53 replies to this topic

[MATRAKA14]

In my opinion timberwolves are one of the worst interpretations of a battletech mech in this game. mad dogs are not perfect but they kept way better the aesthetics of the mech. timberwolves have 3 main problems:

• Square arms instead of the cilindric ones.
  
• Absolutely flat back with flat arms,
  
• Multiple launchers destroying the 2 ear classic look.

The cilindric arms already exist. It could be a perfect excuse to introduce the hero timber, or the visual customization pgi was thinking about time ago.




Also the timber wolves are the most iconic mechs of battletech and for better or worst a selling point of the game.




https://gfycat.com/O...eWealthyGuanaco (360 view its awesome!)
http://mwomercs.com/...ch-proportions/

Spoiler

Edited by MATRAKA14, 28 February 2016 - 04:29 AM.

[Hit the Deck]

MATRAKA14, on 27 February 2016 - 04:07 PM, said:

...absolutely flat back ....

That's what I dislike the most.

[Tarogato]

The flat back really gets me. So so so lazy, PGI. I know you were rushed to get Wave 1 out the door in time, but holy cow.

[NeoGenesis For Answer]

Glad to hear that Im not the only one that despised the flat back, I like throwing on the missile mounts for pure aesthetics. If my mechs don't look cool, I can't play the game.

Giving the TBR a V shaped torso would be pretty cool too, she's a little tubby around the waste. All things considered its still a sexy af mech.

Edited by NeoGenesis For Answer, 27 February 2016 - 05:09 PM.

[Chimera_]

I can live with the blocky arms, but I do think the flat back and additional missile racks (the 2 around the mid section) look terrible.

The side view on it is very awkward looking, as it just ends. Looks like someone accidentally chopped off the back and left a clean flat surface instead.

The extra missile mounts are what keeps me from running a lot of builds I'm interested in. (asym w/ 2 missiles on one side, quad srms, etc)

[Alistair Winter]

That's a nice edit. I really would have liked to see a bigger difference in mech design between Clans and inner Sphere. The retro look of those Hellbringer arms (which should have been used for the Timber Wolf) would go some way in remedying that.

However... I have come to realize most MWO players don't care too much about this stuff. There's a lot of talk about nostalgia and the iconic Timber Wolf, but 90% of MWO players rip those LRMs off the first chance they get. If they had the option to physically remove the arms to save weight, and just mount 6 lasers in the torso, they would do it in a heartbeat. Anything to win the game.

It's a characteristic of some sci-fi / fantasy fans I'll never understand. On the one hand, they'll demand that the next Star Wars game should be faithful to the Star Wars aesthetic, and they'll demand hyper realistic graphics and they'll complain if the vehicles don't look exactly like they do in the movies, and they'll talk about light saber hilts and what kind of variants should be included....
... but when they finally get to play the game, they'll play a Sith lord wearing a chicken costume, called DarthBoobies69 and use the disco dance emote after every kill.

[Triordinant]

[Hillslam]

I agree they got the height vs width ratio bad on the Timber.

But its not remotely the most serious visual offender - the sheer ****** of the Jager, Catapult, Victor, Centurion, and others thanks to "weapons pass" far outsuck the ugly inflicted on the Madcat.

(also I would argue the madcat wasn't the most iconic mech of battletech by a long shot - maybe for the younger crowd who came in halfway thru)

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

my only complaints with it, is that if you remove missiles, it completely removes the missile pods. which destroy's the iconic look.

I can understand the complaint over the "Additional launchers" but it still keeps the basic shape of the Timberwolf.

At the end of the day, a lot of the "old style" art, is going away, PGI's redesigns, are the new gold standard that even Classic Battletech is moving towards.

[ScarecrowES]

I'm all for the rounded upper arms. The lower "kidney" boxes are there on the back purely to support the jump jets. I'm sure there's a better way this could be done, but I'm genuinely not sure how. I'm not sure I like narrowing the model in general, as it ovals out the cockpit and I'm not sure it looks right. I do like how it narrows the shoulders though. I DO like the more traditional thinner legs in the upper example pic. And yeah, the second missile racks in the torso have always looked dumb. With LRMs you might need a bigger missile rack, but for smaller LRMs and all SRMs, you could get away with something cut closer to the body. No goofy semi-rounded and oversized boxes like we have now.

Edited by ScarecrowES, 27 February 2016 - 08:54 PM.

[Navid A1]

CMDR Sunset Shimmer, on 27 February 2016 - 08:38 PM, said:

my only complaints with it, is that if you remove missiles, it completely removes the missile pods. which destroy's the iconic look.

I can understand the complaint over the "Additional launchers" but it still keeps the basic shape of the Timberwolf.

At the end of the day, a lot of the "old style" art, is going away, PGI's redesigns, are the new gold standard that even Classic Battletech is moving towards.

^^ this


If they HAD to do auxiliary missile boxes, at least they could do it in a classy way:

Edited by Navid A1, 28 February 2016 - 12:24 AM.

[ScarecrowES]

Navid A1, on 27 February 2016 - 09:55 PM, said:

snip

I'm in favor of the SRM6 modification (though I'd keep the main shoulder boxes smaller as they are now). This solution also works for LRM5s. For the larger missile racks through, we may not have a choice but to have the goofy second boxes due to the requirement to keep the side torso hitboxes distinct from the center or arms.

[Sigilum Sanctum]

I can't say I agree

Navid A1, on 27 February 2016 - 09:55 PM, said:

^^ this


If they HAD to do auxiliary missile boxes, at least they could do it in a classy way:

Spoiler

I can't say I agree with the second set, making the "ear" SRM6 bigger just to fulfill the look. Mostly because I can't stand the wasted space in the launcher. Same issue with the SRM6 in the catapult ear. Looks ******* ridiculous.

[Navid A1]

Sigilum Sanctum, on 27 February 2016 - 11:38 PM, said:

I can't say I agree
I can't say I agree with the second set, making the "ear" SRM6 bigger just to fulfill the look. Mostly because I can't stand the wasted space in the launcher. Same issue with the SRM6 in the catapult ear. Looks ******* ridiculous.

So you are in favor of getting superior hitboxes with equipping a superior weapon system (SRMs v LRMs)?

SRMs are vastly superior to LRMs. The situation right now is that you are punished for keeping the classic look and rewarded for ruining it.

Also, the SRM 6 box will still smaller than an LRM 10 launcher. But not just a small row on top of the shoulders

Edited by Navid A1, 28 February 2016 - 12:28 AM.

[Cyborne Elemental]

All the missle racks need to be redone completely, for both LRM and SRM.

Especially for the secondary lower torso racks, they're the ugliest part of the Timber.

Something that wraps around the shape of the Torso would be better suited, take those Fugly boxes away.
Same for the Battlemaster missle racks, they're horrible.

[Y E O N N E]

If you have to look closely to see the difference, it's not enough of one to matter.

Also, the cylindrical arms are one of the most aesthetically displeasing elements of Clan 'Mech design, the other being those screwball legs where the lower portion is attached on the outside of the upper portion. Yes, l want to dangle my heavy weapons pods at the end of a wispy little twig. Seems legit.

[ScarecrowES]

Yeonne Greene, on 28 February 2016 - 12:25 AM, said:

If you have to look closely to see the difference, it's not enough of one to matter.

Also, the cylindrical arms are one of the most aesthetically displeasing elements of Clan 'Mech design, the other being those screwball legs where the lower portion is attached on the outside of the upper portion. Yes, l want to dangle my heavy weapons pods at the end of a wispy little twig. Seems legit.

I actually like the semi-cylindrical geo from the Hellbringer. I wish they had used that as the base design. It looks by far the best, and makes the most sense as a load-transfer member than the normal arm design. We don't have to go with "thin and wispy."

But I'd disagree vehemently about the legs. The classic scissor design looks best... or perhaps the version posted in the OP which is kind of a hybrid design. It just looks straight up better, with a narrower attachment at the hips that retains the wider stance at the feet. This would looks even better on the Mad Dog.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

Navid A1, on 27 February 2016 - 09:55 PM, said:

^^ this


If they HAD to do auxiliary missile boxes, at least they could do it in a classy way:

I like it.

[MATRAKA14]

I just see this as a perfect excuse to implement visual customization.

The biggest problem is the back indeed, the flat back, the flat arms, the flat launchers and the small spurs. all that joins together for an incredible flat feeling, almost it seems like 3d printed. Loock at the 360º of the first post, its perfect.

best solution for the arms could be a single dynamic ear per side, if you put one lrm 20 it gets to one size, if you put two lrm 20 it gets bigger, if you put 2 srm 6 it gets smaller than the single lrm20 one.

Circle arms could be an improvement to the flat back and they are already done!

[Aiden Skye]

MDD feel would look pretty nice on the TBR, as well as hellbringer arms. Quad missile setups on the TBR are a visual abomination. No missiles at all on the TBR is a visual abomination. Some great suggestions in this thread.