6 replies to this topic

[Black Rock Shooter]

The video clip showing possible gameplay kinda feels like a WoT battle (or rather, their T-34 vs Maus commercial), so that started me thinking: What about 'Mechs makes them different from tanks when you play them?

Oh, sure, 'Mechs have way more weapons and move funny due to being bipedal, but the general FEEL of piloting a 'Mech in all MW games to date isn't that different from driving a WoT tank. To make it feel different, the bipedal - and sometimes humanoid - aspect of the 'Mech should be emphasized, and what better way than to put to use the oft-underrated hand actuator? I mean, even from the time of the tabletop games, the first things we'd remove from an Omnimech's arms would be its hand actuators, to make room for other equipment. In fact, the first time I saw the art for a T-wolf I wondered why its empty config even had hand actuators.

In the old Battletech system, the hand actuator did have a use, especially in melee combat. However, none of the digital incarnations of the game has ever incorporated its use other than as a default space filler carried over from the tabletop. So how about reversing that trend? In the gallery page, two of the three 'Mechs shown are equipped with humanoid hands. It would be nice to have some actual in-game utility for them. Here are some suggestions:

- Grappling. Yes, it does mean doing Battlemech kung fu, but from playing WoT I was surprised by the frequency of deliberate collisions in the game and the number of times tanks would kiss each other's faces and start pushing. The game mechanics even encourage ramming attacks. The MWO trailer indicates that exactly the same thing will happen in this game, so here's a chance for doing different. Instead of having two tanks pushing each other while waiting to reload like in WoT, the 'Mechs can close in and do a proper hand-to-hand beatdown on each other. The mechanics for this can be adapted from FPS games.

- Hatchet - as in the Hatchetman's namesake weapon. An extension of grappling. Just give 'Mechs the ability to grab a melee weapon, or better yet, use terrain objects as a weapon. I'd like to have the ability to pull out a telephone pole and use it as a baseball bat, or rip off the enemy's arm and club him to death with it. As before, the mechanics for this can be adapted from FPS.

- Salvage Arm. You kill a 'Mech and like what he's packing, rip it off and bring it home. Might encourage trophy hunters, though.

- Terrain modification. Basically just pushing boxes to alter the shape of the terrain. Piling up objects to make a temporary defilade or block a path to prevent non-jump-jet-equipped 'Mechs from crossing. Make having arms a minimum requirement for this, with 'Mechs that have hands able to perform more complex tasks in this category. So arm-equipped ones can, for instance, push boxes around, but those with hands can actually pick them up and stack them on top of one another.

- Rescue the wounded. The ability to drag a lighter, temporarily disabled 'Mech out of harm's way. Alternatively, for 'Mechs that have lost their mobility permanently but can still fight, drag them to somewhere they can be used as a defense turret.

- Item pickup. Not like a salvage arm, just a special mission objective that the players must secure and pick up, either to steal or defend it. In fact, if you think about it, 60% of merc missions in the old system fell under this category. Clan Trials of Possession too.

- Special tasks. Mobile Suits in Gundam can do such things as open locks and make hand signals. The former might be a good use, but the latter would be weird in the Battletech universe. Just giving examples, though. There are many more things we can play with using hands.

Of course, adding functionalities such as these would put the little Jenner at a disadvantage, but the whole point of the crazy diversity of Battlemech designs is that not all 'Mechs are created equal.

[VYCanis]

i dunno about hand signals, stacking barricades, or opening locks, but i definitely like the idea of giving proper utility to those hand actuators.


I definitely like the idea of manually taking salvage and other environmental iterations. And yeah, i want to melee.

I would love to find a fuel truck, pick it up, and slam it down over another mech, setting us both ablaze.

[UncleKulikov]

I like Terrain modification, tree ripping, and salvage bonuses. Grappling could be hard to implement, especially with lag. And after all, it would be hard to grab mechs as they are shelled in dense metal.

[VYCanis]

would be sweet to beat a mech to death with its own arm

then VOIP to the opposing player

"stop hitting yourself, why are you hitting yourself?"

it will never get old

[saber15]

The easiest implementation for hand actuators would be to make it so it's easier for fallen mechs to get up - IIRC, this is was in the boardgame as well (or it was shoulder actuators, forgot which).

As much as I'd like grappling or pulling damaged/legged teammates to cover, I don't think it'll happen due to budget and time constraints.

[Sky Ferrix]

All of these are great ideas. Finally putting those giant fists to use would be a major first in MechWarrior game franchise.

[MQ9 Reaper Predator Drone]

need more actuator to be handy