58 replies to this topic

[Realfra]

A cheap idea could be to use the training ground map replacing the mechs usually here with the mechbay mechs.

[Alistair Winter]

Mercules, on 01 October 2014 - 09:58 AM, said:

Yes it does, It is scaled to a different frame than any of the mechs. I am going to see my feet when I look down so It will require a skin.
Once again I am going to point out that the cost would not be worth it for something most people will use all of ONCE.

Are you saying most people will use it once because you would use it once? Or because you don't think there are people out there who are into stuff like this?

[Xtrekker]

I think it's funny that a game that has cost me more than any other game I've ever played is championed repeatedly for not being held to the minimal content standards of most other games out there. It's like blind anti-faith, as in total acceptance that they are incapable of such things. A derp cocoon, if you will. And apparently we're all ok with that.

Let the fan base put the ideas out there before you pat PGI on the head and tell them it's ok, because we know they are special. The market is capable of deciding on the viability of content, and if there is a way to squeeze a buck out of it, I'm sure PGI will find it. Adding fluff content is an obvious path to more things to sell, and this hangar idea is no exception.

[Turist0AT]

TL;DR


YES ofc. and the ability to walk around, get in and get out, eject and actually be able to use all the buttons and screens in the cockpit. Buut we all know thats not going to happen.

The more imersion i get, the better i feel. I want mechs when they lost a leg theyll crawl and more visual destruction of mech. Right now we just lose arms and paint. And use malee and hand to hand combat.

A man can dream...

[Johnny Z]

It would be amazing.

The hangar would have to be HUGE, because if they go that route they would have to put the dropship in the to.

And if they go that far then they have to let the players buy different dropships. And the overlord dropship is massive.

If they ever go into Aerotech they have to let the players put a few fighters in there to.

What if they add capital ships?

[Mycrus]

Nicolai Kabrinsky, on 01 October 2014 - 07:04 AM, said:

You know how you can walk around in your Star Citizen hangar and gawk at all your ships. Is that something you'd want to have for MWO? I mean, would it be a big deal for you?

I think there's a lot of collectors and completionists out there who would be motivated to collect more mechs and paint them up real nice (i.e. buy more patterns and colors) if all their owned mechs weren't just stock icons in the UI. You can click them each to see them, but... it's not quite as satisfying.

There's a lot of ways to do this, of course. The cheapest way would be to just let people drop on a roomy map, like Alpine, and then line up every mech owned, except for the mech you choose to drop in, in a grid. A more expensive way would be to do the same in a very simple "mechbay" map, put together with existing resources from maps already made. Since the map won't be used to play matches, it should be very cheap and fast to put together.

The most expensive and coolest thing would be to let the player walk around on foot, and let all the mechs be assembled in the mechbay map. And then put a power-up button next to each map, so you can watch your huge mechs power up and shut down. But that would probably take a lot of work, I guess. Even though it should be very easy, given that CryEngine is made for that stuff anyway. And they already made a Mechwarrior ("pilot") model, used inside the cockpit.

I know the devs, and even many players, will say "That stuff doesn't matter", "Give us more content instead". But I think that's underestimating how many gamers and nerds are huge collectors and completionists. Many of us probably have a basement / gameroom / attic with various collectibles, maybe a glass monitor with hand-painted TT miniatures. That crowd would be thrilled to have a functioning mechbay to look at all their owned mechs, I think.

And from a business point of view: Imagine if you bought a Stalker and then your "hangar" was upgraded to contain that Stalker, with empty stalls for the four C-bill variants you don't own. And a special stall for the Misery. Wouldn't that give you a slight itch to collect all the variants? Maybe put down some cash for the Misery next time it's on sale, just to finish your collection?

Just look at all the people still playing Skyrim, decorating their own houses. Same thing with MMO's like Star Wars Old Republic, where you can buy and decorate a house on different planets. People will pay real money for that kind of stuff. And in MWO, most of the resources are already available. It's just a matter of putting it together for a spectator mode.

Minimally viable product... I'd like ui 2.0 to scale properly on my 3 screens.... and oh sli

[Khobai]

A functional hanger would be a complete waste of time and adds absolutely nothing beneficial to the game.

Theres far better ways to add immersion to the game starting with gamemodes with map assets and objectives that actually make you feel like youre fighting in the battletech universe.

And actually you could argue that a functional hanger breaks immersion because its ridiculous for one person to own dozens of mechs (and some players have over 100 mechs). If MWO had been set up like MW2 mercenaries where each player was running their own merc corp and had to hire pilots/mechanics and pay upkeep/repair costs then maybe an interactive hanger would make sense. But thats not the case.

Edited by Khobai, 01 October 2014 - 11:18 AM.

[EvilCow]

Way too many mechs but I would like to see the deck of my loaded dropship in CW.

[Appogee]

I'd put this waaaay down the list of things I want.

See signature.

[5LeafClover]

Mercules, on 01 October 2014 - 09:58 AM, said:

Yes it does, It is scaled to a different frame than any of the mechs. I am going to see my feet when I look down so It will require a skin.

Once again I am going to point out that the cost would not be worth it for something most people will use all of ONCE.

Functionality for setting different heights for PoV already exists in game. It's not new.

I've played plenty of 1st person games where you can't see feet. People here are asking to see mechs.

Given how many have commented on how the hangar works and is appreciated in SC. Please don't expect people to buy into your "Once" comment, just because you said it. Twice.

Sure it's not big new functionality, but in relative terms is surely cheap to develop. It could add a small boost to subscriptions, for steady reliable income (vs boom & bust of mech sales & release waves). It also helps MWO to hold ground versus it's competitors in the market, .

[RockmachinE]

Great idea.

[CDLord HHGD]

Johnny Z, on 01 October 2014 - 11:01 AM, said:

It would be amazing.

The hangar would have to be HUGE, because if they go that route they would have to put the dropship in the to.

And if they go that far then they have to let the players buy different dropships. And the overlord dropship is massive.

If they ever go into Aerotech they have to let the players put a few fighters in there to.

What if they add capital ships?

[Hillslam]

I would totally pay for this. Bonus payment if they added the option of hot battletech babes - I mean qualified technicians in hot weather gear - washing down my mechs.

And then they get into a fight with the suds. and the hose. Naughty hanger babes....

I'll be right back.

[Torgun]

Nicolai Kabrinsky, on 01 October 2014 - 08:44 AM, said:

I find it hilarious that he's spent so much on collecting all that gear, only to have them shown in cheap Ikea Billy bookshelves.

[Mercer Skye]

Torgun, on 01 October 2014 - 12:51 PM, said:

I find it hilarious that he's spent so much on collecting all that gear, only to have them shown in cheap Ikea Billy bookshelves.

Probably because to most collectors, or so I've found, it's not about the display, it's about what is displayed.

[KamikazeRat]

so how i would like to see hangar behavior

-click mechbay, then hangar, (otherwise you can use mechbay as before for those who don't want or just want to make a small change) you are taken to your hangar, all the bays are empty, basic hangar has like...4 bays. you walk over to a bay, click on a control panel, and you pick your hunchback 4G, that mech is now displayed in that bay, any changes you want to make you can do from there, or...you can just stare at your pretty mech. it stays in that slot so you can select 4 mechs to display. and when you return they are still there.

-buy upgrades for hangar. buy a lounge, buy more bays, a different layout, a different skin for the hanger, a box of ammo laying in the corner, a giant hula girl...whatever they come up with to stuff into the bay.

-buy(er..."hire") techs and other support staff to wander around your hangar.

-maybe even some bonuses, not sure on that one...depending on balance issues... if it was MC people would cry P2W, though, but the idea is having a tech gives your mechs a quirk, depending on the tech you picked. having a secretary, increases your C-bills per match by a small amount. things that are enough to make it worth doing, but not enough to make them necessary.(sort of the balance like modules can be EDIT: or even think about it like free module slots that apply to all your mechs)


all of these things would sell...but....all of this....way down the road...or alot of angry people.

EDIT: un-walled text a bit.

Edited by KamikazeRat, 01 October 2014 - 02:26 PM.

[stjobe]

S3dition started working on a fully interactive MechLab, but I think he's since quit MWO.

Also, Bryan said in an AtD 43 answer that " Walking around MechLab is a very cinematic and interactive experience, but has almost no bearing on making the game more functional. Eventually, once we a redone with the larger core features, our team can take time out to expand on the non-gameplay experiences, offering up more immersive concepts mentioned above."

Either way, it's something I'd like to see one day (for all the reasons the OP and others have pointed out), but it's not on the top of my wish list.

Edited by stjobe, 01 October 2014 - 02:40 PM.

[Tristan Winter]

stjobe, on 01 October 2014 - 02:14 PM, said:

Also, Bryan said in an AtD 43 answer that " Walking around MechLab is a very cinematic and interactive experience, but has almost no bearing on making the game more functional. Eventually, once we a redone with the larger core features, our team can take time out to expand on the non-gameplay experiences, offering up more immersive concepts mentioned above."

Given that Bryan is no longer working on MWO, I wonder how Russ feels about it now. I never expected it to be a feature in 2014, but I wonder if they're still planning to add it down the line.

[Mercer Skye]

The old UI had a four 'mech 'Quick Select' option that you could use to fast track to 'mechs you were going to be using a lot. I'm curious on if this could be used as a basis for this hangar option.

With Dropship Mode coming, it might be worthwhile to implement this just so it's easier to populate a drop deck before queueing up, and later can be expanded on to include a full on viewable 'mech hangar with your top four picks.

Honestly, they could do that as the 'functional f2p base' and monetize it by allowing you to buy additional four 'mech hangars to populate and choose from.