2 replies to this topic

[Emo Duck]

I'm not a BattleTech player, but I sometimes browse sarna.net to have a gander at the cool stuff that's in the universe.

I'm sure we'd all like to see more weapon variations, but given how much of a pain weapons have been to balance, maybe a more easily manageable bone to throw would be in the Upgrades category.

Consider the small cockpit, for example. A couple of mech models have energy hardpoints in their heads, currently limited to fielding a medium pulse laser at best. I imagine a small cockpit upgrade could free up another slot, thus allowing you to squeeze large lasers in there. It'd be pretty cool for a Banshee, yeah? Same tonnage, same heat, slightly more build versatility for select mechs. If you wanted to get really fancy (and put more work into it), have it affect the player's cockpit view and make the window more cramped.

Improved jump jets seem like an addition that would be fun for players, even if the doubled weight and space would seem to make them a poor choice. Some tonnage and slot tweaking could no doubt result if the increase in thrust was also a flat 100%, but maybe a variation on them like having them weigh the same, take up twice the space and yield 50% more thrust - the numbers should be subject to someone with a better sense of balance than me. Or heck, go off the wall and add lateral maneuvering - the Spider was supposed to have that, wasn't it?

Improved sensors probably aren't that relevant, what with the various sensor modules and BAP. Not sure how you'd differentiate improved sensors from existing functionalities.

[FupDup]

The small cockpit had TT downsides of harder aiming and piloting. Translating to MWO, this should probably be a fairly obscured cockpit view sort of like the Phoenix variant of the Locust, with a narrow FoV like the Shadow Hawk.


Improved JJs would need a serious buff in the amount of thrust per jet to make them worth it at all. They were actually more of a downgrade than anything in TT because of their massive weight + size increase. Not only that, in TT they only gave you the same jump distance as a normal JJ! The only advantage they had is that you could mount more of them -- normal JJ MP had to equal your walking MP whereas improved JJ MP could be as high as your running MP.

For example, let's pretend I had a 6/9 MP (walk 6 hexes, run 9 hexes) medium mech. I could have a limit of either 6 JJs or 9 IJJs. The 6 JJs would weigh 3 tons and take up 6 slots for me. But if I wanted those 9 improved jets, they would take up 9 tons and 18 slots. A very crappy tradeoff. They would need a pretty big buff to be worthwhile.


Improved Sensors, IIRC, are an equipment for battle armor instead of mechs.



What I would like to see for upgrades would be the ability to swap out gyro types.

Standard Gyro: The baseline we have now
Compact Gyro: Heavier, but frees up 2 slots in the CT
XL Gyro: Lighter, but takes up 2 extra slots in the CT
Heavy-Duty Gyro: Heavier, but significantly reduces cockpit shake from all sources

Edited by FupDup, 09 April 2014 - 09:51 AM.

[Curccu]

FupDup, on 09 April 2014 - 09:45 AM, said:

The small cockpit had TT downsides of harder aiming and piloting. Translating to MWO, this should probably be a fairly obscured cockpit view sort of like the Phoenix variant of the Locust, with a narrow FoV like the Shadow Hawk. Otherwise it would be blatantly better than a normal cockpit and every mech in the game would mount one.

Yep make it like Phoenix variant of Locust, but worse...