25 replies to this topic

[WrathOfDeadguy]

It's a bit of a let-down that bolt-ons can be knocked off so easily. If PGI could give them damage states at all, which they did, then it would have been trivial to just make them physics-less objects, which would neither block incoming fire (otherwise they'd be a clear case of PTW add-on armor) nor take damage until the total destruction of the component they're attached to... at which point the game runs a simple check on the component and sets any attached bolt-ons to their destroyed/removed state.


Most of them do look pretty dumb, yeah. Some of them, however, are not only lore-appropriate but also lore-supported, like a hatchet for the Yen-Lo-Wang (though the available hatchet could stand to look a little less cobbled-together) or shoulder fins for the Zeus (and, call me stupid, but I've now retrofitted all six of my Zeuses with fins, and I don't regret it for a moment). Things like that really add the little last bit of something special to a 'Mech.

On the whole, I'm glad they're there- even the silly ones. It's not as if MWO is particularly immersive at the best of times, and they're a degree of personalization that's nice to have on a favorite 'Mech or build you want people to know you by.

[C E Dwyer]

Mumuharra, on 16 July 2018 - 03:33 AM, said:

I heard this phrase often in context with MWO during the last time.
Can anyone explain me what this is/ will be?
Thanks

Bad things burn them with fire....

Something P.G.I cooked up, hoping people would buy them in great numbers, that makes your mech look stupid, and degrades the performance of low end PC's, because it has extra visuals to deal with.

[C E Dwyer]

Koniving, on 27 October 2018 - 12:56 PM, said:

This has made me want to use Zeus.

Thank you.
I didn't think there were any useful boltons and instead just generic crap.

That's useful enough, as that's a big characteristic of the Zeus's cooling system (even if it has no effect on gameplay).

Err Wrong Zeus

Zeus X series had the cooling fins, they didn't enter production until 3119.

The Zeus we have should be blemish free

[Koniving]

C E Dwyer, on 27 October 2018 - 03:15 PM, said:

Err Wrong Zeus

Zeus X series had the cooling fins, they didn't enter production until 3119.

The Zeus we have should be blemish free

Wrong Zeus; but still good enough.

[Dogstar]

Q: 'What are bolt-ons'

A: A complete and utter waste of developer time, unasked for, useless, ugly. In short an epic fail from a company renowned for failing to understand its customers

[Satan n stuff]

WrathOfDeadguy, on 27 October 2018 - 01:01 PM, said:

It's a bit of a let-down that bolt-ons can be knocked off so easily. If PGI could give them damage states at all, which they did, then it would have been trivial to just make them physics-less objects, which would neither block incoming fire (otherwise they'd be a clear case of PTW add-on armor) nor take damage until the total destruction of the component they're attached to... at which point the game runs a simple check on the component and sets any attached bolt-ons to their destroyed/removed state.


Most of them do look pretty dumb, yeah. Some of them, however, are not only lore-appropriate but also lore-supported, like a hatchet for the Yen-Lo-Wang (though the available hatchet could stand to look a little less cobbled-together) or shoulder fins for the Zeus (and, call me stupid, but I've now retrofitted all six of my Zeuses with fins, and I don't regret it for a moment). Things like that really add the little last bit of something special to a 'Mech.

On the whole, I'm glad they're there- even the silly ones. It's not as if MWO is particularly immersive at the best of times, and they're a degree of personalization that's nice to have on a favorite 'Mech or build you want people to know you by.

The whole point of them falling off when hit is that having them could make people think they're part of the mech's hitbox so they waste shots shooting at basically nothing. This rarely happens when any hit causes them to fall off because they're not on the mech long enough in actual combat to have any real effect.
The obvious alternative, having them not fall off and cause the mech to take damage when the bolt-on takes a hit, would be a very obvious negative gameplay effect meaning practically nobody would use them. The exact opposite of what you want for a cosmetic item.

Edited by Satan n stuff, 28 October 2018 - 03:00 PM.