6 replies to this topic

[Theevenger]

I still think that the new overheat/override mechanic was going in the right direction, but I think it remains very unintuitive. This stems primarily from two issues:

1. A 5-second override is a very strange and unintuitive mechanic, especially if we do not have a countdown. This would make way more sense if the override was a toggle on/off, so that while it is engaged, you will never shut down from heat. If the player starts to cook himself, he could either manually shut down, or he could turn the override off (and then the safety systems would automatically turn him off). Again, this 5-second mechanic is simply not a good mechanic from any standpoint, especially as currently implemented. It creates too much confusion and uncertainty, forcing the player to fight his own Mech rather than his enemies.

2. The power on/off button is a multifunction button, which never works well in general, and is even worse in this circumstance. There should be a discrete power on button and a discrete power off button. This is a good idea from an immersive sumulator standpoint, but also from a game functionality standpoint. If a player is playing a game and trying to do something and ultimately is unsure of how his Mech is going to react when he pushes a button, the UI is broken. The behavior of the Mech should be consistent and predictable when using the controls. That is the first principle of a good UI, both in software and in a weapons system like a Mech.

I think the following changes would streamline this enormously:

1. Implement override as above. Toggle on/off; if it is toggled off while in an overheat, Mech should immediately shut down. If Mech is currently in a heat-related shutdown, override should immediately power itself up as soon as possible, much like the old override mechanic, and keep the Mech on unless toggled off, powered down manually, or the heat emergency is over.
2. Implement Engine On and Engine Off as separate buttons. (This one is less important if the others are implemented as described here).
3. Engine On should only function in a non overheat situation. This makes sense from a simulationist perspective and a UI perspective. It is less complicated. Have Betty explain why the power-on command is being ignored if you think players will be confused.

[shredluc]

I'm still confused by the new system, the old one worked exactly how it should have. How many times have i hit P during an overheat to see my mech not respond, then power up once out of overheat just to shutdown again because of the queued P .

[StalaggtIKE]

A toggle override would be more intuitive, however that would get people in a lot of trouble. I actually quite like the new overheat mechanic, now that I finally fully understand it. Some things to keep in mind:

• You press override before, not after, you perform an attack that may send you at 100%+ heat.
  
• If you override and reach over 100%+ heat. You must manually shut down SOON, or you will take internal damage. You also must manually power back up.
  
• If you automatically shutdown from overheating... DO NOTHING! The mech will automatically be restarted as soon as it cools down.

Edited by StalaggtIKE, 15 February 2013 - 12:24 PM.

[Selfish]

Override should not power you back up. It's for avoiding emergency shut downs, not emergency power ups. You can currently power up as you would during an old overridden shutdown by hitting P once. The devs even put a spam lock in there to keep players from queuing P and shutting themselves down after powering back up. Don't mash the controls and you'll be fine. A separate control for on/off would be interesting, but I can't say I need it now.

The previous system would require an override on a forced shut down, but if you used power up you'd initiate a power down state and get 'stuck' in a non-animated power down sequence on top of the emergency shut down sequence until you realized you had to hit P again to switch back to a power on state after the forced shut down state went through its power up sequence. A shutdown override is there to prevent the shutdown from happening, and it was only applicable after the shut down happened. It was a bad system, and I'm glad they fixed it.

There's always going to be adaptive confusion when mechanics get shifted, but this new system works better. It also came in conjunction with the animated power up sequences, which can impact/inhibit the feel, especially in speed, of powerups. I think a lot of slow powerups you experience from an override are due to that, not the override not working.

A toggle for Override would be nice. I'd prefer a cockpit light over the giant flashing letters in the screen.

Pro-Tip: Keep the override near your piloting controls so you don't need to search for it. I use E. In general, using an override is done when you're in a very heavy combat situation and need to fire over limit. Many times you're going to die anyways. Searching for a button while you line up a shot just doesn't mix.

[FetchBeer]

The current mechanic does nothing but get people killed!

If you override you run a high chance of blowing yourself up because the autoshutdown mechanism doesn't come back on until you are back under 100% heat.

If you shutdown you get blown up by the other team because you can do nothing until your mech starts up on your own, and if you his p for powerup while shutdown you'll just shut back down after you start up!

startup / shutdown should not queue! they should just do what it says while in that state! if you are shut down from overheat you should startup from that state! not queue a shutdown for when you are starting back up.

and override start up an overheated mech as well as turning off the autoshutdown mechanic.

But seriously if you are a split second late with your override you are just dead, because you won't survive long enough for your mech to start back up, and if you pound p thinking that should turn it back on, you will just shut down again!

[StalaggtIKE]

FetchBeer, on 17 February 2013 - 09:54 PM, said:

startup / shutdown should not queue! they should just do what it says while in that state! if you are shut down from overheat you should startup from that state! not queue a shutdown for when you are starting back up.

I agree with this statement; the queueing should be removed. It takes self control to just sit there and wait for the mech to auto powerup, while taking a beating by several enemy mechs.

Edited by StalaggtIKE, 18 February 2013 - 08:30 AM.

[Odlig Shadowborn]

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We'll be looking into it.