50 replies to this topic

[CyberCrist]

Hands down, option 4 is the best. Although it would be fun to see option #5 in a "Holiday Patch" or something.

[ice trey]

Long story short, Mechwarrior 4 did it wrong.

Shorter story long, in the canon, a fusion engine is not a nuclear bomb just waiting to go off. If anything, it's more like a lightbulb, that if you break the seal and expose the filament to air, it just burns itself out. A similar thing with the Plasma inside of a fusion reactor - it just sort of burps out when exposed to air, where like pouring water on a campfire, the air douses the reaction. Fusion engines don't go "Critical". Authors that have written otherwise are taking artistic liberties.

Big explosions would end up coming from ammo explosions, which would likely completely destroy the 'mech, leaving nothing left even for salvage. Still, MW4 overembellished the explosions. It should rip the 'mech apart, yes, but you shouldn't suffer any significant damage from it. Think firecracker in an open palm versus in a closed fist.

Edited by ice trey, 13 April 2012 - 06:32 AM.

[The Madcat]

I'd like to see a mixture of explosions (If the cause of death calls for such), or tip over quickly if a leg is destroyed or slowly like the Thor at the end of the MW3 Cinematic.

[Grithis]

William Petersen, on 12 April 2012 - 09:42 PM, said:

Yeah, keep reading there.

Well, speaking of reading, I'll refer you to my first post. In it, I said the word CAN. As in could, maybe, possibly, perhaps, sometimes, under certain circumstances, etc.

You said the word DON'T. As in can't, won't, never, doesn't happen, impossible, etc.

90% of the time, working in such terms is folly.

[William Petersen]

Grithis, on 13 April 2012 - 11:08 AM, said:

You said the word DON'T. As in can't, won't, never, doesn't happen, impossible, etc.

One word: hyperbole.

[CreamyZombie]

What should happen to a mech destroyed in combat?
It depends on how it died. Sometimes it would explode, sometimes it would just stop working.

Also, the explosions in Living Legends brought a happy tear to my eye.

[Uncle Totty]

CANDY!!!!!!!

In all seriousness though, it should depend on how the mechs "die".

[GySgt Sev Skirata]

While I would love to yell "YOUR FACE S'PLODE!!!" everytime I killed an Atlas I want salvage and when mechy go s'plode mechy no give Sev salvage. *Sev cry single tear of sadness*

[Vollstrecker]

William Petersen, on 12 April 2012 - 01:38 AM, said:

The only time there should be explosions involved in Mech destruction is in the case of an ammo crit (or ammo cook-off). Fusion. Engines. Don't. Blow. Up.

If no ammo explodes, Mech falls down and smokes a bit.

Going to quote Maximum Tech on this:

"Though the scientific reality of fusion engines prevents them from exploding, the dramatic effect of such an expensive piece of machinery blowing up in a huge ball of fire is so appealing to the majority of BattleTech players that this rule was created to satisfy the common desire for a good explosion."

This is a "giant robot" game, you gotta make way for Rule of Cool somewhere tbh.

Edit:
I went with the "it depends on how the 'mech died" option. If implemented, Fusion Engine explosions should be somewhat rare because it simply requires failure of all the safeguards.

Edited by Vollstrecker, 13 April 2012 - 09:47 PM.

[WithSilentWings]

syngyne, on 12 April 2012 - 06:58 AM, said:

If you want to get technical, very little happens. I can't find the specific page anymore, but someone had asked a JET scientist what would happen if they lost plasma containment, and the answer was "not a lot." The reactor shifted a centimeter or two and a millimeter or so of surface material inside the reactor was vaporized, and that was about it.

I'm not a plasma physicist, but from what I've read the reason this happens is that while the plasma is very, very hot, that heat is carried by a very, very small amount of mass, so when it comes into contact with something it's sort of diffused throughout the larger mass.

It's in the techmanual texts when you're reading about how mechs work. Basically says worst case scenario is a bunch of hot air puffs out of the mech, and so most explosions are not at all related to the reactor.

[trycksh0t]

I want pinata 'Mechs. Then we can earn extra c-bills for collecting the candy from kills.

Serious answer- depends on how it went down. Although, fusion powered nuclear detonations....not so much.