Edit: Cleaning up all the code tags now, sorry. Did direct copy/pastes from sarna.
Some lore stuff from Sarna on JJs (shut up about the TT/game thing, I know this isn't TT ffs, you people have no imaginations on conversions and translations between systems)
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"By harnessing the power of a 'Mech's fusion engine to superheat air or another suitable fluid, Jump Jets allow a BattleMech to briefly overcome gravity and rocket short distances over the battlefield."
Generally, this is a jump jet, uses power from the engine to make 'rocket boots', woohoo!
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"Because of the heat produced by jump jet activation and limited on-board fuel, jump jets can only maintain thrust for a few seconds."
A FEW SECONDS - The average mech shouldn't be jetting around on their fuel for so long, lights make ridiculous extended thrust jumps. This ties into the thrust, which should be producing a lot more than we get now. The term 'Highlander Burial' exists for a reason as well as Death From Above (granted this latter term doesn't exactly work in MWO and would be horribly abused) because mechs COULD jump fairly high distances, not just lights.
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"Care must be taken when jumping, however, as jumping causes heat buildup with even the shortest jump generating more heat than running, and damage to a 'Mech's gyro or leg actuators and joints can cause a 'Mech to fumble upon landing."
Something we already have actually, the damage mechanic. However, the heat...JJs are a mobility tool, and they generated a LOT of heat. Lower burn time for higher thrust and more heat generated seems to be the way JJs should be from reading about them.
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"Jumping makes a 'Mech harder to hit, but the accuracy of weapons fitted to the jumping 'Mech is also adversely affected."
Pretty much - JJ reticule shake. However I think to prevent the poptarts a different system needs to be added. The JJ shake already covers one aspect of it, but a screen shake tied to the velocity of your mech while its in the air should be included as well. If you're moving quickly up or down, the reticule shake should also take effect, this would give poptarts a place, albeit small, a split second timing, and at the risk of injuring their legs. (more on this hold on)
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"The mass of the jump jets is proportionate to the mass of the 'Mech they are installed on, owing to the increased power needed to move a more massive object and the maximum number of jump jets that a 'Mech can carry, and thus its maximum jump distance, is limited by the motive power provided by the 'Mech's engine.
Bigger mechs have heavier JJs for a reason, let's not downplay this stupidity of the horrible jets that were given to Heavies/Assaults. Granted, variables such as number, and the power of the engine were also part of it. Seeing as MWO uses the hotswap system and you can vary your engine quite a bit, I think its reasonable to leave this one out and concentrate on the thrust/JJ ratio. More JJs = more thrust, so no an Assault shouldn't have 'lift off' with a single JJ, but it also should take twice the amount of time JJs are even supposed to be active with max JJs to just barely reach the height of a heavy mech.
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Summary:
-JJs should be short, quick thrusts with less 'fuel' than we have now, only lasting a few seconds on average. An increased number of JJs should not increase fuel, nor should fewer decrease fuel. JJs counteract the added capacity by being used by the additional thrust of the JJ. Ex: 1 JJ = 1 Fuel, 3 JJs = 3 Fuel, 1/1 ratio maintained thus no 'additional' fuel is technically present.
-Aerial speed should affect reticule shake at higher speeds too, not just JJ usage in order to combat the effectiveness of poptarts. They still happen anyway PGI, accept it and just fix the PPFLD stuff instead. Oh hey, this one actually works towards minimizing that with poptarts too.
-Heat generation should be fairly significant as it will generate in a shorter amount of time. Less overall thrust time + more heat = burst of heat with time to cool off. Compared to the current slow heat generation throughout the entirety of the horribly long burn on JJs.
-JJ weight classes are meant to compensate for the mech's tonnage. While Lights should still jump higher/farther than lights, Heavies/Assaults should not be reduced to hoverjets and only have them for the most menial feature of unsticking from ankle level rocks. At full JJs an assault should still be reaching the height of another mech within 1.5-2 seconds or so.
-Less fuel means more conservation of the 'limited' (remember, less JJ fuel but better thrust!) fuel to cushion landing (easier to do with less fuel because better thrust) to prevent the leg damage.
-Lastly I'd like to input my own comment here: Momentum - A mech standing still should be reaching its full height potential, a small bit of forward movement allowing it to jump high and still reach that ledge in front of it. Running at full speed should be reducing the vertical ability and adding horizontal momentum to the jump however. A mech going 120kph and JJing shouldn't be reaching the same vertical height that the same mech standing still would. Our current system sort of works like this now but with the long lasting burn times JJs having its less of an arc and more of a straight line with a short arc at the very end.
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Just a bit about the whole Omni/JJ thing people like to ***** about. I support the locked JJs and so does the lore. The JJs themselves never worked like the weapons did on Omni mechs. Specifically talking about the JJs here though, not the other equipment.
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Like all fixed equipment, any jump jets hard-mounted to an OmniMech's base configuration cannot be removed, though they can be supplemented by pod mounted jump jets.
Edited by MauttyKoray, 19 December 2015 - 02:47 PM.