123 replies to this topic

[Cyttorak]

Fixxxer 117, on 08 November 2011 - 09:49 PM, said:

Maybe there could be a long distance sniper mech, in the light class, with stealth abilities and a high powered long range weapon. I love being a sniper and if there were a mech like this it would be great.

There's really only one light mech that fits that description: the Hollander...35 tons, with a Gauss rifle. Problem is that it's not released until 3055. After that, all you have are LRMs or AC2s, and none of those hit hard in one location.

[Cyttorak]

Rogal Dorn, on 08 November 2011 - 08:11 PM, said:

excellent point, a "fog of war" setup for maps would make scouts much more viable, especially if they can relay the sensor pickups to the whole team.

Fog of war would only make sense on random maps, since there's no point having it on a map you've already played 20 times. The problem is, it is apparently hard to make random map generators that are consistent or fair to both sides. That leaves a big bias towards fixed maps for a while...though I agree, it would absolutely increase the value of fast light mechs.

[Captain Fabulous]

Cyttorak, on 08 November 2011 - 11:35 PM, said:

Fog of war would only make sense on random maps, since there's no point having it on a map you've already played 20 times. The problem is, it is apparently hard to make random map generators that are consistent or fair to both sides. That leaves a big bias towards fixed maps for a while...though I agree, it would absolutely increase the value of fast light mechs.

War isn't ever really equal, so I don't think a perfect balance really matters. And as for fog of war being pointless, It's completely necessary. How do you know where the enemy is moving? On you HUD/minimap or whatever you want to call it. Make there be blind spots unless there's a mech there scouting. I bring up Age of Empires again for comparison.

[Tsula]

Well My final answer on this is some will want to, and some will not. Its a personal choice we all make, and from reading the devblog0 I think all weight classes will be needed. Some like to walk in a blast things a part others like me like to scout around and give info and help when I can. I Think with the Idea's I posted it would make a scout mech very useful to the people who want to blast things apart giving them bonus in somethings. Like Missile hits and other things. Also they might take less damage or hard to hit with ECM around them protecting them.

[Cyttorak]

Since terrain isn't as big a deal for gameplay in MW as it is in TT, I think random maps *would* work...maybe the problem was that it is hard for random maps to come out looking as good as fixed maps? If the mechs look beautiful in the new game, we would want the maps to look good too.
By "fog of war", I meant that even the basic overlay of the minimap was not visible if you hadn't explored it. If you already know what terrain is out there, that doesn't make much difference whether it appears on your minimap or not. I'm assuming that if an enemy is in your sensor range (and doesn't have ECM), then you would detect them even if you hadn't "explored" that area, or if there were no line of sight. I'm also assuming that enemies won't appear on your minimap if they're out of active sensor range...even if you've already explored that part of the map.

[Reoh]

Lights aren't meant to go toe2toe in a slugfest, even vs. other lights it just takes a hit or two to start blowing limbs off. they're good for getting in and out to scout. In a bigger battle you want to let the bigger mechs start facing off, then blitz in, try to flank opponents. Take MW2 where you're givin a dasher to go kill 5 daishi. You use the terrain to block LOS, pick one off on its own and get behind it. blast out its armor where it can't shoot you back. You're way faster and need to use that to your advantage. Light mech pilots have to be more cunning than their bigger cousins, but they can still be brutal. Esp. once Helm core tech starts dispersing through the IS.

[wpmaura]

well lets say they do matches by weight, 4 lights vs one assault. would be interesting.

[Black Sunder]

Best reason for a light mech: Because no matter what weapons you have, they'll be just as effective as they would be on an assualt. None of this "we can't penetrate their armor"

[RSF Angel]

I reckon anyone who's played the battlefield series (or even TF2!) will have a decent grasp on role based combat and would like the chance to see what the little guys can do.
I enjoyed playing supporty classes like medic and engineer (to be "credit to team") and the commander role in BF2/2142 was an entirely different game when playing with friends with microphones.
It's a lot of fun being able to provide info or backup to your buddies- even when it doesn't result in you personally putting notches on your gun barrels.
There will always be plenty of folks to grab the 'in your face' class and get stuck in and I enjoy that too, but there's a whole world of fun and success to be had in enabling your friends to succeed.

[Kalunta]

Hangfire, on 08 November 2011 - 05:34 PM, said:

^^^ This man speaks the truth, I played MW2 thru 4 I'd take a fast nippy light over a ponderous assault any day of the week

+1

[Kalunta]

I've always loved piloting light-to-medium mechs, and they are always my first choice. I really hope that there is a role for the lights and a Raven for all that it can bring to the field. The speed and agility of lights are a serious threat to the heavier more sluggish towers of power. The Adder is a force to be taken seriously even without fancy electronic information warfare (EIW).

Any covert behind the lines operation is going to be in a light mech.

A scouting and EIW rocks! No drop should be without it.

I don't believe that the new player should be put in the light mech to start with as I feel it is a very dangerous role with a lot of key responsibility. A lance's entire success and survival could be hinged upon it. A new player should start out in something with a lot of armour and is well protected --- like an assault mech.

Anyway, piloting a light mech will be my first choice if there is a role for them other than "this is your initial ride" like it's been in other games, which all sidelined the role of the light mech by the second or third mission. In MechCommander, I never dropped without a scout.

[Ansel]

I have a few ideas that I would like to see implemented.

• Make the rader that the mechs carry be limited to line of sight only, no moar seeing over a hill with rader since actual rader cannot do that anyway.
  
• Give each mech access to a thermal view and a magscan view. These views will be an overlay of your standard view that you switch between.

This would make smoke rounds and other support abilities that can be called in by commanders usefull.

Also this gives scout mechs, even those without the BAP/ECM a role in active scouting, it would be at a greater risk since they would show up on rader by cresting a hill but should only do so long enough to give lancemates an idea of where the enemy is.

I hope they do something like this because that was my one problem with the MW series of games, you always knew where your enemies were all the time, there was no real cover to get into flanking or setiing up an ambush.

[Fixxxer 117]

I guess you're right about the hollander, I'm kinda dissapointed now.

[Matthew Domenico Kvinch]

Gimme a Jenner and I'll run circles around you all daaay~

[Xhaleon]

Randomly generated battlefields aren't bad, they're inconsistent and thus never permanently biased towards any one side. A player is just as likely to start on a bad map than with a good one, as well as one that is balanced. It would be far more interesting to face challenges than always going through the same rehearsed map over and over.

And that is where those scouting lights that are able to draw up a map of the area super-quick can be real useful.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Why pilot a light?
Because nothing's sweeter than taking down an Atlas using naught but a Locust/Jenner.

[Xhaleon]

Alizabeth Aijou, on 11 November 2011 - 04:58 AM, said:

Why pilot a light?
Because nothing's sweeter than taking down an Atlas using naught but a Locust/Jenner.

But then the mech's corpse fell down on you and ROUND DRAW!

[Fixxxer 117]

Gotta watch out for those Pumas.

[Creel]

I'd love LOS radar. Chromehounds had a fun map control mechanic that involved capturing points that allowed you to extend a radar and communications network across the map.

Communications and radar had a limited range, but there were static relay stations that allowed you to relay data to your other units. a big part of the overall strategy was establishing a contiguous network for C3

Edited by Creel, 11 November 2011 - 05:56 AM.

[Jack Gallows]

Light's could have certain terrain bonuses too, due to how light they are. Smaller radar profile or ECM makes it so they can spy and spot on enemies for commanders, or even be equipped to drop anti mech mines/etc. Having a mobile mech can help with battlefield control considerably, especially if you can use it to make enemies fight on your terms.

Might give them an ability to confuse enemy radar, ghost images/etc.