141 replies to this topic

[TheRulesLawyer]

gregsolidus, on 04 November 2011 - 12:39 PM, said:

That logic seems backwards,why would you need a repair facility if you could respawn?

Because we are playing an arcade sim then. I can wave my magic wand of suspended disbelief. If we're running it as a more hardcore sim it would be inappropriate to repair during a battle.

[guardiandashi]

battletech repair and salvage rules (strategic ops) have internal structure repairs taking 90-270 MINUTES to repair per location
armor repairs are 5 min per point of damaged armor

rearming (reloading ammo) is:
15 minutes for a green crew
10 min for regular
8 min for veteran
6 min for elite

[Jack Gallows]

Battlemech repair is costly and incredibly timely, there's no way a mobile field base would make any kind of sense. I disliked that idea from the games.

Maybe a quick ammo replenish, but limited resources and...well you might want to be careful standing next to an ammo truck.

[gregsolidus]

The game isn't meant to be a perfect translation of TT.Once your health is down to 50% you might as well quit since a come back can only occur in the same manner it does in an RTS,the winning team does something stupid which is rare.Repair facilities,trucks,pixie dust,what have you are needed in one way or another to keep combat from becoming a lopsided affair after three minutes.

Edited by gregsolidus, 04 November 2011 - 03:08 PM.

[Amechwarrior]

Here is another "No" for in-field repairs. It is just not Battletech, the reasons why have already been stated by previous posters. I would rather have respawns then see some kind of MFB like in MW3-4.

[gregsolidus]

Or respawns.

[Jack Gallows]

gregsolidus, on 04 November 2011 - 03:00 PM, said:

The game isn't meant to be a perfect translation of TT.Once your health is down to 50% you might as well quit since a come back can only occur in the same manner it does in an RTS,the winning team does something stupid which is rare.Repair facilities,trucks,pixie dust,what have you are needed in one way or another to keep combat from becoming a lopsided affair after three minutes.

It's not really that it has to be a translation of the table top, but it's really a gamey thing to do in a universe where it really makes no sense whatsoever, and it cheapens combat with a reset button. Say you get legged and your movement is ****, but the rest of you is fine...they speed off and repair after taking out your buddy, then kill you because you can't get to a MFB.

Combat's supposed to be fast, and with the right strategy and teamwork, you don't need field bases. Smart use of limited ammo abilities, knowing when to engage and when not to, or to regroup needs to be part of the game, not "hold them off while I repair."

Even at low HP, I wouldn't think anyone is out of the fight, especially depending on what kind of mech type it is.

[Colaessus]

You could always have a VTOL bring you power up. . . . . . =)

[CobraFive]

Well since they said the main focus will be a "conquest" type mode, maybe one of the objective markers could be a repair bay, and the teams would have to fight over it. Each of the objective markers could have some bonus. A sensor post, a turret control center, an artillery station...

Oh and not to vote one way or the other, but I don't mind repair being "fast forward" for gameplay's sake. I doubt three trucks could repair a barely functioning mech to full status in 5 seconds flat like in MW3 and MC2. But it fit those games.

Edited by cobrafive, 05 November 2011 - 11:35 PM.

[walkingraven]

I'm all for modest (read; juryrigged and half-bottomed) repairs in the field. It is a tactical decision to reload, to bolt on a few patch plates, to wrap a few passes of tape around the beam emitter so it'll stop rattling around.
But this is something that should take honest minutes. It should be vulnerable. At best a 'supply Atlas' of sorts.
And it should be limited. 20 points worth of emergency armor, 3 tons of ammo (hope you loaded the right ones chief...). Limbs removed will just have to be done without, weapons destroyed are dead weight, wasted heatsinks... well they leak.

And yes, some places a repair crew will just not go. Especially if they've been plot-blocked.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Amro_One, on 05 November 2011 - 10:54 PM, said:

You could always have a VTOL bring you power up. . . . . . =)

Why?
The emergency start-up sequence of a BattleMech is 1 minute already (move&fire-ready, other systems might not work).

[Stormwolf]

This pretty much boils down to mission play vs MW4 style multiplayer.

I would personally like to see the following setup:

1. Players gather in some sort of lobby and can start a mission when it's somewhat even. The teams can be divided by houses/Clans. Mercs can join with house teams that are outnumbered (they receive special pay for this). A Clan vs IS game would normally pit two lances against one star, Clanners can bid down to lighter mechs.

2. For missions I'd have some examples in mind:
- Team vs Team battle, the most basic setup, it would get boring rather quickly.
- Capture the depot, Team A needs to defeat Team B to gain the goodies in a depot, blowing up the depot will elimate the goodies inside.

There would ofcourse be more missions, but let's see how the two above will relate to repairs.
Any units killed during the missions wouldn't respawn, you'd have to sit out the battle, it would be nice if you could still follow it the from the POV of your teammates.

3. The mission is over. Any heavily damaged mechs that can't be salvaged would be considered lost and the player would need to get a new mech. The winning team gets to have all the salvage. So, you could replace your destroyed mech with a salvaged one if you lost yours during battle. Capturing a depot would also make repairs cheaper since you will get some parts for repairs, in some cases you might even gain some mechs.

Now the losers of the battle aren't left without mechs, every once in a while your faction would generate new mechs based on the faction mech availability list. So you won't be left without a mech if you don't have any salvage or captured mechs.

Just my two cents.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

It takes a *lot* to make a 'Mech unsalvageable, mind you.

[Stormwolf]

Alizabeth Aijou, on 06 November 2011 - 03:03 AM, said:

It takes a *lot* to make a 'Mech unsalvageable, mind you.

I ment it more as "the other side won" and you can't go back to salvage it.

Though it is more common among IS mech to become unsalvageable, this mostly tends to happen with the 3025 designs.
Altleast that is my Megamek experience.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

How closely, exactly, does MM follow StratOps on that matter?
Although on the other hand, they didn't have CASE back in 3025, which would account for a number of losses with no salvage possible.
If the CT is cored, you can at least salvage the remaining locations.

One of the reasons why I prefer energy-boats.

[Elixx]

This all depents on the size of the "maps" It adds a tactical and dynamic aspect. If this game is about squads, and points. This is a must.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Squads?
What the sodding hell is a squad?

Also, a point is only a single 'Mech (Clan).

I'd expect that the game is probably on a company-level scale.
With binaries for the clans when they arive.

Edited by Alizabeth Aijou, 06 November 2011 - 04:49 AM.

[guardian wolf]

I am for having like a jury rigged battlefield repairs, and maybe some reloads, but only if its realistic for lengths of time, and you have to be vulnerable to incoming fire, not to mention it could be destroyed, and that the MFBs are limited to how many times they could do it, depending on supply lines, and skill of the crews

[Marauder3D]

I'm fine with repairs in field as long as "repair tanking" isn't a viable mechanic.

As in: I sit in my Marauder and fight off 2 light mechs. I repair in ten seconds, then fight off the same two guys who just respawned in light mechs again. Ad nauseum, etc.

[Souske Sagara]

I imagine it would be hard to work in but I want to see in-field repair and reloading. That was always my favorite part of any campaign, especially when you have to knock time off of repairs because you have a long walk back to your FOB, unless your man enough to put your convoy on the grid somewhere and hope nobody spots it.