17 replies to this topic

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

Since introduction of ESCORT mode (the one with the VIP A.I. ATLAS) absolutely nothing
of his behavior/a.i. has changed.With the introduction of the game mode i was sure there will
be made improvements constantly about the bot behavior.
But it seems that PGI considered the project as finished !SPOILER ALERT!
ITS NOT
To be honest, they stand at the very beginning of making ESCORT an
enjoyable gameplay experience.

Here are the goals that need achieved imho

1.) Working A.I. / bot with basic skills
- The V.I.P. bot shoud be able to pick his route depending on the actual gameplay situation.
He shoud avoid getting into big enemy groups, or at least change directions to enemy free
locations.Let him walk towards the objective but give him at least 4 directions
to choose from (left; upper left; right; upper right).

atm: pathetic train on railway behavior, going stubborn one route no matter what.
the whole enemy team is infront of him?
"NO PROBLEM! c(@_@) YOUR FRIENDLY CRASH TEST DUMMY GOT THIS!"

2.) Give him at least some weapons, even if they are no big damage dealers.
Everybody knows where the ATLAS has its headshot region.At least let him shoot
a 45° angle infront of him to avoid getting farmed easily.

Final suggestion:
In my opinion the ATLAS shoud be replaced/expanded with 4-8 vehicles (trucks?)
driving in an convoy, best woud be if they spit into 2 groups heading for different directions
if they get attacked.Give the vehicles 60 structure points for example (without ATLAS 100).
this way the attacking team has to do some more work to achieve victory and the defenders
have a better chance to defend the objective.Make a cbill reward depending on how many
Trucks reached the target area.
Woud be more logical anyway, thats how cargo gets moved.

[Beaching Betty]

ESCORT mode is just trash tbh..

[JediPanther]

Escort mode pays the best out of all the game modes and is the most fun...if you were the poor sob who had to make the bot walk a path for a temp job before pgi said your job is done and gtfo.

It needs weapons,even the joke micro lasers would be great and multiple paths. Once you know where the end point is you can easily just wait there and kill it. takes 2-3 mechs to alpha out its back at most. Truth: your wining the objective pays LESS than the cost of one c-bill uav.

[Kiiyor]

Yeah, the whole mode needs a rework, especially the VIP - which appears to be piloted by someone with the absolute bare minimum of mechwarrior training required to make the feet bits work, and that's about it.

I'm picturing some important dude with a monocle and top hat sitting behind the controls screaming "OH GOD WHY DIDN'T THEY SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE THE SHOOTING WORK" and mashing random buttons to no effect while his mech is blown to bits around him and his glass of sherry spills around the cockpit.

Give it weapons. An AC20, a couple of MLAS, and 3 SRM6, and give it the ability to twist it's torso - albeit slower than a normal Atlas. With such a short range loadout, it won't be an OP destroyer for the escorting team, but won't be a free kill for any enemy stupid enough to try and zerg it either.

[Khobai]

they could just give both teams a VIP atlas to defend

making it symmetrical would make it a lot more fair

and your team would have to decide how to split up for offense and defense

[Troa Barton]

I would be happier if they just removed the game mode.

[James Argent]

If people would stop trying to game their mode multiplier, we'd never have to have this discussion.

[El Bandito]

SHRedo, on 24 October 2017 - 05:51 PM, said:

Everybody knows where the ATLAS has its headshot region.At least let him shoot
a 45° angle infront of him to avoid getting farmed easily.

Except the cockipt has 300 HP, if I am not mistaken. Can't farm it by headshotting that easily.

[Vellron2005]

Yeah, Escort is a classic example of "PGI Minimal Viable Product TM" - they released it and stated it would undergo improvements.. and that was a blatant lie.

It never got any improvements, and there's a reason why I've seen countless "Escort 0%" votes..

Here's what MUST and could be done to improve escort and make it a viable game mode:

1) Better A.I. - make the VIP pick the route with the least enemies! Stop it if there are enemies in it's path! Make it call for backup if it's taking fire, and actively avoid fire!

2) If the VIP must be an Atlas, make it shoot back, torso twist, and protect vital components like the back or head.

3) Replace the Atlas with a random selection of: train of vehicles, each with it's own A.I. and path, a single big vehicle, a different mech chassis with variable speed and armaments which it uses to defend itself.

4) Variable V.I.P. damage - make the VIP atlas start with various degrees of light damage - would make it more immersive.

5) Don't start with the VIP - drop the mechs and tell them where on the map the VIP will be, don't start the VIP with the defenders. Hide starting info from attackers. Make the VIP move into the map from beyond the out of bounds area. Having it wait for 3 dropships of support to walk less that 3 kilometers kills any immersion and is ridiculous.

6) Escort for large maps only - Escort on Frozen City, or River city doesn't make sense, cose' no matter which path it takes, the VIP has to cross a huge wide open space, where it regularly gets sniped and taken out.

7) Prevent VIP rushes - right now, there's nothing stopping the attackers from simply rushing the VIP and ignoring the defenders completely.. I don't think 12 mechwarriors would gladly throw their lives away in a suicide run to kill some bozo.. Give the attackers something to loose if they do this..

8) VIP with various degrees of stealth - why not give it ECM on some drops, Stealth armor on others, and no stealth capability on some others?

There.

Hope you guys take some of these pointers and make Escort viable..

Edited by Vellron2005, 25 October 2017 - 02:11 AM.

[Zader39]

Troa Barton, on 24 October 2017 - 07:47 PM, said:

I would be happier if they just removed the game mode.

Or at least let us blacklist a couple of game modes in our options -- i.e. never join a match where it's escort or incursion to pick a completely random *cough* pair of game modes ... At least for QP. FW I guess you would get what you get.

It could be argued that if too many people blacklist the same game modes it could prevent these matches from ever forming ... but if that happens, it just highlights the fact that the majority enjoy the game modes in question. It's a game and meant to be fun.

I'll happily take a little added wait time for a match to popup if it means I don't have to play game modes I really don't enjoy.

[CFC Conky]

Back in the old MW2:Mercenaries days there was a contract where you had to guide some young prince through his first few battles. Those were fun missions; the vip would fight albeit poorly, but get better with time and there and the missions were challenging. I'd like to see something like that brought into the game.

Good hunting,
CFC Conky

[Rusharn]

I personally enjoy escort. It is the only game more that forces encounters. You can't just sit back on the defending team and snipe especially if the VIP is closing with the enemy, and if the defenders haven't seen the VIP and hear that he is approaching the pick up point, they have to push or lose. When attacking you also have to make a choice, attack the VIP and ignore the defenders, destroy the defenders then the VIP, or a little bit of both. Destroying / Saving the VIP should be worth more C-bills / XP to make the game mode more rewarding. And even if they adjusted the speed of the VIP based on the map. Slow on big maps to allow the attackers time to engage, faster on smaller maps were it is inevitable that the VIP will be walking through combat. Also show the path the VIP is going to take on the Mini map of the defenders so they can devise better tactics.

It seems that with a few changes Escort could be a more engaging and rewarding game mode.

[Revis Volek]

El Bandito, on 25 October 2017 - 12:25 AM, said:

Except the cockipt has 300 HP, if I am not mistaken. Can't farm it by headshotting that easily.

yea, no one is getting a head shot on the VIP.


He is more of a dmg pad at the end if you pay it right.

[mouser42]

somehow seems familiar / in qualche modo sembra familiare

[SCHLIMMER BESTIMMER XXX]

El Bandito, on 25 October 2017 - 12:25 AM, said:

Except the cockipt has 300 HP, if I am not mistaken. Can't farm it by headshotting that easily.

ah ok ^^ then stick to farm damage on the damage piniata the usual way

[Khobai]

heres how to make escort into a minimally viable gamemode:

1) rename escort to breakthrough, give each team a VIP so the gamemode is symmetrical for both teams, first team to kill the enemy VIP or have their VIP capture the enemy base wins (only VIPs would be able to capture and just like on assault an enemy mech in the base square would delay your VIP from capping). Both VIPs would start an equal distance from the enemy base so they arrive at the exact same moment and the VIPs would take different routes so they dont cross paths, forcing teams to split between offense and defense.

2) give the VIPs x2 arm-mounted large lasers so they can shoot while moving and at least somewhat defend themselves instead of being totally useless.

Edited by Khobai, 06 November 2017 - 01:43 PM.

[Tordin]

Khobai, on 24 October 2017 - 07:32 PM, said:

they could just give both teams a VIP atlas to defend

making it symmetrical would make it a lot more fair

and your team would have to decide how to split up for offense and defense

Yup. Make Escort symmetrical and Incursion asymmetrical. One base to defend, others attack it.

[davoodoo]

Khobai, on 24 October 2017 - 07:32 PM, said:

they could just give both teams a VIP atlas to defend

making it symmetrical would make it a lot more fair

and your team would have to decide how to split up for offense and defense

You know, one thing i like about escort, is it that it actually forces ppl to actually move from their positions and defend that mech.

But if you give it to both teams, then we again go with ****** mode that doesnt change up anything.

Edited by davoodoo, 06 November 2017 - 02:25 PM.