1089 replies to this topic

[Jock McGunn]

its ok, pk could talk for days on anything mechwarrior and cover it from 8 angles and still make it seem original, so we are safe there

[Cattra Kell]

So a few more questions have been added for Wednesday. If you wan't us to discuss something remember to add a reply here mates!

[Dihm]

I was just pointed to an aspect that I hadn't really noticed before for some reason. Not sure if this is a new addition or not...

http://mwomercs.com/game

Quote

Information Warfare:
Evolving the MechWarrior® experience required a new layer of gameplay. Instead of large open expanses and circle strafing parties, we wanted to examine the core play experience of the previous MechWarrior® titles and see if we could bring a more tactical/strategic experience to MechWarrior® Online™. Relying more on line-of-sight and incorporating information technologies, we feel that information warfare will bring a new level of realism to the fight and help enforce the idea of team based multiplayer even more. Another aspect of Mech Warfare, something that we can do with new technology, is urban combat. The battlefield is no longer open areas with mile long sightlines. . Tactical manoeuvres will be required now more than ever and the key to success is using InfoTech alongside great team play. The newly implemented Battle Grid will give commanding units a bird’s eye view of the battlefield and scouts will be able to feed real time recon information to them. The battlefield commander will be able to call in air strikes, artillery strikes and other support unit requests.

What are your thoughts on the Battle Grid? Will it be one commander per lance, or one per team do you think? If it is one per team... what determines who the commander is? All these additions to role warfare seem to make the matches MORE lethal to me. I wonder how they are getting the "20 minute matches" figure! Seems like respawning of some sort would have to be in place for that.

Edited by Dihm, 28 November 2011 - 06:19 AM.

[SquareSphere]

I noticed that before too, part of the reason why I mentioned how happy I'd be if they got the Cyclops back in doing what it's supported to do :3

[phelanjkell]

I'll take some notes when I get home from work in an hour or so.

[Gaius Cavadus]

No offense to the podcasters but the ignorance displayed regarding Mw4 is pretty bad. You can hate the game all you want but at least know what you're talking about.

There were a few examples throughout the podcast but the one which really stuck out to me was all of you complaining about Mw4's arms being completely locked into a specific position which wasn't true at all. You could rotate each arm 90 degrees and when doing so you'd be given a camera view out that side of the mech and could then aim the arm's targeting reticle and fire that arm's weapons.

[phelanjkell]

Cavadus, on 28 November 2011 - 01:46 PM, said:

No offense to the podcasters but the ignorance displayed regarding Mw4 is pretty bad. You can hate the game all you want but at least know what you're talking about.

There were a few examples throughout the podcast but the one which really stuck out to me was all of you complaining about Mw4's arms being completely locked into a specific position which wasn't true at all. You could rotate each arm 90 degrees and when doing so you'd be given a camera view out that side of the mech and could then aim the arm's targeting reticle and fire that arm's weapons.

Please understand its discussion and opinions, and at no time have I or other said it was horrible. The game on release and the Mektek patches are completly seperate games. From what I understood, Mektek did some great things with the game from what I've heard. But in general, from a game development on initial release the game was a step back. That again does not take away that I played the game for years... haha

[CG Anastasius Focht]

I really liked MW4 mercs, and yes you could look and shoot left and right, i sometimes used the function to goose slower teammates making their way from spawn to battle
I like the mission play and co-op missions and some of the custom maps were great TV-War in the woods (Boreal forest) even had working repair bays, and mission to mars was made using actual mars footage.

I hosted a server for many years

[Gaius Cavadus]

phelanjkell, on 28 November 2011 - 04:56 PM, said:

Please understand its discussion and opinions, and at no time have I or other said it was horrible. The game on release and the Mektek patches are completly seperate games. From what I understood, Mektek did some great things with the game from what I've heard. But in general, from a game development on initial release the game was a step back. That again does not take away that I played the game for years... haha

That arm-look feature was in the game at launch.

Edit: Vengeance's launch at that.

Edited by Cavadus, 28 November 2011 - 06:17 PM.

[CG Anastasius Focht]

Cavadus, on 28 November 2011 - 06:14 PM, said:

That arm-look feature was in the game at launch.

Edit: Vengeance's launch at that.

Sure was, first on the list at that



But i was amazed at how few players knew of and used the feature

[phelanjkell]

To be honest I just found out! haha All those years...

Also get in your questions, topics, ideas in now! Tomorrow we record Podcast #5 after the Wed. release of information!!

Edited by phelanjkell, 29 November 2011 - 04:47 AM.

[Belrick]

Cavadus, on 28 November 2011 - 01:46 PM, said:

No offense to the podcasters but the ignorance displayed regarding Mw4 is pretty bad. You can hate the game all you want but at least know what you're talking about.

There were a few examples throughout the podcast but the one which really stuck out to me was all of you complaining about Mw4's arms being completely locked into a specific position which wasn't true at all. You could rotate each arm 90 degrees and when doing so you'd be given a camera view out that side of the mech and could then aim the arm's targeting reticle and fire that arm's weapons.

To be fair and defend the casters, the mechanic itself was clunky, and in no way represented the actual movement of mechs arms that could happen in the tabletop / novels.

I understand what they are getting at when they say locked into place. Even with the arm's movement, it could still only go left and right. This is compared to something like Assault Tech 1 (I believe) where there is actually a moving crosshair, allowing you to aim as they described.

[Seth]

I was saving the podcasts for my drive from Florida back to Texas. I'm about seven hours into it right now, and just need to finish part B of 4. I gotta say, I'm not feeling a whole lotta love for MW4. I briefly read the last few posts that corrected one of the hosts (Alex?) who didn't know about the arm/rear views. It also got the feeling you liked the terrain in MW3 more than MW4 which very much surprised me. I remember MW3 having a lot of flat plans with just mesas spread about while MW4 actually had elevated terrain and cities. I did agree somewhat with you guys that the MW3 mech lab was a much more accurate representation of the pen and paper mech custom build sheets, but you also pointed out that basically led to the same min/max builds on a few mechs like the Strider and Shadow Cat. The hard point system of MW4 limited possible mech builds (like on the Dragon) but gave each mech its own flavor and a role they could excel at. The few mechs like the Raven that could mount BAP and ECM were the go to scouting mechs. The Catapult and Archer were clearly missile support mechs. The Nova Cat was a sniper. Open TD/TA games generally rewarded players who took the biggest mechs but you didn't mention the other game types that required a mixed team like capture the flag or mission play, or even league play for that matter. I think MW4 deserves a bit more credit than you guys are giving it. It must be doing something right if people still play right?

Rant aside, I would like to hear you guys speculate about possible game types that could be included besides the requisite team destruction or the persistent map/planetary assaults. I'm thinking instant action mission objective maps and capture the flag, both of which I loved in MW4. League play, which has always been a huge part of MechWarrior multiplayer, doesn't look like it will be possible with MechWarrior Online. I wonder if you guys think the persistant map that shows the results of matches is enough to fill the shoes of traditional leagues or if MWO will loose something because of that. Agree or disagree, I still want to hear more, so keep up the good work.

P.S. forgive any spelling errors, I'm writing this on my phone at a rest stop.

[Dihm]

Seth, on 29 November 2011 - 07:52 AM, said:

Rant aside, I would like to hear you guys speculate about possible game types that could be included besides the requisite team destruction or the persistent map/planetary assaults. I'm thinking instant action mission objective maps and capture the flag, both of which I loved in MW4. League play, which has always been a huge part of MechWarrior multiplayer, doesn't look like it will be possible with MechWarrior Online. I wonder if you guys think the persistant map that shows the results of matches is enough to fill the shoes of traditional leagues or if MWO will loose something because of that. Agree or disagree, I still want to hear more, so keep up the good work.

People have suggested it a lot already, but I'll throw my hat into the "Solaris VII!" bandwagon as well. Tournaments held for individuals, lances, companies, etc. Results displayed in the game world. Give out in-game prizes (paint scheme, limited edition dangly *****, golden mechnuts, monocles, titles, whatever, as long as it doesn't confer a mechanical benefit) to the winners.

[Gaius Cavadus]

Belrick, on 29 November 2011 - 06:19 AM, said:

To be fair...

...they were wrong. And no MW game is ever going to simulate the dexterity of TT battlemechs. They could pretty much move or do anything a human can do as long as they had the parts (hands, et cetera). In TT an Atlas can flip the enemy the bird while kicking it in the crotch.

@ Seth: Yeah, ragging on Mw4's maps while extolling Mw3's was another thing turning me off from this podcast. Mw4's maps were actually varied, Mw3's were the just same thing over and over. Mw3 didn't even feature any fully urban terrain. I'd argue that even Mw2's maps were superior to 3's.

[Ozric]

awesome show! i was hoping somebody would sort a podcast out for all the reborn mechwarriors and lo you were already on episode two! gobsmacked and very pleased.

thanks for all the good work!

[Jock McGunn]

Seth, on 29 November 2011 - 07:52 AM, said:

I was saving the podcasts for my drive from Florida back to Texas. I'm about seven hours into it right now, and just need to finish part B of 4. I gotta say, I'm not feeling a whole lotta love for MW4. I briefly read the last few posts that corrected one of the hosts (Alex?) who didn't know about the arm/rear views.

It may have Greg (aka Alekseyev, sometimes shortened to Alek) or it mak have been PK, I'd need to check the podcasts. I think cattra did actually mention it but we were running out of time and PK was anctious to get to the next topic.I myself only ever played mw4 after the mektek release and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a bit of a graphics ***** so my view/opinion may be jaded but I thought the maps were ok, nothing great. Esp the city ones, they deffinately didnt feel like cities.

Edited by jock mcgunn, 29 November 2011 - 10:53 AM.

[Seth]

Don't me wrong, the game looks old. Vengeance came out 12 years ago I believe. I just wish you guys had been able to play MW4 like I have. I've played in planetary leagues that used stock mechs (and stock variants... looking at you VnR and BTU leagues), thought the hard point system was, on balance, superior to the full omni system of MW3, and played much more than plain Team Destruction. The multiplayer experience of Mechwarrior 4 has been my favorite by far.

[Kaemon]

Hopefully the devs will drop some info via the podcast first in the near future, even if it's just some teaser info.

Keep up the good work guys!

[CG Anastasius Focht]

phelanjkell, on 29 November 2011 - 04:37 AM, said:

To be honest I just found out! haha All those years...

Also get in your questions, topics, ideas in now! Tomorrow we record Podcast #5 after the Wed. release of information!!

Yeah, as i said use of this wasnt all that well known, and taking a shot via LL/LR was the ultimate trick shot, Best suited to LBX loadouts in the arms.
Looking forward to the next podcast