Torso destruction and arm functions

[snooggums]

Am I remembering Batteltech/past MW games correctly that when a torso is destroyed the arm should (logically) either fall off or stop functioning at a minimum?

I know that internal structure is not really represented in MWLL, so this may be a symptom of the damage system. When the right torso is destroyed it cannot be repaired, but the right arm (if not destroyed) still functions and fires as normal unless separately destroyed. Shouldn't removing a torso remove the arm since there is nothing for the arm to be attached to? Is this something that is already in the line for a future release?

I searched but did not find a thread addressing this already with 'arm' 'torso' and 'destroyed' in various combinations for an earlier thread.

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

the arms will function if one section of the torso is destroyed.  however any weapons in that torso section will be destroy and a high chance of engine damage which drops top speed.

[GB-72AT Talon]

this confuses me also, i understand the devs are trying to keep the game playable and enjoyable for a large audience, even if it means not following traditional battletech rules/data....which is cool, but i do think if i spent time blowing out another mechs right torso, that mech should lose it's right arm

same thing happened to me, lost torso side completely, ran back to hangar, repaired, weapon on that arm still functioning fully, only thing i lost was protection on that side of the torso....

hopefully they will add the dependency of the arm to having an intact torso, and thus destroying a side torso completely will lose the appropriate arm and weapons...

[Clownmite]

I guess it makes sense, but none of the other mechwarrior games were like that, so maybe they weren't thinking about it? I think it would be cool if it impaired functioning of the arm somehow (but not completely).

[KorJax]

Think of it this way:  I could destroy your collar bone with a hammer and render it unusable but your arm's still going to be attached to the "torso".

Destroying a component doesn't mean it dramatically removes it from the mech.  It means it's no longer usable.  In the case of arms, which tend to be lightly armored and stick out from the main center of gravity from the body, tend to fall off when killed.  Plus it looks cool.

[(TLL)Sky_walker]

Yep, that's exactly what I thought. Destroying the armor and components on right torso does not mean the right hand suddenly drops off (I didn't shoot into hand, did I?), and TBH when I first time figured out in MW4 that destroying side of torso destroys the hand as well I was very surprised.

[snooggums]

Think of it this way:  I could destroy your collar bone with a hammer and render it unusable but your arm's still going to be attached to the "torso".

Destroying a component doesn't mean it dramatically removes it from the mech.  It means it's no longer usable.  In the case of arms, which tend to be lightly armored and stick out from the main center of gravity from the body, tend to fall off when killed.  Plus it looks cool.

I'd like to see you aim a gun and fire it accurately with a broken collarbone.

I'm referring to torso destroyed, not armor removed. I know we don't have internal structure, but if torso armor is removed then futher hits would be hitting structure/power cables/everything else that the arm needs, as well as making the arm unstable. I can understand it from a gameplay perspective (as tabletop had random damage so hitting a torso with every shot was unlikely) but I do think that the arm weapons should be unusable (or some other effect) if the torso armor is destroyed and additional damage is done to that same location, similar to engine damage if the back armor is destroyed.

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

I guess it makes sense, but none of the other mechwarrior games were like that

This overrides anything else to me.  FASA had many iterations to change the behavior of the torso/arm relationship if they wanted to.  Also, just my opinions but those "health bars" are not actually health, just armor levels.  So you can have ZERO armor and still have a functioning torso.  Drop one more shot in though and the guy goes by by.

[GB-72AT Talon]

I guess it makes sense, but none of the other mechwarrior games were like that

This overrides anything else to me.  FASA had many iterations to change the behavior of the torso/arm relationship if they wanted to.  Also, just my opinions but those "health bars" are not actually health, just armor levels.  So you can have ZERO armor and still have a functioning torso.  Drop one more shot in though and the guy goes by by.

if that was the case then when i pull into the mechbay to repair they should be able to stack new armor plates onto my "not destroyed - still functioning" torso

[Alendor]

just because the components and weapons are destroyed and disabled in part of the toso doesn't mean the main skeletal structure is completly destroyed and disconnected.  the human body example was a great one.  you can take all kinds of dmg to your shoulder/side torso in real life, and your arm still remains attached, and in many cases still functions, aside from extreme pain, of which a mech doesn't feel.  

[Cujo]

Think of it this way:  I could destroy your collar bone with a hammer and render it unusable but your arm's still going to be attached to the "torso".

Actually, that's not a great example (but it depends), but that's completely irrelevant because this is such a small detail (in my eyes at least) because once you've lost a side torso your significantly closer to taking engine hits and dying, and XL engines are already exposed when you take out a side torso so you're pretty much dead anyway (provided we've accounted for them).  *shrug*

[~SJ~ Tajin Nevversan]

Hmm I can live with not having the arms blown off when a sidetorso gets destroyed. However, if we see it that way... then it doesn't make sense that this torsopart can't be repaired in the mechbay. Its not blown off or anything, so lets just weld new armor over it and its as good as new.

[KSerge83]

I think some of the confusion here comes from defining "destroyed" when it comes to a torso section.

Most will just think of that section going "black" as that is how the game visually displays LT or RT destruction. However, you can have your LT or RT "go black" and still have the components in it functioning. The problem will then be that ANY damage to that section will start breaking internal components. In most mechs (in MW and in CBT) the LT and RT section were generally for holding ammunition and heat sinks. Of course some mechs have weapons hardmounted there, but generally it was ammo and heat sinks. By that logic, destruction of the LT should start with armor going away, then ammo/heat sink/weapon destruction, then skeletal destruction.

As for how much of that sort of destructibility the devs can implement, I'm not sure. I find it quite enjoyable as is though.