7 replies to this topic

[Zelus]

Firstly: I'm aware there's a pinned topic on mode suggestions. It's 23 pages long. I'd also prefer to discuss a single, specific game type.

Secondly: Forgive me if my search-fu has failed to find a similar topic. I used a few phrases I thought were relevant, but found nothing in-depth or recent.


From what I've seen, the developers and the fan-base both desire a more immersive game play experience. Too often Mechwarrior can feel like a first-person-shooter with wonky controls and odd class and weapons systems.

You want to distinguish 'Mech from FPS? Make the 'mechs gods of the battlefield; like they're supposed to be.

We NEED a mixed arms mode that is similar to games like Demigod, or Defense of the Ancients.
And I don't mean players in tanks or battlesuits.



For the unintaited:

In Demigod, two non-player-character armies are deadlocked, struggling over a map with the goal of destorying the others base.
The two sides spawn an unlimited number of squads, that journey along the map, attempting to assault the others' base.
They always encounter each other en route, and are so evenly matched, that they generally kill eachother off completely.
Each of the two armies respawns squads of units at TIMED intervals.

The only thing that tips the balance of the armies, are the Demigods, heros. Powerful beings that can simply wipe away the petty squads, allowing THEIR squads to progress.

This obviously evolves where some of the heros focus on directly supporting the squads. Others focus on wiping out the squads. Still others focus simply on destroying other heros.

The heros are not immune to the enemy squads, however.
Ignore them, and you can easily be wittled down.



We need this in MWO.

Two NPC factions, spawning tanks, battlesuits, infantry, and aerospace, released in timed intervals. The mechs make the progress.

Crush the petty soldiers of the enemy, but avoid doing the same to your allies.
Kick a tank! But lose C-Bill earnings for doing the same to your friends! (and delay your next respawn time)

Support your team, but stay alive! An Atlas with limited gauss ammo is no proper match for a squad of small, swift moving battle armor or aerospace fighters. However, a Jagermech with lots of AC-2 ammo and a flamer wouldn't have a problem!

Focus your mech on supporting your squads! (lights with sensor gear allow squads to shoot farther, faster)
Focus your mech on killing enemy squads! (mediums, heavies)
Focus your mech on killing other mechs! (assaults)
Focus your mech on stopping the aerospace units! (AC-2's and AC-5's being useful?)
Focus your mech on being well rounded (*gasp!* a use for non-boated machine guns!?)

Limit the respawns to time intervals. Heavier 'mechs wait longer to respawn.

NPC reinforcements come in waves. Stretch yourself too thin, and get wiped out by the next wave. Progress solidly, slowly, and push the enemy back.



Of course it can't make the release. It's a lot of work. I'm sure AI packages already exist for the engine, but they would need tweaking, units need modeling, and balancing would be difficult.


However, it WOULD be a unique form of gameplay. I've don't recall seeing a first-person style of gameplay like this.

Pessimistically, I see the game struggling unless it brings something like this to the table.
The Dropship style of gameplay sounds too much like the generic FPS game modes.

[Gorondu]

I hope they don't make modes where the mechs respawn endlessly like you describe. It wouldn't feel right for me. Nevertheless having enemy NPCs (tanks, ground troops and planes) to fight against is a good thing. They shouldn't respawn too.

[Trevor De Valleta]

I think this is a good idea. I to think it would give the so called useless mechs and weapons a purpose . It would also give players PVE and PVP at the same time. Which could be a good compromise for the two factions .

BTW there is a third-person shooter that does have this kind of game play. http://en.wikipedia....ay_Night_Combat

Give it a read

[Biomatter]

Let me get this straight - you want to bring DotA to MWO? Thanks but no thanks, you're trying too hard to tack a game mode to the BattleTech universe. Sure, it can be done, but I don't see how it would work at all.

Also, I don't think this game will "struggle" without this mode. There are plenty of other games out there that do this, no need to try and be popular by joining the crowd (DotA 2, LoL, SMITE, HoN, etc). Nice try, though.

[Hador]

Zelus, on 10 July 2012 - 08:11 PM, said:

We need this in MWO.

Two NPC factions, spawning tanks, battlesuits, infantry, and aerospace, released in timed intervals. The mechs make the progress.

Imho, no, we don't need it.

[Zelus]

Gorondu, on 11 July 2012 - 03:19 AM, said:

I hope they don't make modes where the mechs respawn endlessly like you describe. It wouldn't feel right for me. Nevertheless having enemy NPCs (tanks, ground troops and planes) to fight against is a good thing. They shouldn't respawn too.

I can understand this sentiment, somewhat. Perhaps limit it to a number of 'mechs from your garage, or even better: whatever 'mechs you can bring within a certain weight limit (say, 200 tons?). Limiting the 'mechs you bring based on tonnage would encourage lighter 'mechs, as you could pack more into a give game.

The NPC units would have to respawn for the game type to be viable though. If the area wasn't constantly being reinforced by NPC units, it would simply be a matter of the players waiting for them to kill each other off. There would be no struggle over regions of the map. Gausszilla's wouldn't have to worry about being caught and picked apart by little, agile units.

Aren't mechs supposed to be heavily outnumbered by conventional units anyway?

Trevor De Valleta, on 11 July 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

I think this is a good idea. I to think it would give the so called useless mechs and weapons a purpose . It would also give players PVE and PVP at the same time. Which could be a good compromise for the two factions .

BTW there is a third-person shooter that does have this kind of game play. http://en.wikipedia....ay_Night_Combat

Give it a read

Thanks for that! I was unaware.

Biomatter, on 11 July 2012 - 12:31 PM, said:

Let me get this straight - you want to bring DotA to MWO? Thanks but no thanks, you're trying too hard to tack a game mode to the BattleTech universe. Sure, it can be done, but I don't see how it would work at all.

Also, I don't think this game will "struggle" without this mode. There are plenty of other games out there that do this, no need to try and be popular by joining the crowd (DotA 2, LoL, SMITE, HoN, etc). Nice try, though.

Bringing Battlefield to MWO is somehow more valid?

I think the cannon would lend itself to this style of gameplay, easily. The VAST majority of mechs (by volume) are supposed to be lights and mediums, because they are cheaper to lose, easier to manufacture, and extremely effective against the lesser and more common, conventional forces.

Instead, what I see is MWO trying to create a viable role for lights and mediums to play in the absence of conventional units. Machine guns and flamers aren't supposed to be anti-mech weapons. Why pretend they should be? Modules? Pilot skills? Sounds a lot an attempt to correct for the general imbalance of 'mech-on-'mech combat by adding RPG elements to the game. Who's trying too hard again?

If the gameplay is strictly 'mech-on-'mech, we're going to see what we always have: mechs designed to kill mechs. In cannon, this is what heavies and assaults are for, and this is what the game will be dominated by. The RPG elements may relieve the issue a bit, but it can easily be argued that this is shoehorned fix at best.

[Davoke]

I think this is a good idea, but that the vehicles should be picked randomly(i.e. there's 3 VTOL's, 3 tanks, 3 APC's, 3 squad types, etc.) and the game randomly selects out of those parameters a certain number of each type. That might work.

[Zelus]

Davoke, on 11 July 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

I think this is a good idea, but that the vehicles should be picked randomly(i.e. there's 3 VTOL's, 3 tanks, 3 APC's, 3 squad types, etc.) and the game randomly selects out of those parameters a certain number of each type. That might work.

That would be the general idea. Random, but generally evenly matched due to their volume. Enough NPC units that a single awesome squad wouldn't have a massive effect on the progression. 'Mechs would still be needed to make the serious progress.