Gundam technology trends

Well, the MS Pilot manual series is now completed, and it was an interesting project. It really seems like the series was planned out in advance, as you see a drastic increase in automation and decrease in necessary controls in the cockpit.

We also got to see how some things worked, like the ballute system (I always wondered how that balloon kept from catching on fire...), and beam sabers in the 0090s, and ejection systems.

The articles themselves seemed to be relatively well thought out, and for the most part stayed away from sci-fi technobabble to explain away things, though there still seem to be a few holes in how certain things are accomplished. We also don't really ever get to take a look into any differences in EF cockpits.  (Though with some of the new Master Archive, we may be able to get something...)

Next up, we'll look at a detailed look at the MS-06 R1A's cockpit.

Any comments or questions are always welcome.

(Sources used: Entertainment Bible #1, #2, #3)

Cockpit Counterattack

Volume 3 of the MS pilot manual takes us into the 0090s, and what's changed since the Grypps war. This article begins to focus on weapons as well, and really delves into the up close and personal nature of Mobile Suit combat. Computer control is now used as a bit of a deus ex machina here, but it follows a logical progression of increasing computer control through the three volumes.

The melee combat section is particularly detailed, and finally explains why we never see the beam saber blades in CCA until they actually strike something.

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Mobile Suit Pilot Manual Volume Three

Mobile Suit Pilot Manual Vol II

The second volume primarily covers changes that were made in the UC0080s as the panoramic cockpit became standard. This time, the narration is pretty straightforward and technical, and presents like reading any other manual. A large emphasis this time around is given to the various support systems that developed in the Grypps conflict. One amusing point to note is the inclusion of a CRT display in the main cockpit, which would already be outdated by the 21st century. Such are the risks of making science fiction, I suppose.

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Mobile Suit Pilot Manual Volume Two

Piloting a Gelgoog

This is the first in a series of a few articles covering the basics of piloting a Mobile Suit in the Universal Century Gundam universe. This article was originally published in Entertainment Bible #1 in 1990, but some sections were later expanded on in other works. Those will follow at a later date. The article is written from the point of view of a Zeon trainee pilot, with instructions being given to him by a flight instructor.

It's worth noting that the text does not in fact agree with the pictures on a couple of instances, such as the damage to the Gelgoog not matching the text description. This is not a mistranslation, some of the pictures do in fact contradict what's in the actual text. Sorry about the low quality pictures, I don't have access to a scanner at the moment, so I've got a digital camera rigged up. If you've got the ability to supply cleaner pictures, let me know!

So without further ado, let's jump in!

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Mobile Suit Pilot Manual Volume One