120 replies to this topic

[Liberty]

I would like to see melee attacks primarily because I'd like to pilot a Hatchetman which likely won't make it in game until melee attacks go live. Melee will definitely change the current playstyle as a club wielding assault could ruin your day coming around a blind corner. Jumpwielding mediums such as the hatchetman could also do hit and run tactics trying to strike from behind with short range weaponry while also swinging a guillotine axe move. I can understand the reluctance of some to want them in the game particularly long range specialized mechs and those who want it to be just a shooter but melee attacks were a part of battletech. At least... The tabletop version although they were prominent in lore too.

Melee attacks were handy in mechs as a last resort for mechs with depleted ammunition so that you could actually do something rather than eject in futility or run around as nothing more than a target. However, I do want some common sense if melee is implemented. There should be a long recharge time before you can execute another melee attack as this is not RealSteel with robojock boxing mechs. If you miss with a melee attack and your out of weapons you can expect yourself to receive a hail of fire in return shortly afterwards before you can throw a punch or try to swing with that club/hatchet. I also believe that according to tabletop rules you couldn't fire arm mounted weapons while wielding a club but I can't recall. That would make sense too tho.

Edited by Liberty, 27 July 2012 - 08:14 PM.

[Killrex]

Maybe a takedown of some sort or a charge, but no melee weapons

[Karyudo ds]

TriggerhappySOB, on 27 July 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

^Not an official MWO 'mech, just some fan art, but remove the melee capability of this 'mech, and Its no longer effective for what it was designed for.

Just some fan art indeed sir. Indeed. The Axman actually isn't totally useless without it's axe as the 1N is an oversized Hunchback while the 2N has it's LRMs... of course at that point you're completely lacking the charm of smashing faces in. There's charm to that.

Vlad Ward, on 27 July 2012 - 06:34 PM, said:

This was actually addressed directly by Brian at the Mech Madness event at Nvidia HQ today. I'm assuming since it was a livestream that anything said there is part of the public domain, so please don't ban me for talking about game mechanics kthx.

According to Brian, they're going to be implementing a collision damage system at launch for last-ditch ramming attacks and to prevent mech-hugging while they work on a proper, more robust melee attack system to implement later post-release.

They've also suggested this before. Not that they were for sure working on melee but that they would add it if they could get it right. I don't honestly think a punch/swing would be hard to handle, lots of games have melee of some type but you do want to get that CRUNCH sound out of it and it's of course not usually a one hit kill so there's that but I think it could be done. Kicking could be harder...still possible though. Pushing might be a hard one to balance without some sort of pilot skill check mini test or something... but still making it not annoying might be challenging.

PlzBanMe, on 27 July 2012 - 06:41 PM, said:

I don't know much about this mech warrior thing but it is really dumb for a melee weapon to be added. If it sticks with your mech no matter what you have equipped sure why not.

Funny thing about it being "really dumb" is that it's been "really dumb" since the FASA days as the Hatchetman was one of the originals (its just never been in a video game). We aren't talking you're normal melee combat though, more like cavemen clubbing each other. Which if you don't like that there's no shortage of other mechs so no biggie. I doubt they would let you mount Hatchets on just any mech anyway, no need if most could punch anyway.

Edited by Karyudo ds, 27 July 2012 - 10:13 PM.

[Theodor Kling]

Although I don´t realy care to pilot a dedicated melee mech, melee is canon and should be in sooner or later. If they keep with the timeline they got a deadline for it. Because once the clan invasion realy hits you need it.
For one thing elementals withouth a melee system are mostly useless.
And then there is that clan aversion against melee that was used by the IS to some effect, especially in urban combat where the clan range advantage wasn´t dominating so much.

Sure an Atlas raming his fist into your scout can ruin you day. But most of the time that would mean the scout had failed already, or else it wouldn´t come to it.

[SakuranoSenshi]

It used to be that any mech with hands could get a melee weapon of some sort if they wanted BUT remember this: it counts for the nominal tonnage. If you want a really big axe, that's 20 tons of weaponry right there, no matter what else you want to fit on hardpoints.

[Mechafreak]

Well I have personally had the satisfaction of running over a Jenner in an Atlas, so the thought of being able to have an actual melee option just makes me smile. I have always loved the Axeman and I would love to see it added eventually to the MWO roster, but only if it does not detract from the game as a whole.

[heimloss]

Ｉ　ｗａｎｔ　ｍｅｌｅｅ．　Ｂｕｔ　ｆｏｒ　Ｃｈｒｉｓｔ’ｓ　ｓａｋｅ，　ｓｔａｙ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｅｌｌ　ａｗａｙ　ｆｒｏｍ　”Ｒａｍ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｅｎｅｍｙ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｂｅｈｉｎｄ　ａｎｄ　ｐｒｅｓｓ　Ａ　ｔｏ　ａｃｔｉｖａｔｅ　ａｎ　ｕｎ－ｃａｎｃｅｌｌａｂｌｅ　５　ｓｅｃｏｎｄ　ｋｉｌｌ　ａｎｉｍａｔｉｏｎ”．

Ｇｏ　ｌｏｏｋ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｅｖｉｅｗ　ｓｃｏｒｅｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　２０１０　Ａｌｉｅｎ　Ｖｓ．　Ｐｒｅｄａｔｏｒ　ｖｉｄｅｏ　ｇａｍｅ　ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ’ｒｅ　ｃｕｒｉｏｕｓ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｈｏｗ　ｗｅｌｌ　ｑｕｉｃｋｔｉｍｅ　ｅｖｅｎｔｓ　ｗｏｒｋ　ｉｎ　ｍｕｌｔｉｐｌａｙｅｒ　ａｃｔｉｏｎ　ｇａｍｅｓ．

[Theodor Kling]

I just remembered: Once we get that far in the timeline, the Pack Hunter is only half as fun without a way to use these claws on his hands

[Vedalithar]

Adam Steiner; during his service at Nagelring, Adam piloted an LRM-equipped AXM-2N Axman which he would use during the early missions of the 1st Sommerset Strikers. ^[16] Steiner would later receive a customized Command Console-equipped AWS-9Ma Awesome, which he would pilot during the liberation of Somerset. By the FedCom Civil War, the future Archon was piloting a Thunder Hawk.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Axman

[Mad Adam]

One of my favourite table top Battletech moments is myself and my opponent beheading each other at the same time. If done right, melee will add yet another layer of tactics and sophistication to MWO.

[Insidious Johnson]

Sooner or later.. melee, yes!

[Xathanael]

HATAMOTO-CHI!!!

[Lydon]

I gotta say, my favorite mech has always been, and always will be the axman. If they were to implement a quality melee system and add in the hatchetman and axman as mechs I am not sure I would ever pilot another mech just for the pure joy of running up and cleaving off an arm or head with a massive axe in a 65 ton heavy mech

[Marius Malthus]

DFA anyone ?

[Keifomofutu]

SakuranoSenshi, on 27 July 2012 - 10:23 PM, said:

It used to be that any mech with hands could get a melee weapon of some sort if they wanted BUT remember this: it counts for the nominal tonnage. If you want a really big axe, that's 20 tons of weaponry right there, no matter what else you want to fit on hardpoints.

Think this is the key right here. If you want a melee weapon that does real damage you give up a lot. I think a lot of people are afraid that some will stick the biggest engine they can on a hatchman or something and just facehug everyone in sight at 110km/h. But if their weapon weighs a lot it will be a fairly suicidal tactic(if not hilarious).

[Mifun]

Things which MWO needs:
1. Urbie
2. Melee

[Theodor Kling]

Mifun, on 28 July 2012 - 02:24 AM, said:

Things which MWO needs:
1. Urbie
2. Melee

I can live without the Urbie.. especially if there is melee. i magine a rammed Urbie trying to get up again..if that was my enemy I would probably stop shooting just to watch it

[Triggerhippy]

Yeah love the idea of Melee, they got round the mechanics of it in MW4 merc's MecTek packs by essentially giving the ax or claw the properties of a gauss with a max range of 2meters and unlimited ammo. it's wouldn't cover grabs sadly but the only way I could see to do that would be to have some sort of "finishing move" type sequence and switch to external cam to watch the carnage, which I think would possibly be a bad idea as it would destroy the game dynamic. Picking up blown off arms to act as a "1 off" make shift club that an only be used once, as it would be little shards after smashing into a mech, would also make for a cool addition and I imagine not too hard to program in as the CRY engine clearly has that potential.

[Justicier]

Karyudo ds, on 27 July 2012 - 10:11 PM, said:

Funny thing about it being "really dumb" is that it's been "really dumb" since the FASA days as the Hatchetman was one of the originals (its just never been in a video game). We aren't talking you're normal melee combat though, more like cavemen clubbing each other. Which if you don't like that there's no shortage of other mechs so no biggie. I doubt they would let you mount Hatchets on just any mech anyway, no need if most could punch anyway.

This ^

And I may get myself in hot water for saying this, but for those that are so adamantly opposed to melee in MWO... Its been a part of Battletech from the inception... get used to a change of tactics, or perhaps you'd be better off fighting for the Clans... I hear they despise melee combat with their "gunboat" mechs. Melee should have been in previous games as well, but there simply hasn't been the knowhow and computing technology to get it done right. By "right" I mean making the system... well... "complexity within simplicity." To explain... I despise games that have "melee" combat that is nothing more than an unblockable short ranged attack (like Half-Life, Call of Duty... take your pick of most shooters really)... the best melee system I have seen in a game has been in "Mount and Blade"... and it has a system that is simple enough to where anyone can pick up a sword and fight, but it also has mechanics for varying blow types, as well as blocking or parrying attacks which adds complexity and takes a great deal of skill to get used to. And the best thing is, the entire melee combat system was controlled by two keys in conjunction with mouse movements. And there was none of that uninterruptable animation crap that would wind up getting you killed in a game like that. Now, I'm not saying that MWO needs as much melee complexity as a game that has that very thing as its focal point, but having fully actuated arms on so many of these Inner-Sphere mech designs need to be useful for something, I mean come on... the spider has twin medium lasers in the torso... and that's it. Why does it even have arms if not to be used in combat? And not just punching... If I'm in a Hunchback, I want to rip a steel girder out of a building and beat my opponent's mech over the head with it when I am out of ammo and my non-ammo dependent weapons are destroyed. DFA is great and all... for a jump-jet capable mech... but what of those who are grounded, out of ammo, and out of ranged options? I want another option than the whole durka durka jihad!!! "strategy" of ramming and hoping my mech's own destruction results in the other guy's as well. Oh yes, I bloody well want melee... not just because it adds a new aspect of complexity in combat tactics, not because my Viking blood yearns for it, but more importantly because it is a part of Battletech.

Edited by Justicier, 28 July 2012 - 03:33 AM.

[Seabear]

Just do not turn this game into a series of boxing matches!