Hyperlynx, on 14 July 2013 - 11:12 PM, said:
Adding NPC elementals to the game would require an enormous investment of time and money. There are no AI-driven enemies in MWO, so this would have to be written from scratch. That's assuming the change could even be added without either radically altering the fundamental architecture of the game (very expensive) or bolting it on with sticky tape (faster/cheaper to implement initially but you pay for it later on down the track when things start going wrong).
Adding playable elementals to the game would be a little less investment, but you introduce other problems. How many elementals per side? Do they take up player slots? How would that work with arranged teams? How do you balance the experience so that it's fun for the elemental players and for the mechwarriors? Let's bear in mind that they're battling to balance the game just for mechwarriors at the moment!
I'm sorry, but I think this idea is simply not feasible.
very easy. The Devs have already said they plan on making mechs NPC in the training grounds. They said they will start off with them being able to move on their own and maybe later even give them the function to fight back so the training ground feels more like a real simulator. If they can do this in the training grounds, they can do it in the game with other things like groups of 5 small elementals or other body armor, single NPC tanks and choppers or other units. All these things dont need to take up player slots or anything like this. They can all be called in through modules just like how we use UAVs or call in air stikes and Artillery stikes. If there is a module that allows me to call in a small attack chopper that is equipped with a single AC2 and it only has like 20 to 30 Armor to strip off before it dies, would that be a game changer? No, but it would be fun to call in as a unit to pester people with. The Clan emementals can also be a module, not playable but NPC unit. Calling in a medium or advanced heavy tank, have it be called in though a special module. But make all of these be a 1 time use in that match. Not consumable, because face it... consumables suck and not very many of us even use them. But id gladly spend 6 mil in C-bills and some GXP to get a module that would allow me to call in a NPC Tank unit that I can position at a capture point or choke point to watch that area. Will it be able to stand up to a Mech by itself, more times than not, no but at least it would help out in having some combined arms on the field and make the game feel a bit more like it has some other strategy elements to it.
Edited by Yoseful Mallad, 15 July 2013 - 06:36 AM.
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