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Consider that in Table Top if a mech incurs a heat penalty, the penalty lasts for at least 1 turn (10 seconds) and requires that the mech significantly reduce its activity (fire less weapons, move slower, etc...) in order to dissipate that extra heat. The penalty heat is not dissipated until the turn after it is generated. I'll explain this with a step-by-step:
- Turn 1: Mech generates heat, incurring a penalty. The penalty is not applied this turn.
- Turn 2: The penalty is applied.
- Turn 3: If the mech dissipated enough heat, the penalty is no longer applied.
What this example is attempting to show is that if heat penalties are applied based on %Heat, the penalties will be ever-changing and hard for a pilot to keep track of on the fly. Compared to table-top, heat management in MW:O would be based upon ball-park guesses (though truly elite pilots would have a strong grasp of their mech's heat scale) instead of careful forethought.
Therefore, in an attempt to add some more planning into the management of MW:O's (potential) heat penalties, I've devised a Heat Subsystem Penalty Scale (HSPS). The HSPS operates based on the following rules:
- Every mech has a Heat Subsystem Penalty Scale. When certain thresholds are hit, the mech's performance is decreased. Different subsystems (such as Speed, Torso Twist Radius, Ammunition Status, Twist Speed) are represented with different bars.
- When a mech hits X% or greater on the heat scale, Subsystems begin to accumulate heat damage (indicated by a bar on their respective scale filling). The speed that heat damage accumulates is proportional to how far over X% the mech has heated.
- Subsystems can never lose heat damage. Once a mech's heat decreases below X%, the Subsystem bars stop filling.
Joe is able to dissipate 5 heat per second (bringing him down to 20 heat in 2 seconds), so Joe only generates 2 points of heat on his HSPS scales. His mech is still functioning at peak capacity. However, now Joe fires weapons for 40 heat. This will cause him to generate 4 points of Heat Damage on the HSPS, causing damage to his Speed Subsystem. This means now that Level 1 on the Speed Subsystem will have been achieved, reducing Joe's speed by 10% for the rest of the match.
The HSPS has the advantage of making the heat system clearer to pilots (through visual depictions). This allows pilots to make better decisions regarding their heat management. It offers risk-reward gameplay as well: pilots will have to weigh between pushing their mech (to survive the immediate battle at the cost of long-term functioning) and managing heat carefully (to ensure optimum functioning for longer periods of time).
What do you think?
