44 replies to this topic

[Calvin Vakarian]

I've been playing MW4: Mercs a lot in order to get ready for MWO and for the life of me I just don't understand why so many people here have been hating on it's MechLab. Could someone here try to enlighten me?

[Sym]

Mainly because a lot of MW3 folks who liked the Full Mech Lab never fully liked the Hard Point system the Microsoft used in MW4.

[IIIuminaughty]

I like both of mw3 mechlab and point system in mw4. I don't understand whats wrong with it either

[Stormeris]

i like the hardpoint system

[Atlai]

stormeris, on 13 May 2012 - 07:09 AM, said:

i like the hardpoint system

I do too, i mean dont get me wrong MW3 was a much better game in terms of gameplay but there was just something weird about shooting lasers out of my Madcats missile pods

[Stormeris]

Mason West, on 13 May 2012 - 07:13 AM, said:

I do too, i mean dont get me wrong MW3 was a much better game in terms of gameplay but there was just something weird about shooting lasers out of my Madcats missile pods

Yeah the mechlab was probably the only thing i liked more in MW4 than in MW3 xD

Edited by stormeris, 13 May 2012 - 07:16 AM.

[Lusankya]

I loved all the options in the MW3 mechlab but I also really liked the hardpoint system in MW4. I think MWO got it right.

[Atlai]

Lusankya, on 13 May 2012 - 07:20 AM, said:

I loved all the options in the MW3 mechlab but I also really liked the hardpoint system in MW4. I think MWO got it right.

I think MWO has got everything right

[Knt Maverick]

the "Hard-point" system from MW4 didn't allow for many of the cannon variants that most of the older generations, such as my self and others, got used to. example... the Kit Fox (Uller), that puppy has a variant with a Gauss Rifle, Puma--a pair of LRM20s for a LR first support... there are so many others that can be named that Microsoft failed to allow due to their hard-point" system. the full customization that was allowed in MW2 and MW3 was far more lenient towards the vastness of the variants.

Granted... many of the previous versions of the game never allowed for the look of the mech itself to change (i/e, changing lasers to canons, or missiles to lasers or what not..)... and Yes. from the looks alone, MWO may be on the right track to getting the looks right .. along with the customization abilities right.--at least.. this is my hope.

for what 2cents this was.

[MacabreDerek]

One thing I absolutly hated about the MW4 hard-point system was that Omni-Mechs were present in name only. The entire point of omnimechs was a modular design that could outfit several different configurations for any kind of mission required of them, and instead we got a system so limited that you could hardly call it a customization. You would think Omnimechs would have omni-slots available through-out, but for the most part they didn't.

[jack stryker]

I hated being restricted to using specific weapon types in specific slots. Take the Dire Wolf. I always wanted a triple PPC variant for it, but because the arms have specific slots for energy weapons, and two slots for 'omni', you could only fit in smaller weapons. It sucked because the whole system was far too restricting.

Plus, I didn't like how only certain 'mechs could carry certain sets of equipment. You couldn't fit a Timberwolf with jumpjets.

And I think the biggest failure of the MW4 system was the heat sinks. You have 1 type, and i'm fairly sure it was the normal IS kind, based on how crappy it performed. They completely did away with the concept of having Double Heat Sinks, which made many, many 'mechs far more viable on the battlefield (the NovaCat, for instance)

The lack of individual choices in the MechLab dumbed the game down, probably because it was marketed more toward younger kids, which would also explain the more 'cartoonish' look of the 'mechs. It took away choices and left you with a very specific set of options, and if you wanted to have a 'mech with all the weapons you really wanted, you had to go with an Assault 'mech with a crapload of space, or find a way to mod the game to make everything an omni slot.

[Jonas]

The hard point system is ok but, I still prefer MW3 lab. MWO looks to have the right ideas I like to see being able to switch out torso peaces.
example : The Hunch back has a Autocannon 20 say I want to switch it out to the with 2 Autocannon 5. I like to see to barrels or ports instead of the one port or barrels.

[Outlaw2]

It was mainly the BT purist playing single player that hated MW4 mechlab.
If you wanted a saner customization system for multiplayer, MW4's was better.

Edited by =Outlaw=, 13 May 2012 - 08:04 AM.

[Cold3y3s]

MW4s wasn't too bad, it completely killed the idea of omni-mechs but honestly, they could have done a lot worse.

[Atlai]

Hawk3y394, on 13 May 2012 - 08:10 AM, said:

MW4s wasn't too bad, it completely killed the idea of omni-mechs but honestly, they could have done a lot worse.

MechAssault anyone?

[Pheonixwolf]

Mason West, on 13 May 2012 - 08:18 AM, said:

MechAssault anyone?

Blasphemy!!! die heretic!

[Felicitatem Parco]

The reasons the MechWarrion 4 MechLab is maligned is because they put too many points of armor for each ton, the engines don't weigh enough, you get far too much ammo per ton, the hardpoints prevented the construction of canon Mechs, and they gave too many heatsinks to Mechs.

The reason they give you 3x the armor you should get plus the lightweight engine upgrades the the plentiful heatsinks and near-limiteless ammo is because MW:4 was designed form the ground-up to be a single player campaign game with long missions where you have to survive against large numbers of other Mechs while your incompetent AI teammates just bumped into eachother and ruined your hard-earned chassis.

I am training for MWO by using TRO (Technical Read-Out) Mechs constructed in the MW4 mechlab - MW4 Mechs with canon armor points, weapons, speeds, and heatsink values. You can download this .zip file and extract the variants into your mektek -> MW4 Mercenaries -> resources -> variants folder and boot up MW4, then you'll have all these TRO Mechs in your Mechlab, ready to train with.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 13 May 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[Yeach]

Prosperity Park, on 13 May 2012 - 08:30 AM, said:

The reasons the MechWarrion 4 MechLab is maligned is because they put too many points of armor for each ton, the engines don't weigh enough, you get far too much ammo per ton, the hardpoints prevented the construction of canon Mechs, and they gave too many heatsinks to Mechs.

The reason they give you 3x the armor you should get plus the lightweight engine upgrades the the plentiful heatsinks and near-limiteless ammo is because MW:4 was designed form the ground-up to be a single player campaign game with long missions where you have to survive against large numbers of other Mechs while your incompetent AI teammates just bumped into eachother and ruined your hard-earned chassis.

I am training for MWO by using TRO (Technical Read-Out) Mechs constructed in the MW4 mechlab - MW4 Mechs with canon armor points, weapons, speeds, and heatsink values. You can download this .zip file and extract the variants into your mektek -> MW4 Mercenaries -> resources -> variants folder and boot up MW4, then you'll have all these TRO Mechs in your Mechlab, ready to train with.

Are you also limiting yourself on firing weapons EVERY 10 seconds only?

[SilentWolff]

Ahhh, the PoS known as the MW4 mechlab. Where to begin with this travesty.

First off, they got rid of the internal critical system. Gone was the ability to really customize the mech. This was the single biggest issue.
But also, there is no double heat sinks, XL engines or CASE. While they tried to combat the ability for any mech to have any loadout with the hardpoint system, that failed miserably. Hell, you couldn't even have canon loadouts. Talk about a smack in the face to the Battletech lore and it fans. And dont get me started about the improper values on weapons and equipment.

While MW3's Mechlab certainly had its issues, gutting the mechlab process like Microsoft did was uncalled for.

So far,I like what I see in MWO. They maintain the hardpoint system, but have several different variants to choose from and customize. The single biggest gripe I had, the internal critical system, appears to have returned, as have XL engines double heat sinks. So we will see soon if MWO has addressed the shortcomings of MW4.

Edited by SilentWolff, 13 May 2012 - 08:37 AM.

[Eegxeta]

If you ask me the hardpoint system makes sense you can only put weapons in a hardpoint designed to house that kind of weapon. It also makes sense that only a certain amount of space is available in each hardpoint.

I do however think it could have been better implemented.

Edited by Eegxeta, 13 May 2012 - 08:42 AM.