9 replies to this topic

[Sheilei]

I was in a thread called Small mech, small space by William Tyndale when it hit me.

There is an advantage to being in a light mech-Small feet.

-Let's say there is an area filled with rubble. All mechs must slow down here or risk tripping on the rubble.
A mech with small feet might not need to slow down quite so much as one with bigger feet.

-Lighter mechs are just that...lighter. What if we were fighting in a swamp or in a thick layer of snow?
In this type of enviroment a heavier mech could have it's feet sink into the mud/snow while a lighter mech would have the same problem but to a lesser degree.

This would increase the lighter mechs manueverability advantages and keep them alive.


In addition- Let's say there is a light mech with feet that are larger than it's class normaly have. A light mech with heavy sized feet for example.
-Because of it's large feet it would have the same penalty to its speed in the rubble as a heavy mech due to feet size.

-But because larger feet equals more surface area it would face less difficulties in thick snow/mud since it's feet doesn't sink so much.
It's like it's wearing snowshoes for lack of a better term.


Of course the opposite is also true. An assault mech with feet that are normaly sized for a medium mech would have smaller speed penalty in the rubble area but a larger one in snow/mud.
How large should the speed penalty be? I don't know. Should it be in % or should a cap be put on maximum speed in that area?

I know this is not canon but it's simply a bit of logic that was mostly ignored in the games. Hope the dev's read this one.
Your thoughts?

Edited by Sheilei, 18 May 2012 - 03:42 AM.

[killenbigbugs]

well i know 1 light class mech that is very powerful you could use its the panther found it one day going through my dads old mech rp game here is a from of what it is i think it would be perfect http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Panther

[Sheilei]

killenbigbugs, on 18 May 2012 - 04:23 AM, said:

well i know 1 light class mech that is very powerful you could use its the panther found it one day going through my dads old mech rp game here is a from of what it is i think it would be perfect http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Panther

It does have rather large feet so i suppose it makes a good example of a mech that would run very well in muddy or snowy terrain.
Now it's time to find a heavy or assault mech with feet that are small for it's weight class.

[Blind Baku]

The reverse would be interesting if we saw some space battles like im MW2, or moon battle. Where light mechs don't stick as well, they just float oddly. Imagine running on a moon in a Jenner, popping the jets get the drop on an Atlas, only to continue floating further than you intended... or on ice where going 60+ would result in figure skating with lazers.

[Sheilei]

William Tyndale, on 18 May 2012 - 04:41 AM, said:

The reverse would be interesting if we saw some space battles like im MW2, or moon battle. Where light mechs don't stick as well, they just float oddly. Imagine running on a moon in a Jenner, popping the jets get the drop on an Atlas, only to continue floating further than you intended... or on ice where going 60+ would result in figure skating with lazers.

That sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Especially the skating part.

There are concept pictures of both desert and winter terrain. What if sand had the same effects as thick snow and mud?
That's worth thinking about.

How about bigger feet gives you more stability when landing after using jumpjets?
But smaller feet gives you better acceleration since they are lighter?

Hope we can drag Garth in here so he can express his opinion. I really want this kind of thing to be in the game.
It would add far more depth to which mech you choose for each map.

[Kaemon]

You know what they say about small feet!


/got nothing

[Lanc3rz3r0]

on the contrary, depending on the size of the debris and size of the mech, small feet might make it exceedingly difficult to navigate. larger mechs would be able to plow through obstacles that lighter mechs would not, such as midsized boulders and the like, or partially felled trees.

[Destroid]

It's more about the ratio of feet to weight, bigger proportional feet -> lower ground pressure -> better ability to navigate rough and unstable ground.

[Sheilei]

Alexander And Destroid- what you say is probably right, but what advantage would the mechs with smaller feet have then?
I opened up this thread to see if it was possible to add more depth to players choices in mechs without adding something that's too hard to implement in the game.

Hmm...what if feet with movable toes are more stable and thus performs better on rough terrain?
But in any case i firmly believe that smaller feet should lead to faster acceleration due to their lighter build.

[killenbigbugs]

well the smaller feet would make less noise so you could also put a stealth engine in a mech like the ones in mech assualt 2 http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Raptor_II