Best and worst Mechanical Designs in science fiction

[Zor]

The motivation of this thread is simple curiousity in regards to opinions and preferences.

I got this term from the end credits of anime science fiction, although it applies to most other science fiction as well. In this context, mechanical design refers to the designs of the mechanical things (Cars, Guns, Spacecraft, Robots and so forth).

Now, what would be in your opinion the best and worst mechanical designs in science fiction, to be fair and not to incur too much fussing over realism in designs, i am dividing this into four sub catagories...

1-What TV series/Film Series/Graphic Novel Series/whatever has the best Mechanical designs with realism counting
2-What TV series/Film Series/Graphic Novel Series/whatever has the best Mechanical designs when realism is not a factor (For those who like their Giant transforming mechs capable of vomiting swarms of missiles and powersuits with jetpacks equiped and chainsaw swords)
3-What TV series/Film Series/Graphic Novel Series/whatever has the worst Mechanical designs with realism counting
4-What TV series/Film Series/Graphic Novel Series/whatever has the worst Mechanical designs when realism is not a factor

Zor

[Darth Wong]

The Scarab from Halo is the worst mechanical design that comes to mind right away. It's enormous: an armoured vehicle the size of a large building, yet it supports its entire weight on feet that actually taper to a point. Why don't these things sink into the ground?

Check out this picture of one:
http://www.supercheats.com/xbox360/guid ... scarab.jpg

What the fuck? Hey, let's make a giant armoured vehicle that probably weighs thousands of tons, and we'll support it on stilts! Halo in general has terrible vehicle design. I know you could point out that those vehicles are deliberately made terrible in order to create vulnerabilities to be exploited by the player in the first-person shooter format, but that's like saying a movie's vehicles are stupid for dramatic or visual purposes. It may be due to the format, but it's still what it is. You can't pretend it's not stupid just because you know why they made it stupid.

[Big Orange]

Those completely dumbfuck mechs the Zion Rebels used.

[Starglider]

Thunderbirds had some neat mechanical design, mostly quite plausible, and with a very 'real' feel for a children's puppet show. I like to think that the Thunderbirds future was a utopia where all accountants and lawyers had been recycled into protein biscuits, and grand engineering projects could proceed without the petty concerns of 'budget' and 'liability'.

[Darth Onasi]

I like to think that the Thunderbirds future was a utopia where all accountants and lawyers had been recycled into protein biscuits, and grand engineering projects could proceed without the petty concerns of 'budget' and 'liability'.

Or safety, in the case of the Firelash airliner.

[Patrick Degan]

USS Voyager NCC-74585 (Star Trek: V'ger) —not only for the variable-geometry warp pylons but also for the very puny support legs meant to hold that ship up when landed on the ground.

Omega-class destroyer (Babylon 5) —the rotational section which essentially has the ship swinging two very large cinderblocks about it's central axis: not only causing terrible momentum-transfer and mechanical stress problems on the main spaceframe but also directly interfering with the defensive artillery's own firing arcs above and below the ship's midsection, as well as creating a greater target aspect even from forward. A cyllindrical section would have made far more sense.

[phred]

Macross (original) for best. I just have a thing for the old Veritech fighters.

Macross(I forget which series) for worst. The SDF-1 had an in-universe reason for transforming. Why did they make the later ones transformable too?

[VF5SS]

Macross (original) for best. I just have a thing for the old Veritech fighters.

i hope you can hear my rage

Macross(I forget which series) for worst. The SDF-1 had an in-universe reason for transforming. Why did they make the later ones transformable too?

Brand recognition.


Anyways my top two worst includes any Walker from Star Wars and the designs from the Transformers movie. Man, what the hell was up with that kind of CGI bullshit design.

[Big Orange]

USS Voyager NCC-74585 (Star Trek: V'ger) —not only for the variable-geometry warp pylons but also for the very puny support legs meant to hold that ship up when landed on the ground.

I think the majority of Federation ship design are similarily impractical anyway, at least USS Voyager NCC-74585 didn't have a "pencil neck" like Kirk's original USS Enterprise or Pircard's USS Enterprise-D (which also had a gimmicky saucer seperation that hardly got used, like Voyager's weedy looking landing stilts, while not being as kick ass as the USS Prometheus's seperation feature).

The Galactic Empire would've been better off sticking to vehicles like the HAVw A5 Juggernaut instead of the iconic and dramatic but moderately stupid AT-AT (although legs have their uses in striding over defensive earth works).

I also think the USS Sulaco's famous dropship from Aliens didn't seem as space worthy and convincing as the Nostromo, it didn't look like it could withstand solid vacuum or enter a planet's atmosphere at all. The APC it disgorged seemed to have very shitty ground clearance (like a chav's car) and a big ass window at the front.

[Duckie]

The Scarab from Halo is the worst mechanical design that comes to mind right away. It's enormous: an armoured vehicle the size of a large building, yet it supports its entire weight on feet that actually taper to a point. Why don't these things sink into the ground?

Check out this picture of one:
http://www.supercheats.com/xbox360/guid ... scarab.jpg

What the fuck? Hey, let's make a giant armoured vehicle that probably weighs thousands of tons, and we'll support it on stilts! Halo in general has terrible vehicle design. I know you could point out that those vehicles are deliberately made terrible in order to create vulnerabilities to be exploited by the player in the first-person shooter format, but that's like saying a movie's vehicles are stupid for dramatic or visual purposes. It may be due to the format, but it's still what it is. You can't pretend it's not stupid just because you know why they made it stupid.

Even worse, it's a superweapon tank with an open top allowing anyone who is a story up to snipe and shoot troops carried on it. Sure they could hide inside in the pilots chamber if there were a few of them, but in the games 90% of the troops carried (why does it carry troops?) never do, instead sitting on top to fire at and prevent boarders- which is entirely what a sealed scarab would prevent anyhow!

The entire point of the scarab is to be big and be hijacked by the main character, so I suppose that explains why it inexplicably carries ground troops on its opened upper deck and no door on the pilots hatch. What a stupid design.

[Swindle1984]

Those completely dumbfuck mechs the Zion Rebels used.

God forbid you give them actual targeting systems. Or, when facing foes that rely almost completely on melee attacks, a fucking WINDSCREEN to put between you and them. Or how about some fucking missiles?

The entire Matrix trilogy was retarded on so many levels it's amazing. I think the only things that was worse were the fanboys.

[Ghost Rider]

Macross (original) for best. I just have a thing for the old Veritech fighters.

Macross(I forget which series) for worst. The SDF-1 had an in-universe reason for transforming. Why did they make the later ones transformable too?

Uhhhh...well at least you answered for the mechanics of worst given how asinine the variable fighters are and how badly they are done.

And the topic isn't asking what we think is best looking, but mechanics.

[Ford Prefect]

To be fair GR, Zor did actually ask about designs people liked whether they were realistic or not.

In any case, I deliver the worst design in all categories: Zakrello.

[Commander 598]

I'll raise you a Big Zam.

[Ford Prefect]

I'll grant you that the Big Zam, and in fact most Zeonic Mobile Armours, is pretty stupid looking, but I don't think there is any design in Gundam which is blatantly awful as the Zakrello.

[Gandalf]

Those completely dumbfuck mechs the Zion Rebels used.

God forbid you give them actual targeting systems. Or, when facing foes that rely almost completely on melee attacks, a fucking WINDSCREEN to put between you and them. Or how about some fucking missiles?

The entire Matrix trilogy was retarded on so many levels it's amazing. I think the only things that was worse were the fanboys.

I always imagined that the APUs were just hastily retrofitted exosuits, which explains their craptacular combat abilities.

[Darth Wong]

I always imagined that the APUs were just hastily retrofitted exosuits, which explains their craptacular combat abilities.

If you could hastily retrofit large-calibre machine guns and loading mechanisms onto an exosuit, you could weld on some armour while you're at it. It would be far less complex to add.

[Ford Prefect]

There is honestly no point in trying to justify the APUs. Even setting aside every problem they have just from being mecha, they have all these additional problems such as the obvious lack of armour and the inability to the move and shoot. About the only thing they do have going for them is that they aren't very big and they don't move much, so the amount of stress their joints would experience would be a lot less than something like an 18m tall, sixty ton Mobile Suit running at 120km/h. I have seen more or less stationary mecha before, like the Monster Destroid from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, which basically stood in place and blasted shit with its giant cannons, but they also tend to be the most massive, most heavily armoured mecha in any series. Conversely, very lightly armoured mecha tend to be those with the most implausible speed and agility.

The APU has the distinction of being the only totally stationary mecha with no armour whatsoever I have ever heard of. They don't even look good, either.

[Commander 598]

I'll grant you that the Big Zam, and in fact most Zeonic Mobile Armours, is pretty stupid looking, but I don't think there is any design in Gundam which is blatantly awful as the Zakrello.

Yes, but at least it's critically important defenses weren't known for failing in the middle of combat.

[VF5SS]

To fair, at least the Byg Zam was effective at steamrolling through the EFSF with one third of its intended crew. Nevermind how utterly crazy Sleggar's kamikaze run turned out to be.

Probably the funniest things I ever heard about the APU's is that they didn't have canopies just so the audience could see the actors. Now, I know the Wachowskis are big anime fans (the Matrix's plot being uncomfortably close to Megazone 23 notwithstanding) but how could they miss that in the twenty years of mecha shows, the directors had no problems suiting up characters in spacesuits and sticking them deep within the bowels of a vehicle without an negative reaction from the audience? Hell, Star Wars did that several times and even Dambusters, the movie Star Wars ripped off did it fine.

[Duckie]

Ford Prefect lies. Most blatantly awful design in Gundam:

basically anything from G Gundam and its hillarious ethnic stereotypes, but especially:

Neder Gundam.

The gundam entry from "Neo Holland" in the 13th Gundam Fighting Tournament (a worldwide no holds barred melee of robots), it exploited a loophole in the rules by hiding for the entirety of the contest [months] to make it to the finals.

I'm just gonna win this thread right now: By transforming into a giant windmill.



Also it can fly.


WINDMILLS DON'T WORK THAT WAY

runner up- denmark's entry

[VF5SS]

I have the Nether Gundam toy. It's awesome. The windmill turns when you move the dial on the back. Japan really has the best stereotypes. I mean come on, Greece has a ZEUS GUNDAM and Canada has the LUMBER GUNDAM with giant axes.

[General Zod]

Ford Prefect lies. Most blatantly awful design in Gundam:

basically anything from G Gundam and its hillarious ethnic stereotypes, but especially:

Let's be fair here, G Gundam was never meant to be taken seriously and anyone who does is missing the point.

[SylasGaunt]

Plus the reason it turns into a windmill was so it could go sit out the entire opening stage of the contest by hiding in a field full of windmills.

I've got no reasoning that justifies the helicopter mode other than to say the thing sucked in the show to as I recall and got the shit kicked out of it the moment it was forced to fight.

[Aaron]

In the same vein as the Halo Scarab I'll nominate the Geth Armature and Colossus from Mass Effect, the later is basically a scaled up version of the Armature. Not only do there legs taper to a point but they are supposed to operate over rough terrain and be air-dropped. The only way I can justify the design IU is that they probably have an element zero core like the Alliance Mako.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/masse ... sus_01.jpg

For best mechanical design I'll go with the firearms from Gears of War (minus the sillyness like the chainsaw bayonet), which are basically modern firearms scaled up for soldiers set to "huge".