20 replies to this topic

[Tyler Valentine]

When a 'mech with quirked internals gets to cherry red on the paper doll it seems like it can mean "one more hit" or "just 10 LPL to go!".

Is it difficult to code it so the paper doll displays accurately on 'mechs with huge structure buffs?

I want to make sure I'm not imagining this before I dust off the ole Twitter account...

[FupDup]

You mean to ask for the HTAL health bars from older MW games, right?

[Tyler Valentine]

FupDup, on 02 February 2016 - 09:43 AM, said:

You mean to ask for the HTAL health bars from older MW games, right?

Been asking for my MW2 bars since I signed up but, either way, I'd prefer if the information was accurate.

Edited by Tyler Valentine, 02 February 2016 - 09:46 AM.

[Mechteric]

FupDup, on 02 February 2016 - 09:43 AM, said:

You mean to ask for the HTAL health bars from older MW games, right?

Yes, so many times YES!

[Mister Blastman]

Maybe PGI has a betting parlour in their offices--you know the kind, the rigged ones. And they take bets on select drops. When it gets down to the wire, someone presses the "button" and suddenly that cherry red 'mech is bestowed "sparkle health."

Yeah.

That's what is going on.

[Josef Koba]

I did have a bit of a rude awakening to the structure buffs the last time I played. I initially thought they were so lame, and while I'm still on the fence as to whether or not structure buffs increasing TTK at the expense of any firepower to help the team is a good thing, it definitely makes some mechs a bit more rugged. I'd prefer armor, obviously, but I'm slowly coming around to the structure buff thing.

I was on Crimson in my Atlas (AC20, 2LPL, other stuff I can't remember) and there was this something or other (can't remember) that had a cherry red CT. Any other time, he'd pop via a stiff breeze. This time he did not. Maybe it was hit registration, but I put four (admittedly poorly aimed) LPL shots into him and he didn't die. I have been conditioned to move to the next target, and I almost did before I saw that old hoss was still standing. Impressive. Wish I could remember what the OPFOR was piloting for added credibility.

[Tyler Valentine]

Josef Koba, on 02 February 2016 - 10:21 AM, said:

I did have a bit of a rude awakening to the structure buffs the last time I played. I initially thought they were so lame, and while I'm still on the fence as to whether or not structure buffs increasing TTK at the expense of any firepower to help the team is a good thing, it definitely makes some mechs a bit more rugged. I'd prefer armor, obviously, but I'm slowly coming around to the structure buff thing.

I was on Crimson in my Atlas (AC20, 2LPL, other stuff I can't remember) and there was this something or other (can't remember) that had a cherry red CT. Any other time, he'd pop via a stiff breeze. This time he did not. Maybe it was hit registration, but I put four (admittedly poorly aimed) LPL shots into him and he didn't die. I have been conditioned to move to the next target, and I almost did before I saw that old hoss was still standing. Impressive. Wish I could remember what the OPFOR was piloting for added credibility.

Yeah, i'm not complaining or anything, just noticed that if you have a bunch of extra structure the paper doll displays like you don't then just stays at red until the 'quirk structure' is used up and the component pops. seems lazy and I was wondering if anyone else noticed before I tweeted Russ. The other responses were less than helpful lol!

[Oderint dum Metuant]

The fact HTAL is not in the game by now is criminal

[Silas7]

Tyler Valentine, on 02 February 2016 - 10:30 AM, said:

Yeah, i'm not complaining or anything, just noticed that if you have a bunch of extra structure the paper doll displays like you don't then just stays at red until the 'quirk structure' is used up and the component pops.

If the game 'used' quirk structure first before going into regular structure this would help with paper doll accuracy or player perception of paper doll accuracy. Now that i think about it it might already do that, just the color threshold might need to be adjusted so your crimson is the same as other mechs just with a longer yellow/orange lifespan.

Edited by Silas7, 02 February 2016 - 11:06 AM.

[Almond Brown]

Anyone with a notion to how it could be done, what if after your section loses its armor and is at </= 40% a digital % value is displayed inside the section. That value then counts down as damage is taken? So first is +/-40 to 25 to 10 to 3 to gone... Even if they only started with CT/RT/LT as they are the "critical" section numbers to have for an impending CT death and or XL Engine based (I.S.) RT/LT lose.

Or an HTAL on a button would work too. lol

Edited by Almond Brown, 02 February 2016 - 11:36 AM.

[Bobzilla]

it could just be number based so it's a standard across all mechs. Like red 10 orange 20. It would take an atlas ct forever to turn red vs a lolcust, but when both are red they will both die to the same dmg.

[Zoid]

FupDup, on 02 February 2016 - 09:43 AM, said:

You mean to ask for the HTAL health bars from older MW games, right?

As a colorblind person, I support this. I can't even tell the difference between "no armor" and "almost dead".

[himself]

This is a similar issue we had in World of Tanks.

The game would let you choose between Tank Health in percentages and actual points, but came with percentages by default.

This led to a lot of people not understanding why they could kill a light tank at 20% health with one shot, but not a heavy tank, which had 2 to 3 times the amount of health of the light tank.

I would also prefer a health bar.

I was too lazy to model the arms/legs, but this would work without adding to the hud, I think.

Edited by himself, 02 February 2016 - 12:43 PM.

[FupDup]

himself, on 02 February 2016 - 12:42 PM, said:

This is a similar issue we had in World of Tanks.

The game would let you choose between Tank Health in percentages and actual points, but came with percentages by default.

This led to a lot of people not understanding why they could kill a light tank at 20% health with one shot, but not a heavy tank, which had 2 to 3 times the amount of health of the light tank.

I would also prefer a health bar.

I was too lazy to model the arms/legs, but this would work without adding to the hud, I think.

Ooooh, a hybrid approach. Seems easier for Pea Gee Eye, so that makes it 23% more likely to be added in!

[Tyler Valentine]

FupDup, on 02 February 2016 - 12:45 PM, said:

Ooooh, a hybrid approach. Seems easier for Pea Gee Eye, so that makes it 23% more likely to be added in!

HA! Easier means 437% more likely... but that still leaves us at a 4.1% chance of it actually being added.

[Queen of England]

That HTAL/paperdoll hybrid looks nice. That might even be a little easier to interpret quickly than HTAL is.

[Kaeb Odellas]

Am I the only one who doesn't want HTAL bars? I like the current paperdoll's ambiguity. How would a mech know exactly how much more damage it can take in a particular component before it breaks?

[FupDup]

Kaeb Odellas, on 02 February 2016 - 07:20 PM, said:

Am I the only one who doesn't want HTAL bars? I like the current paperdoll's ambiguity. How would a mech know exactly how much more damage it can take in a particular component before it breaks?

Probably in the same way that it can use multiple colors (green/yellow/orange/red) to give a general idea of how much "health" it has remaining.

[Kaeb Odellas]

FupDup, on 02 February 2016 - 07:23 PM, said:

Probably in the same way that it can use multiple colors (green/yellow/orange/red) to give a general idea of how much "health" it has remaining.

But the colors are a less specific in the information it gives you than a health bar would be. "I can't take much more punishment" is more interesting gameplay-wise than "I can survive exactly one more PPC impact". If anything, I'd like the color coding to be even less granular. Fewer color graduations.

[Choppah]

Kaeb Odellas, on 02 February 2016 - 07:30 PM, said:

But the colors are a less specific in the information it gives you than a health bar would be. "I can't take much more punishment" is more interesting gameplay-wise than "I can survive exactly one more PPC impact". If anything, I'd like the color coding to be even less granular. Fewer color graduations.

Its not so much people wanting exact measurements to inform their play-style as is it is color blind people want a better option that doesn't rely on shifting of shades of colors they can't even see, therefore playing at a disadvantage already. I am not color blind and I still want HTAL or that sweet hybrid like in pic above just because sometimes my eyes and glasses combo have difficulty discerning the thin lines stating what component has armor (like when a component lost exactly all its armor and the IS is still grey, oooh I hate that, gets me everytime). HTAL can be made percentage based so it would be equivalent to what we have now. Perhaps some additional detail if a component has less than 10 (?) HP left, like a C next it on the paper doll/HTAL bar for "Critically Damaged".