HAMEKA Ha-160 Pistia
Hover Combat Unit
Rank: IV

The Ha-160 "Pistia" is an agile, hovering combat machine.

images (pixiv)

USER MANUAL

CREDITS

• Automatic leading scripts by @232287168147825

MAIN FEATURES

• ARMORED CORE style flight model and aiming
• Detailed cockpit with combat information and 3D "spatial radar"

CONTROLS

IMPORTANT: See sub-sections below for detailed information on each feature.

Pitch - Strafe forward/backward
Roll - Strafe left/right
Yaw - Rotate left/right
Throttle - Aim elevation
Trim - Surface tracking level (3-9 m)
LandingGear - Landing struts
FireGuns - Boost modes (speed/jump)
AG1 - Automatic tracking mode

• Controls are also shown in the Craft Instructions.
• Throttle and Yaw are used for aiming. Since Throttle starts at 0%, the aiming rectangle points down at the start of a level.
• Remember to retract the landing struts!
• The instrument panel is NOT required for operation.
• The Virtual HUD is displayed over the instrument panel. They are shown separately below for clarity.
• I use Ace Combat-style controller bindings, which translate to classic one-stick Armored Core bindings on this aircraft.

SURFACE TRACKING LEVEL

This feature allows the choice of flight altitude above ground. Flying higher above ground allows the machine to navigate bumpy terrain and steep slopes more easily, but comes with the price of a lower top speed. The pilot should choose a flight level suitable for the local terrain.

LANDING MODE

When the landing struts are lowered, top speed is decreased by 75%. With landing struts lowered, set the surface tracking level to the minimum to cut engine power and land. Do not perform this action above water!

BOOST MODES

If boost is activated when there is a movement input, and the machine is close to the surface tracking level, boosting will provide a large increase in acceleration and top speed (Mode 1, HUD shows "BOOST"). Else, it will provide upwards thrust (Mode 2, HUD shows "JUMP"). In Mode 1, releasing the movement input will switch the boost mode to Mode 2.

SPATIAL RADAR

This three-dimensional radar aids in maintaining positional awareness of the target. The empty ellipse shows the target's position only along the horizontal plane. The position of the filled ellipse relative to the empty one shows the relative altitude of the target. More information can be found here.

AUTOMATIC TRACKING MODE

This mode overrides the aim elevation and yaw controller to keep the target in the center of the virtual HUD. Hence, it can be used to automatically attain and maintain a lock on the target.

TARGET ACQUISITION

Weapons will automatically lock onto the target, as long as it is in the acquisition rectangle on the virtual HUD, and it is within the range of the weapons as listed below. Otherwise, the weapon is manually elevated.

MEDIUM MISSILE

The Medium Missile can lock onto both air and surface targets up to 4000 m away. A small turning circle comes with a lack of top speed and range. The launcher will automatically elevate to face or even lead the target.

AUTOCANNON

The rapid-fire Autocannon automatically tracks targets up to 2500 m away. Elevation control is fully automatic. Azimuth control only has a 15-degree range to either direction.

DEV NOTES

I made it to build a cockpit for once. I started just after SPVR was announced and now it's done when 1.11 is released. As active as SP devs (lol).

For the flight controller, it has less stationary drift and is redesigned to have no rotating parts. It does shake sideways when boosting, but it's not big enough of a problem. Using a downwards engine, gravitational acceleration is increased for an arcade feel.

Body design and combat controls are based on Armored Core 3. I used a hover AC with monke machine guns most when playing it. Second AC would be a tank with more monke machine guns. Need to git gud though, I cheated a bit.

Comment "play your AC4 with moon runes" if you read the whole description

Early development image

BONUS CONTENT

• 3D Elliptical Radar
• colors.txt (pastebin)

INFORMATION

The Ha-160 "Pistia" is an all-environment surface combat machine. The "Ultra-Mobile Unit" maintains a high speed above terrain and water. It is most notable for its surface-tracking flight mode, making use of normal reaction force to hover with low fuel consumption. At maximum power output, it can reach over 500 km/h on flat surfaces.

Specifications (Ha-160 Common Frame)
Hull Length: 5.03 m
Hull Width: 3.88 m
Hull Height: 3.82 m
Hull Mass: 6,300 kg
Maximum Mass: 9,000 kg (Earth), 15,500 kg (absolute)
Maximum Speed: 570 km/h
Operating System: AFOS 3 (drone), 3(M) (manned)
Crew: 0-1

Production (Ha-160 Common Frame)
Developer: Team ULTRA-MOBILE (HAMEKA)
Manufacturer: HAMEKA
First Flight: April 4, 2072
In Production: From 2074 Q1
Unit Cost: $17 million
Units Built: 800-1300 (estimations)

Both manned and unmanned versions of the Ha-160 were produced. As an ANGELFRAME-compatible drone, the design shares many avionics and mechanical parts with machines in ASTIND/HAMEKA's half-articulating lineup. However, due to expensive taxes on automated weaponry, manned versions outsold their unmanned counterparts. Many operators of the manned version also signed on with HAMEKA, selling their flight telemetry and usage data to train AI models.

At least 20 individual automated features are provided to reduce the pilot's workload, including automatic start-up and diagnostics, and an automatic radar controller. An early 3D target tracking display, known as the Spatial Radar, was also included in the Ha-160, using the same sensor array as the unmanned version.

ARMAMENT

A standard loadout consisting of close-range conventional weapons. The hip hardpoints hold fuel cells for additional range.

[Back] 8x 94mm Datalinked Medium Missiles: Missiles controlled by a neural network server on the launcher. This neural network is supplied with battlefield information in real-time by an allied network, and handles all missile guidance. The best tracking performance is achieved when connected to real-time enemy maps, and at least two networked allies are nearby.

[Arms] 2x 76.2mm Arm Autocannons: Rapid-fire 3" autocannons, suitable for combat against most targets. Small ammunition stores make usage impractical for longer missions, so some users install additional ones externally.