8 replies to this topic

[Phoenix Branson]

Before sharing my biggest complaint about MWO to the community, I would like to communicate that these suggestions are geared towards making MWO the best game that it can possibly be, and ultimately, becoming the “flagship title” for the BattleTech Universe. With that said, here are some areas for improvement…

Cinematic Trailer
This would serve to introduce the futuristic universe of the Inner Sphere, showing the war and politics of the Great Houses and ultimately leading to the Clan Invasion. This would set the mood for new players and veterans alike!





Mech Destruction
Developers should add more visual effects as to how the Mech is destroyed, such as jet fire with smoke, sparks flying, and massive explosion with flying debris (visual effects only). It would also be cool to see the pilot eject (animation) when the Mech is destroyed.



Mech Biography
They should seriously consider adding Mech Biographies to the new Mechlab. The Mech Bio would give a description of the BattleMech, along with information such as history, role, and capabilities. The Mech Bio would also show the lore behind Hero Mechs. This not only benefits new players, but also gives a sense of nostalgia to beloved fans.




Mechlab Technicians
I hope the developers add a human element to the new Mechlab, such as BattleMech Technicians working in the background repairing/rearming you’re Mech. It's the small details that make a game great!



Mechlab Background Noise
I hope the developers seriously consider adding some background noise to the new Mechlab. When you're tweaking your Mech, it should sound like a factory flying through space. Also adding radio chatter, ambient DropShip engine noise or even a voice over the intercom paging for personnel would be a nice touch. The silence is deafening.





Ambient Environmental Sound
Immersion is one of those buzzwords that we, as gamers, hear all too frequently. Whether we realize it or not, we want games to be immersive. Currently, the game is lacking ambient environmental sound for bad weather or effects such as trees scraping against the Mech. Note environmental sounds should be muffled due to being in the cockpit.





Pilot Portrait
They should consider giving players the ability to choose a portrait for their pilot, and they can choose from a myriad selection of high quality resolution images to represent them on the battlefield. However, they should NOT waste time making a character creation system (e.g. EVE Online) as this would be a tremendous misallocation of resources.

Edited by Maverick01, 14 July 2013 - 11:36 AM.

[Koniving]

I can agree with it, though these fluff things are backburners.

Battletech 1989 converted and improved for a Japanese computer in 1992.


0:22 seconds in. 0:57 seconds in.

That would be nice. Particularly the bar and other things as a form of social doodad or component. Reminds me of Front Mission 3, 4, 5.

Far as mech fluff and bios, I've been working on that. This link goes to what I've already done for the Komiyaba Type VIII chassis -- better known by its military moniker as the Hunchback. The video's essentially ready aside from needing another minute or so of "third person" footage of hunchbacks -- but it's been hard to get that without 12 PPCs being fired at us lately. The voice over is supposedly done but I've had trouble getting on at the same time as the woman that recorded the "Threat Analysis" to get the VO for the video and compile it.

So that'd be a fun read.

A side thing -- weapon variants by manufacturer, I did a video on "sampling" them in MWO today using regular in-game stuff to test the concepts.

Spoiler

And this video was sent to me by a German group that follows the Perfect Screenshot Thread that me and Lordred run. Which I think will entertain you with a bit of fluff that you've been hoping for.


I definitely agree MWO could use lots more immersion and fluff. One of my early requests was pilot animations, your arms raising off the controls when you are knocked around hard like here.

Though the shake there was a bit much for how weak the weapons were.
Sparks flying. Smoke and/or fire inside the cockpit. "Cracked" / "Bent" transparent steel cockpit 'glass' showing damage and blurring the view through the cockpit's viewport. More button pressing for different things rather than reusing the same button over and over.

Edited by Koniving, 13 July 2013 - 09:19 PM.

[wickwire]

YES, YES and YES to all of this!

Also, I've always wondered why Mechwarrior Tactics has those mech biographies and nifty spiderweb-diagrams and MWO doesn't.

Maverick01, on 13 July 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

Edited by wickwire, 14 July 2013 - 02:33 AM.

[Blue Hymn]

You know what should also be included?
Destructible buildings, when enough firepower is chugged through the infrastructure, causing it to collapse or crumble. Also, I'll be using Mechcommander as my point of reference -- and also suggest some additional stuff to add into the fluff - like gateways or control/turret centers that can be captured for a particular team and put to use for them.

I mean, to add more entertainment and potential to the MWO, perhaps fortifications that can be captured by an opposing team for use may help add more variety to the two modes we have right now: Assault and Conquest.

[soarra]

can we fix balance, hitboxes etc before we add fluff

[Phoenix Branson]

soarra, on 14 July 2013 - 07:38 AM, said:

can we fix balance, hitboxes etc before we add fluff

I would argue fluff and immersion is just as important as balance. If the developers don't keep new players interested in the game, what is the point of balance? BattleTech has rich history and lore, lets add that to the game to set the mood for why we are fighting. Balance takes time, but will eventually be refined. After all, look at Starcraft, it takes years to achieve perfection.

The main mission of PGI should be to capture and hold on to a strong player base. This will keep MWO healthy for years to come. Hopefully this game is such a success that they expand on making a single player game as well.

Edited by Maverick01, 14 July 2013 - 08:41 AM.

[Corvus Antaka]

TBH i like all this except the ambient mechlab noises. those need to be on/off switchable. we had those in CB and they were simply annoying after a while.

[Phoenix Branson]

Colonel Pada Vinson, on 14 July 2013 - 04:41 PM, said:

TBH i like all this except the ambient mechlab noises. those need to be on/off switchable. we had those in CB and they were simply annoying after a while.

They could add a checkbox in the Options Menu to turn it on/off.

[New Day]

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