Feminized Power Armor

[r4y30n]

This thread didn't die on me did it?

[TriAsh]

bump

[enkephalin07]

Here's another idea if you're not happy with the look of it -- don't wear Power Armor. Seriously, you do have options, not all character builds have to end the game in the same cloned uniform, exact same gear, just because it appears to be the best, as many RPG's.

 

Some skillsets perform better without Power Armor, and some are smooth enough to finish the game in that business suit. And if you're not fixated on the Power Armors of the game, you can imagine some pretty cool variations.

[r4y30n]

The point of this thread is that all the armors in the game have a more curvy female variant so the casual observer can tell that, yes, there is indeed a woman underneath. Power armor lacks this distinction and we would like to see that oversight corrected. Oblivion had female variants of pretty much all armor in vanilla, heavy or light, and hundreds more were later added by modders, so why can't we have some curvy but tough-looking power armor for the ladies?

 

Anyways, does anyone with artistic talent have any ideas for female PA suits? If not, I might have to dust off my sketch books and get to work...

[enkephalin07]

Can't you tell by the voice there's a female inside? These armors were designed unisex for a purely utilitarian reason by the Department of Defense to wage Armageddon, and given the current state of the world, reshaping them for cosmetic purposes would seem as absurd to them as it does to me.

 

It's not an oversight, it's a design intent. These armors were not made for the nightclub. Unlike the fantasy world of TES, you may notice that people are scraping to survive and that humanity is struggling to drag itself to it's feet. You'll notice that architecture also doesn't reflect the bloom of civilization.

 

But if you don't like the look of the Fallout Universe, maybe there's some anime you can go watch, it's sure to be pretty for you.

[kamikaze14]

I had a "You're a chick?!" moment with Cross. It's kinda weird talking to what you thought was a guy so voice shouldn't be the only gender distinction. You couldn't even tell then with Reddin.

 

enkephalin07, breaking cannon is always an option. Also, for most of us this is not a sexual thing. Your last paragraph sounds like this is a nude mod or something. Please flame somewhere else.

[enkephalin07]

I'm not suggesting it is. I'm saying that this is an attempt to paint a sparkly face on setting elements that were intended to be gritty, dirty, hard. And without any attempt to really examine for an understanding why these choices you think are needed were never in the design rulebook for this series.

 

EDIT: Also, I'm pretty sure Cross didn't have the slightest concern for your or anyone's confusion as to her gender. Because in her role, in her armor, she's a soldier, and that's all that matters, at least while she's at her post.

[fosley]

Actually, I think he was responding to your criticizing question "can't you tell they're female by the voice" by saying, "no, not always". He said nothing about whether Cross cared.

 

For all of you so concerned with the "realism" of it, think of this: when I let a 5'2" girl borrow the t-shirt that fits me fine, it dwarfs her. If I then try to put on her pants, it's not gonna happen without a tailor and a *lot* of extra material. Moral of the story? The idea of a one-size-fits-all item is already ridiculous*, why not just take it one step further and add it to power armor?

 

Additionally, whoever makes power armor would *have* to make it in different variants, for the above reasons. It would be quite impossible to have one standard suit of power armor for every soldier in the field. Period. So why would it be terribly odd for there to be someone, such as the hypothetical big-breasted girl who just can't squeeze into armor made for a man's shape, who created or modified a suit of armor that's more feminine in shape? Or, for that matter, a BoS supervisor/commander type who happens to appreciate a woman's shape? The BoS isn't a Catholic monastary in its ethics, nor is the United States government in its attempt at uniformity, and I have little doubt there would be divisions here and there who allowed female-specific armor shapes. For that matter, it wouldn't be surprising if someone suggested or even created the bikini-bimbo power armor, though it would have obviously gotten little to no real-world use.

 

Edit: I agree with the idea that anything that's really streamlined, such as using the elastic fibers instead of servos, should be given to the Enclave. They are supposedly the experts of technology, so if anyone had created it, it would probably be them. As for lore-friendly. . . the Fallout universe was originally designed with a certain flavor in mind, but it was also only designed for a small timespan. There's no reason technology wouldn't progress beyond a sci-fi version of 1950's stuff eventually. Sure, we're tinkering with the timeline a little, but if you can keep the Fallout atmosphere to it I don't see it being a problem.

 

I do have a gripe about this thread though: it took you guys six pages to mention Samus. :) For those checking out her armor for ideas though, don't forget there are variations. Try the original power suit (not the Varia/Gravity/Phazon suits (which are visually identical except in color) with their huge pauldrons), or the light and dark suits. I doubt any of the variations on the Fusion suit would fit, and I haven't played Corruption yet (no Wii), so I'm not sure about those suits. (Actually, the PED suit has some blocky armor that might suit the Fallout universe a bit better than the ultra-sleek power suit).

 

* One of the D&D books had a section on how long it would take to modify armor you looted from somewhere so you could actually wear it. They mentioned that most of the plate-mail armor is literally forged with one person in mind, and unless you just happen to be very similar to that person, you're going to suffer from wearing it (if you even can) unless you get it custom-tailored. Leather and chain armors are obviously going to be more flexible, though a person trying to wear armor too small for them is giving up side protection, and vice versa is going to be clunky. Likewise, the rigid design of the power armor would make it much harder to find a suitable suit by random coincidence, while leather armor or combat armor would be relatively easier to fit into.

[enkephalin07]

It's not the 'realism' so much as the design continuity that upholds environmental immersion, which going over just this thread appears to be more important to long time fans than people who've discovered the franchise and are making opinions about what they do and don't like about it.

 

I'll be honest, I've never liked Power Armors in any of the games before, still don't like them, and I wear them only when necessary and get into something else when I can. And maybe they could develop a sleeker model, maybe one with power-assisted speed and gyro-stabilization for cutting-edge balance that works with the wearer's movement rather than against it, maybe cased in flexible alloys that better redirect blunt-force and ballistic impact. That would suit me better, but that's just not their style, and I can simply accept that this tank-like aesthetic is an integral part of the Brotherhood identity, and upholding it without wavering is symbolic to what they believe essential to the future survival of humanity.

 

If they were all wearing sack-cloth robes it would make a completely different statement, and fewer of us would be discussing making adaptations of their wardrobe. Either way, no one involved in the Brotherhood's aims would find it anything other than petty to spend their concern on making the uniform figure-flattering.

[kamikaze14]

T-51b no longer has any stat penalties. The downside is that there aren't any bonuses aside from rad resistance and Charisma on the helmet.

Also, I don't believe the point (pertaining to the in-game explanation) is figure-flattery, but comfort.