161 replies to this topic

[focuspark]

Why not make Pulse Lasers continuous fire weapons? As defined by Sarna

sarna.net said:

Pulse lasers differ from traditional laser weaponry, in that instead of firing one powerful beam, they maintain laser beams fired off in quick succession. While offering an overall increased rate of fire, the heat output also increases accordingly. Pulse lasers increase damage because they allow vaporized armor to dissipate from the location of damage. This allows subsequent pulses to reach the target area without being diffused by the vapor.

http://www.sarna.net...rge_Pulse_Laser

Given this definition Pulse Lasers should behave like Machine Guns do today. Press the fire button and they start firing and keep firing until you let up. Machine Guns are limited by available ammo, Pulse Lasers would be limited by heat build up. Like Machine Guns, Pulse Lasers should not have any kind of cool down.

Machine Guns fire 10 rounds per second, so should Pulse Lasers. If each pulse of a Large Pulse Laser did 0.25 damage and 0.2 heat it would be able to sustain its 2.5 DPS and 2.2 HPS just as it does now but would need to retain it's focus longer than a normal laser to reach this number; because the focus time length would make standard lasers still better (1 second hold for 9 damage vs 4 second old for 10 damage) Pulse Laser damage should be doubled.

Therefore a Large Pulse Laser would do 0.5 damage and 0.4 heat per pulse it would be capable of doing up to 5 DPS and 4 HPS sustained but would only inflict half the damage for a normal laser in 1 second of sustained fire, even damage in 2 seconds, 1.5 the damage in 3 seconds, and twice the damage in 4 seconds.

This would make, in my opinion, Pulse Lasers more viable and interesting than they are now.

Edited by focuspark, 15 March 2013 - 12:15 AM.

[focuspark]

Nobody liked this idea? Did anyone at least hate it?

[William Draven]

Actually I like it. I just think everyone else is running about other threads and missed it.

That one one thing that angered me about MW4. The pulse lasers were cooldown timed, and they fired bolts like Star Wars. WTF!?

BT Pulse lasers have always been essentially "continuous beam cannons" but MW4 seemed to forget that and MW4 Mercs recreated the "Traditional BT Pulse Laser" in a completely separate weapon system...

[Scryed]

William Draven, on 18 December 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

Actually I like it. I just think everyone else is running about other threads and missed it.

That one one thing that angered me about MW4. The pulse lasers were cooldown timed, and they fired bolts like Star Wars. WTF!?

BT Pulse lasers have always been essentially "continuous beam cannons" but MW4 seemed to forget that and MW4 Mercs recreated the "Traditional BT Pulse Laser" in a completely separate weapon system...

What are you talking about? mw4 pulse lasers fired like an regular laser weapon with a pulse animation that is it

[focuspark]

bumping, what I think is, a good idea

[Hobo Dan]

An interesting idea, but this late in development I doubt they'd make such a drastic change. I would welcome the chance to test it out.

[William Draven]

Scryed, on 18 December 2012 - 07:32 PM, said:

What are you talking about? mw4 pulse lasers fired like an regular laser weapon with a pulse animation that is it

Well, the pulse animation was a series of bolt shaped projectiles. But at least MW4 didn't display lasers like in MechAssault on the Xbox....

[focuspark]

I still feel like this is a really good idea and Pulse Lasers need something to make them interesting compared with standard lasers.

[Psydotek]

I always felt pulse lasers have been represented inappropriately in MWO.

I've always imagined them as being more like a laser shotgun than anything. Fire off 3-9 individual beams with a bit of spread (either at the same time or in quick succession). Potential for scoring a hit is increased due to the spread and if all beams hit then they do more damage than their regular laser counterpart....

[Roadbuster]

I agree that pulse lasers require a bit of love If I look at that little weapon poll.

http://mwomercs.com/...11#entry1692511

While MPL get some love the SPL are almost nonexistent and the LPL quite rare.
I'm not sure making them fire for unlimited time is a good idea though.
They should increase damage a bit, maybe by reducing pulse duration and lowering heat generation.

[canned wolf]

As long as Pulse lasers fire in bursts like lasers do, then balancing the game to where one isn't better than the other is going to be almost impossible. Pulse lasers need to fill a niche. Having them produce constant damage at a lower rate than standard lasers seems like a pretty good fix.

You could even make it a progression. ER's should have the shortest pulse length, then regular lasers, then pulse lasers fire constantly.

[Praeses]

A laser machinegun? that would be nice

[dal10]

I support this plan,

[Mazgazine1]

This is sorta how they worked in MW3, it would actually make them DIFFERENT. I hate pulse lasers right now, they don't really do anything other then more damage.

[ParasiteX]

Yeah. I would defiantly love that.

They don't really need to make the fire particularly super fast either.

Maybe Large pulse lasers, once per second. And mediums, one every half. And small lasers, every 0.25 second.

They would just have to balance the damage and heat, so they do about the same dps and heat buildup as now.

[Psydotek]

They way pulse lasers and autocannons work now would make them absolutely horrible anti-aircraft weapons... While i'm pretty sure aircraft won't be included ever in MWO, it would be nice to see both weapons function similarly to a proper AA weapon.

[Magitek]

I like pulse lasers as they are. The short burst and low range are great for engaging lights. The only thing I can think of is a better crits.

[Attalward]

I would like laser machine guns. I support your idea.

[General Taskeen]

Pulse lasers like that (The Vulture in the beginning of the vid)

[Davers]

It is interesting, but it might be too far along for that kind of change. Plus they would have to completely rework the damage and heat from it. I would hate to see them end up as useless as the machine gun.