Missile tracking

[Flyingdebris]

i hate when i'm just about to get a lock,

and some jackass ends up running right in front of my target, breaking my lock.  And the enemy is like, hey look at that guy over there doing nothing, lets light him up
<A MILLION SUNS WORTH OF HATE>

Personally i'd kill for some means of indirect saturation barrages.  That way a few missile boats sitting behind a hill can sort of make general areas very unattractive to go through but not necessarily be overpowered.  Conversely that tactic can also be used against those lrm units, so it makes sitting in one place laying out barrages a dicey prospect to do for very long.

[AlfalphaCat]

i hate when i'm just about to get a lock,

and some jackass ends up running right in front of my target, breaking my lock.  And the enemy is like, hey look at that guy over there doing nothing, lets light him up
<A MILLION SUNS WORTH OF HATE>

Personally i'd kill for some means of indirect saturation barrages.  That way a few missile boats sitting behind a hill can sort of make general areas very unattractive to go through but not necessarily be overpowered.  Conversely that tactic can also be used against those lrm units, so it makes sitting in one place laying out barrages a dicey prospect to do for very long.

While I know it's not the same, but you could do this if you had someone TAG the area you want to deny to the enemy.  I messed around alot with the Owens Prime, trying to see if I could get it to do some wild stuff with the TAG and LRMs. 

Maybe it's time we got a Hawkie with TAG?

[DFDelta]

We had several, but people were always complaining that you can't use TAG on VTOLs so every variant with it had its TAG removed.

It was possible, but for that to be doable people had to understand that they do not guide LRMs with a TAG, but that they change their dumbfire direction instead.

[(TLL)KitLightning]

Utilizing the TAG online may be unreliable at times, that it is depended on the client operating the TAG and that clients latency/connection to the server, contra the targets latency/connection to the server, and finally, server synchronization of the clients in general.

iirc a drawback of the engine is that the reticle is determining where the TAG hits, which at times may appear to be the right place for the operator, but due to latency or synchronization issues, is not what the rest of the players will experience.
Maybe having a sort-of lock-on animation on the reticle for when and if the target could be painted, would elevate the usability of the TAG?

No more "STOP PAINTING THE TERRAIN" rants usually followed by "WTF U MEAN"...

[Knightcrawler]

Utilizing the TAG online may be unreliable at times, that it is depended on the client operating the TAG and that clients latency/connection to the server, contra the targets latency/connection to the server, and finally, server synchronization of the clients in general.

iirc a drawback of the engine is that the reticle is determining where the TAG hits, which at times may appear to be the right place for the operator, but due to latency or synchronization issues, is not what the rest of the players will experience.
Maybe having a sort-of lock-on animation on the reticle for when and if the target could be painted, would elevate the usability of the TAG?

No more "STOP PAINTING THE TERRAIN" rants usually followed by "WTF U MEAN"...

But from everything I've heard, TAG barely works at all when painting an actual unit (that is, it only works on totally still targets). The only way to get a good lock is to paint the ground underneath your target. So if there was a lock-on animation for painting units, it'd lead to a false sense of security.

[1N4001]

That's why I would turn TAG into a kind of temporary NARC. If the TAG hits an object, attach an invisible NARC to it for 1 second. Much more accurate and resistant to short connection burps and latency.

[NSallaNuto]

Utilizing the TAG online may be unreliable at times, that it is depended on the client operating the TAG and that clients latency/connection to the server, contra the targets latency/connection to the server, and finally, server synchronization of the clients in general.

iirc a drawback of the engine is that the reticle is determining where the TAG hits, which at times may appear to be the right place for the operator, but due to latency or synchronization issues, is not what the rest of the players will experience.
Maybe having a sort-of lock-on animation on the reticle for when and if the target could be painted, would elevate the usability of the TAG?

No more "STOP PAINTING THE TERRAIN" rants usually followed by "WTF U MEAN"...

This, we have a winner.

The TAG should give the user the same lock sequence of missiles, the lock is maintained until released or aimed too far from target, only once locked it would be reported to the team.

This would also stop the nefarious TAG spam.

I just hope it is feasible.

[(TLL)KitLightning]

Knightcrawler if you paint surface you will get other factors into play that the reticle falls for, and the missiles will most likely not hit the intended target since the missiles will not direct themself to the target but vary according to the terrain elevations, at most hitting the legs. The factors for the TAG to work will always be the same, that the target and client, needs to be insync with the server for optimal usage. I think that is where the TAG fails to deliver, and I'm not sure if such could be resolved by setting the TAG to be server side, afiak it is client side as the regular lasers. A coder may correct me that I am unsure if it is or not.

*Adjusting enhanced-smoke-signal-router+copper cables*

[ELH_Vivicector]

Yes, the simplest and most effective solution for the TAG would be a temporary NARC effect (not affected by AECM and EMP). For 3-5 seconds may be. So, it still should be maintained on target, but it will forgive mistakes. Right now TAG is just for teh lulz.

I have advised a change in lock-on mechanism for all long-ranges missiles. The main point is to make missiles (and LRMs in particular) hit better, but take more skill to use.

When the lock is started, a circle appears on the screen. Player has to keep enemy in the circle to get a lock. As a lock process goes on, circle gets smaller and smaller. If target leaves the circle, lock is failed (Player has to restart it). At the end, circle is just the size of a mech 1000 meters away. So, getting a full lock is hard. But player can fire missiles without a full lock, but in >25% state of a lock. A percent of lock acquired before the launch affect the turning rate of missiles (and scattering, if it is possible to code). So, on 25% of a lock, missiles turn speed is about 70% of what it is now. But at 100% of a lock, turn speed is 150% of what it is now.
GECM slows down the process, crouching, BAP and BHP make it faster.

The result would be:
1) Wow! Missiles require skill keeping enemy in crosshair precisely to get a lock.
2) Missiles are actually capable of hitting fast things with 90-100% lock.
3) Player can fire missiles even if they haven't acquired a full lock. E.g. - if enemy is moving to the cover.
4) Summing it all, missiles SUDDENLY become an effective weapon.

The process can be explained as computer reading sensor information about the target and uploading it in the missiles' warhead. The more info missile has about the target, the better it can track the target. But to get more detailed info about the target, front-mounted sensors should be better and better positioned on it.

[sleepysheep]

Yes, the simplest and most effective solution for the TAG would be a permanent NARC effect (not affected by AECM and EMP). For 3-5 seconds may be. So, it still should be maintained on target, but it will forgive mistakes. Right now TAG is just for teh lulz.

I have advised a change in lock-on mechanism for all long-ranges missiles. The main point is to make missiles (and LRMs in particular) hit better, but take more skill to use.

When the lock is started, a circle appears on the screen. Player has to keep enemy in the circle to get a lock. As a lock process goes on, circle gets smaller and smaller. If target leaves the circle, lock is failed (Player has to restart it). At the end, circle is just the size of a mech 1000 meters away. So, getting a full lock is hard. But player can fire missiles without a full lock, but in >25% state of a lock. A percent of lock acquired before the launch affect the turning rate of missiles (and scattering, if it is possible to code). So, on 25% of a lock, missiles turn speed is about 70% of what it is now. But at 100% of a lock, turn speed is 150% of what it is now.
GECM slows down the process, crouching, BAP and BHP make it faster.

The result would be:
1) Wow! Missiles require skill keeping enemy in crosshair precisely to get a lock.
2) Missiles are actually capable of hitting fast things with 90-100% lock.
3) Player can fire missiles even if they haven't acquired a full lock. E.g. - if enemy is moving to the cover.
4) Summing it all, missiles SUDDENLY become an effective weapon.

The process can be explained as computer reading sensor information about the target and uploading it in the missiles' warhead. The more info missile has about the target, the better it can track the target. But to get more detailed info about the target, front-mounted sensors should be better and better positioned on it.

Agree about everything except it hitting fast mechs. That shouldn't ever happen or there is no point being fast in the game. And would turn the start of the game into 'LOLOLOL LRM raped you!!' If it could hit light mechs any easier than now.

[ELH_Vivicector]

Agree about everything except it hitting fast mechs. That shouldn't ever happen or there is no point being fast in the game. And would turn the start of the game into 'LOLOLOL LRM raped you!!' If it could hit light mechs any easier than now.

By "fast" I have meant something about 86-90 km/h. In fact, 90% of missiles should hit on 100% lock against 86 km/h mech, as I see it.

P.S. Sorry, i have meant temporary NARC effect, not permanent.

[sleepysheep]

Agree about everything except it hitting fast mechs. That shouldn't ever happen or there is no point being fast in the game. And would turn the start of the game into 'LOLOLOL LRM raped you!!' If it could hit light mechs any easier than now.

By "fast" I have meant something about 86-90 km/h. In fact, 90% of missiles should hit on 100% lock against 86 km/h mech, as I see it.

P.S. Sorry, i have meant temporary NARC effect, not permanent.

Well fast heavies are meant to be fast for a reason And they aren't too hard to hit as is, if they do dodge the missiles they damn well deserve it to be honest. I think just speeding up the missiles slightly but keeping their tracking poor is best. Otherwise it's just too easy to turn them into I win weapons. They goto have some disadvantage and chance to miss, since all weapons do (Aka poor aiming).

All I'm saying is LRMS should never be 100% click fire, forget, 100% profit.

Unless I miss read and your saying they need to be mouse over the target permently to get that missile bonus, then thats fine, cause if you can keep your cursor on a mech going 86mph across a map that isn't dead flat you deserve those missiles hitting lol.