Are you referring to the Valkyrie look-alikes? The LAM feature introduced in Aerotech makes it pretty much a necessity (along with the exact transformation sequence & GERWALK mode).Recon 5 wrote:Ouch... I meant crotch nosecones. Gotta watch my choice of words. If you look closely enough, though, you'll see that one or two earlier mechs actually had bubble canopies in that area. Definitely Macross holdovers.
As I said before, the earlier battlemechs that were FASA originals utilized many design elements from the 'unseen' 'mechs, in order to achieve some continuity in the overall aesthetics, since every 'mech in the original edition was 'borrowed.' This, of course, evolved over the years as different art directors took charge.
IMHO 0083 isn't particularly gritty. Now VOTOMS, that's gritty (and it greatly influenced one of my favorite Western mecha franchises, Heavy Gear, too).