34 replies to this topic

[Hans Von Lohman]

What will a Targeting computer do for you? Is it going to be like a command console and for now not do a thing?

Or will they add a computer lead assist crosshair reticle? By that I mean in a lot of sci-fi space combat games you are given a floating circle ahead of your target you have locked onto to give you the proper lead angle to hit him (obviously not needed for lasers, just PPC, Autocannons, and normal SRM's).

Because of differences in velocity of weapons you will need to select a weapon, probably by just highlighting one of your weapons with the weapon group selector on the lower right of your screen.

I prefer to see a lag crosshair myself. What is that? Same concept, just that instead of a floating reticle 2 inches ahead of your target on your screen, you instead get gunsights that are 2 inches behind the guy on your screen. That way the player's eyes stay on the enemy and the you get to watch the impacts rather than concentrate on a disembodied floating circle ahead of your target. Same difference, but it looks better to me.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I'd like to see targeting computers be implemented using ray-tracing to light up your crosshair when it's on a hostile target. This could take the form of a golden pip in the center like is often described in the novels, or could be something else. It could also be per weapon group, and could display the "good shot" symbol when you have a good lead for the target based on the average weapon velocity for the fire group.

Alternatively, it could cause all of your direct-fire weapons to gain a lock-on mechanic similar to LRMs and SSRMs. So long as you are locked on they will fire at the target. If this is the case I'd prefer they target like SSRMs do, with random "bone" selections for each weapon system, rather than aiming for center of mass.

[zztophat]

If they do decide to make it do nothing I hope they at least make it sell for a decent amount...

[Deathlike]

Hans Von Lohman, on 09 March 2014 - 12:29 PM, said:

What will a Targeting computer do for you? Is it going to be like a command console and for now not do a thing?

At this point, making the Targeting Computer function like the Command Console might be a good thing... because then they'd actually have to do something if they added functionality to the Targeting Computer.

[Pariah Devalis]

Two options I would like to see, though only one or the other and NOT both:

• Currently convergence works by making the weapons merge at the distance your reticule is currently hovering over. I would like to see the Targeting Computer set the convergence distance to that of your currently selected target instead. This would eliminate the convergence issues people have been having for some time with arm mounted ballistics, which is important as most Clan mechs utilize heavy arm payloads. The downside of this option (well, it amuses ME, but technically it is a downside) is that anyone who fails to shoot at their currently selected target will be firing at someone with a bad convergence. Minor skill cap increase over the derpwarriors out there who cannot seem to understand the purpose of the R key.
  
• Piper in piper lead reticule that indicates where the slowest projectile style weapon you have needs to be to hit the center mass of your currently selected target, taking travel time and enemy movement into account. For an example, if you had an ERPPC and a UAC2, it would not calculate it for the UAC2, but instead for the ERPPC. The potential downside of this is that it might be too easy to hit what you want to hit if you know where to aim at all times. Takes some of the human element out of it, even though it is still a human who is aiming the gun.

Both of these options simulate to greater or lesser degree the lore based description of a system that makes minor adjustments to servos and utilizes input from the mech's computers to help aid the pilot in making a shot, correcting for both internal (muscle saccades, known projectile speeds) and external (windage, enemy movement speed and trajectory) interruptions to accurate fire.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 09 March 2014 - 01:31 PM.

[AlexEss]

I guess it will do what the command module form the atlas does...

Look pretty in my inventory.

[General Taskeen]

one can hope it does something unlike the command console for since always



MW3 had the best implementation of it



The round green circle over the target is the targeting computer at work. You could select a component of the Mech, like say the Left Arm, and that circle is showing you where to aim. So if you had a weapon with a projectile and the enemy Mech is moving, the green circle appears further out in front of the Mech showing you wear to lead your fire. In MW3 the targeting computer had a "cycle through setting" allowing you to choose Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Torso, Right Torso, Right Leg, Left Leg, or Cockpit.

It's sort of modeled after real jet fighters that still use cannons where a pipper is drawn over a target showing you where to aim to land hits.

The Adder Prime also has a targeting computer by the way, along with certain variants of those other Clan Mechs

Full List:

Masakari - Prime, Config A, Config B, Config C (and others past 3050)
Timberwolf - None
Ryoken - None
Adder - Prime, Config H (3059)
Daishi - Config C (3054), Config H (3059), Config X (3060)
Thor - Config D (this will likely be one of the two variants), Config H (3059)
Black Hawk - None
Uller - None

Which means all Masakari variants will have it, 1 Puma, and possibly one Thor. In previous games you could mount it on whatever you wanted if you had the tonnage and slots.

Edited by General Taskeen, 09 March 2014 - 02:40 PM.

[RickySpanish]

I'D LIKE FOR THE TARGETING COMPUTER TO MAKE MY LASERS HOME ON TARGET AND MISSILES TO HAVE IMPROVED ARMOUR PENETRON BECAUSE IT NOES WHERE TO AIM. THE SYMBOL SHUD BE A SCORPION THAT HOVARS.

[Malleus011]

I'm sure the Targeting Computer will be exactly as effective as the C3 console.

[Carrioncrows]

It will work a lot like Command console.

*wink*

[Kubernetes]

" I would like to see the Targeting Computer set the convergence distance to that of your currently selected target instead."

Not a bad idea, although I would hope this would be toggleable. There are times when I run a mixed LRM/direct fire load out and I'll engage a close enemy with lasers/ACs, but I'll keep my targeting on an enemy further back so I can lob LRMs simultaneously.

[Reconius]

Just Some Ideas:
- Highlight Hitboxes with a red outline
- Speed up targeting Info By quite a bit
-Give a Leading Shot reticle to hit a moving target at a distance
(I.E., An Atlas is walking sideways 1k meters away, a second square cross hair is shown to indicate whereas to fire a weapon that takes time to hit like the PPC for example.)

[Escef]

I'd like to see threads like this left in the Upcoming Features section, seeing as how it is still several months away and we have no information on how it is going to be implemented.

[Nehkrosis]

what about we screw the original implementation of it, and make it do the following;


Have it tell us where ammo and equipment is installed.




I'd target THAT for a Dollar!!

Edited by Nehkrosis, 09 March 2014 - 03:48 PM.

[Jin Ma]

isn't it supposed to show you where to put your reticule for a lead on moving targets. Though that's kind of hard when we have weapons that travel at different speeds. perhaps it will calculate lead distance for whichever weapon you have selected with your weapon group selector

hmm but that wouldn't work with laser weapons like its supposed to. maybe shorten laser beam duration by x percent.


And supposedly command consoles are to prevent your mech from getting headshotted. Essentially 2 lives for your head slot. But nobody gets headshotted anyway so i'm not sure how that'd be helpful for the crit slotz and tonage

Edited by Jin Ma, 09 March 2014 - 06:58 PM.

[CarlBar]

Bear in mind that targeting computers on the assault mech are apparently base equipment for one of the clan mechs, so having them do jack all would be just dumb as hell, especially since it's 1 Ton of weight and 1 crit slot per 4 ton of weapons installed, (Ammo doesn't count). Now what we;ll see is hard to guess. The simplest from the Dev's PoV would be auto weapon leading with SSRM like targeting. Wouldn't be much use in close, but at a distance, or with things like LRM's it could get real handy for some builds. Though given how hilariously overpowered ECM is right now i'm not sure you'd get much use out of it.

[Jin Ma]

CarlBar, on 09 March 2014 - 07:03 PM, said:

Bear in mind that targeting computers on the assault mech are apparently base equipment for one of the clan mechs, so having them do jack all would be just dumb as hell, especially since it's 1 Ton of weight and 1 crit slot per 4 ton of weapons installed, (Ammo doesn't count). Now what we;ll see is hard to guess. The simplest from the Dev's PoV would be auto weapon leading with SSRM like targeting. Wouldn't be much use in close, but at a distance, or with things like LRM's it could get real handy for some builds. Though given how hilariously overpowered ECM is right now i'm not sure you'd get much use out of it.

yeah but command console now does jack shit. thers no gurantee same won't happen with the targeting computer

[CarlBar]

Tney're not going to give you somthign that does jack all that you

A ) cannot remove

and

B ) takes up increasing space and weight as you add more weapons

It's one thing to have a non-functioning console that you can just chuck out, it's quite another to have 4-5 tones of equipment and 4-5 crit slots hard locked onto your mech that do nothing.

Edited by CarlBar, 09 March 2014 - 08:16 PM.

[Hans Von Lohman]

It seems clear to me that working targeting computers are coming. They specifically call it out in the brochure for each Clan Mech on their advertising as a feature of the mech.

If it didn't do anything, why list it as a positive feature of a mech?

For me, who wants to run a lot of SRM missile mechs the idea of having a lead computed gunsight to assist in aiming sounds like a good thing.

[Alex Warden]

just imagine the cheapest and least complicated way you could ever think of... that´s probably how they´ll implement it

(well on second thought, they could also just chose the most complicated way that will break the thing for the next 2 years, unfixable... but still, i go with the first one)

Hans Von Lohman, on 09 March 2014 - 08:49 PM, said:

If it didn't do anything, why list it as a positive feature of a mech?

...marketing?

Edited by Alex Warden, 11 March 2014 - 10:09 AM.