349 replies to this topic

[Bombadil]

Twilight Fenrir, on 17 July 2015 - 09:50 AM, said:

Hopefully tomorrow's reveal will sneak in the 4th variants... Really wanna see the MG boat SCat

It's mostly a cockpit preview, but I will do my best if I can make it make sense contextually.

[Twilight Fenrir]

Bombadil, on 17 July 2015 - 10:05 AM, said:

It's mostly a cockpit preview, but I will do my best if I can make it make sense contextually.

Awesome! Thanks Bombadil!

[Wildstreak]

Size, they don't look bad from the vids though I do wonder if the Cheetah will have the same problem a few post about Firestarters.

[Inflatable Fish]

the size comparison vid just shows how terrible the Vindicator is in that respect.

[Bacon Wan Kenobi]

I am giddy to finally hop into my Shadow Cat. The MASC mobility is going to give it some ability to slash in a good old fashioned brawl, while disrupting enemy radar and causing chaos. Other than machine guns, it doesn't really have the hard points or tonnage to "boat" anything, but some combinations look to be quite effective.

It almost seems like a cross between a Blackjack and a Cicada

[Greenjulius]

Twilight Fenrir, on 17 July 2015 - 09:44 AM, said:

Do people generally take the biggest engine in a Firestarter? I would think it would often be knocked down a few pegs for more heatsinks, but I have never owned one, I don't really know...

Who are we kidding? The proposed ECM nerf isn't going to change much of anything outside of CW. And other organized gameplay. The lone wolves flanking behind enemy lines to stalk the stragglers won't be effected by this change in the least...

Actually, it kind of HELPs them in a way... What's the first sign you get that an ECM mech is sneaking up on you? Your hud starts to flicker. If that area of effect is only 90 meters, the first clue you'll have that you're being stalked is your ass falls off

I usually take a XL295 or 280 in my FS9s. 142kph is about as slow as I will take a light out at, which is fortunately what the Cheetah will run at.

I never really thought about the change to ECM being a slight buff to solo ECM mechs. Indeed, if it reduces the range of "ECM interference," that would make it much easier to sneak up on an enemy. Usually when I see it, I watch my back.

[Cosmocat]

The arctic cheetah is positively suave without those huge boxy missile shoulders. SO dreamy. ~~~

[PhantomDust]

Wintersdark, on 15 July 2015 - 05:12 PM, said:

Also: Who are you? What do you do at PGI? I don't think I've ever seen you before!

I am one of the Mech Modelers currently working on MWO here at PGI.

Sereglach, on 16 July 2015 - 12:19 PM, said:

Bolded for emphasis. Ok, I'm not asking this to be a jerk, I'm asking with complete sincerity; and I'm just looking for an honest answer: Why do we see so many newer mechs with major changes to mech geometry for weapons visualization, that are mech specific, and yet when the older mechs are redone (with few exceptions, like the Atlas) the weapons visualizations for those are just tacked on, very generic, and in many ways appear quickly/shoddily done? Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just looking for an honest and sincere answer from someone who's apparently working on the mech models directly.

Hey Sereglach! I am mostly responsible for all of the current visualization updates that have been done to the older mechs. I would like to answer your question regarding the way we tackle these visual updates.

The problem with working with older mechs is that any changes we make will have huge impacts to not only gameplay but Skins/camos and player nostalgia. With newer mechs these factors are not an issue because they are designed from the ground up to work.

But if i make any huge changes to mechs that you guys have been using from the start it can really effect how you perceive that mech so we try to make sure any weapons we do add to the mechs do not take away from the original design too much, although sometimes we do need to make some considerations.

Each mech is different and it takes considerable work to go back and update them, but I am always reading the forums and taking down notes on what you guys do like and dont like with the visual updates.

I hope that answered your question.

The art team is always striving to make sure we make the best looking mechs we can and hope you guys enjoy them.

[Odanan]

Twilight Fenrir, on 17 July 2015 - 09:50 AM, said:

Ooh, they snuck in the B variants at the end We now know what the AC looks like sans missiles. AND that the 2nd energy is indeed boring, and located on the side of the forearm as predicted

SCat missile arms are.... Interesting

Hopefully tomorrow's reveal will sneak in the 4th variants... Really wanna see the MG boat SCat

The Arctic Cheetah without missiles really looks cool.

About scale, it is a lot larger than the Spider and the Urbanmech (both 30 tonners); and a little smaller than the Firestarter (35 tons) and Kit Fox (30 tons).
I hoped the AC was a bit smaller, but that will do.

[MonkeyCheese]

That poor vindi...

But im so excited to play these mechs. Cant wait for my 7erML cheetah and my 6mg lb10 scat. Oh and the non troll builds too...

[Hit the Deck]

Tina, would you be so kind to provide us with side profile shots of regular non Invasion variants of Shadow Cat and Arctic Cheetah?

[Twilight Fenrir]

Arman Abounourinejad, on 17 July 2015 - 11:28 AM, said:

I am one of the Mech Modelers currently working on MWO here at PGI.



Hey Sereglach! I am mostly responsible for all of the current visualization updates that have been done to the older mechs. I would like to answer your question regarding the way we tackle these visual updates.

The problem with working with older mechs is that any changes we make will have huge impacts to not only gameplay but Skins/camos and player nostalgia. With newer mechs these factors are not an issue because they are designed from the ground up to work.

But if i make any huge changes to mechs that you guys have been using from the start it can really effect how you perceive that mech so we try to make sure any weapons we do add to the mechs do not take away from the original design too much, although sometimes we do need to make some considerations.

Each mech is different and it takes considerable work to go back and update them, but I am always reading the forums and taking down notes on what you guys do like and dont like with the visual updates.

I hope that answered your question.

The art team is always striving to make sure we make the best looking mechs we can and hope you guys enjoy them.

Well, welcome to the world of the forums

I'd like to say thank you for coming out and addressing his concerns. It's nice to see devs chiming in here and there. I know a lot of the forums are kind of a muck hole, no one sane would expect a reply to everything, but it's nice to see replies to these kinds of things.

Odanan, on 17 July 2015 - 11:36 AM, said:

The Arctic Cheetah without missiles really looks cool.

About scale, it is a lot larger than the Spider and the Urbanmech (both 30 tonners); and a little smaller than the Firestarter (35 tons) and Kit Fox (30 tons).
I hoped the AC was a bit smaller, but that will do.

Well, it's TALLER than the Urbie, but it's much thinner in profile. I'm actually really impressed with its scaling. Both it, and the SCat are spot on in my books.

[Luscious Dan]

Spider made the top 3 lights for the re-scale vote ... so hopefully it's on the devs' radar to make it a little bit bigger, which to me seems a bit undersized for a 30-tonner.

[Jack Shayu Walker]

Thell, on 16 July 2015 - 05:52 PM, said:

I laugh at anyone that thinks the Shadow cat is op or even that good. Fun mech? Sure.

You should pay more respect to the Sniper God.

[Jack Shayu Walker]

Rhavin, on 16 July 2015 - 07:40 PM, said:

Shadowcat is meant to be a harasser in my opinion. Stay at range with ecm, large lasers, ppcs, maybe an uac 5 or 10 to exploit shredded areas. Gauss is just too big imo. Use the MASC to dart from cover to cover and the jump jets to avoid a head on fight, fire from unexpected directions and move quickly. If you try to trade you will just get eaten up. Alternatively you could be a more maneuverable but less powerful light hunter by toting some streaks and some MPL,s. Still need to avoid the bigs though, just keep,the red littles off your bigs till its time to clean up. You can be sure we will see some lrm boats out there too. Saw a hunchback with one lrm 20 and the rest ammo in match earlier so I am sure we will see the same thing with the shadowcat. A great thing about all that is you will look cool doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I betcha I can build a Scat that can snipe AND light hunt effectively. BTW if you snipe with ERPPCs you can trade for days. Enemy will brush you with lasers and you'll deal your full 10-15 damage with every shot.

Edited by Jack Shayu Walker, 17 July 2015 - 12:24 PM.

[J0anna]

The light and medium que is going to get pounded in 4 days. They both look like solid mechs.

[Moldur]

The art team has been doing a good job.

[Luscious Dan]

For a Shadow Cat sniper, you would have barely anything other than the 2x ERPPCs on that mech though. 10 DHS and barely any additional tonnage for more (since the mech needs another ton of armor and most will stick to ECM).

I'm thinking LPL will be the better choice for the Shadow Cat, simply because it'll be easier to manage the heat. It's also more useful up close if you get rushed by a fast mover. Shield with the left arm to protect the ECM torso, and you don't need too much else in a skirmishing medium. Not an overly impressive alpha strike, but it could keep a decent dps at mid range.

Edited by Luscious Dan, 17 July 2015 - 01:00 PM.

[Jack Shayu Walker]

Luscious Dan, on 17 July 2015 - 01:00 PM, said:

For a Shadow Cat sniper, you would have barely anything other than the 2x ERPPCs on that mech though. 10 DHS and barely any additional tonnage for more (since the mech needs another ton of armor and most will stick to ECM).

I'm thinking LPL will be the better choice for the Shadow Cat, simply because it'll be easier to manage the heat. It's also more useful up close if you get rushed by a fast mover. Shield with the left arm to protect the ECM torso, and you don't need too much else in a skirmishing medium. Not an overly impressive alpha strike, but it could keep a decent dps at mid range.

Haha, well I find that my design philosophy differs a lot from other pilots.

I'm not going to bring 2x ERPPCs, a single one will do just fine. I personally never bring more than one ERPPC on anything (unless it's quirked for heat), it's too hot to be useful. That second ERPPC will only come in handy for Alphas which, if you are sniping, you shouldn't need often.

The idea with a single ERPPC is to punp as much damage as your heat capacity will allow. If you've got good aim a lot more of your damage should get through than your opponents.

With that in mind I will spend the rest of my pod space rounding out my mech : ) . Extra ton of armor, 2 extra heat sinks, 8 streak tubes, two medium lasers and ECM~

Edited by Jack Shayu Walker, 17 July 2015 - 01:20 PM.

[Sereglach]

Arman Abounourinejad, on 17 July 2015 - 11:28 AM, said:

Hey Sereglach! I am mostly responsible for all of the current visualization updates that have been done to the older mechs. I would like to answer your question regarding the way we tackle these visual updates.

The problem with working with older mechs is that any changes we make will have huge impacts to not only gameplay but Skins/camos and player nostalgia. With newer mechs these factors are not an issue because they are designed from the ground up to work.

But if i make any huge changes to mechs that you guys have been using from the start it can really effect how you perceive that mech so we try to make sure any weapons we do add to the mechs do not take away from the original design too much, although sometimes we do need to make some considerations.

Each mech is different and it takes considerable work to go back and update them, but I am always reading the forums and taking down notes on what you guys do like and dont like with the visual updates.

I hope that answered your question.

The art team is always striving to make sure we make the best looking mechs we can and hope you guys enjoy them.

Thank you, sir, for taking the time to answer the question. I understand the older ones can be harder to work with. It just blows my mind that mechs like the Atlas received great visual reworks that revolved heavily around the art assets the mech already had, while other mechs, like the Commando, Catapult, Awesome, etc. received art overhauls that seem to drastically deviate from even the flavor of the mech.

That being said, since you do take feedback, if the Commando could get some re-dos to utilize the single and double energy hardpoints that it already had; and get missile boxes that flow more with the mech (like the Panther CT hardpoints and Kintaro arm hardpoints -that seem heavily derived from the old Commando boxes, funny enough-) that would be incredible. Also, I'm sure that you've seen the heavy amounts of feedback on the Catapult and other mechs, so I'll spare going off on tangents about all of them. However the Commando was one that was very near and dear to me, and it just feels like it didn't get what it deserved, so I figured I'd bring that up while I have your ear.

I do greatly appreciate the recent mech modeling you've done for all of the new mechs. They look great and the work you've put forth for other future mechs (like the Crab snippet) looks like many more great mechs will be coming.

So again, I don't want you to think I'm trying to be a jerk or anything. Your work is greatly appreciated. I just hope we can eventually get love and solid re-dos of the older mechs that match the quality of the new mechs.

Thank you for your time, sir, and the insights.

EDIT: Also, as a follow up question, if you don't mind: since you are taking all of these notes, can we expect to see the common issues that players have with these visualization updates fixed? (Examples: Catapult "VCR's", Cicada unsymmetrical, Awesome/Cat-K2 tiny PPC's, Commando "missile bracelets" and tacked on "honeycomb" chest, Dragon asymmetrical torso missiles, etc.)

Edited by Sereglach, 17 July 2015 - 02:02 PM.