1 reply to this topic

[Iron Mouse]

Hello,

First let me say I was very excited to see ECM come into the game to counter the LRM and Streak boats in the game.

However, as I played more of the game (coming from a die hard BT player for 20+years) I noticed the ECM had gone horribly wrong. Now people are going to SRM boats and Laser/Canon boats.

The current design of ECM, and I appreciate the effort to stem the old boating, has failed and ECM is not working the way it is supposed to. ECM is not a cloaking device.

ECM, according to BT, works as such and if applied would counter LRM and STREAK boats while still encouraging creative variants rather then forcing people into variants they don't want.

ECM creates a bubble.. say the bubble extends 400 meters out from Mech A.
> Mech B (enemy) is standing 600 meters away from Mech A.
>>Mech B can still target with the targeting computer AND lock on with LRMs (artmis does not work though)
>>>HOWEVER, once the LRMs enter the 400 meter bubble they become dumbfire missiles and continue the current flight path and they no longer can lock on and follow.
>>>As long as I stay beyond the range of the bubble I can still lock on to you with Radar..ECM is NOT a cloaking device. NOW in MechCOmmander 2 they changed the rules so that it did Cloak you.. the original BT design for ECM was NOT a cloaking device.


NOW.. how to fix...a compromise.

1.) DO as stated above. Make the bubble say 500 meters from center of equipped unit.. 600 pushing it.

2.) INSIDE THE BUBBLE -Beagle Active Probe, Artimis, Streaks, and NARC (minus TAG) does not work inside the bubble. Radar no longer works for enemies (aka MAP view)

3.) OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE - If I can see you then my targeting computer can lock on to you (aka hitting "R" and I can cycle) LRMs can lock on but once the missiles enter the 500 meter bubble they no longer are locked on and act as a SRM continuing the flight path no longer able follow.

4.)As usual, TAG negates the ECM and LRMs work as normal (minus ARtimus)

NOTE--if the Programing of the game won't allow the ability of the LRMS to go into a dumbfire mode once they enter the bubble..THEN to make the ECM more balanced the Rule of "if I can see you I can lock on to you if I am outside the bubble" needs to be set.

Currently ECM is very broken and I know 8 people that have left the game and I agree.. If I can see a gaggle of mechs 600+ meters out.. I should be able to hit "R" and cycle through and lock on. I know the LRMS will only hit IF the target has not moved but in the BT world.. you could still fire LRMs at a ECM target but if I remeber right the rules were treated as indirect fire rules.

Eitherway.. please fix ECM.. your losing player base.


OH.. if want cloaking..then introduce Stealth armor..thats the closest thing BT had to a complete cloaking ability.

Edited by Iron Mouse, 01 January 2013 - 05:54 PM.

[Szaesse]

Stealth Armor is about 10 years from this point in history. We're a full decade before the FedCom Civil War, which is around the point where the Capellans started developing Stealth Armor. It wasn't actually deployed until the late 3060's, and wasn't available to anyone but the Capellans until 3071 when the Federated Suns stole the design. So Stealth Armor is a ways away. It's also weaker than the original Null Signature System of the Star League (which, when combined with the Chameleon Light Polarization Shield, created almost perfect cloaking).

However, there is a certain point at which you are correct. The Targeting Computer in a mech would only be messed with once a Mech entered the 180m diameter of the ECM unit. As for whether you have the ability to make missiles go "dumbfire" once they enter the field, yes it's possible. The programming is already in the game. It's treated the same as if you loose target lock before the missiles impact.
Now, you CAN still use LRM's in dumbfire mode as it currently is. You don't need a lock to fire your LRM's. You only require a lock for Streaks (this should actually be removed, in my opinion, simply because of the fact that ECM makes Streaks totally worthless, which isn't the case. Streaks can fire just like a standard SRM when inside an ECM field.
Regardless, you should be able to target something so long as you are outside the field. The problem comes with the way the game works. At present, you or one of your allies have to have LOS of an enemy for them to show up on your radar. This allows you to target the unit in question. In the BT universe, you didn't require LOS to locate a unit on your radar. So long as there wasn't any ferrous materials in the environment, your sensor suite would be able to pick up enemy mechs a good distance away. However, you would need LOS (or a C3 spotter, TAG marker or Narc Beacon) to lock your weapons on a target. Once something is in LOS, you should be able to lock on with your weapons. However, with the fact that you have to have the unit targetted before you can lock on with homing weapons, this is becoming a problem.
There are three things that I personally think should be implemented.
1) Actual radar. This gives ECM a greater part to play, as an ECM equipped mech will not show up on your radar systems. This would actually strengthen ECM in the current game system, because non-ECM mechs, and mechs outside the ECM field, would appear on enemy radar, while those who were benefiting from ECM would. Mechs detected by radar would appear on your map, but you could not select them with R or gain target data. All that would still require LOS. However, you could see enemy locations on your radar, allowing you to make decisions about course of action.
2) Allow non-R weapons locks. In MW:4, all I had to do was move my reticule over a target. After the required time, the target lock would hum and I could fire seeking weapons. I didn't have to select the target with my radar at all, just point my weapons and wait for the tone. This would deal with the ECM issue fairly cleanly, giving long-range fire support a chance to actually do their job. Now, once the missiles enter the 180m field, they would be treated as without lock, but 180m is pretty close. Unless the target is running across your field of fire, you'll probably get at least a few hits.
3) Implement passive/active radar. This would give non-ECM units an option to avoid radar detection, but gimping themselves. You can have your radar run at full power, which makes you light up like a christmas tree but lets you use long-range homing weapons etc, or you can run passive and basically vanish from radar until you are within basically SRM range, but you can't lock on to any targets further than that, can't gain target information, and can't use long range homing weapons.

With these 3 changes, ECM would be brought more into line than it's present incarnation, and would generally boost the game experience.

Edited by Szaesse, 01 January 2013 - 08:52 PM.