Mech Mechanic (WIP)

Hello. Like a lot of individuals who have discovered Choice of Games and have decided to work on a project of my own. I’m probably not alone in feeling like I have far too many ideas I want to commit to, but in the end you have to settle on one and run with it. So after some consideration I settled on the idea behind Mech Mechanic (working title).

Mech Mechanic is set in a sci-fi world that has adapted military mechanized powered exoskeletons to commercial entertainment use. Once highly effective tools of war, they are now used exclusively to fight mock battles in grand tournaments around the world. Having become the worlds most entertaining sport, specialized universities were built to train and educate the next generation of operators and mechanics.

You play the role of a young protagonist that attends one such university who has always dreamed of becoming an operator, but your aptitude scores have denied it and forced you instead into the role of a mechanic. No less important then the operator themselves, even if it lacked the same prestige, it was a mechanics job to fine-tuning and tailor craft a power suit to their operators specifications.

Because of the highly competitive nature for becoming a suit operator, it was the operator that chose their mechanic. This made the competition between mechanics no less as ruthless as it was between operators. To be chosen by an elite operator was the dream of every mechanic as it was common for a mechanic to follow an operator throughout their career. It all but guaranteed access to the world stage and sharing in the fame and prestige of being the best.

However before all that can happen both the operators and mechanics must learn to fulfill their roles through education at the mechanized university. It will be up to you to make the choices that matter and help or hinder the protagonist in their quest to become partnered with an elite. Build relationships, make enemies, establish a reputation, and claw your way to the top or be be buried at the bottom.

I am just starting this project though and probably won’t have a demo right away, but feed back on the idea so far would be greatly appreciated. I can see a lot of potential with this setting and story, the ideas are just stampeding through my head! Hopefully I can wrangle them all up and put them on the page soon.

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Love the concept though may I suggest that the MC have the choice between having wanted to be an operator or a mechanic? Maybe even allow branching paths that allow the MC to become an operator rather then a mechanic.

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Sounds interesting. How much of the story do you have planned out?

Might I suggest watching an anime called Walkurze Romance… though set with horses instead of mechs the basic premises are the same. It might even give you a few ideas for your story.

@Beezlebub
Your right about the option to want or not want to be a mechanic, but there will be no option to be an operator. That would have the be an entirely different game!

@Shawnheatherly
Story wise I don’t have a lot of specifics defined, but I have a pretty clear overview of how I want things to develop. Right now I’m approaching it like an open ended story trying to cobble together all the important bits. When its starts to take some real shape I’ll be sure to share it.

@Zeta_Voidis
I think I’ve seen a few episodes, isn’t that a harem anime :smile:? It’s not really applicable honestly, at least now how I intend to approach it. At face value they are similar, but the story I’m writing is far more complicated then being a horse whisperer or jousting coach.

A large, complex machine like a mech would have a maintenance crew of dozens. Just look at NASCAR. Maybe the MC could be the chief mechanic? It would wear on my suspension of disbelief too much if there was only one.

Edit: It might be even better if you have to claw your way up from ‘don’t touch that, rookie’ to ‘in charge of the leg hydraulics’ to ‘chief mechanic.’

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@Crotale
Haha, I use the word mech in the title, but I’m referring to human sized combat armors. For a popular culture reference, its more akin to the scale of space marine, or star craft marine armor. However I’m going a heavily anime inspired route. Anime such as bubblegum crisis, infinite stratos, strike witches, Accel World, date a live, etc… all have examples of the sort powered armor I am aiming for.

Than perhaps that fact should be made more clear

Then it’s more reasonable to have a single mechanic. But the mechanic guy is going to be spending a lot of hours on these things if they’re at all fine-tuned or over-engineered.

I agree days instead of hours if their designs are complex

Thats the idea. Theses are not cars you take into the shop for an oil change. Their like formula race cars and just like them the tuning and alterations to them are trade secrets to each individual mechanic and operator. The upkeep of a power armor is an on going process, not a weekly maintenance check up. Again with formula racing comparison, when the operator is not piloting the suit, its in the shop being improved or altered based on the activity data. Thats why an operator picks their mechanic, they only want someone they trust or can rely on.

Now my question is your game set in a formula 1 setting, wartime, or something else entirely?

I think Div said it was a sports/competition thing.

Is possible to upgrade or create an armor yourself? This is more interesting.

Interesting, but i think you wont be able to do series with this idea, But as oneshot ? amazing.

I think working your way through the politics of this sport is an interesting enough concept. Not all CoG’s have to have fighting in them.

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How far can you optimize these things anyway? Will you be able to add different features with the resources your operator wins?

i like mecha games but…only when we are pilots… soo i dont think this game is appealing to me xD
( it will be a different history if we are the pilots competing in a mecha tournament )
anyway good luck :smile:

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Well I plan to have the pilots dictate the type of suit they wear. Like a sniper pilot, a in close and personal pilot, etc. As the mechanic though you will be able to further specialize the mechs to give the operator more options. So yes there is upgrading and customization, but don’t forget your tailoring a suit to a pilot who already has a specific form of combat they prefer. Also yes, as a operator gains resources from climbing the ladder, you gain access to to them to more easily improve their suit. In the inverse you can also be very skill and work with few resources to get a good result as well (of course not nearly as good as having the best materials to work with).

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Sounds like an interesting idea to me. There’s lots of places to go here I think:


  1. Your assigned pilot is arrogant or selfish or very demanding. How do you deal with his/her attitude? You could cause a minor sabotage of the mech to show him/her who’s boss maybe. Or you could tone down the response systems to ensure he/she loses a few matches. Or maybe you threaten to resign?

  2. A mechanic friend of yours has to call out sick for a week so you agree to tend to his mech while he’s out. You find that your friend has been cutting a lot of corners in maintenance and possibly endangering his pilot’s life. What do you do?

  3. Fraternization between mechanics and pilots is against regulations due to chain-of-command and professionalism issues. However, you’ve been getting to know this one pilot by chance meetings and there’s a building mutual attraction. How do you handle it?

  4. Your mech is dropped off at the bay after a training session. It’s heavily battered. There’s a lot of damage on the mech that wouldn’t be explained by a training session. Do you just fix it or try to investigate? If you investigate, you find out the mech was used to commit a bank robbery. What do you do now?

  5. You and your pilot have built up a solid report. However, the defending champion of last season has requested that you meet him or her to discuss if you would like to become his/her mechanic. Do you take the opportunity to serve the best pilot in the world or stay loyal and perhaps relegate yourself to obscurity?

  6. A source has offered you some mech parts that are highly effective but also illegal. You are confident that you can install them in a way that no one would ever figure out your mech was illegally outfitted. Do you do it?


I think tough choices like these will really amp up the seemingly mundane job of being a mechanic.

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