53 replies to this topic

[Lightfoot]

It will be added as time permits I imagine. They already have some basic visualization going now. I don't think it should be a top priority considering the larger scope of the game which will include an updating Battletech Universe with maps, factions, new 'mechs. It's a huge list of things to include.

[Suicidal Idiot]

Karyudo ds, on 02 June 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

Hah, you don't install a medium laser an make it look pretty. You install it on te INSIDE of the mech though, while the exterior should be armored and thus not likely to change. I mean I know what you're saying but these are armored war machines, not racecars. I mean if your medium laser is an obvious pod on the side of your mech (like MWLL) then I'm just going to clip it off you. Plus these aren't omni's so they shouldn't look modular. Granted yes the weapons are the same from one mech to the next. Maybe that's party why they drew up designs for the components too. Still pods tacked onto the outside sounds silly. I could see shared barrels and things like that though. I expect that if a PPC is a PPC is a PPC.

On a side note, making weapon mods at work doesnt really apply here in the science of it all. We are talking 3049 here. I am pretty sure we will have more advanced ways of doing some things.

I agree that armored war machines and racecars are different. Race cars are almost always one-off self-evolving conglomerations of parts. Easy to modify, because they're constantly being modified. Changing stuff on them is easy. Armored fighting vehicles are designed by governments and built to contract. Change isn't designed into them. In fact, gov't project stuff is usually designed to be hard to change. Later different requirements will result in new expensive procurement contracts.

If you're retrofitting inside an armored anything, you're going to have problems. Omnis were designed for interchangability, directly implying that previous mechs were not. Inside armored mechs, there isn't going to be room for upgrades. The armored space will be just big enough for the standard weapon. The weapon systems are going to have been designed to fit a specific enclosed space. If it's armored, it won't be like a race car, where you just cut and weld/rivet/glue. Armor sucks to modify. Any transplanting is going to be very ugly.

The weapon mods at work were to show an example of adding new tech to old, proven weapon designs. It's gonna have to be tacked on, because there is no room on the inside. You just can't put a russian 20mm autocannon into a .50 enclosure. No room, let alone hookups and ammo feed.

A parallel situation are the variants of the M113 A. The things are used by half the planet, and there are about 40 variants listed, everything from mortars, missile launchers, anti-aircraft, electronic command, repair and so on. Generally the changes are all pretty much external, riding on an open back. Unfortunately, the changes are going to require factory design help, if they aren't going to be ugly.

Think of the infamous "technicals" which is military speak for "Toyota pickup with automatic weapon in the bed"

Brutally ugly, reliable as all hell and terrifyingly effective. And dirt cheap. Just the way I like 'em.

Edited by Suicidal Idiot, 02 June 2012 - 08:12 AM.

[Chunkymonkey]

Is that the description of a jury rigged Agromech?

[DocBach]

Since we're getting a hardpoint modification where only like weapons systems can be mounted in a location, we shouldn't have too much of a problem with lasers shooting out of missile racks.

[Suicidal Idiot]

Chunkymonkey, on 02 June 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

Is that the description of a jury rigged Agromech?

Sweet! Jury rigged Agros are now to be known as "Technicals"

[Chunkymonkey]

Seems like the WOB forces would use them

[Lanc3rz3r0]

TWolfWD, on 02 June 2012 - 05:09 AM, said:

You have to give them time. Showing the number of variations possible can be an insane amount of work. We're talking about hundreds of new 3D meshes that have to be made per Mech. As cool as it would be to have, per weapon models just isn't too realistic, and I'm not going to cry if it never happens.

*cries a little inside*

Devil's advocate: how hard would it be to have a "this is what a laser looks like mounted on the cacapult's shoulder/arm" does not matter large medium or small, this is what auto cannons look like, this is what ppc's look like, this is what gauss rifles look like etc.

on the other hand, i would rather have the game PLAY great before it looks perfect.

[MungFuSensei]

I'll admit that this thread is looking a gift horse in the mouth. However, let's face it, if you read the background, ALL mechs pre-3050 are Franken-mechs. Due to their rarity, the lack of availability of parts, and constant wear and tear, all mechs were patch-jobs, with jury rigged scavenged parts. This is the fluff-justification of the mechlab.

You don't necessarily have to rework the entire model of each chassis. You just have select hardpoints that weapons attach to.

Also, when I said it wouldn't be difficult, I was stating about the actual work required. I noted that it would be tedious, meaning that it would require a lot of work, but it's not like asking them to send a man to the moon.

For something like the hunchback, instead of reworking the whole torso, you could just have the weapon sticking out of the same spot. Just imagine the hunchback with a gauss rifle barrel sticking out of the hump. Would make it look like a Hollander.

This isn't something I'm expecting at launch, nor expecting it to be done at all, really. But it would be an end to a decades long graphical stumble of the series.

[Merrik Stryfe]

Oswin Aurelius, on 02 June 2012 - 06:41 AM, said:

Don't worry about it, we're all one big happy civil war Inner Sphere here.

This almost made me spit my water all over my keyboard.

OT, I think having the game working properly should be first priority, obviously, and if that means waiting a month or three for complete visual representation of my loadout, that's fine, just as long as they get to it. I'm a bit of a vanity *****, so it matters to me that when I look at my mech in the Mechlab I can get visual confirmation that that is indeed an AC/20 mounted on my Hunchback, not an AC/10 or laser. Oh, and I guess it'd be nice to be able to do visual loadout recon in-game as well, but whatever.

[Orion Pirate]

Looking at the mechlab video again, none of the hunchback images change when the weapons are switched out.

However as stated earlier we won't see lasers coming out of missile bays due to hardpoint restrictions, so there is at least that to look forward too.

And again I am sorry for my views on this topic earlier, I was mistaken.

[Oswin Aurelius]

Oh hai thar, Swayback. You're looking quite sexy today.

[Orion Pirate]

Oswin Aurelius, on 05 June 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

Oh hai thar, Swayback. You're looking quite sexy today.

But that is no different then the Catapult.

If the above Swayback were to change out those six lasers for a PPC, we don't know if the graphics change to represent that.

I had thought the image of the Dragon confirmed this, but since you said the Ultra A/C was a variant, then it confirmed nothing...

But you already know all this, so I guess you were just posting an image of the Swayback for the sake of saying here is something new...

*Nice graphic catch by the way!!!*

Edited by Orion Pirate, 05 June 2012 - 09:15 AM.

[Oswin Aurelius]

Personally, as long as they put it in at SOME point, I don't mind just having different-looking variants. The difference is still astronomical from any other Mechwarrior game thus far.

[Orion Pirate]

It has occurred to me...

Looking at many screen shots in the game, I know that when I target a mech, it gives a data readout of that mech in the upper right corner. What I failed to notice before is that it also lists the targeted mechs weapon loadout.

So even though there is a possibility that there will not be visible loadouts in the game, the fact that you get that information will go a long way towards deciding and picking targets in the field.

One of the roles of the scout mechs then would be to check on the enemy and relay their loadouts back to their team so that the commander can call priority targets.

And then when visible loadouts do happen, if they are not already, this information will become ever more evident.