20 replies to this topic

[Kyle Wright]

So I finally went and looked at the camo patterns on the kitfox. And ill be darn, the little guys rocks them all pretty well.I dont know if its because of how small it is or just the mech geometry, but it looks pretty good in most of them.

This brought me to a question however. Do camo patterns and colors make a difference on maps? I watched SJR last night running tans, browns, and light grays on Tourmaline Desert. Does running the appropriate camo really help break up your silhouette at range or has our silly lock on feature that reaches across the map kill anyone's hopes and dreams of hiding in a corner waiting in ambush.

What do you guys think?
What are some of you favorite mechs and camo patterns for blending in?

[Bhael Fire]

I think sensor range needs to be dramatically reduced. I'd say by at least half.

This would make scouting and spotting MUCH more important...and would make camo actually useful.

[Wintersdark]

You can't blend in. At a distance, your mech doesn't shows it's camo/colors anymore, and appears black. Players with any trouble seeing mechs at a long distance on a map like Tourmaline as well can use Heat Vision, which even on hot maps will show distant mechs as black on the white terrain.

Camo is purely cosmetic, but doesn't actually conceal you from anyone.

[Griggio]

Bhael Fire, on 06 August 2014 - 09:30 AM, said:

I think sensor range needs to be dramatically reduced. I'd say by at least half.

This would make scouting and spotting MUCH more important...and would make camo actually useful.

I was thinking a blindfold for the pilot as well. Combat by hearing is much more challenging!

[DAYLEET]

Do you have to ask? how often do you miss a mech either playing or spectating? Never right and do you actually shoot the bright red mech first or the one that has the most damage/being focused by your team at the moment or poses the greatest danger for you at the moment>?

[Angel of Annihilation]

With ECM, it makes a huge difference. Even without it ECM, there are times that mechs are so indistinct, that all you can do is aim for the center of the red brackets.

Honestly I just shake my head when I see a mech all dolled up in garish colors that standout or in any color that makes seeing the details of a mech and hitboxes clearly. These make it much easier to kill them in my opinion.

[DAYLEET]

Some people eyes are worse than others i guess.

Another question, how often do you see a mech a near max visual range and can't identify it?

[Kyle Wright]

I know back in the day BSK use to run the Mountain Camo pattern on all there mechs and in combat things would get a little confusing, but as it stand ive rarely and maybe could count on both hand the amount of times ive had a hard time distinguishing mechs. Pretty sad as I feel Camo should still play an important roll even on the futuristic battlefield.

[DAYLEET]

Im not into the Lore at all but i think the colours are used top represent your house or goad the enemy like the Red Baron did. Aggroing is a valid tactic if the enemy is dumb enough to bite. I can't imagine anyone trying to conceal a giant robot with camo.

I just dont think if you were to use Grue on your Atlas it would give the enemy an advantage(might even blind them lol) but it sure as hell would aggro some into shooting your which just might be what you want in the first place.

[Kyle Wright]

DAYLEET, on 06 August 2014 - 11:04 AM, said:

Im not into the Lore at all but i think the colours are used top represent your house or goad the enemy like the Red Baron did. Aggroing is a valid tactic if the enemy is dumb enough to bite. I can't imagine anyone trying to conceal a giant robot with camo.

I just dont think if you were to use Grue on your Atlas it would give the enemy an advantage(might even blind them lol) but it sure as hell would aggro some into shooting your which just might be what you want in the first place.

The biggest issue currently is none of our maps present opportunities to conceal yourself. If for instance we had thick dense jungle that was really hot and humid that interfered with thermal and enough tree that you could park in the middle of, id say having greens that matched would work a lot better then white. As far as sensors go, if modern aircraft like the F117 Stealth Fighter or the B-2 Spirit can use special paint to break up radar readings then I see no reason why 1000s of years into the future the same cant be applied.

[keith]

pgi messed the boat on some money. if u knew the map, and u had pre selected configs/commo. they could have charge some form of mc for u to switch back and form between configs(ones u had saved/unlocked) would have made this game alot more intresting

[Morang]

Camo may work in some circumstances. I noticed that in Canyon network it's sometimes hard to keep eye on the opponent in furball of lights even when mechs are painted default (and target triangle doesn't help much as you shoot at mech or even particular parts, not red target triangle and brackets). It can always be overcome with turning on thermal imaging, but doing it you lose some depth perception and terrain awareness. It's easier to track an opponent who boasts bright colors.

[Angel of Annihilation]

Morang, on 06 August 2014 - 11:27 AM, said:

Camo may work in some circumstances. I noticed that in Canyon network it's sometimes hard to keep eye on the opponent in furball of lights even when mechs are painted default (and target triangle doesn't help much as you shoot at mech or even particular parts, not red target triangle and brackets). It can always be overcome with turning on thermal imaging, but doing it you lose some depth perception and terrain awareness. It's easier to track an opponent who boasts bright colors.

This is what I am talking about and especially true with ECM. At closer ranges you blend in. I can't count the times where I have taken fire from an ECM mech and it took me forever to figure out where he was at because he had a color scheme or camo that blended into the terrain. Also since all mechs can benefit from being pretty much immune to targeting if an ECM mech is around, painting your mech in colors that blend in is definitely an advantage.

The second thing is that if you paint your mech so that obvious target locations on your become indistinct, it is harder for the enemy to concentrate damage on your CT or other damaged sections. Basically if it is easy to make out the separations between say the CT and its side torso, then it is easier to unsure your aiming at the CT verses drifting toward another location. I know with Lasers, being able to "see" the hitboxes or pick out an easily distinguishable target makes a huge difference.

[DAYLEET]

I know you guys mean way upclose in your face brawling with fire and smoke obscuring your view but...

You guys just made me remember, In Tribes2, i used to play medium with ecm pack, the enemy would not get a lock on you (can still see you fine but no info about you) and i would trash the enemy base with it because when people could not see a red triangle(or blue mind you) they would ignore you, it was both funny and weird. Ive never been fooled by it because if its not expressly showing friendly i shoot it...

Last month that reflex kicked me back in the teeth. We just spawned in Terra and a spider go pass me and hes not friendly or and it scared the **** outa me, i blasted him with erppc(if i recall right), he goes up a hill and stop to looks at me(that little impudent ****), i cant lock him but hes not showing friendly, i stop as i say "WTF" and frantically hit R and i shot him again. He then moved back toward me doing a pass at me AND my lance(can you believe this guy) and suddenly he disappear, cant find him again. I believe i typed "WTF" again in chat, then i notice we have a spider(he shows info now) injured, then i realize the lance is not even completely out of the spawn and it's impossible he can be enemy. My brain had gone ballistic for a brief moment, maybe 10 second because the game bugged on that poor guy and im so used to be checking for friendly tags.

All apologies were done and the guy never said a word, rest of the match i felt sick.

Other games that have no clear identification like americas army had different skin for friends/foe. ButtPack was a frendly, no buttpack was shot at no question ask.

[DONTOR]

Wintersdark, on 06 August 2014 - 09:31 AM, said:

Camo is purely cosmetic, but doesn't actually conceal you from anyone.

Wrong, block camo and digital (among others), with blues, grays, and blacks will hide you very well on HPG, used best with ECM, or when powered down. This is just one example there are others.

[vettie]

The sensors and ECM have taken away a lot from the camo. Some camos do work.

I personally think it looks pretty damn cool if your lance or 12 man are all painted up in the same colour scheme, but thats a personal observation.

camos are cool and fun. some work better than others. Sensors take a bit away from that.
I (as I am sure many others on here have too) have killed mechs and never seen their camo, colours or patterns, just some dark moving object in the distance. Only when i moved up the map did i see any paint or camo, or if I am in brawl at 20 meters, and I have to be honest, I am not exactly thinking - 'thats a cool camo / colour pattern [fill in the blank here ]" pretty much not the top thing on my mind at the moment...

[Wintersdark]

DONTOR, on 06 August 2014 - 02:49 PM, said:

Wrong, block camo and digital (among others), with blues, grays, and blacks will hide you very well on HPG, used best with ECM, or when powered down. This is just one example there are others.

Maybe for you. I'm not special, but I very clearly see mechs even with matching camp, even when shut down. Its *very* clear with thermal vision, but I don't see much point in that.

Maybe because I run different display settings? No camo makes any difference on my display. At the ranges where it might, all the mecgs are mostly black anyways regardless of their actual colors - the mech colors simply aren't drawn far enough out, and with no DoF or other blurring, mech lines still stand out clearly.

[Bartholomew bartholomew]

It's a summertime thing. summer time it works. Summer time it doesn't.

With ECM mechs it is a plus. And also toned down general colors help make it harder to pick out some things at near distance.

For example, a winter camo on frozen city when it is foggy is hard to see. And the same on alpine when you park a dark toned winter by a grey mountain part. Those times it works.

Sometimes people green out hero mechs to get shot less.

And other times loud colors are used to attract attention. For example I have a dual AMS firestarter paint bright yellow just TOO attract the lurms.

For the most part, it is just pretties. But hey, seen some cool ones out there!

[CocoaJin]

Camo is only designed to work when:
The unit is stationary
The unit already has its silhouette broken up by some concealing(especially an irregular one) object l shrubbery
The units isn't standing against a high contrasting back ground; ex: standing on a hill line with the sky lit behind you.

Once you move, stand away from concealment, move in front of a contrasting background, etc, then camo will mean nothing. Camo does provides very, very little, if any concealment on its own. Though sometimes you can use it to confuse observers looking to develop a manual firing solution(see Canadian F-18s with false canopy) paint scheme.

[Sug]

I don't think I've ever noticed another players camo. Unless they're like bright pink. Typically visibility isn't good enough to see anything other than a grey mech no matter what color it is.