Posted 02 November 2011 - 04:59 PM
So anyway, I'm just going to jump in and basically give the consensus of this similar thread that was beaten to death a hundred times over at MekTek.net
There Must be a MechLab in the game for it to truly be a MechWarrior game (which is confirmed to be, Q&A)
However, there are very glaring flaws in both the MW2/3 and MW4 Mechlab layouts. The prior being "too much freedom" where for instance you can take a catapult, and load its arm missile racks to the brink with lasers. Also, allows MANY 'mechs which are clearly meant to not mount some equipment and JJ's the ability to with ZERO consequence. For instance, the 'mech Wolverine originally came with JJ's, but due to faulty design they were VERY inconsistent and unreliable, resulting in many to simply remove them altogether in later productions. But say in the "open criticals" style Mechlab, there is no repercussions to any clearly "stupid" setups.
Now looking at the glaring flaws of the MW4 "hardpoint" style of the Mechlab, it took MANY variables out the equation entirely and made the Mechlab too simple. Weapons no longer take up "real" space in the 'mech, ammo takes up no space, there is no such thing as a CASE for ammo explosions (although that's really just a problem with MW4 in general) JJ's and equipment take up no "real" space, bigger engines, heat sinks, endo steel, ferro fiberous armor..... yeah the list is nearly endless. All that **** on your 'mech TAKES UP SPACE!!!! (if anyone is familiar with MP3 for MW4:Mercs, the Wildcat case and point. There is NO WAY in hell that you can fit TWO Gauss rifles in the CT) Also, another problem less noted in the MW4 "Hardpoint" system is ammo is allocated to indivdual weapons only. For instance, say you put two AC/5's on your mech. Besides getting a free ton of ammo, you now need to make a choice. Spend TWO extra tons, so each gun has an additional ton spend a single ton so one of the two guns inevitably run out of ammo while the other has plenty.
But anyway, while both have their flaws, the best solution was a "Hybrid" system where all criticals on your 'mech must be accounted for, yet only specific weapon types can be allocated in specific areas. Battlemechs are not as customizable as Omnimechs, despite how convient it appears in the past games. While Omnimechs may be able to mount a plethora of different weapon types in its arms, a battlemech is specially made to fit only one specific type of gun or two in its arms/torsos.
-- For instance, lets bring back the Catapult. In MW4, it had 4 "hardpoint" slots in its arms for weapons, specific types of missiles taking up one or more hardpoints. On top of that, each 'mechs arms come with 12-16 available critical slots in which to fill with equipment, guns or ammo. Say I wish to put a LRM 20 in each arm. That LRM would require 2 Hardpoints (MW4) and 4 criticals (Mw2). Great! I can fit that, and still have room around to play with. But I now must fill in the rest of my ciritcals with a CASE, Ammo, heatsinks, and any other equipment now, since potentially I'll need all my criticals in my torsos for JJ's more Heatsinks, endo-steel and whatever else I may need.
--I can't, however, take a Gladiator, fill it with 3 CERPPCs and 2 CGauss Rifles, JJ's and heatsinks/ammo and just go. (MW4 Poptart classic). There is simply NO WAY there is enough room in that 'mech to fit all of that! Even with double heat sinks, that Gladiator would be cooking itself trying to fire those jump jets, and cool itself down. Those CGauss are MASSIVE and take up I believe 12 criticals (I might be off on that number), which would take up the entirety of boths its torsos. Well that still leaves its arms open right? Well ok, but now where the hell do you plan on putting the 3 CERPPS (a ppc took 3 crits a pop) the ammo for the CGauss, at least 10 double heatsinks (2 crits a pop on those suckers) to keep it them moderately cool. Thats another 26 criticals right there! Keep in mind I haven't even included the JJ's which are huge for an assault, and Endo-Steel and Ferro-Fiberous armor to give it enough weight to allow it to carry that loadout tonnage. But oh wait, those ALSO take up a bit of criticals, too!!
Either way, that setup would NEVER work. There is a reason 'mechs like the Stone Rhino are massive and VERY deadly with two CGauss.