22 replies to this topic

[XtremWarrior]

Hi folks,
I saw a few threads asking for allies to be targetable and i have to admit that this is somehow a big lack in these game:
if your a pug or if your not using TS or any voice-communication chanel, all the informations you can get on a friendly mech is the percentage of his total health he has left.
But this is a war simulation with some critical choices to be made during the fight, and you DO WANT to know if the Stalker you are following has it's CT almost cored, or what weapons he's using, etc...
What i say is make a key for allies targeting as we have now for enemies with "R", that give us the exact same infos we got on foes but with another key like "t" or whatever.

For the target's Heat:
it is something that is part of the lore and i think it could realy improve the survivability of the small and medium mechs, giving them a chance to disengage or attack when larger enemy's Heat gets high. And the 1 vs 1 fights that sometimes arise during games would get a little more strategic.

Thanks for your time,
Please give me your feedbacks.

Edited by XtremWarrior, 31 October 2013 - 11:51 AM.

[fandre]

This could be part of an improved BAP or as a module. It shoud not be available from the beginning.

EDIT: For Heat. Targetting Allies to see theire status and armament should be available with normal Sensors but assigned to another button. Otherwise it would be hard to target in brawling situations.

Edited by fandre, 31 October 2013 - 04:42 AM.

[XtremWarrior]

For the Heat i guess? Well yes, that could be part of the advanced sensors module. BAP is a very good solution too.

[Lexx]

Making allies targetable would mean you could team kill them with streaks and LRMs instead of just direct fire weapons.

It would also make it really hard to target enemies next to your team mates since your mech would want to target everyone.

I say no.

[XtremWarrior]

Well, i heard you that's why i meant another key.
To be clear: we still got "r" to target foes, but we have also, say "t" to target friends.
Sorry as that was obvious to me but maybe unclear.


Edited my post so that point gets clearer

Edited by XtremWarrior, 31 October 2013 - 11:52 AM.

[Commodore Frank]

As for sensing enemy heat, I think it would be much more immersive if there were visual cues for an enemy running hot, such as light refraction around the mech or letting off steam if they use a coolant flush. Seeing differences in thermal sensors would also be a nice touch. Heat sensors would be cool for exact values, but it doesn't seem like something that should come by default.

[XtremWarrior]

That looks like something a lot bigger to develop.
What i suggest is something that MIGHT actually happened: targeting allies don't need any coding since it's just duplicating an existing thing. Maybe there's a bit more with the Heat sensor thing but the values already exist, we just need a display.


EDIT: so far people care less about friendly targeting than heat... Am i the only one thinking this is kinda essential for offensive or defensive coordination, covering of allied mech, etc?

Edited by XtremWarrior, 01 November 2013 - 08:27 AM.

[CDLord HHGD]

Information is ammunition.

[XtremWarrior]

cdlord, on 01 November 2013 - 08:38 AM, said:

Information is ammunition.

So true... And so far, we've always been a bit short of them

[Enzane]

No. Targeting Allies just proves to be a bad idea that can lead to your teammates fighting. If you want some sort of information allow the players to write two letters next to their mechs. indicating the role they are intending to fill.

SKirmisher, BRawler, LRms, SCout, FireSupport.

That should be enough information without allowing a person to get freaked out because the entire team is targeting them. Or much worse, in the midst of a brawl gets killed, because the AC40 Jager accidentally targeted and fired on a friendly in the frenzy.




You want to see a targets heat? Switch to Thermal. In the closed beta days this used to show a mechs heat levels expertly. Now it still does, but to a lesser degree. Keep in mind that despite a Mech's Heat level, the engine should be "sinking" that heat rather expertly. It doesn't always mean the mech is going to glow.

[XtremWarrior]

Well, we already said this have to be another key than "r" wich remains enemy targeting.
Why not, about your letter thing but that's out of my point. This is no valid informations on their immediate status in the fight.
Do you have to cover the rear of this team-mate, or the right side of this one? Who's in better shape to lead the charge?.... That's what i'm talking about.

Oh and thanks, i will definetely use thermal vision on Caustic Valley or Terra Therma just to guess how much bright my target is.

Edited by XtremWarrior, 02 November 2013 - 08:08 AM.

[Darth Futuza]

Instead of actually displaying heat I'd rather have visual cues to high heat. That way its still a guess, but at least a close one. eg: using thermal right now can sometimes give you a hint, but on certain maps its useless

[XtremWarrior]

A Mech's heat-dissipation system is somehow based on the same principles as your computer heat dissipation. Does your computer give you visual clues when it's overheating? No, it crashes to desktop, freeze or shutdown suddenly, without warning.

If any of your sensors could actively guess enemy Mechs' heat, then it should display it in an accessible and easy to read display.

[Darth Futuza]

XtremWarrior, on 06 November 2013 - 01:46 AM, said:

A Mech's heat-dissipation system is somehow based on the same principles as your computer heat dissipation. Does your computer give you visual clues when it's overheating? No, it crashes to desktop, freeze or shutdown suddenly, without warning.

There's an App for that™

[XtremWarrior]

lol, no!
Even with all the apps and logs, you cannot tell by watching a PC (not it's diplay) if he's overheating...

[XtremWarrior]

And suddenly, no one wants enemy's heat displayed, and i really couldn't figure why...

[Oppresor]

By making your own Mechs targetable there is a massively increased risk of friendly fire so I would rather avoid this, however I really like your Heat detection system; This could be introduced as an additional enhancement module for those carrying BAP.

[XtremWarrior]

Then again, it's already stated that the "friendly targeting button" will be another key than "enemy targeting button", so no it wouldn't increase chance to make some friendly fire...
Thanks anyway.

Edit: 30 votes so far, that's nice! Now it's starting to actually show the players' opinions on that subject.

Edited by XtremWarrior, 09 December 2013 - 02:08 AM.

[Rasc4l]

fandre, on 31 October 2013 - 03:40 AM, said:

This could be part of an improved BAP or as a module. It shoud not be available from the beginning.

EDIT: For Heat. Targetting Allies to see theire status and armament should be available with normal Sensors but assigned to another button. Otherwise it would be hard to target in brawling situations.

I am in favor of this. In my Information Warfare suggestion (see signature), additional information of enemy mechs is available with BAP and target info gathering. I don't have the heat there but it should definitely be added to the list (see table 3 in my suggestion). Such additional information of the enemy should indeed not come free and I suggested that scanning time could be used as a factor (see table 3).

[XtremWarrior]

I really like your thread and its ideas, although is a very big step further from what i suggest here.
The major issue here is the friendly-targeting option, and it doesn't imply any of the tweaks you propose in your topic.
But all this topics are part of some massive Sensor's Rebuild that this game, IMHO, needs very much, so i'm glad you put an entry here.