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MechWarrior Online - News and Information Thread

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
1 ERLL, 2 ERML running at 142kph can be a pretty awesome hit and run mech. Or load a couple ML and Streaks and go light hunting.

The Ferret has always been near my favorite mech, so I can't give up on it so quickly.
 

Giolon

Member
wow... the ice ferret looks incredibly pathetic...

http://mwomercs.com/news/2014/11/989-ice-ferret-preview

only 9.5 tons of space on a medium... I really cant see a way to make this better than a jenner...

I expect it to fill a harasser or sniper role along the lines of the Cicada. Clan weaponry is also fairly light.

1 ERLL, 2 ERML running at 142kph can be a pretty awesome hit and run mech. Or load a couple ML and Streaks and go light hunting.

The Ferret has always been near my favorite mech, so I can't give up on it so quickly.

Something like this.
 

Shaitan

Neo Member
but cant a jenner load the same payload and be faster?

Its not like I want to hate it, just really not impressed with it. If it was a light, it would have been great, but I would WAY rather take a nova or stormcrow
 

Woorloog

Banned
The Clan mechs would be better if the hardpoints weren't so restrictive. You can fit quite many small lasers in 9 tons. Or SRMs. Or machine guns. Or mix of these.
Of course, you cannot, and thus it is meh. I reckon people are crying a lot in the official forums.
 

Talisker

Member
I honestly don't see how the hard points are restrictive with the player's ability to mix and match omnipods. If anything, clanners are restricted by fixed engines - a price I will gladly pay for the fact that I can loose a side torso and keep on going. Could you elaborate on that?

However, I've also started noticing how the longer beam duration on clan lasers are quite tough as well... You really notice that in LL sniping duels with pesky Ravens..
 

Woorloog

Banned
I honestly don't see how the hard points are restrictive with the player's ability to mix and match omnipods. If anything, clanners are restricted by fixed engines - a price I will gladly pay for the fact that I can loose a side torso and keep on going. Could you elaborate on that?

However, I've also started noticing how the longer beam duration on clan lasers are quite tough as well... You really notice that in LL sniping duels with pesky Ravens..

I forgot the omnipods... but then i hadn't looked at Ice Ferret's options. Never cared for the mech.
But for many Clan mechs, the omnipods do not give significant options.
For example, consider the Summoner, which doesn't have multi-HP pods really, missiles aside. Carrying a pair of PPCs with a bunch of medium and small lasers for back up is not possible, even though the mech has good amount of podspace for that.

As people complain, the MWO omnimechs are not customizable enough... when it comes to weapons (i wouldn't allow the chassis to be customizable, i'm way too purist for that).
 

Lime

Member
I'm starting to think that PGI outsources their 3D work. There's a noticeable dropoff in quality compared to the ones we saw during the closed and open beta. Maybe someone left or they've hired new inexperienced blood or the reason is that they are rushing the 3D work out the door. Or maybe the ghastly invasion colors simply make the newer mechs seem really off-putting.

Completely unrelated to the point above:
The "laser fingers" on the mad dog make me weep :'(

carousel_a_mad_dog_2.png

compared to the TRO "laser fingers"
 
Isn't it just that they have adopted the modularized weapons now (when back in closed beta they didn't have dynamic visuals for components)? The laser fingers just look like the laser module they use for all lasers. It would be cool if they had different modules for different weapons manufacturers, to give some visual variety to the different 'Mechs.
 

Lime

Member
Also, I just visited that Reverse Disabled Almeras sculptor, and apparently he also did a Dragon and Centurion. Amazing, amazing work:

Guards.jpg


He or she is currently doing a Leopard dropship at the moment :O
 

Lime

Member
Damn, I just heard that anyone who ever paid for Mechwarrior Tactics is shit out of luck and that IGP have basically conned anyone believing there ever was a product with no official statement whatsoever. People can't even seem to get a refund or anything. The developers haven't worked on it since December last year apparently and it's only recently that the forums got pulled.

Simple cash 'n run.
 

Giolon

Member
Damn, I just heard that anyone who ever paid for Mechwarrior Tactics is shit out of luck and that IGP have basically conned anyone believing there ever was a product with no official statement whatsoever. People can't even seem to get a refund or anything. The developers haven't worked on it since December last year apparently and it's only recently that the forums got pulled.

Simple cash 'n run.

From what I've been able to put together, IGP basically went bankrupt. In the process, PGI was able to buy back the rights to MWO, but given the development troubles of MWTactics there was no such party available to do the same there. The game went down back in late August/early September for a "server move" (at roughly the same time PGI brought MWO down to take it off IGPs servers to their own), and then they never went back up. After about 2 weeks of being offline, they finally updated the website to say they were looking for a new host so stay tuned.

And that was 2 months ago.

As far as mech models go, they've got the same guy on the design as they've always had (Alex Iglesias or something). I do think that quality started going down a little once they settled on standardized modular weapon components, but I don't blame them given that they now have something like 10 times as many mechs to deal with as they had back in closed beta. It's part of the reason mechs don't have super detailed specific damage textures anymore - both because of how much work it is for the artists to make and how many resources it consumes when the game's running.

I still think the overall mech design quality is the highest it's ever been for MechWarrior games and would kill for some miniatures (unfortunately PGI's MechWarrior license from Microsoft prohibits them from creating any merchandise.)
 

Lime

Member
Thanks for the quick overview of MW:T - it's much appreciated. It's simply reprehensible treatment of one's customers (note that I haven't paid a penny to that game). It's weird that there hasn't been much coverage of this by the mainstream games media.

As far as mech models go, they've got the same guy on the design as they've always had (Alex Iglesias or something). I do think that quality started going down a little once they settled on standardized modular weapon components, but I don't blame them given that they now have something like 10 times as many mechs to deal with as they had back in closed beta. It's part of the reason mechs don't have super detailed specific damage textures anymore - both because of how much work it is for the artists to make and how many resources it consumes when the game's running.

I still think the overall mech design quality is the highest it's ever been for MechWarrior games and would kill for some miniatures (unfortunately PGI's MechWarrior license from Microsoft prohibits them from creating any merchandise.)

I definitely agree that most of the concept art is really great (as I have stated prior in this thread). I know that this is the work of Iglesias, which isn't what I am talking about.

I am talking about the 3D translations of that concept art. It just seems like a lot of detail and nuance are lost in converting the concept art into the actual meshes and textures. I think the first wave of mechs were pretty good - Catapult, Hunch, Jenner, Atlas, etc. But the latest ones have been kind of hit 'n miss with some weird details here and there. I kind of wish it was better.
 

Nete

Member
On the IS quirks: my old K2 (4ML and 2AC10 or UAC5) is alive and kicking butts once again.

I'm a happy man.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Running around in my Ice Ferret. Jury is still out on its viability. Sure is fast though!

I'm starting to think that PGI outsources their 3D work. There's a noticeable dropoff in quality compared to the ones we saw during the closed and open beta. Maybe someone left or they've hired new inexperienced blood or the reason is that they are rushing the 3D work out the door. Or maybe the ghastly invasion colors simply make the newer mechs seem really off-putting.

Completely unrelated to the point above:
The "laser fingers" on the mad dog make me weep :'(

compared to the TRO "laser fingers"

They'd be incredibly easy to blow off though. That arm hitbox would be crazy.

I'll take the stubby fingers for gameplay reasons.
 
Also, I just visited that Reverse Disabled Almeras sculptor, and apparently he also did a Dragon and Centurion. Amazing, amazing work:

Guards.jpg


He or she is currently doing a Leopard dropship at the moment :O

I was one of the dudes who purchased a Dragon kit off of this guy.

My painting is flat out balls compared to his work, but the kit is so beautiful.

---

As for Alex, he's doing a tonne of work on other BT products as well, now.

I would not be surprised if he had someone assisting him with MWO work. That's just my assumption, though, and I have no proof.
 
They were entirely done in resin, from custom molds he created. I believe his process was 3D print, clean up model, create mold, then then pour the resin kits.

It's a typical garage kit sort of cost, though. I think I paid 200ish.
 

Lime

Member
That's a decent price, especially for something as low-brow as that. I think I paid like 100 to a 120 bucks for my Armorcast resin models of the Timberwolf and Mad Dog.

Maybe I should order the Raven :)
 
Unfortunately I don't think he has any more, but you're welcome to ask. When I inquired about the Raven, it was some time ago and he said he wasn't pouring any more. He only had a few Cents left which were sold this summer and the Dragon was the only one poured to order.

Let me know if you do get one, I think the Raven is his best work, but I was only able to snag the Dragon. I'd be mad jealous.

Edit:

Actually, I've been after an Armorcast Mad Dog myself for a little while now; where did you get yours?
 

Lime

Member
Unfortunately I don't think he has any more, but you're welcome to ask. When I inquired about the Raven, it was some time ago and he said he wasn't pouring any more. He only had a few Cents left which were sold this summer and the Dragon was the only one poured to order.

Let me know if you do get one, I think the Raven is his best work, but I was only able to snag the Dragon. I'd be mad jealous.

Edit:

I'll get back to you on that. In case he only makes one Raven more, I'll let you have it if you want it real bad :)

Actually, I've been after an Armorcast Mad Dog myself for a little while now; where did you get yours?

Just when the armorcast mechs went out of production, I managed to snag the Timberwolf from NobleKnightsGames. It ended up costing me like $120 I think.

Because I really wanted the Mad Dog as well, I wrote the guy who made the resin models and he told me he would get back in touch because he had some more left, but didn't have an avenue to sell them at. After a while (like a year or so), I got an e-mail from Battlecorps, who were apparently selling it again for a short period of time. I ordered it immediately of course. It got snagged in customs, so I ended up paying $200 I think
 

Woorloog

Banned
Eh, why is the Mad Cat available for MC now but not for C-bills?
Did the schedule get changed at some point?
As you can see, week two of November (now) should have been the Timber Wolf's C-bill release.
 

Giolon

Member
Eh, i thought they counted weeks as... uh, weeks, not days.
Anyway, the mech should have been for MC a month ago.

It was available for MC a month ago: http://mwomercs.com/news/2014/10/968-timberwolf-flash-sale.

As far as how weeks are counted, they appear to use the same method of counting as Microsoft. For example, "Patch Tuesday" for Windows Update is always the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Depending on how you want to count which month a week belongs to (personally, if it doesn't include at least half the week, I don't count it).
 

Woorloog

Banned
Ah. Oh. Stupid me. I thought this was the release, not just a weekend sale. My sense of time is messed up (though i figure the Prague trip i have this weekend will clear my internal schedule).
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
EDIT: Just got 4 kills, a match score of 114 and did 694 damage in my very first run with a Stormcrow Prime. Feels pretty good :)
It's the scariest mech in the game. All of that Clan power at 106kph is nuts.

Do try out the 4x ML, LBX20 build. It's a murderer.
 

Lime

Member
Getting back into the game, there are so many small things that irk me:

Lack of destructive buildings/environment
The chatbox doesn't allow for scrolling
IS / Clan mix-up
Terrible, terrible UI design, both in mechlab and in battle (particularly the CRITICAL DAMAGE! or BASE UNDER ATTACK).

These nitpicks are just something that can be kind of irritating at times.

Question: When I configure my mech, where can I see the amount of tonnage I have allocated so far and the maximum that I am allowed to? Because I can hardly find it.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Getting back into the game, there are so many small things that irk me:

Lack of destructive buildings/environment
The chatbox doesn't allow for scrolling
IS / Clan mix-up
Terrible, terrible UI design, both in mechlab and in battle (particularly the CRITICAL DAMAGE! or BASE UNDER ATTACK).

These nitpicks are just something that can be kind of irritating at times.

Question: When I configure my mech, where can I see the amount of tonnage I have allocated so far and the maximum that I am allowed to? Because I can hardly find it.
Look at Tonnage, on the lower right.

And yeah, the UI could use a pass, or two.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
So i bought a Timber Wolf.
Holy cow, this thing is wonderful. It runs hellishly hot (stock Prime) but i like it all the same.

Welcome to the land of the Timbergod. It's an incredible mech. The combinations of builds you can put together are endless.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Welcome to the land of the Timbergod. It's an incredible mech. The combinations of builds you can put together are endless.

Except i'm too much of a purist, i doubt i'll make any changes (beyond replicating some other standard configurations).
Besides, one needs big missile boxes to keep the ears. It is a shame non-missile weapons cannot be mounted on the shoulders (canonically, at least one configuration mounts pulse lasers where the missiles are usually). Heck, if could have shoulder-mounted autocannon, i could have pseudo-Marauder.


I wish there were proper Battletech mech simulator. And i mean simulator in the strict sense. But perhaps such thing would be a too niche product for anyone to ever make one.
Interestingly, with VR devices having certain amount of motion tracking, even the neurohelmet could be partially simulated, like when you're in danger of falling, certain motion would stabilize the mech (not quite the same as the neurohelmet but close enough, i think).
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
The only purpose for the Mist Lynx, is to free up more tonnage for the other three mechs in your 240 ton CW dropdeck.

I haven't touched mine yet. Might just sell them and move on to better mechs.

When I'm in an Ice Ferret there's no better sight, than a lone Lynx. It's a guaranteed kill.
 

Woorloog

Banned
I calculated that they need to increase the drop deck by 5 tons:
-Banshee, 95 tons
-Jagermech, 65 tons
-Hunchback, 50 tons.
-Jenner, 35 tons
-------------------------------
Total: 245 tons.

Yeah, that's my 4 hero mechs.

I also have the free Atlas (no help at all) and the free Centurion (the same).

I don't have MC left either so i can't get an alternative to one of my mechs....
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
They won't raise the tonnage because of the Timber Wolf. Imagine if people could take 3x TW and a throwaway ECM Lynx.

I can't figure out what to take.

Sparky - 55
WVR-7K - 55
Vitcor or Battlemaster - 80/85

Then I'm left with 45 or 50 tons.

I wish the Enforcer what out sooner.
 

Shaitan

Neo Member
huh, i actually dont think it is that bad. it also can pack quite a punch compared to some of the other lights.

favorite set up so far was 2srm6s and 2 ml
 

Shaitan

Neo Member
retract my previous statement. sooooooo fragile. but then again, I have never piloted a locust and those seem pretty popular...
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Took me 57 pug matches, but I earned the Victor.

Used the WVR-6K with 2 LPL and an MPL in the nose. The quirked LPL on this thing is crazy.
 
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