The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1358

When a new mech generation commenced, a raft of component licenses and updated technological specifications became available to mech designers.

These additions to the mech industry fired off an explosive race to design the first mechs that made use of the new specifications and components!

Yet this was just the start. The first wave of mech designs in the new generations possessed a relatively short shelf life. In a couple of years, the second wave would emerge that made use of components derived from the ones published by the MTA but improved and tweaked in many different ways.

The MTA employed some of the best mech designers and researchers in the galaxy, but they did not encompass the full creativity and ingenuity of the entire mech industry! Individual geniuses or those who possessed unique advantages were occasionally able to design better components than the ones published by the Association!

Nonetheless, by the time the second wave already arrived, the mech designers who moved early enough to capitalize on the first wave achieved an abundant amount of sales.

The advantages they accrued by selling a lot of mechs of the first wave would be able to utilize their momentum to take the lead during the second wave as well!

In other words, it was critical for mech designers to accrue an advantage at the beginning. If they slipped up or delayed their mech designs, their competitors would have already captured the bulk of the sales they would have gained if they moved faster!

Most importantly, first wave mechs did not lose relevance just because of the advent of second wave mechs. The differences usually weren’t large enough to warrant a full renewal, especially in the span of a couple of years.

As long as a first wave mech model performed well, its vast number of customers would ensure a good reputation that turned it into an enduring seller for a long time!

The mech company only had to tweak their prices downward for a little bit to retain their attractiveness in the face of newer mech models entering the market.

Mech designers like Ves were well aware of these dynamics and planned ahead. Designing a laser rifleman mech as one of his first mech designs for the new generation had definitely been on the cards.

As one of the most popular machines on land, in the air and in space, laser rifleman mechs represented the biggest and most lucrative mech types by sales volume!

That made the nugget of intel provided by Mrs. Linzif all the more important. If her claims were true that the second wave of laser rifleman mech designs would significantly surpass the first wave, then starting early with designing these mech types would be a grave mistake!

Because the first wave would practically experience a more severe devaluation than usual, putting them on par with last-gen mechs!

"Laser weapon development sure is incredible." He said as he tried to flatter his exchange partner. "It’s amazing to hear that the specialists in laser technology have managed to achieve so much progress even if it is already a mature and highly-developed field."

The Redweller mech designer scoffed at his words. "Maturity is a false concept. I’ve never put too much stock in its predictions anyway. Our civilization is so vast and powerful that we’ve managed to overcome most plateaus. Laser weapons may have been in use for millenia, but there is always something to improve!"

"Can you tell me about the nature of the improvements that will likely be introduced in the next generation?"

She shrugged. "Oh, the usual, mostly. Updated technical specifications along with new applications using exotics that haven’t been utilized before are responsible for most of the performance improvements. They’re mostly aimed towards improving efficiency, I hear. More energy is being directed towards the laser beam and less energy is turned into waste heat. This means the next generation will feature more powerful lasers without cooking the weapon or mech too quickly."

This was another valuable piece of intel! Knowing how the next generation of laser weapons improved upon the previous generation would help him lay the groundwork for his future designs.

The information was not only relevant when he designed a laser-armed mech, but also the defensive mechs designed to withstand their improved armament!

"What do you think about laser weapons?" She abruptly asked. "Tell me your honest opinion."

"My answer to that question is similar to the answer I’ve given to your first question. It’s a powerful, versatile and adaptable weapon system, but it is not the only weapon at a mech designer’s disposal. I still believe there is a role for other weapon types."

"So do you think that I’m wrong when I state that laser weapons will one day reign supreme?"

Ves shook his head. He had to be very careful about expressing an opinion contrary to the deeply-held beliefs of his host!

"I’m just a simple mech designer. I am not a specialist in any particular weapon system. If laser weapons happen to become the premier weapon type, then I’ll gladly embrace them when the time comes. The same goes if melee weapons or kinetic weapons experience a revolutionary leap in progress."

"I’m disappointed by your lack of faith, though I appreciate your honesty." Mrs. Linzif said with a frown. "There are so few mech designers who are willing to commit to a singular weapon system, even though we are responsible for most of the advancements."

Every mech designer was different. Talking to so many fellow Journeymen exposed him to the incredible diversity of people who broke through the extraordinary threshold.

Though Journeymen may be fundamentally different from expert pilots in many ways, Ves realized that both developed very strong beliefs.