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Lime · May 4, 2012

Personally I would like more detail in the cockpit from the earlier screenshot, akin to Mechwarrior 3's:

The texturing of the metal, glass and the electronics provide a really great sense of immersion, imo. The cockpit in MWO seems much too clean and like a standard mesh with no textures.

Lime · May 7, 2012

I hate giving IGN free clicks, but they just posed a new preview with new footage and screens of the 'Mech lab. You also see the Catapult shooting lasers out of the "arms".

The game looks *really* good (jpeg compression not withstanding). Almost worth a new thread.

Lime · May 7, 2012

Just some more picks from that article. Really like the Dragon's translation from concept art to 3D render:

Lime · May 7, 2012

New videos:

Mech lab walkthrough: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/05/07/mechwarrior-online-mechlab-developer-breakdown
Heavy 'Mechs walkthrough: http://youtu.be/j2EZZ7Rf8ug?hd=1 It gives a good indication of what we can expect in terms of the Role Warfare aspect of the gameplay.

Youtube video for the IGN preview is now also up: http://youtu.be/oWtkCWEPFnw?hd=1

Orayn · May 7, 2012

Holy cow, those videos are fantastic! I loved the general look of the combat in the heavy 'Mech video - No doubt about it, this is a MechWarrior game through and through.

Ashodin · May 7, 2012

Orayn said:
Holy cow, those videos are fantastic! I loved the general look of the combat in the heavy 'Mech video - No doubt about it, this is a MechWarrior game through and through.

You and me gonna be Mech buddies.

Lime · May 7, 2012

By the way, if anyone became weirded out by the glowy graphical effects on the Catapult when it was hit by an AC, Bryan Ekman said this on their forums:

It's part of the impact FX. It's being toned down a bit.

Orayn · May 7, 2012

Maxrpg said:
You and me gonna be Mech buddies.

My Large Laser equipped Catapult is ready.

Lime said:
By the way, if anyone became weirded out by the glowy graphical effects on the Catapult when it was hit by an AC, Bryan Ekman said this on their forums:

Hopefully they don't tone them down too much - Actually piloting a 'Mech shouldn't be sterile and smooth.

Lime · May 7, 2012

Apparently IGN is slowly trickling out previews, so here are the other 'Mech classes:

Assault: PPC sighted and it looks like arm-mounted weapons are able to follow the mouse, while torso equipped weapons only follow the rotation. Pretty cool, imo.
Medium
Light

Orayn said:
Hopefully they don't tone them down too much - Actually piloting a 'Mech shouldn't be sterile and smooth.

Agreed. The glowing orange effect just seems a bit too much.

Kai Dracon · May 7, 2012

Orayn said:
My Large Laser equipped Catapult is ready.

Hopefully they don't tone them down too much - Actually piloting a 'Mech shouldn't be sterile and smooth.

I thought the glow was a good touch; I imagine the armor on these machines must heat up and glow white hot for a noticeable time after being scored by energy weapons.

Orayn · May 7, 2012

Haha, I saw a Catapult moonwalking in the Assault video. Methinks the animations still need to be tuned up a little.

Kaijima said:
I thought the glow was a good touch; I imagine the armor on these machines must heat up and glow white hot for a noticeable time after being scored by energy weapons.

Yeah, the scorch marks from lasers look fantastic. Apparently they even slough off molten metal if they get hit by a large laser.

Artadius · May 7, 2012

I'm kinda disappointed in how the mechs fluidly glided down rocky terrain without any 'feeling' at all behind it.

I was really kind of hoping there would be some real feedback to running or sliding down a slope. The RPG nut in me wishes there were mechwarrior stats involved where you had a piloting skill which if you failed a check, you might tumble down a slope and take fall damage whereas a more skilled pilot would be able to deftly navigate the rocky slope down.

Instead, we get Quake 3 Arena: Battletech.

Woorloog · May 7, 2012

Orayn said:
Haha, I saw a Catapult moonwalking in the Assault video. Methinks the animations still need to be tuned up a little.

I saw a Hunchback (i think) make a somersault when it was destroyed. I don't think that's supposed to happen... Though it looks hilarious enough that i wouldn't mind much if it'd happen occasionally in the final game.

Artadius said:
I'm kinda disappointed in how the mechs fluidly glided down rocky terrain without any 'feeling' at all behind it.

I think the movement is still under work, it looked like the mechs were lacking cockpit shaking while walking. IIRC the cockpit did shake in the first trailer though that was a prototype and we have no idea on what engine it run etc.
But i know what you mean, the movement looked way too smooth.
Oh and it looked like there was no limit in torso turning regarless of the mech.

One thing the game has nailed very well is the size of the mechs. Look at the trees while the Catapult walks close to them, their tops are on level with the Catapult's cockpit... you really get the feeling you're piloting something big.

EDIT i'm disappointed in how Autocannons work. I understand why the devs made them as they're (easier to differentiate them from Ultras and Rotarys once those are introduced) but that doesn't feel right... an autocannon is a cannon with fast rate of fire, not just a cannon with an autoloader (Russian tanks have those but no one calls them autocannons).

Orayn · May 7, 2012

Artadius said:
I'm kinda disappointed in how the mechs fluidly glided down rocky terrain without any 'feeling' at all behind it.

I was really kind of hoping there would be some real feedback to running or sliding down a slope. The RPG nut in me wishes there were mechwarrior stats involved where you had a piloting skill which if you failed a check, you might tumble down a slope and take fall damage whereas a more skilled pilot would be able to deftly navigate the rocky slope down.

Instead, we get Quake 3 Arena: Battletech.

This is still pretty early in the beta. Physics will be tied into 'Mech handling, but on a certain level there's only such much you can do. Fully simulating the balance and locomotion of a two-legged machine isn't something that's been exhaustively worked out like aerodynamics for a flight sim or car handling for a racing game, so compromises have to be made.

Lime · May 7, 2012

Yeah, this is pretty much the early stages of beta, as far as I can see from the bugs and so on. Nevertheless, despite the unpolished animations and random clipping/bugs, the game still looks amazing, imo.

I remember watching the MW2 intro back in '95 and thinking "wow, if the graphics ever became as good as this...". I discarded the notion as being a silly dream, but here we are today and the mechs in MW:O look absolutely gorgeous. Even if the game becomes a failure, I can just screenshot all the mechs all day. I mean, just look at that Dragon picture and the lighting on it.

Woorloog · May 7, 2012

I take it the closed/open beta for this starts around June and the game is released in July? There's going to be a smallish issue called the Clans if the game is released on August... (Clan Invasion to Innersphere began in August 3049, ie real time August 2012.) How are they going to handle that? I suppose Clan tech spreading might take months at least though, but no longer than that, waiting years for Clan tech would be lame (though the game might be better off without Clan tech in a way, Clan tech is somewhat unbalancing even if it is going to be very, very costly and rare at first).

Dammit, when i'm going to get a PC capable of runnign this game...

Lime · May 7, 2012

Woorloog said:
I take it the closed/open beta for this starts around June and the game is released in July? There's going to be a smallish issue called the Clans if the game is released on August... (Clan Invasion to Innersphere began in August 3049, ie real time August 2012.) How are they going to handle that? I suppose Clan tech spreading might take months at least though.

Dammit, when i'm going to get a PC capable of runnign this game...

My money is on August, although I would love for it to be in July...

I think their handling of the Clan invasion will be interesting. I imagine they'll use the Inner Sphere News feed to talk about it, while not letting any players engage the periphery states. Then after a year or so, the Clan Expansion is launched. The question then becomes how they'll be used. Will they serve as opponents to players or will people be allowed to play Clans immediately? And how will Piranha balance the obvious differences between Clan tech and Inner Sphere tech?

But shit Woorloog, you haven't saved up any money for a good enough PC since the announcement last year? You betta start saving up cash right away, because Cryengine 3.0 won't be merciful towards poor to mediocre hardware.

Woorloog · May 7, 2012

Lime said:
My money is on August, although I would love for it to be in July...

I think their handling of the Clan invasion will be interesting. I imagine they'll use the Inner Sphere News feed to talk about it, while not letting any players engage the periphery states. Then after a year or so, the Clan Expansion is launched. The question then becomes how they'll be used. Will they serve as opponents to players or will people be allowed to play Clans immediately? And how will Piranha balance the obvious differences between Clan tech and Inner Sphere tech?

But shit Woorloog, you haven't saved up any money for a good enough PC since the announcement last year? You betta start saving up cash right away, because Cryengine 3.0 won't be merciful towards poor to mediocre hardware.

Oh, the Clans entered the Periphery in August '49? How did i miss that? Though it won't take but a few months for them to rush through that.
I wouldn't mind playing matches VS Piranha's "Clan" teams, win and you get Clan tech as reward. If they figure out how to balance it... IIRC, the tabletop rules Clan tech is a bit too good, no?

As for the computer... money is not the real issue. I have enough saved, i think, but i cannot currently buy a computer for various reasons. A new laptop might be a possiblity but they're overpriced (you pay double or for a comparable normal PC) anywhere else, and in Finland, even more expensive (last i check some prices and performances, 2.5-3 times as expensive as a normal PC). (And i shouldn't be using that money for gaming...)

Galactic Fork · May 7, 2012

OK, wow, the cockpit is very annoying and makes no sense.

So the seat is configured with special hydraulics that keep the outside level with the exterior while the cockpit bounces around you? That is moronic.

And floating displays that are independent of the cockpit? Why even have a cockpit view if that's the way they're going to do it.
Edit: Ok, so they had floating huds in other games, but really, there's all that cockpit space, integrating the displays into the cockpits would be much better.

Woorloog · May 7, 2012

Galactic Fork said:
OK, wow, the cockpit is very annoying and makes no sense.

So the seat is configured with special hydraulics that keep the outside level with the exterior while the cockpit bounces around you? That is moronic.

And floating displays that are independent of the cockpit? Why even have a cockpit view if that's the way they're going to do it.

The displays are on your HUD, which is on your neurohelmet. Doesn't include cameras and such to see through the Mech, like realy world F-35 fighter does (didn't it have systems like that or something like it anyway?).

EDIT noticed edit after posting, also, as noted, the movement and lack of shaking in cockpit are likely due to work in progress nature of the game...

Lime · May 8, 2012

Woorloog said:
As for the computer... money is not the real issue. I have enough saved, i think, but i cannot currently buy a computer for various reasons. A new laptop might be a possiblity but they're overpriced (you pay double or for a comparable normal PC) anywhere else, and in Finland, even more expensive (last i check some prices and performances, 2.5-3 times as expensive as a normal PC). (And i shouldn't be using that money for gaming...)

Yeah, I know that feeling. Better just wait then. It also means that you'll be able to see people's impressions and whether or not it fails/lives up to expectations. I could imagine a F2P driven game only becomes better as time goes, because of player-driven development direction, so whenever you have the money and interest, you'll not only have better and cheaper hardware, but also a more improved game.

Galactic Fork said:
OK, wow, the cockpit is very annoying and makes no sense.

So the seat is configured with special hydraulics that keep the outside level with the exterior while the cockpit bounces around you? That is moronic.

And floating displays that are independent of the cockpit? Why even have a cockpit view if that's the way they're going to do it.
Edit: Ok, so they had floating huds in other games, but really, there's all that cockpit space, integrating the displays into the cockpits would be much better.

I agree about the movement of the cockpit compared to the view/HUD. Piranha needs to bind the player camera to the cockpit, but I don't know if it's intentional to let it be easy to navigate (e.g. shooter-interested players not being frustrated with the physics and movement messing up their aim). Either way, I hope they fix it before release, so that the camera shakes just like the cockpit. That cockpit movement is 90% of the experience.

Quadratic · May 8, 2012

This is the game I've been waiting years for since MW4. The video showcasing how scout mechs spot for LRM capable heavy mechs is great.

Lime · May 8, 2012

Regarding the release date, MW:O forum user omega5-9er made this observation:

Can't help but notice the "Estimated Release Date" on IGN's page saying Sept.30th. I know this isn't true and it's only a rough estimate, but this rough estimate was made today. Yesterday the release date was June30th now it's Sept. 30th.

Take it as you will.

Quadratic said:
This is the game I've been waiting years for since MW4. The video showcasing how scout mechs spot for LRM capable assault mechs is great.

Yeah, I'd say us Mech fans are due a new sim game after almost a decade of wait/Microsoft leaving the series to die. I hope this'll be sufficiently successful, in so far as to make a Single Player campaign of MW:O possible.

Woorloog · May 8, 2012

Quadratic said:
This is the game I've been waiting years for since MW4. The video showcasing how scout mechs spot for LRM capable assault mechs is great.

Indeed, the system seems to be working.

Some thoughts on strategy:

Basic strategy:

When the round begins, scout mechs engange and tag targets (preferrably enemy mediums and heavier though bombarding enemy scouts to pieces right away might be a good idea if possible), allowing artillery to start pounding them. Some of the scouts harrass enemy scouts.

Mediums arrive soon after and start holding the line until the heavier elements arrive. Some of the mediums (fast, a lot of guns, light armor) start hunting (with your scouts) enemy scouts and hunter/harasser mechs.

Heavies and assault mechs keep the line. Assault mechs tank, faster heavies (less emphasis on armor) try to to push onward but should avoid pushing the other team back to their base, instead the battle should be directed to elsewhere, this allows a strike group to march directly to enemy base.
As for what makes a good strike group... intuition says: balance. Heavies mostly, with fairly even armor, firepower and speed. Possibly a lance of 4 heavies, with three of them focusing on one thing each and the fourth being a balanced one.

Defenders should be fast, reactionary group which mostly harrasses the main battle line mechs but can easily retreate back to base to defend. Defenders need staying power, mostly energy weapons but not many of them to free weight for other things: enough speed to move quickly and enough armor to stay up.
Personally i don't think assault mechs would make good defenders, they're way too slow to react to things. Turret configs are too easily destroyed or avoided.
Fast assault mechs are not a good idea, assault mech engines are too inefficient (the lighter the mech, the more speed it gains per engine upgrade, no?).

I'm just guessing here though. And naturally map affects a lot on these, i think it is unlikely for a city map to have a line of battle, ambushes and duels are more likely.

EDIT as for MW4, been playing it, Black Knight and Mercenaries for a few days. And now the game decided to ignore my main mouse button, ie i cannot fire weapon group one or do anything else with it (other than click menu buttons). Really odd issue, worked fine a few days ago.

Quadratic · May 8, 2012

I agree with your assessment of tactics for this game. It looks way more varied than previous entries where you pretty much only played 100 tonners since they had the most firepower. Another thing I noticed from the preview is that the scout mech got "experience" for locating enemy mechs. It's going to encourage a lot of people to play that chassis.

It reminds me a lot of Team Fortress 2's multiplayer dynamic. You'll need a mix of mechs to be successful.

kennah · May 8, 2012

Quadratic said:
It reminds me a lot of Team Fortress 2's multiplayer dynamic. You'll need a mix of mechs to be successful.

This'll be the first game I buy hats for.

Orayn · May 8, 2012

kennah said:
This'll be the first game I buy hats for.

It'd be neat if they had a system that let you submit custom emblems that could be used on your 'Mech if they were approved by Piranha, similar to TF2's "Flair" and "Conscientious Objector."

Fireye · May 9, 2012

New mech for today is the Cicada:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Cicada

That's a mech I hadn't thought about in many, many years.

Lime · May 9, 2012

Once again, nice concept art by Alex. Really great.

I'm not that familiar with the Cicada barring MW2: Mercenaries, but how is 2 medium lasers + 1 small laser respectable armament for a medium class mech?

Fireye · May 9, 2012

Lime said:
Once again, nice concept art by Alex. Really great.

I'm not that familiar with the Cicada barring MW2: Mercenaries, but how is 2 medium lasers + 1 small laser respectable armament for a medium class mech?

It's twice as much power as the Locust's original layout. It's also pretty fast, and has decent armor. I'd expect it to be a good scout mech. Also, it was designed in 2740, cut it some slack!

Deleted member 47027 · May 9, 2012

I like the Cicada. I dig it.

Divvy · May 9, 2012

Another great design. It would be nice to get a list of what mechs are coming. I guess that would ruin the surprise.

Woorloog · May 9, 2012

Alex does nice work as always but Cicada is horribly ugly regardless. Won't be playing with that one.

Oh, how many mechs you reckon this game will have at launch?

We know each mech will have 2 variants at least. Well, we don't know if all have 2 variants but it is a logical assumption as at least Catapult and Hunchback have 2 variants both.
I'm guessing the game has 12 mechs with 2 variants each at launch, 3 per weight class.

Divvy · May 9, 2012

It needs at least 16. Four for each weight class is what I would consider the minimum.

ColonelSkills · May 9, 2012

Orayn said:
A little birdie from Piranha has supposedly revealed that not only are they going to have full joystick/throttle/pedal support, but are in talks with some producers of input devices to get special MechWarrior-branded input devices made. Personally, I'd love a joystick with tons of buttons and an analog POV hat for aiming arms.

Fuck, all they need to do now is support something like a programmable MFD and I'd be jizzing in my shorts.

Hell, even an API and I'll do it myself.

A dream, I know, but still.

dLMN8R · May 9, 2012

I'm loving the hardcore sim look of the UI. Can't wait!

Grakl · May 9, 2012

I want to play. Come on.

Kai Dracon · May 9, 2012

Wow, I actually really like the way the Cicada looks.

Forsaken82 · May 9, 2012

Lime said:
Personally I would like more detail in the cockpit from the earlier screenshot, akin to Mechwarrior 3's:

I agree with this... not the biggest fan of the Floating UI (it really takes away some of that immersion), but whatever works, i care more about the game play than anything else. If it plays like Mech 2 i will be more than satisfied.

Kai Dracon · May 9, 2012

Forsaken82 said:
I agree with this... not the biggest fan of the Floating UI (it really takes away some of that immersion), but whatever works, i care more about the game play than anything else. If it plays like Mech 2 i will be more than satisfied.

I thought the floating UI was intended to represent an updated concept of what the neurohelmet is providing the pilot? aka augmented reality data stream.

Atomski · May 9, 2012

Forsaken82 said:
I agree with this... not the biggest fan of the Floating UI (it really takes away some of that immersion), but whatever works, i care more about the game play than anything else. If it plays like Mech 2 i will be more than satisfied.

Why does it take away from the immersion? Surely they would have the technology to display that stuff in the visor...

Edit: Beaten..

Lime · May 9, 2012

Woorloog said:
Alex does nice work as always but Cicada is horribly ugly regardless. Won't be playing with that one.

Oh, how many mechs you reckon this game will have at launch?

We know each mech will have 2 variants at least. Well, we don't know if all have 2 variants but it is a logical assumption as at least Catapult and Hunchback have 2 variants both.
I'm guessing the game has 12 mechs with 2 variants each at launch, 3 per weight class.

They've said there will be 12 mechs at release.

Orayn · May 9, 2012

Atomski said:
Why does it take away from the immersion? Surely they would have the technology to display that stuff in the visor...

Edit: Beaten..

The books can be a little vague about what's being projected onto a screen, fed directly to the pilot through their helmet, located on MFDs, etc. It's a bit of an abstraction, yes, but it doesn't really conflict with anything in canon. I would also expect the actual cockpits to get a little more elaborate as we get closer to release.

Lime said:
They've said there will be 12 mechs at release.

Oh wow, really? That's not a ton, but it's a start. Makes it easier for me to be an early adopter and fill out all those tech trees.

Tallshortman · May 9, 2012

So this game is "arena" based then and not persistent open world pvp? That's what I got from the joystiq and IGN previews unless I missed something.

Sinatar · May 9, 2012

Tallshortman said:
So this game is "arena" based then and not persistent open world pvp? That's what I got from the joystiq and IGN previews unless I missed something.

I think they are working on a persistant world map conflict ala Chromehounds but it won't be ready on launch.

Orayn · May 9, 2012

Tallshortman said:
So this game is "arena" based then and not persistent open world pvp? That's what I got from the joystiq and IGN previews unless I missed something.

Sinatar said:
I think they are working on a persistant world map conflict ala Chromehounds but it won't be ready on launch.

Yeah, individual matches are fought on (rather large) instanced maps and have time limits and victory conditions. Later on, there will be a Risk-like metagame that allows mercenary corps to take control of border worlds for various benefits.

Krauser Kat · May 10, 2012

Wouldn't the best cockpit be something closer to a fighter pilots ex. All glass for best vision. I think the cockpit looks fine and the less useless pieces of metal blocking my vision the better.

NEO0MJ · May 10, 2012

Orayn said:
Yeah, individual matches are fought on (rather large) instanced maps and have time limits and victory conditions. Later on, there will be a Risk-like metagame that allows mercenary corps to take control of border worlds for various benefits.

Like EVE?

BattleMonkey · May 10, 2012

Krauser Kat said:
Wouldn't the best cockpit be something closer to a fighter pilots ex. All glass for best vision. I think the cockpit looks fine and the less useless pieces of metal blocking my vision the better.

The more glass cockpit, the more vulnerable the pilots are and become huge weak points on the mechs which are designed to take multiple hits.

Orayn · May 10, 2012

BattleMonkey said:
The more glass cockpit, the more vulnerable the pilots are and become huge weak points on the mechs which are designed to take multiple hits.

But as always, the BattleTech universe strikes a balance between being practical/feasible and looking really damn cool. It'd be interesting to see some 'Mechs that rely more on external optics and don't have much of a glass cockpit to speak of, but I imagine aircraft-like cockpits will be standard for the forseeable future.

NEO0MJ said:
Like EVE?

Along with the conquest map from World of Tanks, Piranha cited EVE as one of their inspirations for the system.

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