Feasibility on crafting own power armor?

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

Just a thought: Suppose that a survivor manage to grind their mechanics, electronics and computer skills really, really high, would it be immersion breaking for them to be able to design and create their own power armor?

I mean, there’s quite a lot of craftable gears that perform specific functions of power armors themselves. What’s to say that the survivor can’t simply just slap together a few steel frames, some electric motors and actuators, UPSes, weld on some armor plates (that are swappable) and a bunch of processor boards with custom softwares and call it a day?

Or maybe take a helmet, cram in parts that would usually go into night vision and infrared goggles, as well as integrated gas masks to make a jury-rigged power armor helmet?

It’ll probably come out more as a mini-mech than a proper power armor due to the lack of effective miniaturisation though. But probably one where you don’t have to be naked to use it.

Could this thing be a good idea for the game?

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Logically, if you had the skills you could build anything.

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[quote=“Alasnuyo, post:1, topic:8310”]Just a thought: Suppose that a survivor manage to grind their mechanics, electronics and computer skills really, really high, would it be immersion breaking for them to be able to design and create their own power armor?

I mean, there’s quite a lot of craftable gears that perform specific functions of power armors themselves. What’s to say that the survivor can’t simply just slap together a few steel frames, some electric motors and actuators, UPSes, weld on some armor plates (that are swappable) and a bunch of processor boards with custom softwares and call it a day?

Or maybe take a helmet, cram in parts that would usually go into night vision and infrared goggles, as well as integrated gas masks to make a jury-rigged power armor helmet?

It’ll probably come out more as a mini-mech than a proper power armor due to the lack of effective miniaturisation though. But probably one where you don’t have to be naked to use it.

Could this thing be a good idea for the game?[/quote]

Design doc is pretty clear that one can’t make power armor. Simply don’t have the tools for it.

Next!

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Then make the tools for it?

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Let’s say things the survivor can craft are limited to things one person can learn to make in say a year or two of study.

Many of the most proficient engineering organizations in the world have poured many millions if not billions of dollars into trying to make a power suit over the past several decades, and have nothing usable to show for it.

Are you seeing the gap here?

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Before anyone says anything about the guys who build exoskeletons in their garages from spare parts they ‘work’ in the same sense that you could technically use a steak knife to cut down a tree, you’re just not about to do so.

…That said I suppose a severely encumbering (We’re talking 6, probably 8) lifting frame wouldn’t be too far-fetched for “I made it from some steel frames and scrap metal” You wouldn’t be able to move too quickly, or articulate well at all, or really do much of anything other than stand upright and lift something then shuffle your way four feet to the next tile after a few hours.

You know what, probably useless.

THAT SAID, a military exoskeleton isn’t exactly too farfetched given there are already functional prototypes, but they’re little more than powered backpacks and I don’t think the game currently supports anything in the way of “Your carry weight is increased while this clothing is worn and powered.” other than being able to make the “On” version weigh 0, which wouldn’t make sense if it were in your inventory and on… …Might be possible to make it impossible to be “on” but not worn… …who knows…

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To be clear, a gasoline-powere staggering ramshackle power suit might be something that could be made craftable.

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I could see them making some assisted exoskeleton or something like the shit in Stalker, but not true powered armor ala Fallout. Maybe you could do it using one of the labs, but that’s pretty iffy as you’d have to find one and it have to have the materials.

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The ones in STALKER are powered backpacks that zone technicians welded armor onto. Check the description.

AND FOR THE LOW LOW PRICE OF 150,000 RUBLES YOU CAN WELD EVEN MORE ARMOR ONTO IT!

10

Well… I’m not actually trying to contradict you here Kevin, but -depending on interpretation of the term ‘power suit’- that’s not really correct.
The US Gov actually succeeded in making a form of what they labeled ‘powered infantry armor’ in the early 70s, as an evolution to the Walking Truck.

That is to say, some kind of ‘powered armor’ is certainly doable with enough MacGyver-ing, but completely impractical.
It was large, slow (although roughly the same speed as humans), and cost(ed back then) as much in resources (and manpower) to build as a (then current) navy destroyer (roughly $800 million USD in 2014).
Although they threw an AT gun and Tank Armor on it, so it was definitely a different kind of cool.
The DoD took one look at the price tag and gave one big long run of ‘NOPENOPENOPE’, so the only existing prototype is floating around somewhere over there in New England (Natick or Aberdeen, I think).

I should, of course, point out that in modern times they would (and actually do) call that thing a walking tank (mostly as a ‘take that, Japan, we made Mobile Suits first’ jab… even though they’d be wrong [a mobile suit {Gundam is what they were jabbing at} is not a walking tank]), since it is fairly large and such armored.

I can give a bit of an explanation of how it worked - it’s mostly just proper placement of a bunch of hydraulics (which is in and of itself simple to speak of but complicated to actually build), frames, reinforced hinges, armor plating, and a few select servo motors, pumps, oil tanks, and batteries - but going that far is pointless here.
So, long story short, I can attest that such a thing would be buildable by a single person with only a year or two of study; assuming that the individual already had some form of previous experience (as several of the professions would, especially the mechanic, and this can be waived anyway due to how the game is set up) and could get their hands on the appropriate components (engines, motors, hydraulics, etc), but it’s just a different type of vehicle.

That being said…

Are you sure you’re not wanting a weaponized Kuratas? (Which was made by three people.)
Something to that effect is already doable.

To actually get it, we’d just need to further expand what vehicles are capable of.
Like being able to control when and what the mounted guns shoot and having some sort of attachment to pick things up off the ground.
…Unless those things are already in the game; I haven’t messed with vehicles in-game for several months now. (I’ve been mostly goin’ Rambo this whole time)

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Iron%2BMan%2BMovie%2Bfirst%2Bsuit.jpg400×523

That is all :slight_smile:

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That’s good, because you didn’t, you said the same thing I said in an extremely roundabout way.

That is to say, some kind of ‘powered armor’ is certainly doable with enough MacGyver-ing, but completely impractical.[/quote]

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Would the gas-powered staggering ramshackle power suit be on the list of “If someone else codes it” or "We’ll get to it eventually, when it’s important enough"
Building something like this would be incredibly impractical for general use, you couldn’t wear it for combat, although if you did you’d likely be able to grapple with a hulk, assuming you could even hit them before they pummel you into the ground. It’d mostly be useful as a massive strength boost, for hauling around heavy shit or allowing you to pull cars a short distance, very, very slowly, and burning through gas at an incredible rate.

At least that’s how I assume it would function? Possibly requiring already having a few suits of Power Armour lying around to scrap for parts to build it? Perhaps have an electrically powered version that requires a charging station, possibly vehicle mounted?
It’s a reasonable idea, but would be difficult to make it realistic enough for Cata as well as balancing it.

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In STALKER, the idea behind the powersuit is that you have so much armour on you that nothing can hurt you, and that you can carry so many weapons, that nothing can get close to you in order to hurt you.

Given that CataDDA already has proper power armour, I’d say that a powersuit should count as a kevlar/plate armour/duffelbag combo that carries itself… if you have gasss…

15

I don’t think the powersuit should be armoured, at least with anything more than a few kevlar plates in important areas. You’re not building this thing for combat, and you’re going to get slaughtered if you wear it during combat, but some light armour might help survivability if you can caught off guard, or a godlike character tries to fight in it. Plus armour would increase the weight, straining the engine more than you need to.

It should certainly have storage space, but implementing it without some kind of strength boost just means it’s a power armour hauling frame with more encumbrance and a massive speed penalty, pointless really

16

It’s pointless already to be frank. I get the distinct feeling this is out of love for the STALKER series armor but all things said, it’s literally just powered armor for STALKER. And technically speaking, The exo in STALKER would be less useful than the PA in CDDA.

An Exoskeleton in CDDA should only be useful as a powered backpack, not armor. It’d be nice if we could pull off a strength boost with it powered, but I don’t think we can.

All that aside the original point of this topic was how feasible it’d be to craft your own powered armor, and as kevin said. It’s not.

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[quote=“SeigeLion, post:15, topic:8310”]I don’t think the powersuit should be armoured, at least with anything more than a few kevlar plates in important areas. You’re not building this thing for combat, and you’re going to get slaughtered if you wear it during combat, but some light armour might help survivability if you can caught off guard, or a godlike character tries to fight in it. Plus armour would increase the weight, straining the engine more than you need to.

It should certainly have storage space, but implementing it without some kind of strength boost just means it’s a power armour hauling frame with more encumbrance and a massive speed penalty, pointless really[/quote]

Have you even played STALKER mate? Or paid attention to the real-life power armour projects? Powered exoskeleton + huge backpack + heavy duty ceramic plate vests = power suit.

Essentially, it’d be like wearing a duffelbag and a ceramic plate vest without encumberance, for as long you have gas.

18

I’ve played STALKER quite a bit, actually, I’m well aware of what the powered exoskeletons are in The Zone. I have also paid quite a lot of attention to current day powered exoskeletons, mainly the ones being developed by the US Military, DARPA and Boston, as well as the ones being developed, and used, in Japan for medical uses

DDA however, is not The Zone. We are not discussing building current day power armour/suits, or STALKER Exoskeletons, if you’d have read through the thread properly, you’d be aware that building something similar to that is considered too complicated for one person to learn over the timeframe that is considered reasonable for DDA.
The idea for the powered suit here, from what I’ve gathered is more in the form of this

telikos_protocol___e_d_g_e_civilian_lifter_by_phoenix_06-d4yyimi.jpg977×818

Except a little less advanced and far more bulky, completely useless for any kind of combat application, like the original use of an exosuit in STALKER, and within reasonable limits for one person in a tool shed to build.

But as Ekarus said, this is quite off topic now, anything like this is generally a little too unfeasible to be considered for the game unless the idea was properly developed in a form that is realistic, because building any of these things in DDA is honestly, completely unrealistic even by DDA’s terms.
Edit: also as Ekarus said, even my idea of how it would be implemented wouldn’t work, a strength boost from is is unlikely to be easy to code

19

I don’t see how a powerloader would be easier to make than an powered exoskeleton.

Especially when powered exoskeletons exactly like you find in STALKER already exist today. The difference between the real ones and the ones in STALKER is that the STALKER exoskeletons have magical infinite batteries.

20

Hence why the entire idea is a bad idea, relatively speaking. It wouldn’t really be possible for the player to craft either of them, even ones that exist today, due to requiring precise machines that are currently unavailable to the player.
The idea on the powerloader type thing is the same way vehicles are constructed, basically. You’re making a forklift truck built around your body, much easier than building power armour/exoskeletons that have complex servomotors.

I think we could sit here and discuss this for hours, trying to find a reasonable way of doing it and I don’t think either of us would find something suitable for DDA.
As a mod, however, anything is possible.