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At the moment, Lights are on par with Assaults and Heavies at close range. This isn't a bad thing. You should be able to fight any other mech and potentially win if you take the right tactics and you're a good enough shot. Otherwise why play anything except an Atlas?
Knockdown as it was before was anything larger than you could knock you over if going reasonably fast or if you ran into them. Once you fell you lay there for a second and then stood up slowly. This was a death sentence for any light mech.
Instead of this, let me suggest three potential stages of any collision that might or might not lead to a knockdown.
The Wobble: A minor clipping that may slow you slightly, will jostle your torso and arms and may bounce you slightly in another direction, but will not drop you. At most it will spin you about.
The Stumble: A harder collision but not direct which causes you to drop to one knee, lose momentum but recover quickly.
The Knockdown: Only capable by larger mechs, with direct hits, at high speeds. You will fall, though the speed you get back up is increased, especially for smaller mechs and for mechs with jump jets. A mech with jumpjets would get a bonus for standing up and the jets would automatically kick in to assist. (possible only if you're on your back)
All in all, this should add a nice feel too gameplay and give larger mechs chance against the quick and the agile without totally compromising light mech tactics.
Collisions: Unlikely the previous knockdowns this also effects collisions with buildings, structures, and landscape. Right now you can accelerate right into a wall and keep pushing without much deterrent. If you run full on into a wall something should happen. Knocking yourself down, killing your engines, or a lot of armor damage, seems just too harsh though.
Instead simply have it bounce you. Some deceleration depending on angle and speed, but mostly bounce you away according to angle. Maybe a dead stop if you keep running directly into a wall for a period.
Note that slower mechs or larger would also behave like this when colliding with each other. An Atlas and a Dragon can run straight at each other but the result will be some armor damage and reverse momentum rather then a knockdown or 'pressing'/clipping effect.
This bounce effect applies to light mechs too, and only in extreme circumstances will a lightmech knock over it's fellow.
Besides that I'd like to see some effects on the objects that I hit. I'm not asking for actual building damage. You guys have your plates full. Though I would like to see chunks of temporary generated debris and a small cloud of rock particles/sparks.
Edited by Brickyard, 03 November 2012 - 10:05 PM.
