34 replies to this topic

[Telmasa]

This is a genius idea. Seems like it wouldn't be all that hard to code things so an LBX shot could be toggled as a switch (makes the most sense to me) & clustered so tightly that it's pretty much a solid shot, avoiding the entire hubballoo with a separate ammo type/round type/damage calculation/etc.

The drawback here is what would happen with rolling for crits...not sure how this could hope to get around that (AC/10 does same crit damage but only rolls once, LBX10 essentially rolls 10 times, to my understanding).


If nothing else, your idea is great for solving the ammo issue - 1 single ammo type that gets consumed the same way at the same rate whether it's scattershot or solid shot, makes that easy and simple. (least that's how it appears to me)

I have a kinda trivial suggestion to tack onto this - to double the price of LBX ammo. Not that that truely matters, but still, balance y'know, since it would be doubling as two different ammunition types.

Edited by Telmasa, 20 March 2015 - 02:05 PM.

[Vermaxx]

LBs need SOMETHING, since they're supposed to slot multiple ammo types. I was unaware there were serious game limitations blocking the ability for an LB to fire slug though, so I assume we will never see any change. I think 5m spread is still too much. Put the spread at 1m and it drastically limits the number of times that spread applies to anything more than one facing. At 5m you're still going to spread the damage over two areas very often.

CLAN STANDARD AC need to fire a slug. There is literally only one reason to carry a Clan standard AC right now: if you are trying to shoehorn a build into a mech and you ABSOLUTELY MUST save on the critslots. Beyond that, you might as well always have the option to double fire the cooldown.

Edited by Vermaxx, 20 March 2015 - 07:13 PM.

[Livaria]

I'm just here to say that I support this idea. I think its a very solid feature. I'm fully aware that some people were upset with a charge mechanic on the Gauss rifle but I think there's evidence that they're still *very* viable. I want to see this for IS as well... even if there is a lore difference I think it's worth it.

I don't think this can obsolete an IS AC/10. Some may want to consider that charging up a weapon takes more time. In this case, an LB 10-X would be trading DPS for more focused damage, Where the AC/10 won't have such an issue. Andi Nagasia also has some valid points.

I would like to bring up something that may be important in weapon management, and that is that the charge-up system may have to a little bit different than a gauss rifle.

If the LB Autocannon had the same charge-up system that a gauss rifle does. Then the player might suffer by having to manage a faster firing LB Autocannon. Imagine having to hold and release each and every time they want more focused damage, which may become extremely button-press intensive.

My suggestion is that an LBX will fire automatically when fully charged, instead of requiring a player to release the mouse button after it's fully charged like the Gauss rifle does. If a player wants nothing except more focused damage, then all that is needed is to hold down the trigger button.

Edited by Livaria, 05 May 2015 - 12:16 PM.

[Mordric]

I like the idea of a charge up to switch from full auto to shotgun. maybr it would help me with my gauss skill to.

[AbsUserName]

Hi, I haven't read the whole topic, but it's fairly easy:

Put a line with toggle next to AMS and ECM reading LB-X ammo

And the toggle goes SLUG or SHOTGUN

Out of one type of ammo? The toggle locks on the other type of ammo.

Brought just one type of ammo? No toggle necessary.

Easy, and no change to the interface. Just one more key-bind for the LB-X toggle.

And integrate both types of AC clantech: LB-X = AC for clans

Thanks

In Clanspace the LB-X did just that: obsolete the normal AC.

In Inner Sphere, the AC would have it's niche in the poor-man's alley: it's cheaper. And for Great Houses large militaries, the cheaper AC also has it's appeal.

Livaria, on 05 May 2015 - 11:28 AM, said:

I don't think this can obsolete an IS AC/10. Some may want to consider that charging up a weapon takes more time. In this case, an LB 10-X would be trading DPS for more focused damage, Where the AC/10 won't have such an issue. Andi Nagasia also has some valid points.

Edited by AbsUserName, 18 May 2015 - 10:11 PM.

[Nivison2]

Hello, code junky here and i know nothing about the engine they're running but it should be fairly simple to switch a weapon back and forth between a mode. it would be like toggling to single fire to rapid fire. can be accomplished in a few different ways
If statement
int = mode1, mode2;
mode1 = true //mode 1 is standard 1 slug
mode2 = false //mode 2 is shutgun fire
//place that in say a create event for defining variables
//now do the toggle, im going to use "LShift" of the default mode switch but can really be anything they want
if(buttonpressed("Shift") == true)//checks to see if Lshift is pressed, depending on software might need to add a way so it
//doesnt loop endlessly if it doesnt go on just being pressed.
{
if(mode1 = true)
{
mode1=false;
mode2=true;
}
else if(mode2 = true)
{
mode1=true
mode2=false
}

}

while(mode1 = true){"place code for standard shot here"}
while(mode2= true){"Place Code for LBX shot here"}

//end

see, simple enough to write out, for C++ or GML that is, and with an engine designed for making games im sure it will probably be easier to do, and you'd have to really **** up a code to not be able to do this, course i may be wrong but this is my stand point on it, and if you read this far thanks for reading .

-Nivison

[Livaria]

One minor point I'd like to make for toggle-key ammuniton; a clan mech can mount a variety of LB autocannons.

Clan players will have to be okay with having All Clan LB autocannons being restricted to one setting. which is either slug or scatter. This means that you can't have Slug LB/5 and Scatter LB/10's firing. It's probably not a big issue, it's just a thought.

Edited by Livaria, 22 May 2015 - 01:12 AM.

[Nightshade24]

Nathan Bloodguard, on 02 March 2015 - 06:28 PM, said:

As a quick note: both clan and innersphere lb-x ac's have the same firing options in lore (last I knew) so this wouldn't be just a clan weapon change. Not a bad idea, if they can get the coding for it right.

Andi Nagasia, on 02 March 2015 - 06:35 PM, said:

i was unaware of that, cool

Yes, however the thing is, the Inner sphere have to load the mech 100% with this ammo type before battle.

it is rather shot gun all the way, or slug rounds all the way, no mixing or no changing in mid battle.

This is why LBX is famous for Clans, as they fixed this issue and gave it the ability to switch freely in battle. This is why normal AC's are obselete by clans as the LBX is lighter then the AC while able to do this.

[happy mech]

a great idea to use the same ammo but different firing modes, if something like that can be implemented

[Mark of Caine]

A quick way to fix the critical hit issue though would be the longer you hold the charge, the lower your chance of dealing a critical hit.

Therefore, if you fire shotgun style, then the critical chance per pellet stays as is, and if you fire as a "slug", the critical chance per pellet is drastically reduced but your pinpoint damage to a component drastically increases. I believe this would be a fair tradeoff for both Clan and IS LB-X autocannons.

Then there would be no need for separate ammo, as the "slug" round is handled by the weapon instead of a separate ammo bin.

[wanderer]

LB-X should have two fire settings, both of which grey out if one is fired. Slug and cluster. Ammo separate for each. IS LB-10X's should have ROF and damage falloff modes inferior to standard AC/10's to compensate for their increased flexibility, range, and lighter weight.

The only reason we lack alt-fire weapons is incompetence. Nothing more, nothing less. LB-X, flamers, alt-ammo modes for missiles...because PGI cannot into coding a weapon that can be used in more than one mode.

[Aleski]

This is a nice idea and seems easy to implement.


For me the idea of the LBX different mode :

The standard mode remain the same has it is right now.
The second mode is like the alternative shot of the Unreal Tournament Flak Cannon : a single shell with a curved trajectory. The heavier the LBX is, the more curved the trajectory will be.
No pinpoint accuracy with lazors and PPC with this mode...

A picture for people who don't know Unreal Tournament :


Putting two types of ammunition seems odd and over complicated, in my opinion.

[Rhent]

Add a 5 second delay to switch from LBX to LBX Slug if they want that kind of functionality.

[Dee Eight]

Regular Clan AC's ARE built to LBX tech... same crits, weight, ammo/ton, range, damage... they just fire solid shots not cluster shots. If you want solid single shot slugs, just use the regular Clan AC's. That's why the MWO designers left them on the mech lab list... to get around trying to code a dual feed for the LBX.

[Ade the Rare]

This is actually a nice suggestion, and adds more tactical choice to proceedings. However, it'd need to be balanced with IS, because, you know...

If this were to appear in-game I'd be happy enough with it.