Mechwarrior Online

[Sotha]

Ooh! I got informed that a new Mechwarrior game has been released as free-to-play just recently.

 

Mechwarrior Online

 

Looks mighty fun. It is an online game, but I hope there is some kind of offline practice mode. It's been many years since mechwarrior 2: mercenaries.

 

Just started to download it, maybe I get to test it out in the next few days?

 

http://mwomercs.com/

[ERH+]

There is no offline practice mode, but you will die in seconds even when have some experience. Biggest problem is credits income from matches, and devs still reworking it: for first 25 matches you get "cadet bonus", so after 25 matches you will have for sure almost 8KK C-bills, but after that average income per match could be 100.000 -and mechs cost from 2KK to over 10KK. "Practice" starting mechs cannot be customized, and you have to grind hard if you want build some really cool machine. Heart of Mechwarrior was always in checking different sets of engine, armour, heatsinks and various weapons, and devs pull away this best part of game from newbies -definitely it won't help in popularising game..

 

Here's handy comparison of mechs and weapons, and MWO wiki:

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/27065-ohms-quick-reference-sheets-for-all-mech-hardpoints-weapons-engines-pilot-lab-images-pdfs-excel-inside/

http://mwowiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

[ungoliant]

I'd love to get into this, but I simply won't do it unless I pick up a new joystick, throttle, and foot pedals, the way i used to play MW2 as a kid. There's simply no comparison.

[Sotha]

I ran around and got a few kills with the small chassis. It was pretty crazy and hectic, not sure what I was doing. This could be fun with a bit of practice, but...

 

Blegh... The most unpopularising issue in this game was performance. I've got a decent computer that can run modern games with constant good framerates (Dishonored for example.)

 

Even with the lowest possible graphics setting this game runs occasionally well, but then when you need every single fps so you can react to enemies and dodge them behind buildings... the game turns into a slideshow for a few seconds. You know... Those CRITICAL few seconds. Must be due to weak engine or something. With lowest setting the game looks like battlezone 2 but runs badly when you are in a tight spot.

 

Having slowdowns like this is really unacceptable in a fast paced shooter like this. I'll probably have to wait until they fix those issues. Shame.

[lost_soul]

It would be awesome if there were a Linux version of this. Perhaps a letter is in order?

[Xarg]

@lost_soul there won't be a Linux version, MS still holds the copyright to the IP, and PGI is short-staffed enough as it is, sorry

 

@Sotha - if you're still getting your cadet bonus, google "mechwarrior online penny arcade free premium", click the mwomercs link, and sign in, and activate your 1 day of free premium time, it stacks with the cadet bonus. So a victory round, plus cadet bonus might be 400k, and you'll get another 250k or so from the premium. Much much faster way to get your first owned 'Mech.

 

So what 'Mechs are everyone using? I'm using a CTF-1X with 5ML and an AC/20, got all the Elite bonuses for it, seems pretty good.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Xarg

[Sotha]

I turned my video card settings to optimal performance and that activated the notorious catalyst AI. Now this is playable and I do not suffer from those delays of few seconds. Still I firmly believe the engine is shoddy as it functions so poorly for the appearance it looks in low settings. Anyone else getting weird performance issues? How on earth can it be so taxing to the system? Hopefully they will fix this. On the other hand, actually I feel I have some benefits due to low details: trying out high details produced so rich particle-effects I couldn't see anything through the flames and explosions and whatnot. With low settings those are suppressed and you have decent view at all times. Is there a way to remove the 3d cockpit? I'd prefer more unobstructed view.

 

After getting the game working a bit better I played this evening and became quite fond of the smallest trial chassis I used tonight: RAVEN RVN-2X.

It is so fast and the weaponry do not need much skill. Lasers are straightforward to use and the SRM is basically a shotgun: you push the barrel to the enemy mech's back and pull the trigger. (Hm.. Am I misusing it? One might expect short range missiles to have some homing ability...) With the small chassis I approach the front line behind the Big Boy team mates. Then when the front line action starts, you sneak behind the enemy Big Boys and wreack havoc, shoot them in the backs until reactor overheats, then run behind some houses or hills, rest awhile and repeat. I usually get 1-3 assists and one kill if I'm really lucky.

 

For the time being I think I'm happy with the trial chassises. You have to repair your own chassis, right? Not a good commitment with my current skill level (or lack of. )

[Obsttorte]

(Hm.. Am I misusing it? One might expect short range missiles to have some homing ability...)

I'm not a battletech expert, but as far as I can remember only mid and long-range rockets are homing.

 

For your performance issues: I wouldn't be sure it is an engine problem. What also could cause this is that most modern graphic cards turn their speed down when not busy to save power. When then suddenly a couple of mechs with I don't know how much polys appear who shoots a reign of I don't know how much particles at you and your card didn't even recognize that it has something to do right now and should power up immedialety ... you get the point.

[ERH+]

It is still beta, so there are many more issues -for example I must restart game after few matches, or everything slowing down to 4fps and/or all textures turn into blank yellow sheets.

There are two kinds of SRM, guided and not.

In fact light mechs are no less deadly, especially when enemy is slow and have problems with turning around. and LRM and PPC have minimum range of 90m, so you can do nothing with them if enemy just stick to you.

I mostly play with thermal vision, because targets glowing at any range, even if they are not labelled by targeting system.

[Xarg]

The client is pretty unoptimised and it's only in DX9 (so cpu heavy) instead of DX11 which would offload some work on the GPU. SRM's are unguided. The ones you're looking for are Streak SRM's, but at this point in the timeline only the SSRM2 is available. Remove the cockpit? Nope, you're supposed to be inside the robot, and given they want it to be a simulator, or simulator-ish at least, that'll be staying. The (S)SRM's have a range of 270? or so meters, so if you're literally hugging some guy's ass and firing them, you *might* be taking some splash damage, I'm not sure.

 

Repair and Rearm was taken out in the last patch (for good measure too, people were just cheesing it and abusing the armour repair and ammo restock 75% the game provided, by taking more ammo than they needed to get a free refill to a usable quantity). One thing to note when you do get your first owned 'Mech, is that the 'Mechlab will open up to you. You will have the option of fitting either a standard (abbreviated to std) or Extra-Light (XL) engine. The TT ruleset says that when you take 3 engine crits, your 'Mech blows up (not sure if the game does the same for the gyro, which iirc shares that 3 crits total with engine), and the Inner Sphere XL takes up 3 crits per side torso, meaning, losing a side torso can cause you to die due to taking 3 engine crits.

 

..... can't wait for the Clan XL engines that only have 2 crits per side

[ungoliant]

According to the linked video, you can target your allies targets and stuff. Are NARC beacons available in MWO? Because that would allow for some seriously crazy target painting for extra long range LRM destruction in a multiplayer scenario. I'm envisioning a NARC'd target with 100 incoming missiles from 10KM range right now.

[Sotha]

Yeah, there are NARC and TAG. Not used them myself.

http://mwowiki.org/w....php?title=NARC

http://mwowiki.org/w...x.php?title=TAG

 

I suppose a fast recon mech could paint targets for artillery LRM boats far away. I'm not exactly sure how the enemy spotting works. If you target an enemy, your teammates see them in their hud.

 

At present, there is a big controversy due to overpowered ECM systems (cannot target enemies, cannot lock on them) that make LRMs rather useless because every single mech seems to have an ECM.

http://mwowiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=ECM

[ungoliant]

We would also like to remind people that the ECM is not all powerful. The rock to its scissors is the TAG laser. If you use it to hit anyone cloaked by an ECM, you and your team will be able to target them. Like any new addition to the game, this just requires a shift in thinking how to equip your Mech and/or team.

 

I think this is probably a good thing, as it will likely remove/reduce the popularity of the traditional "elite" codfag sniper camping gameplay over-running MWO. You will know these players because they will sit back at range with 4 LRM20's equipped, let everyone else do the work, run away if something comes towards them, and constantly ask questions about how to control their mech. Or at least, thats how I imagine it happening if I played the game.

[Sotha]

I think this is probably a good thing, as it will likely remove/reduce the popularity of the traditional "elite" codfag sniper camping gameplay over-running MWO. You will know these players because they will sit back at range with 4 LRM20's equipped, let everyone else do the work, run away if something comes towards them, and constantly ask questions about how to control their mech. Or at least, thats how I imagine it happening if I played the game.

 

Heh.. Like this?

https://www.youtube....h?v=7TR9l-OVHbQ

 

When the ECM update came the same guy posted this video:

https://www.youtube....h?v=X2LJqT8JMRY

 

I found those both entertaining to watch.

 

I can really not comment whether it is good or bad as I'm so new to this game. Of course if someone has gotten used to some tactics and then an update eradicates the tactic, they will be unhappy, but such is the vagaries of the games that are always developing. The developers are in the sad position that someone will always be displeased and cry.

[ungoliant]

Heh.. Like this?

 

oh..my..god. *facepalm*

I had to stop watching that first video after like 2 minutes because I was going to claw my eyes out... ah, who am I kidding, you can't look away from a train wreck *watches the rest*

 

edit: ahahaha, the beginning of the 2nd video put a great big smile on my face. And he even has the balls to say that the patch dumbs down the game to COD level. How f'ing classic. The eternal conflict of "I say 'camping', you say 'tactics' " continues.

 

re-edit: I'm going to watch some more MWO videos. I really hope MWO is as potentially brutal and tactical as I dream it could be. I'd like to see TAG's, NARCs, and LRM's in use, along with flamers, axes, and offensive jump-jets used to DFA crash-land on top of other mechs.

Edited January 6, 2013 by ungoliant

[Xarg]

TAG counters ECM sorta at this point, ECM nullifies NARC, LRMs are hit n miss depending on how many ECM the enemy has, and if you can kill them quickly or send your ECM in on jamming mode. No DFA or melee at current, and collisions have been removed for the forseeable future, which is probably for the best given how both players involved in a double knock-down collision would warp around and swap places.

 

You could always try MWLL and experience 'Mech + tank + hovercraft + VTOL + Aerospace + battle armour combined arms combat (if you own Crysis Warhead/Wars).. or totally not use the trial and don't join a certain server that won't let you play because it does... stuff . Hell, play both! Room in this world for 2 'Mech games.

[ungoliant]

i just received arma2 combined operations as a gift, so I'll be occupied for the foreseeable future =D

[Xarg]

By any chance would you happen to also be installing Day Z?

[Sotha]

Bought my very first mech yesterday: Jenner JR7-K, because of the arsenal it has. It has very weak armor but it is well armed and fast and I'm seriously thinking of installing an anti-missile system on it.

 

There aren't many play guides around the net. What should one do with missiles locked on you? I read somewhere shutting down the engine makes the missiles lose their lock, but I think I've still been hit by the missiles. Shutting down seems almost always a bad idea.

[Xarg]

Find a building or something to block LOS on the missiles, they'll just impact harmlessly on it and let you carry on being an annoying Light Mech

[Psychomorph]

There is no offline practice mode, but you will die in seconds even when have some experience. Biggest problem is credits income from matches, and devs still reworking it: for first 25 matches you get "cadet bonus", so after 25 matches you will have for sure almost 8KK C-bills, but after that average income per match could be 100.000 -and mechs cost from 2KK to over 10KK. "Practice" starting mechs cannot be customized, and you have to grind hard if you want build some really cool machine. Heart of Mechwarrior was always in checking different sets of engine, armour, heatsinks and various weapons, and devs pull away this best part of game from newbies -definitely it won't help in popularising game.

 

PlanetSide 2 is my first MMO and free to play game and this grinding is the sh#tties concept I've ever experienced in online gaming. Definitely my last F2P. Was looking toward MW and Hawken, but no thanks. I rather pay than play crap for free.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Psychomorph

[Xarg]

You can't even pay to remove the grind, you can only pay to reduce it via premium time. It's not so bad when playing with 3 other friends and you're all just having a good time and the cash and xp flow is just happening on the side, but playing alone ("pubbing" or "pugging") will be highly frustrating as often the other people on your team will do stupid things that get them killed, plus you will only get 30-50k for the match, while a solid win can net almost 300k if you stack the bonuses right. I take issue (not very much, but some) with the way PGI said there would be a place for lone wolves... because there is a legion of people who took that to heart, and refuse to play like a team, refuse to join the community TS3 servers, and thus unless they are good team players and at least moderately skilled, will usually contribute little to nothing to your team. Team play with friends is highly recommended once you get out of the 'ooh it's new and shiny, what does it do?' phase, and knuckle down to earning C-Bills to start customising.

[lowenz]

Sad news for all Battletech fans (I think Xarg is )

 

http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/ closed development, essentially for MWO.

Edited January 17, 2013 by lowenz

[rebb]

Sad news for all Battletech fans (I think Xarg is )

 

http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/ closed development, essentially for MWO.

 

Damn. I was actually thinking that half of the MW:LL guys were working on MWO - is that not the case ?

 

Since i strongly believe MWO would not exist if it hadn't been for this project in the first place.

If they are not involved in MWO somehow, it looks like yet another dick-move the world has pulled :/

[Xarg]

As far as I know, the only person who worked on MW:LL who crossed over to MW:O is Alex Iglesias (sp) also known as FlyingDebris, who did all of MW:O's 'Mech concept art, after doing a fair amount of work at MW:LL as well. I've read rumour that other MW:LL developers put in their resumes at PGI and were ignored, can't verify that, but as it stands only FD made the jump to work on MW:O.