern designs.

[Bolt]

9 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

I wonder who's going to be an enemy in the new movie.

As said before. It's "a new threat" . Apparently Windermere and Xaos are celebrating an armistice when the action starts..

 

9 hours ago, Dressykamila1 said:

but it could also be some kind of rebellion on the part of Windermere (which I conclude from this guy similar to Keith in the trailer)

Perhaps, except it's already been supposed that at least one Windermerean is now part of Delta Flight.

[Dressykamila1]

Thanks for answers :D. Did the 117th Research Fleet work with the Macross Galaxy and did it fly out of Eden?

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Dressykamila1 said:

Thanks for answers :D. Did the 117th Research Fleet work with the Macross Galaxy and did it fly out of Eden?

As far as I know, the 117th Research Fleet's home port is not identified.  In the Macross Frontier novelization, Manfred Brando was a part of the board of inquiry that investigated its destruction.  That could be taken as circumstantial evidence that its home port was Earth since Brando and his company Critical Path were supporters of the Earth supremacist group Latence in Macross VF-X2.

No involvement from Macross Galaxy is mentioned, but some of its surviving researchers (e.g. Grace) and its financial backers (Manfred) did move on to supporting the Macross Galaxy fleet.

[Invid99]

This is probably been discussed to death, but what is the accurate heights of the Zentraedi? I just edited a picture together with the Glaug, a Zentraedi pilot, a Regult, Quamzin and the Valkyrie, so we can see the size comparison. Don't know if it's accurate.

 

I can see the Zentraedi soldier fit inside a Regult if he have a normal ''office'' sitting posture. But Quamzin inside a Glaug? He must then sit with his legs straight. Hopefully the Glaug's interior is expanded backwards. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Invid99

[Special Sauce]

So I've only been able to see the original Macross movie, some of the robotech tv series and Macross Plus.  I've seen none of the others but want to.  What are my options, if any? Any streaming platforms that have them?

Edited April 19, 2021 by Special Sauce

[Sanity is Optional]

8 minutes ago, Invid99 said:

This is probably been discussed to death, but what is the accurate heights of the Zentraedi? I just edited a picture together with the Glaug, a Zentraedi pilot, a Regult, Quamzin and the Valkyrie, so we can see the size comparison. Don't know if it's accurate.

 

I can see the Zentraedi soldier fit inside a Regult if he have a normal ''office'' sitting posture. But Quamzin inside a Glaug? He must then sit with his legs straight. Hopefully the Glaug's interior is expanded backwards. 

It varies. A lot.

A VF-1 battroid is roughly the same height as a male trooper zentradi, or Breetai.

However, A VF-25 battroid is roughly the same height as Klan Klan in Frontier, despite being significantly taller than a VF-1.

Also some of the individual zentradi are larger or smaller, and the scale of Regults to VF-1 makes zero sense if their pilots are the same size as a battroid VF-1.

 

In short: anime magic happens, they are whatever size is right for the scene. Anything else is just justifications for animation inconsistencies.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Sanity is Optional

[no3Ljm]

23 minutes ago, Invid99 said:

This is probably been discussed to death, but what is the accurate heights of the Zentraedi? I just edited a picture together with the Glaug, a Zentraedi pilot, a Regult, Quamzin and the Valkyrie, so we can see the size comparison. Don't know if it's accurate.

 

I can see the Zentraedi soldier fit inside a Regult if he have a normal ''office'' sitting posture. But Quamzin inside a Glaug? He must then sit with his legs straight. Hopefully the Glaug's interior is expanded backwards. 

Various comparison chart you can find online and thru Macross Mecha Manual:

Hope it helps.

 

[jvmacross]

2 hours ago, Invid99 said:

This is probably been discussed to death, but what is the accurate heights of the Zentraedi? I just edited a picture together with the Glaug, a Zentraedi pilot, a Regult, Quamzin and the Valkyrie, so we can see the size comparison. Don't know if it's accurate.

 

I can see the Zentraedi soldier fit inside a Regult if he have a normal ''office'' sitting posture. But Quamzin inside a Glaug? He must then sit with his legs straight. Hopefully the Glaug's interior is expanded backwards. 

 

A VF-1 battroid can wear a Zentradi Officer's uniform....when the story demands it....

 

...and a Zentran soldier can fit easily into a Regult for the same reasons.....

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by jvmacross

[Invid99]

2 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

 

A VF-1 battroid can wear a Zentradi Officer's uniform....when the story demands it....

 

...and a Zentran soldier can fit easily into a Regult for the same reasons.....

 

LOL 

[Seto Kaiba]

3 hours ago, Invid99 said:

This is probably been discussed to death, but what is the accurate heights of the Zentraedi? I just edited a picture together with the Glaug, a Zentraedi pilot, a Regult, Quamzin and the Valkyrie, so we can see the size comparison. Don't know if it's accurate.

I can see the Zentraedi soldier fit inside a Regult if he have a normal ''office'' sitting posture. But Quamzin inside a Glaug? He must then sit with his legs straight. Hopefully the Glaug's interior is expanded backwards. 

The original Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series had some issues when it came to accurately depicting the size of the Zentradi... no doubt in part due to the show's very limited budget and tight production schedule.  They were often animated as being as tall or nearly as tall as a Battroid when in reality the Battroid should be much taller than the average for a Zentradi at 12.68m.

It's also worth noting that there's a pretty significant disparity in average height among Zentradi based on their actual rank/role by design.

Your average Zentradi soldier is between 9m (29.5ft) and 10m (32.8ft) tall... five times the height of a tall man (5'11"-6'7" in scale).  There are also plenty of examples who are below the average height like Roli Dosel.

Command types are built bigger.  In human scale, Quamzin would be a whopping 2.37m (7'9"!).  Vrlitwhai would be a whopping 270.8cm (8'11"!).  Boddole Zer was even taller than they are.

The Protoculture didn't really give a damn about making their mecha ergonomically sound, so you can safely assume some uncomfortable bending is involved.