13 replies to this topic

[The Jerol]

So I recently completed my 100th mission. I want to start by saying I really like the game and believe it has a great deal of potential. I'm a big MechWarrior fan dating back to TT and MW2, so the game has a lot of appeal to me.

Let's start with what is great: The Mechlab. Giving players so much control over what's on their mech makes this game unique among other games in this style (and I'll chiefly refer to World Of Tanks as the gold standard here).

Having said that, there are a number of areas that need work:

1. Aiming on most maps is very difficult. There's no way to see distant targets on most maps (at least not by my old eyes) and the zoom function really doesn't help. On snow maps, it's easier as the mech stands out (it's a tiny black speck sometimes, but at least you can see it) but on all the other maps, the mechs blend in so much it's very hard to tell what you're aiming at. My solution has been to mostly brawl and stick to mid-range (no cheese for me!). I know about using Night and Heat-vision, but they don't help at anything past close range. There needs to be an easier way to see targets in-game.

2. Chat/UI is horrid -- very similar to WoT here. Chat shows up for a few seconds and is gone forever. For the love of God, please put a chat window in that you can scroll through. What good is all the vitriol being spewed at me, if I can't even look back on it in appreciation??

3. Mechlab interface is too segmental and confusing. I want it full screen and I want to be able to see all the mech slots on screen simultaneously -- something like Smurfy's interface would be nice. I did see a re-vamp is in progress (UI v2.0) but it still looks inadequate. And there's absolutely no reason to have the game client pop into that tiny windowed mode inbetween battles.

4. Any reason why your stats aren't available in-game?

These complaints are pretty minor for the most part, and I've really enjoyed the game with the one major flaw being that it's just tough for me to see targets sometimes (though I am improving). Perhaps a module that outlines the target in Red when it's acquired or simply improve the zoom-in while in "Sniper Mode"? I'm thinking there has to be a better targeting system than the naked eye by the 31st century, right??

TJ out

[Hex Pallett]

So I assume you skipped all gameplay elements because you're more or less satisfied with what we have?

The aiming, as far as I can tell, is intentional. You press R - by default - to lock on targets, and those you can't lock on are probably out of your weapon range anyway.

The rest are all subject to changes. Mechlab 2.0 is coming very soon. I imagine the rest will be improved by the time the game goes official.

[The Jerol]

Helmstif, on 11 May 2013 - 04:14 PM, said:

So I assume you skipped all gameplay elements because you're more or less satisfied with what we have?

The aiming, as far as I can tell, is intentional. You press R - by default - to lock on targets, and those you can't lock on are probably out of your weapon range anyway.

The rest are all subject to changes. Mechlab 2.0 is coming very soon. I imagine the rest will be improved by the time the game goes official.

I really do like the gameplay elements. I think there is a great mix of ranged and up-close weaponry. I have not been that impressed that any one mech design automatically "wins" -- there is always a counter. And good players tend to beat bad ones no matter what their loadout...

I'm still new, so I'll ask... other than for guided weapons (i.e. missiles) what good does the R key do? Your direct fire weapons are no more accurate when you are locked on. And I can't see the target silhouette any easier when I have a lock, so...

TJ

[Edson Drake]

We used to have a decent thermal vision mode, but it was nerfed deemed to be "overpowered" for sniping.

It was similar to Predator view in the movies. I liked it much better than this one, but unfortunately the way there's moaning about PPCs, and with the old thermal. I don't even want to think about...

[bonapartist1]

The old heat vision mode was hopelessly too effective before. Besides being an ugly eyesore and making the game look like a PS1 title, it was more effective in 100% of situations (to me) than normal vision. I disagree with alot of what piranha does but I honestly agree with that "nerf" very much.

There's alot of haze and dust filters on in MWO which you can't ramp down, and of course without custom servers, there's no way for any other entity to do it for you. So get used to squinting, because this is Squintwarrior Online. Except when it's Capwarrior Online, or SSRMWarrior Online.

To address your other concerns, yeah, chat is pretty horrible and bare bones. I don't know when VOIP became an optional feature, but it's sorely missed.

Mechlab will get a remake iirc before too long and I think ingame stats are coming too, within the year.

Edited by bonapartist1, 11 May 2013 - 08:32 PM.

[Aegic]

UI 2.0 will help alot of things

[Koniving]

The Jerol, on 11 May 2013 - 04:22 PM, said:

I'm still new, so I'll ask... other than for guided weapons (i.e. missiles) what good does the R key do? Your direct fire weapons are no more accurate when you are locked on. And I can't see the target silhouette any easier when I have a lock, so...

It allows you to see the information and status on your enemy's armor, structure, and weapon systems.

By doing so you are able to see weakspots portrayed on the two-sided paper doll in the upper right much like your own mech health.

Using this information tells you what you need to know in order to kill the enemy effectively.

For example: While shooting a Highlander with the Target information up, you notice that although you've been pounding on his chest for a good minute it's still yellow -- but that one stray bullet which hit his legs while he jumped into the air turned him cherry red. That tells you his legs have extremely little armor. Knowing this allows you to have the knowledge to aim for his legs, and while you did practically nothing hitting him over 30 times in the torso, 3 shots to to each leg winds up killing it.

The same can be said for any part of the battlemech. But how would you know if you fail to press R?

Also, by pressing R, your whole team can see what you've targeted (except if it's got ECM and you're in its jamming field). This allows them to provide missile support or to focus fire on your target. If you do not have it up, they do not know and once that enemy kills you, it can easily take out the rest of the team. All because you failed to press R.

I've done that a few times. Sneak in behind an enemy's firing line. Find the LRM boat or PPC poptart at the far back and take him out with a strike or two. Either they say nothing or curse in the chat. Everyone ignores him. Since I never got targeted, I can move on and shoot the next guy. Then the next. And before you know it there's a score like this one.



The saddest thing? Only one of the enemies ever saw me. I only had two large pulse lasers, and two SRM-2s. (Not streaks. SRMs.)

Edited by Koniving, 12 May 2013 - 06:47 AM.

[Kiiyor]

The Jerol, on 11 May 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:

1. Aiming on most maps is very difficult. There's no way to see distant targets on most maps (at least not by my old eyes) and the zoom function really doesn't help.

Nice post. The aiming thing is correct at longer ranges, but I think this is a very good thing. Snipers at the moment are VERY powerful, and the vision limitations mean any poor scrub that wants to be viable at short range combat can actually stand a chance of closing with the enemy.

Heat vision was recently changed, and it's effective range was lowered. Previously, you could see clear across the map with it, devolving most matches into tiny blue blob shooting competitions, which kind of sucked.

One piece of advice would be to lower your mouse sensitivity, if you have not already done so. Just search for 'mouse sensitivity' an you should find the info. Makes aiming FAR easier.

[mailin]

Always press 'R' to keep a target locked. Not only does it let your friendly lrms find them, and let your friendlies see the enemy weapon loadouts and where he's taking hits, but it also lets your buddies know WHERE the enemy is and possibly which way he's moving. If it's a guy trying to sneak behind you, you may not have time to type in chat, but by pressing 'R' your team will see him on their map and possibly be able to react accordingly.

[knight-of-ni]

Welcome to the game Jerol. Most of the topics you mentioned are part of a planned future patch or, such as the case with thermal vision, have already been "fixed".

Despite what many others might say, the Devs do read constructive feedback and take that into account. You can read elsewhere about the upcoming changes to BAP, which will now counter ECM, for example.

Oh, and you have to check out the following website, especially since you've got prior MW & TT experience:
http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/

It'll let you create, tinker with, and share builds w/o having to spend any cbills. I think you'll find the layout on that website very intuitive.

How is you in-game performance? I ask because this game has a steep learning curve (even for those who have played former MW titles) and many new people post on the forums asking how they can improve their game. For tips post your mech, its loadout, and your preferred playstyle. You'll get a lot of feedback if you do.

EDIT: grammer

Edited by knnniggett, 12 May 2013 - 04:39 AM.

[Koniving]

The Jerol, on 11 May 2013 - 03:48 PM, said:

I know about using Night and Heat-vision, but they don't help at anything past close range. There needs to be an easier way to see targets in-game.

On certain maps namely Caustic Valley, Forest Colony (green), night vision during the day is not only useful but almost essential in some situations. Because of the way it is currently implemented, some effects such as fog and haze are actually removed during night vision.

In the video below while testing someone's build... I switch to night vision in order to help me spot targets and see their bodies more clearly than with the fog and depth of field blur. Also my eyes work better with fewer colors. Monochrome can't hide similar colors as well as true colors can.


Throughout the video I am targeting mechs, and near the end each mech I target I am able to finish off in just a few AC/2 shots despite large amounts of armor being left on them.

[The Jerol]

Hehe... You're a LOT better than me...

I am aware of the benefits for using the R/target lock key and I always try to lock on, if possible. I am just not good enough (yet) to target specific parts -- especially at range.

Thanks for the tip on Caustic/Forest (green) maps re: Night vision -- that did seem to help.

Part of my issue is that I sometimes play on my laptop on low settings and it's just tougher to pick out targets than on my shiny 2500x1660 display/desktop with settings maxxed out

I do think the UI issues are critical -- though they haven't seemed to have hurt World of Tanks that much. That game has a broader base of appeal than MechWarrior though, so I really think stressing the social aspects (more robust and user-friendly chat interface to begin with) should be a priority for the game developers. Eliminating the windowed Mechlab view and making that interface better would also be great, though by no means a priority as it's easy enough to figure out with some trial and error.

I am thoroughly enjoying the game though -- it's fast-paced and varied from game to game and map to map. I settled on getting three Cataphracts to begin with and just got all three to 8/8 in the basic skills and bought my first module (unfortunately, I only saw the Zoom module available, so a bit of an error there, but, live and learn...).

Thanks again for all the helpful advice/input.


TJ

[Koniving]

Thank you, but I've been on here since June 2012 when there was one map and four mechs (and mock-melee knockdown attacks! Sometime before Open Beta, a Raven 4x could drop kick an Atlas by jump-jetting and colliding its feet with the Atlas's head, knocking it down! That's coming back sometime in the October range with fixes.) Skill is merely experience gained over time. You'll get much better with time and learning the mechanics.

Supposedly in July we'll see "UI 2.0." You can find information and basic artwork here. It's supposed to have a myriad of themes.

UI 2.0's nicest feature (to me) is the per mech, per map camo settings. So it'll auto apply camo based on the map you're going to load on. I would fear using this if you have the single use patterns, however.


The zoom module will improve with a brief bit of time after DX 11 is enabled; it's a software zoom and does not use the hardware (your video card). Also remember that right now even max settings are not much higher than medium due to a few reasons (some effects, lack of textures above the 512x512 / some 1024x1024 marks), numerous other reasons. It's said those features will come sometime between now and shortly after launch. So aside from monitor size and draw distance, there likely isn't much of a difference. Anti-Aliasing only recently got enabled -- and honestly it doesn't seem to work even now.

You can put the mechlab in full screen by pressing ALT + Enter.

There aren't many useful modules for the cataphracts, although combining BAP (equipment) and Advanced Sensor Range will help you acquire targets at longer ranges. I know the brackets don't truly help with accuracy, but they do say "OMG there it is!"

You're welcome.

Edited by Koniving, 12 May 2013 - 11:15 AM.

[jakucha]

Edson Drake, on 11 May 2013 - 07:55 PM, said:

We used to have a decent thermal vision mode, but it was nerfed deemed to be "overpowered" for sniping.

It was similar to Predator view in the movies. I liked it much better than this one, but unfortunately the way there's moaning about PPCs, and with the old thermal. I don't even want to think about...

Blue Warrior Online wasn't fun for many people, including me. They're not done tweaking the current heatvision too.