I like it and all, but it just doesn't seem like it would perform the appropriate function.

I find it generally covers more than the Male briastplates. Besides, it's called "briast"plate for a reason [/silly]

Any specific armors you have in mind?

I certainly agree regarding the Wolf armor, Steel Plate and Ebony Plate. They're a little too well defined for my taste and I have a hard time imagining they'd be that effective. That crevice between the briasts would be really good for directing blows into the middle of the chest.

Specifically, I was thinking of the steel plate armor. As far as effectiveness goes, it just doesn't make sense to shape it like that.

Lydia looks really good in a suit of glass armor.

It's a briastplate, enough said.

However, if you want a 'technical' answer (apart from the fact this is a game and Beth can do what they want), when armour takes a hit the armour does two things: First, it (hopefully) prevents pentration of the blade etc, preventing cutting; Secondly, it spreads the force of the blow across the face of the armour, hopefully spreading the impact wide enough to prevent bones being broken or disabling bruising.

Studies of medieval weaponry and armour have shown that jousting injuries pattern match modern car crash injuries, where lance heads hitting armour cause similar impact damage to dashboards and car steering wheels, and the shock of hitting at speed roughly matches the whiplash effects of a car accident.

Why does female armour in Skyrim have a big bust? Probably because the females in Skyrim have big busts...and because players would complain. It seems to be a design/development policy to have female characters in games with overly emphasised female traits...which really does nothing for legitimising video gaming as a serious art or entertainment medium, despite it's popularity.

However in Skyrim it's more likehttp://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197988732882/screenshot/649876689769992010?tab=public (and that is an unmodified max weight version).

And i agree, this game has some of the most form-fitting female heavy armors i've seen. DA:O had some heavy armors like that too, but not that much

Hmm... so why are they flatter than everyone I know in my area, even at highest "weight" settings?

Yes, Steel Plate armor exaggerates the features, but then again, it adds at least another inch in all directions just for the padding, and "rounds out" the form by bolting hemispheres to the chest rather than following the true shape of the underlying anatomy.

I think if females had been regular armed Knights in armour in reality say in Roman times or even Medieval, their armours would be shaped to reflect their femaleness.

Now you guys have got to do a bit of historical research but most of all think like an ancient person not a modern day person with our `fear of nudity` hang ups. In ancient days things were very literal. Look at most male armours, many were shaped to emphasis the male chest and abdomen to make him look tougher and heroic and to emphasise maleness. It would be no surprise to me if the boob section of female armours were pronounced to show this is female armour and not male armour.

Now some might point to Joan of Arc`s armour as being the same as the men`s, but joan was unique and females in armour was pretty much unheard of, therfore there was no design, nor thinking of female battle wear.

I reckon in some ways, Skyrim is closer to realistic regarding female armours than it realises.

You need to keep in mind, though, that part of plate armor design was not just to stop, but also to deflect incoming blows. If the angle of the blow or arror is off, a portion of it's energy is directed away. That's where the problem with having such defined briasts comes in. Any blow landing on the insides of the briasts will be directed into the center of the chest and strike with nearly full force.

The U.S. Army is currently working to reshape the hard plates that go into the combat armor vests, so that women have a plate that is more comfortable to wear. Not sure if such a thing would be necessary for most women with medieval plate armor, however. The modern military body armor has less "padding" beneath the hard plate, and so a plate that doesn't conform to the body will rub and press uncomfortably at certain spots, rather than more gently across a larger area. Ancient and medieval plate armor, however, were meant to be worn over a somewhat thicker layer of padding, like quilted clothing.

God only knows how anybody wore that stuff in a hot climate.

Exactly.

From a practical standpoint, defining the chest is a very bad choice.

From a game standpoint, it looks nice. XD

games unfortunately sixualize things they don't need to. I mean just look at this

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:313378.jpg

True, but that would depend on whether it would be that much of a disadvantage. It may turn out that the blade or spear was deflected more outward than inward as the female fighter is not exactly going to sit there and let herself be struck central easily. Also you need to think like the people of the times and not so much like a technical designer. It was often worth more to show what six you were and to be proud of it. And just as men were proud of their six as warriors, i reckon women would have a new found proudness of their six as warriors too. Why hide that?

Like I said, you gotta think like these people, not like a 21st century person where everyone tries to hide what six they are and be a all the same if you see what i mean.

No. It has nothing to do with "fear of nudity" and everything to do with a realistic idea of what a briastplate is supposed to do (hint: it's not to lift and separate) and how an armorer would actually shape it.

To the OP, stick with regular steel or orcish armor. It has a reasonable briastplate, and with smithing perks you'll be able to make it serviceable for a long time.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/gmosko/VeledaLydia-1.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/gmosko/sharorcishhelmet.jpg

Catering to modern Korean MMORPG players.

And they just couldn't let the gauntlet thrown by Dragon Age 2 Isabela stay on the ground just like that.

Possibly, but that assumes that they end up hitting fairly flat in the middle of the chest, with a sort of straight-on stabbing motion. That would be a possibility with spears or lances, or even arrows, but for swords or axes or maces, all of which tend to be used in a slashing or overhead crushing motion, a straight-on piercing shot at the chest might not be all that much of a concern.

After all, as this image shows, the briastplate of men's armor wasn't exactly angled to deflect blows off the chest.

[img]http://chanarchive.org/content/2_v/97781781/1307424585214.jpg[/img]

The briastplate was the strongest part of the armor, anyway, and between the plate being strengthened by being curved, the fact that it was thicker than other plates, and having padding beneath, there was probably less worry about blows to the chest. After all, if the lance-tip of a speeding knight is unlikely to pierce the briastplate, it's probably at least as unlikely that even a warhammer spike would pierce it. I can't at all state this definitively, but I would expect that the most common killing blow would have been a stab would through a chink in the armor, or perhaps a crushing blow to the skull, which can only be armored so thickly, and which can be injured even by blows which don't penetrate or even bend the helmet.

The problem is not really something piercing the briastplate, it's crushing injury from your own armor. Having metal curved in at your sternum + getting hit with heavy blows= not a good combination.

The people designing those armors were not idiots. They may not have known the mathamatics, physics or the other aspects that go into technical design. What they did have, however, was an ever evolving, practical understand of the problems and the solutions. You can see it very clearly as you look at the evolution of armor and weapons. Armorers would design armor. Weaponsmiths would craft weapons to beat it. Armorers would alter their designs to better protect. And so on. One of the design features they arrived at in plate armor was the rounded briastplate. Many medieval and renaissance armors have them. Some have ridges down the center with the armor sloping off to the sides. They had a practical, working understanding that incoming attacks would deflect away from curved surfaces much more readily that flat ones. I can guarantee you that if they had made armor for women, they would have come to the exact some conclusion as what I posted. They would have seen it happen enough and promptly discarded the design in favor of one that offered better protection.

It's totally superficial, made to look good while still protecting, even exaggerating the features of the wearer.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Museo_archeologico_regionale_paolo_orsi%2C_corazza_in_bronzo%2C_da_tomba_5_necropoli_della_fossa%2C_370-340_ac._01.JPG/220px-Museo_archeologico_regionale_paolo_orsi%2C_corazza_in_bronzo%2C_da_tomba_5_necropoli_della_fossa%2C_370-340_ac._01.JPG

That would be very hard to do with the briastplate. A mace would have been effective against the lighter plates on limbs, and against the head, because even helmeted it's possible to give somebody a concussion or even break their neck with a good shot. But the briastplate was a very thick piece of armor, the thickest in the suit, and would largely have been impenetrable to a mace or sword. Perhaps a warhammer spike could pierce the briastplate, but it would have taken some effort.

Yeah, good example. I knew I had seen at least one Greek hoplite briastplate that was stylized to look like a chest.

I am 98.9% sure that armor never saw a real battle and was dress armor. Hence why it's all nice and pretty and preserved.

How do you get a thick piece of plate to make nice, shapely briasts?

Anyway, you misread my response. I'm talking about the force of impact driving your own armor into your sternum.

I think she looks really good in Ebony. I had her wearing Dwarven for the most part but it didn't look right so I opted to try and match her with my full Daedric set. I don't have her wear the Helm (Ebony) though.

I really like Ancient Nord on Females.. yes i'm looking @ you Aela..

By exaggerating the size of the briasts. The actual character's endowments are never more than "modest" in the game. Furthermore, those aren't "Nice, shapely briasts" - they're crude hemispheres sized to accommodate the female chest area and riveted into place. The metal could easily exceed an inch in thickness.