14 replies to this topic

[Daekar]

I have been reading the classic battletech books (finished with the Grey Death Legion and the Helm Memory Core last week) and one of the things that sticks out to me is how WORN the entire universe is. Everything is old and patched, retrofitted and repaired. New and shiny is rare. They describe the mechs that kill Durant Carlyle as visibly battle-scarred, with new armor plates slapped on over old wounds... they were very clear that these mechs had a history, were perhaps centuries old, and had been kept together with scrap and the blood of mech technicians.

Would you be interested in purchasing a skin for your mech that conveyed this image? Worn and battle-damaged paint, misfit plates, etc?

[Jin Ma]

Hell yeah, if they could find a way to implement it. People will pay for that stuff

I would love to have my shiny catapult back

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

The Founder skins, and a few of the Hero skins, are already set up for this kind of thing to a certain extent, but it would be interesting to see a c-bill skin with this theme.

[Nyte Kitsune]

Yes, Battle scarring on the mechs would be cool. Would be also cool if the battle scarring was instead implemented as after effects of your battles. Keep in mind not all mechs are hand-me-downs and that mech factories do produce "New" mechs to replace those no longer fit for battle. Of course some merc units, like Wolf's Dragoons, Have vastly superior facilities to most merc units and as such their mech typically always look their best. But you're right, smaller units, like the Grey Death Legion have to work with what they scavenged on the battlefield and thus tend to look beaten and battered.

This of course could be something that could be implemented later after everything is in place and the Devs have time to create the necessary feature. Good on you for remember these kinds of details that though would be purely cosmetic, would add more flavor to the game.

I also rather enjoyed that series as well as many others. Such as the books revolving around the Kell Hounds, Camacho's Caballeros, Northwind Highlanders, Victor Davion, Kai Liao, Jade Falcon, Clan Wolf. Perhaps somewhere down the line we'll see some of their iconic mechs (as Hero Mechs) somewhere down the line. Sadly we aren't likely to see Col Jaimie Wolf's Archer, or Natasha Kerenskys Marauder or Warhammer (Her "Widowmakers"), But we do have Yen Lo Wang, so thats a start at least. Phelan Kell's Wolfhound "Grinner" would be cool to have as a "Hero" Mech (Especially his Clan Wolfhound).

[Impyrium]

Er... Jin Ma... I think that went over your head. He means skins that LOOK worn and old, not removing that style.

But yes, I would love this. One of the things that initially got me hooked on BattleTech was the industrial, old feeling the universe had. It wasn't just another shiny, ridiculously hightech universe; it was old, worn, battered. The technology felt and looked patchwork, everything was chaotic. IS 'Mechs looked old and rough. They weren't curved. They looked low tech. That's something that's seriously lost on MW:O, but I understand a good number of people wouldn't get/like the original low-tech styling of BattleTech.

So yes, I would love skins that tried to replicate this.

[Durant Carlyle]

The Jenner's default look is already "a century's worth of dirt and grime." I'd like to see a "fresh from the factory" skin for the Jenners.

Edited by Durant Carlyle, 23 April 2014 - 07:37 PM.

[Jin Ma]

actually applejack camo is pretty new looking.

but i think it would be cool if they sold a seperate "materials" pack that you apply on top of your mech camo. default material is the damaged one we have now. you can purchase whatever materials you want. And each material type is usable with every camo pattern.

But i think as it is camo's material type cannot be seperated from its texture.

Edited by Jin Ma, 23 April 2014 - 07:44 PM.

[Nathan Foxbane]

It can't. That is why we don't have metallic paints as well.

[Impyrium]

The default skin still looks way too new to me. I want to see some rusting and scarring from previous battles!

[Archon]

I think Misery has a "fairly" decent scarring job...

[Craig Steele]

Daekar, on 23 April 2014 - 07:01 PM, said:

I have been reading the classic battletech books (finished with the Grey Death Legion and the Helm Memory Core last week) and one of the things that sticks out to me is how WORN the entire universe is. Everything is old and patched, retrofitted and repaired. New and shiny is rare. They describe the mechs that kill Durant Carlyle as visibly battle-scarred, with new armor plates slapped on over old wounds... they were very clear that these mechs had a history, were perhaps centuries old, and had been kept together with scrap and the blood of mech technicians.

Would you be interested in purchasing a skin for your mech that conveyed this image? Worn and battle-damaged paint, misfit plates, etc?

The short answer is yes I would like a more grimy look. I liked for example the cockpit glass effect.

But there is a balance too. Your reference to the book is set in circa 3025 when logistics and production are at the (arguably) lowest for high technology weapons, and the Legion is a just formed merc unit and so does not have regular supply lines. We should expect them to be more down and out than the "line" units that most pilots serve in.

Fast forward to MW:O and not only are pilots often associated with Houses that have established supply dumps and chains, but also technology and manufacturing capacity has increased markedly with new generation mechs just starting to trickle out of factories.

Some players also represent a very clean unit (Lyran Royal Guards, Davion Heavy Guards) which are capital garrison units so they should have a more "pristine" look on the field being A+ grade on the supply food chain.

Maybe a skin that can be colour amended is the right answer?

[Daekar]

Craig Steele, on 23 April 2014 - 09:41 PM, said:

The short answer is yes I would like a more grimy look. I liked for example the cockpit glass effect.

But there is a balance too. Your reference to the book is set in circa 3025 when logistics and production are at the (arguably) lowest for high technology weapons, and the Legion is a just formed merc unit and so does not have regular supply lines. We should expect them to be more down and out than the "line" units that most pilots serve in.

Fast forward to MW:O and not only are pilots often associated with Houses that have established supply dumps and chains, but also technology and manufacturing capacity has increased markedly with new generation mechs just starting to trickle out of factories.

Some players also represent a very clean unit (Lyran Royal Guards, Davion Heavy Guards) which are capital garrison units so they should have a more "pristine" look on the field being A+ grade on the supply food chain.

Maybe a skin that can be colour amended is the right answer?

I am fully supportive of anything like this that supports RP and immersion. I would love to see custom base textures that might include, say, polished pieces, or some other bit that would only be present on top tier House companies.

I think that there is still a place for old and battle-scarred mechs in the 3050 universe. Surely you don't think that all units on all worlds got access to that new production? Imagine the Jenner pilot, Hamato Yoshi, who is ststioned on a backwater Kurita world along the Periphery... his mech is the largest in his unit, which only has a compliment of 4 mechs - the other three are two Locusts and a Commando, with a small contingent of Vedette light armor and the requisite PBIs. Though his mech proudly wears the colors of the regiment from which they are detached, it has seen long service as its successive Mechwarriors have done the Dragon's work, and underneath the paint is a patchwork of welds, rivets, patches, and parts stolen from other mechs and cunningly modified to function. Recently, Hamato found out that his unit's service techs managed to get ahold of a shipment of double heatsinks and a factory kit to upgrade his old mech to the same dissipation technology he saw the House Guards using on his last trip to Luthien. Although it will mean quite a few hours of work for the techs and yet another retrofit to the aging chassis, the entire detachment is eager to see what a difference the new heatsinks will do during their next practice run.

Doesn't that seem entirely plausible to you? I would suggest that it is far easier to RP the Royal units in the current skins than that backwater unit, not to mention freelance mercs.

[Craig Steele]

Daekar, on 23 April 2014 - 10:24 PM, said:

I am fully supportive of anything like this that supports RP and immersion. I would love to see custom base textures that might include, say, polished pieces, or some other bit that would only be present on top tier House companies.

I think that there is still a place for old and battle-scarred mechs in the 3050 universe. Surely you don't think that all units on all worlds got access to that new production? Imagine the Jenner pilot, Hamato Yoshi, who is ststioned on a backwater Kurita world along the Periphery... his mech is the largest in his unit, which only has a compliment of 4 mechs - the other three are two Locusts and a Commando, with a small contingent of Vedette light armor and the requisite PBIs. Though his mech proudly wears the colors of the regiment from which they are detached, it has seen long service as its successive Mechwarriors have done the Dragon's work, and underneath the paint is a patchwork of welds, rivets, patches, and parts stolen from other mechs and cunningly modified to function. Recently, Hamato found out that his unit's service techs managed to get ahold of a shipment of double heatsinks and a factory kit to upgrade his old mech to the same dissipation technology he saw the House Guards using on his last trip to Luthien. Although it will mean quite a few hours of work for the techs and yet another retrofit to the aging chassis, the entire detachment is eager to see what a difference the new heatsinks will do during their next practice run.

Doesn't that seem entirely plausible to you? I would suggest that it is far easier to RP the Royal units in the current skins than that backwater unit, not to mention freelance mercs.

No argument here,

I think there should be a "skin" for a grimier look but I would just like to see it as an overlay on colours, so that a player could still represent their unit affiliation and have a beat up look if that's their RP angle.

[Daekar]

Craig Steele, on 23 April 2014 - 10:32 PM, said:

No argument here,

I think there should be a "skin" for a grimier look but I would just like to see it as an overlay on colours, so that a player could still represent their unit affiliation and have a beat up look if that's their RP angle.

I couldn't agree more. When I made my suggestion I imagined it as a replacement for the current skin over which our paints and patterns are laid, which would, building on your suggestion, enable players to choose "Heirloom," "Standard," or "Royal" trim levels. I think that unit colors are an absolute necessity for the shiny or ragged RP skins to be worth taking - losing the RP aspect of the unit colors would be an unacceptable tradeoff, in my opinion.

[xengk]

The Griffin's chest plate have century old grime stuck to it, making most paint turns out dull.
Would love a camo that make my "shield fins" on my Centurion, Griffin and Awesome look battle scarred.