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Follow up wall of text incoming.
I am all for this idea, this system would be the mech equivalent of the spin recovery system in some flight control systems. I feel it would effectively reintroduce collisions, whilst making it more up to pilot skill to get the most out of. To quickly recap, when "staggered" a mech's HUD would display a dot-in-circle Center of Balance prompt, and pilot input could correct the balance of the mech and prevent a fall. Most of the time...
Some additions I would state working hand in hand with the above are:
-Skidding on paved and icy surfaces, when cornering at speed. Suggest a "lean in" dynamic, which fades to "lean out" as the mech loses balance. Skillful application of jumpjets can improve turn in. (more on JJ's below)
Pilot tree unlock: "Defensive Driving"
light mechs get 20% increase in turning stability
-Ballistic impact and recoil effects. Magnified while airborne.
Pilot Tree unlock: "Rock Solid"
Assault mechs get 20% resistance to ballistic forces. Does not apply whilst airborne.
-Jumpjets require constant attention to keep mech from a bad landing. I also propose the JJ's provide an immediate kick to forward momentum, and a constant forward acceleration, partly based on CoB (ie: constant full rearward input required to keep near 0 forward motion)
Mech Tree unlock: "Vectored Thrusters"
Mech is 20% more stable during a jump
-JJ's can be "feathered" whilst turning hard, to keep mech leaning in. This is entirely up to the pilot, and overuse or late use, (ie: when starting to "lean out" during a turn, CoB outside arc of turn) can cause the mech to spear off in an unwanted direction.
-Heat causes a mech to become progressively more prone to stagger. This is to simulate the movement penalties in TT, without slowing the mech down directly, so that you can still run away to cool off.
-Targeting Computers (as in Homeless Bill's proposed alternative to heat-scale, link below) would immediately cut out while a mech was in a staggered state. Includes during a jump.
http://mwomercs.com/...oats-and-clans/
-Mech construction directly affects stability, with stock mechs, and mechs with the EXACT allocation of tons per location gaining the "well balanced" quirk, 20% more stable. Mechs with a deviation of more than 10 Tons deviation (total left) vs (total right) from stock gain "poorly balanced" quirk with 20% penalty to stability. This again alludes to TT's customisation system, without copying it directly.
-Finally, for immersion's sake, I would suggest including slight variation in the PoV within the cockpit, representing the pilot leaning against the lean and gee's felt within the mech (sliding the camera side to side and forwards/backwards), and looking instinctively in the direction of travel, as opposed to the direction the cockpit was facing.
So, that's a wrap, feedback appreciated and as always exact values are suggestions only and actual values should be playtested for balance.
Edited by Gryphorim, 10 August 2013 - 04:06 AM.
