262 replies to this topic

[Nightmare1]

We'll need these soon if the coming rebalance turns out to be nerfdom on a massive scale.

I fear that clubbing each other to death may soon be our only way of killing each other.

[MW Waldorf Statler]

what if the mech loses his balance in the attack? 100t the plump one's own trip occurs, what happens to the arms and the weapons to these when a mech strikes? Kinetic energy is destructive to both
when a Shadowhawk rams his sensitive finger joints in an Atlas chest, who takes there probably more damage.
The Hatchetman ,Axeman and all this BT Melee Crap ,was a horrible Idea ,once of many in the BT Universe...give me Mines ,and forget stupid Beat emMechup

Edited by CSJ Ranger, 18 August 2015 - 07:50 AM.

[Void Angel]

Ranger... You do realize that you are arguing the feasibility of physics in a game featuring giant walking robots on the battlefield? A game universe where these giant, articulated robots are tougher than tanks? Your examples are stupid, too; battleships don't have arms, nor do tanks - but infantrymen still carry combat knives on the battlefield to this very day.

Everyone but you already knows that melee combat between giant armored robots would likely be impractical - but not for the reasons you think. Gigantic humanoid robots boxing with each other on the battlefield would be highly unlikely because we wouldn't use giant humanoid robots on the battlefield. It's not efficient, because the points of articulation are weak points in the armor. Rather, you'd have tank-like robots/vehicles - with only possibly infantry using humanoid weapon systems.

Given the conceits of the genre, melee combat makes sense - right along with faster than light communications, hyperspace travel, and robots so large that no known materials (much less the materials the flavor text says they're made of) could possibly allow them to stand upright, much less run, jump, and fight. If you don't like the genre, feel free to get the heck out - but don't badger us with semi-legible diatribes that just amount to you needing to feel superior to something.

Edited by Void Angel, 18 August 2015 - 11:03 AM.

[Jaeger Gonzo]

Yeah keep your RL BS to your RL.
That is BT, if you don`t like BT, GTFO.

[ApolloKaras]

Void Angel, on 18 August 2015 - 11:01 AM, said:

Everyone but you already knows that melee combat between giant armored robots would likely be impractical -

and impractical for this game honestly.

[IraqiWalker]

Saxie, on 19 August 2015 - 12:32 AM, said:

and impractical for this game honestly.

Considering how many times I've seen people slam into one another as if they were jousting. I think it has some potential here.

[Wonderdog]

I miss my Dragon wrecking ball from alpha. Nothing funnier than plowing through a pile of lights at high speed and then wasting them with AC fire while they lay on their backs.

[bad arcade kitty]

melee would solve that no ammo or no weapon problem

[ApolloKaras]

IraqiWalker, on 19 August 2015 - 12:39 AM, said:

Considering how many times I've seen people slam into one another as if they were jousting. I think it has some potential here.

It would be for the stock players only. Anyone that would play competitive wouldn't even bother with a melee mech/weapon

[MW Waldorf Statler]

Void Angel, on 18 August 2015 - 11:01 AM, said:

Ranger... You do realize that you are arguing the feasibility of physics in a game featuring giant walking robots on the battlefield? A game universe where these giant, articulated robots are tougher than tanks? Your examples are stupid, too; battleships don't have arms, nor do tanks - but infantrymen still carry combat knives on the battlefield to this very day.

Everyone but you already knows that melee combat between giant armored robots would likely be impractical - but not for the reasons you think. Gigantic humanoid robots boxing with each other on the battlefield would be highly unlikely because we wouldn't use giant humanoid robots on the battlefield. It's not efficient, because the points of articulation are weak points in the armor. Rather, you'd have tank-like robots/vehicles - with only possibly infantry using humanoid weapon systems.

Given the conceits of the genre, melee combat makes sense - right along with faster than light communications, hyperspace travel, and robots so large that no known materials (much less the materials the flavor text says they're made of) could possibly allow them to stand upright, much less run, jump, and fight. If you don't like the genre, feel free to get the heck out - but don't badger us with semi-legible diatribes that just amount to you needing to feel superior to something.

Hi Void

Robots ??? in BT univers no Robots ...Mechas =Walking Tanks ,or great Cybersuits ...robots have KI ,no Pilots

then we can also magic, and take teleporting Mechs with pure and lightsabers when reality or physics play no role and Mech X-Men ...
The BT Mechs not Gigantic ,most of 8-10m (Shadowhawk 9,63m) so on the dimensions of vertical tanks, the Banshee and Executioner with 16m the Tallest Mechs

Soldiers knife to destroy as barbed wire Scissor ,for the last resort, as a tool , but when using a soldier nor a knife in the real battlefield, and who still bears the sword, hatchet, katana or saber


the Mech has no Weapons and Ammo ...Melee (Punch,Ramming ...) is ok, is it a Last Hope for the Pilot


Battletech wanted at the start by more realistic factors, stand out from all the Mechagames, and its just not Gundamgame...
Battletech as Cobatsim ever a Combined Arms Scenario, not a Mech BeatemUp ...only Solaris is good for Meleeweapons

Meleeweapons in a Combined Battletech Warfare =stupid
come with you Axe ...speak the Commander of a Schreck tank Platoon, have Fun with you Sword in a field of Thunder LRM and what make a Mech with a Sword and against a Shilone Fighter ?What better against a Infantry Platoon with inferno launcher ? a 3t Axe or a Flamer.

A robotic Tank in a age of Electronic Warfare and Counterattacks?! nor , a Tank with a Pilot 100% better (can take out of the damaged tank and fight and repair.

Edited by CSJ Ranger, 19 August 2015 - 09:51 AM.

[Void Angel]

A combat knife is for close quarters battle; that means killing other people, not removing barbed wire - combat kniveswill not cut a wire barrier, in fact. A combat knife is often also a bayonet, and combat rifles in the U.S. arsenal come with bayonet mounts to this day. Whether or not the firearm has rendered melee weapons a backup instead of a primary armament is irrelevant. They still exist on the modern battlefield, just as Battlemechs can resort to physical attacks in the BattleTech fictional universe.

In point of fact, it is your counterexamples which are stupid, not the ability of giant humanoid war machines to engage in the oldest form of human combat. That you are tacitly assuming a 'Mech must pick either a melee weapon OR conventional arms carries so many faulty assumptions that a rebuttal isn't even necessary - and in any case you're entirely missing the point. Giant humanoid war machines hitting other giant humanoid war machines is part of the genre - right along with using a humanoid robot in preference to a tank. Calling that stupid is just saying that you dislike the genre so much that you think it's dumb - so why are you here? No one in this thread cares what you think of the giant robot genre; this is a features suggestion thread for a game set in that genre.

PS: Battlemechs are semi-autonomous robots controlled via a neurohelmet. The fact that the pilot rides in the robot isn't relevant, nor is the fact that BattleMechs can be loosely classified as mecha.

Edited by Void Angel, 19 August 2015 - 01:06 PM.

[Man with Axe]

Does anyone of PGI staff ever read Suggestions sub-forum, I wonder? I could provide a full scale article post about my point on possible melee implementation with formulas to calculate impact damage based on actual dynamics laws (to avoid primitive TT rules approach).

Absodamnatelly YES to melee in MWO. Twice as much approve for Hatchetman and Axman (oooohh, please gimme, gimme, gimme them!). Collisions must be returned back to the gameplay in any case with or not melee mechanics, IMO.

Edit: Clanbuster Black Knight BL-9-KNT with 5t sword would be as much neat as Hatchetman or even Axman!

There are enough 'melee' Mechs for a standard full IS Package:

L: CattleMaster (25t)
M: Hatchetman (45t) -
H: Axman (65t)
A: Charger (80t) - fear the firsts!

Just imagine a ride in the CattleMaster

Edited by Man with Axe, 27 August 2015 - 11:49 AM.

[IraqiWalker]

Man with Axe, on 27 August 2015 - 11:02 AM, said:

Does anyone of PGI staff ever read Suggestions sub-forum, I wonder? I could provide a full scale article post about my point on possible melee implementation with formulas to calculate impact damage based on actual dynamics laws (to avoid primitive TT rules approach).

Absodamnatelly YES to melee in MWO. Twice as much approve for Hatchetman and Axman (oooohh, please gimme, gimme, gimme them!). Collisions must be returned back to the gameplay in any case with or not melee mechanics, IMO.

Edit: Clanbuster Black Knight BL-9-KNT with 5t sword would be as much neat as Hatchetman or even Axman!

There are enough 'melee' Mechs for a standard full IS Package:

L: CattleMaster (25t)
M: Hatchetman (45t) -
H: Axman (65t)
A: Charger (80t) - fear the firsts!

Just imagine a ride in the CattleMaster

Of all the light mechs that could pack a melee weapon, you went with one that uses an I.C.E? It's incapable of fitting any of the in-game engines, because they are fusion engines, while this one uses an internal combustion engine.

It is a hilarious idea.

How about using the Scarabus instead? It's a timeline friendly 3053, and actually uses mech engines, instead of I.C.Es

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Scarabus

[Man with Axe]

IraqiWalker, on 27 August 2015 - 05:39 PM, said:

...
It is a hilarious idea.

How about using the Scarabus instead? It's a timeline friendly 3053, and actually uses mech engines, instead of I.C.Es

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Scarabus

I chose CattleMaster mostly for fun as I don't believe we'll ever see "Melee Punch Mech'Pack", also I'm not sure if PGI sticks to any in-game timescale right now, at least it isn't obvious for me if it's 3053 or any other year in game. What I can say for sure is that I would be mostly happy to buy any Mech'Pack which has Hatchetman and Axman, my fav Mechs of all time.

[bad arcade kitty]

Saxie, on 19 August 2015 - 07:29 AM, said:

It would be for the stock players only. Anyone that would play competitive wouldn't even bother with a melee mech/weapon

i disagree
there is a lot of ammo dependent and/or asymmetrical (or both! like drg-1n or wvr-6r) mechs/builds which become useless/almost useless when they lose their main weapon... they also should waste space for some energy backup, with some melee they could always be a threat, it could save podspace used for the backup weapon on some builds

then, some mechs cannot even have backup at all or almost at all like catapult a1, built as splatcat it's useless when ammo is out, built as a lurmer her only possible backup it's srm launcher(s)... laughable; with some melee ability it at least could do something being facehugged

Man with Axe, on 27 August 2015 - 11:02 AM, said:

Just imagine a ride in the CattleMaster

i dunno who even thought that herding cattle in a 25 tonner walking mech is a good idea

they had to name it polyphemus too

Edited by bad arcade kitty, 28 August 2015 - 04:52 PM.

[IraqiWalker]

Man with Axe, on 28 August 2015 - 03:56 AM, said:

I chose CattleMaster mostly for fun as I don't believe we'll ever see "Melee Punch Mech'Pack", also I'm not sure if PGI sticks to any in-game timescale right now, at least it isn't obvious for me if it's 3053 or any other year in game. What I can say for sure is that I would be mostly happy to buy any Mech'Pack which has Hatchetman and Axman, my fav Mechs of all time.

Technically we're in 3051 according to the mech academy, but effectively, we're in 3052.

and while I love the Cattlemaster, I think we can push for the Scarabus.

BTW, was I the only man who loved the Axeman first because of all the art depicting it with portable weaponry, instead of hardpoint ones?

[Jaeger Gonzo]

Scarabus is far more known mech,
First time I see Cattlemaster.

[IraqiWalker]

Jaeger Gonzo, on 29 August 2015 - 11:58 AM, said:

Scarabus is far more known mech,
First time I see Cattlemaster.

Probably because you didn't have games with industrial mechs, or on backwoods planets.

[Hashocky]

Rocket fists!



that is all

[wanderer]

Melee weapons would be child's play.

Take your melee hardpoint. Using the melee weapon (or fists/kick) creates (in coding terms) a very short range "shot" with a specific arc.

If it's a punch/arm mounted weapon like a hatchet, using it locks out weapons on that arm from use for a few seconds. If it's a kick, a missed kick temporarily reduces speed. Going to "charge" mode locks weapons fire and briefly gives the 'Mech multiple potential points of contact as 0-range "shots" that will deal damage to both target and attacker depending on speed- and if any trigger, the attacker immediately drops to 0 speed and must re-accelerate.

DFA puts those "shot points" on the legs and feet only- if they hit a 'Mech before hitting the ground, damage to both occurs- if they hit the ground, damage happens to the legs of the attacker that whiffed instead. Again, like "charge" mode, "Death From Above" puts all weapons on lockout and a successful DFA zeroes speed immediately.