184 replies to this topic

[The Image]

Sjorpha, on 03 January 2019 - 06:59 AM, said:

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The concept to strive for is that IS and Clan tech should be different in flavor and mechanics, but equally strong ton for ton.

The inertia of many years of failure will make this hard to achieve.

Much effort would be required to resolve it which means it's unlikely to happen, especially if it requires more than simple XML edits, which clearly this particular problem does.

[Sjorpha]

The Image, on 03 January 2019 - 07:04 AM, said:

The inertia of many years of failure will make this hard to achieve.

Much effort would be required to resolve it which means it's unlikely to happen, especially if it requires more than simple XML edits, which clearly this particular problem does.

Xml edits should be enough given that all the stats for weapons and equipment are xml values. Changing penalties on lfe is an Xml edit, changing isxl to survive a ST loss or weigh less is an Xml edit. Increasing is dhs dissipation to account for the extra slot would be an Xml edit. Buffing is bap and ecm radius to compensate for the extra slot and 0,5 ton of weight would, again, be an Xml edit. And so on. This idea that's its so hard because reasons is just nonsense. All values and mechanics in the game were put there to begin with, and they can all be changed.

It's not difficult, the only real barrier is that decision needs to be made and followed through.

That is a very real barrier though. PGI decided to make clan tech much stronger than IS tech, and they seem committed to keeping it that way even though they won't own up to it publicly. They also seem to have support from a significant portion of the players, enough that they ca justify not fixing the tech balance.

Edited by Sjorpha, 03 January 2019 - 07:42 AM.

[Tarl Cabot]

Quote

Yes, and what is still missing is a reason to pick ISXL over cXL.

There is mixed tech now? Picking isxl over cxl is the decision to pick piloting a IS mech over Clan mech. Regardless of the base, non-lethal penalty percentages, isXL would still need to be changed to survive the loss of that 1st ST.

[Sjorpha]

Tarl Cabot, on 03 January 2019 - 07:42 AM, said:

There is mixed tech now? Picking isxl over cxl is the decision to pick piloting a IS mech over Clan mech. Regardless of the base, non-lethal penalty percentages, isXL would still need to be changed to survive the loss of that 1st ST.

Or it could have some other significant advantage, such as weighing less or coming with built in agility buffs or something. Theses two engines could be balanced without resorting to making them more similar, there are many ways to do it, but they can't be balanced if cxl is kept strictly better because reasons, that is the holy cow that must be slain to make any progress on proper balance.

Mixtech is a thought experiment you have to make to test balance between analog pieces of is and clan tech, worth noting is that there are many cases where this experiment returns positive. For example choosing between clan and is ac10 wouldn't be so easy as it is pinpoint VS lower weight and there would be strong cases for each, and that is what should be true for engines and all other things too.

Edited by Sjorpha, 03 January 2019 - 03:11 PM.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Sjorpha, on 03 January 2019 - 07:37 AM, said:

Xml edits should be enough given that all the stats for weapons and equipment are xml values. Changing penalties on lfe is an Xml edit, changing isxl to survive a ST loss or weigh less is an Xml edit.

I hope someone corrects me if I'm remembering wrong, but I could have sworn that Chris mentioned they would need to code a new engine type for the LFE to behave differently than the Clan XL.

As far as I can recall, there are only 3 engine profiles in the game;
1. STD
2. IS XL
3. Clan XL

This is why the LFE has the exact same penalties as the Clan XL, because they use the same engine code. Unless I'm recalling the thread / conversation wrong.