Titanomachina: Eurybia Changes

 Before

After

I decided to make some changes to Eurybia. Purely cosmetic, like swapping out Her upper arms to fit them better to the shoulders and elbows. Also reducing the size of Her head, Her primary sensor pod, by 10%. Some slight tweaks to armour, and slightly extended forearms. Basically I like the shapes more. 

Why? Part of building Eurybia is putting together shapes that I like, and grouping shapes together to form parts of the Titan so the model can be repositioned. Posing this model is my newest hobby.

 

Titanomachina: July 2023 Rule Book Update

I've updated the rule book. My favorite vendor, BoardGameMaker.com, sells booklets in A5 size with a minimum of 24 pages as I understand it, so I'm trying to build a version of the rule book to fit that. I have something like five pages left, which seems like a good excuse to recycle some material from the Tech Manual, or otherwise think of stuff to add. In the meantime, while it is still something of a work in progress, I'm happy to put it out there in case someone might want to read it before a friend puts them through the ringer.

I'll update again in August as I get things sussed out. Obviously I'm not a graphic designer, but I have a toolbox of technical writing heuristics I've been working to apply, with one of them being to print out the in-progress book and manually mark it up before returning to electronic editing and updates. Maybe I should make some TTS stand-in images. 

In general I'm trying to go from the general, basic information people need, to the specific, arcane information that ironically needs the most explanation: the Impact and Grapple rules are on the last two page spread of the 18 page document before a 19th page for the code of conduct. Along with trying to state rules using a title and only 8 words (or hyphenated words), I want each rule to have a diagram explaining it visually. Obviously I'm not a graphic designer, but I think I'm figuring some concepts out. 

Edit, deleted the google drive link.

Titanomachina Updates on October 19, 2021

First of all, new logo! By @ariana_t6 on Twitter, this is an alternate to the grim darkness of the previous logo. Notably directions included the CYMK recipes used for the Titans on Tabletop Simulator. It goes well with the synthwave side of the board, and I think I might update the logo on that side of the board some time in the near future, leaving the weathered brass to go with the weathered concrete 9x9 grid. @ariana_t6 also did the road tiles you can see the Titans standing on in the pictures below.

The original plan for the deployment of Titanomachina to Tabletop Simulator was to have, essentially, each of these configurations available to the players. At some point in the process it occurred to me that it was a good idea to have a slightly wider range of configurations available to the players, and not just the variations on the jump jets and capacitors. So Green represented the Big Arms and Digitigrade Legs (and a Turret), and Pink/Yellow got their regent (4-weapon) configurations, with Pink rocking Digitigrade Legs. Having iterated four waves of Titans to show off their customizability I think it's probably worth working through what players would be able to have if they could customize their Titans entirely with blank dashboard cards and the 3 decks so far available in the game. Currently there are 144 cards in the game, organized into three decks. The first two decks of 54 each allow players to field two of the following configurations, with 2 Personalities each deck, and the third deck of 36 allowing players to branch out of with extra Sponsons, Digitigrade Legs, extra Arms, Big Arms, and extra capacitors and jump jets (and two more Personalities).

A note on the Titan models, they are simplified versions of the models designed by @BigMillerBro1 for 3D printing, to fit into the 2MB size limit for meshes on TTS. The printed models (see below) have an octagonal base fitted so that their facing is clear in real-life where we don't have the strict 45̊ tool, and don't have weird clipping issues. Note that the board here used art and production in PVC by @tinywargames who does a fantastic trade in gaming mats, and helped me get going in the synthwave direction here. 

Titanomachina on Tabletop Simulator: Wave 4 Ideas

In thinking about how I want the 4th wave of Titan configurations to look, I've also been considering how I'd like the Titans to look once I've managed to find someone who know can figure out how to export the .3MF 'paint' settings to TTS. At least I'll be able to give them decorative skins, although I'm inclined to release the files that let people 'paint' their own Titans. 

So, first in line for once is Styxx. I think it would be something to make this configuration of Styxx a gunboat, swapping out the Jump Jets for another Capacitor to get the most out of those Plasma Shotguns. In this case in particular Styxx should probably use Her limbs for mobility to maintain a healthy distances, and a constant barrage of Shock attacks from the Plasma Shotguns to prevent effective return fire. 

In the case of Eos, they definitely need a Raptor configuration, which is rather more ape-like than avian, stealing their cousin's Big Arms and loading up on the Jump Jets and Capacitors for a more frenetic experience. This one is going to want to control the initiative, because getting hit first is not going to work out well...

Tethys recapitulates a previous configuration's Plantigrade Legs and Big Arms but takes them in a different direction from Her usual, shocking aggression, mounting two Rocket Pods and two Laser Blades. Combining long ranged weapons with a kind of T spread of damage, this configuration may be capable of disarming an opponent in short order. 

Typically Rhea is a wrestler, using Her agile limbs and hard rounds weaponry to push other Titans around. In this configuration, Rhea is more of a boxer, with just enough firepower to reach out, but also the speed to get in close and dominate an opponent close in. Certainly She's not going to want to sit back and exchange shots with any of the Titan configurations above, and She'll need clever use of Her crew to really batter an opponent.  

 

Why Titans Fight

 

As we know, the Titans re-settled Gaia with their human crops, and set about building cities for their free-range human meat. A curious bystander may wonder what, if anything, the Titans get out of the arrangement. While their primary purpose is to shepherd humanity through the aeons, their designers were cognizant of such purpose-driven activity being corrupted over time. Rather than their own computer brains, Titans were architected to run in the background of natural human cognitive processes. 

So what the Titans get out of the deal are brains; cheap, farmable, and requiring hardly any skilled labour, humans produce high quality cognitive substrate as a byproduct of their metabolism. The Titans themselves benefit from having a high cognitive capacity, allowing them to exist as conscious entities in nigh-complete control over what is going on on Gaia. It also gives them a highly decentralized cognitive architecture, independent of any centralized control or single point of failure. Which is not to say that the Titans themselves do not depend on any infrastructure; but that they can lose a few buildings here or there, a few thousand humans give or take, and still be able to parse, identify, and solve problems. Their primary problem is, of course, long term survival.

Since the survival of the Titans is yoked to the survival of humanity, and the workings of their minds dependent on human brains, one would think the casual violence of their clashes would be anathema to them. Such a thought, unfortunately, ignores that the Titans are not only cast in the image of brash, violent primates, but are brash, violent primates in a very real sense. Wise enough to reject mutually assured destruction, the Titans nonetheless feel entitled to a good punch-up, and killing a few brain-cells.   

Titanomachina: The Meatspace Prototype Update Part 1

Lately I've been upgrading my Meatspace Prototype of Titanomachina to match the innovations made in Tabletop Simulator, including cards, habitat building blocks/dice, and soon the board and road tiles.

A Styxx Titan deck, including Dashboard and Personality Card

Updated habitat buildings with magnets and shiny stickers

 

Titanomachina Artist Spotlight: Kristina

Perhaps best known for her Warhammer art, Kristina (@K_Iragana_A) has done quite a bit of art for Titanomachina, including concept art for the Titans, and chibis of the crew. Some of my favourite pieces from her are her illustrations of the Titan crews when they're not busy fighting for their lives. 

Titanomachina Artist Spotlight: Natephoenix!

I've commissioned Nate (@Natephoenix83) several times for Titanomachina art. He usually does Transformers artwork and comics. Here's a Rhea and a Tethys they've done: 

Titanomachina Artist Spotlight: ShadeFish!

I've commissioned Alice (@ShadeFish1) several times for Titanomachina art. Usually she does freelance artwork for Lancer and Warhammer. Lately she's been hard at work polishing the heck out of Rhea and Tethys.