The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1609

Chapter 1609 Competitive Spiri

Professor MacDonald of the Ansel University of Mech Design confidently highlighted some of the key innovations and solutions of their Dawnbreaker design.

The Ansel Seniors weren't afraid of copycats. At their heights, few could beat them in their own specialties.

Ves knew for certain that — in his current state — he had no hope of designing a mech that outperformed the Dawnbreaker in all of its aspects.

He could never design a better flight system than Professor MacDonald.

He could never design a better ballistic weapon system than Professor Xu.

He could never design a better armor system than Professor Taphouse.

He could never design a better neural interface than Professor Summit.

He could never design a better cockpit than Professor Miller.

As a mech design that combined the specialties of five renowned Seniors, the Dawnbreaker offered an extremely compelling set of advantages that not even Masters could replicate by themselves!

The abstruse effects of all of the design philosophies applied to this midrange mech design must have stuffed it full. In fact, Ves bet that interference and loss of efficiency probably reduced the strength of each Senior's individual specialty to a degree.

It didn't matter. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts. The Dawnbreaker possessed just enough advantages in many different aspects that the total package was exceptionally well positioned to function as the protagonist of the Sand War!

As for the Desolate Soldier, its mediocre performance and its supportive functions relegated it to the role of a supporting character.

Ves grimaced once he realized the devious strategy behind the Dawnbreaker.

"Looks like we're in trouble, Ves." Gloriana grinned as if she completely didn't mind this development. "While our Soldier mechs are still secure in their own roles, the Dawnbreaker threatens to upstage our work and suck up all of the publicity we've enjoyed so far. It's not something we can counteract in the short term."

He had the confidence to beat any design that attempted to challenge his Soldier line directly.

Yet this oblique thrust the Ansel Seniors had come up with was much harder to deal with to Ves.

Neither of their products competed against each other directly. Just as Ves focused on standing out in the market by relying on his strengths, the Ansel mech designers each focused on adding their own advantages to their collaborative mech design.

"It's fine." Ves eventually sighed. "While it's true that we can't compete directly against the Dawnbreaker, we don't have to compete against their strong points in the first place. What truly matters is to design a mech that best meets the demand of the market. These Ansel Seniors are wise enough to focus on the value proposition of their work."

"What do you mean by that?" Ketis asked in confusion.

"If we ever want to challenge the Dawnbreaker design, we shouldn't look to beat it in the parameters that it is strong in, such as its weapon system, its armor system, its propulsion system and so on." Gloriana lectured to Ketis and the rest of the design team. "Competing against specialists in the area of their strengths is never a good idea. The only result of our efforts will be a pale and uninspired imitation that doesn't reflect our design philosophies at all."

Ves nodded in agreement. "Just the Sandbreaker ballistic weapon system is something that we can't surpass on our own. From the introduction so far, this is an amazing solution that clearly surpasses the ballistic rifle that we've designed for the Desolate Soldier. Right now, I'm seriously considering whether I should procure a license."

That caused the Tovar mech designers to look at Ves in surprise. Their family never had a good relationship with the AUMD. Instead, the Tovars favored the DCTI and other institutions that were far more aligned to the central government.

"Does it sound strange to you that I'm willing to procure a license for the Sandbreaker weapon system?" Ves declared after he saw the reaction he evoked. "You shouldn't be. As a professional, you should recognize your own strengths and shortcomings. While I can design a decent ballistic rifle if needed, I'm not as passionate about it as Professor Mimi Xu. She deserves genuine acclaim for developing what is arguably the most effective ballistic shell against the sandmen!"

Gloriana concurred. "Don't let your feelings color your judgement. Professional mech designers must have the awareness to channel their competitive nature in the right direction. How would you go about competing against the Dawnbreaker, Ves?"

"I would probably decide to design a midrange mech that is close to matching the performance of the Dawnbreaker. My new work doesn't have to surpass the Dawnbreaker in performance, but it absolutely must offer a higher value proposition. In order to do that despite my many advantages, I'll have to work hard to impart my mech designs with an exceptional glow!"

"You hear that, little ones? That's the proper way to compete against a fellow mech designer!"

"What if you license the Dawnbreaker and add a glow to it?" Miles proposed. "As long as your variant retains the same strengths as the base model while benefiting from your characteristic specialty, won't it be a superior product?"

Ves and Gloriana glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"You used to be an independent mech designer, right? Have you ever thought about progressing by upstaging your competitors by borrowing their own mech designs?"

An awkward silence ensued.

"While it's a valid response, it's not a proper one." Ves sagely spoke. "Variants are derivatives of other people's works. They don't fully reflect your own efforts. If you can only compete in the market by borrowing from the success of other mech designers, where does that leave you? In a decade or two, your rivals who diligently designed their own mechs have progressed much further while you've stagnated because you haven't accumulated any practice and experience in designing mechs from scratch!"

All of the junior mech designers got caught up in the high-mindedness of his argument. Miles looked particularly inspired!

"Trying to upstage a rival by developing a variant of their own work is a dead end. Do you think you understand them better than their own designer? If I licensed the Dawnbreaker, I don't think I'll understand at least twenty percent of what is going on in the design! I don't have the knowledge base and specializations to decipher all of their properties, let alone tweak them in a way that suits my purposes better!"