119 replies to this topic

[Jern]

I really appreciate the detailed information on the mech controls and systems. I am also pleased to hear comments from the development team that assert that this is more simulation than arcade. My main question is concerning the pace of the game play.

Q: How quickly will the various weapons systems recycle?

The rate of weapon recycle and heat dissipation will dictate more than anything if this game feels more like a simulator or more like an arcade game. If there is 15 plus seconds between the recycles of the larger weapons systems, it allows time for tactical maneuverer such as falling back to cover etc. It will also be more true to the TT game than any of the MW series games which felt very arcade like with many weapons systems that recycled in 1 to 3 seconds and nearly all systems recycled in no more than 5 seconds. This ruins the feel of the game and if mech just stands or circle strafes spamming a nearly constant barrage of weapons till they finally overheat .. it will lose much of the hoped for simulator feel.

Thanks,

Edited by Jern, 08 March 2012 - 07:17 PM.

[Romack]

In table top when taking massive damage a piolt skill check is made to see if your mech stays on its feet. Will there be any negative effects from taking damage like falling or lose of control.

Edited by Romack, 09 March 2012 - 05:59 AM.

[Ragotag]

Damon Howe, on 07 March 2012 - 04:16 PM, said:

...will customization of mechs weapons, armor, etc be allowed at all or will they be strictly limited to 'known' variants?

(I know we've asked this one before, but being it mech warfare month and all...)

To expand on this one, are there any game mechanics that govern the degree of customization for a mech's weapon loadout? In other words, will we see dedicated missile boats, PPC boats, Large Laser boats, etc.?

Edited by Ragotag, 08 March 2012 - 07:15 PM.

[Ragotag]

Q1: Will all weapons hit their targets in the exact center of the target reticule, or will their be a weapon specific cone-of-fire within which weapon fire will randomly impact?


Q2: You mentioned that ammunition has to be purchased between engagements. How about weapons for custom builds? If so, will there be a reasonable cost difference between ammo-based weapons (lower cost) verses energy based weapons which do not require ammo (much higher cost)?

[Silent]

Will we be able to power down our Mechs voluntarily and hide from certain radar and/or targeting?

[GD26]

My question concerns navigation.

You announced that we'll have a navigational map in the cockpit based on square grids. So it'll be quite easy for my commander to tel me: move to square C5 NE.” I'd know that I'd have to go to the upper-right corner of that grid-square.
That's fine. But what I'd like to know is the following:

Will the compass inside the cockpits actually work?
I mean, in both MW3 and MW4, the navigation compasses were plain useless. Just being there for the sake of being there. Your mech was the magnetic point. So a team-mate who was 2000 meters from you and behind a mountain had no idea which direction you would head once you told him that you're moving on a 090 course! No mini-maps divided in grid-squares either. But funny enough: we had compasses in the cockpits!

Will we get compasses attuned to the ”magnetic north” (i.e. North of each map) so that when I announce a course of 090 my team-mates (once they see in which gridsquare I am) will know exactly in which direction I'll travell?

The compass would have to indicate the legs' position and not the torso's/cockpit's.
I'm talking about precise bearings and headings here. Just like real-life ships and submarines are using.

I've posted an entire thread asking the community about this issue. In spite of being viewed over 50 times, no one cared to comment!

[Siilk]

* In TT, pilots have a chance to prevent an overheat-induced ammo explosion(gameplay-wise a saving throw is made). How this situation would be treated in MWO? Would a player have to react to a warning of sort and initiate a fire extinguishing system to deal with ammo bay fire(or maybe jettison ammo to, at least, save the mech from explosion)? Or maybe there would be a random chance of ammo exploding, depending on the heat level? Or is it purely "reach heat level X, your ammo explodes, period" and there would be no chance to prevent this, rather than keeping mech heat below some pre-determined level?
Personally, I'd prefer the first scenario(active response to the warning) as it's always a good when there are no "random chance" involved and player action can make a difference.

* Would there be no separate hitbox for rear torso? I cannot see RT indicator on the damage diagram so I am worried about this one.

Also, +1 th the following questions:

breeze, on 07 March 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

4) Is there a maximum/minimum effective range for weapons? In the TT version, there's penalties for not using a weapon in its optimum range. Would this be reflected in MWO? For example, there could be arming distance for long ranged missiles, or perhaps either damage reduction or splash damage to myself for using a PPC up close.

Aegis Kleais™, on 07 March 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

Q. Will same chassis, but different varaint Mechs visually look different so that weapons mounted in specified locations are reflected on the model itself?

Q. How do Mechs react to having their leg destroyed? Does it lock up at a failed actuator? Does the leg act as a crutch and slow movement? Does the leg break off and immobilize the Mech? Can a Mech survive with 2 broken legs?

Q. Will excessive heat have visual effects on the pilot in tandem with the adverse affects on the Mech's operational status, such as blurred vision or temporarily passing out?

Q. Can you go into depth explaining the game's implementation of the Radar modes available and their affect on detection as well as limitations on weapons?

Q. What kind of damage will a jumpjetting Mech sustain if it lets itself fall from the apex of a jump and does not attempt to soften the landing with thrusts?

Q. Can you go into how MWO is implementing engine and internal structure customizations in the Mech Lab? Does the Mech Lab utilize hardpoints, critical space or some new mechanic?

Q. Aside from shutting down, are there ever times when the HUD will not be available? (ie, PPC hit, requires HUD reboot, or a electronics subsystem failure)

[Felbombling]

Autocannon weapons are depicted in game canon as a rapid-fire weapon with 'clips' of ammuniton that are expended per pull of the trigger... sort of like a rapid 'Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam' sound and effect as multiple shells are fired over a few seconds. A PPC blast, based on game canon, should look like a beam of blue, electrical energy, not a kooky ball of lighting like many Mechwarrior games have used in the past... etc.

Q: When designing weapons effects for the game, what considerations did you need to grapple with in order to make the game mechanics fit with a simulation rather than a ten second 'round' of table top play, and how far off canon did that force your hand?

[Listless Nomad]

If allies can feed their teammates targeting information - does that mean that firesupport mechs (ala the Catapult) can receive LRM locks from allies as well? Will that require a module?

[Khushrenada]

question(chain) regarding targetting and firing weapons:

do i need to have an enemy mech targetted (by pressing T) to fire my weapons at him? or is it enough to put my crosshairs on his body?

i guess this also depends on how the ecm actually works, does it display wrong informations on my hud and therefor my weapons may aim at the wrong point and miss the target, or does it just delay the time until i can get a target lock on my enemy? if it only delays my target lock on and i can fire my weapons without a lock on, ecm would only be useful against missile systems.

another point is, some people already talked about multi-target shooting cause of the seperate crosshairs of the torso and arm mounted weapons. without a target lock beeing needed to fire your weapons, it is possible, but with a target lock beeing required to fire your weapons it would be impossible, since you can only target one opponent at a time (or will it be possible to get multi targetting by a module or skill?).

example: take that situation in the screenshot. you are aiming at the atlas in front of you. your arm weapons have already aimed on the atlas, but you are waiting for your torso weapons to move into firing position. now in that moment a small mech emerges from behind the atlas where he was closing in in the line-of-sight cover of his big buddy, right in the moment when your torso weapons move over that position where the small mech is standing now, will i be able to fire both weapon groups? the arm weapons on the target locked atlas and the torso weapons at the unlocked small mech?

in the canon mechwarriors had to lock on to every target with every weapon, not only missiles. but they were able to shoot without a target lock as well, risking a high missing chance. that might be a way to approach it, you need a solid lock on an enemy mech to hit it with high accuracy, but you can also shoot not locked targets at the cost of a high accuracy penalty?

[Victor Morson]

I have a question that is a concern of myself and several longtime MechWarrior veterans, though it only mildly relates to the Role Warfare situation - specifically the usefulness of different types of chassis.

How do you plan on balancing typically ineffective weaponry? In past MechWarrior games and even in table top, weapons such as the Autocannon/2, Autocannon/5 and Machine Gun are notoriously bad weapons, and designs that employ them suffer as a result. They are simply too heavy for their damage output to justify them (MGs excluded), in addition to the ammunition factors. To date, only one game - Living Legends - got around this by giving them bonuses against aircraft, infantry and light armor - all things that are non-issues in MWO. Their range advantage is also hard to argue as you can get a great deal more firepower in the form of LRMs or Gauss Rifles with similar range capabilities.

The concern is really notable with chassis like The Dragon, where most variants center around an AC/5 for firepower- which for all intents and purposes is similar to relying on something with the firepower of an ER Medium Laser as your main weapon for a heavy 'mech. I realize it's a tricky balancing act trying to both present canon accurately and make every weapon and 'mech useful in the game, and I would love to hear developer thoughts on the issue.

Edited by Victor Morson, 09 March 2012 - 11:05 AM.

[wwiiogre]

alright in the game trailers sequence of actual mechs battling there were multiple times that it appeared mechs were using medium lasers attempting to shoot other mechs way outside of the canon ranges for a medium laser. Canon is 30 meters per hex, 9 hex range or 270 meters total range, with level three rules allowing another 90 meters range for extreme range shots for a total of 360 meters. As well as the small laser shooting past canon ranges.

Now that being said, are there going to be ranges including max range per weapon type, or are the weapons going to lose damage and accuracy at range different from canon?

chris

[ENDMYSUFFERING]

How much environmental destruction will there be? Will there be core explosions if a mech is hit in the right spot enough times?

[MilitantMonk]

Will there be any sort of picture-in-picture rear and side camera or at least a toggle to look in those directions?

[ArchSight]

From the gameplay I saw, cockpit rocking isn't as severe like in mechwarrior4. In the past, I used the knockback of weapons hitting them to cause players to miss some of their shots with good timing or chain fire. Why isn't this tactic being carried over to MechWarrior Online?

Edited by ArchSight, 09 March 2012 - 02:15 PM.

[Damion Wolf]

I understand there will be pre-set weapon groups that the players must select. What I would like to know is; will there be the option to assign weapon group triggers? For example, in MW4: Mercs, I was able to assign buttons to fire weapon groups. In practice I had my left and right mouse keys assigned as primary/secondary weapons/weapon clusters (ie. primary long range and secondary short range) with a letter key ("F") for Long Range Missiles. How much will we be able to customize our own controls?

Off topic but also a subject of great interest for me, will we be able to mute other players or add them to an "Ignore" list?

[Solis Obscuri]

• Are SRMs going to have guidance? It looks like they might from the GDC videos, but it's a little hard to tell.
  
• From watching the GDC video, Medium Lasers have a large discharge time, but recharge pretty quickly. I notice the AC/20 is actaully reloading slower. Overall, the cycle time seems about the same for both weapons. How are you going to maintain ballistic/energy weapon balance, if not by cycle time?
  
• Likewise, the missiles in the GDC video seem to cycle pretty fast. I think that's mostly ok for SRMs, but the LRMs cycle just as fast. Again, how is this being balanced against the ballistic weapons, which typically occupy more weight and space and require more precise aim?
  
• Also, what are the repurcussions of heat management? I see a lot of running at or above the redline in the GDC video, but no real repurcussions shown. Are negative effects from overheating implemented yet, and how will they be handled?
  
• Will Flamers be able to increase the heat levels of enemy 'mechs, possibly to critical levels?
  
• Both the Role Warfare and Mech Combat devblogs mention that we'll be able to get sensor data from our lancemates. Will this also include targetting data for indirect LRM fire? If so, will it work through the battlegrid, or will we be able to "lock" directly on the non-LOS target?
  
• We haven't seen anything with the battle grid yet. Can we get a preview?
  
• How will controls work for jump-jetting?
  
• Will we have a "down" cam for jump-jetting? I don't see DFA being real feasible without one.

[Name140704]

What 'mechs will be available at launch?

(Worth a try)

[borisof007]

Solis Obscuri, on 09 March 2012 - 07:15 PM, said:

• Are SRMs going to have guidance? It looks like they might from the GDC videos, but it's a little hard to tell.

SRM's, not streak SRM's mind you, do not have guidance. They fire straight, so it takes skill to use them.

Quote

• From watching the GDC video, Medium Lasers have a large discharge time, but recharge pretty quickly. I notice the AC/20 is actaully reloading slower. Overall, the cycle time seems about the same for both weapons. How are you going to maintain ballistic/energy weapon balance, if not by cycle time?

Balancing will most likely be done by a lot of things when considering autocannons and lasers:

1. Damage
2. Cycle time
3. Heat generated
4. Range
5. Weight
6. Space taken
7. Laser "beam" duration

Most of these numbers can be altered, just like any pvp items in an MMO, can be altered based on community feedback and data pulled from matches. These things are never truly 100% balanced, but as long as people keep playing, they'll keep looking at data and fine tuning.

Quote

• Likewise, the missiles in the GDC video seem to cycle pretty fast. I think that's mostly ok for SRMs, but the LRMs cycle just as fast. Again, how is this being balanced against the ballistic weapons, which typically occupy more weight and space and require more precise aim?

These things (cycle time, heat generated, damage, etc.) are just placeholders for the moment, I imagine that after enough playtesting, and during the open beta, they'll get a massive amount of data from which they can balance things better and come to a more solid way of which all of the different weapons will operate and work.

Quote

• Also, what are the repurcussions of heat management? I see a lot of running at or above the redline in the GDC video, but no real repurcussions shown. Are negative effects from overheating implemented yet, and how will they be handled?

Heat Management will be vital. Overheating to critical levels will cause an automatic shutdown of the mech (this was stated in the mech warfare blog), and it IS something that can be overwritten, but at a price. You risk the chance of your mech critically failing in terms of ammunition exploding, causing massive internal damage. They've stated that their internal build hadn't yet integrated heat repercussions, but they will soon.

Quote

• Will Flamers be able to increase the heat levels of enemy 'mechs, possibly to critical levels?

I would imagine so, but PGI has yet to confirm.

Quote

• Both the Role Warfare and Mech Combat devblogs mention that we'll be able to get sensor data from our lancemates. Will this also include targetting data for indirect LRM fire? If so, will it work through the battlegrid, or will we be able to "lock" directly on the non-LOS target?

Spotting is a feature that will be available, however HOW it exactly works I think is still being worked out.

Quote

• We haven't seen anything with the battle grid yet. Can we get a preview?

No.

Quote

• How will controls work for jump-jetting?

Wherever your legs are pointed, that's where I imagine your thrust will direct you. However, I could be wrong. it's either going to be the torso or the legs.

Quote

• Will we have a "down" cam for jump-jetting? I don't see DFA being real feasible without one.

3rd person view is available but the developers have already stated that it's just a "debug" type of camera view.

Edited by borisof007, 09 March 2012 - 09:12 PM.

[kidneynabrik]

IRT Targeting, Does losing RADAR lock affect missile targeting in flight or are the missiles F&F?

Will enemy mechs always display their damage status, loadout, and name, or is this based on the sensor suite onboard?

Does different sensor suites affect targeting solutions?

Will there be ECM (Jamming) IOT affect targeting solutions for enemy mechs?

Edited by kidneynabrik, 09 March 2012 - 09:26 PM.