2
So I love building 'mechs to no end so I feel that we need a third engine class, maybe one that makes the 40 foot tank you are walking around in feel more deadly. (maybe)
Thus I propose the Reactor Engine Variant
STD engines sit in the CT like always, and XL's have their locations as well.
REA engines sit in only the CT like a standard engine, but weigh as much as a XL engine.
Now to perhaps balance that out, Say a (just go with the values for now for simplicity sake)
STD 200 Engine costs 1,000,000 Cbills and an XL 200 costs 2,500,000 c-bills make a REA 200 engine cost 6,000,000 to limit its usage by cost alone, allowing only pilots that are devoted to their mech aquire it.
Step 2 to balance it out: Reactors are volatile if destroyed, perhaps state that if the engine were to be destroyed, it would detonate causing splash damage in a sized radius around the fallen mech that could cause team damage, making it a little less attractive to mount onto the mech. This detonation would allow the "going critical" lightshow that many people fondly hold in their hearts without nuking the battlefield and keeping the mech "still repairable" (Because our lovely MechBay engineers are gods at their job that they can take the leg actuator on Tuesday and have the full atlas back in combat condition the following Monday.) This warning could be labled like the low signal icon for ECM with a radioactive symbol, alerting both teammates to attempt to protect from a safe distance, while giving meaning to a target for the enemy.
Enough of the engine, how about a map as well
We all have our favorite maps. I'm sure terra therma makes no ones list. So, we need a terra...cryo or something to that name (Terra Cryo for now). Since we don't have the option of choosing where we drop, why not balance the heat spectrum.
Terra Cryo would have the following features:
-The ENTIRE map is ice, not like frozen city ice but ICCCCCEEEEE.
-An ambient temperature so low that standing still and NOT GENERATING HEAT actually damages the electronics and systems inside a 'mech, forcing all those pesky LRM boat campers to KEEP MOVING. A player could receive a coolant warning meaning that the systems are too cold, and when life-support shuts down, you better hope you can hold your breath.
-Heat sink efficiency goes to say... 500% (so the dire wolf with 6PPC's practically CANT overheat)
-Surface gravity goes to 1.9 due to the dense complexion of the planet or that missiles just cant work for so long outside their cozy mech. (the number is debatable)
-Vision could be impacted as well, but that is up for discussion or map designers. I don't 100% know.
Thanks for reading
