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If you were, say, using a Catapult (an actual fire-support mech) you would want a good outlook on the battlefield. You enter the downtown area of Concourse with Passive Sensors online, and you try to climb the buildings. If you go to fast, you won't be able to decelerate in time to stop on the roof. Go to slow, and you won't get on the roof. If even the bottom part of your toe touches the building before you're over it, you lose ALL inertia and stop in mid-air and have to start climbing all over again. Whoopee.
Now, let's say you have a Gladiator with 3 CER-PPC's and 2 CGauss rifles and jumpjets. You park your metal arse behind a hill and look at your BAP-enhanced radar. Weight for them to reach 900m, jump, fire. Rinse and repeat. Your enemy can't see you long enough to hit you, because as soon as you appear, he gets blasted with 90 points of damage. He needs to find another way around, even if there isn't a way without being in line of sight. I'm not saying this tactic can't be combatted, but it is way too easy and even the elite can agree on that.
So...
If you want to throw a 90 metric ton mech into the air at 2G's in Earthish gravity, you need 2.6 million Newtons of thrust (comparable to some orbital rockets). My point is that when those things are rumbling, you shouldn't be able to aim with any precision. Your screen and reticle should shake eratically. It should eliminate "hill humpers" or at least make the tactic require a larger degree of skill.
Now, for proper, canon uses of jumpjets (like taking shortcuts, elevating yourself, DFA), I give you thrust vectoring.
We have it now, why not the 31st century? I'm not suggesting we have it like MechInsult (way too floaty). But there should be some degree of control beyond turning 2 degrees per second. 60 degrees/second for mechs 20-40 tons, 45 degrees/second for 45-65 tons, 30 degrees/second for 70+ ton mechs. Also, have some form of acceleration/deceleration as well, inertia taken into account. Jumpjets should be worth their weight, which IMO they haven't been in the past. Not even close.
Also, not really related to gameplay.
- make them SOOPER LOWD, because rockets that lift big tanks should do that!
- fusion exhaust burns at 1 million degrees minimum, some very minor damage to the legs would be cool
- flames and burn marks on the ground where you launch from
- damage to mechs below you (exhaust kills ftw?)
- hitting the ground without braking the fall with your jets should do leg damage, dizzy the pilot, and knock you over
- mass and velocity of the mech should come into account for DFA manouvers
- the jumpjet exhaust should be bright blue torches (fusion rocket propellant moves at 200km/s+)
- mechs shouldn't be standing still in the air, they should have one foot forward ready to absorb the fall
inb4 missile camping skrub (my other mech is a brawling Bushy, I swear)
Edited by Zakatak, 27 January 2012 - 04:11 PM.
