45 replies to this topic

[ice trey]

In most cases, I would think this would be a good idea.

However, I'm very well versed in both Battletech tabletop and the novels. One of the technologies employed in a Battlemech cockpit is... what was it called... Polarization? Essentially, the canopy darkens itself to prevent the Mechwarrior inside from being blinded by bright lights; namely, from PPC and Laser blasts.This is above and beyond the Battlemech canopy not being made of any kind of glass, but instead, a transparent Battlemech armor. A blinding flare wouldn't really affect the Mechwarrior inside. Not for a length of time you'd expect. Maybe the short time that the flare was going, and only in the area it were burning.

Flares, however, would be an AWESOME idea for night fighting. If maps are sufficiently darkened (I used to find that in MW4, it was better to turn the headlights OFF, because night combat wasn't really all that dark, and the headlight only made it harder to see ahead of you.) then it would be indispensable.

Edited by ice trey, 17 January 2012 - 02:08 PM.

[ENDMYSUFFERING]

Maybe a sort of ballistic trajectory flashbang grenade-launcher, it explodes after hitting a solid object, and other than that works pretty much like a flashbang, but you can add something into your mech to prevent as much deafening/blinding. And it has 2x longer of an effect for blinding when the enemy has night vision on.

[trycksh0t]

Prosperity Park, on 10 January 2012 - 09:26 AM, said:

Many videogames have some kind of weapon acting as a bright, flashing flare that bleaches-out your vision for a short time.

In most games these flares are useless to the player because AI opponents don't use real vision... but since MWO will be entirely player-vs-player, then a blinding flare weapn would be very, very useful; especially in a game dominated by "Information Warfare" where direct line-of-sight engagements depend on "sight."

This is how I see it: a scout fires a flare-type weapon at an opponent, and as the flare approaches in proximity to the opponent's cockpit their vision becomes increasingly bleached-white and slowly returns to normal, leaving behind a very slowly fading green-and-red spot (you know, just like a spot that gets burned into your vision after looking at a lightbulb or something bright) that persists exactly where that flare was in relation to your visual field. If the flare comes at you from the front left, then the greenish/red spot would be on the left side of your pilot's field of view, and it will remain there, on the left side of your monitor, even if the pilot looks around in their cockpit because the spot is burned into your pilot's eyes so it should remain right there until it's finally faded away.

Edit: Some have said that Mech cockpits have self-tinting glass that would mitigate this effect during daytime engagements. It still would be effective at night to completely bleach-out Light Amplification systems. Also, I think the self-dimming cockpit glass would become too dark to see through at night whilst a flare is traveling in your direction.

The way you described them functioning wouldn't fit with established lore, as almost everyone has pointed out, but I could still see them being effective in a sense. A magnesium flare launched at a 'Mech would seriously screw with both IR and Vislight systems, forcing the pilot on the receiving end to switch to MagRes until the effects wear off, which would be a serious pain in a highly magnetic area, such as cities or factory complexes. So, while I voted no to the original proposed Flare, I wouldn't be completely against them in retrospect.

Also, in regards to the transitioning ferroglass used on 'Mech cockpits, that has little to do with a Mechwarrior's vision. Unlike modern vehicles, Battlemechs use a holographic HUD with a 120-degree curve that gives the pilot full 360-degree vision around his 'Mech. During night operations this is what Mechwarriors are focused on, not looking out the ferroglass canopy.

[Nerts]

No to the giant flashbang flares, that's just dumb and doesn't make any sense.

Yes to illumination flares, they'd be great for night combat, particularly in urban combat, they'd be great at choke points or showing the rest of your lance where the guy with ECM or passive sensors is.
If they've got a half-decent range perhaps there could be another version of them with large magnets attached to the flare so they stick to mechs, that'd be a fantastic way of painting targets.

[verybad]

Flares wouldn't work. Here's why.

Any form of laser that is powerful enough to melt armor will be far brighter than any flare, so would explosions from other weapons.

The cockpit is hit on a regular basis by these forms of weapons, and so long as the armor holds, the pilot does not becomed blinded.

In addition, it is highly likely that despite the visual presentation of cockpit glass, most visual information is presented to the pilot in a filtered version, whether using digital dampers, filtered transparent material, or some other method.

If this were a viable solution against mechs, it would have been exploited already in the 500 years they have roamed the battlefield in Battletech.

Since it has not been mentioned or exploited in any canon weapon, it is reasonable to expact that if this were indeed viable, the problem has been dealt with, and is no longer reasonable.

Edited by verybad, 17 January 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[vampire seraphin]

tl;dr -->MW4 had flares. No one used them.

Long version --> MW4 had flares, no one used them because they took up weight and Light Amp or adjusting your gamma was much more effective. Basically from a game design perspective they were an albatross, a weapon that no one wanted. The bouncing flares saw even less use.

They could be, and on rare occasion were, used to screw with someone. Since they stuck to the mech in large numbers they could blind someone. Since they were boat-able they could be delivered in very large numbers. Since they stuck to the mech and had to then be animated for an extended period they caused lag badly. Many players FPS would slow to pathetic numbers. I know at least one who's machine couldn't handle it and dropped the server. They did almost no damage and to get enough on a mech for a meaningful effect they had to be boated. So basically, you ditched all combat effectiveness for a weapon no on ever used, and that only annoyed people on the few occasions they were used.

To be honest, in seven years of playing MW4 I played one, singular, one, match where flares were useful.

So, knowing that last time the weapon was included no one used it, which suggests no one is going to use it this time around, why would the devs waste their time animating and scripting a flare launcher?