6 replies to this topic

[Graphite]

http://mwomercs.com/...deo/dPoqjslGcO0
The video of the Hunchback HBK-4G in the mechlab shows:

• The mech has 320 points of armour (double TT's 160), and apparently(?) a maximum of 700 points
  
• 1 ton of AC20 ammo gives 5 shots (same as TT)
  
• 1 ton of AC5 ammo gives 20 shots (same as TT)
  
• The Small Laser has been moved from the head to the centre torso
  
• The right torso contains an AC20 and has 3 ballistic hardpoints
  
• Each arm has a Medium Laser and 3 energy hardpoints 2 energy hardpoints (updated from: http://www.zam.com/s...tml?story=30094)
  
• The centre torso has a Small Laser and 3 energy hardpoints

Obviously things are subject to change before release to the public, but taking it as it is, we can make some interesting observations:


- Armour has been doubled (possibly quadrupled!) but shots per tons of ammo has stayed the same. Doubling damage to match the armour would be pointless as it'd just negate the point of doubling armour in the first place.
Best guess is battles were too short with official armour values.
This must change - in a 1v1 battle (for example) a mech with ballistic and missile weapons won't have enough ammo to destroy an enemy mech!
Surely shots per ton of ammo must be increased to match the armour increase?

- Either each weapon or each weaponised location in the official design gets given 3 appropriate hardpoints.
Hardpoints are not allocated 1 per weapon present in the official design.
Best guess is 3 hardpoints per location, of any weapon types present, not 3 per weapon present because this would give too many hardpoints (e.g. 6 ballistic per arm for the Jagermech) and is unnecessary: we aren't going to see an official design with more than 3 weapons of a type in a single location.
Sound correct?

- The fact that the torso has 3 hardpoints but only 2 crit slots strongly suggests there's still work to be done on finalising hardpoints.

What do you think? Will ammo shots per ton be increased?
Will hardpoint allocation stay as shown? (I think it's quite good actually - more flexible than 1 hardpoint per official weapon)
Anyone have any idea why they moved the small laser?

Edited by Graphite, 18 July 2012 - 04:49 PM.

[Graphite]

Something else that (almost) definitively rules out just one hardpoint given per official weapon:

http://mwomercs.com/...-blog-6-mechlab

Quote

Each location on a BattleMech, such as the Right Arm or Center Torso, may include a number of hard points. The number of hard points in a given location is determined on a per variant basis, and is based on the weapons included in the variant’s default loadout. For example, a ’Mech that, by default, comes with 2 Medium Lasers and an Autocannon/2 in its Left Torso may actually have 3 energy weapon hard points and 2 ballistic hard points in that location. So, if the player is able to satisfy the weight and critical slot requirements, they could equip an additional energy weapon and ballistic weapon into that Left Torso, or swap out the Medium Lasers for other energy weapons, etc.

[Der Zivilist]

A problem with "analyzing the Mechlab video" is the fact that it was posted on May 11th - and therefore, probably recorded around the end of April, or in the first week of May.

We now have the middle of July. Up to two and a half months have passed since then, in a beta phase game where the devs are crunching like crazy. Were you aware that these guys only started making this game in October 2011? That was 9 months ago. The mechlab video, therefore, is outdated by almost a third of the entire development time. Not to mention that what was available in April were the earliest playable beta builds, with just 4-5 Mechs and absolutely no polish.

For example, we know that since then, hardpoint layouts have been adjusted at least once, likely twice, possible more than twice. We also know they are keeping the weight and slot costs for all weapons at tabletop standard, but are balance-tuning all other stats. We may end up with ammo-based weapons doing far more damage than in tabletop, or having far more shots. Or maybe they'll readjust the armor amounts. Who knows?

Your efforts in honor, but I think at this point in time it's a fruitless endeavour.

[Whip]

The Game is still developing, growing, learning.......Give it time young Padwan!!

[irony1999]

The arm hardpoints have been reduced to 2 energy as of July. Check out the screenshot here:
http://www.zam.com/s...tml?story=30094

[Redshift2k5]

The video is pretty old

I'd hold off any intense scrutinization until more information becomes available, you'll just be jumping to conclusions based on outdated information until then.

[Graphite]

Der Zivilist, on 18 July 2012 - 06:31 AM, said:

A problem with "analyzing the Mechlab video" is the fact that it was posted on May 11th - and therefore, probably recorded around the end of April, or in the first week of May.

Your efforts in honor, but I think at this point in time it's a fruitless endeavour.

I mentioned myself in the OP that things were likely to change

There's no goal of reaching some conclusion here, or managing to guess exactly what the final lab will be like, I started the thread simply for enjoyment and interest - it's a topic I like discussing!

irony1999, on 18 July 2012 - 07:29 AM, said:

The arm hardpoints have been reduced to 2 energy as of July. Check out the screenshot here:
http://www.zam.com/s...tml?story=30094

Cool, thanks irony!