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What would the interior of a battlesuit (any of them, none in particular) look like to the pilot?

Would he have a titanfall-esque first person view from the battlesuit, or military style sensor arrays?

Would they get a HUD overlay like a space marine helmet?

Whereabouts is the pilot contained inside the suit?

Thanks in advance

(Obviously the only limit to this your imagination)

Well the only place that it is physically possible for him to fit is the torso.

Presumably the "head" is actually a sensor array.

Where abouts would they bein the larger suits?

The Riptide? Good question. I assume the torso again due to better protection.

I like to believe that the chest opens up for the pilot to load in. The head is just the sensors and relays to a screen on the inside of the chestplate with a visual HUD with target sensors threat detection and so on.their arms are also within the torso and control robotics to move each joint.

I didn't think there was a HUD since the pilot is actually wired into the suit, so all visual information relayed from the sensor arrays in the suits head were directly piped through just as if you were seeing it yourself.

There is a passage about suits losing arms and the pilots getting ghost pains even though their own arm is still intact.

All pilots are situated in the chest it is believed.

If we can believe to the Shadowsun/Damocles novels then the answer is Titanfall-esque quasi-FPS mode for the bigger suits (Crisis and above) and HUD for the smaller suits (Stealth). Big battlesuits have their pilots in a torso compartment while small battlesuits are worn like power armor. Both types are controlled by mind-impulse but it is a one-way link, so data is displayed for the pilot.

IIRC there's art that shows Tau battlesuits having their chest open up and the pilot jumping in.

Tau suits are mentioned as having a gakload of sensors in any regard

They are uncomfortably seated inside the chest.

It doesnt say, but in reality the Tau Pilots are all just little people.

Always figured they were curled up in the fetal position inside a shock absorbing pod in the torso with impereal titan style mind-link controls and feedack.

There's really nothing that would support this view that I can bring to mind other than it's about the most sane way to control something like that (other than remote operations) and Tau are all about being sane when possible. Also the model/art scale would make most any non fetal position pilot not really fit inside a crisis suit, from an ergonomic or room for equipment standpoint.

 dementedwombat wrote:
Always figured they were curled up in the fetal position inside a shock absorbing pod in the torso with impereal titan style mind-link controls and feedack.

There's really nothing that would support this view that I can bring to mind other than it's about the most sane way to control something like that (other than remote operations) and Tau are all about being sane when possible. Also the model/art scale would make most any non fetal position pilot not really fit inside a crisis suit, from an ergonomic or room for equipment standpoint.

Apparently you read my mind, so I'm reporting you to the Inquisition for witchcraft. Seriously, that's almost exactly my headcanon on the topic. I think the neural interface is probably lower tech than the Imperial equivalent though, since I believe battlesuits are supposed to be less than a hundred years old in the fluff. Imperial mind-interfaces seem to all have machine spirits that have their own personality and leave an imprint on the pilot, where I'd imagine the Tau version functioning as nothing more than an extension of the pilot's own nervous system.

My personal theory with Crisis suits was that the pilot sat in a control console in the torso (with screens, buttons, an emergency view-port (that horizontal line on the front of the suit) and other things) with their own legs actually hanging down into the upper legs of the suit, which is also, sorta how they would control the legs. Thinking about it; it would be weird, and would likely leave Crisis pilots with a distinct gait when not in the suit.

I have always assumed 2 things about crisis suits.

1 - that round thing on the back between the jetpack is the entry hatch. Yes there is a lot of fan art showing the front opening, but hatches and hinges on the front would reduce armor.

2 - the cockpit is small and cramped. Either a fetal position or squished up like you are riding a racing motorcycle.


I suppose this idea came from the anime Gasaraki. I found a picture of the cockpit from the designers notes.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1152/1600/TA17_cockpit1.jpg

I think the mention of a direct neural interface came from the novels, I know its mentioned in the terrible novel Fire warrior. So maybe its split? physical movement/balance/motor control piggy backs off the tau brain. but there is a HUD and instruments feeding tactical data and the pilot has a means to aim and fire weapons?

You can see on the chest of crisis suits/broadsides/ and riptides a small slit in the upper chest, I assume that's a slot for vision to see out of in case of emergencies. I've read(I don't remember where) that said the suit hardwires with their nervous system, so I would assume they either see from the head of the suit like they're own vision, or a titanfall type of system. Stealth suits definitely have a heads up display though. I've always thought it's just a sort of angled chair.

 Mecha_buddha wrote:
I think the mention of a direct neural interface came from the novels, I know its mentioned in the terrible novel Fire warrior. So maybe its split? physical movement/balance/motor control piggy backs off the tau brain. but there is a HUD and instruments feeding tactical data and the pilot has a means to aim and fire weapons?

That is certainly possible. There is a tabletop mech game called Battletech where all mechs have a mind interface control, but that only uses the pilot's innate sense of balance to keep the bipedal machines walking and also (I think) gives the pilot some kinesthesia about where the limbs are at any give time. Actual movement and aiming is done with joysticks and foot pedals.

I just figure that direct mind interface is by far the most intuitive way to control something like a battlesuit, considering it's basically the same shape as the pilot anyway. Trying to get much actual fine control out of less direct setups would make for incredibly awkward controls (something Battletech actually simulates very well in their rules). Something like an Imperial Knight I could see getting away with it, but for the kinds of dexterity you'd need to use a Battlesuit and coordinating stuff like jumping around while shooting multiple weapons, it would have to be a very good control setup indeed.

I don't know for sure though if the Tau have the tech level to do it. I do know they have a ton of AI tech, even more than the Imperium (or at least they're more open about it and have a much greater idea what they're working with, even if their AI might not be advanced). Not to drag things too far off topic, but I always thought a lot of the Titan level "machine spirit imprint" stuff was what happened when the incredibly powerful combat AI of a Titan was allowed to directly interface with the pilot's brain without any safeguards. Tau AI is probably much "cleaner" and I imagine wouldn't have much of a personality, it would just do tactical analysis in the background and trim out interface clutter to make the pilot's life easier, or (maybe) override the suit controls to dodge if it detects an incoming weapon shot.

That's probably about how the Early Warning Override works come to think of it, an offensive application of AI suit control. I would think that would be a very strange experience for pilots training with the new equipment. Suddenly your suit's plasma arm swings around and fires at nothing, only to have a bunch of terminators pop in just in time to eat plasma.


^If you can't tell I love talking about this kind of stuff.

Mecha_buddha wrote:I have always assumed 2 things about crisis suits.

1 - that round thing on the back between the jetpack is the entry hatch. Yes there is a lot of fan art showing the front opening, but hatches and hinges on the front would reduce armor.

2 - the cockpit is small and cramped. Either a fetal position or squished up like you are riding a racing motorcycle.


I suppose this idea came from the anime Gasaraki. I found a picture of the cockpit from the designers notes.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6045/1152/1600/TA17_cockpit1.jpg

I like this a lot, especially the rear hatch idea. I'm not really a fan of the Gundam-style control seat - where a humanoid shape is controlled with supreme grace and dexterity from a set of keyboards and gearsticks (the unused space is more acceptable in a Gundam, because the pilot is so small relative to the mech). And hey, if the filthy Imperials can do it in their Dreadnoughts, there's no way the Tau wouldn't be able to have a complete neural interface with their Crisis Suits, more like a Space Marine's armour than a vehicle.

dementedwombat wrote:
That's probably about how the Early Warning Override works come to think of it, an offensive application of AI suit control. I would think that would be a very strange experience for pilots training with the new equipment. Suddenly your suit's plasma arm swings around and fires at nothing, only to have a bunch of terminators pop in just in time to eat plasma.


^If you can't tell I love talking about this kind of stuff.

So do I, and I love reading about it, too! That's what I thought Early Warning Override was supposed to be, but I never thought of that delicious way you just put it.

Or something like this



Where the lower legs are totally encased in the thigh armour and the suit effectively amplifies smaller movements. Would take getting used to (and the Appleseed manga has guys in training who keep falling over), but possible.

That just seems to put the pilot in unnecessary danger, when you have neural interfaces that totally forgo somatic controls. If the suit stepped on a landmine and lost an entire leg, the pilot would probably die. Also, they take up much more space this way. Space in the legs used by the pilot's legs and related control surfaces is space that could be used for more motors or more armour. Generally, it's just pretty inefficient. Plus the whole design of the thing would have to accommodate not only the movements of the suit, but also the movements of a smaller, similarly-shaped pilot inside the suit, which would severely limit its range of motion.

 Flinty wrote:
Or something like this

Spoiler:

Where the lower legs are totally encased in the thigh armour and the suit effectively amplifies smaller movements. Would take getting used to (and the Appleseed manga has guys in training who keep falling over), but possible.

Thats probably how the Stealth Suits and Shadow-sun's suit works.

But the full Crisis Suits would be impossible for a Tau to have his legs/arms in the actual legs/arms. Compare a firewarrior to a battle suit.

He has to be totally ensconced in the torso, and some depictions have them being in a fetal position with it all being mentally controlled.


Tau doctrine seems to favor safety, such a design would be safest. Otherwise if your suits leg got blown off it would also have taken your real leg, and likely killed you from the shock.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Or something like this

Spoiler:

Where the lower legs are totally encased in the thigh armour and the suit effectively amplifies smaller movements. Would take getting used to (and the Appleseed manga has guys in training who keep falling over), but possible.

Thats probably how the Stealth Suits and Shadow-sun's suit works.

But the full Crisis Suits would be impossible for a Tau to have his legs/arms in the actual legs/arms. Compare a firewarrior to a battle suit.

He has to be totally ensconced in the torso, and some depictions have them being in a fetal position with it all being mentally controlled.


Tau doctrine seems to favor safety, such a design would be safest. Otherwise if your suits leg got blown off it would also have taken your real leg, and likely killed you from the shock.

Actually I always thought that it's going to be very difficult to encase a whole Tau inside just the torso so the pic in the spoiler (Appeseed Landmate style) is how I always imagined it. As for inside the cockpit, I think it'll have to be HUD. There are no natural openings in the torso area for the pilot to "look out" and most of the sensors are at the "head" so I think it'll be mostly HUD.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Or something like this

Spoiler:

Where the lower legs are totally encased in the thigh armour and the suit effectively amplifies smaller movements. Would take getting used to (and the Appleseed manga has guys in training who keep falling over), but possible.

Thats probably how the Stealth Suits and Shadow-sun's suit works.

But the full Crisis Suits would be impossible for a Tau to have his legs/arms in the actual legs/arms. Compare a firewarrior to a battle suit.

He has to be totally ensconced in the torso, and some depictions have them being in a fetal position with it all being mentally controlled.


Tau doctrine seems to favor safety, such a design would be safest. Otherwise if your suits leg got blown off it would also have taken your real leg, and likely killed you from the shock.

The pilot's arms are definately not in the Crisis suit arms. The Landmate pilot has a secondary set of armoured arms, separate to the slaved suit arms, but equally I can see the arms drawn up inside the shoulder area of the Crisis suit. I just don't think there is space even in the torso for a curled up fire warrior. The legs have to go somewhere Equally I can see your point that the crisis suit legs are in an awkward position for a fire warrior's legs... Maybe they all have to go through major flexibility regimes to fit inside, ina similar way to how all Terminators have to get their shoulders realigned

With sufficient drugs and autorepair system, I'm sure a Fire Warrior can withstand loss of a limb just as well as humans can. Provided you can stop the bleeding quickly people can tend to survive such a trauma.

I always saw the terminates as being stylized. The arms are really in a more normal position, but the large pauldrons still give the iconic shape.

The new plastic GK terminators have a more realistic pose



Sure, you can survive the loss of a leg, but it depends on how its lost.


If its just heavily damaged and needs to be amputated sure.

If it gets completely ripped off by the impact of a a missile you are very likely to die from the shock even though the wound is technically survivable.

 Grey Templar wrote:


Sure, you can survive the loss of a leg, but it depends on how its lost.


If its just heavily damaged and needs to be amputated sure.

If it gets completely ripped off by the impact of a a missile you are very likely to die from the shock even though the wound is technically survivable.

Thats what the drug autoinjectors are for

They are only in the chest part. They are not piloted as we think of piloting, but have this nerve-link thingy, allowing the pilot to control the suit as if it were a part of his or her body.