950 replies to this topic

[SgtMagor]

I like the bulky compact look of the mech with the short nose, I wasn't going to buy the clan mechs at least not this series, and I never liked the orginal art for the Mad Cat, but this version rocks imho!

Edited by SgtMagor, 11 April 2014 - 02:16 PM.

[Navid A1]

Koniving, on 11 April 2014 - 02:02 PM, said:

*Reminds people of good photography* on page 26.
If only if Lordred took the shots; the whole "3/4th of the mech is legs" misconception could've been avoided.

that was discussed before.... page 18

[DirePhoenix]

Rhapsody Repine, on 11 April 2014 - 12:47 PM, said:

The A La Carte's get the same 'mech's as the other packages (looks, geometry, and the like). What they DONT get, are the war-horns, and other stuff.

Oh right... I forgot that the a la carte mechs is still 3 mechs per bundle, so yeah, 1 special Prime variant + 2 others.

...I wonder if you swap out omni torsos or limbs, if the special geometry changes... like if you swap out the right arm of a Stormcrow Prime with a standard Stormcrow arm, that arm has the grabber claw hand instead of the full hand on the special variant...

[Koniving]

BLACKFIRE, on 11 April 2014 - 02:08 PM, said:

EVEN THAT CARDBOARD BOX MECH WITH THE CUTE KITTY HAS THE RIGHT LEG DESIGN!!! FAIL PGI!!!

As both a former military person and someone who dreamed of building robots before being hit with the hard realization of the multi-billion dollar industry is almost impossible to enter... never could you fit the necessary motors, poly myomers, or really anything else the mech would actually need to be even remotely functional with those thighs.

Also, you're aware that the Timberwolf was a shared design that isn't exclusively battletech? It was also in a western kid's show called Exo-Squad, too.

Notice the legs?

Here...

Notice the legs?

Even in the "Gundam" style of early Battletech, the legs were fairly thick.

Paper model.

Legs?

Mad Cat.

Thighs as nearly as thick as the shins with some meat on either side.

This one I think the legs weren't long enough.


Hind toe is missing, too.

My favorite is this one.

Soon as it's available I'll upload it elsewhere.

[DirePhoenix]

Navid A1, on 11 April 2014 - 01:51 PM, said:

And why do you think the complains are about round or blocky edges?

Did you read the quote I was responding to? Read it again:

Mystere, on 10 April 2014 - 03:26 PM, said:

It's not about foreshortening or perspective. It's that they are blocky/flat instead of rounded. Look at the legs of the concept art:

The complaint I was responding to was about it being flat and blocky instead of rounded like it is in the concept art... except that wasn't the only MadCat concept art. There are two variants. One has rounded leg armor, the other has flat.

[BLACKFIRE]

Cavendish, on 11 April 2014 - 02:12 PM, said:

Look at any modern main battle tank and you will see blocky and bulkier looks then any tanks outside the Pz series and the WWI types. Bulkier bodies does NOT mean the metals used in construction are weak, it points to a honeycomb armour design which actually use less materials but require a more technicaly advanced production line, i.e. typicaly clan thinking/tech.

Actually I would go so far as to say that rounded and curved design is a sign of lower tech standards where you have to try to beef up the armor value by trying to deflect penetration angle unlike modern armor.

That being said, I am actually quite happy with the look. I feel its a good thing PGI makes this iconic mech more of "their" mech then try to pay homage to the 1980s look the old drawings have.

If Im not mistaken.. those BLOCK bits on modern tanks aren't what you seem to think they are. Russian and American tanks alike have the blocks on them, "reactive armor" Which mechwarrior ALSO has, is an explosive charge set off when shot to cause the incoming rounds to deflect by force? I think? If you want exact info google that stuff pretty cool tech. Also Lets put Slat armor on these mechs never know when we might get guys with RPGs shooting at us!

[Navid A1]

DirePhoenix, on 11 April 2014 - 02:26 PM, said:

[size=4]

Did you read the quote I was responding to? Read it again:

Quote

The complaint I was responding to was about it being flat and blocky instead of rounded like it is in the concept art... except that wasn't the only MadCat concept art. There are two variants. One has rounded leg armor, the other has flat.

ok... my bad.

But i still think that it should crouch more and the thighs should shrink by 10% in order for it to resemble the sleek and classy concept (the standard variant... not the special one)... its a small change... but it will have a big effect in overall looks and will hopefully stop the complains.

[ssm]

BLACKFIRE, on 11 April 2014 - 03:13 PM, said:

If Im not mistaken.. those BLOCK bits on modern tanks aren't what you seem to think they are. Russian and American tanks alike have the blocks on them, "reactive armor" Which mechwarrior ALSO has, is an explosive charge set off when shot to cause the incoming rounds to deflect by force? I think? If you want exact info google that stuff pretty cool tech. Also Lets put Slat armor on these mechs never know when we might get guys with RPGs shooting at us!

Well, to be honest - by "blocky, bulkier looks" he probably didn't mean blocks of explosives that reactive armor consist of, but, well, "blocky, bulkier looks".

Mechs aren't sport cars - they are bipedal military vehicles. And while I appreciate some curves on them, it's about time for Battletech to move from silly 80s "War of the Worlds meets Gundam" visual niche towards something that actually goes well with realistic, military feel of it's universe.

[Chavette]

Agree on the huge legs part, it is supposed to be alot more skinny.

RFMG567, on 10 April 2014 - 12:19 PM, said:

[/list]I don't mean to nit-pick, but should the LT read 1B, 1M and the CT be 1E?

Otherwise, it looks Awesome!
(whoops wrong mech)

That would be OP, because people would be doing dual ac20/10.
They are going great lengths lately to make every mech equally bad instead of equally good.

[Ashaira]

verybad, on 11 April 2014 - 11:59 AM, said:

OK, so if all they get are compliments, then how the heck will they ever to their job better?

While some of the remarks re. PGIs work may hurt their feeling, the fact remains that they are a company that relies on pleasing their customers in order to stay afloat.

If people that don't like the design for the Madcat released here. (and this appears to be a large majority so far). Simply don't like the design, but say nothing, and then don't buy the design, or even stop playing because they aren't enjoying themselves either due to game play, artwork, lack of depth in the meta, or other reasons, well then "being nice" is actually DAMAGING to PGI.

There is no more useful communication between a company that relies on sales and it's company than criticism, there is a common thread in the dislike for this version of the Madcat so far, it's bulky, chunky, doesn't look "right" for a Madcat.

Now there will always be "mean" criticism" here because it is a video game, it's got a huge history with lots of very longtime fans, and this is the internet.

So they can take that useful criticism (with some spice added to keep them aware of what their customers want, or they can pretend that the forums are a marketing device and censor disparaging remarks in the hopes that new consumers will think it's perfect. In the end, I think taking the spicy remarks will be more helpful for a long term strategy.

This Madcat looks nothing like the concept art that probably sold quite a few clan packs. It's very bulky, and looks like the modeler/artlead might be technically capable, but not so much at overall design. It's simply not a good looking version of this mech in the overall history of it's various visions. It doesn't look agile, doesn't have the feel of being different like the clans had when first introduced. It seems like an ostensibly different Cataphract. (probably certainly uses the same animation)

It wouldn't take that many changes to make the mech look better, slightly thinner pelvis with the upper legs moved in, and a similarly modified upper arm (just thinner upper are, not necessarily like the original, just a bit thinner)

IT looks like an Inner Sphere version of the Madcat, not a clan Madcat.

I have to agree both on the feedback part and the artwork selling. I am gathering some money to get the Timber Wolf. I don't know squat about battletech and the only other MW game i ever played was one i can't even remember.

MWO doesn't strike me as a game with a good producer behind it so i did not want to invest money in a game going nowhere despite being somewhat fun. However when i saw the concept art for the timber wolf i drooled. It look so great. It was lean, mean and hungry like a timber wolf during winter. While the one they showed isn't horrible i will not end up buying it.
It's called a Timber Wolf and yet ended up looking like the ******* child of a catapult and a cataphract.

Hopefully they have time and do go back and make it look more like the artwork from the clan selling page otherwise they lost a sale on me.

[102_devill]

Butane9000, on 11 April 2014 - 05:46 AM, said:

Your saying you don't immediately recognize that as a Timber Wolf? Aside from the legs it's pretty much spot on.

Of course I can't really say that for sure, since the topic had "Timber Wolf" in it's name so I knew what I was looking at but, the first impulse was definitely "what the ...".

It's not at all spot on. The arms are just as wrong as the legs are. The limbs just look too much as IS Catapult and Stalker. In several shots (including the launcher) it looks like it's squished from the front. I guess it is just due to perspective since in the concept art the CT/cockpit looks ok. But of course PGI chose very unfortunate angles for the shots.

All in all, it looks to me like an IS mech. No trace of some advanced tech or clan animalistic feel in it's looks...

Someone said (I paraphrase): "well ok, this mech doesn't look like another mech in another game, so live with it...", and fine, we're all gonna live with it (especially since I resisted the temptation of pre-ordering it)... But I am sure we can all agree that if there was one thing the PGI really needed to do right (for their own sake), a seminal mech like Mad Cat was it. And they managed to screw with it just enough to piss even me off, and I am really not a diehard stickler for details. It is just that the damned mech is so well known, so iconic for this franchise, anyone who changes it is just cutting a branch he is sitting on... And for what reason? There's no goddamn reason to poke a pile of shit with your finger.

[ssm]

RokerSaMoravu, on 11 April 2014 - 03:41 PM, said:

Of course I can't really say that for sure, since the topic had "Timber Wolf" in it's name so I knew what I was looking at but, the first impulse was definitely "what the ...".

It's not at all spot on. The arms are just as wrong as the legs are. The limbs just look too much as IS Catapult and Stalker. In several shots (including the launcher) it looks like it's squished from the front. I guess it is just due to perspective since in the concept art the CT/cockpit looks ok. But of course PGI chose very unfortunate angles for the shots.

All in all, it looks to me like an IS mech. No trace of some advanced tech or clan animalistic feel in it's looks...

Someone said (I paraphrase): "well ok, this mech doesn't look like another mech in another game, so live with it...", and fine, we're all gonna live with it (especially since I resisted the temptation of pre-ordering it)... But I am sure we can all agree that if there was one thing the PGI really needed to do right (for their own sake), a seminal mech like Mad Cat was it. And they managed to screw with it just enough to piss even me off, and I am really not a diehard stickler for details. It is just that the damned mech is so well known, so iconic for this franchise, anyone who changes it is just cutting a branch he is sitting on... And for what reason? There's no goddamn reason to poke a pile of shit with your finger.

Well, there kinda is, because If they simply translated Clan mechs from TRO art or, god forbid, previous MW games, while it would satisfy nostalgic grognards, those mechs would literally look like piles of shit you mention - at least compared with current IS mechs.

MWO mechs have distinct visual look to them - there is simply no reason for them to throw it out the window and spoil the design line with iconic but poorly thought out designs from 80s.

Edited by ssm, 11 April 2014 - 03:51 PM.

[Uncle Totty]

PACoFist, on 11 April 2014 - 01:19 PM, said:

It doesn´t look better from that side either. The legs are too fat and the torso is too short. The "nose" should be about 50% longer.
The original Timberwolf had this look that just screams "fast and dangerous", a mix of shark, bird of prey and attack chopper. Here I see nothing of this.

Too say something positive: I like the paint job.

Making it 50% easier to hit. I would go 25% MAX.

[Cimarb]

DirePhoenix, on 11 April 2014 - 02:18 PM, said:

...I wonder if you swap out omni torsos or limbs, if the special geometry changes... like if you swap out the right arm of a Stormcrow Prime with a standard Stormcrow arm, that arm has the grabber claw hand instead of the full hand on the special variant...

The parts aren't going to change how they look, as that would be a huge increase in the amount of work each piece would require. They are designed around the specific hardpoint loadout on it.

ssm, on 11 April 2014 - 03:47 PM, said:

MWO mechs have distinct visual look to them - there is simply no reason for them to throw it out the window and spoil the design line with iconic but poorly thought out designs from 80s.

Exactly. There is a reason that the retro Ford Thunderbird of the early 2000s flopped so bad. They are supposed to be futuristic war machines, not aliens from the 1980s.

[Navid A1]

Cimarb, on 11 April 2014 - 04:02 PM, said:

Quote

Exactly. There is a reason that the retro Ford Thunderbird of the early 2000s flopped so bad. They are supposed to be futuristic war machines, not aliens from the 1980s.

True. The MWO concept art is one of the best representation of timbers i've seen (both the standard and the special variants)... nimble, classy and modern.

If only the modelers could do it according to the concept... (specially the thickness in the leg part)

Edited by Navid A1, 11 April 2014 - 04:14 PM.

[wickedlegendz]

Food for thought...While enjoy the Timber wolf and its abilities, what I am waiting for is the MK II and the Dire Wolf as well as a few others. When those go up for sale, I will actually buy a mech and so will a massive amount of other people..just sayin..
<---Btw it may say rookie there but, I've been playing MechWarrior as well as mech commander since they first came out long ago.

Edited by wickedlegendz, 11 April 2014 - 04:19 PM.

[Lord Perversor]

Ya know after see the Dragon, Jagermech, Blackjack , Cataphract and other mechs ppl would already get the idea about PGI or Alex already choosing to go for a more blocky or compact apperance to a walking tank in their Mech designs.


All the ppl whinning about blocky and not slender mechs are quite late to the mech design party Imho.

[Cimarb]

Navid A1, on 11 April 2014 - 04:12 PM, said:

True. The MWO concept art is one of the best representation of timbers i've seen (both the standard and the special variants)... nimble, classy and modern.

If only the modelers could do it according to the concept... (specially the thickness in the leg part)

I like it - the in-game one I mean. They had to do something with that torso issue, as adding the missile pods required a smaller main body to compensate. The legs look great to me too, though I like the Cataphract's legs too. I think they did a great job.

[Vyviel]

Why does the Timberwolf have two huge balls between its legs?

Maybe it should be renamed to the Gonadwolf

It should look closer to this.

Edited by Vyviel, 11 April 2014 - 04:24 PM.

[TirenSilverfall]

In fact PGI TW design resembles the classic Mad Cat mk 3