116 replies to this topic

[Steel Talon]

From technical point of view, expect them to look like in MW living legends (MWLL) because they are using almost same engine

[The Paleo King]

I prefer the look of the MW4 Mercs PPCs. The MechAssault PPCs also look pretty nice (and probably more photo-realistic), but they should not have homing capability as they are a BEAM WEAPON NOT A MISSILE!

I grew up with the MW2 "blue balls" PPCs but I admit they are not all that realistic.

[Grayson Pryde]

MW3 PPCs looked nice and i would like to see them with new graphics

So +1 for MW3!

[Chuckie]

I like the look and feel of MW:LLs PPC

[Bernard Matthaios]

Chuckie, on 15 January 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

I like the look and feel of MW:LLs PPC

+1

By far my favorite PPC to date

[Fyrwulf]

Liam, on 14 January 2012 - 03:53 PM, said:

Fyrwulf it is almost impossible to achieve relativistic velocities in gas (air) environment.

And yet to keep beam cohesion and deliver substantial damage, even with a channel, you need relativistic speeds. There's just no getting around that fact.

Quote

The problem with neutral atoms you cant accelerate them property.

The acceleration would happen before the particles achieved a neutral charge, so I don't see the problem. And the really nice thing about neutral beams is that you can use some really heavy particles to increase the damage.

[PyroAcid]

The Particle Projector Cannon (or PPC) is a unique energy weapon. PPCs fire a concentrated stream of protons or ions at a target, causing damage through both thermal and kinetic energy.^[3] As such, despite being an energy weapon, it produces recoil. The lethality of the weapon rivals that of a higher-caliber autocannon; just three shots from a PPC will vaporize two tons of standard military-grade armor.^[4] Targets hit by multiple, simultaneous PPCs can also suffer electrical side-effects, such as overloaded computer systems or targeting sensors.^[5] The ion beam also extends to much farther ranges than autocannon fire, though PPCs generate large amounts of waste heat.
PPCs are equipped with a Field Inhibitor to prevent feedback which could damage the firing unit's electronic systems.^[6] This inhibitor degrades the performance of the weapon at close ranges of less than 90 meters. Particularly daring warriors have been known to disengage the inhibitor and risk damage to their own machine when a target is at close range. words from http://www.sarna.net/wiki/PPC

in short ....

it is a blueish white ion beam

it has recoil! this means you will have to upgrade your targeting computer to alpah with ofther weapon systems.

it wil knock your mech around when you get hit unlike the laser .

it will do eletronic damage to user at 90m or less effecting your weapons fire,movement,hud,targeting

boating them wil not onley over heat you but also screw up your computers even if your mech can take the heat

http://www.sarna.net...at_PPC_fire.jpg

Edited by PyroAcid, 16 January 2012 - 12:16 AM.

[NotNewHere]

In real life a lightning bolt is formed when a stream of ionized particles comes down from a cloud at around 25,000 mph. These then lay the trail for a massive pulse of energy moving at nearly the speed of light to surge through the ions like they are copper wire. I think a firing ppc should fire a thin bolt of ions at roughly the same speed that ppc's move in mw4. After a small delay the target should then take the damage.

[SumthinBurnin]

Fyrwulf, on 12 January 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

Strum Wealh, on 12 January 2012 - 07:09 PM, said:

Since they're often described in the novels as "cerulean beams/bolts of man-made lightning", I would like PPC salvos to be depicted as such - a visual effect akin to a bolt from a Tesla coil or a salvo from Quake Wars' lightning gun (or even some combination thereof) and a sound effect akin to either the sound of an active Tesla coil or a thunderclap (or even some combination thereof).

Your thoughts?

Those are the best representations i have seen. bye bye ball ppc shots.

[Pave Low]

Yeah I hated the floating ball thing in MW4 I think. The way it 'exploded' on target looked a bit like goo covered part of the enemy mech for a while.

Anyway, I'm all for lightening streaks. When it hits the target, it looks like a bolt of lightening has hit struck. Very dramatic. I agree with what most have said on this for sure.

[Chuckie]

PyroAcid, on 15 January 2012 - 11:36 PM, said:

just three shots from a PPC will vaporize two tons of standard military-grade armor.

That is why I love the 4 PPC variant of the Awesome

Slower than all get out.. but don't get near its mid range or in its cross hairs.. Your toasty if I get a bid on you..

[aDuck]

Definitely going to go with a beam, but not looking like a laser. MW4 did it well, and MW:LL does it well too. And as they are described as "man made lightning" over and over, I would see it in no other way aside from a bolt of lightning coming out of the gun, and hopefully with a loud *CRACK* of thunder to go with it.

[PyroAcid]

for those fans of the ball and bolts or toroid

this is what you want

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

just to bad its a 3060 weapon.

Edited by PyroAcid, 16 January 2012 - 06:19 AM.

[Grisly]

I thought MW4's version of PPC effects were good. This included the electrical-field-effect covering the target's contact area.

[DDAYGI]

I like the look of the MW4 PPC's the others were good but the man made lightining thing looks cool in 4.

[Kip Wilson]

A PPC is really just a weaponized version of an Ion thruster that exists today. Both accellerate charged particals in order to create an effect. In an Ion drive, this is thrust. In a PPC, its damage in the form of thermal and kinetic energy.

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Ion_thruster

What we see here is that the Ion thruster produces a blue beam like object, which looks kind of whispy. A high power weapon version I would surmise would only increase the look. Less whispy with a thicker beam.

The exhaust of the Ion thruster isn't really any appreciable fraction of c but it is in the 10s of kilometers per second range. Considering the range of a PPC is only about 1200 meters, and assuming an "exhaust velocity" of 10km/s a PPC beam/bolt/ball would take a little more than 1/10th of a second to traverse its effective range. (im rounding here)

We also know from the wiki page, Ion thrusters cannot work in an atmosphere, so some sort of plasma channel would be needed to direct a PPC's beam on a planet (most likely an low powered ionizing laser, which could also do double duty as a laser targeting rangefinder for the PPC as well) but this is just a side point.

Weather a PPC fires a beam, bolt or ball, what would appear would really be determined by the discharge speed of the PPC hardware itself, not any physical properties of the Ion beam/ball/bolt. If the PPC discharged its entire entire store of enery in 1/10th second or longer, the resulting effect would be a beam (considering the speed of the travelling ions is 10km/s). If the discharge rate was say between 1/10th and 1/100th of a second, it would appear like a bolt. If the discharge speed was faster than 1/100th of a second, then it would be more ball like. So the argument that different PPC manufacturers could have different visuals to their weapons could really be true. All depending on the hardware and particular design of the PPC. There is the reason why the Battletech universe includes things like the DeathBlossom and Lords Light PPC models instead of every Battlemech in the universe come equipped with simply "PPC".

With all that being said, our eyes can really only register speeds of up to a few miles an hour accurately, so even if the discharge was greater than 1/100th of a second, the discharge of a PPC would still appear bolt-like to our eyeballs as the ball's after image continues to register on our corneas. (think sparklers in the night, writing out words and pictures in the air, or dancers at a rave with their glow-sticks)

So, my vote is for beam, though a bolt-like look wouldn't be too bad or far-fetched either.

[James McCraney]

Kip Wilson, on 16 January 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

[color=#959595]Weather a PPC fires a beam, bolt or ball, what would appear would really be determined by the discharge speed of the PPC hardware itself, not any physical properties of the Ion beam/ball/bolt[/color]

Exactly. I think we can agree that a homing ball a la MA is not what a PPC should be, but I would hesitate to discount the the ball image completely. I picture them as a small white teardrop shape trailed by a long blue haze, but more akin to a comet's than anything in MA. I don't know if I would say wispy, but I see where you're going with that and agree. It's not a beam like a laser or a bolt like lightning, it's its own beast and I think the trailer in the PPC did a great job of capturing that.

[LordKnightFandragon]

If I had to pick a way to make PPCs look Id have to put in my vote for the MW3 model. Id also vote for that to be the way the Gauss Rifle looks as well...MW3 model...

[Tarriss Halcyon]

PyroAcid, on 16 January 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

for those fans of the ball and bolts or toroid

this is what you want

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

just to bad its a 3060 weapon.

Uh, something tells me that those weapons won't appear. Always BattleArmor only. No way are the developers gonna go so far OOC and make a weapon, designed for something as small as BattleArmor, upscaled for a mech. Besides, that's essentially a solid-stream or ball flamer, not a PPC, which essentially fills it's place. Your point is moot.

[EDMW CSN]

Man made lightning ftw