133 replies to this topic

[wanderer]

TripleHex, on 02 June 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

Reason I'd want to see the Roach: I like the fan art a lot of people are posting, and am particularly fond of some of the fan-made designs (esp. when done correctly... no Arrow IV systems on a 20 ton mech, for example!). While I agree that they have hundreds (more like millions) of mechs to choose from, I'd still like to see some sort of contest or something in which some of the better fan-made designs are included into MWO... I'll probably even suggest that to the devs at some point. Fan-made designs are, after all, how mechs like your re-arted Valkyrie got started.

On a different note, I DO like your re-arted Val... very nice re-rendering of a classic design. I hope it makes it into the game.

Actually, it's not fan-made. That's straight from a Battletech TRO- nearly all the "Unseens" ended up with changed artwork in later books. Fanwank to me in a game like MWO is just that- it's like putting your special snowflake in the middle of a WWII movie. Customizing a canon design? Perfectly normal. Injecting a production model that never existed? Not good. I had no worries with MW4 in that regard because MW4 isn't trying to depict the actual Battletech universe in any canon manner, but MWO is.

[Mali ki]

VLK-QA Valkyrie all the way! Love this 'mech

[Reyge]

wanderer, on 02 June 2012 - 02:21 PM, said:

Actually, it's not fan-made. That's straight from a Battletech TRO- nearly all the "Unseens" ended up with changed artwork in later books. Fanwank to me in a game like MWO is just that- it's like putting your special snowflake in the middle of a WWII movie. Customizing a canon design? Perfectly normal. Injecting a production model that never existed? Not good. I had no worries with MW4 in that regard because MW4 isn't trying to depict the actual Battletech universe in any canon manner, but MWO is.

I wasn't so much referring to the Valkyrie being or not being in the TRO... I was referring to the fact that SOMEONE thought up a way to breathe new life into that design by re-arting it. I'd love to see someone (anyone) do that with the all the other Unseen mechs... they deserve a new chance at life too!

Even if the Roach is never included in the game (or any game), I'd still like to see a picture of it posted somewhere... perhaps under the Fan Art section... with a quick reference to that post made here, so I'll know where to look. I appreciate that MWO is trying it's best to stick to the canon... kudos for that... but I don't think a new mech design or two is a particularly BAD thing. Different, yes... not bad.

[wanderer]

TripleHex, on 02 June 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

I wasn't so much referring to the Valkyrie being or not being in the TRO... I was referring to the fact that SOMEONE thought up a way to breathe new life into that design by re-arting it. I'd love to see someone (anyone) do that with the all the other Unseen mechs... they deserve a new chance at life too!

That's my point, they already did- and the people who "thought it up" were the people who actually make the game (currently Catalyst, previously FanPro and FASA). New artwork versions exist for all of the Unseen 'Mechs at this point, even the LAM's.

[Lanc3rz3r0]

Wolfhound. end of story

[Reyge]

wanderer, on 02 June 2012 - 03:25 PM, said:

That's my point, they already did- and the people who "thought it up" were the people who actually make the game (currently Catalyst, previously FanPro and FASA). New artwork versions exist for all of the Unseen 'Mechs at this point, even the LAM's.

True. My point is simply that before ANY of those mechs made it into the development phase where they became official Catalyst, etc, property, they had to be designed by someone. Someone like you, me, and that guy with his Roach mech. I would hope you would see my point in that.

But in any case, we're now veering off course of what I'd originally posted. I asked what was the favorite light Inner Sphere design, and he named one... even if it's not canon, if it fits the bill technologically, then I suppose it'll count. I forgot to mention that I wanted only mechs from the MW/BT universe, and that was my fault. From here one, if someone has a favorite home-made mech, post it and it's specs in a different thread (I'm about to create the appropriate thread for it). Please stick to canon mech chassis only.

[Frostiken]

LOCUST - It's one of the longest-lived and most venerated designs. Though it does look quite goofy.

I also have to echo a previous poster, the Wolfhound is a great mech.

[Cerlin]

I am with those who say wolfhound. While I love the panther, I cant hit anything with that PPC at speed so I need more lasers.

[Warpdog]

Good topic.
Tough choice though. For firepower and anti scout role I would take the wolfhound. Decent speed and armor, and enough firepower to threaten most other mechs.

The other choice and preferred choice is the raven. Good scout and depending on electronics warpackage and how it plays , great team player.

[Der BruzZzler von Wiesndoof]

Firestarter of course!
It's a good looking light support mech for close range battles with a versatile armament between energy weapons and ballistics. The Firestarter is fast and it's jump jets makes it agile. The Firestarter is my IS light mech choice. Thumbs up for the "BBQ Master" of the BattleTech Universe.

[Dvinn]

For Light IS mechs I like the Mongoose. It's fast on the ground (no jump) and carries 3 med lasers and a small., some variants also carry a Beagle Active Probe or Guardian ECM, and they mount a lot of armor for a 25 ton mech something like around 5tons of it's weight is armor. It makes a good scout.

Firestarters (30tons) and Commandos (25tons) are also nice, slower but still scout mech grade speed, with more weapons. 4 flamers 2 machine guns and 2 medium lasers and jumpjets on the firestarter, while the commando offers a srm4 srm6 and a med laser stock but can't jump.

The Raven is also nice, usually has 2 med lasers and a srm6 and mounts ecm and or an active probe but is slightly slower than the commando or firestarter but has good armor for it's weight (35tons).

For a light brawler I'll take a Wolfhound, it's got speed comparable to a commando as much armor as it's weight class (35tons) can carry and an all energy weapon load-out with 4 medium lasers and a large laser.

The Panther is nice for fire support as it mounts a PPC and srm4 with good armor but it's slow, about heavy mech speed, but jump jets help it out there some.

I'm not a fan of the Spider because according to it's fluff it's armor configuration prevented an ejection system from being used in the mech, but it's 2 med lasers high speed and long jump capabilities make it a very fast and agile scout.

If "lost tech" or star league era stuff is involved I like the Thorn for a support light mech, lrm5, 2 med lasers, speed comparable to a commando and as much armor as it could carry on it's 20 ton frame.

[Reyge]

Cerlin, excellent point on the Panther, one I hadn't really considered before... the PPC takes FOREVER to recharge, and if you miss some fleet-footed scout with it, odds are, he's going to be out of range of your SRMs pretty soon. By the time your PPC recharges, he'll be out of range of THAT too! Lasers don't have that particular problem (although they DO present some other unique problems of their own!).

[Der BruzZzler von Wiesndoof]

Dvinn, on 02 June 2012 - 04:14 PM, said:

Firestarters (30tons)

The Firestarter is a 35 ton light mech.

[Cambo63]

always been partial to the wolfhoud, no need to worry about ammo and can smoke most other light mechs in a fight.

[wanderer]

The Birdeater, on 02 June 2012 - 04:09 PM, said:

Firestarter of course!
It's a good looking light support mech for close range battles with a versatile armament between energy weapons and ballistics. The Firestarter is fast and it's jump jets makes it agile. The Firestarter is my IS light mech choice. Thumbs up for the "BBQ Master" of the BattleTech Universe.

You -had- to use Alex's furry-frying version of the artwork, didn't ya!

(Which incidentally is why the Burninator is a favorite of mine. Quad flamers makes me think most opponents would suffer dearly if they let the nimble little fellow get in close.)

[Pyriel Ward]

Cambo63, on 02 June 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

always been partial to the wolfhoud, no need to worry about ammo and can smoke most other light mechs in a fight.

Gotta agree with you there.

[SMDMadCow]

TripleHex, on 02 June 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

True. My point is simply that before ANY of those mechs made it into the development phase where they became official Catalyst, etc, property, they had to be designed by someone. Someone like you, me, and that guy with his Roach mech. I would hope you would see my point in that.

No, it was designed by the people who designed the game. Way back when it was FASA, then Wizkids, and now Catalyst Game Labs. There are no "Fanon" mechs. The closest that happens are the ones from MW4 and the Deimos that were from video games that got canonized by the publisher.
You can even go to the CBT website and check out the whole forum they have devoted to fan made designs, and the rule that none of the developers will be looking at that forum for inspiration.

But offtopic, you'd find me in a Locust 1E until the Wolfhound shows up.

Edited by SMDMadCow, 02 June 2012 - 04:27 PM.

[Insidious Johnson]

Ok, I'm with those stating "Wolfhound" on the general concepts of speed, performance, loadout capabilities, armor, electronics, and most importantly TARGET PROFILE. The thing is so thin at any given point, execpt in armor thickness, it appears to be figure constucted of toothpicks with some meat stuck on them. Even with a burst shot laser in MW4, you are hard pressed in combat to snipe a torso hit of any kind. The damage over time lasers of MWO will see wolfies with "tatoos" all over their chests. Prior to a viable wolfie variant I'd go with anything of similar stats and target profile.

[Dvinn]

My bad on the firestarter, looked at the wrong line on my heavymetal.

[Rhodes]

The wolfhound has a huge profile from the front. It's a huge target if the pilot mistakenly approaches from the front. Hard to do since it's torso only rotates 90 degrees to either side.

I always like the raven since it was pimped out with IS tech, had a 360 degree torso, and was an honestly hard thing to hit. With it's small profile and chicken walk, it is a hard thing to pin down.