29 replies to this topic

[Ovion]

I quite often write full and micro guides for people, in random topics, random people or random threads.

To consolidate it all, so people can see them for themselves easily, and for me to quote at people easier when I need to, I'm creating this thread.

Each guide will be a seperate post in this thread, formatted for easy quoting in other threads, and linked to the contents in this post here.

Contents:

• How Camo and Colours work
  
• What are the different types of Mech
  
• How to Optimise MWO if you're having Framerate Issues or are using a lower spec computer
  
• How to run Mechwarrior Online through the Steam Client, with the Steam Overlay
  
• How Mastering mechs works
  
• Buying and selling mechs
  
• Locust Theory
  
• How Armour and Internal structure work
  
• Critical Hits

Any empty guides are placeholders waiting for completion, and are coming soon.

Edited by Ovion, 23 February 2015 - 04:40 PM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How Camo and Colours work:
Camo Specs
Camo Patterns come in 3 flavours - Unlock, One-Shot and Unique.
Unlocks are a permament unlock for that Chasis. You can change the pattern and colours as often as you like.
They are pricey though, running you either 750 MC for a 'Standard' pattern, 1250 MC for a 'Premium' pattern or 1500MC for a 'Faction' pattern.

One-Shot camos are one-use patterns. You can change the Colours as often as you like, but if you change the pattern, you lose the One-Shot.
They're great if you don't intend to change the pattern around.
The bonus of this is they cost 1/10th that of an Unlock, at 75 MC for a 'Standard' pattern, 125 MC for a 'Premium' pattern or 150MC for a 'Faction' pattern.

Unique patterns are limited to Heroes and Unique Geometry mechs.
You can change the Colours as much as you like, but can never change the Camo Spec.
Additionally, certain colour panels may be locked on Unique patterns.

So if you only want to do 3 mechs, and leave them at that single pattern forever, then One-Shots are the way to go for you!
You can even have 3 different patterns if you want.

There have been Camo sales in the past (normally 50% off), so you could always wait for one of those, but I generally recommend one-shots.
If it's on sale and there's 2 Camo's you'll regularly want on one chasis (or 5+ mechs you want it on), then go unlock.
<sub>Example -
I have bought One-Shot Camo Specs for each of my 3 Spiders, 3 Catapults, and one Cicada (Phranken), 1 for my 4th (Urbie)Spider (Sherman), and 1 for my Dire Wolf B (Snowfall).
That's 9 mechs with Camo, for less than the cost of 1 unlock.
I'm considering buying one-shots for a couple more of my mechs, like my Jaegers, new Cicada and Ravens.
I don't really want to change any of these, mostly because the others are sort of pants on those mechs (in my opinion) so it works out MASSIVELY cheaper.

I've also bought the Phranken and Hotrod Unlock for my locusts when it was on sale, as I have 8 of them and at that point it cost the same as getting the One-Shots.

While I understand that Camo can be seen as expensive, and it can seem annoying or cash grabby for it to be per chasis, please understand that each Camo Spec must be made specially for each chasis, taking time and money and there is a reason they've done it this way.</sub>

Colours
Colours come in 3 flavours - Basic, Standard and Premium.
All colours are a universale unlock - purchase once, and that colour is permamantly available for all your mechs.
Basic Colours are the 5 free colours in the game.
You get Basic Green by default, and the remaining 4 are available for 1.25million C-Bills each.
They're actually not bad, I think the Red is nicer than most of the Premium Reds too.
Especially good as a Block colour, or highlight.
As modeled by the lovely Locust below:

Spoiler

Standard Colours are generally, just a straight shade really.
These cost 500MC and come in a wide range.

Premimum Colours are either more desirable (i.e. - pure black and white), or specifically linked to particular Premium Camos (i.e. - the colours that are 'meant' to go with the scheme).
These cost 1000MC and come in a wide range of slightly nicer shades.

Ultimately, I recommend never buying any colours apart from Basic, unless it's 50% off.
_{Additionally, Camo shades are a fantastic range of matte Standard colours, so 250MC on sale.
I've got 1/3 to half of the Camo colours and tend to buy more each time they go on sale.}

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 11 June 2015 - 08:49 AM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
What are the different types of Mech:
There are 2 types of Mech and 4 types of Variant

Mechs
Mechs are split into Battlemechs and Omnimechs.

As a family, each Mech is a Chasis, and each Chasis is split into Variants, with 3 Variants required to unlock the Elite and Master level skills of the Mech Chasis.
All Mechs have at least 3 Variants for this reason.

Battlemechs are single Chasis that have fixed Hardpoints and an available Engine range. Each variant also has a number of upgrades to choose from.
Battlemechs are primarily used by the Innersphere.
Inner Sphere Battlemechs may only use Inner Sphere weapons and equipment.
Clan Battlemechs work on the same principle, but may only use Clan weapons and equipment.

Omnimechs are a modular system, that have a Center Torso 'Core' with a fixed engine, hardpoints and upgrades, and interchangeable components known as Omnipods.
_{Omnimechs are able to select whether Artemis IV is installed on the Missile Systems of the mech or not. This is determined by the 'Core' of the Mech}
The base Variant of the mech is determined by the Center Torso 'Core' of the mech.
Each Omnipod has fixed hardpoints, and some fixed equipment, but is interchangeble among Chasis cores.
Omnimechs are currently only used by the Clans and may only use Clan weapons and equipment.
_{The payoff is, even though Omnimechs have less options with speed and upgrades, they have more freedom with Hardpoints and the equipment is Lighter, meaning you can take more of it.}

Variants
Standard Mechs are the regular variants of all mechs.
They are available for C-Bills and MC.
They have no special bonuses or restrictions to gameplay, beyond those mentioned above.

Champion Mechs are Standard variants that come pre-upgraded.
They are only available for MC.
They often have a semi to almost optimised loadout, with all practical upgrades already in place _{(ES, FF, DHS, etc, if commonly needed, generally useful weapons for the frame, and if Clan with 'popular' Omnipods)}
These mechs have a 30% bonus to XP and GXP generation.
They are found in the Champion section of the Mechlab, with a C on the 'info card'.
_{Champions are good for the impatient and the lazy, providing a near-ready-to-go mech, that will level and provide GXP faster, but otherwise provide no particular bonus over Standard variants.
Authors opinion - They're only generally worth it in half-price sales, as they provide good gear on the cheap.
Especially the Jenner which comes with an XL300 for peanuts on sale.}

Hero Mechs are unique variants of mechs that have a special locked Camo Spec.
These mechs have a 30% bonus to C-Bill generation.
They are found in the Hero section of the Mechlab, with a H on the 'info card'.

Unique Geometry Mechs are 'mini-Hero' variants. They have special models and a special locked Camo Spec, but are otherwise the same as their base Standard variant.
They are Limited Edition Collectors items, received through the purchase of Packages, or through special Events.
These are the Founder, Phoenix, Invasion, Gold, Loyalty, Resistance and Urbanmech Collectors variants so far.
Their names include (F), (P), (I), (G), (L), ® and ^TBD respectively.
These mechs have a 30% bonus to C-Bill generation.
They are found in the Champion section of the Mechlab, with a C on the 'info card'.
Additionally, these mechs cannot be sold and once received are a permanent addition to your collection.

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 02 November 2015 - 06:04 AM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How to Optimise MWO if you're having Framerate Issues or are using a lower spec computer:
Not everyone has a powerhouse computer, and often MWO won't run amazingly well even if you do have a decent machine.
And even if you do, it may be worth optimising the game to improve overall performance regardless.

I've spent a long time dealing with the problem of a lower-spec PC and I've gathered quite a bit of info about improving performance out of necessity.
Much of this infomation is on the forums and in patch notes, but buried in the distant past and often spread across several threads and sub-forums.

user.cfg
The first thing and most useful thing is to adjust your user.cfg file.
This will be in C:\Program Files\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online _{(or your personal install location for MWO)}
If you don't have a user.cfg, you can create a notepad file and name it user.cfg _{(ensure you have 'view file extensions' turned on, to void a file called user.cfg.txt)
If you have User Account Control active, you're best off copying (or creating) the user.cfg to the desktop, editing it there, then pasting it into your MWO directory.
If you have UAC active, in addition to the above, run MWO as admin (by right clicking on the launch icon and selecting 'Run as Admin') at least once for the changes to take effect.}

In that file put the following:

Spoiler

cl_fov = 86
gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass = 0
r_DepthOfField = 0
r_HDRGrainAmount = 0.0
sys_MaxFPS = 30
r_ssao = 0
r_ssdo = 0
e_TerrainAo = 0
sys_PakPriority = 0
sys_PakPriority 0
sys_PakValidateFileHash = 0

• fov is the Field of View, from memory this shouldn't be set higher than around 90-95, or lower than around 60 to avoid errors.
  
• Cockpit Glass is the texture on the glass, Flim grain adds film grain, depthoffield is blur. These don't really do much gamewise, just eat quite a bit of resources, or obscure the screen a little.
  
• MaxFPS is an FPS cap, meaning it won't attempt to run higher freeing up additional resources rather than trying to push for FPS, which can go to other things.- If you're hitting 30FPS fine, you can attempt increasing it to 45, then 60.
  
• The rest are things I still don't entirely understand, but they help, so I continue to use them!

Settings
In game go to Settings (found in the bottom right of the screen), then Video.
- Start by ensuring you've set the System Specifications setting on LOW.
- Screen Resolution should be set to your screen resolution. Lowering it will help performance though.
- - If lowering the Resolution, ideally start by retaining the Aspect Ratio of your monitor (refer to the following chart to find out what resolutions match the aspect ratio of your moniter)

Spoiler

Reducing the Aspect Ratio to 4:3 will further increase performance, at the cost of visual area and overall quality.
- Under Windowed Mode Full mode is the least graphically intensive from memory, though Full Window allows for alt-tabbing out easier, and multi-screen without your secondry (or more) monitor(s) freaking out.
- For Direct X Version, DX9 is often better than DX11 currently but it's hit and miss, though you'll need to compare performance with both to find out which works best fo you.
- Motion Blur should be OFF.
- 3D Vision Mode if you have the option for it, should really be OFF.
- V-Sync should be ON.
- Damage Glow should be OFF.

Under Advanded Options:
Start with everything in Advanced at LOW or OFF.
The most important one to have set 'LOW' is the Envoironment setting.
This is the single biggest resource drain.
After that, you can attempt raising Object Detail and Texturing to MEDIUM and see how it affects performance.

From there it's just tweaking the settings, raising each option Advanced Option one at a time to a point you still get a reasonably consistent 25-35FPS+ with the best graphics you can.

I would say improve Envoironment only after most settings are at MEDIUM, and Object Detail and Texturing are set to HIGH.

Additionally, if you have Graphics Software that comes with your cards Drivers (Such as Nvidia Experience, ATI Catalyst, etc), see if it has a 'Game Optimisation' tool.
If so, run that on MWO to see if it yields any performance improvements.

Computer Architecture
MWO now has the option to run using a 64bit client, better utilising the RAM and CPU of your computer, if it is running a 64bit OS.

It's not always going to help, it ultimately depends on exactly what and where the throttling issues causing your performance issue lie, but it's definately worth checking to see if it helps.

Instructions for how to switch to 64bit mode are:

Spoiler

InnerSphereNews, on 17 December 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

You can use the automated version detection tool found here to determine if you are running the 32 or 64-bit version of Windows.
Please note that the 64-bit client is not usable under 32-bit operating systems.

64-bit users running low-spec machines may experience performance issues if attempting to run the 64-bit client. We recommend that those users stick with the 32-bit client if they experience any issues.

To switch your client over to 64-bit, follow these steps:

• Just in case, make sure you run both the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer and the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redisitributable Package before trying to run the 64-bit MWO client.
  
• Once you have either run those packages or are sure that the required DirectX and Visual C++ packages are already installed, launch the MechWarrior Client and click the gear icon in the top right of the Launcher window.
  
• In the dropdown, select "Use 64-bit game client (if supported by Operating System)".
  
• Play!

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 11 February 2015 - 03:46 PM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How to run Mechwarrior Online through the Steam Client, with the Steam Overlay:

Spoiler

While it isn't full steam integration and far from perfect, I and others do like to access the Steam Overlay in game, and having it show as your 'now playing' is nice, and gets the game out there a bit more.

Filepath
To add MWO to steam, you first need to locate the Install directory, and the Client executable.
The default for this is:
32 Bit Mode: C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online\Bin32
64 Bit Mode: C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online\Bin64
If on a 32 Bit computer, it will be C:\Program Files\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online\Bin32

Open Mechwarrioronline.exe (found in the Bin32 folder), and using settings (2 small cogs in the top right of the window), and set to 'Automatically patch when updates are found' and either 32bit or 64bit as required.
You will either need to keep the link to this on your desktop, or create one to allow you to update the game.

Be sure to note the filepath of the mode you will be using.

Add Steam Entry
Next, go to Steam and select '+ ADD A GAME...', then 'Add a Non-Steam Game...'.
This will open an interface that after a few moments will populate with all the Programs installed on the computer.
You're looking for the 'MechWarrior Online' entry , if there it will show the 32 Bit location by default, don't worry about this.
If the entry for MWO is not there, you will need to manually browse through to the folder you found before and select the Mechwarrioronline.exe in the 32 Bit folder, this will add it to the list of programs.
Ensure the checkbox on the left is ticked, then click 'ADD SELECTED PROGRAMS'.

MWO will now show in your Steam Library.
Open it once to ensure it is working for now, then close it.
You will find it only allows the overlay in the patcher, and will only show you as playing MWO while using the patcher.
It may even crash the game. That isn't a worry at this stage, so long as the Patcher runs.

Configuring Steam Entry
The next step is to go to your Steam Library, right click on the MWO entry, and select 'Properties'.
It will open the Properties: Shortcut interface.

The Icon wants to remain the same.
The next entry is the name.
I put it as 'MechWarrior Online', it is what will show as the 'Now Playing' on your Steam when the game is open.

Target: needs to be set to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online\Bin64\MWOClient.exe" flowthru
Adjust filepath as required.

Start In: needs to be set to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Piranha Games\MechWarrior Online\Bin64\"
Adjust filepath as required.

You should now be able open MechWarrior Online and it will open the Log In screen.
It will bypass the Patcher, and you will now be able to use the Steam Overlay (default is Shift+Tab).

Known Issue
Mechwarrior Online and Steam can have clash with User Account Control on Windows Vista, 7 and 8..
If you open MWO and it crashes after this, try the following 2 options:
1 - Go to the MWOClient using the relevant filepath, right click and select 'Run as Administrator'.
Log in, then exit the game and attempt to open through steam.

If it still doesn't work, move on to:
Only do this if you are comfortable with turning off a safety feature of Windows and have sufficent Antivirus / Firewall protection in place.
2 - Try turning off UAC (User Account Control > User Accounts > Change User Account Control Settings) then restart.
This should resolve any further issue.

With the release of MWO on Steam, this is now mostly irrelevant, but I will leave it here for those that still wish to use the external client, with the steam overlay for some reason.

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 27 April 2016 - 07:15 PM.

[Burktross]

Ovion, on 04 February 2015 - 03:23 PM, said:

How to run Mechwarrior Online through the Steam Client, with the Steam Overlay:

Continue this please! :C

[Ovion]

Certainly will be.
Need enough time /consciousness after work to sort it.
To do:
Steam overlay {hopefully tommorow or Thursday, it's not an especially long one)
How Mastering mechs works
Buying and selling mechs
Possibly an introduction to Locust theory.
If you can think of more to do, feel free to ask.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How Mastering mechs works


Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 11 February 2015 - 03:44 PM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
Buying and selling mechs

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

Edited by Ovion, 11 February 2015 - 03:44 PM.

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
Locust Theory

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

[Alaskan Nobody]

Ovion, on 02 February 2015 - 02:37 PM, said:

Unique Geometry Mechs are 'mini-Hero' variants. They have special models and a special locked Camo Spec, but are otherwise the same as their base Standard variant.
These are the Founder, Phoenix, Invasion, Gold, Loyalty, Resistance and Urbanmech Collectors variants so far.
Their names include (F), (P), (I), (G), (L), ® and ^TBD respectively.
These mechs have a 30% bonus to C-Bill generation.
They are found in the Champion section of the Mechlab, with a C on the 'card' in the inventory.

One thought on these.

They do NOT show up under the Inventory section of the Home menu.

[Ovion]

Shar Wolf, on 11 February 2015 - 03:59 PM, said:

One thought on these.

They do NOT show up under the Inventory section of the Home menu.

True, they can't be sold, which is worth noting.

When I refer to Inventory, I meant Mechlab, I'll change that now.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Ovion, on 11 February 2015 - 04:12 PM, said:

When I refer to Inventory, I meant Mechlab, I'll change that now.

I noticed, which is why I clarified to the section of the Home menu.

[Ovion]

Pointing out the problems is the only way to fix them!
Hopefully they help.

[Alaskan Nobody]

About that...

Ovion, on 11 February 2015 - 03:13 PM, said:

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How Mastering mechs works
Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides

As you work on that, want to give some advice with mine?

I do not mind you making one as well (The way I phrase things confuses some people - but works better for others)
But I do not want mine to get buried either

[Ovion]

Shar Wolf, on 11 February 2015 - 04:42 PM, said:

About that...

As you work on that, want to give some advice with mine?

I do not mind you making one as well (The way I phrase things confuses some people - but works better for others)
But I do not want mine to get buried either

I'll take a look later on, will probably use it for reference too.

I wouldn't worry about it getting lost / buried, as mine is going to be a basic guide like the rest here, formatted to easily quote or reference in other threads, and just one of numerous here.
And as much as anything, a place to save things so when I rant at people it's easy to find to educate them.

My guide to Mastering will basically be 'This is why you need 3 mechs, and a basic overview of what that means'.
Mine won't have pictures either.
May even link yours as part of it for extra laziness on my part.

Edited by Ovion, 11 February 2015 - 04:48 PM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Ovion, on 11 February 2015 - 04:48 PM, said:

May even link yours as part of it for extra laziness on my part.

I would appreciate it, because it DOES get buried.
(Just before they added the (L) to the other two (L) mechs, it was on page 7!)

Hardest part of XP mastery seems to be the variants rule though - as that is the one that gets asked the most

Spoiler

IE:
Does the CN9-A and CN9-A(C) count as different variants type thing

[Ovion]

Which is a shame.

We ever find out what happened to the master help guide list?
At a time when they really want to improve the new player experience, not having it is confusing.

Also trying to remember what I wrote that was on it...
Possibly the optimisation guide...

[Alaskan Nobody]

Ovion, on 11 February 2015 - 05:03 PM, said:

We ever find out what happened to the master help guide list?
At a time when they really want to improve the new player experience, not having it is confusing.

Spoilered for risk of name and shame

Spoiler

GM Reppu wrote it
When his account disappeared, so did every post he made

[Ovion]

Ovion's Handy Guide to:
How Armour and Internal structure work

Part of Ovion's Collection Of Handy Dandy Guides