I come from an Armor background, and I think that the direction the most recent patch attempted to take the override functionality was a good step, but that even if it worked it is still not quite right. Based on my experience with similar systems (mostly fire control system safety overrides) in real military vehicles, I offer the following suggested behaviors:
- Override is a toggle. While toggled on, pilot gets a HUD indicator indicating that he is in override mode. Override mode will remain on unless the pilot toggles it off.
- While in override mode, the mech will not shut down due to heat.
- If the pilot decides to manually power down to cool off, override should remain in whatever state he left it in.
- If the override is turned off while the mech is in overheat mode, it should immediately shut down as control has been returned to the automatic safety systems. If the pilot then tries to manually power the mech on before it cools off, it should refuse to power up unless he turns the override toggle back on.
In this manner, a pilot could completely ignore the automatic shutoff entirely and do it manually, or he could toggle it on when needed, and toggle it off to let the system keep him safe as soon as he is done with his alpha strike.
I make this suggestion for the following reasons:
- This is how these sorts of systems work in real life.
- It makes the most logical sense.
- It is the most intuitive way to do it.
From a simulation standpoint, which MW is (and why we love MW!), this would be the correct way to do it. I provide the following example from a Stryker Mobile Gun System (the Stryker with the 105mm rifled cannon the original Abrams used): When the driver’s hatch is open, the fire control system will not let you rotate the turret. So far so good. Unfortunately, the handle that keeps the driver’s hatch closed tends to get loose if you fire a lot of rounds, which will break the contact and shut the fire control system down. There are three ways to counter this. The first is to have the driver remember to hit the handle to tighten it after every shot, which is not ideal. The second is to engage the “combat lock” on the handle, which is designed to keep the enemy from prying open your hatch to throw a grenade in. This is also not ideal because your friends can’t open the hatch to pull you out of a burning vehicle if you are unconscious and unable to open the hatch for them. The third option is to engage the commander’s override. While the override is engaged, that safety system gets turned off. If the crew were moronic, that would allow them to smack the driver with the gun tube as he is climbing out, but it is supposed to be an emergency override, for example, the driver is unconscious and unable to smack the hatch, but the crew needs to rotate and fire the cannon or die. The commander’s override works as a toggle (it’s an actual toggle switch). If the toggle switch is on, the turret will rotate freely even if the hatch is open. If the turret is being rotated and the toggle is turned off mid motion, the turret will stop moving until either the override is turned back on or the hatch gets closed.
It’s worth mentioning that the toggle behaves the way I described because of reasons 2 and 3. So, it makes sense from a design standpoint, whether or not we want to be slaves to a simulationist mindset. In any event, I think the 5-second idea on an override toggle is a very bad design from the perspective of a pilot who has to use the system. If I feel I need to engage an override that I know has a high likelihood of blowing up my vehicle, I don’t want to have to keep hitting it every few seconds to make sure my mech doesn’t shut down on me before I’m done. If I’m in a situation dire enough to need the override, I for damn sure don’t have the time or concentration available to keep track of it and service the button.
For reference, the following two threads are probably helpful:
http://mwomercs.com/...09#entry1828109
http://mwomercs.com/...system-problem/
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