The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1820

Chapter 1820 Desolate Gloriana

A modular mech platform was the catch-all term for mechs designed to accommodate multiple roles.

Unlike the multipurpose mechs common in first-class mech designs, modular mech platforms weren't designed to fulfill multiple roles at the same time.

Instead, they consisted of a very broad and adaptable base which could be outfitted in several different ways.

Need a ranged mech? Then slap some precision arms to the torso, add some targeting systems to the internals, and equip the resulting mech with a rifle.

Need a knight mech? Rip off the gear previously added onto the platform and instead add some heavier arms as well as extra layers of armor. Add a sword and shield and voila, a knight mech!

Such versatility was very useful to outfits and forces that expected to face a variety of threats. The ability to convert a lot of mechs to a different mech type was incredibly valuable to some customers!

Some of the more famous modular mech platforms were able to turn into at least a dozen different mech types! From light skirmishers to artillery mechs, as long as the design was good enough, the choices were limitless!

Naturally, the tradeoffs were also significant.

There were many flaws associated with modular mech platforms that limited their popularity.

The most important one was that modular mech platforms couldn't match the performance of a specialized mech.

A force that fielded a company of specialized mechs would always beat an equivalent force of modular mech platforms! The gap in performance was simply too noticeable!

Unless the force that fielded the specialized mechs possessed obvious vulnerabilities, it would always be able to leverage its superior performance to overcome a more versatile adversary!

The second flaw associated with modular mech platforms was that they were incredibly difficult to design well. The greater the amount of loadouts, the more the design had to accommodate different demands.

This not only increased the workload, but also the difficulty of completing the design!

Most mech designers had no good reason to embark on such an ambitious project. They could just invest their time in designing a bunch of mechs with clear purposes.

It simply wasn't worth it for most mech designers to waste their time on modular mech platforms!

The third flaw associated with these kinds of weapon platforms was that the mech pilots didn't like them either. Since a modular mech platform had to accommodate several different roles, it wouldn't excel in any of them, meaning that the mech pilot had to exert a lot more effort to reach the same level of performance as before!

According to mech pilots, modular mech platforms tended to be clunky, making it difficult to perform advanced movements or reacting quickly enough to changing circumstances. The mechs also tended to feature very large weak points as a result of opening up the possibility to detach and replace components in the field.

Gloriana knew all of these faults. Even in second-class mech design, her colleagues rarely embarked on something so quixotic.

"Ah, I think I'll be able to succeed as long as I limit the scope of my project." Ves smiled at her in reassurance. "Modular mech platforms may have gotten a bad rap, but that is because most of their designers were too ambitious for their own good. They bit more than they could chew and suffered the consequences of their overconfidence."

"You don't sound so different from those fools right now." Gloriana poked her finger against his chest in accusation. "How can you possibly complete such a vast mech design project in three months?"

"I'm not designing this for the mech market, Gloriana. I don't have to conform to the demands of consumers. Do you know what this means? I can set any design goal I want! Ordinarily, a modular mech platform has to accommodate a lot of possible loadouts, but that just complicates the overall design. Right now, I don't think I need to design for so many roles. I'll only limit the design to three or four roles at most, which is much more manageable."

Things got complicated if Ves attempted to accommodate more than half-a-dozen roles in a single mech platform. By cutting this number in half, the platform would not be burdened too much!

"This.. can work." She said after contemplating her argument. "It's still very difficult to accommodate a ranged mech and a melee mech onto a single platform, though."

"I'm already aware of that. I've already designed a hero mech and some hybrid mechs. I'm more than familiar with the tradeoffs. This has actually given me the confidence to embark on this project. I know what I'm dealing with and I'm confident in both of our skills."

"What about the lowered performance?"

"This won't be a problem either as long as I throw enough resources and money at the problem. I've.. recently came across a source of highly valuable exotics. I also have a lot of money at my disposal. It's no problem for us to overcome this downside by relying on the superior attributes of expensive materials."

"This... you're usually not like this, Ves." His girlfriend frowned. "Usually, you always emphasize the need to be more frugal and efficient in our designs. This is a departure from your normal design direction."

"I see how that can be important. The Golden Cat will watch over your clan for a very long time. You don't have to resort to a modular mech platform to achieve this goal, though. You can just design a single mech type to fulfill this purpose for now and design other other mech types later on to expand the available choice." _{ƒrēewebnovel.com}