7 replies to this topic

[Garfuncle]

Mechwarrior has always been an awesome robo-combat simulator, and MWO does a great job of keeping things close to the source material of Battletech. But there's one thing that's always been missing from the game series. Something that hasn't been done due to lack of technology. But perhaps now it is the right time to unleash...

ATLAS PAWNCH!



The humanoid mechs of Mechwarrior have had their extra limbs just for show for far long enough. But with the possibility of melee (if, as the Devs have said, can be done right) then those dirty Clanners and their boats are in for a nasty surprise when that Atlas, Centurion, or other Mech with arms is backed into a bad spot.

How it will work:

Melee is powerful. Has the potential to floor mechs of lighter tonnage. And when used correctly, can turn the tide of a fight.

But...it's slow. Can only be used in knife-fight range, leaves the attacker with no weapons until his swing is done, can damage your own mech as well, and when used incorrectly it will paint a giant target on your torso screaming "blast me to slag."

How does mech-fu work, you say? Well, this is my general idea.

--As said before, your mech needs arms. Humanoid types such as the Atlas and Centurion will be the kind of mech type that will have access to melee attacks. You need fists to punch things.

--Your attack is slow, with a lot of windup and cooldown animation. These attacks cannot be spammed in any shape or form. Melee will take longer than any other sort of attack in-game, and can only do damage at point-blank, and will do nothing but leave you exposed if you miss.

--Attacks per arm. Atlas has two human arms with two human fists. Cent has one arm and one fist. Using melee twice with an Atlas will throw two punches. Centurion's can only use singular punches with their one arm. This will of course apply to future humanoid types.

--No weapons can be used during melee. Not even torso-mounted guns. You are using unarmed combat and until your swing stops and your mech's arms come back to rest you are entirely open.

--Melee weapons, such as the hatchet, will add extreme damage to melee attacks...but they of course extremely heavy, and again, are only of any use in melee range.

--You can knock down lighter mechs. But not often. Like criticals, they will be of percentage base. Perhaps the lighter your target is in relation to your mech, the more chance you have of scoring a knock-down.

--And no, there is no quick-time/cinematic elements involved at all. It is a simple, slow, risky, yet powerful attack animation that can be performed with your mech in motion.

Last but not least, if melee does make it into the game, in a form akin to this, than punching that Splatcat in the face will be the most satisfying thing in Mech Warrior.

[Imperator Genosphyre Loadstone]

I'd love to see some melee action!

Check out this video! http://www.youtube.c...e&v=YqzEssjkMeU

Also they should add some of the mechs from that video.

[Selfish]

I agree. We need chain whips and mech tasers. Stat.

Also, I'm willing to wait for this Death Knell replacement.

[Lycrin]

Would like to see that as well. However, since it hasn't ever been implemented in any of the videogames it would take some considerable time to figure out how to make such a machanic practical and balanced while still being fun to utilize.

[Eddrick]

I would like to see melee attacks, too.

Not sure how far they may go from the TT rules for melee attacks. But, they have a Charge attack (Basicly, a Tackle), Punch, Kick, melee weapon attacks, and Death from Above (You jump on top of them using Jump Jets). Most of the damage done with a melee attack is 10% of the attackers weight. The attacker also takes the same damage delt as recoil damage.

Edited by Eddrick, 21 February 2013 - 08:19 PM.

[Geadron Kane]

Hatchetman death from above /drool

[Zaptruder]

I was thinking about this recently too.

Suggestion: Have two melee attacks; left arm/right arm. Requires lower arm actuators; hand actuators reduce recoil damage to own mech considerably.

Hold down the button to pull back the arm, release to swing. Additional damage can be added through momentum; either through movement, or by swinging the torso and releasing it at the right time (like a boxer swings his torso during a hook or uppercut).

[Calimaw]

There are a few armors that have melee weapons as per Battle Tech.

I'd down for some melee, but I'm not sure how it would work for the majority of 'mechs, many simply do not use them, it's mostly the very light armors (20ton) that use melee.

It wouldn't be any thing like kickboxing / samurai stuff, but ramming objects into something would be neat, and if its articulated I wouldnt expect to have wide range of motion from a 'mech.

I expect collision and knockdown would be implemented as a pro / con to a melee system.

From a programming standpoint it would be a pretty large undertaking if the programmers had to do some exploratory coding with out previous experience to make melee sensible.

Personally I'd rather see the Very Light armors in game first (elementals; being the popularly known)

I'm now sure how robust Cry 3 Engine is as far as physics, but I'm going to wager it's fairly robust; robust enough to tell where an physics body is hit (not that its just been hit), and if so, then melee could be very exciting.

Consider an Atlas, in this example to play to whim of OP, is extending its arm to punch, while the Atlas twists it's torso into an enemy Catapult.

If the Catapult were to look away from the punch as it came in contact with its nose, it would absorb much less damage than if it were to look toward the punch.

This type of calculation has to know the velocity of both impact surfaces, which depends on, as I said, the Cry 3 Engines physics engine.

Edited by Calimaw, 21 February 2013 - 09:42 PM.