83 replies to this topic

[Ragotag]

Great observations by the way...

TheRulesLawyer, on 09 March 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

2) The quadrant size appears to make the map 5kmx5km

Not sure if this is good or bad (IMO, larger maps are better). On a 5km x 5km map, it would take a light mech about 2 - 2.5 minutes to traverse the entire map. Is that too small? (Only beta will tell.)

TheRulesLawyer, on 09 March 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

21) There doesn't appear to be any internal structure for Arms and legs. (edit: its rear armor- opps)

I'll be a sad sad panda if they don't have internal structures and structural components modeled. I want to be able to knock out a weapon, actuators, and heat sinks if/when I punch through the armor.

TheRulesLawyer, on 09 March 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

25) Two game modes at launch. Team death-match and dropship with 3 respawns (speech)

I would consider dropship mode more of a quasi-respawn; the pilot respawns, the mechs do not.

[Ragotag]

TheRulesLawyer, on 09 March 2012 - 12:17 PM, said:

No colored blocks for them, and I never saw any flashing damage there. If there is internal structure damage for them, I'm not sure where its indicated.

Ah-ha! Perhaps those are in the displays that require free-look to see?

[wwiiogre]

also atlas fires lrms at target 465m away then fires burst of medium lasers that in canon have only a 270 meter range or 360 meter with advanced rules for extreme range allowed, this caused his heat to spike and appeared to hit? are weapons going to have longer range than canon? are they gonna do same damage or less damage for lasers and while remaining the same for ballistic/missile no matter the range?

lots of questions regarding this, would prefer canon ranges with guaranteed misses at max range or missiles exploding as a safety feature because in canon targeting computers could not get lock at range for specific ranges and assuming safety features and you don't want to waste precious ammo or wear out a laser or overheat a mech that these weapons would not fire or shouldn't be fired when out of range for various reasons.

I know this is pre alpha but this seems to be something no one is talking about?

chris

[Mechteric]

wwiiogre, on 09 March 2012 - 12:57 PM, said:

also atlas fires lrms at target 465m away then fires burst of medium lasers that in canon have only a 270 meter range or 360 meter with advanced rules for extreme range allowed, this caused his heat to spike and appeared to hit? are weapons going to have longer range than canon? are they gonna do same damage or less damage for lasers and while remaining the same for ballistic/missile no matter the range?

chris

Just like MWLL I think they had to make some of these weapon ranges longer for gameplay reasons. Also gotta make sure there's some kind of balance against the clan ER weapons

[wwiiogre]

more than likely its just pre alpha and they have them shooting out of sight

chris

[Morashtak]

Paused this vid several times and agree that the game is shaping up very well. Agree on the environmentals; trees should burn if water splashes but willing to forgo all the eye-candy in beta. All other details are as previously stated; Looking good!

Eye candy gives me mental cavities. Need More Brain Beef!

And MW:O is starting to look to do just that.

Great work, team!

[verybad]

Weapons in Battletech are described as having much longer range than that used in the TT game. Accuracy goes down quickly, but there isn't a giant wall at the TT weapon's max range that stops the laser. Even in the rules books for the TT game, weapons are described as often having to the horizon range. In addition, extreme range is an aspect of the TT game that can be used as an option, this allows weapons to shoot further than the long range, although with an obvious accuracy penalty.

Most of the difference between a large laser and a medium laser's mass is in the fidelity of the aiming equipment, not in energy handling equipment.

If you don't think it's rather ridiculous for a laser to suddenly stop at 270 meters, well your suspension of disbelief is stronger than mine...

Edited by verybad, 09 March 2012 - 01:37 PM.

[ManDaisy]

Noticed a small degree of dust kick up from movement and missile impacts but oddly visual obstruction from missile explosions failed to block up visuals from the cockpit's view.

In most cases smoke and dust faded too quickly, in other cases it made no sense such as when dust was kicked up while the atlas was running in water ... unless of this was was water splashes or vapor from heat.

Edited by ManDaisy, 09 March 2012 - 01:51 PM.

[David Bradley]

Barbaric Soul, on 09 March 2012 - 12:12 PM, said:

though out the whole video, we see that David Bradley dies alot and should be good for cannon fodder. Sorry Dave, just calling it how I see it. lol

That's okay. I had to dial back my piloting skills for the video so you guys could see the cool explosions and such. It wouldn't have been very exciting to see the pilot doing the video capture get killed over and over.

Plus, Paul's very generous with the bribes if I make him look good in comparison to me.

[TheRulesLawyer]

Oh hey- another useful one
26) AC's look like they are firing a single shell. Not bursts of shells like people have been talking about in the AC threads. That's notable for damage grouping.


If I can get the video into an editor, I'll figure out the cycle times of the various weapons. I think we have at least 1 full cycle of each system in the video.

[wwiiogre]

I don't think the lasers stop, actually I think as canon and the novels explain it, target computer work is not good at that range and causes most shots to miss horribly, moving mech, weapons mounted on multiple points, mech moving making convergence scatter then reacquire when the mech moves an arm or leg out of what is centered on your hud for an aiming point.

What I am trying to say is long range computer lock for LRM's, PPC's smaller A/C's were built into the system and have since been lost on how to do it. Technology destroyed, having computerized factories produce what can't even be engineered or reverse engineered cause the tech was lost as well as the people to do it. Until Helm core, then it is a slow race based on priorities by the governments, still at war so most work is going into bigger bang, better engines, sneakier ecm, and on and on.

What I don't want to see is at range because of convergence you get actually more accurate weapons fire cause you have no spread on the weapons. What I would like to see is a max convergence range for weapons. Where they must cross at that point and then spread again, similar to .50 cal mg's on the wings of a wwii plane. You have a sweet spot, but beyond that range weapons tend to spray apart. This would fit canon and fiction where it repeatedly states that pilots even amazing pilots and gunners would not shoot their weapon beyond that range.

Otherwise the medium laser becomes the best weapon in the game, if I know I get full damage down a straight line, then I mount them laser boat style on my torso and buy zoom optics and shoot you in a straight line no damage loss and you can't see me. Suck on that catapult. Who can't even target me cause I am out of sight or using zoom to spot you.

So there has to be a balance or you over power some weapons, having convergence have a max weapons range ala canon for the weapons based on how the targeting computers would have had to been set up means you get balance in game, stick to canon and you don't have weapons firing past where they should or allowing better accuracy at range instead of worse as it should be.

chris

[LordKnightFandragon]

That vid was total and utter Secks +D Its great to see this game is making such great progress =D

[billyzero]

Really nice observations! This community rocks.

[Aegis Kleais]

A LRM20 salvo seemingly took down approximately 5% total body armor on a Hunchback (though this can be balanced differently later).

The Cockpit seems to react internally to light sources (casting light onto different areas depending on external events)

I believe the videos shown were played with HEAT/AMMO off, though the weapon/ammo panel was odd in that lasers had finite amounts of ammo, and other energy weapons had an infinite reserve.

When circle fighting, the Jenner seemed more than nimble enough to stay on the inside of the Hunchback - shows a high level of maneuverability with Lights, even against Mediums.

The Atlas's max reverse speed is 28.6, which is about half of it's max speed. This raises a possible point that chassis may have a maximum reverse speed capped out at half their forward speed.

Upon hitting an incline, a Hunchback's speed went from 54 to 23KPH. This might indicate the level of hindrance that environments can have on forward momentum.

The engine showcases a gorgeous level of atmospheric lighting, where objects in the far distance seem to take on a color cast of the environment. Makes for a very realistic composite.

There seem to be no meters for coolant levels, hinting at either 1-time use systems or no mech-based coolant abilities at all.

[carl kerensky]

Sprouticus, on 09 March 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

I am not sure if knockback will effect aiming. Sure the mech rocks with knockback but if you watch the reticles, they barely move, if at all.

Since knock back was mentioned I will add to that. A poor decision was made IMO when mech 4 was released. The mech 4 test demo was actually better IMO because of the knock back effects but because a few who couldn't aim like they were master chief or something they decided to tone it down..way down. Itruined the experience and mech 4 never played the same. So what I'm getting at...please dev keep a good healthy dose of knock back in. thanks for listening...
Ck

[Darrin Thomason]

Just want to add a few bits (any timings are taken from the un cut version.
In the inital battle the Atlas firs the 4 med. Lasers which ramps the heat up from 53% to 100% for a brief second and then the heat dissipates. Then David fires his 4 med Lasers and this again ramps the heat up in the cockpit we are looking at from somewhere in the mid 80’s up to 100.

What is also interesting is just with the last split second the pilot fires his 4 Meds again at David. He hits the Right shoulder again (which was just destoryed and then David’s damage lights lit up in his CT (Also David did not lose his arm (could not see about use of weapons in the arm))

Second battle is two Hunchback 4G @ 0:28 you can see that this pilot has 21 mission kills and is suffering from Critical Damage, the viewscreen is now cracking along the edges.

The scene @1:10 has the Atlas putting one of his Med’s into the back of his lancemates Hunchie. The mechs are kicking up dust but don’t appear to be leaving footprints.

[wyggles]

Aegis Kleais™, on 09 March 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

There seem to be no meters for coolant levels, hinting at either 1-time use systems or no mech-based coolant abilities at all.

In the 5th DevBlog they mentioned everything but coolant and the kitchen sink, it seems there is no coolant. A good change in my opinion as it really didn't make sense.

Edited by wyggles, 09 March 2012 - 05:29 PM.

[verybad]

wyggles, on 09 March 2012 - 05:08 PM, said:

In the 5th DevBlog they mentioned everything but coolant and the kitchen sink, it seems there is no coolant. A good change in my opinion as it really didn't make sense.

Yeah, why would you pour water on a fire to put it out?

[BeforeLife]

If this hasent beens stated already but if you looked at the hunchback i think it was around halfway trought the vid, he has a TON of scorch marks from lasers on him. So you will be visabley be able to tell how much damage a mech has (estimating of corse) before your rader can determine that for you.

[wyggles]

verybad, on 09 March 2012 - 05:20 PM, said:

Yeah, why would you pour water on a fire to put it out?

It's already been discussed here why coolant like it has been implemented doesn't make sense.

On topic: I love how they've done LRMs, all corkscrewing around and stuff.

Edit: Also, that Atlas totally alpha struck a Hunchback.

Edited by wyggles, 09 March 2012 - 05:33 PM.