EDIT: april 13 2010
BEHOLD ANIMATION! of the SHEDUEDIT:april 8 2010
This is the shedu I am currently working on ,the animation is a test in the articulation of the joints. Mostly I kept it simple to use a template for the other armors. Only the front legs have true shoulder joints but it works on two single axis rather than all 3 on one bone.
Soon i will have the details on the BA along with some improvements to the overall look.
Ok so there has been quite a bit of discussion on BAs and how to handle them in the future but i think the current system is fine as is,save for a few balance tweaks. The current system mimics how at any given time on a field of battle in the battletech universe you will encounter BAs. As such it is expected of you to need support to handle them properly. Thats what this is about teamwork in a combined arms game.
If you are in a heavymech you are vunerable to BA and Aerospace atacks that is why ya have lighter support units. If you're in a mech with some machine guns your expected to gun down infantry units to allow strategic units to go and concentrait fire on missle boats or the like.
Thusly i think the current mechanic is fine as i am certain this was the intent of the devs. However yes it does need tweaking. In particular BAs right now are set up to be about 5=1 mech. This is fine with the canon 5 medium BAs should equal a mech and beable to match them evenly or with ambush even take em out eficiently. However ambush dosent work yet. Thats half the BAs role gone.
So i propose this a middle ground,keep the current BAs but tweak the weapons. Make the support ppc more efective but with a higher cost. Give BAs a bit more armor but keep the slower health rate. Also add some code that makes it so only after jumpjeting or fireing a weapon they have a radar sig for brief amount of time. I think this would make things more sensable and in keeping with canon without breaking the game.
In the battletech game a Elemental can take one medium laser and live,albeit hes well messed up. We certainly cant do that in this game yet and it may well be gamebreaking to do so with the current mechanic. So i wouldnt suggest being THAT true to cannon,just allow BAs to have some defined role by offering more equipment to them.
This is where my next idea comes in one ALOT of people have already suggested. Though i have decided to realy dig in and flesh it out. After some research i have a list of variant BAs and equipment that IMO will help flesh out the ideas presented by a few others here.
Variant BAsJust like with mechs ya get classes. However unlike mechs we could impliment a loadout system without haveing to release a full on mechlab.
Specialized equipmentDepending on the class you choose you have acess to different tools. A heavy class has the srm 4 or light gauss rifle ,a quad assault can have dual weapon mounts etc. Other medium types can carry the camo system or the booster jet,both of which are canon items. However once you enter a vehicle or mech you revert to the original spawned armor and drop extra items save for two armaments. This reflects the commonality of the two spawn BAs in their respective factions.
Ok so heres the list i have compiled. Please feel free to critique or add to it.
Medium
Purifier -this BA is a stealth type that has mimetic armor built in the less it moves the better its software can camoflage it much like a cameleon. However it sacrifices a small amount of protection for this function. Its jump jet capabilites however are on par with a Elemental.
Void-This BA is the Clan answer to the Purifier(actualy based on IS tech though)
Both the Longinus and Elemental also fall into this category. Thusly I saw it fleshed out enough with those two and these stealth suits.
Heavy
Corona-This heavy clan armor is based on elemental armor but with very different tactics in mind. Useing the idea of long range atacks and single heavy weapons it sports no jumpjets but has twice the ground speed of a an elemental. This is offset by its harder to detech stealth armor.(smaller radar radius i figured >.> )
Phalanx-Similar to the Corona however this design mounts its heavy weapons on its arm rather than the shoulder.
Sirius-A Quad armor that has great speed compared with other BAs . It sports double the speed of most armors even out running heavy tanks. Its max speed is 50 kmh. Its quad design alows for dual mounting of most medium sized weapons.
Sloth MKII-Larger a bit than the Sirius However it sports the same armament capacity.
Assault
Fenrir- This quad BA is what assault is all about. Maxing speed out at 43 kmh
Shedu-The Clans assault quad is a force to be reckoned with. More armor than the Fenrir but with reduced speed at 32 kmh(can be changed but thats canon speed).
Grenadier-Geared tword the most powerfull weapon system possible the Inner Sphere created the Grenadier. Its stealth armor similar to heavy armors but with thicker plates. Both harder to hit and kill than its predicesors.(basicly same radius as heavy bipeds but more HP)
Golem-The clans heaviest armor with only destruction in mind. Its system similar to the Grenadier both maxing speed at 22 kmh.
Now this list is only a few BAs but i belive it represents a nice even smatterin for both sides of canon (and one non canon XD) Battlearmors that we could impliment.
RulesMedium-can only carry two medium weapons no duplicates(basic rules currently in place) or one weapon and a support system.
Heavy-select one heavy weapon and can carry 2 medium weapons or 1 medium and one support equipment . they may sacrifice their medium weapons for limited jump jets(only 2/3 of the normal ones)
Quad heavies get twins of whatever weapons they purchase for one and half the cost of a single unit.They also cant have support systems only two twin sets or one heavy weapon per slot.(IE two man pack ppc and one srm 4 or a medium laser and a srm 4)
Assault- carries a srm 4 and one heavy weapon and one medium weapon.Also they are alowed to exchange their medium wep for a single support system. However no jumpjets as these are just far to heavy for them.
Quad assaults get triples of mediums on the turret and One heavy.As well as a single medium on the body.
WeaponsMediumman pack ppc,small laser,tag,ac 2,flamer,bear autocannon,micro pulse laser,mag shot gauss rifle
Heavymedium laser,heavy flamer,mortar,SRM 4,heavy recoilless rifle,PPC (mech sized),machine gun,compact narc,LRM 2
Support EquipmentECM suite,camo system,Improved sensors,Booster jet (30% to Jump jets energy)
