247 replies to this topic

[Mchawkeye]

Simon and Garfunkel. or Mike Oldfield.

I'm pretty Zen when I shoot people in their mechanical faces.

[SeDevri]

That EPIC feel, we have all felt it at one point or another, weather watching a movie, playing a game or even in real life. The question is: what makes u feel that way? How do u capture that feeling? I'd like to hear what people would like to have in this game to give it that epic feel that it deserves.

I know some of u r thinking "but its a game about giant armored war machines throwing everything they have at each other. How could that NOT be epic?"

Well let's look at MW4, yes your in those same machines and fighting, but did it really feel epic? Not in my opinion. For me there needs to be a sense of desperation, a need to succeed and survive. A battle with only 8 to 16 mechs slugging it out is nice, but to have a truly epic feel it needs to have other variables. A couple lances of tanks adding to the fire flying about. Infantry hiding in buildings waiting for some unlucky mech. I want to see laser beams flying all around me, chewing up earth and armor. I want to see tracer fire and feel the impact of shells. I want to feel the affects of damage to my mech, and feel satisfaction as I devastate an enemy unit.

Music is also very important and should be pertinent to what is happening. If you r stomping the enemy, the music should be high energy and base heavy. While the people who r losing should be hearing a more frantic and melancholy tune. A good example of this would be the orchestrated soundtrack from the first Transforms movie, if u haven't heard it you should give it a listen. Also the group Two Steps From Hell is a good example of what I mean, check out their album Legend.

I'm not saying that it needs everything I listed to be epic, but its a "greater than the sum of its parts" situation. So what gets your blood pumping? What would me it feel epic for u?

[Adridos]

Everything I need to feel epic is an epic song and a good game. Doesn't it feel epic?

,or going to your doom with a party of your friends with:

Edited by Adridos, 23 November 2011 - 01:02 PM.

[Adridos]

,saving a beautiful world with:
/

Edited by Adridos, 23 November 2011 - 01:03 PM.

[Adridos]

,commanding millions of robots led by you to a massive clash with:


Nothing makes you feel as epic as these songs.


P.S. Sorry for triple post, but I can't post more than 2 songs into one post.

Edited by Adridos, 23 November 2011 - 01:03 PM.

[MaddMaxx]

or this

or this

Edited by MaddMaxx, 23 November 2011 - 01:03 PM.

[Ra-ul]

It´s the mix of looks, sound (sound effects and music) and the feeling of being IN the game.

The MW2 series did a good job with the visual menus to drag the player right into the game. Text menus just don´t do that.

MW3 did the best job convincing the player to sit in a giant robot and making it feel like a simulation. I don´t know if it was because of the most detailed cockpit, the wobbling Mech or scale. Mechwarrior 4 was the worst iteration regarding that point. The cockpit model and texture was just lame and made it necessary to switch to 3rd person view to actually be able to enjoy the game.

Sound of course plays a very big role. Convincing weapon sounds (no Star Wars lasers please) will surely help to feel like being in the midst of a battle, a roaring AC 20 should make the sub-woofer dance Let us hear the reactor buzzing, hot steel crackling after shooting a PPC, capacitors charging, AC shells falling into place etc.
Music plays a major role supporting the feel of the game while it´s not distracting from the actual game play.

Lastly I think it´s the role playing factor in such a rich universe like Battletech. Maybe an economy system could be implemented where certain supply prices can change if a planet with armory factories is under attack. Certain weapon systems could be made rare due to economic circumstances (invented, history- or game related). Even weapon performance and reliability could change depending on model or manufacturer (this was even mentioned in novels). AC´s with longer barrels could be more precise at long range than others, giving advantage to certain Mech designs over others (while mounting stock weapons). Of course the look of that Mech could change when swapping it´s Armstrong AC/5 with a Pontiac AC/5.

[MaddMaxx]

Scale is BIG (pun intended) The 2009 Trailer had that feel and I hope that when I am in a city and I look left I am looking into the 3rd or 4th floor of the office building beside me. (depending on Mech of course)

Edited by MaddMaxx, 23 November 2011 - 01:18 PM.

[SeDevri]

Adridos you win an internets, good taste in music.

Heres some examples of what i'm talking about as well:

[SeDevri]

But it's not only about the music, as GraySho pointed out. Here are some videos to give you an idea of what i mean about the combat visuals. This video right here omg omg omg, YES so MUCH THIS! Just watching this video i feel my blood pumping and the violence surrounding me.


I know this one isn't a "mech style" game but it has that epic feel that I'm talking about. (on a completely different subject, the Homeworld games are AMAZING)


My point being, that just because we are in big mechs fighting doesn't mean its in a bubble, there should be other things going on, NPC units on both sides to add to the feel of being in an actual war zone rather than a scripted "match".

[DocBach]

Dude, that armored core video gives me hope that someone could do justice to a BattleTech movie.

[Rhinehart]

I can think of several Epic moments from many Mechwarrior titles. Most involve the opening Movies which have a tradition of being epic. I do agree that MW4 missed the boat on this slightly though the opening film for vengeance definitely hit it right.

But three epic moments of gameplay come instantly to mind from MW3

One is from the mission before entering the first underground facility, when approaching the elevator. Suddenly the eleavator rises, revealing a smoke jaguar Thor and worse it's the variant with the Ultra AC 20 autocannon. If it connects once it is sure to knock your mech on its back as the gyro overloads. Another hit and you'll likely be dead...

The second moment is at the end of the mission through the first underground expanse, when the Smoke Jaguar commander orders his warriors to open fire on a container housing a poisonous gas that will flood the tunnels and kill your entire unit. You have only moments to stop it...

The last comes once penetrating yet another underground base to destroy a mech production facility. You move to meet up with a newly recoverd lance mate, barely noticing the Clan Puma running away until you round a corner and come face to face with an Annihilator Assault Mech, looking down the barrels of FOUR Clan LBX 10s at point blank range...

These are what I call epic moments.

Edited by Rhinehart, 23 November 2011 - 06:46 PM.

[Xhaleon]

Oddly, all the previous Mechwarrior titles' opening movies have had some measure of retardation when it comes to the character actions.

As far as the ones I've played:

MW2: I am Timber Wolf, and I have four PPCs in my weapon pods. Let me try to kill this Summoner with my machine guns.

MW3: I am Summoner, and I am undamaged. Let me try to kill this crippled Firefly with my abnormally-slow recharging PPC, completely ignoring the existence of my AC. Also, I think that Mad Dog over there is a friend, so I can casually ignore him, right?

MW4: I am Shadow Cat, and missiles are incoming. My commander tells me to eject, so I scream unintelligible gibberish and go kaboom.

[Adridos]

SeDevri, on 23 November 2011 - 03:29 PM, said:

Homeworld have perfect sounds to do the atmosphere, plus a tragic moment here and there. Moments like mothership returning to the homeworld just to see it burning and that no one is alive was just... epic.


Oh, and thanks SerDervi. I always consider myself a person with bad taste for anything that has something to do with music, but if you say so...

Edited by Adridos, 24 November 2011 - 04:08 AM.

[Moppelkotze]

That epic moments when I play ... Battlefield 3

[Leonardo Monteiro]

Ill tell you what's Epic.

THIS:

[Tierloc]

Organized play in any game is 100x better than the game itself.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Eh, I got a few nice ones.




Third youtuber.

I'm really fond of the first one.

Edited by Alizabeth Aijou, 25 November 2011 - 01:23 PM.

[Black Sunder]

I'm surprised no one has put this song up. If you're gonna pilot a light mech then this is the song.

[Rhinehart]

Xhaleon, on 23 November 2011 - 07:29 PM, said:

Oddly, all the previous Mechwarrior titles' opening movies have had some measure of retardation when it comes to the character actions.

As far as the ones I've played:

MW2: I am Timber Wolf, and I have four PPCs in my weapon pods. Let me try to kill this Summoner with my machine guns.

MW3: I am Summoner, and I am undamaged. Let me try to kill this crippled Firefly with my abnormally-slow recharging PPC, completely ignoring the existence of my AC. Also, I think that Mad Dog over there is a friend, so I can casually ignore him, right?

MW4: I am Shadow Cat, and missiles are incoming. My commander tells me to eject, so I scream unintelligible gibberish and go kaboom.

Um I've never heard of a version of the Timber Wolf with Four ER PPCS in the Arms. That was the War Hawk, though obviously you might have customized one to that extent. There was a variant with two PPCs which is the one I assumed was present though that doesn't explain why the mech didn't use his SRMS if it was that version so you have a point.

Mech Three Moment: If you noticed the missile salvo from the fireflys blew the arm with the LBX autocannon off so that weapon was not available. My understanding of the Summoner hesitating was the fact the Firely going critical right in his face had overloaded his Head-up targeting and that he couldn't clearly see the Mad Dog to shoot it.

Mech Four:Actually I was surprised the commander first suggested using AMS. Those looked like arrow four missiles coming in and to my recollection in the videogames AMS never did anything to stop artillery missiles. As to why she didn't eject I have no idea unless it was pigheaded determination or a failure of the eject mechanism.


But I do think those were still epic moments in Mechwarrior though of course not the only moments. Just the ones that happened to come to mind.