24 replies to this topic

[Demos]

I want to suggest to give the player the possibility to activate/deactivate their AMS.
It is quite silly if your mech is behind cover and the AMS is spitting the ammo into the cover...
I would like to have the possibility to preserve the ammo in such situations.

Especially when LRM have their comeback, AMs will see more use and IMHO such an option would be nice.

[Macheiron]

One wonders why we don't have this already. I mean, ECM is toggleable,missile doors are too. We can even dim our cockpit lights for Pete's sake!

[Mason Grimm]

Don't you want to contribute to your teams AMS Umbrella?

Many pilots don't carry AMS and utilize their teammates AMS systems to help mitigate damage.

[Khanublikhan]

Mason Grimm, on 29 April 2013 - 12:41 PM, said:

Don't you want to contribute to your teams AMS Umbrella?

Many pilots don't carry AMS and utilize their teammates AMS systems to help mitigate damage.

Player choice is bad?

[Garth Erlam]

Great idea, thanks!

[Straften]

Mason Grimm, on 29 April 2013 - 12:41 PM, said:

Don't you want to contribute to your teams AMS Umbrella?

Many pilots don't carry AMS and utilize their teammates AMS systems to help mitigate damage.

What if your whole team is behind cover? I think the option is nice. A skilled pilot will leave it on if his ally is not in cover, and being fired upon.

[ArmageddonKnight]

Once LRM's are fixed and a balanced AMS will need a rework or buff.

Currently AMS is OP vs up 10 incoming missles. But totaly ineffective vs say 50 incoming missiles. This is down to the way it shoot missles down, it does it at a constant rate of x missles per second.

What pgi needs ot do is turn AMS into a system that reduces incoming missles by a %.

So missles start heading ur way, once they r wihtin say 300m AMS starts detecting them, as soon as the 1st missle hits the 200m mark AMS measure how many missiles are in that 200m to 300m range, then using a table of %'s for diffrent figures of incoming missles, it will destroy a % of said missles once they get within 200m.

So for example. Per AMS (2 mechs can use 2) ..... * is for double AMS
5-10 missiles : 20% : up 8 get through *6
11-20 missles : 20% : up to16 get through *12
21-30 missles : 25% : up to 23 get through *15
31-40 missiles: 27% : up to 29 get through *18
41-60 missles : 30% : up to 42 get through *24

The better defense system should them be balanced by reducing the allied defence radius t only say 50m, and maybe even halfing the effectiveness of it when defending other players. This is to help stop a total AMS shield around grouped up mechs.

Anyway figures are just examples, bt the idea to is to make it so people who have LRM's for support can still effectivly use them, whislt thoe boating LRM's are not overpowering the AMS. It also makes Double AMS on the mechs that have them much more attractive.

[FrostCollar]

Short answer: yes.
Slightly longer answer: I'm for more player toggles in general and this one has been suggested many times before, is simple, and makes sense. It also allows you to conserve ammo in those annoying cases when your eagle-eyed AMS decides to engage missiles through terrain or LRMs that have already lost lock and aren't worth the ammo.

[Hellcat420]

Mason Grimm, on 29 April 2013 - 12:41 PM, said:

Don't you want to contribute to your teams AMS Umbrella?

Many pilots don't carry AMS and utilize their teammates AMS systems to help mitigate damage.

your ams contributes nothing when its shooting the side of a giant rock that the missiles are impacting the other side of because you are hiding behind it.

[Deathlike]

It would be nice if AMS was "intelligent" enough to not shoot when there are obstructions in the way...

At least being able to disable AMS would mitigate this need... but ultimately I would like a smarter AMS in the near future.

[Nathan Foxbane]

Mason Grimm, on 29 April 2013 - 12:41 PM, said:

Don't you want to contribute to your teams AMS Umbrella?

Many pilots don't carry AMS and utilize their teammates AMS systems to help mitigate damage.

Not that I do not want to. More there are times when stealth is more important than swatting a couple missiles. Having been on both ends I can tell you that some stray or even intentionally dumb fired LRMs have ruined more than one really good ambush or flanking attack. That and seeing AMS rounds phase through terrain that it should not even be able to detect missiles through is a bit odd. I can understand if it is just a coding simplification, but I would like to see that resolved eventually. It is one thing when it is supporting your teammate while they make a beeline for cover, but another when the missiles are guaranteed to eat terrain in front of you and your AMS is madly burning through ammo to stop those missiles that it should not even detect, let alone engage.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Garth Erlam, on 29 April 2013 - 01:31 PM, said:

Great idea, thanks!

Bryan Ekman, from Ask the Devs 30:

Quote

Q: Why does it take so long to get any weapon balance changes through?
A: From the moment we make a fix, to the time it goes live – 4 weeks. We can rush some fixes immediately (hotfix), but we try to avoid these as they are very risky. Priority also comes into play, we have a lot of high priority items, and sometimes things just have to wait.

Just because… it was fun to answer.
1. A training ground / test arena? Yes
2. A toggle for AMS? Maybe

Between the Maybe we got back in January, and Garth's response... I don't think that an AMS toggle has been discussed yet within those 3 months. Hopefully that'll change though... But as Bryan mentioned, there's other priority items. I just hope in 4 months they don't forget about the things people were hoping for 3 months ago..

[ SOLVED ]

Quote

Harmin: Could we have an on/off switch for AMS systems?
A: Yes.

Source: Ask the Devs 37

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 03 May 2013 - 05:25 PM.

[JuiceKeeper]

definitly yes. ams sometimes gives away position becouse it start automaticly shoot missiles which are just flying around etc

[Solomon Ward]

Didn´t vote because it was not "the idea of OP" but i definately support the AMS toggle.

[Blue Footed Booby]

Deathlike, on 29 April 2013 - 02:33 PM, said:

It would be nice if AMS was "intelligent" enough to not shoot when there are obstructions in the way...

At least being able to disable AMS would mitigate this need... but ultimately I would like a smarter AMS in the near future.

I honestly see this as a bug, even if it's a low priority one. When you're writing bot AI (and that's basically what AMS is, a specialized bot you've kidnapped and duct taped to your mech) you have it cast a ray at a target to check whether it has line of sight before firing, or something like that. Firing mindlessly into terrain is something neither a human player nor a real-world missile defense system (eg Patriot, Iron Dome, Phalanx) would do.

[Deathlike]

Blue Footed Booby, on 30 April 2013 - 04:26 AM, said:

I honestly see this as a bug, even if it's a low priority one. When you're writing bot AI (and that's basically what AMS is, a specialized bot you've kidnapped and duct taped to your mech) you have it cast a ray at a target to check whether it has line of sight before firing, or something like that. Firing mindlessly into terrain is something neither a human player nor a real-world missile defense system (eg Patriot, Iron Dome, Phalanx) would do.

I find that the "bigger bug" is the one where you lose LOS on your teammates, and they disappear on the map, despite no ECM interference.

Edited by Deathlike, 30 April 2013 - 07:19 AM.

[Voridan Atreides]

Demos, on 29 April 2013 - 12:22 PM, said:

I want to suggest to give the player the possibility to activate/deactivate their AMS.
It is quite silly if your mech is behind cover and the AMS is spitting the ammo into the cover...
I would like to have the possibility to preserve the ammo in such situations.

Especially when LRM have their comeback, AMs will see more use and IMHO such an option would be nice.

Garth Erlam, on 29 April 2013 - 01:31 PM, said:

Great idea, thanks!

Good suggestion OP.

[Zerberus]

Would be nice, but a toggle for TAG is more necessary IMO, as currently we "have" to resort to mechanical workarounds, bugs, or macros to get that basic functionality.

[Jman5]

http://mwomercs.com/...28#entry1965728

I made a suggestion a few months ago that AMS should have a toggle that works similar to Override. So you hit the disable button and it temporarily shuts AMS down for about 5 seconds. That way, you don't accidentally leave it off and there is a pro-active skill-based aspect to the AMS.

Edited by Jman5, 01 May 2013 - 08:27 AM.

[Hauser]

Yes please. It's hard enough for people to switch their ECM to counter mode when the DDC rolls around the corner.