4 replies to this topic

[Gryphorim]

I'm putting this poll together, hoping PGI see this to see public opinion of a few weapon/balance ideas I've had, or seen floated in the forums more than once.
I also want to see if I'm "on an island" with the features I want to see added or changed.

-Pulse Lasers.
Each shot from a pulse laser is a single pulse, with the cooldown being near instant. As such, they function like MGs. This would make them run very hot, but be superior brawling weapons, well worth the other drawbacks, like the tonnage, and range.

-Accelerating LRMs.
LRMs launch at around 100m/s and as LRMs fly, they get faster, maxing out at about 1200m/s at the outer edge of their range. This allows them to be used more effectively at max range. Range buff for AMS naturally.

-AoE AMS.
Proposed as traditional AMS would need to be adjusted for faster LRMs. AMS projects a Cone of fire that deals more damage to missiles nearer the center of the cone. this allows it to more effectively whittle away denser clusters of missiles (ie:- launched from larger LRM launchers,) without making them completely negate smaller clusters. Ideally, an LRM5 should get maybe 1 or 2 missiles to a target protected by AMS and an LRM20 should get maybe 12 missiles to target.

-Splash damage PPCs.
Make PPCs deal a percentage of their damage as splash, and tweaked so they deal more damage to armour and less to internals.

-AC2 projectile speed reduction.
A basic autocannon should not be putting rounds downrange as fast as a Gauss, especially given the description of a Gauss explicitly states it fires a round at twice the velocity of any AC.

-Seeking SRMs.
Give SRMs a very limited ability to track a locked target. Yes they can still be dumbfired, but with a lock their hit probability goes up just a bit.

-More distinctive Gauss charge sounds, and visual cue.
I propose a ring-shaped charge bar around the crosshairs, that fills clockwise from the "12 o'clock" position, and when Gauss is charged, ring is completed and changes to a green colour. Possibly flashes rapidly.

-More distinction between SHS and DHS.
Make SHS have superior heat capacity, but poorer heat disipation, and DHS have superior disipation, but worse capacity. That way, the choice of DHS is not a given, near mandatory upgrade, but is a choice to facilitate a given play style.
Alternately, give players multipliers to c-bills and XP for choosing to run cheaper, easier to maintain parts (no upgrades, no XL engine) in their mechs. That would simulate lower running costs.

-Hardpoint size restrictions.
I firmly believe this is the best answer for keeping each and every mech relevant and viable as the number of mechs increase. Some mechs are already near extinct, as newer designs are simply better.

Please leave feedback, and if anyone from PGI does read this, could you please add a burst as to if why you agree or disagree with the suggestions i've written here.

[Hoffenstein]

These all look like very solid suggestions, they'd add a unique flavour to the weapons mentioned and the economy as a whole. One thing that I particularly like which you mentioned is the hard point size restrictions, though not to the extent of MW4. Perhaps the energy/ballistic slots could be set as "light" or "heavy", light weapons being the Ac/2, Ac/5, MG, Medium and small lasers and any other non-weighty items. Might be a reason to grab a Mech that has a single heavy ballistic slot now . An implementation they already have for this is the amount of launch tubes in missile launchers (sometimes it's 5, others 20).

Edited by Hoffenstein, 07 March 2014 - 05:46 PM.

[no one]

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-Pulse Lasers.
Each shot from a pulse laser is a single pulse, with the cooldown being near instant. As such, they function like MGs.

Yes, but give them a limited charge capacity. Leaning a weapon's balance entirely on the heat system is not a great idea. One full second of zap at the same rate of damage you get out of them now, with the same rate of recharge would, at current values, mean :

full burst damage Heat Recycle
(1 second)
LPL 17.7 d - - - - - 13.3 u - - - - 5.42 s
MPL 10 d - - - - - 8.3 u - - - - 5 s
SPL 6.8 d - - - - - 4 u - - - - - 4.5 s

I would, personally, adjust those values like so -

full burst damage Heat Recycle
(1 second)
LPL 18 d - - - - - 12 u - - - - 6 s
MPL 12 d - - - - - 8 u - - - - 5 s
SPL 6 d - - - - - 4 u - - - - - 4 s

. . . and return pulse laser ranges to pre-patch values.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-Accelerating LRMs.

Faster LRMs would be good, but not -that- fast. (They're at 120m/s presently) Limiting indirect fire by one indirect LRM lock to one spotter would be good. Not so sure missiles should accelerate over their entire flight path though. You could have them start at 70m/s, then accelerate to 140m/s in the first 180 meters, then accelerate after they've passed apoapsis up to a velocity of 180m/s.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-AoE AMS.

I'm. . . not sure I understand this one. Longer AMS range would be plenty, in my opinion.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-Splash damage PPCs.

Neat. What % to armor and to internals? 110% / 90% ?

8 pinpoint damage / 1 splash damage isPPC
9 pinpoint damage / 3 splash damage CerPPC

(Assume splash damage is applied only once to each adjacent section and not to the section hit by the PPC. Splash damage to the cockpit is always reduced to 1.)

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-AC2 projectile speed reduction.

Alternative : Make Gauss rounds actually travel twice as fast as ac/2 rounds. Ka-POW.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-Seeking SRMs.

Yes, use a fly-by wire system where srms track (loosely) along the 'invisible beam' projected from your arm reticule. For both LRMs and SRMs, missiles should continue on a purely ballistic trajectory after they have reached maximum range, rather than detonating.

Also, damage registration on SRMs needs to be looked at, because right now they are
broke. as. hell.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-More distinctive Gauss charge sounds, and visual cue.

Maybe, but what Gauss really needs is to hold charge and generate heat at 1h/tu (as much heat as you generate walking) for as long as it's kept charged. Also it should only explode if damaged whilst charged.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-More distinction between SHS and DHS.

Yes, but on top of that :

0 - remove ghost heat.
1 - Decrease heat capacity globally for both DHS and SHS.
2 - Increase heat dissipation globally for both DHS and SHS.
3 - 'Mechs should start incurring penalties to movement and twist speed at higher heat levels.
4 - The more heat you build up, the less well your heat sinks should be able to dissipate that heat.

Gryphorim, on 07 March 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

-Hardpoint size restrictions.

HELL.
YES.

Edited by no one, 07 March 2014 - 09:27 PM.

[Gryphorim]

Regarding AMS, I was going for a system that would be able to halve an LRM15's punch, but not completely negate an LRM5. I wanted it's effectiveness to scale with the size of the incoming volley.
With AC2s, their projectile speed is already higher than most chemically fired guns can achieve. Now I know this is a futuristic game, and all that, but the BT solution to faster cannon rounds was the Gauss.
PPC- I would go with 1/3 of it's damage as splash.
LRMs, the reason I suggest so high a speed, is that's the sort of speeds achieved by current generation shoulder launched, guided rockets.
Heatsinks- I agree with most of this, but movement penalties for running hot would hamper the fun in this game. I'd propose a vision fog or blur, hinting at the heat in the cockpit.

[no one]

Gryphorim, on 08 March 2014 - 02:43 PM, said:

Regarding AMS, I was going for a system that would be able to halve an LRM15's punch, but not completely negate an LRM5. I wanted it's effectiveness to scale with the size of the incoming volley.

Ah, maybe? You could make it a probability based on how many missiles are inbound. (In other words, as a machine gun fired into a cloud of gnats has a greater chance of killing some gnats than one nut with a gun trying to shoot one gnat.) For the sake of balance, if you had an AMS that functioned like that (say they made the laser AMS work that way) I would reduce it's effectiveness when overlapping fields of fire with other AMS (twelve nuts with guns trying to shoot one gnat will kill fewer gnats than one nut with a gun firing into a cloud of gnats).

Gryphorim, on 08 March 2014 - 02:43 PM, said:

With AC2s, their projectile speed is already higher than most chemically fired guns can achieve. Now I know this is a futuristic game, and all that, but the BT solution to faster cannon rounds was the Gauss.

3500 m/s is about where current railgun projectile velocitys tend to top out. I can see the Gauss at 3500 m/s and the ac/2 at 1750 m/s respectively. I do agree that having them both at the same speed is a bit silly.

Gryphorim, on 08 March 2014 - 02:43 PM, said:

PPC- I would go with 1/3 of it's damage as splash.

Elaborate, please. If I hit the CT of a 'Mech with a PPC, what damage is it doing to each section, armored and unarmored.

Gryphorim, on 08 March 2014 - 02:43 PM, said:

LRMs, the reason I suggest so high a speed, is that's the sort of speeds achieved by current generation shoulder launched, guided rockets.

While I'm all for a realism angle, that still seems like it would make LRMs come in way too fast. You'd have very little time to react to missile warnings with an average missile speed of 650 m/s. Hell I'm all for trying it though, PGI can always adjust things, in theory.

Gryphorim, on 08 March 2014 - 02:43 PM, said:

Heatsinks- I agree with most of this, but movement penalties for running hot would hamper the fun in this game. I'd propose a vision fog or blur, hinting at the heat in the cockpit.

Have my coolant suit steam and give me a chance of pilot blackout if you keep your 'Mech too toasty for too long. Movement penalties wouldn't start to kick you in the pants unless you're keeping your 'Mech smouldering above 80% overheat, or you've taken critical engine damage. Think of it as overtaxing your engine. I don't personally think that would make the game less fun, and it would give you some feedback before you tipped over into a complete shut down from overheat. Of course while neat, this is all on the lower priority end of the fix.

Edited by no one, 09 March 2014 - 02:51 AM.