8 replies to this topic

[Sorsakowski]

I just registered in and tried playing a few matches. First impressions:

It's a bit hard to get a mech to go to the wanted direction. I guess it will get better as I get used to controls.

The map is very tiny and very zoomed in! I need to use the b key a lot to know where I am and where the bases are.

I get killed very easily! And somehow my weapons hardly hit enemies at all. I managed to get the lock on target a couple of times, then pressed mouse button and number keys wildly and hoped something would hit something. I scored a few damages in a match so I guess I did.

I think the game seems promising but so far it's been a bit confusing.

I have been playing World of Tanks A LOT and I think MWO has some similarities, but first I should tame the machine to do what I want.

Wouldn't it be easier, if the forward and backward motion didn't "lock"? I find it quite hard to throttle back and forth all the time.

And wouldn't it be easier if the mouse moved the whole facing of the mech, instead of just looking around?

These are some questions that arose. I guess there are reasons.

Do I always need to lock on first in order to hit anything? Can I just shoot?

[Edustaja]

Just watch the introductionary videos a few times...

-Torso twisting with the mouse is superior to turning the whole mech. Learn to use this mechanic.
-X-button resets your speed to zero. Learn to use this.
-Long range missiles (LRM) and streak missiles (SSRM) require a lock on. Other weapons do not.
-Practice with the hunchback, it has easy to manage weapons, but remember the lrm's don't do damage under 180 meters.

[Strikhedonia]

Welcome to the game! Hope you enjoy your stay.

1) In time you'll learn the maps and use the map only to get an orientation on those red enemy arrows.
2) Read the guides in the forums, watch the videos, and get on a TeamSpeak server. The latter makes the game a lot more fun.
3) LRMS and Streak-SRMS need a lock. You can fire the LRMs without a lock, but they'll just flying in a straight line. Streaks will not even fire unless your target is locked.
4) Learn to lead your target. Realize that different ballistic weapons have different profiles. An AC2 handles differently than an AC20.
5) Using the mouse to turn the whole mech is like locking your turret in WoT. You'd lose a lot of tactical flexibility.

[Wun]

The "C" key instantly snaps your torso back to straight ahead. If you get confused moving hit it so you can see whats directly ahead of you.

The arrrow keys and right control are used to change the weapons to different weapons groups. You will want to at least separate weapons on your arms (which fire at the circle cursor) and your torso (which fire at the center of your screen) and probably missiles from lasers from cannons. That way you can control what you fire when and save yourself alot of ammunition and heat buildup.

[Konril]

One of the posters mention to "learn to read" the target. But I need to make this point anyway.

Lock on is only helpful if you are using "streak" short range missiles (SSRM) or long range missiles (LRM). The missiles use the lock to home in on the target. Standard short range missiles, lasers, and all cannons will hit and hurt whatever they happen to be aimed at.

For medium and large lasers, you need to have your crosshairs (or circle for arm-mounted weapons) on your target for 1 second to actually do significant damage. Small and pulse lasers need to be held on target for only 3/4 of a second for full damage and the small pulse laser just 1/2 a second.

PPCs, Gauss, and all Auto-cannons (AC) fire a single bullet per shot. They differ in the flight speed, effective range, and maximum range. These are harder to hit with, but whatever gets hit by the bullet takes full damage to that location.

Standard SRMs act much like a mech shotgun. They fire a spread of missiles which like bullets do their damage to whatever they hit.

Targeting is important for your team because your teammates can see what you targeted even if they otherwise can't directly see that enemy. In some cases, that can allow LRM users to actually attack mechs that they can't see, as long as mechs who can see maintain their targeting. But otherwise, there is nothing but your aim determining who you actually are fighting in most other cases. Extreme-range weapons such as gauss rifles, PPCs, and lighter cannons can actually strike targets well outside the mech's sensor range. So, if you can see it you can hit it.

This also means that if you fire at allies or allies get between you and your target when firing then that ally will take damage. Team kills are very real, and typically carry a -15,000 C bill and -150 XP penalty to the team killer for each ally killed.

It is going to take practice. But you need to learn how to drive and aim to be a good mechwarrior.

[Hauser]

Sorsakowski, on 30 November 2012 - 10:05 AM, said:

Might sound a bit odd. But you might want to give Mechwarrior 4 : Vengance or Mechwarrior 4 : Mercenaries a try.

If you've never played a Mechwarrior game before both will be similar enough to learn how to play MWO . It is a single player game so you can learn in your own time and it ramps up the difficulty slowly. It also has a tutorial to get you started on movement which is basically the same as it is in MWO.They are kind of old, not everybody likes that but I think they're still do able.

Edited by Hauser, 30 November 2012 - 03:31 PM.

[Sorsakowski]

Wow, so many replies. Thanks.

I played a few matches more. Tried all the different training mechs. Again I died usually within one minute. Kind of a frustrating, as I don't even know what I am doing wrong.

Some questions:

Do I take damage from hitting ground after a jump?

Is there a hit points counter somewhere? I guess not. I only see the mech graph with different colors. How do I know when I am going to die?

Number keys shoot the relevant weapons to that number and left mouse button shoots the assigned group? Why would I want to use left button at all? Seems easier just to use the number keys.

Probably a stupid question, but why is it that enemy seems to do more damage than me? I just basically shoot at the enemy's general direction and hope to hit. It's impossible to aim at any specific area because they move! It's easier to hit a t-50-2 in WoT than any of the mechs I see here. :-)

Am I supposed to study every weapon before I know how to use them? I mean, that sounds like work. I'd like to learn while I play.

When I began to play WoT, I was confused at first, but very quickly got hang of the game, because it is very intuitive and does not need necessarily any manuals to be read. In every match I learned at little bit more about tactics and armors and what not. I don't know how long I am able to keep interest in MWO, because I just seem to suck so much and don't even know why.

I am quite familiar with Battletech world, but haven't played any of the computer games before. This game seems very interesting, I just wish the actual playing wasn't so hard from the start.

Display brightness adjusting does not seem to work. The switch does not move. My screens are very dark by default, for some reason, and I usually turn the brightness switch very high in other games, in order to see better what's happening. I wish I could do that here too.

Sorry if I sound like a whiny kid. I am just eager to learn and need guidance. I have watched the videos in training grounds. So much information!

[Demoned]

1. yes if your to high up, with jump jets save some fuel for the landing

2. bottom left of you screen silhouette of a mech front and back, with different parts, they change colour the more damage you take.

3. you don't have to depends on how you like to fire weapons.

4. it takes time to learn how to focus your fire, lasers do damage over time not as soon as they hit, try keeping cross hair on one part of the mech, if you move the laser across the mech the damage is spread out, so when toe to toe the one that focuses more will win,

5. we have to learn some way XD

6. I'm also a WoT player myself (same user name) and yes you will be confused for awhile longer here, but it becomes much easier the more questions you ask, some of us will answer, but try youtube great vids posted there
also this game does require more team play than WoT in my opinion.

7. again yes the leaning curve is large here .


8. can't help here sorry.

9. NP have fun

Edited by Demoned, 01 December 2012 - 05:20 PM.

[Thirdrail]

Sorsakowski, on 01 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Do I take damage from hitting ground after a jump?

Yeah. You want to save some fuel to cushion your landing.

Sorsakowski, on 01 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Is there a hit points counter somewhere? I guess not. I only see the mech graph with different colors. How do I know when I am going to die?

The outer line on the mech readout is your armour, and the inner part changes colours as you take internal damage. So, for instance, if your center torso block is bright orange or red, you're about to die.

Sorsakowski, on 01 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Number keys shoot the relevant weapons to that number and left mouse button shoots the assigned group? Why would I want to use left button at all? Seems easier just to use the number keys.

In theory, you're aiming your guns around with the mouse, and constantly adjusting speed and direction with your keyboard hand. So mouse button 1 being weapon group 1 allows you to fire that weapon group without having to stop doing anything else. You can use the right control key and the arrows to toggle weapons in and out of different groups.

Sorsakowski, on 01 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Probably a stupid question, but why is it that enemy seems to do more damage than me? I just basically shoot at the enemy's general direction and hope to hit. It's impossible to aim at any specific area because they move! It's easier to hit a t-50-2 in WoT than any of the mechs I see here. :-)

It's just practice. It takes a while to learn to lead targets and compensate for the various weapon velocities, and also the lagshields. Try shooting at large, slow moving mechs for starters. A great way to learn your way around is to find a large mech on your own team (an atlas or an awesome) and then just follow it around trying to be helpful. Also, lasers and long range missiles are probably the easiest weapons to start with.

Sorsakowski, on 01 December 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

Am I supposed to study every weapon before I know how to use them? I mean, that sounds like work. I'd like to learn while I play.

When I began to play WoT, I was confused at first, but very quickly got hang of the game, because it is very intuitive and does not need necessarily any manuals to be read. In every match I learned at little bit more about tactics and armors and what not. I don't know how long I am able to keep interest in MWO, because I just seem to suck so much and don't even know why.

I guess MWO does have kind of a steep learning curve at the moment, since there aren't really tutorials or anything, but you will get the hang of things before too long. Stay with your team mates, and always try to shoot at someone who is already being shot at. (You'll hear "stay together, focus fire" about a million times if you keep playing.)

On the map, the cone looking thing (like the guard vision cones on the map in Metal Gear) shows your field of view, which is where your torso is pointing, and the arrow with the dashed line extending from it shows which way your feet are pointing. The map is very helpful, even if there's no way to zoom it in and out. The compass on the top of your HUD has markers for your base and the enemy base, so that will help you find the bases if you don't have time to open up the large area map.

Edited by Thirdrail, 01 December 2012 - 05:34 PM.