Oni2:Hex Hound: Difference between revisions

:Hex Hounds are multi-purpose biomechanical entities used by [[Oni2:META|META]] : 4 rather short legs, 2 huge arms.

:Very versatile, they come in a variety of sizes and with a wide range of additional equipment.

Original pictures available here: http://geyser.oni2.net/oni2/hexhound/ . However, the BeoQuad asset from DAZ3D (see below right) is quite close to the idea (except for under-sized arms).

[[Image:DAZ3D_BeoQuad_concept_1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The neck and arms are way too short...]]

==Concept==

The basic concept is a skeleton resting on 4 massive legs, carrying 2 long arms and terminated by a stubby head on a long but thick neck.

:Despite the oversized limbs, the Hound can curl up in a rather compact ball. It also has a number of versatile conformations (see below).

===Locomotion===

The 6-legged design allows for three major locomotion schemes, which are different compromises between stability and aggressivity:

:The front legs from layout 2 become the hind legs in layout 1. The body is upright in 2, as opposed to 1 (crawling).

:Layout 2 is the natural locomotion mode of a Cyntaur. Layout 3 is basically equivalent to a Cyntaur "rearing up".

===Combat===

:The oversized arms allow for devastating melee attacks, primarily in layouts 2 and 3 (layout 1 is meant for speed).

:Additionally, one or several legs can be used to crush or trample grounded opponents, again mostly in layouts 2 and 3.

:Arming some of the legs with blades allows for hybrid combat techniques, adapted to the alternative locomotion modes.

===Manipulation===

:The arms are mostly intended for heavy-duty work (constructive as well as destructive) and attack (melee as well as firepower).

:Additional manipulators can be located in the palms and elbows, as well as under the Hound's neck and head (sensors/feelers).

===Addons===

:Combat variants come with the obvious array of guns, melee weapons and armor plates. Stilts (longer legs), too.

==References==

Most of these connections came ''a posteriori'' : the core design came pretty much by itself; 100% biological cyntaurs came first, with a few variants, mechanized variants next. The idea of a swift, blurred motion, with incredibly "elegant" envelopes for the Cyntaur's movements even though it consists of rigid parts is relatively new, and especially appealing as far as the graphical support is concerned (rendering that "creepy grace" is much more of a challenge for a 3D modeler/animator than for a 2D artist).

===Mechanical Hound===

:The Mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the fire house. The dim light of one in the morning, the moonlight from the open sky framed through the great window, touched here and there on the brass and copper and the steel of the faintly trembling beast. Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber padded paws. [...] It was like a great bee come home from some field where the honey is full of poison wildness, of insanity and nightmare, its body crammed with that over-rich nectar and now it was sleeping the evil out of itself.

:"Hello," whispered Montag, fascinated as always with the dead beast, the living beast.

:The innocent man stood bewildered, a cigarette burning in his hand. He stared at the Hound, not knowing what it was. He probably never knew. He glanced up at the sky and the wailing sirens. The cameras rushed down. The Hound leapt up into the air with a rhythm and a sense of timing that was incredibly beautiful. Its needle shot out. It was suspended for a moment in their gaze, as if to give the vast audience time to appreciate everything, the raw look of the victim's face, the empty street, the steel animal a bullet nosing the target.

:[...]The camera fell upon the victim, even as did the Hound. Both reached him simultaneously. The victim was seized by Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip.

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[[Category:Oni 2]]