9 replies to this topic

[Hiten Bongz]

I played MWO last in 2018, right around when PGI started messing with changing the entire heat system - dissipation/capacity rates for all heatsinks, heat values for all weapons, etc. They were going through several PTS's with all sorts of changes (a few that I contributed in) shortly before I quit playing.

Recently I was messing around in the mechlab and doing a few quick tests on different maps to see what's changed, and I noticed a few things. I've looked through patch notes but didn't find anything relating to my questions (maybe I'm blind, idk) so I'll ask here.

1. Hot/Cold maps. I get the same amount of heat buildup firing weapons no matter of it's on Terra Therma or Polar Highlands. On the same mech with the same build, heat buildup and dissipation (maybe?) seems identical regardless of enviromental heat now? So is there now no difference at all playing on a hot map vs. a cold map?

2. Engines no longer produce any heat? I swear it used to be that simply walking around there was a small amount of visible heat generated by the mech engines (something like 2-3% of the heat bar, IIRC), now there is none. Dissipation seems the same (or very, VERY slightly reduced?) while walking.

So the MWO Wiki still lists both environmental heat and engine heat as a gameplay mechanic, but I cannot tell the difference anymore, am I going crazy or did PGI just remove these mechanics from the game at some point (then fail to update the wiki)? Or do these mechanics still exist, but the heat system changes have just made them nearly impossible to see any difference? Alternatively, maybe I'm just dumb and ignorant and am missing something obvious...

https://wiki.mwomerc....php?title=Heat

See: "Effects of Map Enviroment" (Map Temperature) and "Effects of Movement" (Engine Throttle)

Edited by Hiten Bongz, 08 July 2020 - 08:42 PM.

[martian]

Hiten Bongz, on 08 July 2020 - 08:16 PM, said:

...
So the MWO Wiki still lists both environmental heat and engine heat as a gameplay mechanic, but I cannot tell the difference anymore, am I going crazy or did PGI just remove these mechanics from the game at some point (then fail to update the wiki)? Or do these mechanics still exist, but the heat system changes have just made them nearly impossible to see any difference?

The environmental heat is still present in MWO.

But honestly, after two minutes of intense combat you will have much greater problems with the waste heat of your own weapons than the environmental heat (unless you are bathing in the molten lava on Terra Therma, of course).

Tactical Notice
* In case you are worried about the environmental heat, you can try two 'Mechs: Night Gyr and BattleMaster "HellSlinger". Both 'Mechs have special "External Heat Transfer" quirks.

[Kubernetes]

Hiten Bongz, on 08 July 2020 - 08:16 PM, said:

2. Engines no longer produce any heat?

They might, but heat dissipation is so high now that it probably barely registers with basic 10 DHS.


In any case, enjoy the increased HS efficiency, albeit with a lower heat cap.

[My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ]

Heat dissipation is so high thats its simply not noticable.

Something you should note if you're come back after the heat changes is that getting halved with a LFE or cXL will give you a significant heat spike since you keep the same heat but will suddenly have a much lower cap.

Edited by Hawker Siddeley, 09 July 2020 - 08:54 AM.

[Hiten Bongz]

Hawker Siddeley, on 09 July 2020 - 08:53 AM, said:

Heat dissipation is so high thats its simply not noticable.

Yeah, unfortunately this is what I think is happening...pretty lame, tbh.

Hawker Siddeley, on 09 July 2020 - 08:53 AM, said:

Something you should note if you're come back after the heat changes is that getting halved with a LFE or cXL will give you a significant heat spike since you keep the same heat but will suddenly have a much lower cap.

Well that's just plain stupid. So you can just instantly shut down (or possibly suicide if overriding) if you're managing heat on the upper end up the scale and your torso gets blown off??

Whose bright idea was that one?

Edited by Hiten Bongz, 09 July 2020 - 03:51 PM.

[My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ]

Hiten Bongz, on 09 July 2020 - 03:49 PM, said:

Well that's just plain stupid. So you can just instantly shut down (or possibly suicide if overriding) if you're managing heat on the upper end up the scale and your torso gets blown off??

Whose bright idea was that one?

Previously if you got halved your heat level didn't change which doesn't make much sense since you're losing heat sinks from the engine, also its not nearly as harsh as you might think since the stock 10 DHS in an engine gives you 50 heat cap and losing half of them only drops you to 40. It only punishes you when you are actually riding the heat cap and if you are, why are you in the position where a shutdown basically kills you?

[Hiten Bongz]

Hawker Siddeley, on 09 July 2020 - 04:32 PM, said:

Previously if you got halved your heat level didn't change which doesn't make much sense since you're losing heat sinks from the engine

Well, to that I'd argue that with those lost heatsinks you'd also lose the heat contained in them.

But I'm no physics major.

[My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ]

Hiten Bongz, on 09 July 2020 - 04:56 PM, said:

Well, to that I'd argue that with those lost heatsinks you'd also lose the heat contained in them.

But I'm no physics major.

Well in table top if you lose heat sinks that doesn't reduce your gained heat.

[Kubernetes]

Hiten Bongz, on 09 July 2020 - 03:49 PM, said:

Yeah, unfortunately this is what I think is happening...pretty lame, tbh.

I wouldn't call it unfortunate unless you prefer more heat.

Quote

Well that's just plain stupid. So you can just instantly shut down (or possibly suicide if overriding) if you're managing heat on the upper end up the scale and your torso gets blown off??

Whose bright idea was that one?

I hated it at first, but now I think it makes for an interesting game mechanic. In the past halving a mech just meant reducing its alpha and dps, but now you can pretty much cripple any heat-intensive build.

[Hiten Bongz]

Kubernetes, on 10 July 2020 - 10:32 AM, said:

I wouldn't call it unfortunate unless you prefer more heat.

I just think it's unfortunate because environmental effects have always been kind of a big deal in MW/BT. I think the maps lost some flavor and heritage by these changes.

I'm curious if PGI has even considered another pass on the map heat scale multipliers, or if they've forgotten about them entirely, etc.

Edited by Hiten Bongz, 10 July 2020 - 04:37 PM.