14 replies to this topic

[canned wolf]

These are things that I think would fit into the universe pretty well, and go with their new theme of role based warfare.

Fire control systems as a component- Want to fire four lasers at the same time? Your Wal-Mart special do-it-yourself FCS ain't going to cut it. Systems could have stats for how well the deal with movement, what kind of optics you have available, what level of zoom you get, and maybe even some automated targeting features. Expensive ones could be more or less sensitive to damage, larger mechs could even load a backup for redundancy.

Artillery- I just like From software's take on artillery better than any I've seen in Mechwarrior. They can keep their stupid cannons, and grenade launchers though.

Armored cockpits- not chromehounds style, but simply a choice to have a fully enclosed cockpit. Advantage, you're tougher in a fight. Disadvantage, lose your optics and you're done.

Just my $.02

[Smiffy]

other then the fact that chromehounds was a completely boring game (seriously mechs were far too slow, objectives were always on the wrong side of the map, hours of my day listening to *skoooosh* *thump* *skoooosh* *thump*) it did do squad role based tactics rather well, far better then any other game i have ever seen. the weapons were rather lacking i found though.

Edited by Smiffy, 21 November 2011 - 08:59 AM.

[Creel]

I didn't love the gameplay in chromehounds, it was too sluggish overall.

The huge maps were cool, but they were too sparsely populated, so you spent far too much time wandering empty sections. I do think that the map size would work better in MWO. Combined with limited radar, it would go a long way toward making lights not only valuable, but indispensable.

I did really like the system of coms network control, and would not at all mind seeing something similar make it under the umbrella of information warfare.

[canned wolf]

Chromehounds is too slow, but previous Mechwarriors have been too fast. Even Living legends, with all that its done right just doesnt feel quite right as far as pacing. I think part of the problem for me is that sneak attacks are very limited in their effectiveness, which means that there isn't very much caution. Maybe along with the information warfare if they increased the chance for a crit before armor is gone. I know the tabletop has this, but I don't think its been in any of the games. A well executed ambush should at very least be likely to take out a major weapon or give the target a limp. I suppose lack of respawns within a match will help with this.

I just thought of something that I think would be awesome. A crit that causes a specific joint to squeal or grind when used. The sound itsself doesn't have to be annoying, but if any mechs are equipped with acoustic sensors it could give away position.

Edited by canned wolf, 22 November 2011 - 08:34 AM.

[gregsolidus]

Chromehounds did artillery well?Are you sure?

[armitage]

I rather like the idea of a Fire Control system. I know a lot of people are all "give me total control of aim and fire or I quit" but it would really help to balance boated and alpha strike mechs. For instance, you may be abe to buy a Jenner soon or even right away but you have to upgrade the FC system before you can fire all 4 med lasers at the same. Instead you can only fire 2 every 4 secs or something until you spend the time to unlock it. It will definately add a new dynamic to the otherwise stale system of MW combat.

[KingCobra]

Man i loved chromehounds but then again i loved HeavyGear & HeavyGear2 also.

[Mchawkeye]

Chromehounds was ok, if somewhat slow...anyone looking towards Steel Battalions Heavy Armour? If they implement Kinect on that the way I think they will (looking around, possible cockpit interactions) might be something MWO could look too...

[canned wolf]

I worked as a Fire Control tech for the Navy, so this bugs me more than it probably should. Fire control on a mech is especially complicated since you have multiple types of weapon systems on the same platform, sometimes being fired at the same time, from different positions. Firing missiles autocannons and lasers at the same time should virtually guarantee you miss with most unless you have some seriously advanced electronics for targeting. The innersphere was supposed to be very limited in this respect in the time period in question. In the books most of the authors I read talked about a pulsing gold crosshair that indicated a lock when firing virtually any weapon. Simple systems could just use a boresight camera mounted close to the weapon being fired, with more advanced systems using virtual crosshairs in the cockpit. The trade here should be a half second (roughly) wait to fire as target ranging is performed and weapons align on target. Upgraded servos could mitigate the wait times for locks.

As for artillery in chromehounds, I could decimate an entire area from across the map.With a good spotter I could give snipers a really bad day. Which is how it should be. With proper intel, artillery wins. Without it, you get engaged at close range and blown to pieces without ever firing a shot.

[MaddMaxx]

KingCobra, on 22 November 2011 - 12:16 PM, said:

Man i loved chromehounds but then again i loved HeavyGear & HeavyGear2 also.

Heavy Gear was solid FUN. didn't go Online. I took HG2 Online and it turned out to be a Jet Skaters paradise and that really killed it for me.

Edited by MaddMaxx, 23 November 2011 - 11:55 AM.

[Mchawkeye]

I really enjoyed HG...could never find HG2 for a price I could afford, which sucked.

Sadly, I even watched and found myself enjoying the Heavy Gear cartoon...

[shadowslayer552]

Ok so i keep seeing people saying that Chromehounds was too slow. However honestly I think it was realistic. A multi-ton Mech isnt going to move at 50 MPH. Nor should it. I always loved filling up the quadruped base that could hold the most weight with as many rocket launchers as I could fit on it. Then my team mate with the fast mech went and scouted where the enemy was, along with our commander. Then once i got into position on the top of a hill and had the enemy in range it was like 300... but with missiles. Yeah it took awhile to get where I needed to be but once I got there it was amazingly rewarding. I was the game ender, the big heavy weapon.

I loved the modular building in Chromehounds as well. Every mech was unique, it was YOURS. Not just a mech from some list with a few guns able to be changed or maybe 4 different paint jobs. Your mech was truly yours from the ground up, guns, paint job, everything.

The commander aspect was great as well. Having the fog of war, and having to control radar towers to be able to see further and even be able to talk to your team mates I always thought gave the game that touch of team play that no other game has. No one ever plays as a team in any FPS, be it COD, BF3, Halo. That I think is completely junk. Chromehounds had the BEST team play I have ever seen in a game. You either played as a team or you died alone. I liked that because it gave the game more community. You had to play as a team so you had to seek other people out. You made friends with awesome people and were a better person for it.

Also If you look at the game DUST 514 that is coming out, you'll see more games are going toward having to be a team to get things done. As well as everything you use in the game is YOURS. You die, or you lose it, and its gone. That makes people actually care about their stuff. It makes them step back and look at a situation instead of just running in guns ablaze. It makes you talk to your team mates and see who is better suited for a job. I saw this while playing Halo: Reach's Firefight the other day. I had a orbital bombardment and my friend had armor lock, so i had him armor lock in the middle of a group to grab their attention and then orbital bombarded the area killing them all. Or when I got a sniper in another game of firefight. I wanted to hold on to it so I would step back and protect myself instead of being stupid.

I think games have gotten to a point recently where all this fast, hold your reticle over them and unload, FPS gaming has made people stupid. Theres no intellectual aspect in it. If you can hold your reticle on them better than they can on you, you win. Thats sad in my opinion. I feel like in a game like MWO you should want to be a team. You should want to work together to get your objectives done. People have gotten used to this fast boring gameplay and think it's real, they think its normal and it just isn't. A mech shouldnt move fast. It should turn if you have too many big guns on one side. It should limp when the leg is taken out. It should give off heat so when someone has heat vision they see you, as well as have intercoolers to dampen heat. You should have weapon cams, Weapon grouping.

Chromehounds did many, many things very good. I don't care about K/D ratios, I don't care about running in guns ablaze. I look at games for their practicality. A mech shouldn't look like a person, it should look like a machine. A mech should fly around at 500MPH, tho it may have jump jets like in Mech Assault. A mech should move based on its weight. A small mech with not much on it would move alot faster than a large mech with a bunch of stuff on it.

As for the closed vs. open cockpits; it would make sense for a small mech to have an open cockpit, however a large mech I honestly can't see (in a combat situation) having an open cockpit. You're a huge target and all the enemy would have to do to kill you is shoot the open space where you're sitting. A Mech is like a tank not a dune buggy.

Thats all I have to say. Yell at me, make fun, be jerks. Whatever. Just because you like COD and running around like a ****** using no tactics whatsoever, doing little cheap things to kill people, doesn't mean you know anything. Chromehounds was an absolutely Amazing game, and it is a shame that they shut the servers down. It was one of the first games for Xbox 360, and In my opinion it was the BEST Mech game that was ever on the market.

[Roland]

Smiffy, on 21 November 2011 - 08:59 AM, said:

seriously mechs were far too slow

You were doing it wrong, chief.

[Adridos]

canned wolf, on 21 November 2011 - 08:37 AM, said:

Armored cockpits- not chromehounds style, but simply a choice to have a fully enclosed cockpit. Advantage, you're tougher in a fight. Disadvantage, lose your optics and you're done.

Actually, there's no glass in cockpit. It's a transparent armor and I think it's the toughest armor you'll find on your mech. I'm not sure with the "toughest" part, though.

[canned wolf]

9 points max implies a serious difference between the transparent stuff and the standard armor. Past methods for dealing with that meant making the hitbox for the head tiny. I'm not a big fan of that approach. It doesn't seem that likely to me that in a combat enviornment like that you're going to be doing many unaugmented visual searches anyway. Warfare on that scale seldom relies on the naked eye to spot targets. You use radar, IR, magnified visual, Magscan, seizmic, etc. Having an open cockpit seems like a liabillity for the most part.

Edited by canned wolf, 06 June 2012 - 07:59 AM.