Stellar Unit Design Considerations

[Azaar]

I confess, I may be reaching above my means here, but as I’ve pondered Gabe and how he’ll grow and evolve as a character, I keep coming back to what happens once he activates the Stellar Unit. I have some ideas for what to try and do, and I’ll list them below, as well as try to keep within some of the general guidelines that have been laid out.

Strength: I’m actually tempted to make the Stellar Unit weaker than a standard Warrior Unit. Part of this comes from the fact that Stellar WG is supposed to be far more about the firepower than anything else, to the point where there’s no melee weaponry (something I’ll delve more thoroughly into momentarily). I’m thinking 300 men here (3x standard Guyver), which is a 25% reduction in overall physical strength.

Speed/Transportation: With the reduction in speed, I’m feeling that the Stellar Unit might prove faster in overall movement, especially when it comes to space-travel. Considering upping the speed a bit past normal Warrior Unit; not worrying about teleportation here so much. As for space-travel itself, I’m pondering whether the Stellar Unit might take a page from the Enforcer Kavzar, and be able to open spatial warps/wormholes for faster-than-light travel -- which leads to some interesting possibilities (more on that below).

Durability: Not changing anything here.

Control Orb/Forehead Laser Orb: Here’s where we start getting interesting. Gravity is out, as per Sully -- gravity isn’t something really worried about when it comes to a unit designed for deep space combat. So, I’m thinking electromagnetism as a basis -- this would power flight capabilities, the forehead laser orb atop the Control Medal (instead of just infrared, make it full-spectrum EM), wormhole/spatial warp generation for faster-than-light travel, etc. This would move beyond the functions outlined here and delve into the other weaponry systems

Sonic Busters/Vibrational Swords: Non-existent, as sonic energy is a wash when it comes to the vacuum of space (no one can hear you scream and all that); however, given the potential inherent with having the Control Orb be electromagnetic in nature instead of gravity, I idly ponder the possibilities of borrowing another page from the Enforcer Kavzar: specifically, the energy matrix emitters that power their weapons modules, which can manifest both ranged and melee weaponry. The melee weapon tolerances, I’d keep on par with a Warrior Unit (because it’s not channeling the sheer power of an Enforcer Kavzar, so it doesn’t need to be as powerful -- so it’s not going to be slicing through polymorphic vibrational weaponry).

Hyper Sensors: Here is another interesting facet I’m considering. I suspect range will be improved over the typical Warrior Unit, as well as overall levels of awareness -- partially due to Gabe’s own spatial awareness that he utilizes to good effect as a traceur (one who practices parkour, just in case anyone’s scratching their heads). How far to take that, I’m not sure -- I’m thinking, however, that the hyper sensors will be able to penetrate EM-based cloaking systems (quite possibly even penetrate Shadow Guyver’s cloaking field).

Control Medal: In addition to the typical functions inherent in the Warrior Unit’s Control Medal, I envision the Stellar Unit having a little something extra: a sort of scholarly database, as it were. After all, you have to know spatial coordinates in order to move from one location to another -- sorta lika Stargate, really. It’ll work well enough when the Stellar Unit is on its own and opening up the wormholes/spatial warps for faster-than-light travel, though likely far more energy-intensive, especially when he’s bringing more than just himself along for the ride to another world. But where it will really shine is with other Relics -- the database can change, adding new destinations to the database and filling it out, improved communication between the Stellar Unit Control Medal and the Relic Control Medal for navigation or sensor purposes, etc.

Other Phenomena: The chameleon quality of the bio-armor is a keeper; I daresay, the Stellar Unit might be able to create a cloaking field of its own, similar to Shadow Guyver. Otherwise, pretty much the same as a Warrior Unit.

Thoughts? Too off-the-wall, too far afield, intriguing possibilities? I’m curious to know what you all think.

[Vengeance]

Hola,

So I looked over what you had and started running through my head some of the ideas I had originally had for this unit when I thought Yuri might be a possible host for it. A few things you might want to consider is that this guyver was designed around the times of Jason's original unit and the Black Nova guyver. The Stellar would be like a different car model along the same line so maybe granting the unit some technology that would show it to be a sister unit to Jason's original would help with the tie in. An example might be his Blast Field being designed to store and utilize energy other then gravity. I like the aspect of utilizing Electromagnetism instead of gravity, and if you need some help defining how those powers would work check out Cyber Guyver's datafile since he also utilizes an EM Orb.

Totally agree with the strength being less and could certainly be explained with the unit diverting more power to speed and manuverabiliy then strength.

Speed: I would actually push this farther then "a bit past" a normal Warrior Unit. Jason's unit and most others where tested and designed on a planet. Granting a unit like that with immense speed would be slightly ridiculous since they'd just be zipping around the planet like Superman trying to make time go backwards. However in the vast reaches of space, especially when like you said the unit can't neccessarily teleport to somewhere he lacks the coordinates for. Since this is an ability that would be relient on the unit being in space you could make it dependent on an energy source more prevelant in space such as Cosmic Radiation would could tie into a blast field that absorbs and stores the energy which helps power his abilities like immense flight speed, worm hole generation and his long range forms of attack. This might also present a "achilles heel" for the unit since the amount of Cosmic Radiation it would be able to utilize within an atmospheric enviorment would be greatly reduced. I might also want to consider that since long range combat would rely on speed and manuverability perhaps adding in a secondary system, such as small EM Orbs or Plasma Jets that would subject to make sudden and rapid turn on a dime course changes even while moving at top speed.

Hypersenors: Another idea I had when trying to think like the Gen. What if the unit had a series of secondary Hyper Sensors. These sensors, I went with six in total, could essentialy detach from the unti and set up a grid around the Stellar Warrior Guyver greatly expanding his range and ability to react to long range attacks. They could also act as scouts or probes when the unit would have encountered enemy battle groups, interstellar phenomena and so forth.

Energy Matrix Emitters: While it could certainly be a viable option for this unit I would wonder two things. If the Gen had access to this technology before why wouldn't more guyver unit's have been equipped with it? Certainly seems to be a better option then vibrational swords attached at the elbow per say. And even with that the Stellar Unit would be limited to attempting to engage a number of opponents by the number of emitters it had.

Maybe instead the unit could have varying weapon systems all designed for long range combat. You could have long range cannons like the Edutsol did with more of a focus on various long range attacks like sniper beams, wide angle blasts, orb like bombs that could detonate on contact. The unit could also generate other weapons such as bio-missles like a gaster. The unit could energize the material through its EM Orb or Blast Field and then fire them at multiple targets at once that explode with immense power. With its power to utilize wormholes and spatial warping the unit could combine the attacks to attack from different directions and an exceedinly long range. I also think you might want to have a larged number of this unit's version of the Forehead laser. They could be on the edges of the chest plates, forearms, legs, back etc and could be used for more barrage like attacks and also function as a secondary defense system, working more like Anti-Air Weapons that defend the unit from attacks and opponents that threaten to reach the unit.

Hopefully none of this comes off as a critiscm of your ideas, I really like what you've come up with so far. I just tried to make a few suggestions and you can feel free to use any of them. Best of luck to you, I'm sure whatever the Stellar Warrior Guyver ends up being will have us all in shock and awe.

[Azaar]

Hola,

So I looked over what you had and started running through my head some of the ideas I had originally had for this unit when I thought Yuri might be a possible host for it. A few things you might want to consider is that this guyver was designed around the times of Jason's original unit and the Black Nova guyver. The Stellar would be like a different car model along the same line so maybe granting the unit some technology that would show it to be a sister unit to Jason's original would help with the tie in.

Howdy! Truth be told, I've actually gone a step or two past this, mostly with discussing with Sully what all he had in mind, then put together a revised spin on it with his input. The result is something I'm still waiting for him to clear (though I confess, I have an "official" data file written up and ready to hand in). Thta being said, I do want to hold back from giving out full specs, at least for the time being, but I will admit to certain things.

An example might be his Blast Field being designed to store and utilize energy other then gravity. I like the aspect of utilizing Electromagnetism instead of gravity, and if you need some help defining how those powers would work check out Cyber Guyver's datafile since he also utilizes an EM Orb.

I admit, in some ways I was not entirely a fan of gravity being removed, but it was for the flimsiest of reasons: my original intent was to make the Stellar WG, well... superhero-esque. If Guyver 2/Oswald Risker is now the Reverse Flash/Eobard Thawne of the WG universe, then Stellar WG/Gabe was gonna be the Green Lantern/Kyle Rayner. I'd had aspirations of effectively making the Stellar WG a redux of a Green Lantern Power Ring, especially considering the fact that originally Gabe was gonna be "everyman" (in that there wasn't anything truly unique to set him apart) -- what I've written of Preparations so far, though, Gabe's evolving into a more complex character than I'd ever imagined him becoming... and he's nowhere near getting the Stellar Warrior Unit yet.

That whole long diatribe aside (if nothing else, it does give an idea of my original inspiration), with gravity out, electromagnetism was a shoe-in. I was looking as much at Cyber Guyver as I was Angel for this; Stellar WG will be stronger than Cyber Guyver, but not at Angel's power level by any means -- though I will admit that there are different things Gabe will potentially be able to do as Stellar WG that Angel isn't geared for so much, while there's a number of things that Angel can do better than Stellar WG could. At least, that's my plan.

Totally agree with the strength being less and could certainly be explained with the unit diverting more power to speed and manuverabiliy then strength.

Strength... was tough, I admit. I did want there to be a bit of a downside there, but with the base Warrior unit already set at 4x, I felt like I couldn't play with it too much; still, there is something in the works that should make things interesting in that score.

Speed: I would actually push this farther then "a bit past" a normal Warrior Unit. Jason's unit and most others where tested and designed on a planet. Granting a unit like that with immense speed would be slightly ridiculous since they'd just be zipping around the planet like Superman trying to make time go backwards. However in the vast reaches of space, especially when like you said the unit can't neccessarily teleport to somewhere he lacks the coordinates for. Since this is an ability that would be relient on the unit being in space you could make it dependent on an energy source more prevelant in space such as Cosmic Radiation would could tie into a blast field that absorbs and stores the energy which helps power his abilities like immense flight speed, worm hole generation and his long range forms of attack. This might also present a "achilles heel" for the unit since the amount of Cosmic Radiation it would be able to utilize within an atmospheric enviorment would be greatly reduced. I might also want to consider that since long range combat would rely on speed and manuverability perhaps adding in a secondary system, such as small EM Orbs or Plasma Jets that would subject to make sudden and rapid turn on a dime course changes even while moving at top speed.

Speed was something I put serious consideration into, particularly after garnering Sully's input. "A bit past" a normal Warrior unit, in this case, is a major understatement. Sully said the idea was for Stellar WG's target to be dead long before he/she got close enough for melee -- which works, to a point. With Sully's input in hand, I made speed and evasive capabilities much more important. Past that... no comment

Hypersenors: Another idea I had when trying to think like the Gen. What if the unit had a series of secondary Hyper Sensors. These sensors, I went with six in total, could essentialy detach from the unti and set up a grid around the Stellar Warrior Guyver greatly expanding his range and ability to react to long range attacks. They could also act as scouts or probes when the unit would have encountered enemy battle groups, interstellar phenomena and so forth.

You know, that's actually an interesting idea; I may incorporate into the final design, in fact. The hyper sensors, ironically enough, were the absolute bane of my existence when I sketched up my current "official" data file. I had no idea of how to set up the sensory range, and found myself looking more often than nought at both the Dreadnought and Angel data files to give me ideas; even then, that didn't really "feel right". This is something for me to consider more fully.

Energy Matrix Emitters: While it could certainly be a viable option for this unit I would wonder two things. If the Gen had access to this technology before why wouldn't more guyver unit's have been equipped with it? Certainly seems to be a better option then vibrational swords attached at the elbow per say. And even with that the Stellar Unit would be limited to attempting to engage a number of opponents by the number of emitters it had.

The Energy Matrix emitters are gone in the current data file draft; I wound up just not liking it, even though it had some interesting potential utility. And even before I removed it, I'd already limited the emitters to not allow for melee weaponry, just to keep it fully ranged-combat in nature. It just never really felt right to me, so I ultimately decided to ditch it.

Maybe instead the unit could have varying weapon systems all designed for long range combat. You could have long range cannons like the Edutsol did with more of a focus on various long range attacks like sniper beams, wide angle blasts, orb like bombs that could detonate on contact. The unit could also generate other weapons such as bio-missles like a gaster. The unit could energize the material through its EM Orb or Blast Field and then fire them at multiple targets at once that explode with immense power. With its power to utilize wormholes and spatial warping the unit could combine the attacks to attack from different directions and an exceedinly long range. I also think you might want to have a larged number of this unit's version of the Forehead laser. They could be on the edges of the chest plates, forearms, legs, back etc and could be used for more barrage like attacks and also function as a secondary defense system, working more like Anti-Air Weapons that defend the unit from attacks and opponents that threaten to reach the unit.

Designing a ranged combat unit is surprisingly tricky, particularly when you do it without the benefit of certain weapons. No sonic emitters or vibrational swords is one thing; heck, even strip away gravity (though that was pretty easy to deal with, since I replaced it with electromagnetism), but Sully threw in another wrinkle that really forced me to rethink my entire approach to the Stellar WG design: no megasmashers. Needless to say, it made the design phase for the data file very... heh... interesting. But, rather than try to defend keeping what is arguably the most powerful weapon system of a Guyver unit in the design, I began to explore some alternatives... and those alternatives became very intriguing.

Hopefully none of this comes off as a critiscm of your ideas, I really like what you've come up with so far. I just tried to make a few suggestions and you can feel free to use any of them. Best of luck to you, I'm sure whatever the Stellar Warrior Guyver ends up being will have us all in shock and awe.

Criticism is perfectly fine with me, so long as it's constructive. I went through at least one major revision on my ideas on my own, and that was before I went to Sully to see what sorts of things he had in mind. I went through a second major revision soon thereafter, courtesy of his input. I'll have to check at some point to see whether Sully's amenable to letting me post my data file submission for everyone to see or not -- right now, I'm actually checking on how far into Preparations I should write, since it's basically running from a year after Inception (three years before Union of the Guyvers, Part 1) up through at least the end of Seven Days of Hell, if not just far enough to tie Gabe back in for when Story 10 is ready and Gabe's bonded with the Stellar WG.

[*zeo]

Hey, Azaar, I got some free time coming up, if you're still working on it then send me what you got so far and we can see about finalizing the DF...

[Azaar]

How do I send it to you, zeo? I was gonna try and do it via PM, but it's saying you have private messages disabled on yourself.

[*zeo]

Just click that little mail icon next to the PM icon...

[*zeo]

Okay, it's been a week, still having problems or just haven't checked the forum in awhile?

[Azaar]

The only icon I see beside the PM icon to the right is the website icon that pops me back to the homepage for the Warrior Guyver website. I'm not sure where I'm missing it.

[*zeo]

Strange, it should only look like that when you're not logged in to the forum... otherwise, you should see PM > EMAIL > WEB icons beneath each person's avatar...

[Azaar]

I only have a PM icon beside my posts, and you have PM and Web icons. Maybe something happened to the forum, I'm not sure.

[*zeo]

You have the mail icon too, stranger still that you don't see your own... Anyway, I clicked yours and sent you a email... So you should have my return email...

[Azaar]

Belatedly, but sent. Sorry it took so long -- I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for most of the last two weeks, since I finally got my own apartment and no longer am living in a homeless shelter like I had been for most of last year. Hope you enjoy the read.