188 replies to this topic

[CoffiNail]

Evinthal, on 01 March 2012 - 11:27 AM, said:

If this IS the case then I will be buying myself one! Already looking to get a bigger monitor and a flight sim set up for this.

So, now i just need to know PGI has signed some deals with Razor, Steel Series, Logitech or some other big name device creator and I will be spending some good dollars this summer.

[Aegis Kleais]

Tsen Shang, on 01 March 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

Aegis, don't even joke about killstreaks. Killstreaks are a game ruiner.

heh heh heh. No worries buddy, I'm on your side. Killstreaks are a FPS game mechanic, not simulation. In this game, properly deployed tactics should reap their own rewards. (namely, success)

[CoffiNail]

I bet this is the first free time Bryan has probably had while gearing up for GDC to come answer some questions.

[Tsen Shang]

TheRulesLawyer, on 01 March 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

players head tracking...... As in track IR support?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I think you guys may be getting a little excited. Since the game is about visual spotting and the like, it's probably going to be similar to previous games where you could turn your pilot's head to look out part of your cockpit you previously couldn't see. I doubt they're including IR tracking.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Tsen Shang, on 01 March 2012 - 12:14 PM, said:

I think you guys may be getting a little excited. Since the game is about visual spotting and the like, it's probably going to be similar to previous games where you could turn your pilot's head to look out part of your cockpit you previously couldn't see. I doubt they're including IR tracking.

Maybe, maybe not. The video is exactly what head tracking would look like. Also it should be relatively simple to put in. All they need to do is expose the controls for the head cam so they can be bound just like any other joystick input. It's half a step away from hat support.

Edited by TheRulesLawyer, 01 March 2012 - 12:21 PM.

[Aegis Kleais]

The thing with TrackIR, I hear, is that it is extremely easy to setup. Once you have your cockpit created, it merely rigs the player camera to an object which controls its location and viewing direction within that space. Simply to add, and adds a massive boost to immersion.

The DAY PGI states TrackIR support, I will go buy one.

[Mchawkeye]

Loving this discussion. two reticules? outstanding. OUTstanding.

The cockpit looks just how I want it to look...Decent HUD, plenty of hardware readouts.

This is sexing me up crazy.

[Grithis]

Is it just me, or is that a Warhammer in picture 1, in the next mech bay?

[GargoyleKDR]

TrackIR is great to use, and fairly easy to adjust the settings for a game.

On the software side you set up profiles that allow you to adjust how much of your head movement is needed to move the onscreen views. It can go from a large head turn results in a small onscreen movement to a really small movement of your head spins the view 180 degrees. The same is used for up and down, in and out (zooms), etc.

On the hardware side it uses a USB infrared camera that registers a clip that is on your head. The basic clip goes on the brim of a ball cap. The advance (and sold separately) clip attaches to the side of any headset. I use the advanced clip, and I hardly notice it on my headset. The TrackIR system requires the clip because that is what it actually uses to measure the head movement.

[Orzorn]

Aegis Kleais™, on 01 March 2012 - 07:27 AM, said:

On the Sensor Display

Radar Mode: Passive
Vision Mode
Night Vision: On Off
Thermal: On Off
Magnetic: On Off
???

Looking at it again, this is what it all actually says (pretty sure):
Radar Mode: Active Passive

Vision Mode
Night Vision On Off
??? On Off
Magnetometer On Off
Thermal Vision On Off Jammed

This makes more sense to me, both because they're in alphabetic order, and because I can make out the word "vision" on the final sensor mode. The "magnetic vision" was never called that, as they call it "Magnetometer" in dev blog 4 (cont.), this also helps me to make the case because the word "Magnetometer" is longer than "Night Vision", as we can see both on this forum page and in the sensor screen.

I don't really have to make a case for Thermal being jammed, because its pretty clear.

[Tsen Shang]

Grithis, on 01 March 2012 - 12:26 PM, said:

Is it just me, or is that a Warhammer in picture 1, in the next mech bay?

It's a variant of the Hunchback, and it was confirmed in the video thread.

[verybad]

}{avoc, on 01 March 2012 - 07:16 AM, said:

In the hopes that we'll receive another spoiler:

Will these reticules act independently of each other, if so what will control them (for joystick users) and will they be able to converge (act like a target lock) so that torso and arm mounted weapons can attack the same section of a 'Mech?

Most likely they all aim at the same thing, but arm weapons lock faster as they're more mobile. This helps get people putting weapons in the arms, or using designs that have weapons in the arms, instead of going with all torso based weapons, which tend to last longer in games. If this is the case it's a smart move.

[GuntherK]

Aegis Kleais™, on 01 March 2012 - 11:36 AM, said:

heh heh heh. No worries buddy, I'm on your side. Killstreaks are a FPS game mechanic, not simulation. In this game, properly deployed tactics should reap their own rewards. (namely, success)

Yeah, yeah,.. sure sure...

I am so gonna sneak behind an Atlas with my Urbanmech and scream... BOOM AC20 HEADSHOT

[Hartsblade]

Bryan Ekman, on 01 March 2012 - 09:50 AM, said:

Yes the HUD is projected and follows the player's head tracking.

Does that hint at the possibility of the use of something like TrackIR?

[Grave]

Tsen Shang, on 01 March 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

The knight or duelist mentality largely died with the clans. It'll be gone shortly after launch, and dialed up to full blown no-holds-barred warfare, excluding nukes and other undesirables of course.

On the contrary...The clans engage in this "duelist" mentality as much as humanly possible. Spheroids exploit that tendency at their own risk - because breaking zellbringen unleashes even worse tactical odds on their inferior tech base when Clans start group firing on money bandits and mewling surat House troops. Clans are about honor first during the early years of the Clan invasion and that policy doesn't really change until Operation Bulldog or later.

[Tsen Shang]

Grave, on 01 March 2012 - 01:12 PM, said:

On the contrary...The clans engage in this "duelist" mentality as much as humanly possible. Spheroids exploit that tendency at their own risk - because breaking zellbringen unleashes even worse tactical odds on their inferior tech base when Clans start group firing on money bandits and mewling surat House troops. Clans are about honor first during the early years of the Clan invasion and that policy doesn't really change until Operation Bulldog or later.

The Inner Sphere used duels because technology was scarce and neither side could afford losing the mech AND the engagement/planet. The loser was allowed to bow out and concede defeat, but go home with their mech after paying a ransom.

Clans used 'duels' as a one on one test of strength, but the loser was still killed/mech destroyed and the pilot claimed because technology was not scarce. This is certainly not 'noble' in spirit as there was no quarter given or received.

The Inner Sphere practice of dueling is the only 'noble' version, and it stopped once the clans invaded due to no quarter. Clan 'honor' isn't noble.

If we were playing the succession wars then we could talk about how Battletech is about honorable duels between gentleman Mechwarriors, but we aren't, so it's not.

Edited by Tsen Shang, 01 March 2012 - 01:34 PM.

[Aegis Kleais]

GuntherK, on 01 March 2012 - 12:54 PM, said:

Yeah, yeah,.. sure sure...

I am so gonna sneak behind an Atlas with my Urbanmech and scream... BOOM AC20 HEADSHOT

Make sure you warm up those legs to get yourself as far away from the Atlas at 32KPH as you can after screaming that on comms

Edited by Aegis Kleaisâ„¢, 01 March 2012 - 01:34 PM.

[verybad]

Grave, on 01 March 2012 - 01:12 PM, said:

On the contrary...The clans engage in this "duelist" mentality as much as humanly possible. Spheroids exploit that tendency at their own risk - because breaking zellbringen unleashes even worse tactical odds on their inferior tech base when Clans start group firing on money bandits and mewling surat House troops. Clans are about honor first during the early years of the Clan invasion and that policy doesn't really change until Operation Bulldog or later.

The clans are idealistic fools. They want to be efficient, and claim zellbrigen, or using the minimal amount of forces is efficent, and yet that's inherently false. A major part of winning wars is based on Generals developing numerical or tactical advantages. It's far more efficient to win with large force advantages as you take fewer losses that way.

This is of course, why the Clans lost their invasive war. They're great individual warriors, they don't know how to fight a real war. If they'd fought as an army, they'd have taken Terra by the end of the 3050s.

There was quite a bit of evidence of Nicholas Kerensky being nuttier than a bird feeder.

I can't wait for them to be introduced into the game, I'm gonna beat them with IS tech, and listen to Clan wannabe's whing about surat, or chreating, or legging, or not standing still in front of their supermechs while they blow me up.

I simply can not wait.

Edited by verybad, 01 March 2012 - 01:50 PM.

[Orzorn]

Bryan Ekman, on 01 March 2012 - 09:40 AM, said:

Spoiler

There are two cursors. One for arms and one for torso. Players are not able to customize which weapons go on which cursor, as this is a function of BattleMech design. No arm weapons, no arm cursor.

I love this so much.

If this works the way I think it will (if you've ever played Assault Tech 1: Battletech, that's exactly how I'm imagining this. If you haven't, then its basically MW3 pinpoint cursor, but only for your arms, with a MW2/MW4 cursor stuck in the center of the screen for any torso mounted weapons), then here's my thoughts on it.

But not just because it gives us an extra element of control. No, no. It also TAKES AWAY an element.
"What?!" you say, but listen to this: In previous MW games, all weapons followed the cursor, which was either fixed to the torso (all MW games except MW3), or a pinpoint mark of death (MW3). Sure you could move your look to the left or right in MW3 and MW4 to use your arms better, but I rarely saw people use it, and when they did it didn't make a huge difference due to the fact that most people moved their weapons to their torsos because arms were easily destroyed.

What this means now, however, is that an Atlas has tons of powerful weapons, we all know that. However, all of those weapons (Except 2 medium lasers) are attached to its torso. It can not do great damage at all to its sides, leaving it very vulnerable and forcing it to always torso twist to bring its weapons to bear.

However, mechs like the Centurion have a powerful autocannon attached to their arm, allowing them to bring stronger weapons to bear on their targets, faster and more accurately, without torso twisting.

This gives many mechs different advantages, and also downplays the insane strength of assaults like the Atlas. They do a lot of damage, but they have to deal with torso twisting to accomplish this.

[Aegis Kleais]

verybad, on 01 March 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

The clans are idealistic fools. They want to be efficient, and claim zellbrigen, or using the minimal amount of forces is efficent, and yet that's inherently false. A major part of winning wars is based on Generals developing numerical or tactical advantages.

This is of course, why the Clans lost their invasive war. They're great individual warriors, they don't know how to fight a real war. If they'd fought as an army, they'd have taken Terra by the end of the 3050s.

There was quite a bit of evidence of Nicholas Kerensky being nuttier than a bird feeder.

I can't wait for them to be introduced into the game, I'm gonna beat them with IS tech, and listen to Clan wannabe's whing about surat, or chreating, or legging, or not standing still in front of their supermechs while they blow me up.

I simply can not wait.

So impatient for a quick, dishonorable death, are we? No worries; our superior technology and soldiers will not only grant your wish, but do so faster than you can say "Oh sh*t, I'm dead."

I don't care if you're some filthy Fedrat, weasely Drac or any other House lackey. We're genetically bred for war, you're merely bred for slaughter.

I'll see you on the battlefield, quiaff?