12 replies to this topic

[Liam]

Artillery Weapons like (thumper, sniper and) long tom were implemented in some limited way in MW4. The mechanic of these weapons was in MW4 Mercenaries really awful. People who played steel battalion will know what I mean. Artillery weapon mechanic should be like in SB, where you choose the area on the map and fire. Some seconds later you will see the impact.

The bore of a long tom like weapon could be directed from 45 up to 88 degree and allowing this way to shot behind the hills, covers, rocks, etc. (manual use for support mechs). The firing direction could be changed by mouse /stick.
Or simply used in normal way as assisted weapon, however in this case the weapon shouldn’t outperform AC etc. In this case the bore angle will be adjusted automatically depending on aim of other weapons [assisted strike].

It could be realized by additional weapon buttons (3 weapon hotkeys):

1: Switching the firing modes: Auto assisted fire (angle of bore 0-45°) / Manual mode (angle of bore 45-89°)
2: Range increase + (bore angle decreases down to min 45° [Max range])
3: Range decrease – (bore angle increases up to 88 ° [min range ~ around 250 m])

What about damage output?
Damage maximum single target: Thumper < Sniper < Long Tom
Radius of area splash damage..: Thumper < Sniper < Long Tom

Compared to TT the ranges could be increased a bit:
Thumper....: (16) -> 26
Sniper.......: (18) -> 30
Long Tom..: (26) -> 34

This would allow additional tactics especially against camping slow assault units.
Artillery missiles could work similar, by changing the parabolic flight curve of the missiles.

Same additional weapon hotkeys could be also used for other weapons (in later updates):
Lasers: manual adjustment of focusing range (no focusing delay)
PPC: overcharge (and overheat)
AC: reload boost (and increased heat limit -> locking the weapon)
etc.

Edited by Liam, 05 January 2012 - 03:10 AM.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

All artillery will be "offboard" assets able to be called in for fire support by the force Commander at the launch of the game. We will not see any mech's capable of mounting them for quite a while in game time, we will only be in 3050.

[Dragorath]

Would be great to have his own Artillery Mech somewhere with a spotter. This way to play spotter would also be really nice. I really like the idea. Furtkermore, if you are a nasty spotter you will kill your own people, maybe.

These weapons were really awful in previous games...

[Mchawkeye]

Nik Van Rhijn, on 05 January 2012 - 04:47 AM, said:

All artillery will be "offboard" assets able to be called in for fire support by the force Commander at the launch of the game. We will not see any mech's capable of mounting them for quite a while in game time, we will only be in 3050.

Really? I missed this...where was it?

[Bilskirnir_]

Liam, on 05 January 2012 - 02:44 AM, said:

PPC: overcharge (and overheat)

Also maybe a hotkey to disable the PPC's Field Inhibitor, to increase close range damage, but then create the possible risk of weapon overload.

Edited by DigitalStef, 05 January 2012 - 08:36 AM.

[VYCanis]

i really hope artillery is offboard, otherwise you invariably get the people who use it like a close range weapon.

but i would love to see different types of artillery with different tactical uses.

like walking barrages, precision strikes, saturations, and such

[Nik Van Rhijn]

The info Warfare section of Game

Quote

The battlefield commander will be able to call in air strikes, artillery strikes and other support unit requests.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Am I the only person here who knows that the Arrow IV system is actually a long-range artillery that's fired across several maps (not at your opponent who's standing 500m away)? The previous Mechwarrior games just turned the Arrow IV system into a Super LRM 20... but that's not how it's supposed to work, at all.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

I should imagine that most who play TT know that. Anyway what did you expect from MW4?

[Felicitatem Parco]

... I think reporting them to ComStar should suffice... the road trip would be a waste of gas.

[guardian wolf]

I personally would like the idea of using off map artillery, and maybe you have to use a spotter to relay the coordinates to the commander, who then relays those to the guns, it would require a lot of teamwork, and by the way Aegis, I have been accused of calling in the artillery really close to the people I have commanded, but I have, never, ever, in the entire history of my online gaming, called in the big guns, on my own men. And furthermore I despise any and all who would do such a thing, because of you are the CO, your men are putting their trust into YOU, to lead them to victory. In my unit, if we ever retreated, which was rare, our CO was always the last to leave the field of battle. I was actually captured once while holding the line for my lance mates to escape, that's where I earned my call sign Guardian. Now, another thing is that maybe we could call in direct fire support from Dropships, or hell, an Overlord

[VYCanis]

i am reminded of my time playing BF2 where taking a flag often required hanging around just long enough to get it to change to grey, then high tailing it out of there before the artillery dropped, then coming back in to finish the job

[per4mer]

So how would the designated battlefield commander unit work? Would it be a mod on a mech, an exceptional pilot with the appropriate rank? A mixture of both? Would calling artillers give it a (perhaps top/down) perspective? Can teams have an successive chain of command if a commander gets destroyed?

I think to reduce the chances of Aegis making road trips, the game can just limit the use of artillery in enemy or contested territory. Who would fire artillery in friendly territory anyways other than some **** commander?