Widowmaker1981, on 11 May 2023 - 11:23 AM, said:
On one hand, you are right because the variable hit location model we are using was always designed with random hit locations in mind and, if i recall correctly, when targeting computers / pulse lasers were added they had to insert a rule to say 'no aimed shots with pulse lasers' because its .. far too strong.
On the other hand, this is a first person real time game and if you actually simulate totally random hit locations, you pretty much remove player 'skill' (distinct from tactics/strategy) as a factor. Compared to hitting targets in literally any 'normal' FPS, just hitting mechs aint hard, they are big and slow. And, if it was like that, i wouldnt be playing the game at all.
I could maybe get behind some kind of 'compromise' system with variable target cones or something that were entirely player controlled (i.e. by heat/movement speed/etc and NOT by RNG) as long as it was still possible to concentrate your fire if you took the requisite steps/considerations.
I mean, to me that sounds entirely like the skill system, where higher skill pilots are more likely to hit their targets, and can try to aim their shots to hit almost all the same location. Further, we
are missing most of the heat mechanics that are supposed to balance weapons fire: you're supposed to check for override every time you pass a heat threshhold, but you've got a chance of beating it that gets harder as the heat goes up. Easy: delay between warning and shutdown. As the heat rises, the delay becomes shorter, until you hit what on TT is "30 excess heat" and you shut down without a chance to override. Currently, we just go straight to the top without any of the intermediate steps in between. We also are completely missing the hit to movement (which will indirectly affect aiming, so I don't think we need to manually add any heat related effects to that), although the ability to use jump jets to GTFO would need to be added if we're going to properly implement heat related mobility reduction.
But think about it: high-alpha laser vomit that is built around rising to 95% heat in one shot steps out, one-shots an Atlas' side torso from fresh, and steps back to cover. Instead, that 'mech is supposed to be nearly immobilized by that much heat, but we don't have that as a consideration. It's 100% pilot-controlled: no RNG, because you just don't let your heat get that high.
And as I mentioned earlier: it always sounds like waiting on a firing solution. Or, in non-RNG game terms: convergence delay. You've gotta wait for the weapons to figure out the range to target and make the correct convergence adjustments. When we're all standing perfectly still, that fits: stationary shots are super easy. When we're all moving around, range is all over the map, and so is convergence as a result.
Ultimately, anything titled "MechWarrior" is
supposed to be simulation. That got shouted down, somewhere along the way, and that was a critical mistake.
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