51 replies to this topic

[GrimJim]

Its a serious question, since it seems at this point you can craft almost any configuration your little heart desires as long as you have the C-Bills.

Hardpoint type doesn't seem to be a problem if you unlock other variants (i.e.: HBK-4P Hunchback will give you energy ports were your ballistics once were, same for the CPT-K2 Catapult where the missile points were)
Indeed, if you unlock all the variants on a model of 'Mech it seems you could have any weapon type, in any order you want so long as you have the cash.

So I have to ask. What will be the incentive behind trying to buy/capture OmniMechs next year if you have by that point built a stable of Inner Sphere 'Mechs that, once outfitted with Clan Tech, is JUST as powerful and interchangeable?

[PANZERBUNNY]

They'll find a way.

I can see Omni mechs not being restricted to Ballistic/Missile/Energy weapon hard points. From what I can tell you are restricted currently to the type of weapons loadout your stock design has unless there are variants that differ.

That change would be HUGE and it would grab those people who want to FULLY muck around with a mech without restriction, regardless of it being Clan tech. Some people just want as many options as possible.

It would also keep the feel of OmniMechs alive regardng their versatility and not tip the balance of the game in any ones favour.

[Steel Prophet]

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

[DireWolf307]

Steel Prophet, on 07 June 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

I believe this is how it will be and I am fine with that, it makes sense.

[Kobold]

I agree that the main advantage of an omni would be unlimited hardpoints. This may be balanced by perhaps not allowing you to change the engine, internal structure, or armor of an omnimech.

[Adrienne Vorton]

Steel Prophet, on 07 June 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

exactly what i´m thinking...plus my guess is, that instead unlocking variants, you´ll have to unlock omni-modules or so... but nonono, i don´t wanna think about omnis yet

[warner2]

In "previous iterations" there were mechanics which distinguished omni mechs from regular mechs. I remember there was an omni hard-point in one iteration, I forget which, could have been NBT-HC or one of the MekTek patches, that wasn't energey/ballistic/missile restricted, as panzerbunny has also said. I'm sure PGI will find a way to make omni mechs distinct from and more flexible than regular mechs.

[GrimJim]

Steel Prophet, on 07 June 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

But essentially don't you have the "same" chassis is you have several variants of the same model. Just switch the energy for the ballistics one or the missile one, etc.... Its like trying on different colors of the same suit.

[Redshift2k5]

Steel Prophet, on 07 June 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

Not to mention jumpjets and other equipment can also be attached using omnipods.

[CompleteTanker]

GrimJim, on 07 June 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

But essentially don't you have the "same" chassis is you have several variants of the same model. Just switch the energy for the ballistics one or the missile one, etc.... Its like trying on different colors of the same suit.

That cost several million c-bills each.

For a Hunchback, to get 3 variants is at least 15 million c-bills.

[Fez Findie]

Yeah, digging tha

Steel Prophet, on 07 June 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

If i'm not mistaken you have to buy the specific variant for each mech seperatly. Meaning i have to buy one C1 Catapult for the Missile Hardpoints and another K2 Variant if i want the energy hardpoints. You cannot switch the Missile Hardpoints in the C1 for the energy ones you have to buy a second chassis.

On the Omins you can put any weapon in any hardpoint and change them on the same chassis. I think that is difference enough.

Makes enough sense since one would likely just buy one variation of a mech to fit their playstyle out of the ordinary mechs and have less need for all-fit-for-all omnimech and possibly save C-Bills to use elsewhere.

Did that make any sense? ^^;

Edited by Fez Findie, 07 June 2012 - 10:02 AM.

[Mechteric]

I have a feeling that they will be similarly configured, as in energy hardpoints will still be for energy only. The differences may just be that within a single mech your variants can be wildly different. So for instance where the biggest change you'd see in an IS mech is one or two main weapon systems swapped for another from each other, the omni could possibly be total variance differences.

Take for instance both the Puma and Nova Cat. Both primarily have all energy loadouts, but there's also all missile based loadouts as well, which is quite different from what you'd get on IS variants compared with their primes.

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 07 June 2012 - 10:03 AM.

[GrimJim]

The only thing I can think of is cost (buy three variants vs. one Omni). But its very likely repair cost might be much higher for the Clan Omni's (I know the prices in TT & RPG are astronomical) so this might balance it out.

....I wonder if cost will be any sort of issue too when ppl play the game as much as I think they will. After a few weeks, the idea of having several different variants of the same 'Mech will seem like a drop in the bucket.

Seriously, people will buy two of the same 'Mech just so they don't have to switch from desert camo to winter camo on different maps!

[Roland]

As long as hardpoints are limited to some size that reasonably approximates what was originally supposed to be in that hardpoint, then it ends up being significantly different from an omni-point.

For instance, you could have a torso carrying a machine gun and an LRM 20... You have two hardpoints, and thus can put some missiles and ballistics in that torso panel.

But you couldn't put ANY ballistic in that torso pannel... Because it'd presumably only have a tiny ballistic hardpoint, with a few slots. So, you might be able to put something like an AC2 instead of the machine gun, but you couldn't load on an AC20, or a Gauss.

This is how it worked in MW4, anyway.... You had hardpoints, each which had a certain number of "slots" in them. Certain panels might have multiple separate hardpoints of different sizes, thus enabling multiple configurations while not enabling ANY configuration.

The omnimechs in MW4 had significantly more flexibility, as most of them had large omni-points which were closer to the "gun-bag" situation you had in prior mechwarrior titles. Like the arms on the Loki or Madcat, for instance.... they enabled those mechs to carry a wide variety of configurations, boating huge numbers of missiles or energy or ballistic, or combinations of the three.

[Loose]

Kobold, on 07 June 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

I agree that the main advantage of an omni would be unlimited hardpoints. This may be balanced by perhaps not allowing you to change the engine, internal structure, or armor of an omnimech.

This is brilliant and the best point here. This way you would have great flexibility in terms of firepower, but still have some restrictions that would make players think long and hard about making a switch to Omnis.

[Major Tom]

Not having clan mechs makes Omni's irrelevant.

[Kenyon Burguess]

idk if cost balances would be enough to counter all the laser boats

[Woodstock]

omni mech means you can have one mech and fit it however you like ... you dont have to buy new chassis to access new hardpoints.

Variants is far more restrictive.

[Major Bill Curtis]

We won't really know until we see how they handle Omnis.

[SideSt3p]

Again, this is my point of view!

What I see is that an OmniMech will kind of be a 'cost over time' savings. What I mean by this is that while you can get mulittudes of variants for each chassis, you will have to spend RL money or C-Bills for each chassis. This will add up to a LOT over a long period of time since each chassis seems to have about 5+ varients.

With an OmniMech, the initial cost will be much higher, but you WON'T need to buy all the varients. That one chassis will be able to hold whatever you need it to. So initial cost will be higher, but you will not need further varients.

Just my opinion on how it'll work