9 replies to this topic

[moneyBURNER]

I don't know if this solution has already been proposed, but couldn't high damage alphas be mitigated by an increasing risk of greater internal damage using the existing mechanic of ghost heat? Suddenly it would make sense why two AC20s have such a sharply increasing scaling factor, because the massive recoil is very likely to cause damage to your own mech!

Managing high alphas with increased cooldown periods wouldn't matter, because each and every shot would bring the risk of internal damage similar to overheat damage, leading to a chance for catastrophic damage. Excessively boated PPCs/ACs with high recoil couldn't be fired together continuously throughout a match without a significant or fatal penalty.

There could be increased drama in showdowns between damaged mechs since the decision to fire everything could backfire, as could not doing it!

Cockpit messages could be added that warn of impending damage or failure from the gradual strain of sustained alphas at lower thresholds.

A visual metric in the mechlab could show the danger level of alphastriking selected weapons to inform players in a clear way.

If the ghost heat mechanic is here to stay, then let's have it do something that makes better sense.

[Mister Blastman]

I approve of this message.

It'd be a hell of a lot better than ghost heat and ... lasers don't produce recoil. So they'd be fixed and balanced again.

[Mechteric]

Going over 100% heat already damages you internally, all they really would need to do is lower the heat capacity (with increased dissipation based on heatsink #) and then you wouldn't even need ghost heat to do serious damage to yourself when you alpha strike 4 PPCs.

Combine that with side effects of high heat, like slower movement speed, slower top speed, maybe some visual blackout/washout effect... and you get a game that doesn't rely on spreadsheet math!

Edited by CapperDeluxe, 25 April 2014 - 11:02 AM.

[moneyBURNER]

I am all for a low cap/high dissipation heat scale, but this is an alternate solution for devs who refuse to throw away existing work.

[Bobzilla]

I think people would still do it far more than would be acceptable. I can just imagine 10 seconds after first contact seeing all the "John has killed John" messages.

[Mcgral18]

Bobzilla, on 25 April 2014 - 11:45 AM, said:

I think people would still do it far more than would be acceptable. I can just imagine 10 seconds after first contact seeing all the "John has killed John" messages.

It would be thoroughly amusing.

[Nutlink]

I'd bring that up and have it depend on the weapon type. Gauss rifles cause deceleration and flickering power issues, PPCs generate more heat, lasers become less focused and do less damage per laser, LRMs become less accurate, SRMs bump into eachother and explode before hitting the target, autocannons have large amounts of recoil, etc etc.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

CapperDeluxe, on 25 April 2014 - 11:01 AM, said:

Going over 100% heat already damages you internally

It's funny how they added that, and mucked it up so immensely that I doubt half the players realize it exists.

It's never even a thought process to me, because it's so inconsequential.

Edited by Nicholas Carlyle, 25 April 2014 - 01:11 PM.

[M3 SABLE]

As a 6 LL Boat, I approve this message!

Because there is no recoil from light projection Nor is there recoil from rail-guns

[nimdabew]

Lasers could have their own problems under the same theory: too much energy going through a conduit in the arm causes X points of dmg. There would be a lot of hand wavy going on with this, but I still approve of the concept.