29 replies to this topic

[Hawk_eye]

Since I didn't see a suggestion thread, I though, hey, how about creating one?
Anyone feel free to add to the list.

After playing some 25 hours (and re-starting twice, due to stupid stuff I did), here is what I'd like to be added/changed to the game

1. Tutorial

How about a way to skip it, once you have played through it once?
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2. Naming Mechs/Pilots

How about being able to name my mechs and give callsigns to my pilots?

Speaking of naming, how about me being able to choose a name for my character (I am usually referred to as "Commander" not by my character's name, so that shouldn't throw any spanner into the works) and being able to choose a voice would be nice too (not holding my breath for that one, but one can hope, can't one?)
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3. Pilot skill-cap

Seriously, what's it there for?

I get the "realism" in it, we can't all become as good as Kai Allard-Liao. I mean, I will surely never be able to run the 100m in 10 seconds, no matter how much I train, but then, I'll never be granted entry into the German Olympics team either, simply because I don't have what it takes.

So, for one, I have a hard time imagining any academy/merc-unit to take on trainees, that are obviously not able to get any good in piloting a mech (sub-20 skill-cap).

For second, even if that would happen, what does this mechanic add to the game?
Is anyone going to hire any of those 14, 16 or 18 skill-points cap pilots?

Well, ok, I did (the reason I re-started the first time), but after the player realizes, that this skill-cap will be absolutely crushing later on, he'll never hire any of those again and I freely admit, that I save-scummed the living s**t out of the game, until I got a couple of above-30 skill-cap pilots right at the start of the game.

So, preferably, do away completely with that cap.
If that is not possible, increase the cap even for the worst pilots by a lot.
Say, 30 to 35 for bad pilots, 35 to 40 for average pilots, 40 to 45 for veterans, 45 to 50 for elite and above 50 for the legendary, wins the Solaris Championship kind of guys.
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4. Skilling up

I get the "learning by doing" approach, but this automatism takes any options from the player away - the game "plays itself", so to speak - which is never a good thing.
How about half the "skill-points", a pilot earn, are distributed automatically as is now, but the other half can be distributed by the player as he sees fit?
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5. Messages while traveling

When I hit travel, there will appear a couple of messages about stuff happening in or outside the ship. Usually, that this or that mech has completed repairs, but sometimes other stuff, like "Industrial Hub found" or something. I'd rather like to be able to review those messages after arrival.
There is this "Log" in operations, but they don't seem to be logged (pun intended) there.
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6. Customizing my merc-unit

I'd really, really, REALLY like to choose not only a name for my unit, but also it's logo and perhaps it's paint-scheme (i.e. let me define my unit's paint scheme and have the game use it for every mech I own)
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7. Spawning

Well, yeah, it kinda sucks. Would it be possible to have the forces that engage you on the map, at the match's start?
And if reinforcements (for the enemy) are needed, to have them, I don't know, enter over a map-edge, so it feels kinda realistic?
This would also offer the possibility for the player to try to engage from a different direction, perhaps catching the defender from behind or something.
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8. Base-building, Leopard's interior, character animations

Well, you've probably read all about that, so I won't type a wall of text here, but expanding on those things would be nice.
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9. AI lancemats

Additional commands (and the AI to make use of them) I'd like to see:

-Retreat --> move to the extraction point at maximum speed, don't stop to engage hostiles and only shoot at them if they are in your firing arc while still running towards the drop-ship.

For when I want to retreat for extraction, and an enemy shows up, all my guys and gals will turn around to engage him, so I have to spam "form up", "form up", "form the ?*?%§$ up" the whole time (yeah, I'm using Voice Attack - my neighbors probably think I'm going nuts).

-Attack from long/short/medium range --> try to stay at that range and engage hostiles from there.

So I can tell that Blackjack pilot to try to stay at long-range and not rush into medium laser range

-Defend X --> Prioritize any hostile, that shoots at X.
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10. Next Friendly
I'd like to be able to cycle through all friendlies, similar to how I can cycle through all hostiles (T), instead of having to face each of them an then press Q to get info on the conditions of their mechs.
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Ok, that's about it.
As I said, anyone feel free to add stuff.

[Ilfi]

Two words: Instant Refit.

[Xaat Xuun]

as for number 3, there are pilots for hire, that have a max 60 skill, may have to train them a little bit to reach 60/60.
I have found like those that are 43/60 are cheaper to hire then one that is 56/60, but it's really not that much difference money wise, at that level when they are available



now I'm looking for those with ??/60 skill for their appearance, I want match uniforms

I would like the ability to choose the uniform, for myself and the Pilots

one feature I would like to have is a SAVE/LOAD, for loadouts, so I can just one click the loadout after bringing the mech out of cold storage .when I pick up another mech of same variant.

[Flyby215]

I like the retreat idea; usually what I end up doing is ordering a critically damaged lancemate to turn off their weapons and to run/hide at a specific location and pray nothing spawns near it for the rest of the mission.

How about pre-purchasing armour? Seriously, why is it that mechs can be repaired en-route somewhere, but there are some systems where repairing is not an option at all? Repairs are faster in industrial areas, slow in contested areas, and non-existent in many campaign related non-anything areas. Come on Fahad, you know what mechs I run, be prepared to fix them!

Does anyone know how long it genuinely takes to travel between systems in the lore? I found it puzzling that during the campaign I would get a briefing from Ryana to the effect that 'someone is under attack' or 'we need to get somewhere before something happens'. Meanwhile, I spend 60 days travelling to the nearest industrial zone to check a hero mech for sale, another 20 checking out the rare weapons for sale, then 60-90 days heading off to the area that I was 'supposed' to hurry to. These guys were calling for help 3 months ago! That's on the missions where I even hurried, in one case they waited nearly 5 years before I finally decided to continue with my campaign missions

[Hawk_eye]

Flyby215, on 25 December 2019 - 01:17 PM, said:

Does anyone know how long it genuinely takes to travel between systems in the lore?

It generally takes a jump-ship a week to re-charge after a jump (depending on the star of the system it is in, the "brighter" the star, the faster it charges)
The jump itself is instantaneous, but your drop-ship has to travel from the planet to the jump-point, with regular jump-points being on the zenith and nadir of the system (i.e. high above/below the ecliptic) and far away from the star (outside the gravity well), so the larger the star, the further away the jump-points are.

As an example, for a G5 class star, it would take the Jump-Ship 186 hours (7 days, 18 hours) to re-charge it's jump-engine and at 1G constant acceleration with a mid-point turn-over, it would take a drop-ship around seven and a half days to get there.
A1 star: 162 hours (6 days, 18 hours) re-charge time, 47 days transit time
M3 star: 203 hours (about 8 days, 12 hours) re-charge time, less than 3 days transit time

With enough astronomical data, a good navigator can calculate jump-points much closer to a planet, where the gravitational forces of several planetary bodies cancel each other out - so called pirate-points, which drastically reduces transfer time - but if the navigator makes a mistake, well, let's just say, baaaad things can happen.

[Thorasta]

3: Pilot Skillcap -- What's the highest you've found? I was using two low 30's for most of the game, but lately found a 41, 42, and 45.

4: Skilling Up -- Good idea. I dig it.

5: Messages -- I agree. I also want it to report *every* mech that is repaired, not just some of them. I also want it to tell me when my injured pilots have fully healed.

10: Next friendly -- yes please!

Xaat Xuun, on 25 December 2019 - 11:22 AM, said:

as for number 3, there are pilots for hire, that have a max 60 skill, may have to train them a little bit to reach 60/60.
I have found like those that are 43/60 are cheaper to hire then one that is 56/60, but it's really not that much difference money wise, at that level when they are available



now I'm looking for those with ??/60 skill for their appearance, I want match uniforms

I would like the ability to choose the uniform, for myself and the Pilots

one feature I would like to have is a SAVE/LOAD, for loadouts, so I can just one click the loadout after bringing the mech out of cold storage .when I pick up another mech of same variant.

60! Holy smokes. Where?
I think If I could choose between multiple level 60's, my chief concern would be non-irritating voices.

[Xaat Xuun]

I don't recall, but maybe after I was level/rank 13 ??
could had been after a certain point in the campaign missions , really couldn't say
and as for where, any where is possible now

[Hawk_eye]

Thorasta, on 25 December 2019 - 09:43 PM, said:

3: Pilot Skillcap -- What's the highest you've found? I was using two low 30's for most of the game, but lately found a 41, 42, and 45.

I found mid-30s to apparently being the highest I can get at the game's start (I save-scummed real hard to get those two)

Edit:
This whole thing of "you can get better pilots once you raise in rank" thing makes the skill cap all the more stupid, IMO.

What's the point of introducing a mechanic that let's you train up your pilots, only for you to reach a skill-cap that pretty much _forces_ you to fire them and hire different pilots with a higher skill-cap later on?

From a game-play POV, the skill-cap doesn't make the slightest sense to me

P.s. Yes, I'm biased, because I want to run my lance(s) of DFA characters in MW5 as I do in BATTLETECH.

Edited by Hawk_eye, 25 December 2019 - 11:42 PM.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Have any of you lost a pilot? I've had just one mission where one of my mechs actually got disabled and the pilot was out of action for around 89 days or something. But he didn't die and I didn't lose my mech.

Regarding the option for telling your lance-mates to bug-out, it's not there 'cause the extraction point seems to be generated at different points when the mission is done. If there was a set extraction point, then we could have that option. For the moment, though, if you tell one of them to hold fire and fall in behind you, they won't aggro any enemies. You can tell the rest of the team to push ahead by giving them the "Go to" command and they will engage the enemies based on threat and take most of the aggro off you or your other guy.

[Thorasta]

Okay, not sure if it is my location or level, but I now have a level 58, 59, and 60 pilots replacing my old ones. I got them waaaaaay to the NE.

Hawk_eye, on 25 December 2019 - 11:35 PM, said:

I found mid-30s to apparently being the highest I can get at the game's start (I save-scummed real hard to get those two)

Edit:
This whole thing of "you can get better pilots once you raise in rank" thing makes the skill cap all the more stupid, IMO.

What's the point of introducing a mechanic that let's you train up your pilots, only for you to reach a skill-cap that pretty much _forces_ you to fire them and hire different pilots with a higher skill-cap later on?

Yeah. Gotta agree here.

[Fippy Darkpaw]

I have to agree to a point regarding the skill caps thing. I keep Lt. Freeman around because I have an emotional attachment (he believed in me and signed on when I was an unknown!), but he never actually pilots mechs anymore, since he's so much worse than the 59-60 overall nobodies that I picked up along the way.

[Obiwayne]

1. An option to sell mechs out of cold storage
Slot management kinda ruins the flow

2. An option to apply your selected colors/pattern to all mechs
How is this not a thing already? I have to change the pattern and colors of every mech manually..

3. An option to lock the mech arrangement in active hanger
I would like them to stay arranged in the order I put them instead of being moved around after missions

4. A tab/hotkey to get directly into the operations logs screen
Right now I have to click through 2 screens before I see story missions and the options to track quest/view system

5. "Bouncing" Helicopters in Coop for clients need a fix
Whenever I play coop with my bro, he being the host, helicopters are glitching. They "bounce" up an down 70% of the time while following their flight path

6. (and this is more of a complaint, because I know it wont ever change)
It is just sooooo bothering, that the mechs walking animations are ~double the speed in external view as they are in first person.... why PGI, why?

7. Removal of the restrictions on the official discord
Why the hell do I have to give pgi my phone number to be able to chat on the mw5 discord?

Edited by Obiwayne, 26 December 2019 - 05:52 AM.

[Hawk_eye]

Obiwayne, on 26 December 2019 - 05:14 AM, said:

1. An option to sell mechs out of cold storage
Slot management kinda ruins the flow

Darn, forgot about that one.
In fact, I'd go as far as to say that cold storage should be the _only_ place, you can sell mechs out of.

Obiwayne, on 26 December 2019 - 05:14 AM, said:

2. An option to apply your selected colors/pattern to all mechs
How is this not a thing already? I have to change the pattern and colors of every mech manually..

I thought I had this covered under 6.

Obiwayne, on 26 December 2019 - 05:14 AM, said:

3. An option to lock the mech arrangement in active hanger
I would like them to stay arranged in the order I put them instead of being moved around after missions

Agreed

[Obiwayne]

Hawk_eye, on 26 December 2019 - 06:04 AM, said:

I thought I had this covered under 6.

my bad, my brain automatically brackets out things inside brackets

[Xaat Xuun]

Obiwayne, on 26 December 2019 - 05:14 AM, said:

5. "Bouncing" Helicopters in Coop for clients need a fix
Whenever I play coop with my bro, he being the host, helicopters are glitching. They "bounce" up an down 70% of the time while following their flight path

you haven't seen the bunny hopping tanks Yet ?
actually harder to hit, they need fix too

[Thorasta]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2019 - 12:15 AM, said:

Have any of you lost a pilot? I've had just one mission where one of my mechs actually got disabled and the pilot was out of action for around 89 days or something. But he didn't die and I didn't lose my mech.

Regarding the option for telling your lance-mates to bug-out, it's not there 'cause the extraction point seems to be generated at different points when the mission is done. If there was a set extraction point, then we could have that option. For the moment, though, if you tell one of them to hold fire and fall in behind you, they won't aggro any enemies. You can tell the rest of the team to push ahead by giving them the "Go to" command and they will engage the enemies based on threat and take most of the aggro off you or your other guy.

I lost one near the end. On the same mission I had a second pilot eject out of an Atlas, and the head is the only part that survived. It was so destroyed I decided to sell it rather than fix it.

[Hawk_eye]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2019 - 12:15 AM, said:

Regarding the option for telling your lance-mates to bug-out, it's not there 'cause the extraction point seems to be generated at different points when the mission is done. If there was a set extraction point, then we could have that option.

Enemies are created (spawned) during the mission.
I can tell my lancemates to engage specific enemies.
I can also tell my lancemates to go to a specific point on the map.

Combining those two things, so the ai knows where the extraction point is and adding a command for it to go there shouldn't be too difficult.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Hawk_eye, on 26 December 2019 - 08:57 PM, said:

Enemies are created (spawned) during the mission.
I can tell my lancemates to engage specific enemies.
I can also tell my lancemates to go to a specific point on the map.

Combining those two things, so the ai knows where the extraction point is and adding a command for it to go there shouldn't be too difficult.

Sure, but when your Leopard hasn't come in yet, it is going to be hard to predict where the extraction zone will be, right? So, you can't really tell the AI lance-mates to bug-out before you know where the extraction zone is. I was hinting at that point.

[Hawk_eye]

FRAGTAST1C, on 26 December 2019 - 09:11 PM, said:

Sure, but when your Leopard hasn't come in yet, it is going to be hard to predict where the extraction zone will be, right? So, you can't really tell the AI lance-mates to bug-out before you know where the extraction zone is. I was hinting at that point.

Ah, now I understand what you meant. That's of course true.

[Koniving]

Flyby215, on 25 December 2019 - 01:17 PM, said:

Does anyone know how long it genuinely takes to travel between systems in the lore? I found it puzzling that during the campaign I would get a briefing from Ryana to the effect that 'someone is under attack' or 'we need to get somewhere before something happens'. Meanwhile, I spend 60 days travelling to the nearest industrial zone to check a hero mech for sale, another 20 checking out the rare weapons for sale, then 60-90 days heading off to the area that I was 'supposed' to hurry to. These guys were calling for help 3 months ago! That's on the missions where I even hurried, in one case they waited nearly 5 years before I finally decided to continue with my campaign missions

Confirming what Hawk said:
Travel between neighboring jump-points is "nearly" instant, not quite instant. The more dropships attached to a jumpship the worse everyone will feel afterward, however, with nausea lasting up to several days in cases with 3 dropships attached to a jumpship.
If you're jumping 3 jump-points ("dots") over, it'd be about 3 weeks.

What really consumes time is once you get into a system and travel to a specific planet you're looking at several days up to a week of travel to get to your destination or from your destination to a dropship.
Of course that's Battletech.

Ryana should be finding semi-local jobs so you're not going too far to get to somewhere, so at most you should be able to reach a destination within days. This said, a job that's accepted before you travel seems to hold for quite some time before expiring, where when you travel to a system before accepting often by the time you arrive a couple of days later the job's already expired.

Story missions will wait a long time for you, given that they're story missions.

Edited by Koniving, 27 December 2019 - 12:47 AM.