RFS' showcase showdown.

[RFS]

I've been poking around RA2 again, meaning I am up to no good.

I wanted to crack open some bots I made several years ago, but it looks like the backup I had was not the right one and everything was missing... meaning that the robots I thought I backed up were probably on an HDD I had that died a couple years back, so they're effectively lost forever (along with everything I had from RFSHQ and all that, but that's a tale for another day).

Anyways I did the first thing any REAL robot combat fan would do upon starting up RA2 again for the first time. Build Abbatoir.



See? It's a crappy replica of season 1 Abbatoir, complete with the jankiest drive system in the world in an effort to try and imitate how badly it functions. Hilariously, having 2 angle motors on the right and 1 redbird plus an axle mount on the left results in something that against all odds is mostly driveable. That said, I made the "weapon" heavy as sh** and powered it using only an angle motor, ensuring that it wouldn't work at all. Mission accomplished, it takes 20 seconds to make one rotation.

I'll probably post more as I go along, though I don't want to dump out too much because I'm hard at work making something neat. Assuming that RA2 will stop crashing when I work on robots.

[Sage]

You're getting crashes? That's odd, usually the actual building is pretty stable

[RFS]

I've got Windows 10 which has proven to be somewhat unstable with certain legacy/old programs and games. For example, when I take screenshots in RA2, the screenshot "window" is actually about 50 pixels up and to the left of where it should be, so I lose the bottom right corner of the game and instead the upper left corner is whatever I have open behind the game window.

I've only really had the game crash two main ways:
- Messing around with setting controls on the Wiring screen.
- Clicking the "Main Menu" option from inside the Testing area of the bot lab.

In both cases I just save my progress more often to reduce loss. I had to build Abbatoir three times before I learned.

[RFS]

More garbage.



Spent the most time on this new one, Thumperizer XVII, because I was so let down by RA3's ability to handle what is admittedly a very simple robot. The spinners on Thump '17 are powered by HP Z-Teks mounted on burst motors because in the past 13 years I haven't forgotten that glitch. I'm using T Connectors as makeshift 90 Degree Connectors because they are slightly shorter; using the regular 90 Degree Connectors causes the spikes to hit the ground, which throws the motors off.

Still working on the side fans, since this version of the robot has a tendency to roll up onto its side and stay there. I've got about 200kg of weight left for things like wheel guards and all that. Once I'm happy with it I intend to make a proper skin and all that.

Can you believe I built the first ever Thumperizer robot fourteen years ago? F*** me, right?




Hey look it's that thing from my signature.




This is what I get for trying to be a smartass with the game. I had this bright idea to take Backyard Ripper and replace its weapon with one that had pseudo "flails" on it, and just like good ol' RA2 the axle mounts sloooooowly started to float away. I think they are pissed off because the disc is mounted on a Z-Tek that's mounted on a burst motor, so that's three steps of moving parts for the sake of a gimmick. I'm sure if I mounted the Z-Tek like a normal person I might be able to get away with this.

[Badnik96]

Abbatoir looks freaking cool. I like the new Thumperizer as well.

[RFS]

I like the new Thumperizer as well.

Thanks :) It's slowly "getting there".

Thumperizer has been an evolving robot ever since I first built the original iteration in 2002 (IRL). It's seen the most action in RA2 though, and I've learned quite a bit over the years. The biggest change I've rolled out with XVII are the new kickstands. For a long time they were just sticks coming down from the front of the robot and were easily broken off, but now I've got them coming out from the back of the chassis and topped with a ram plate to absorb some hits. It's all still a WIP, the next change I'm going to do is tinker with the little side arms and see what style/shape make it self right the best.