OVRLRD – Ultimate Controls Guide

Guide to Controls

Cold-Start Quick Reference

1. Throw the lever to the main power breaker, indicated by a red light.
2. Toggle the switch marked ‘APU’.
3. Wait for the dashboard light to turn green as the APU powers up.
4. Press the ignition button. Check all five cylinder indicators are lit.
5. Toggle the switches marked ‘LOCOMOTOR’ and ‘TORSO ACTUATOR’.
6. Push the throttle to indicate your desired movement speed.
7. Your OVRLRD platform is now operational.

Power

The main breaker lever controls reactor and battery power to all OVRLRD systems, allowing an operator to immediately cut all power in the event of emergency. Nothing in the platform will function unless this lever is thrown.

Locomotion

The main torso gimbal and locomotor both require a feed from the auxiliary power unit (APU). The APU must be fully spun up before activating any actuators, otherwise you may experience faulty behaviour.

The ignition button is a safety measure – pressing it will have no effect unless the APU is fully spun up.

Once fully operational, the right control stick will control the torso actuator, rotating the OVRLRD’s cockpit around a central hip gimbal.

The left control stick will control the locomotor, driving the walker’s legs forward and backward, as well as rotating the legs left and right.

A pair of orientation indicators on the dash show the direction your legs are facing (the direction of travel) as well as the relative ‘twist’ between your legs and torso. This allows a skilled operator to manoeuvre in one direction while surveying another, or to retreat at full forward speed while laying down suppressive fire in the opposite direction.

Operator tip

Most walkers cannot turn rapidly while moving at high speed. To quickly re-orient your platform, reduce throttle, come to a stop or ease back on the left control stick.

Remember that high-throttle movement generates heat. To maintain safe operation, monitor your temperature levels and only move at full speed when absolutely necessary.

Weaponry

You will not be able to use any of your weapon modules until the ‘MASTER ARM’ switch has been toggled. All OVRLRD platforms are equipped with a transponder indicating the status of their master arm switch, and any OVRLRD with an armed weapon system is a valid legal target for armed response. Be mindful of your legal status when choosing to activate your weapons systems.

Assuming your OVRLRD is equipped with weapon modules, arming the system will activate the external camera attached to the currently-active module. You will see the camera feed on your central multi-function display (MFD).

There are additional weapon system controls mounted on the right control stick. Moving the thumbstick will rotate the weapon gimbal, allowing for fine targeting control.

Operator tip

An operator must be capable of long-distance precision strikes. Small adjustments in torso control can create large geometric offsets at long range. To compensate, consider deactivating your torso actuator when engaging at ranges over 500 metres.

The two buttons on the stick will cycle the active weapon module and cycle the active locking target respectively. You must maintain line-of-sight and and an error of less than 7 degrees to acquire target lock. Some weapons require target lock before they will fire.

Additional weapon system functions

• Head-Locked Targeting
  • Active weapon gimbals will follow your gaze – useful for beam weapons and close-quarters combat.
• Project Weapon Cam
  • Transmit a low-resolution feed from the weapon’s secondary sensor cam directly to your headset.
• Thermal/NV
  • Swap the sensor cam between image-intensifier and thermal segregation modes. Only visible when projecting.
• Auto-Tracking
  • Active weapon gimbals will automatically track the active target, if available. Useful for missile lock and high-speed engagements.

Information Display

A good operator must maintain total situational awareness at all times. An OVRLRD platform supports output to multiple multi-function displays (MFDs) at once. The operating system limits you to 1024 concurrently-running MFDs, but in reality you are likely to see 3-9 displays at once in a given platform.

Each MFD features an on-off toggle and a channel selection dial. All your OVRLRD’s data feeds (for example, your weapon camera feed, navigation screen and temperature readouts) are constantly running – you can cycle through them using these dials to customise your information display.

In addition to the cockpit-mounted MFDs, your head-mounted interface can project a holographic head-up display (holoHUD) into the space in front of you. Toggle the ‘HOLOHUD’ switch to enable this more specialised information feed. The holoHUD can optionally display a compass, for navigation, and a rangefinder, for convenience with artillery support tasks.

Sensors and Comms

If your platform’s comms system is operational, your OVRLRD will automatically receive and parse any situational data it receives on your platform’s unique transponder channel.

When connected to a support platform, such as an AWACS vehicle or ground-based radar station, your identify-friend-or-foe (IFF) system will populate your MFD radar display and holohud feed. If comms are interrupted or suppressed, you will not have access to this data.

Operator tip

Standard OVRLRD munition mounts include a target-tagging laser designation module. If your weapons are armed and your comms system is active, you can hover the reticule over a hostile asset to create and upload an IFF profile. This profile will be used by your remote sensor station to tag and track the target’s movement, as well as to coordinate computer-guided weapon strikes.

Your holoHUD will tag friendly targets in blue and hostile targets in red. Neutral targets and mission objectives will render in grey.

Once tagged in this way, a target that is eligible for weapon lock can be acquired using the buttons on the right control stick. Weapon lock will only be acquired for weapons that require it.

If a relevant target is spotted by a connected ally in the field, your platform will automatically acquire that target. This can be useful for executing flanking manoeuvres with a squadmate.

Cooling System

The most dangerous threat to an overconfident operator is the OVRLRD platform itself. OVRLRD cooling systems must always be enabled before use.

For safety reasons, your OVRLRD platform features a heat safety cutoff breaker.

This feature restricts the operation of non-critical subsystems once a temperature threshold has been crossed. Your weapons and locomotion may be automatically disabled until the system core temperature has fallen back within safe levels.

However, for maximum adaptability and control, a platform’s heat safety cutoffs can be disabled by the operator. Maulkin advises against disabling heat safety, but recognises that some situations may not be survivable without pushing your platform past its safe limits.

Maulkin Superheavy Industries is not liable for injury, death, collateral damage or ecological disaster resulting from heat overload of a purchased platform. Capacitor meltdown, micronuclear explosion, toxic gas release and actuator collapse are the responsibility of the operator.

Operators can use the coolant control panel to vent their limited coolant supplies to mitigate serious overheating. Maulkin does not recommend this course of action, as it reduces the efficacy of the cooling system.