A positive light to the delays. In the time between seeing the first screenshots of the WIP "Tank" Power Armor and now, I have been considering the possible lore inferences that could be made due to its existence. During the mid 2060s (specifically between 2065 & 2067) when the development of power armor first started, there were numerous firms and businesses working to make prototypes, which all invariably failed for one reason or another.
As many likely know due to playing earliar games in the Fallout series, or from reading the wiki, it was West Tek that eventually triumphed and got to field its T-series of Power Armors, starting with the T-45d in 2067. But what about the other companies that failed?
RobCo Industries is a company im sure we're all familiar with: they developed the Pip-Boys, Stealth Boys, and various Robots such as the modest Protectron and even the titanic Liberty Prime(with the aid of General Atomics). According to some sources, they also developed the Sentry Bot series of robots, and this is my point. What if RobCo was one of the companies in the 2060s that was competing for the military contract to develop what would become known as Power Armor? If they were developing (or had already developed early versions) the Sentry Bot, that heavily armored tank of a droid, one could safely assume that any armored suits they'd develop would share certain design features(as it obviously does), and perhaps too, some of its flaws.
In Fallout 4, Sentry Bots due to their sheer bulk produce a lot of heat and frequently have to cooldown in order to resume functioning. In 2066 microfusion cells had just been developed, and the early T-45 power armor variants produced the following year by West Tek would utilize these to fuel themselves. Poorly, mind you, and the issues caused by this poor fuel source were not completely rectified until the unveiling of the Fusion Core at a later date. So if there were to be a power armor suit developed by RobCo between 2065 & 2067, it can be safely assumed that these inefficient microfusion cells were the height of what it could be run off of initially. Due to later Sentry Bots running off of multiple Fusion Cores and still having noticable issues (such as untimely cooldown purges), it can also be safely assumed that any power armor sharing a measure of its bulk & design features would too be greatly strained to function. This would explain why RobCo lost out to West Tek for the contract, similarly to how Porche lost out to Henschel & Son in developing the Tiger tank for Germany in the 1940s.
So if RobCo lost the contract, how/why does this Power Armor exist? Like Porche in WW2, its possible that although they lost that contract, they were still utilizing features of their designs from the project to produce other things for the military. Perhaps the Sentry Bot itself was based on this power armor that was never fielded, much like Porche made the Elefant/Ferdinand tank destroyer based on the chasis of a tank that shared the same fate. But this still doesn't answer the question as to why the Power Armor still exists, and I suppose it could be simply assumed that RobCo took the loss to West Tek hard, and continued to develop their own power armor in secret.
Utilizing a combination of its original design and the later Fusion Core technology, this suit would be a power house, with two(or perhaps even 3) fusion cores and the heat issues of the Sentry Bot resolved. No other armor would compete with its sustainability in the field nor its raw defensive and offensive capabilities. With the War in China losing momentium, despite the presence of the advanced T51 series in the field, RobCo was poised to finally take the Power Armor military contract with its obviously superior model.
And then the bombs fell.
This is of course purely fan-made origin, though I would love to see some lore-friendly reinforcement after the Power armor is released to the public. Be its name having some RobCo model designation or possible unique mods with a RobCo twist released in future updates to it. I love what Tumbajamba and Azrael are working towards, and I can see that im not alone with how much the public is hyped. So I can't wait to see what the public will do with it too.
Custom Military paintjob for the ill-fated RobCo swansong project anyone?
In the meantime, Im just excited for the initial release! Keep up the good work Tumbajamba/Azrael_wtf!
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Tank Power Armor - Fan-Made Lore Origins (1 comment)
As many likely know due to playing earliar games in the Fallout series, or from reading the wiki, it was West Tek that eventually triumphed and got to field its T-series of Power Armors, starting with the T-45d in 2067. But what about the other companies that failed?
RobCo Industries is a company im sure we're all familiar with: they developed the Pip-Boys, Stealth Boys, and various Robots such as the modest Protectron and even the titanic Liberty Prime(with the aid of General Atomics). According to some sources, they also developed the Sentry Bot series of robots, and this is my point. What if RobCo was one of the companies in the 2060s that was competing for the military contract to develop what would become known as Power Armor? If they were developing (or had already developed early versions) the Sentry Bot, that heavily armored tank of a droid, one could safely assume that any armored suits they'd develop would share certain design features(as it obviously does), and perhaps too, some of its flaws.
In Fallout 4, Sentry Bots due to their sheer bulk produce a lot of heat and frequently have to cooldown in order to resume functioning. In 2066 microfusion cells had just been developed, and the early T-45 power armor variants produced the following year by West Tek would utilize these to fuel themselves. Poorly, mind you, and the issues caused by this poor fuel source were not completely rectified until the unveiling of the Fusion Core at a later date. So if there were to be a power armor suit developed by RobCo between 2065 & 2067, it can be safely assumed that these inefficient microfusion cells were the height of what it could be run off of initially. Due to later Sentry Bots running off of multiple Fusion Cores and still having noticable issues (such as untimely cooldown purges), it can also be safely assumed that any power armor sharing a measure of its bulk & design features would too be greatly strained to function. This would explain why RobCo lost out to West Tek for the contract, similarly to how Porche lost out to Henschel & Son in developing the Tiger tank for Germany in the 1940s.
So if RobCo lost the contract, how/why does this Power Armor exist? Like Porche in WW2, its possible that although they lost that contract, they were still utilizing features of their designs from the project to produce other things for the military. Perhaps the Sentry Bot itself was based on this power armor that was never fielded, much like Porche made the Elefant/Ferdinand tank destroyer based on the chasis of a tank that shared the same fate. But this still doesn't answer the question as to why the Power Armor still exists, and I suppose it could be simply assumed that RobCo took the loss to West Tek hard, and continued to develop their own power armor in secret.
Utilizing a combination of its original design and the later Fusion Core technology, this suit would be a power house, with two(or perhaps even 3) fusion cores and the heat issues of the Sentry Bot resolved. No other armor would compete with its sustainability in the field nor its raw defensive and offensive capabilities. With the War in China losing momentium, despite the presence of the advanced T51 series in the field, RobCo was poised to finally take the Power Armor military contract with its obviously superior model.
And then the bombs fell.
This is of course purely fan-made origin, though I would love to see some lore-friendly reinforcement after the Power armor is released to the public. Be its name having some RobCo model designation or possible unique mods with a RobCo twist released in future updates to it. I love what Tumbajamba and Azrael are working towards, and I can see that im not alone with how much the public is hyped. So I can't wait to see what the public will do with it too.
Custom Military paintjob for the ill-fated RobCo swansong project anyone?
In the meantime, Im just excited for the initial release! Keep up the good work Tumbajamba/Azrael_wtf!