57 replies to this topic

[Hans Von Lohman]

Just saw this in the loyalty reward news (which was actually about how you can buy stuff using game cards now).

The background image seems to be of the re-worked Centurion with customizable weapons, but seems to be of the normal A model instead of the re-introduced AH model since it has CT lasers.

The Atlas looks weird though. It has a monocle laser, along with two CT lasers. If this is true the new Atlas will zombie very well as you can have 3 medium lasers in zombie mode.

I would love that.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

I really don't think it's a laser. It seems very similar to the Founder Atlas eye sensor monocle thingy.

[Dragomir Zelenka]

Nope. It's a free cockpit fishbowl.

You know you want one.

[Hans Von Lohman]

Nope, I'm thinking it is a laser lense. Why bother to remodel the head if that was the case?

Getting a 3 energy weapon zombie atlas would probably be the only thing that would sell well enough to offset the D-DC. I wouldn't mind running the Atlas-S with a head laser.

Edited by Hans Von Lohman, 10 October 2014 - 11:23 PM.

[Triordinant]

There's a groovy 1 meter diameter lava lamp inside. Either that or TAG.

[Christof Romulus]

Unless PGI is taking heavy creative license, that's just going to be the unique look of the head - and if that's the case that's not only fine by me, but I am ultra jelly that my founder's doesn't look this classy =P

But yeah, if the AS7-S is coming with that baller skin, I will be SO HAPPY.

[LordKnightFandragon]

Christof Romulus, on 10 October 2014 - 11:38 PM, said:

Unless PGI is taking heavy creative license, that's just going to be the unique look of the head - and if that's the case that's not only fine by me, but I am ultra jelly that my founder's doesn't look this classy =P

But yeah, if the AS7-S is coming with that baller skin, I will be SO HAPPY.

Just because everyone loves the skin so much, it will come wiht that stock mech baby sh1t green...

[EgoSlayer]

The AS7-S doesn't have any head mounted weapons, so there will be no head mounted hard points. So it's cosmetic only, there isn't a laser or anything else there.

[Crunk Prime]

If it does end up being an energy hardpoint, Im putting a flamer there, and you cant stop me.

[Vassago Rain]

It's just sensors. The founders atlas also has a special sensor eye.

You can see it has the two CT lasers on the tick-tack-toe box.

[Tristan Winter]

It's a light PPC. You heard it here first.

[Jolly Llama]

It is a PGI bullshit filter. It allows you to see code.

[Sirius Drake]

Its a monocle!
Smash your enemies like a sir!

[Scratx]

Sirius Drake, on 11 October 2014 - 04:29 AM, said:

Its a monocle!
Smash your enemies like a sir!

Just missing a Top Hat.

[Koniving]

Hans Von Lohman, on 10 October 2014 - 11:20 PM, said:

Nope, I'm thinking it is a laser lense. Why bother to remodel the head if that was the case?

Getting a 3 energy weapon zombie atlas would probably be the only thing that would sell well enough to offset the D-DC. I wouldn't mind running the Atlas-S with a head laser.

Atlas S does not come with any head-mounted equipment.
It is noted to have advanced sensor equipment (meaningless in MWO but in Battletech it's the difference between short range thermal/seismic and long range). The eye is likely a tribute to that.

Note that the Founder's Atlas also had a change, it is to distinguish the reward version from the 'everyone' version.



The two below are of mine before the paints were allowed.




Not only does it have the eye sensor but it also has the 'angry eye' cockpit rather than the normal Atlas's "sad eye" cockpit.

Don't forget...




PGI had hoped to eventually do interchangeable parts like swappable head and hand geometry for Atlases, Banshees, etc. as another way to get MC for visual customization.

----

Now here is what the Atlas S does come with.
1 medium laser per arm.
2 medium lasers (CT, REAR FACING as is all CT energy in Atlases.)
1 AC/20 (so likely 2 ballistic slots).
1 LRM-20. (LT.)
1 SRM-6. (LT.)
2 Streak-SRM-2s (LT, REAR FACING).

Obviously we won't have any rear facing weaponry. Sadly.

---------
Do note:
The two "Loyalty Reward" mechs shown have an exclusive paintjob and geometry.
The regular ones "to be available eventually" will obviously NOT have either aspect. Just a regular Atlas head, a regular Centurion look, regular green paint and default pattern.

Edited by Koniving, 11 October 2014 - 04:53 AM.

[Koniving]

On a side note... does anyone know what mechs in lore have angels painted on them?

The artists are known for easter eggs.

[Golden Vulf]

Talking about non-canon hard points, I don't remember reading about any AS7-D that had Dual Ultra AC/5s in the right torso. These in-game inner sphere mechs often have extra hardpoints they weren't supposed to have. I think it is to simulate how certain pilots would have custom modifications done to their machines.

I'm all for an extra hard point in the head. I think they'll probably only give the AS7-S a single right torso ballistic hard point like 3 of the 5 existing Atlas variants.

This way the AS7-D would still be the only Atlas with 2 ballistic hardpoints + 2 center torso energy hardpoints.
The AS7-D-DC would be the only other one with 2 ballistic hard points, but with trading the 2 ct lasers for a 3rd missile + ECM.

A head energy hard point could be to make up for having only a single ballistic hard point and jamming all 4 missile hard points into the left torso.

Edited by Golden Vulf, 11 October 2014 - 05:18 AM.

[Ph30nix]

im just pissed they will end up charging us extra for the tophat and cane..... but we are getting this for free so oh well

Edited by Ph30nix, 11 October 2014 - 05:16 AM.

[Vassago Rain]

Koniving, on 11 October 2014 - 04:55 AM, said:

On a side note... does anyone know what mechs in lore have angels painted on them?

The artists are known for easter eggs.

The great wrestle haug republic robots.

[Koniving]

Golden Vulf, on 11 October 2014 - 05:09 AM, said:

Talking about non-canon hard points, I don't remember reading about any AS7-D that had Dual Ultra AC/5s in the right torso. These in-game inner sphere mechs often have extra hardpoints they weren't supposed to have. I think it is to simulate how certain pilots would have custom modifications done to their machines.

Indeed. Every Atlas had 1 ballistic, 1 to 2 missile, up to 4 energy. The exception was the Atlas S, which was a supplemented or completed Atlas K.
In 3050, which we're only in 3049 so the K shouldn't exist yet... the Atlas K was the epitome of technology. It was also rushed out the door. The only Atlas (at the time) to ever feature a full 20 tubes for its LRM-20. 10 on the LT, 10 on the RT, all fed from a launcher whose reloading, etc. mechanism's critical components were located in the left torso. It was slated to get double heatsinks but the brand new VLAR 300 XL was not able to be perfected in time to accept the DHS, and thus it finalized and shipped without. As a showcase to the rushed nature, it still features the original 5-tube FarFire Maxilauncher rapid reload LRM-20 housing on the left hip (which is space for a second missile hardpoint that we never got!!!).

The Atlas S is the finished Atlas K, the change to double heatsinks freed tonnage and through some reworking, they put the SRM-6 into the housing of the old 5-tube LRM-20 rapid reload rack (as the Atlas S uses the Atlas K's twin 10 tube chest launchers for its LRM-20 instead). While the Atlas K had slightly more difficult maintenance to the previous Atlas models, the Atlas S had no internal maintenance shafts and no space left over, requiring the entire frontal or rear armor platings to be removed in order to perform maintenance, making it difficult to maintain and thusly very expensive to upkeep one. Still, they managed to run it on a standard engine, keeping its cost at 9,954,000 C-bills.

The Atlas K on the other hand had a cost of 22,576,000 C-bills.

On a side note... The Atlas D-DC and the Atlas K-DC are the only two Atlases piloted from the eyeballs in Battletech. A pilot in each. All other Atlases are piloted from the Nose, the central viewport which is centered in the head for the most protective position. The dual cockpits are described as having weaker protection split between the two cockpits (TT doesn't take this into account), but if one pilot dies or loses consciousness the other can take over.

That said, however, the D-DC has the fewest weapons of ANY Atlas, due to having to remove the CT weaponry to feed the command console (it's actually a second cockpit + command center + communications array) through to the engine to power it. Otherwise it is exactly identical to the Atlas D (aside from cockpit position[s]). Not enough room to mount a proper LRM-20, just a 5 tube hip launcher that lobs missiles 5 at a time, in 4 volleys across 10 seconds. So it being inflated to 3 missile launchers is beyond me. Then to get ECM on top of it?

Granted both models came out in 3050 (so Atlas D-DCs shouldn't be in the game yet either), of the two the K actually has the room in the body from a lore-standpoint for something like an ECM.

Though it's actually the AS7-S2 that gets the ECM in 3061, once ECM has genuinely begun spreading beyond Liao territory and into "everyone's" hands. The S2 is considered to be originally envisioned product of the K. Heavy Gauss Rifle, ER Large Lasers, LRM-15 (instead of 20), a more stable "Light" engine with the survivability of a Clan XL engine, split-criticals (the Heavy Gauss is both RT and CT).. and evidently it's a thing of beauty.

-----

PGI tends to give AC/20s, PPCs and large laser slots an extra 'hardpoint' in the same spot just because, unless it already has a lot.

Edited by Koniving, 11 October 2014 - 05:39 AM.