2 replies to this topic

[Phlinger]

I was getting ready for some work, when I had a total 80's teenager style nerdgasm. Many of the players in this game are Gung Ho TT fans, me? Well I was always a roleplayer in Pen and Paper games, so naturally I gravitated to Mechwarrior, even though we did use TT graphs, maps and such, it was always the pilot in the mech, never just the mech.

For those that didn't play then, there were Table Top guys (the figures crowd) and then there were Pen and Paper Mechwarriors (the Dungeons and Dragons crowd), sometimes they converged, but rarely at a good mix. In order to run pure TT you had to cut the pilot down to just a few skills and a name.

Why are we piloting mechs and leveling those mechs? We raise our skills in piloting them, but that is all. Why aren't we actually playing the person we see at the start of every match? There are several things that could heighten the feel of playing the person and not the mech and many things that would help in the reduction of many of the playing styles that are dominating the game.

By changing the skills tree and allowing the characters to level up instead of the mechs, many checks and rolls that happened in the TT and Mechwarrior games could happen during play that seem lackluster when put into the game as it currently stands. Knockdowns? Dragon knocking down everything it touches?



By adding skills that you roll on when creating you, your character, you determine how well you can resist falling down in a collision, how well you can resist being knocked out of the air when JJ'ing. Overheating for too long in a mech can cause damage to the pilot.

• Pilot Skill rolls
  
• Pilot damage
  
• Stats determine piloting checks based on prime skills

----From here on out is just me making **** up, but with ideas on how to fix things and make shiny rainbows and such----


Then, XP can be used to level the character with certain perks that unlock with a choice option, much like other games and their talent specs.

• Gunnery Skills tree
  
• Piloting Skills tree
  
• Information and Tactics tree

Each skill tree allows bonus' on checks and rolls and allow for convergence in weapons or the ability to flush heat from a mech or simply keep firing for a few seconds when a normal mech would shut down, i.e. override.


If someone wanted perfect convergence on their PPC's, they would be forced to max out Gunnery tree and then they would gimp themselves on making Piloting roll checks. If someone wanted to make all Piloting checks, their convergence wouldn't as good as a master gunner, and so on....

Bryan has already stated that the planned level pilots could reach will be 60, so from there we could go with a skill point system awarded every other level. So at max level 30 total skill points will have been earned. With the top slot in each tree being at 25 points. So if someone wanted all Gunnery you have to reduce the amount of Piloting skills you gain, or information skills.

I realize this is kind of a different direction than what we are currently headed towards, but, with the introduction of skill checks on a pilot to pilot basis, I believe that many of the current gripes and complaints about game play could be altered into a specialist role and made feasible.

If the person wants to Poptart, go for it, but it has downsides. If the person wants to snipe, do it, but by reducing pilot checks. If the person is a dedicated light mech pilot, they have their own skill tree as well that ties directly into and LRM support tree (Information and Tactics)

Ideas? Thoughts? Go to hell Ronyn?

I'll probably edit this later, it's early and still working on my first cup of coffee....

Edited by Ronyn, 09 July 2014 - 09:42 AM.

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

I like the idea of there being a pilot component with its own set of metrics.

Rather than a randomized approach, what if pilot stats offered static modifiers. Like say a light pilot might have acceleration and turning bonus. +5% to acceleration and +3% to turn. A gunnery pilot might offer a +3% bonus to weapon cooldown. Support pilot might come with +4% decrease in sensor lock and retrieval of target info.

A single pilot might have multiple branches to upgrade that would affect maneuverability, targeting, jump jet management, weapon cooldown and so on and be able to level up their stats via pilot xp, etc.

Dice rolls or a randomized element that influences the outcome of things on a larger scale, could be a bad idea. Its possible to cheat the system and repeatedly get the results you want. Not only that, but it could detract from skill being relevent and allow players who get the right dice rolls to win over those more skillful. Which would make it more like a lottery or a game of chance.

[Phlinger]

Here is a really good article on how to incorporate talent trees, why, when and how powerful to make them. As it stands now, we currently have a very linear path of progression with the only incentive being how fast you can unlock them all before movign to the next.

http://gamedevelopme...s--gamedev-6691

It would be easy to monetize (I know players hate this part) by adding talent respects for a LARGE C-bill cost or simply allow Reset Unlocks with cash.