58 replies to this topic

[Yogibear24]

I think coolant should just be a very, very expensive module that takes up twice or maybe three times the space a normal module would. So maybe you would lose 3 sensors, and only have coolant. It would be fair because you no longer have the same radar range as other people. And then they can just snipe you down or ambush you before you can even use the coolant in battle.

[CoffiNail]

interesting on the sarna article on coolant flushing with pods. Apparently it has a pretty good chance of even damaging your much, forcing coolant through at a higher rate than normal... Omnimechs themselves cannot even reliably use the system.

Eitherway, I vote no to coolant in any form tbh, maybe a year or two down the road we could see coolant pods or something.

[Marvin Martian]

Philipe von Rohrs, on 06 February 2012 - 09:40 AM, said:

I see no issues with Coolant Pods as a method to get a quick heat reduction, they are expensive and take up valuable Heatsink/Weapon space so the choice is yours. But IIRC, the Clans invented them, and in the "future"...

You are correct sir! I forgot to put it in context with the timeline. In that case, I think coolant flushes shouldn't be included at release.

I hope the environment plays a role in heat management. It was fun to include it in Battletech and gave extra ways to strategize.

[Outlaw2]

Coolant Pods that take up space/tonnage and are as a one-time deal for temporary increase in heat reduction could be ok.... except that coolant pods are a rare advance tech that isn't around during 3049. They come into production sometime after word of blake shows up (3058).

Edited by =Outlaw=, 06 February 2012 - 10:06 AM.

[SilentObserver]

Prosperity Park, on 06 February 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

Well, it's now an Open Topic for public discussion in the The 3 biggest Heatsink efficiency modifiers should be wind (because that whisks away hot air from your heatsink surfaces), water (because it transfers heat many, many times faster than air), and atmospheric pressure (because that determines how much air is present to perform heat exchange).

I am against the coolant flush. It never really made sense that the Mech had this reserve of super cooled coolant that refilled. Whats cooling the reserve and why isnt it just part of the regular coolant system. I agree with some folks above that said part of what made MW2 so fun was having to manage your heat levels and if you got out of control having to dodge gunfire until your mech cooled down enough to re-engage.

While modeling atmospheric pressure/density would be interesting i would hate to drop into a fight on a moon with practically no atmosphere and find out that my heatsinks basically didn't work AT ALL. That would be a slow fight.

[Durant Carlyle]

Naughtyboy, on 06 February 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

Not sure if this belongs here..but the option too shut off heatsinks should be a part of the game, i know pilots with MASC systems like that to keep a high heat level for their MASC to work witout the need to blast off weapons all over.

MASC doesn't benefit from high heat levels. Perhaps you are thinking about Triple Strength Myomer (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/TSM) instead?

[yngvef]

I've always assumed that coolant flush consists of dumping coolant and replacing it with cold un-used coolant from a spare tank (that runs dry after a short while). It would seem strange to keep coolant (i.e. weight) that you don't use, but it could work as a sort of "emergency blow" in a submarine. You use a finite resource (cold coolant in this case) to temporarily mitigate a problem.

If included, maybe the flush tanks should be single use to prevent people from spamming the flush button to maintain a higher rate of fire than possible. Let's say that an extra coolant tank weighs 1 ton, reduces heat by 5000 kelvin - once. Would be great to save your mech if you are a laser boat, but only once... unless you add another ton of coolant, and then you'd have to reduce on something else.

It could be properly balanced, and add another tactical dimension to the mech loadout.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that most people find heat management as important and interesting as I do

[CoffiNail]

yngvef, on 06 February 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

I've always assumed that coolant flush consists of dumping coolant and replacing it with cold un-used coolant from a spare tank (that runs dry after a short while). It would seem strange to keep coolant (i.e. weight) that you don't use, but it could work as a sort of "emergency blow" in a submarine. You use a finite resource (cold coolant in this case) to temporarily mitigate a problem.

If included, maybe the flush tanks should be single use to prevent people from spamming the flush button to maintain a higher rate of fire than possible. Let's say that an extra coolant tank weighs 1 ton, reduces heat by 5000 kelvin - once. Would be great to save your mech if you are a laser boat, but only once... unless you add another ton of coolant, and then you'd have to reduce on something else.

It could be properly balanced, and add another tactical dimension to the mech loadout.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that most people find heat management as important and interesting as I do

either way the coolant pods are cononly not in our timeframe.

[yngvef]

CoffiNail, on 06 February 2012 - 10:23 AM, said:

either way the coolant pods are cononly not in our timeframe.

Ah, I didn't know that

Ok, no coolant pods or coolant flush...

But everything else: heatsinks and environmental conditions

[$imon Osis]

i agree with no coolant.....compaired to a ton of u ppl who have been playing MW since the begining i have only play MW4 merc's, vengence and black night i also played MechAssult 1 and 2 for Xbox and i must say i thought at first when on MW4 that coolant was a grate was to get your self out of a tuff spot, but then i started playing MA 1 an 2 an they didnt have coolant on ether of those game if u over heated u had to wait to cool off (i.e. u had to mange your heat) an i found that it took alot more skill to do it that way...so even thought MA was like playing a arcade style or MW they definely had the heat manegment the way it should have been

[CoffiNail]

yngvef, on 06 February 2012 - 10:28 AM, said:

But everything else: heatsinks and environmental conditions

Agreed!

[Durant Carlyle]

Coolant flushing without a coolant truck (http://www.sarna.net...i/Coolant_Truck): no
Variable environmental conditions: yes

[CoffiNail]

Durant Carlyle, on 06 February 2012 - 10:40 AM, said:

Coolant flushing without a coolant truck (http://www.sarna.net...i/Coolant_Truck): no
Variable environmental conditions: yes

interesting read. I think it could be interesting to have a coolant truck, but I can see it being a awful lot of work,

[Joseph Calvert]

Yeah the coolant truck would be work , but it would keep the flush in the game and it not be abused.

[Helmer]

I've always liked the idea of coolant . It seems to Fit the feel of the universe as well
And I like that it's another resource to keep track of.

But the reality of it is , its too unbalancing and gives laser boats a big advantage . Great in theory , poor for gameplay.

Edited by Helmer, 06 February 2012 - 11:28 AM.

[a rabid chihuahua]

Durant Carlyle, on 06 February 2012 - 10:40 AM, said:

Coolant flushing without a coolant truck (http://www.sarna.net...i/Coolant_Truck): no
Variable environmental conditions: yes

Why do I get an image of a coolant truck spraying dwon a bunch of mechs,running and jumping around like a bunch of kids ? lol

[CoffiNail]

Maybe a coolant in the form of a slow reduction of heat. Not this crazy press of a button, the coolant flushes and you mech is now at 15% heat from 85% maybe to get that it could take 5 to 10 seconds.

[Strum Wealh]

CoffiNail, on 06 February 2012 - 10:23 AM, said:

either way the coolant pods are cononly not in our timeframe.

Actually, it would seem that they are...

According to Sarna, the Federated Commonwealth started IS coolant pod production in 3049.
The Clans were developing similar systems separately but in parallel, with the Clan coolant pod introduced by Clan Steel Viper in 3056.
So, canonically, the IS would have coolant pods at the point at which MWO starts, but the Clans would have to wait another seven years to have their own version.

Also, both sides (IS and Clan) seem to have access to their own variants of coolant truck (supported by the statement, "...after the collapse of the Star League, a new battlefield etiquette evolved among both the Inner Sphere and Clans which extended a special 'courtesy' to a cooler-hooked 'Mech - the enemy will usually ignore a 'Mech that is hooked to a cooler, as long as it does not shoot, becoming fair game after disconnecting and moving a few meters away...").

Also, the match environment should definitely have a role to play in heating and cooling rates!

[SilentObserver]

CoffiNail, on 06 February 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

Maybe a coolant in the form of a slow reduction of heat. Not this crazy press of a button, the coolant flushes and you mech is now at 15% heat from 85% maybe to get that it could take 5 to 10 seconds.

Maybe we could have a system were heat is constantly being reduced on the mech. It could be based on how many critical slots and tonnage you allocate to heat reduction hardware. It would make sense for it to run all the time.

Just shooting in the dark here but lets say 1 ton and 1 critical for each piece of heat reduction hardware. If a critical slot gets hit then the system loses 1 ton of head reducing capacity.

Now i just need to think up a name for these heat reducers. Give me some time. i'll think of something

[CoffiNail]

SilentObserver, on 06 February 2012 - 01:04 PM, said:

Maybe we could have a system were heat is constantly being reduced on the mech. It could be based on how many critical slots and tonnage you allocate to heat reduction hardware. It would make sense for it to run all the time.

Just shooting in the dark here but lets say 1 ton and 1 critical for each piece of heat reduction hardware. If a critical slot gets hit then the system loses 1 ton of head reducing capacity.

Now i just need to think up a name for these heat reducers. Give me some time. i'll think of something