55 replies to this topic

[Lepestok]

Hello. I recently watched a video where mech's explode after death. I believe that if you enter the probability of such an explosion on the main servers, this will increase the number of interesting and memorable moments. The probability of an explosion should be small - 0.5-1%. The explosion should cause some damage in a certain radius.

Explanation: when mech is destroyed, the protection of the reactor does not always work and there is the possibility of an explosion.

Mechs exploded in Mechwarrior 4, why not do it in the MWO?

Sorry for my english, I used a Google translator.

Watch from 2nd minute

Edited by Lepestok, 27 August 2017 - 07:48 AM.

[Gagis]

Nah. Engines don't even explode like that in the tabletop game.

[Appogee]

Mechs have fusion engines. So they shouldn't Stackpole at all; they should just fizzle out.

Having said that, I did enjoy the way they Stackpoled in MW:LL. It made for an interesting dynamic when you saw a Mech going critical, and needed to get the hell away from it.

That clip you showed was the devs using a Longtom explosion for their own amusement. Apparently they find their own game too boring to play in the form they provide it to the rest of us. (See also last Twitch stream.)

Edited by Appogee, 27 August 2017 - 07:57 AM.

[Lepestok]

Meсhwarrior is a board game? No. This is a computer game, so the rules can be different.

Edited by Lepestok, 27 August 2017 - 07:59 AM.

[JC Daxion]

I just to love the animiations in mech commander,,

I'm going critical... EJECTING!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH (little skull shows up on the screen over the pilot) and a big secondary explosion..

YIPPY! Would that be called friendly fire?

[Krizalius]

MWO is not a tabletop game

This idea is good.

[FunkyT]

I don't think this idea would really contribute to the overall enjoyment of the game. Pretty much the opposite: It could create very rare, but very frustrating win-more or instant loss situations over which nobody in the game would have any control at all.

Just imagine the assault lance hanging back together (as is often the case), and a few lights ambushing them. They manage to take out one of the assaults, he'd randomly blow up and heavily damage or even destroy his bystanding friendlies. In that case, the light mechs would have just destroyed the entire assault lance, just by rolling the dice and hitting this very low chance.
This may make for a fun highlight reel for the light mechs witnessing the fireworks, but it would have been everything but enjoyable for the blown up assault mechs. They just immediatly died by the roll of the dice.

Plus, from a scientific standpoint, I'm pretty sure a real fusion reactor would simply stop working if heavily damaged and not blow up. Of course I don't know the details about these fictional engines in BT/MW, but I don't think they would argue against the laws of physics to make something like this.

The crit mechanic is already random enough and causing a fair amount of frustration at times, especially together with ammo explosions.

So I personally don't think destroyed mechs should blow up like bombs.

Edited by FunkyT, 27 August 2017 - 08:17 AM.

[Dimento Graven]

I could swear there was a TT mechanic for fusion engine explosions, where a certain number of hexes out took damage, maximizing in like 3 hexes out from the 'mech that had the critical failure.

I'll see if I can't find it...

If it exists in TT then there's no lore reason why it shouldn't exist in this game, PLUS, I agree with what some others have posted, it'd be an interesting dynamic to add to the game kind of a triple arti strike type level of damage and spread centered around the 'mech.

I like the idea!

[Trollfeed]

Dimento Graven, on 27 August 2017 - 08:23 AM, said:

I could swear there was a TT mechanic for fusion engine explosions, where a certain number of hexes out took damage, maximizing in like 3 hexes out from the 'mech that had the critical failure.

I'll see if I can't find it...

If it exists in TT then there's no lore reason why it shouldn't exist in this game, PLUS, I agree with what some others have posted, it'd be an interesting dynamic to add to the game kind of a triple arti strike type level of damage and spread centered around the 'mech.

I like the idea!

Yes, there are rules for engine explosions in TT. Can't remember the exact rules for them but at least you needed to take more than 1 engine hit on same turn your mech was destroyed and then you'll get to roll for it. The odds are pretty miniscule but those explosions do happen now and then.

Engine rating determined the damage of the explosion if I remember right.

Edited by Trollfeed, 27 August 2017 - 08:52 AM.

[Rovertoo]

I think this would be a pretty cool idea! Maybe make it something predictable though, because while a 1% chance is a good frequency, being random does potentially take control of the outcome away from the players. Maybe it can be tied to something rare, like if a CT engine death occurs while the mechs heat is above 150% (so override is on and the mech is like half a second away from melting itself anyway)

[Toothless]

Titanfall called...

[JediPanther]

Making mechs into randomly triggered long toms would suck. Some idiot would rambo into the enemy team just hoping to be a suicide bomber. Long tom was bad enough and abused in fw. It doesn't need to be in qp randomly. Op might not have seen the long tom suicide squad video.

[Magnus Santini]

Seems like there could be an explosion even if it is not an uncontrolled fusion chain reaction. It would be a nice chance for a cool visual effect, it doesn't have to damage other mechs. Also, if the mechs do not explode, they should become cover.

[darqsyde]

I was in the "NOPE" category, but decided to double check Sarna and...

"Fusion engines usually will only shut down if damaged or if heat is uncontrolled. Unlike popular belief, there is absolutely no risk of a fusion engine accidentally becoming a nuclear weapon. There have been a number of cases of fusion engines being "over revved" and exploding with devastating force, but this is more akin to a boiler explosion than a true nuclear explosion. More often a destroyed engine will be punctured by weapons fire. Because the plasma is held in a vacuum chamber (to isolate the superheated plasma from the cold walls of the reactor; contact with the walls would super-chill the plasma below fusion temperatures), a punctured reactor can suck in air where the air is superheated. Normal thermal expansion of the air causes the air to burst out in a brilliant lightshow often mistaken for a "nuclear explosion". This thermal expansion damages anything within 90 meters of the destroyed 'Mech."

...so...maybe yes...

Edited by darqsyde, 27 August 2017 - 09:48 AM.

[Roughneck45]

Kamikaze light mechs, no thanks.

[Dimento Graven]

Roughneck45, on 27 August 2017 - 09:52 AM, said:

Kamikaze light mechs, no thanks.

With a low probability, a 1 in 100 chance, PLEASE LET THEM kamikaze.

I'll laugh my *** off the 99 other times they fail at it...

[HammerMaster]

Known as "Stackpoling". Answer: No. Why? Safety measures shuts down chance of happening. You can manually suicide or if you over ride shutdown I believe there is a dice roll at high heat.

[Roughneck45]

Dimento Graven, on 27 August 2017 - 09:56 AM, said:

With a low probability, a 1 in 100 chance, PLEASE LET THEM kamikaze.

Right, so lets take the time to design something that could have a significant impact on the game that nearly never happens. Great use of resources.

I'd settle for a cooler explosion when mechs died, not aoe damage.

Edited by Roughneck45, 27 August 2017 - 10:01 AM.

[Dimento Graven]

HammerMaster, on 27 August 2017 - 09:59 AM, said:

Known as "Stackpoling". Answer: No. Why? Safety measures shuts down chance of happening. You can manually suicide or if you over ride shutdown I believe there is a dice roll at high heat.

I hear what you're saying and agree that avoiding 'Stackpoling' should be kept in mind, however, there's actual TT lore for it, and it'd just be kinda cool.

It's not like 'safety measures' are always going to be 100% effective, the instantaneous dissipation of super heated plasma, and all that thermal energy is just as not realistic as the fusion engine itself.

Roughneck45, on 27 August 2017 - 10:01 AM, said:

Right, so lets take the time to design something that could have a significant impact on the game that nearly never happens. Great use of resources.

I'd settle for a cooler explosion when mechs died, not aoe damage.

Both... A cool graphic for the explosion AND AOE damage.

I like the idea just due to all the idiotic low risk face tanking and leg humping that goes on in this game.

[Roughneck45]

Dimento Graven, on 27 August 2017 - 10:05 AM, said:

I like the idea just due to all the idiotic low risk face tanking and leg humping that goes on in this game.

Its not low risk though, its very high risk, dependent on your aim I suppose.

Edited by Roughneck45, 27 August 2017 - 10:13 AM.