8 replies to this topic

[Dirty Starfish]

I don't know if this is a setting or not but right now when you destroy a side torso or leg then the mech's exterior appearance does not seem to change. Was a system to update the 3d models as bits are destroyed ever considered by pgi? I think this would be pretty damn good for adding immersion to the game.

[Mcgral18]

Smoke, damage, limping (arms are physically missing)

Those are what we have now.

[Mawai]

Although it would look more "realistic" and quite cool ... there are a few problems with it.

1) The resource requirements for each mech would go up a lot since it would need a revised 3D model for each state of the mech with missing components ... arms, legs, torsos.

2) In practive, although a component may be "destroyed" this would not mean that it is necessarily actually gone ... it may simply be non-functional ... damaged to the point of uselessness but not fallen off the mech (this is perhaps more true for torsos than arms but each of the parts of the mech are many tons of very strong material ... structurally, it might take far more damage to actually remove a component than to effectively destroy it).

3) In GAMEPLAY terms (i.e. Battletech) damage to a "destroyed" component transfers inward. Thus, if you hit a destroyed side torso, the damage is actually applied to the center torso. If you actually remove the target component from the model when it is destroyed then you lose the damage transfer functionality ... basically, mechs get harder to hit as pieces are removed.

Overall, the idea would require far more complication than I think it is worth for a coolness appearance feature.

3)

[El Bandito]

There is also the matter of internal feedback.

It is kinda sad that destroyed components does not influence mech's movement and balance at all, except when getting legged or Clan ST-ed the mech will simply slow down. One would think losing an ST with its attached arm will significantly affect a mech's balance, and heavily tax the gyro, but nope. Same deal with cockpit damage potentially affecting the HUD.

One can only hope that such immersive features will be added at later date.

Edited by El Bandito, 10 April 2016 - 09:45 AM.

[TexAce]

In fact I know there are destroyed mech parts in the game assets. Nor for everything but for example there are destroyed looking mech parts for the King Crab (claws). The parts are deformed and dislocated.

[C E Dwyer]

I believe cracked cockpit glass and smoke was mentioned once, but as everyone turns off cockpit glass for a better view, doesn't seem much point.

Don't give up hope though as fluff is a big favourite of P.G.I's to simulate game improving events, everyone wanted cockpit glass to make the game more immersive, so it was added and people didn't like it being green, didn't like it being there, and in the end P.G.I added a feature so that it doesn't get used unless you really want to play with a big disadvantage.

[Dirty Starfish]

Cathy, on 10 April 2016 - 09:47 AM, said:

I believe cracked cockpit glass and smoke was mentioned once, but as everyone turns off cockpit glass for a better view, doesn't seem much point.

Don't give up hope though as fluff is a big favourite of P.G.I's to simulate game improving events, everyone wanted cockpit glass to make the game more immersive, so it was added and people didn't like it being green, didn't like it being there, and in the end P.G.I added a feature so that it doesn't get used unless you really want to play with a big disadvantage.

I love the cockpit glass

I really wish it'd crack with headshots or something. It's the little things that make a game not just good, but great.

[Volthorne]

El Bandito, on 10 April 2016 - 09:41 AM, said:

Same deal with cockpit damage potentially affecting the HUD.

One can only hope that such immersive features will be added at later date.

Considering that the HUD is tied to the player camera, as it is supposed to be representative of the neuro-helmet that you, as the pilot, wear, making the HUD be effected by taking cockpit damage is both nonsensical and unnecessary.

If you want an example of the HUD having different levels of "damage-state", go look at some gameplay from Elite: Safety space, where the HUD is tied to your ship and thus degrades as your ship takes more and more damage - or even mostly disappears if your cockpit window blows out (note that this does not instantly kill you, but instead puts you on a time-to-death countdown), rendering flying damn near impossible.

[Percimes]

One simple visual feedback in the cockpit could be to turn some of the monitors to the good old "NO SIGNAL" when internals were destroyed.