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Now, camouflage is pretty much useless in MWO as you'll either see a distant blur of colors beyond sensor range or mechs under ECM cover, or you have a lock and now where your target is. The few situations where camo is really helpful is on very dark maps such as Terra or HPG uplink; and ECM sniper is difficult to see outside Thermal vision range. However, no CW maps have that problem at the moment.
Warships in the early half of the 20th century used disruptive pattern and much research has been performed in this area. The goal was not to hide a ship at see but to break up the silhouette to make identification and estimates for the ship course difficult. Not many range finder operators said they were much distracted by this pattern and radar made the use of these patterns useless anyway.
With the colors we have available I gave each pattern a score, working towards disruption; between 200-500 meters you want to make a visual ID of your central torso more difficult and avoid giving your enemy a visual bullseye. Does this actually work? Perhaps, perhaps not. But I thought it would be fun to assume it does.
I gave each pattern a score based on the following
- Disruption: is the pattern 'neat' and does it accentuate the mech shape, or does it work doing exactly the opposite?
-Scale: How visible are the pattern details at a distance? If the pattern is too coarse of too fine it will not help towards disruption
- High-lighting of the CT: any pattern that puts a 'shoot me here' spot on the torso ends up in the lowest tier regardless of its other merits
I used two mechs, snub-nosed and flat-faced, though the pattern will wrap differently around other mechs. I was so objective that my favorite camouflage (Woodland) didn't end up in the top tier.
Tier 5: Not recommended
Cobra
Clearly highlights the central torso
Crusader
Highlights the central torso
MountainLine
Doesn't highlight the central torso as much as the others but still paints a bullseye on the CT and a visual clue at what height to hit your mech.
Tartan
Highlights the central torso. Could be worse as the pattern is disruptive at the CT, but it is flat on the ST.
Tier 4: Patterns not better or worse than no pattern
Applejack
Only adds color accents and leaves the mech nearly unpatterned, though the Summoner's CT is accentuated by the ST.
Buckaneer
The skull on the Summoner's CT is not very well visible but the patterns accentuate each component a bit. Not disruptive.
Default
Leaves the mech nearly patternless but does not add harmful accents either.
Phranken
One of the trickiest patterns to judge. It's disruptive and doesn't really accentuate the CT, but as a 1250 MC intimidation pattern I felt it should not end up higher.
Raider
This mech is nearly patternless and not better than Default
Tier 3: Weakly disruptive
Dazzle
A nice two-tone scheme that is highly disruptive, but is also very regular. Might end up higher if it allowed for three tones and thus looses from Tiger.
Sherman
It's a nice scheme but the structure of the pattern is very large and is not disruptive enough.
Snowfall
This is a great camouflage scheme and might help you with the 'hide-as-a-destroyed-mech trick' if you use black as a base color, but the structure is very fine and is not well visible at medium ranges.
Virus
Slightly better than Crusader and the fine pattern keeps it out of the lowest tier patterns. But, the pattern is too fine. Perhaps a tier too high now.
Tier 2: Disruptive
Digital
Excellent scheme that breaks up the mech shape and surface details, but too finely structured to be top tier.
Fractal
Excellent scheme that breaks up the mech shape and surface details, but too finely structured to be top tier.
Hotrod
Good structure but not random enough. The only 1250MC pattern not ending up in the lowest tiers.
Vagabond
The structure is good and the pattern is not accentuating the shape of the mech, but the lines are just too 'predictable on the eye' to be top tier.
Woodland
Excellent scheme that breaks up the mech shape and surface details that I nearly put in top tier, but the structure is just too fine for the Summoner.
Tier 1: Strongly disruptive
Polygon
Strongly disrupts the mech shape and visible at medium range. Many people get this pattern for free with their mechs making it an obvious choice
Tiger
Great pattern, what Dazzle should actually have looked like.
UrbanBlock
Although a lot of horizontal and vertical lines are added that might accentuate the mech shape, the spacing is so irregular that it actually does the opposite.
Edited by The Great Unwashed, 28 February 2015 - 12:35 PM.
