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I forgot - twitter posts now set the limit of what is considered "TL:DR." I won't be bothering to condense any future posts in a futile attempt chasing an ever-shrinking target. I should change my tag to "the anti-twitter."
This post contains a non-cone of fire, no unpredictable randomness fix for "spike damage" / "high" alphas / pinpoint ... or for people in the know about the lore, the problem of "somehow this unit isn't behaving like a BattleMech in combat." This fix would result in predictable gameplay outcomes based on player aiming skill and player choices. The basic "Maths" this fix uses are easy to grasp but allow for lots of player creativity.
The things it would have players making choices about and exercising their aiming skill to control gameplay outcomes are intuitive - easily understood and easily remembered.
No, this post isn't a suggestion - it's here as an an example of how to do something BESIDES a COF or unpredictable nonsense, in a way that makes for fun gameplay AND sticks to the lore at large. I got tired of seeing that the only two ideas posted are - "somehow use a Cone of Fire" or "just add unpredictable randomness and get over it."
In the simplest terms possible, this fix represents doing nothing more and nothing less than adding something to MWO that MWO is missing - how well a BattleMech can get each individual weapon mounted in it to hit what the 'Mech's pilot is tracking with the crosshairs on their main cockpit HUD. Yes, 'Mechs can and do individually aim every weapon mounted in them, even weapons mounted in places other than their arms. Knowing, predicting, and controlling for this BattleMech weapons-handling is the biggest chunk of 'Mech-pilot "gunnery skill" and it's simply ... not present in MWO. No, it's not complex to learn, track, or predict how your BattleMech will handle any given situation - again, it's overwhelmingly intuitive stuff.
I will explain the maths with some visual helps and in-game examples. After that, I'll do a little more necessary explanation about a related topic and than finally a few comments about actually implementing the idea of putting 'Mech weapons-handling into the game.
Before you go any further, three quick things:
First, your skill with your mouse or joystick and your choices would determine not just what would hit your overall target, but also how concentrated your weapons fire would be "under your crosshairs" - and you would be able to concentrate your fire to devastating effect, if you made the right tradeoffs to do so. I am not just saying this ... it IS true!
Second, the visuals below represent *the ultimate capabilities of a Battlemech* in any given situation to get it's weapons concentrated under the crosshairs you track your target with. Yes, this has been confirmed, by "the horse's mouth" and no, it's not "splatter fire/spray 'n pray/massed muskets." This is what makes BattleMechs different than gundams and other eastern mechas that wall-jump, fly at obscene speeds, and shoot the center out of dimes on the other side of the solar system.
Third, the visuals will go from least concentrated fire, narrowing down to the most concentrated fire.
Yes, I'm being repetitive about a few things - and I will continue to be, for very good reasons.
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The first visual help and it's explanation:
The above picture represents visually what the maths represent in hard terms for the most basic situation - aiming at front center of mass of the front of a mobile 'Mech. In gameplay, this is what you get when you're not making any risk/reward tradeoffs to concentrate your fire, and you're aiming for the front center of mass.
The colors aren't linked to specific numbers - rather they show how the weapons fire can spread across your target. In this visual, Red is highest percentage, orange is lower, yellow lower, etc.
The hit percentages: Red is 1 out of 5 shots (19.5%) hitting. Orange is 1 out of 7 hitting (14%). Yellow is 1 of 9 (11%) hitting. Lightest yellow is 1 out of 36 (2.8%) hitting.
HOLY CRAP, THAT'S HORRIBLE! ... there, now I said it so you don't have to. Actually, it's not horrible. How can it possibly not be? For two reasons.
- First: the above and below visuals and maths represents the spreading of fire of all weapons that have already been determined to have hit the overall target! - Yes, this fix breaks damage assessment down into a two-part process ("what hits" than "what parts get hit") but I'm trying to keep this easy instead of dumping everything onto you at once. Once I am done explaining the damage concentration percentages and how player skill and choices control them, I'll explain how player skill and choices determine "what weapons hit the overall target."
- Second: only that, the armor, weapons heat, heatsink, and weapons numbers would be reset back to their stock "original" numbers and behaviors, giving back everything that had to be taken away as a direct and unavoidable result of not implementing the BattleMech's ability to align the weapons in any given situation. The original overheating penalties would be used, instead of what MWO is using right now - all of the heat penalties would be easily tracked and accounted for. The equipment behavior would be (if properly and systematically implemented) to lore standards. It would also be best ... if not necessary ... that the 'Mechlab sized limited the hardpoints.
"this visual is for all weapons that have already hit, the armor, heat, and damage numbers aren't the same, and equipment would perform like it does in the lore"
... when you see the visual helps and their explanations... helps & etc. that represent the BattleMech's weapons handling ability & etc.
Moving on, the second visual help and explanation:
This represents aiming for the legs and extreme lower parts of the front of a mobile 'Mech. It's referred to as a "called shot" - in this case, it's a "low" shot. Called shots are when you're trying to get your 'Mech to hit a smaller cross-section of your target - a higher damage concentration.
Why are the whole left and right torso's colored in? Because the armor numbers are balanced against damage against this specific set of locations. For the front, the armor numbers are broken up into eight subsections. Visually in the game, shots hitting the torsos would be rendered hitting the bottom section of the torsos, representing "calling" a shot "low."
Red on the legs represents 2 out of six shots hitting either leg (33%) - this means 66% of your shots will hit a leg. Orange represents 1 of 6 hitting either torso (17%) or about 34% total hitting the torsos. White represents things that WILL NOT be hit.
In the game, this is when you aim at the legs of a mobile 'Mech. Yes, this means the old saw of "You want a system where you can aim at his toe and hit his cockpit" IS NOT TRUE.
Third visual help:
This represents a "called shot" against the left of a mobile 'Mech.
Red is 1 of 5 (19.5%) hitting. Orange is 1 of 7 (14%). Lighter orange is 1 of 9 (11%). Yellow is 1 of 12 (8%), light yellow is 1 of 18 (5.5%), Off-white is 1 of 36 (2.8%). For aiming right, simply flip the visual and apply it to the right.
Fourth visual:
This is, you guessed it, "calling" a high shot at the front of a mobile 'Mech.
Obviously, the chances are equal all the way across the top of the 'Mech! It's 1 of 16 (17%). White is, again, what WON'T get hit - you can't aim at his cockpit and hit his toe!
WAIT, but won't everyone just aim high and blow the cockpit to shreds by firing lots of weapons? No. I'll tell you why further down! Hang in there!
Fifth visual:
This represents the high end of the tradeoffs-for-rewards spectrum, or when your target is either DUMB or has been otherwise forced into a horrible situation by other players. In this fix, this is referred to as an "aimed shot." This visual is for an "aimed" shot against the front center-torso section of your target.
Red is (hold onto your cookies) 64% hitting. The other percentages are the same as the very first visual. Torsos and arms next highest, legs next highest, cockpit lowest percent hitting. Ha-ha, only 64%, I want 100%, or I won't be able to kill targets with extreme prejudice, you say? You must have forgotten that this fix would use the original weapons damage numbers versus original armor numbers, which would make this is a TERRIFYING level of concentration. Don't believe me? Keep reading.
How about an aimed shot against the cockpit? You know as soon as you saw the above, you wanted to see how it worked out against the cockpit!
Red represents 47% (instead of 2.8%) hitting the cockpit. Again, the other armor sections are the same hitting as the first visual.
If you suspect that an aimed shot just adds a 44.5% chance of hitting to the numbers on the first visual - you'd be right! If you want to see how many weapons hit any given section, just add 44.5% to the percentage representing the section you want to see "aimed at."
So, how would you, as a player, do "aimed shots" in the game? Here's how:
- With or without an advanced TC against a target that is not only standing still, but is Immobile (not able to move) - say, it's shutdown due to overheat, etc. Against immobile targets, this automatically happens. However, the cockpit is still pretty hard to hit (for obvious gameplay reasons).
- By adding an advanced targeting computer to your 'Mech - which can get VERY heavy and big QUICKLY and it only would work with certain weapons types - allowing you to get this concentration against not only immobile targets, but MOBILE targets too. However, it does NOT allow you to do an aimed-shot against the cockpit of a mobile 'Mech. In order to use this against mobile targets, you would activate the advanced TC "toggle."
- When using a SINGLE weapon AND keeping your 'Mech standing still AND keeping your crosshairs over the part you want to hit nearly "perfectly" for ten seconds you can, with or without a TC, do aimed shots against immobile AND mobile targets. Sorry, no chain-fire aimed shots or aiming against cockpits of mobile targets using this!
If you understand the above, than move on to the next part...
The second part of this fix.
REMEMBER! The examples below are to show what affects weapons "connection" against your overall target - the examples from above showed how those hits that have already connected are actually applied to the various sections of the target!
So, how do you know what weapons are going to hit your overall target? How can THIS part possibly be based off of player aiming skill and player choices? I'll use some more examples to explain the "what hits" part of the fix, using, yet again, in-game situations as examples.
For the first example: let's keep it simple and just list some situations that affect your 'Mech's ability to get the weapons mounted in it to hit what you're tracking with your crosshairs on the cockput HUD.
Let's say you're firing a single IS medium laser at a 'Mech. Well, what things that could happen that would affect your 'Mech's ability to hit your overall target?
Intuitive stuff, really - What range is your target at ... is he at the long end of the effective range listed for the IS medium laser you're firing? How fast is your target moving when you shoot? Is your target jinking in and out of cover, attempting to be evasive? Has your 'Mech taken damage to it's sensors? How about damage to the ISML you're firing? Are you trying to pull off the shot while you have your 'Mech doing a full-on run? Maybe as a snap-shot while jumping? Are you running your 'Mech hot? This obviously isn't a list of all possible factors, but it should give you a good idea of what to account for.
Second example:
Let's pick a few simple commonly encountered factors: You're trying to make a shot while you have your 'Mech at a walk, and your target is at a run and at Medium-range for your ISMLaser. Let's add up the effects one by one.
Medium range for your ISml - 100% of shots connecting... add in that your target is moving at about 76Kph - (240 M moved): - now it's 5 of 6 that connect (83%)... finally add in that you're moving at walking speed when you make the shot, resulting in about 72% connection with your weapons.
(For the math-heads, this connection rate is done for, if you chain fire, each individual weapon that's fired, for group or alpha fired weapons, it's done for the least accurate weapon in the group.)
Notice - it's player choices (yours and your opponents) that control the outcome here. You and your target can easily account for and control these factors.
But what if you don't like this, and want to tilt the playing field to your advantage? Here's one way - swap the ISML you were using for an IS Med. Pulse laser - because it's more accurate, instead of 72% connecting, you have 92% connecting (11 of 12). Or, alternatively you could stick with the ISml and put yourself somewhere where you can safely make the shot while stationary, without giving up the tonnage the ISmpl's require, thus allowing your 'Mech to hit at 83% (5 of 6).
Ok, well, this gives you a peek at why player CHOICES determine outcomes, but how can player aiming SKILL also help to determine outcomes? On to the...
Third example:
Jump down to the fourth visual above - you want to have your shots hitting "high," in order to have a better chance of hitting the cockpit. Well what has THAT got to do with player skill with their controller? ... It's simple - in order to aim high enough to get your 'Mech to try and concentrate its fire on the top of your target, you have to keep your crosshairs on that smaller part of the target - sure, easy when you and your target are parked - not so easy when you're both moving and far harder when evasive movement comes into play.
Now, on to the example itself - you put the crosshairs in the right place to get your 'Mech to try and concentrate it's fire on the upper part of your target.. How much harder is this for your 'Mech to overcome?
let's work it out for the same factors of the first example - You're firing an ISml, at it's medium range, your target is at a run, and you're at a walk.
Instead of a 72% connect rate you now have a 28% rate (5 of 18).
Wowzers! ... well, now you know why I told you that no, everyone WON'T always be trying to do a "called high" shot to blow your cockpit off. You have to make a risk/reward tradeoff in order to call high/low/left/right... attempting to concentrate shots against a smaller cross-section of your target. How much tradeoff? Well, using the same example, you'd have to be stationary AND instead of using the ISmls, you'd have to be mounting ISmpls... or, if you don't change any of YOUR behavior, in order to get back up to that 72% connection rate, your target would have to be stationary. Yet again, - player choices and skill, affecting outcome - and again, the factors are all intuitive. Trying to hit a smaller section of a mobile target? That's a lot harder to do than just trying to connect with a shot against the target's "center of mass."
Well, what about the tightest concentration of shots that have been determined to hit? The "aimed shot" ... what kind of skill and choices does THAT require to do?
Fourth example:
I'll tease this one out for the kind of situation guys running in the top tier would expect to encounter under this fix; because this represents the set of highest risk/ highest reward tradeoffs. That said, I won't be exhaustive about it, because that would wind up taking a LOT of writing!
I'll do an example of a defend Vs. Attack situation. The defender is in an assault weight clan 'Mech. Attacker is in a heavy weight class clan 'Mech.
Defender is in a position on the map where he has cover, a good field of fire, and a large open space must be covered in order to get close to him. His attacker has to close the gap.
The defender has made the sacrifices necessary to acquire and a Daishi and customize it specifically for his playstyle. His build uses a Clan Gauss, 11 CMPlasers, and a targeting computer. This build does15 damage (the gauss) at long range, and at medium range and under, it does 92!. For reference, an AS7-D Atlas has 47 points of front CT armor backed by 31 points of internal structure ... can you see now, why stock damage numbers VS stock armor numbers couldn't be used without ALSO simulating of the BattleMech's weapons handling ability?
The attacker is piloting a Thor, with max jump, 8 Clan Medium pulse lasers (56 damage) and enough heatsinks to be virtually heat-neutral.
Defender is stationary in the best defensive spot he can find and is doing an "aimed shot" at the CT of the attacker. The attacker has been forced to cross the gap to attack, so he's doing a full-on boogie (86kph) and piloting as evasively as he can, in his attempt to reach attack range. For a normal, non-called, non-aimed shot, with average direct fire weapons, the attacker is forcing the defender down to about 72% weapons-connection. But the defender here wants to do an aimed shot - well, aimed shots, just like called shots, are harder to make against mobile targets in this case, driving things down to a 28% connection rate.
The defender has to do a LOT of work to make an aimed shot against his attacker! So what has the defender done that helps him? First, he's picked a place with enough of a clear field of fire around it that he can spend at least ten seconds allowing his 'Mech's advanced TC to get a better than normal fix on his target - second, he's put the gauss rifle in his 'Mech's arm - which means he can brace that arm on appropriate structures/objects on the map to further steady it (a large rock, a house, etc), and last of all, he's spent the time and effort training himself to skillfully keep his crosshairs nearly perfectly on the center of the location he wants to shoot (the ct, in this example).
Doing these things allows him to get one or two "aimed" shots off at long range against the CT of the attacker with 92% of his weapons fire connecting - and because it's an aimed shot versus the attacker's CT, instead of a 20% hit rate against the CT for all weapons that hit, the defender has a 64% rate of hitting the CT - and remember, its 15 pts damage from his gauss vs 27 armor on the CT (22 for the side torsos). If the attacker is just plumb lucky enough to actually get to medium range w/o being crippled outright, he's facing a FAR worse situation - at medium range, the defender's advanced TC makes his MPLs more accurate than the attackers, and he's got less armor and damage output than the defender.
The tactical moral of this situation? The attacker should have brought friends and attempted to have drawn out the defender!
If you're thinking to yourself something like " but ... all of these examples about what a player can do to make it easier for his 'Mech to get it's weapons to hit his overall target seem to be nothing more than just ... common sense!" ... Yep. You're right.
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So, wouldn't this require some crazy level of computing power? ... No. All that it would require would be simple addition of, at worst, a moderate amount of small numbers, and a choice between 2-12 and 1-6, connected to variables in an "if (x) happens/than do (y) database" (and MWO most likely already has just such a database already). This math is nowhere near as complex as calculating a cone in real time - even worse calculating a cone in real time and changing the shape and volume of that cone in relation to conditions so that the results it gives make sense - or, God forbid, calculating a such a morphing cone for EVERY weapon on a 'Mech!
But won't the game have to collect all sorts of extra information to do this? Not likely, IMO. The game already has to know where all of the players are (in relation to each other, no less), what they are using ('mech/weapons), what they've fired, when they fired it, not only who they fired it at, but what part they fired at - it even has to calculate if a weapons port is blocked or not and if any given target can be seen and/or hit!
Edited by Pht, 28 September 2014 - 03:18 PM.
