City of Amnesia

I remember Snake and R.Dan chatting up a storm about this in the Game on thread, and Snake wanted a separate thread, so here we go.

As for my AC, I always liked the mid class bipedal AC's, and usually had pretty basic weapon load outs, such as a a melee weapon, ranged, missile/rocket pods, and a decent radar. I did however try out the other type.

I had a lengthy story idea for an Armored Core games.

There was one thing I really liked about AC2 and AC3, and that's the psychological setting. They seemed very much like feudal Japan, and very often when fighting to preserve a particular corporation, I would get a fighting-for-survival feeling. When it's wars between nations, I feel like everything is under control. But when it's two corporations hiring mercenaries and employees, the fighting seems more of a private matter... anything is allowed. Causes and glory are absent; lives are bought and sold to the highest bidders. It's frightening.

Anyway, the thing I didn't like about Armored Core storylines, on the other hand, is that they usually suck. Just an obligatory effort. Poorly executed. Although AC2 had some cool twists and developments, most of it was smacked together.


In AC2, I liked that some interaction took place between Earth and Mars. It was minimal, wasn't integrated throughout the storyline, and the nature of the relationship was never really fully explained, but it existed. It needed more of that.


So I thought it would be cool if an AC game took that to the next level, and made a sweeping drama that involved the entire solar system. If you want to wrap your imagination around it, I could spill the beans on the specifics.

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You know how there are AC's and there are MT's? What the hell does MT stand for?

Moving Target? Cuz that's practically all they are.

Oh yeah, AC3 had a cool feature where in some missions, you could hire an MT to hang around and help you out. I'm skeptical that later games kept this, though.

Even cooler was that, if you gave a particular MT enough patronage, its pilot would graduate to Raven and he/she would show up in the arena.

Muscle Tracer. Although moving target works too lol.

As for the newest AC game. It's pretty neat, I like the different paths you can take, as for which version is better, both the PS3 and 360 version are good, but each have annoying problems. For example the PS3 version has some nasty slowdown in parts, and the 360 version freezes a good bit from I've seen.

Oh. Heh, I like that. It makes sense. Since they're like infantry suits, rather than machines with cockpits. Clever.

You know what would be awesome. If an AC game had a tutorial stage where you played as an MT in a huge squad of MTs, and you had to invade some facility, then destroy a starter-level AC. A legitimate AC would then appear, destroy all the other MTs, then stop just short of destroying you and say something like, "You.... you have potential," and that would be the end of the tutorial stage.

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Do the indoor levels ever get on your nerves? I mean aside from funneling you around, I just can't believe that someone would construct or excavate a cavern that enormous. There's just no reason.

Furthermore, if these spaces are supposed to be factories or mines or such... where are the human accomodations? These places may be automated but still. Little catwalks or doors would've been nice.

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Also gotta gripe about AC3. The case got me so excited, talking up its "destructible urban environments." I knew the AC franchise was never a flagship but I thought maybe, just maybe they managed to implement something like Red Faction's geo-mod. When I finally got to an urban mission, like half-way into the game? Some of the buildings had narrow strips of windows. They weren't even buildings covered with windows. Just narrow strips. And behind the windows? The building texture.

I'd love an AC with fully destructible environments, would be awesomeness.


Indoor missions can be annoying when you have a gillion missiles coming at you, and they are friggin' short too. In AC4, some of the damn missions are like 60 seconds tops.


Yar. MT's often take many shapes, ranging from anything from powered armor suits, to AC like mechs. Even have cored MT's, which are pretty much MT's using the same principals as AC's.


Sounds pretty swell. Would certainly be better than your pilot randomly getting an AC akin to pilots magically getting a Gundam.

I've never really been able to enjoy Armored Core. I really like mech games, but somehow whenever I pick up an Armored Core game it just dies in my hands, which is sad given that they're obviously trying really hard to make it work.

Seeing you to talk about it like this makes me jealous. I'm stuck playing through Mechwarrior 3 for the hundredth time to get my fix.  :'(

I'll save MW3, MW2, MW2 (PSX), MW4, MW4BK, and I might play another one but I can't remember right now, for another thread. I made a Timberworlf variant I call X-13M and tested it against a mech from each class, then all classes at once, and memorized the data and typed it all out in text. I know a lot about Mech. I'm even a member of mwrealms.com, but I don't access it much since the reformat. And I have read the Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy from the Classic Battletech book series, which tells the story of Aidan Pryde, the legendery Mechwarrior.

On to AC.

AC2. I didn't get to play it a lot, and now after playing Last Raven, 4, and 4Answer, it's hard to use the old control setup. So I am missing a lot of convo there.

AC3. I am more geared to Arena Matches more than anything, but I do love the Corporation concept. If they actually developed more cut-scenes to the games (which they have been doing since more and more lately), then the storyline can become epic. Indoor arenas. It's about the only way you can defeat Exile in the Arena. I think that myself and Royal Mist went all the way to the top of Special Arena. Some missions in AC3 gave me a lot of trouble, like anything that had to do with defeating that giant thing that split into two giant things in the desert. And what the hell is with the ammo trucks? "Oh, we'll give you an ammo truck, but we know that you don't know how to get the ammo out of it." And for that matter, anyone know which mission has ammo for the weapon X? I have the weapon, but no ammo for it. My friends who set up my file and were nice enough to botch the opening mission in some trick manner that gives you all parts and maxxed cash didn't tell me where the ammo was and that I'd have to find it for myself.

Aaaaannnnd, you can only have three AC setups.

I somehow got sidetracked from Arena. I used to take the stock AC that you got, which looked kindof like a Gundam but less epic, and see how far I could get it in the arena before having to mod it out any.

I haven't played Nexus or Nine Breaker...yet...

Armored Core Last Raven. They changed the control setup and finally utilized the damn analog sticks and give you the two stick control system, but still no dodge ability. You still have to know how to work your OB if you have an OB to even consider hoping to dodge. You could also save the replays of your Arena matches. I have one that was about 12 seconds. What was also cool here was the ability to destroy parts of the AC. That pesky bazooka overheating you too much? With some luck based on where your fire goes and where they go, you can blow that arm up, leaving them with just their Moonblade, or, as what happened in that 12 second match, hit the head square on with a Jumbo-Large missile that chases your ass until you die! They're dual vertical launch missiles that only have like 8 shots but are effective as hell. Storyline was okay, but defeating the game did not give you access to all missions. There's still one ending to the game I haven't seen, and I have no idea how to get to it. But what's going on in the storyline is that the Ravens branch off into two factions, and as the game progresses, you can pull up a listing of the registered Ravens, and it will tell you which ones are alive and which are dead. And so far, what I've seen, you end up being the last surviving Raven.

Here, you can have 5 AC setups

AC4. Hey! You jerks that like to use Howitzers and Bazookas to overheat your opponent while also doing massive damage! We ditched the overheating! Hahaha! But! We now give you the ability to dodge enemy fire! You get to also choose what kind of AC you start with at the beginning! We've really uped the graphics, give you terrain that gets damaged, stabilizers to affect the handling of your AC, and you can fine tune the details! That little box you had to aim with? Gone! And you can aim at multiple targets! Also, as you've seen in every cutscene from prior AC games, that AC skates in the video, so can you! We've also given you a little bubble that lessens the damage you take until the bubble pops, but don't worry, go hide and the bubble comes back. You can still die with your bubble though. Psst: we kinda took away your multi-path though, but then again, our earlier games were made by companies that only really made games that cost about $5 new, and this was Sega's first and only attempt. We kinda liked it, but it wasn't the best. We also didn't have our main man for AC design. Oh, and do you remember those lovely dual back parts? we're phasing them out some. And one more thing. Remember how you used to be a Raven piloting an AC? Yeah, that's getting phased out too. The term "Raven" is only mentioned about two or three times in the whole game. You are now LINX pilots in an Armored Core NEXT, mostly just called a NEXT. You might catch us using the term Original Raven. And your MT pilots? They are "Normals". Just that boring. And since we got rid of the heat issue, no more sweating the weight of a radiator!

I'm trying not to mesh my AC4 input with my AC4A input, which is hard because I haven't played AC4 in a while.

Armored Core 4 Answer. Hey. Hey come here. Sega didn't do good enough. We aren't going back to AgeTec. We got Ubisoft. We got buildings that you can hide behind, but only for so long. They go boom and explode. In the desert? Shoot the sand! it goes flying! Got a bunch of Pesky MTs/Normals standing on a bridge above water? Blow it up and take them all out at once! Oh! We gave you your multipath back! But, we designed the game to be a whole lot faster than any Armored Core game ever. Have fun targeting Fragile. If you want to introduce someone to Armored Core, have them play AC4 first. It's not as aggressive. Remember how in the old Armored Core games you fought one or two really big things? We give you like...12 really big things that will be a form of pain in the ass to destroy! Remember the little bubble of AC4? With the right generator equipped, it becomes a weapon! Personally, it's how I had to defeat Fragile. I used all of my ammo trying to hit him, so I used my Primal Armor's Attack Armor ability which is pretty much fatally devastating, but works at about the same range as a moonblade, which is still in the game, but it's not for sale (if I remember correctly), you have to earn it. To get the third ending, you kinda have to have the first two. And whoever beats it, please tell me your AC setup. Gamewinners.com suggests using a beam setup, but it hasn't worked for me yet. So far, of all of the Armored Core games, this one is the best of them. But they try to take what they did in the previous and make it better, and the reviews I have read say that this one is insanely epic compared. I mostly agree. Oh! I just remembered! There's a mission early on where you have to take out an AC, ranked about 25 or something. If you choose to accept it, and defeat him, you do not have to fight him for rank, because he will be dead! White Glint is also here, but nothing like the original. It doesn't even have Joshua O'Brien as the pilot. Some of the pilots from the Dismantlement War and the LINX War of AC4 have, however, returned. And, if I remember correctly, there is mention of one of them even being a Raven before LINX. I have to touch up on this one as well a bit to give more accurate reports about it.

Oh! AC4 and AC4A, you get decals! you can Tattoo your AC up with a bunch of pictures! and while we got rid of the boxy emblem edit, we give you a way to make pretty emblems! Personally, I like to cover my AC (or NEXT for those who only play AC4 and AC4A) with the emblems of my defeated AC opponents. And I think some of the older AC emblems make appearances in the game too for use as emblems and decals.

These two, you can have 100 setups!

For the 360 aspect
AC4 doesn't have a single online achievement, which is nice.
AC4A does.

And I don't recall my AC4 freezing too much.

AC4, I have beaten every mission but still have to buy my weapons.
AC4A, after doing the Collard and ORCA storylines, you get given every item in the shop, so now you have nothing to spend money on.

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Unit use.

Old From Software and AgeTec AC games: I went tank. Out AP the opponent and go with heavy firepower. I have no way to dodge fire, so I'll just take it.

AC4 and AC4A: Mostly medium Biped, but in AC4A I do have a few Light setups and a few tanks. Depends on how I want to handle the given situation. Considering this, I also have quite a few setups, moreso on AC4A.

And should anyone decide they want to make some sort of AC-based RPG to use in the forum, I am game for it.
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Didn't AC3 have something similar for it's opening mission? I do believe it did.


They are a maze of killjoy when trying to get a good time.


Are you sure about that? I don't remember exactly right now, but that doesn't sound right. I thought I heard it stand for something else, but that was an older AC game...


I don't remember about AC4 at the moment, but in AC4A, this option does occur. But, it's only to hire ACs. No MTs. No Helicopters. No Attack Jets. Just ACs, and most of them are arrogant assholes. Some of them are nice team players, but mostly jerks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_Core#Muscle_Tracer_.28MT.29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_Core#Muscle_Tracer_.28MT.29)

It's by no means official but it's keep up today by members of the largest US fan site.

Also, I'm wondering when the next AC game will be released.

Okay. And now that you have shown me that, I feel that I must edit it.

In the FCS section, it leaves out the Laser Blade FCS. If I remember correctly, it is an FCS with a short range and quick lock on time, and specifically designed for the laser blade weapons of AC4A.

And I never knew about the PLUS ability...

Even in smaller text to scroll down and read as I type, that was one massive post I made. I had a lot to say.

Thank you for the visual about what MT stands for. *Holds up Master of Arena* I bought this just to have it. I probably can't even play it. I'll have the Elder Scrolls effect of playing Oblivion before Morrowind. But I did not see anywhere when they changed the controls to the two stick system. I'll just buy them all eventually anyway.

Nicely enough, I now know the different endings to Last Raven. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get to most of them, and there's that whole "the damn controls are primitive" thing.

No doubt, the AC section on Wiki could use some updating. 

Indeed.


On a side note, Bethesda employee? I'm jealous!

I'm about to go back to Armored Core 4 Answer so that I may also update anything I said or didn't say in here in that really long post of mine. I should go back to AC4 as well to keep my facts accurate there as well.

Dude it's really not that big of a deal.

I'm pretty sure AC3 didn't have a tutorial level where you played as/with an MT squad. Gonna have to play again it just to be sure.

My PS3 savings fund is only 30 percent complete...

No, it didn't have that.

What it did have was a mission where you were in a bottom of the line AC in a test against multiple MT units. Failure actually got me a leg part, but it's hard to fail the mission via defeat, even when you are trying to.

In said mission, like I said, bottom of the line AC vs multiple MT units. You are also competing against Apple Boy (with him as an ally) for Raven placement. In a manner of speaking, it is a "test" to become a Raven.

But an Armored Core game where you start as an MT pilot and work your way up would be epic, but to make it so the game would need to be long. Really long for the optimum effect. In my opinion anyway. Give it some title like "Armored Core: Ascent" or something.

... Except you just said a couple posts ago that it did.


Playing an MT attacking an AC isn't "similar" to the conventional training mission. It's the opposite scenario. Your confusion ended up confusing me. Sheesh.

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I disagree. It shouldn't go beyond the tutorial mission. An MT is the training wheels. You have to get rid of them in order to have some real fun, which would be the AC. I imagine an MT mission as a compelling setup, that's all.

I bet that playing through the story, plus working your way through the arena can be implemented well enough to be epic on its own.

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I wonder if an AC racecourse could be entertaining.

I must say, I do enjoy reading Snakes length replies, very informative. The idea of playing  few missions as an MT pilot does sound pretty cool though, and if properly implemented would be a neat tutorial.

Steel be with you! *runs off screaming To arms my brothers to arms but is accosted by a Super Mutant with a god awful guilty hunting rifle*

Being an MT for only one mission doesn't quite cover the MT experience to become a Raven adequately enough.

Take AC3. There was an MT partner you could choose whom I believe was called Rogue. It was a red Bipedal Medium MT. You can choose her, or others, like Apple Boy, who was in a different type of MT. After a while, they become AC pilots. When Rogue became an AC pilot, she sent you an e-mail stating such and you could pair with her, now in an AC.

Point is, you didn't just pair with her once in an MT. She had to work her way up. I think that there should be an Armored Core where you do the same to get that same feel. I thought up another name for the idea, too. Armored Core [Rising].

Oh, and I wanted to add this about Armored Core 3:

And, for classic players, if I remember correctly, the Global Cortex emblem is an unlockable emblem in the newer games.

And to clear the confusion (I hope), I was mostly responding to the part about a test and the coordinators saying something about having potential. But I can't find AC3 right now. I think that most of the AC games have some sort of "test" for the first mission, to serve as a tutorial. Also, AC4 and AC4A have tutorials all to themselves.

Ah, okay. I see what you were saying. Just shoulda been more clear.

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My concern is that it just might get old. Since an MT can't do all the things an AC can.

Come to think of it some more, though, multiple MT missions could work. Each mission would focus on a different core aspect of AC control. One mission would be in a light MT biped, which would familiarize you with dodging missiles and jumping around, getting in to slice things. Another mission would have you piloting a jet-fighter type, which would zoom around very fast and familiarize you with boost and dodge mechanics. The third mission would place you in a heavy MT, giving you a taste of some heavy firepower, providing target practice with unguided weapons. I like that a LOT.

I liked "Ascent" more so than "Rising."

Your wiki addition looks good to me.

I'll do a little more research into the specifics for my Wiki addition after I get back from my trip. I'm going out of town this weekend to go to my dad's house.

I only thought up Rising because it might make more sense to the average person, but Ascent sounds more Armored Core.

Another thing that I thought would be a bit interesting, after playing AC4A so much, is to pilot an Arms Fort, aka the big mean weapons that you hate to take on.

One thing that I forgot to mention at all before pertains to radar.

Before, you had two options: find a head part that has a radar on it. The radar will have a slow refresh rate and usually only tell you where targets and friendlies are, and only if the targets are ACs or MTs.

The other option is to devote a portion of your back to have a good radar with a much higher refresh rate, some detect organic forms, missile detection and tracking, et cetera.

Now, in the newer games, you don't need to seek out a special head part to have a radar. They still have the radar on your back, but you don't really need it. In AC4A, I don't run a single radar part on my back, and I don't pick out any special head. I still have what I need to succeed on my radar: target location, friendly location, and missile location.

Speaking of heads with radar's. I loved making scout type AC's. Usually gave them a pistol type weapon (which I don't think AS 4 and AC 4A have them), and some advanced radar. It was lots of fun, but it only worked on certain missions i.e ones with not a lot of fighting.

Aaaaaactually, there are pistol weapons in the two. Not an overabundance of them, but they are in the game nonetheless. Including a revolver. I don't normally use pistols. I should give them a try to have a larger weapon diversity as far as what I can personally use for weapons.

ah you are indeed correct, I must have forgotten lol. I do remember them being kinda pointless, but that Revolver one was pretty swell.

I miss the old Flamethrower, but since they removed the heat system, it's kindof pointless. If they still had the heat system, I could finish this mission I'm still stuck on.

I'm only really experienced in AC:4 and ACfA (For Answer) when it comes to Armored Core. So really I call myself a Lynx more than a Raven. I've tried the earlier games (The AC3 series to be exact) and I am completely lost because of the WAY different control scheme.

Yeah, I can't use the old AC3 control settings, and AC Last Raven isn't much better, but at least it's a two stick format. It's hard to play the older games when you play the newest two.