7 replies to this topic

[Smiffy]

With the recent talk of wishlist items for improving the game, I have been doing some thinking.

Thinking about what Mwo does well and what it doesn't do well. And what other games do well.

MWO is a pinpoint accurate game, we know this, and we also know that because of this mouse and keyboard is pretty well the only way to play it. I think it would greatly benefit Mwo by making it more accessable to people who are a) better at playing with a certain type of controller (gamepad, joysticks, hotas, or HOSAS) and (probably more importantly) B ) people who maybe aren't as 'able' as the rest of us, and for some reason or another can't use a mouse or keyboard.

The games I am going to use as my examples are space sims, yes different, but the fundamentals are there. These games are Star Citizen and the recent starwars squadrons game.

Both of these games use from what I can tell a similar method to achieve parity to their inputs. They both seem to use a virtual joystick which results in a genuine feeling of weight and makes true pixel perfect accuracy very difficult. MWO does do this also, you can see it with armlock, but the effects are much more pronounced in these other titles. Even assault mechs are very snappy.

Something else we could maybe borrow from another game would be quite possibly the reticle Bob from MW5. This would also even the playing field for other control schemes. Another thing this could do is make lights alittle less deadly to assaults by increasing the spread of damage they do at speed when darting through a melee.

We already have these things in Mwo, the above mentioned screen shake/reticle Bob already exists for jump jets and masc usage, albeit the shake is more static in these cases, the Bob from movement could be more predictable like it is in MW5 this allowing skill and mastery to shine through. And the virtual joystick would go a long way toward mitigating the Gulf between input options.

Some other food for thought might be to add support for be, and have native support to HOSAS. That last one is more of a personal request, HOSAS is awesome for many games.

Also maybe add more weapons and tech. As cheesey as a lot of jihad tech is, it could also be really really fun.

[General Solo]

I think that a proper function match maker with a viable population so it can function would provide wot you seek

This way Mouse/keyboard players play each other
Joystick players play other Joystick players
Steering wheel players play other Steering wheel players

Kinda like English Premier league soccer
Division 1 is mouse and keyboard
Division 2 is Joystick
Division 3 is Steering wheel

A simple solution

[Smiffy]

OZHomerOZ, on 08 October 2020 - 03:20 AM, said:

I think that a proper function match maker with a viable population so it can function would provide wot you seek

This way Mouse/keyboard players play each other
Joystick players play other Joystick players
Steering wheel players play other Steering wheel players

Kinda like English Premier league soccer
Division 1 is mouse and keyboard
Division 2 is Joystick
Division 3 is Steering wheel

A simple solution

That is kind of against the point. The player base is not large enough to support multiple ques. Nor is it a simple solution. All the tools are there, they just need to be played with.

It also does nothing to change how poorly other control schemes perform in general. It's not just that m/kB perform better, it's also that PGI did not do a great job in the first place making the experience with the other schemes at all good or worth while.

The rationale back in the day was that it was hard to do and that the population of players who had them was low. And that there were so many different controllers and joystick set ups that they couldn't possibly devote the resources to it. The second point was true, but the first and third aren't, or would atleast be manageable. True there are lots of controllers, but they all fundamentally work the same. Work with the handful of most popular to get that experience feeling good, then expose more control variables, allow us to adjust the sensitivity curves. The rest will sorta fall into place.

[General Solo]

If the player base is low make the match maker better able to make good match ups with low population rather than some artificial band aid that can be abused.

[Smiffy]

OZHomerOZ, on 08 October 2020 - 10:12 AM, said:

If the player base is low make the match maker better able to make good match ups with low population rather than some artificial band aid that can be abused.

What about my suggestion is a bandaid or can be abused? I'm suggesting a refactor to aiming that would allow controller agnosticism and allow people to play the way they may want or prefer.. not to mention solve some of the other issues the come with pinpoint accuracy.

[General Solo]

I'm just saying that refactoring aiming mostly affects non keyboard mouse users, which are a minority of users.
Alot of work for a small part of the player base.

Match maker affects every player and imo can achieve similar results you are after aka greater competitiveness for controller users.

Perhaps band aid was not the best choice of words

Edited by OZHomerOZ, 08 October 2020 - 07:57 PM.

[Horseman]

MWO is already controller agnostic: No control method gets aim assist unless you use lock-on missiles.
That is also what makes controllers close to nonviable.

Controller-friendly games apply aim assist to compensate for the input device's faults:

[Smiffy]

Horseman, on 09 October 2020 - 01:53 AM, said:

MWO is already controller agnostic: No control method gets aim assist unless you use lock-on missiles.
That is also what makes controllers close to nonviable.

Controller-friendly games apply aim assist to compensate for the input device's faults:

aim assist is one option, but it isnt the be all end all. nor is it specifically useful in a game that has physicalised damage such as mwo.

while yes, joysticks and controllers have deadzones to deal with. aim assist isn't the only way to level the playing field between setups. for instance having a robust sensitivity curve exposed to the player can go a long way in dealing with the deadzone. but also by mitigating pinpoint effectiveness with some of the methods mentioned above.

adding a bob with movement like in MW5 could really go a long way, it could also open up new gameplay opportunities such as making the player have to choose between moving and standing, or slowing down to line up a more accurate shot.

changing the behavior, of the existing J-voy to not automatically centre input. like in star citizen and starwars squadrons (both of which have aim assist mechanics active for all control schemes) would also make mouse players have to work for lining up a shot in much the same way that joystick or controller players would have to. this would also have benefits for playing without armlock on.

as per the population percentage, its kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. if the implementation is bad, people wont use it, and the fewer people using it the smaller it looks, the smaller it looks the less of a priority it seems. mechwarrior is a niche IP, with niche players, some of whom are enthusiasts who have enthusiast equipment.

dealing with pinpoint accuracy is not just for control parity, it would also have a great deal of implications for the game, some positive some negative.