The origin of MAX units?

Kriegson · 2012-06-11, 04:33 PM

Just occured to me while I was browsing the wiki...but there really isn't much information on MAX's at all lorewise.

Reading the heavy assault page, they sound more akin to MAX's than anything. A super-heavy infantry presence on the field for causing (and taking) as much damage as possible.

Any idea on how and why MAX's were created?

RSphil · 2012-06-11, 04:50 PM

not a clue but id say they needed heavy armored troops for something and i think i heard that the NC max suits are loader suits fitted with armor and guns so id say that the max is a military modded loader suit designed for base capture/infantry warfare.

a walking tank if you will.

just my thought anyway. im prob totally wrong lol

Kriegson · 2012-06-11, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by RSphil

not a clue but id say they needed heavy armored troops for something and i think i heard that the NC max suits are loader suits fitted with armor and guns so id say that the max is a military modded loader suit designed for base capture/infantry warfare.

a walking tank if you will.

just my thought anyway. im prob totally wrong lol

You heard right about the NC MAX units, they are re-purposed loaders. But the TR stuff is almost always older (time tested) tech, so their MAX is something that has likely been around for a while, alternatively the heavy assault is something that was designed on auraxis for dealing with cheap nanite created vehicles.

I wonder....maybe the MAX was essentially the precursor to the heavy assault? Sort of outdated but still effective in a sense, like warships (most are half a century old or more, but still would be useful in a conflict) the culmination of infantry based weaponry before they discovered the cloning machines on auraxis. Once people can be infinitely respawned, you don't necessarily need them protected to the degree of a MAX suit.

Bags · 2012-06-11, 05:03 PM

The lore is pretty terrible for this game (and unnecessary), I'd expect a lot of things to be unanswered.

musefrog · 2012-06-11, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Bags

The lore is pretty terrible for this game (and unnecessary), I'd expect a lot of things to be unanswered.

Unnecessary to you, the very core of why someone else plays (because they're interested in the story). Everyone's different.

Immigrant · 2012-06-11, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by Kriegson

Just occured to me while I was browsing the wiki...but there really isn't much information on MAX's at all lorewise.

Reading the heavy assault page, they sound more akin to MAX's than anything. A super-heavy infantry presence on the field for causing (and taking) as much damage as possible.

Any idea on how and why MAX's were created?

MAX = mechanized exoskeleton (suit actually but it's the same thing)

we stole the idea from bugs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoskeleton

Ghoest9 · 2012-06-11, 05:29 PM

Conceptually there is a direct relationship between this and the "Starship Troopers" book series with "mobile infantry".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_...ip_Troopers%29

The concept was probably present in other old science fiction too.

Immigrant · 2012-06-11, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Ghoest9

Conceptually there is a direct relationship between this and the "Starship Troopers" book series with "mobile infantry".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_...ip_Troopers%29

The concept was probably present in other old science fiction too.

I'm reading this right now... currently on page 50...

the translation to my language is terrible however (guy who translated it really sucks), I'd prefer it was on english....

p.s. "come on you apes! you wanna live forever?!"

RSphil · 2012-06-11, 05:45 PM

id say its a natural evolution. if you have big loaders someone is gona strap a gun on it, look at helicopters. in Korea the helo's of the M.A.S.H units where transporting casualties, the pilots strapped a couple of guns to the skids and had a play. pulling the trigger with rope was a pain though lol. now look what we have, Apache's purpose build for front line combat.

i can see the MAX evolution the same way

Sledgecrushr · 2012-06-11, 06:19 PM

The first time I ever heard of powered armor I was reading Robert Heinleins Starship Troopers. About ten years later Iron Man showe up in comics. In 1983 they were picked up by games workshop and are the foundation that Warhammer 40k is built on. Twenty years later PS1 made wearing a suit of powered armor a reality, at least in a game.

Dreamcast · 2012-06-11, 06:23 PM

Because tanks couldn't fit thru the base....but then again they could just destroy the facility.....

Is a game is not suppose to make sense?

GhettoPrince · 2012-06-11, 06:28 PM

That's why I loved the Vanu MAX so much, it was like having an actual powered armor suit.

CutterJohn · 2012-06-11, 06:46 PM

Some of the original PS1 devs were Starsiege:Tribes devs. PS1 was pretty much them making a tribes MMO without the skiing glitch. If you compare the games they are extremely similar in style of gameplay and mechanics.

Which means the MAX units are pretty much Tribes Juggernauts reincarnated.

Also, yay for people who know SST! I think an outdoor max in the style of the Mobile Infantry would be awesome. On the bounce!

MedicDude · 2012-06-11, 06:55 PM

The heavy assault was pretty much the maximum amount of armor you could fit on a foot soldier and still retain a decent amount of mobility.

Any more than that, and you might as well surround the soldier with nice thick armor plates, which is going to need exoskeleton support; the MAX unit was born.

MAXes are basically the knights of the medieval: slow and clunky, but armored hulking musclemen carrying very large swords or maces. In the field you are vulnerable to mobile units like cavalry, but indoors you were a mighty brick.

Sifer2 · 2012-06-11, 08:26 PM

Well I really think of them as basically being a tank designed for indoors combat. In real life if we had the tech to make these i'm sure they would see a lot of use in Urban Warfare situations. Someone mentioned Warhammer 40k. And the Space Marines do have even larger powered armor suits called Terminator Armor. That is mainly used for that purpose of really strong close quarters combat infantry.

In game terms they sort of are the opposite of the Sniper. The mobile sneaky Sniper excels out in the open in areas where there isn't much cover so he has a good field of view. Where as the slow heavy armored MAX excels indoors where opponents have no where to run or hide, and he outguns them.