5 replies to this topic

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

Welcome to Breakdown, where we explore and explain features in MW:O that have not really been explained in detail, may have given rise to misconceptions within the community or things we are just proud of.

We'll include as much information as possible but we will also have to retain some absolute details for various reasons.

Most of you should already know about these features, so they are mostly a benefit to new players.

This information will eventually be arranged in a better way but this will do for now.

Enjoy your stay.






WATER, AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND HEATSINKS

There are advantages/disadvantages to be had in putting heatsinks in certain components on a mech, especially pertaining to water and other cooling features.

+ The deeper in water a component containing heatsinks is, the more bonus cooling those heatsinks will do. Having two heatsinks in your right leg and your right leg being 75% submerged in cooling water will give those two heatsinks a 75% cooling boost.

- Steam will emanate from components containing heatsinks if they are being cooled by water or if the ambient temperature is cooling your mech in any way. You will start to see this effect when the mech is at least at a 30% heat level.

Although hard to see it will allow enemies to target components that contain a majority of your heatsinks.



COCKPIT LIGHTING

By default the cockpit light can be turned off or dimmed with the period [.] key by default. This will allow your vision to get used to the dark in low light situations if you do not enjoy using night or heat vision.

(Helps with HDR)




WEAPON BAY DOORS

The state of your Weapon bay Doors provides a tactical advantage in two ways.

When the doors are closed, the Weapon Bay Doors provide 10% damage resistance to the component they are connected to.

When the doors are open, weapons covered by the doors will fire without the extra 0.5s delay it takes for them to open.

By default Weapon Bay Doors are controlled with the slash [/] key and their indicators are located in the cockpit.

Yellow - Closed
Green - Open
Red - Destroyed




WEAPON LOCK TIME WITH TAG, NARC and ArtemisIV

TAG decreases weapon lock time by 50%
NARC decreases weapon lock time by 50%
ArtemisIV decreases weapon lock time by 50%

ArtemisIV has to have line of sight with the target in order to grant any bonuses

TAG and ArtemisIV work together to decrease weapon lock time by 75%

TAG and NARC work together to decrease weapon lock time by 75%

ArtemisIV will always replace any bonuses from NARC. Even if Artemis does not have line of sight.



MISSILE TRACKING BONUS WITH TAG, NARC and ArtemisIV

Tracking helps missiles retain lock on a target. It helps a little with stationary targets but it is mainly used to control the hit % on moving targets.

It follows the same rules as above with weapon lock time.

TAG and NARC work together.
TAG and ArtemisIV (with line of sight) work together.
ArtemisIV trumps NARC.





BEAGLE ACTIVE PROBE (BAP)

Increases targeting range by 25%
Increases the speed at which more information about the target is displayed by 25%
It allows detection of shut down mechs when within 120m.

Stacks with sensor range modules.


MOVEMENT HEAT

Your engine generates heat the higher your throttle is.

At 66% throttle the engine generates heat up to the equivalent of 1 single heatsink.
At 100% throttle the engine generates heat up to the equivalent of 2 single heatsinks.



SPOTTING ASSIST

An ally LRMs(verb) the target you were the first one to spot(target) and keep until damage was dealt. And that your ally can't see the target directly at the time of damage.



HEATSINKS SINGLE VS DOUBLE

EXTERNAL

Single : 0.1 heat dissipation per heatsink per second. Heatbase -1.0 per heatsink.
Double : 0.14 heat dissipation per heatsink per second. Heatbase -1.4 per heatsink.


INTERNAL - each engine has a set amount of internal heatsinks depending on its strength.

Single : 0.1 heat dissipation per heatsink per second.
Double : 0.2 heat dissipation per heatsink per second.




AMS - ANTI MISSILE SYSTEM

Does 3.5 damage per second to missiles.
All missiles have 1 hitpoint, except the NARC which has 2.
The range of the AMS is 200m.

Allied AMS work together to shoot down the same missiles in most situations.

Your AMS has priority against missiles that are locked onto you. Anything else is secondary.

So if a LRM is moving at 120m / sec at and you are stationary, in a perfect world, the AMS may shoot down about 6 LRMs in that volley.
So 4 Allied AMS should be able to shoot down a whole LRM20 volley.

Your velocity and direction compared to that of the missiles dictates how many missiles you can shoot down.

The AMS system updates (get new missiles list) every 0.5s so that also have an effect on how many are shot down.

Works against all missiles : LRM, SRM, SSRM, NARC.


MINIMUM RANGE ON WEAPONS

PPC - Anything below 90m takes 0 damage
LRM - LRMs do not arm before reaching 180m and will bounce off the target


COCKPIT LIGHT FLICKER

You cockpit light will flicker for x seconds when you get hit with heavy fire.

Where x is greater than 4 damage from single hit. It will continue to add to the flicker timer so if you get hit 3 times for 5 damage the cockpit light will flicker for 15 sec.

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

CERES METALS R&D [St.Ives]

Monday Sept 30, 3050
Ceres Metals Industries
Research and Development B5, AAlcadis Revised Underground Complex
St.Ives
13:12

Thomas Dziegielewski, Sr Gameplay Engineer
Nice day here on St.Ives. The caverns boast a comfortable 37C near the Sun-Tzu Cooling Vents on level 3.

Ceres metals updates are back online after a much too long hiatus. The 104th Division took over the AAlcadis building for military purposes. We are now located in the basement, sort of. There goes my view... I'll use Breakdown to showcase and explain some upcoming gameplay features released in the not too distant future.

Seismic Sensor Upgrades
* No Seismic sensor detection while moving
* Weapon Hits to Terrain and Weapon Fire cause Seismic events

XP / C-Bills Rewards
* XP/CBills for using Counter ECM advantageously
* XP/CBills for using UAV advantageously

Screen Shake and additional effects
* When a dead mech falls to the ground
* Immediate area of a Strategic Strike (Airstrike/Artillery Strike)
* When a mech lands after falling from a height


*Features are subject to change
*Estimated release date Mid-November 3050 (Delayed until mid Novemember but that just means the DELAYED features may make it in too)
*Details below


BREAKDOWN

No Seismic sensor detection while moving
-If a mech equipped with a seismic sensor is moving, in the air, or for whatever reason not touching the ground with both legs, the seismic sensor will not detect any seismic events.

Weapon Hits to Terrain and Weapon Fire cause Seismic event
-When a weapon with impulse is fired a seimic event will be broadcast from that location.
-When weapon fire hits the ground it registers as a seismic event. [DELAYED due to HUD issues]

XP/CBills for using UAV advantageously
-XP/C-Bills given to the owner of the UAV when a target under the owners UAV takes damage from an ally with weapons that lock-on (LRMs/SSRMs)
-XP/C-Bills given to the owner of the UAV for every target that is detected by the UAV for [x] seconds

XP/CBills for using Counter ECM advantageously
-XP/C-Bills given for successfully countering a ECM enabled enemy mech for [5]sec
-XP/C-Bills given for Countering an ECM mech that then takes locked missile damage from allies

Screen Shake when a dead mech falls to the ground
Screen Shake when in Immediate area of a Strategic Strike (Airstrike/Artillery Strike)
When a mech lands after falling from a height
The screen shake amount will be based on the speed of the hit to the ground, the mass of the mech hitting the ground and divided by the mass of the mech receiving the screen shake.

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

CERES METALS R&D [St.Ives]

Monday Oct 24, 3050
Ceres Metals Industries
Research and Development B5, AAlcadis Revised Underground Complex
St.Ives
09:12


Thomas Dziegielewski, Sr Gameplay Engineer

A wet morning here in the caverns. The condensation is really coming down hard and visibility can't be more than five meters.

Today we have for you two new simple experimental modules. The first will boost the speed (reduce decelleration due to inclines) at which mechs can climb hills and the second is a reduction in screenshake.

Hill Climb Module
The deceleration received when climbing inclines is reduced by [10%]

Advanced Gyro Module
The screenshake amount is reduced by [33%]



Release Date : Late November

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

CERES METALS R&D [St.Ives]

Monday Nov 19, 3050
Ceres Metals Industries
Research and Development B5, AAlcadis Revised Underground Complex
St.Ives
08:24



Ceres Metals has been given a public contract for the development on an Autonomous Turret System for base protection purposes. The turrets will activate and shoot at hostiles within range. We will start with a Dual Machine-gun and Twin small laser prototypes. In certain cases the turrets will also house and advanced AMS.

Once development is complete, we will release the system in Training Grounds for pilots to practice with before rolling them out on the front lines.


Autonomous Turret System Spec/Features[color=#FFFFFF]
COCOON MODE - When the turret is inactive it goes into a cocoon state where it receives a 99% damage resistance bonus as it folds up(animates) into a defensive structure.[/color]
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PROXIMITY ACTIVATION SYSTEM - When enabled with a radius variable the turret will auto activate itself when an enemy enters that radius[/color]
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TRACE FIRE WEAPONS - All trace weapons are available to be put on the turret at this time. That includes all lasers, machineguns, flamers.[/color]
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LOCK ON MISSILE WEAPONS - LRMs and SSRMs can be fired from the turrets[/color]
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AMS - The turret can have it's own AMS system. [/color]
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TEAM - It will not engage friendly mechs.[/color]
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ANIMATED - The turret will animate when it goes from it it active to inactive state[/color]
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TRACKING SPEED - Turrets have a tracking speed and will miss or stop firing if the target's speed exceed the turrets tracking speed.[/color]
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INFINITE NUMBER OF WEAPONS PER TURRET - The number of weapons is only restricted by the number of fire bones on the top gun turret mode.[/color]
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SHARED TARGETING - Turrets share targeting information and will not target same targets unless only target available[/color]
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CAN BE TARGETED AND LOCKED ON - Turrets can be targeted and locked by enemies for LRM fire[/color]
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POWER GENERATOR - When destroyed turrets linked to generator will no longer have power to fire.[/color]
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COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - When destroyed turrets will no longer be able to lock LRMs and SSRMs.[/color]




Estimated release : Late Dec 3050 - Early Jan 3051

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

CERES METALS R&D [St.Ives]

Wednesday Jan 29, 3051
Ceres Metals Industries
Research and Development B5, AAlcadis Revised Underground Complex
St.Ives
12:24

Happy New Year! Just got back from Predlitz, where I was visiting family on Krakau. Rumors were swirling about an imminent attack by clan forces. I saw no evidence of this except for higher than usual Draconis security around the spaceports.

Here on St.Ives, the usually hot underground caverns are covered in a sparkling frost that lines the buildings and outer cavern walls. A beautiful but brief sight to see, illuminated by the city lights, before it all turns into a sauna again next month. With it, an ultra-dense fog is layered halfway up the tall buildings. Respirators at street level must be worn or you actually have a chance of drowning. I love this place.

The Autonomous Weapon Turrets are have been green lit and are on the assembly lines as we speak. Stay tuned for those to defend your bases in the next couple of weeks.

Precentor Lyon Francolynner and ‘friends’ are on my case again. They want a drastically more effective missile protection systems and a more robust warning system. I told them that the AMS is the most effective system to date as far as protection goes. Hell, if he can give me 9-10 years and a budget of a billion C-Bills I have some ideas that might work. Let’s see how big his wallet is.

But firstly, I shall summarize the tier 1 module system. There should be no surprises here that have not already been discussed and the Types of modules that will make it to manufacture will be up to the brass.

Tier 1 Weapon Modification Modules
-Equipped as Pilot modules and unlocked through the pilot tree.
-The modules can mutate any statistics the weapons have.
-As for balancing, which is up to the military council, if a module gives a certain benefit it will most likely cause a penalty as well.
-Visual changes for weapons that are affected by the modules will come at a later date

ESTIMATED RELEASE: Feb 4^th 3051

Advanced Anti-Missile System : Chaff
-A sphere of metallic particles is launched around the mech, expanding to its full diameter of [30m] in 0.5s.
-For 5s sec the stationary sphere will intercept a lower amount of missiles over time. 100% first 2s, 80% next sec, etc.
-Due to timeline infringements this system is up in the air at this time but could be ready for deployment at any time. That is up to the space-time continuum to figure out.

ESTIMATED RELEASE: June 3051 – January 3060

Advanced Missile Warning System Module
-When equipped this module will allow a pilot to know the distance and possibly vector to the nearest missile threat.
-We are still slinging around ideas on how to best show this to a pilot but have narrowed it down to a few possibilities.

ESTIMATED RELEASE: June 3051

Bug Fixes
-PPC will no longer do emp damage to ECM systems below MinRange
-UAV will no longer increment target designation letters in certain situations
-Lock and lock decay times have now been corrected (they were off by a fraction of a second here and there)

ESTIMATED RELEASE: Feb 4th 3051

[Thomas Dziegielewski]

CERES METALS R&D [St.Ives]

Wednesday Feb 13, 3051
Ceres Metals Industries
Research and Development B5, AAlcadis Revised Underground Complex
St.Ives
09:36

A fine day today as it is Capellan Day! This week, 684 years ago, the St.Ives Mercantile League lost it's independence and joined the Capellan Confederation.
For this occasion our youngsters create lanters filled with Helium and a green light inside. They are decorated with Capellan art and then the kids go and collect candy from the shops in the mercantile district.
After the shops close and when the caverns get dark, the lanters are released in dazzling display of free floating lanterns that stay up for most of the night.
We've had rolling blackout go through the city recently due to mass power consumption by the industries so the green glow is much brighter this year and reminds me of green auroras. Only downside is that all the lanterns have to eventually come down. The cleanup crews do a good job most of the time but sometimes if a lantern has fallen to the damp ground, it sucks up moisture and it becomes more slippery than a banana peal. Few years ago a bill was passed forcing the city to pay for any injuries or deaths caused by the lanterns.

Very slow here at R&D this past week, with the boys in the mech labs taking up all the resources and power for the building, there hasn't been much for us to do. That's where the rolling blackouts came from.

There has been quite the amount of hustle and bustle at the 104th Divisions base entrances however. I heard that a major operation was going to go down in May of next year on or around Tukayyid.[color="#000000"][/color]Rumor has it that Clan Ghost Bear is running recon operations into the area and it seems like they are laying the ground work for an attack. The First Army has assigned the 104th to the area within a year. Mobilization should begin soon as manufacture of mechs and spare parts has picked up. I wish them luck, as I've seen first hand what Clan weaponry can do.

But at least I have some trivial bug fixes to tell you about.

BUG : Can not rapid chain fire a weapon group when another weapon group is already being fired

It used to be that if a weapon group was already being held down for firing that the other group would be stuck and prevented to fire another weapon until the weapon in that weapon groups chain fire sequence had finished firing (or 0.5s passed by if a projectile weapon) and started cooling down. Now any number of groups can be held down and rapid fired with no such blockages.

BUG : UAV Award incorrectly gave out rewards to the secondary UAV in the area rather than the first friendly UAV that was launched in the area

Award is now given out correctly. The secondary UAV will also get the award once the primary UAV in the area has stopped functioning if it meets the reward criteria at that time.


These should be in by March 4th, 3051.