Wildstreak, on 10 July 2015 - 05:02 PM, said:
Why Pixels?
Poly count, size and shape matter more than Pixels.
Pixels is a quantifiable quality that actually matters. When you're shooting a mech, what matters is how many pixels it takes up on your screen. Obviously it's not as simple as that, as things like height, ratio of arms to torsos to legs, hardpoints... that all matters, but on the fundamental level, it comes down to screen real estate - how much mech you have available to shoot at.
Volume is slightly more problematic. Some mechs like the Blackjack and Stormcrow have some very thin spots. They take up a lot of space on your screen, but they're volumetrically less significant. Mechs like the Awesome are barndoors, but they don't have very much depth too them. A volumetric analysis of the Awesome might not be the best metric for comparison with other mechs of its class because the fact of the matter is that it's wide as a barn and takes up a lot of space on your screen.
The pixel count chart above adds together and averages the pixel counts of mech profiles both from the front and from the side. Not the best solution, as perhaps front should be weighted higher than side, but consider how the King Crab is only as large as it is because it is huge from a side-on profile (or top down), and not all that large from the front.