28 replies to this topic

[Kadix]

I know a lot of guys run bright colors to look cool, but has anyone done work on finding out what camo patterns actually make you harder to spot in the terrain?

Obviously the big red target box is a bit of a give-away, but with ECM or just when moving fast, does camo help?

What colors and patterns are you running?

Edited by Kadix, 16 August 2013 - 03:11 AM.

[Genewen]

There is nothing making you harder to spot. Mech colors and patterns only become visible at a distance at which only a blind man could overlook you. For the rest of the time, all mechs are the same dark color - which is why you get so many complaints about Terra Therma.

PS: Liking own posts is pathetic, you shouldn't do that. Makes you look kinda ridiculous in the eyes of others.

Edited by Genewen, 16 August 2013 - 03:23 AM.

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

Without ECM, camo is irrelevant.

The human eye is attracted to movement. If the 'Mech is moving, then camo is pretty irrelevant. Some of the maps have moving visual distractions, but for the most part, a moving 'Mech is easy to see if it's not behind solid cover.

A 'Mech outline is fairly characteristic and unlike anything else on a map. If it is not obscured by visual cover (trees), then camo is pretty irrelevant.

Any map with too high a contrast between ground and 'Mech (snow maps) will render camo pretty irrelevant.

The smaller the 'Mech the better, the further away you are the better, the more in their peripheral vision, the better.

So - in short - unless you are a small 'Mech in ECM cover on a non-snowy map, some distance from the target, not moving, behind oscuring cover (like trees), not in the enemy's central field of vision, then camo is irrelevant.

All my opinion of course.

[NickFury271]

I find the best "camo" in the game is to keep your mech the stock "noob green" colors.

It has been my experience that the enemy tends to go after the more colorful mechs first on the assumption that those mechs are piloted by more experienced players who have invested money in the game and are likely to be more of a threat then those "noob green" mechs out on the battlefield.

[Corison]

Camo can be VERY effective; despite the claims above. Its a bit of a gamble but the right combo can give you a massive advantage.

An ECM raven running black or black/red on Terra for example can be almost impossible to see.
A brown pattern can make it much harder to target you on either of the desert maps.
A white pattern on snow again can help.

Your mileage may very, but ECM+Small + Backdrop helps a great deal here. The larger the mech, the less useful camo is but every little bit helps. I find with my sniping Raven and Cicada people often have trouble spotting me at 600-800 meters if I setup right.

fyi: changing sensor modes can negate most camo advantages, however that assumes the other player thinks of it and the map is suitable for it.

[Barrett]

My Atlas disappears in snow maps thanks to digital camo white,grey,black colour scheme.
Yup, once it's face down in the snow you can barely make out the wreckage.

[Kadix]

I should have mentioned I drive an ECM'ed spider...

[StarGeezer]

Barrett, on 16 August 2013 - 05:44 AM, said:

My Atlas disappears in snow maps thanks to digital camo white,grey,black colour scheme.
Yup, once it's face down in the snow you can barely make out the wreckage.

Pure awesome! And it works too...I tried it many times successfully just last night!

[80Bit]

I have to agree with Dalziel. In most cases camo does not matter much. Even at long range you are likely to be spotted if moving at all. Black raven on a dark background? Doesn't matter, you see the movement. Can it help a little? Sure, but it's very rare I go "Wait a minute, is that blob in the distance a mech?!"

One thing that camo does help with one some mechs is blurring the line between body parts. Some camo schemes can make it harder to tell where a side torso ends and a center torso begins. That can be a little helpful in some situations.

[Koniving]

Camo used to hide? Can you see me?

"I swear that mountain just fired SRMs at me." "You're drunk again aren't you?"

Blending in. Me again.


Lots more here..

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Zhi-Zhu colors.




"Smoke" camouflage.

The following are all of me.

Spoiler

When I wear orange, beware. I have flamers.


Run spider! RUN!




The most famous of my pictures. I have found this on many websites and it honors me to see my Raptor AC/20 Raven.




Shhh... It's okay Spider...

Hope you enjoyed what you seen. Thank you for taking the time to look through these.
All shots taken by Lordred, except of the zebra striped Jagermech which was taken by Wolfmech.
Check out our image thread here. Lordred loves feedback and requests; give us some!

[Koniving]

Corison, on 16 August 2013 - 05:31 AM, said:

fyi: changing sensor modes can negate most camo advantages, however that assumes the other player thinks of it and the map is suitable for it.
Kon thought I said something about Seismic. Honestly I didn't and Kon's a moron. Also Kon edited my quote so I didn't really say that either.

Two tricks here.

• Seismic can't detect you if you're not moving. Seismic can also lie and swear you must be an Atlas when you're really a Spider if you move slower.
  
• Outside of 180 meters, no one can detect a powered down mech.

Edit: It's late. I made a mistake.

Edited by Koniving, 16 August 2013 - 10:21 PM.

[Liquid Leopard]

I've concluded that mech colors aren't terribly important.
What's really important on the field is being aware of your background: If you stand on a ridge, you'll most likely be a dark silhouette on a bright background. You're much harder to spot against a dark background. This has been an issue in the real world where I had to tell my troops, "Hey, sniper bait! Get off the berm!" (Thankfully, I only saw this during exercises...Which is the point of such an exercise.)

At a certain distance, the game engine stops showing the mechs' colors, and they're all just gray.
Up close, even a mech with ECM gets a red triangle over its head, and a square marked around it.
If there's a distance range where camo matters, it must be a very small range.

When your mech has the red square around it, camo might help obscure your center of mass, and make it harder for the enemy to aim at you. With the right camo and the right background (i.e. luck) you can reduce the enemy to estimating the center of the square. (Or, without ECM, they could just fire LRMs at you.)

Once I was using an Awesome with colors I thought were nifty, in the default pattern. A teammate decided, with one look, that it highlighted my side torsos and made it easier for the enemy to aim at them. Once I realized the Tiger stripes were horizontal on the Awesome, I decided that was the pattern for me. I haven't camouflaged the mech so much as the hitboxes.

[Liquid Leopard]

Koniving, on 16 August 2013 - 10:09 PM, said:

Lordred loves feedback and requests; give us some!

Kon's not kidding, folks! When I played with him on voice comms, Lordred was emphatic that he wanted requests!

Edited by Liquid Leopard, 16 August 2013 - 10:47 PM.

[Benjamin Davion]

This is pure personal opinion, but I think the main benefit of color schemes is psychological in nature. For instance, for me, there is nothing more cheering in this game than being amidst a 12-man, all decked out in HeadHunters colors, advancing against the enemy. It promotes unit cohesion and morale. Conversely, I take enemies decked out in matching colors more seriously. A lance of mechs with a mix of colors? Be careful, but there's a decent chance they're not a cohesive, pre-planned unit. MIGHT be, but it's less likely. Move around a bit, run into a lance of four with all-matching paint-jobs? 'Crap, organized.' 'Organized' doesn't mean 'effective', but it definitely raises the odds. Whether I'm in my Spider scouting away or in something heavier looking for a fight, I'm more likely to back away from a group of matching mechs because, if they ARE a well-oiled machine of a unit, death is all the more likely.

That said, I HAVE seen mechs vanish into the background with the right color scheme. My Atlas D-DC uses standard HHoD colors with the Tiger pattern, and in Terra Therma, with ECM active, and me standing still waiting for you to charge over that hill, it's quite likely you won't spot me until I open fire. At that point... too late!

[Kenyon Burguess]

bright and flashy edo purple > friendly fire. I learned my lesson the hard way.

[TheCaptainJZ]

Camo colors generally makes you stand out more, not less. Since you can't pick which map you'll drop on, there is no way to pick an appropriate camo. I find that I sometimes survive better with the standard green, but I feel I have sucess with the mid-tone browns as well since many maps have brown in them.

[Elizander]

Genewen, on 16 August 2013 - 03:21 AM, said:

PS: Liking own posts is pathetic, you shouldn't do that. Makes you look kinda ridiculous in the eyes of others.

I think that PGI should just edit the forums so that people cannot like their own posts.

[Gremlich Johns]

Keep in mind that black occurs rarely in nature. A lot of guys like black - I understand their need to make a statement. Tactically, black is the last color I'd use outside of a night map, and even then, I'd go with more muted colors like grays and tans

if you have to have the color black on your mech, keep it minimal. I stay with stock colors but rearrange them for blending in with terrain. PGI should provide a basic palette of colors for mechs for free: sand/tan, black, OD, brown, and white and only allow their use on the six available skin channels in the default section.

[Barrett]

Wearing black is a statement? And here I thought the Emo guys were just saving themselves from washing their clothes everyday. Pity about those white stains.

Instances where black occurs: Bush Fire aftermath, Beetles, at Night (blue tone) prior to dawn, in a mine shaft, my wife's disposition after 25 days, power failure, face palm effect and space.

Coming back to the topic of painting your mech: Your enemy runs a laser over you and the paint is burned off, leaving a white residue. Until you can write your own messages or put adverts on your mech, leave it green.

[StarGeezer]

Gremlich Johns, on 17 August 2013 - 07:30 AM, said:

Keep in mind that black occurs rarely in nature. A lot of guys like black - I understand their need to make a statement. Tactically, black is the last color I'd use outside of a night map, and even then, I'd go with more muted colors like grays and tans

if you have to have the color black on your mech, keep it minimal. I stay with stock colors but rearrange them for blending in with terrain. PGI should provide a basic palette of colors for mechs for free: sand/tan, black, OD, brown, and white and only allow their use on the six available skin channels in the default section.

Hmmm, I dunno. I immediately think of things like the F-117 Nighthawk Fighter, the B-2 Spirit Bomber, ninjas, SWAT teams, those wacky IRS agents...I get the impression they could be onto something.