Gelgoog Jager wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:54 pm
The mono-eye itself could just be replaced with a better suited one and use the same camera rail. After all, in MS Igloo we saw how even things like the OP-02C also use mono-eyes, so there should be plenty of specialized types that also use rails.
That being said, the MSM-07 Z'gok series in particular (specially the first models) were designed with a large focus on land combat, a fact that can be easily observed on the weapon loadout of the first MSM-07, which consisted on a mega particle gun and head missile launchers, which were of limited usefulness while underwater, opposed to the MSM-07E's head torpedo launchers.
Also, while Zakus and Dom can indeed move in an almost horizontal position in space, they still need to turn around for being able to observe in a different direction, specially towards their back, while a Z'gok could essentially remain in the same position and keep looking around in a 360º view.
I don't think a beam bazooka would be a good idea, or at least not as a handheld alternative, since such large and heavy weapon would most likely affect the balance of the unit, specially if equipped only on one side of the unit.
All that being said, I do agree that perhaps a more specialized design, not directly based on anything else, might have worked better, but I supposed the whole point of using an existing design as a base is to save time and resources by not starting from zero, even if the design may end up with some flaws as a result. After all, it would seem that the Mobile Diver was an idea Zeon cooked up rather quickly in response to the EF beginning to launch its rebuilt fleet into space. This can be observed best in the evolution of its weapon layouts, which started with a simple container for large missiles, then switched to a multi-missile launcher, and finally changed to a specialized beam weapon.
Come to think of it, yes, the monoeye should be able to interchange as long as they use the same standard.
So the 3200m sensor range of older units can well be replaced by higher numbers when newer models are out.
That likely limits to the MS though, in the G20 material, they had a picture showing the moneye size difference of the MS-06 and the MA-05, which is pretty funny that the size differ so much.
The only problem I can think of is the scan speed of the 3D image.
Unlike the twin eye config, which can take 2 offset image at once and process it to get 3D imagery, the moneye have to take 1 image first, then move a little bit to take the second image and use those to process. So the speed limit is likely the speed of the rail instead of just the camera speed. Considering the speed of digital imagery nowadays, that is very likely the case, since the eye movement is not likely to get much faster with the same hardware.
The MSM-07 series indeed have a lot of designs for it to give better ground combat results, but it is still not comparable to the MS-06 Zaku line in ground combat according to Encyclopeadia Ver. 1.5, so I doubt it to be better in sensing range. The covered area and angle, I always assume the head can turn 360 degrees(or at least close to 180 to both left and right, not a full 360 turn but close enough) and have the same coverage as the MSM-07. There will always be a lot of secondary sensors to cover the other angles anyway.
The using an existing design as a base actually isn't that useful, at least in real life, or I should say, at least proven to be false quite a lot of times. I guess people will still make similar mistakes in UC, so it can still well be the case in the mobile diver.
In a future that people are already building such highly modulized machines like mobile suits, the easiest and quickest way of building something is to use the standard modules as base. Similar to the idea of the mobile diver but a more rationale step, using just the modules instead of the whole thing can speed up design. For example, using only the body of the MSM-07, without hands and legs, and use the connectors to connect it to the weapon tank, should be much easier than designing an external fixture to strap it to the weapon tanks.
This is actually also a proven viable design method in UC, we do have things like the Apsaras using just a Zaku head(strange that it doesn't use the more advanced Gouf or Dom head), a Kampfer with only its upper body attached to a booster unit, and the simpliest of all, the Zaku tank. The EFSF also has its own similar designs, like the core block system is designed to do this kind of things, later we also see a Zeta Zaku.
These are still only examples taken before(real life time) MS Igloo, MSV-R Johnny Ridden's story even gave a pretty thorough setting about how Zeon was able to design MS so fast, which is the highly modulized design system they are using.