KursedVixen, on 19 May 2021 - 08:05 AM, said:
what is this engine desync?
Wow, has it really been that long? Ouch.
So when the game was new, and all was right with the world, your entire movement profile was based on the ratio between your engine size and your tonnage. If you put in a bigger engine, not only would you have a higher top speed, but you would also torso twist faster, turn faster, and accel/decel faster. This was one of the initial complaints about the Timber Wolf: because it's a 75 ton 'mech with an XL375 engine, it had EXTREMELY good movement stats with plenty of pod space to make it especially deadly (even with the vulnerability of the missile ears). Technically all 'mechs with a base speed of 81 kph have the exact same engine/tonnage ratio, but the TBR caught the most heat for it.
Some time later (longer ago than I thought, now), PGI went through and changed the mobility stats, pegging each weight class to an example they thought was "representative". Some 'mechs benefited, but a lot of 'mechs were heavily penalized.
The Urbanmech, for example, with its stock 60 engine, would actually take a minute or two to accelerate to 32.4 kph, and would take forever just to do a donut, so it's movement profile (and that of every 30 tonner) was pegged to that of the Arctic Cheetah.
At the other end of the spectrum, 100 tonners could pack a bigger engine to get more twist and turn speed which was seen as "OP", so their movement profile was pegged to the Dire Wolf, the least mobile at the time. I'm guessing this all must have been prior to the release of the Annihilator, which starts to explain how much time has gone by.
One of the items changed during this mass mobility nerf was the behavior of MASC. Previously, MASC acceleration was something like a 200% boost (functionally instantaneous), but it didn't last very long. Effectively, MASC was beneficial for peeking and poking because you could break cover for a much shorter period of time, and almost immediately go from full-forward to full-reverse and be covered again. Engine Desync dropped MASC acceleration from its nearly 200% to something like 75% boost. You'll get there, eventually... I'm not sure if they extended the duration at all, but they might have, a little bit, to try and keep the overall "extra distance traveled" about the same. Pre-Engine Desync, a lot of 'mechs could spin and dance, and throw off damage like it wasn't even there, particularly if they had MASC. Post-Engine Desync, a lot of previously mobile 'mechs (especially at the heavy end) became slow and ponderous, and unable to get out of their own way, and MASC started to only really provide a speed boost, rather than a general mobility boost (it still did, somewhat, because they took the rest of it away in March and gave it back in April, but not nearly like it used to be).
The Executioner suffered the most at the hands of the MASC nerf and engine desync, since its gigantic size was specifically to balance against its mobility, and its size was not reduced when it lost said mobility. Since it's not getting its mobility back, per the Cauldron's spreadsheet, I'm hoping they're aiming for it to get a massive size-reduction to bring it more in-line with other 95 ton 'mechs. Currently it's about the size of an Annihilator.
EDIT: the tonnage/engine rating ratio is a TableTop rule.
On Table Top, 'mechs have "movement points" which are used to move and turn. To determine movement points for walking speed, you divide the engine rating by 'mech tonnage (so a Timberwolf's 375 engine, divided by 75, gives you 5 movement points). Running is walking times 1.5, with fractions rounded up to the next whole number (PGI undid that rounding, which is why a TBR moves 86.4 KPH on TT, and 81.0 KPH in MWO). The map is divided into Hexes, which are 30 meters across. Each turn takes 10 seconds (apparently that part varies depending on the rule set). So 8 hexes times 30 meters in 10 seconds gives you a Timberwolf's maximum running speed.
To turn, each hex-side is one movement point (sides of a hex are 60 degrees apart from each other. Six sides on a hex, times 60 = 360, full circle). TT assumes a 'mech can twist its torso from one side to the other in the 10 seconds (shoots one way last turn, shoots another way the next turn, or even shoots two different ways in the same turn). So torso twist speed isn't clearly defined, but it's quick. Acceleration and Deceleration, likewise, aren't clearly defined, but a 'mech is supposed to resemble a human running, so the acceleration should "feel" right in that example. It should also be sufficient for the 'mech to reach its top speed and cross the allowed number of hexes in its 10 second turn (this is where the TT rules and real-world physics start to clash a bit, because TT doesn't account for your speed changing between turns, or even if you were at a dead stop next turn. Your movement points are your movement points and you can "spend" as many as you want in a turn, from zero to all).
Edited by C337Skymaster, 19 May 2021 - 08:46 AM.
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