 h0B0, on June 17 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:
h0B0, on June 17 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:
- PhysX: Have you ever seen a feather boost through a wall? I did not think so,
 
- Mobility: There is both some positive and some negative here. Boosting, acceleration, dodge timers all serve to improve the feeling of heaviness. However, loss of momentum  massive discrepencies in between a's and c's, turret mode, don't serve to promote a positive gaming experience and don't serve to promote a feel of heaviness. The mechs only end up feeling ill equiped to do the task required of them (mobile combat). More emphasis on fuel consumption, more diversity in maneuverability, conservation of momentum would improve both the players experience and the feeling of heaviness.
 
- Audio: The feeling of heaviness is also noticeable in the sounds of hawken. Sadly it sometimes fall short. Getting hit by tracers usually result in the sound of a tin can being hit by a bb gun. I require more gameplay with higher volume to give more feedback on this.
 
- UI: Does the UI promote "the feel"? I don't know. It should though. How do we fix this, i don't know. But one thing is sure the starting sequence in siege does nothing to help. Once again it only makes me believe the machine i am piloting is ill equipped to jump into battle. Having the mechs drop from a BS or even launching them from the EU pods in base would put the emphasis on the mech, and its environment and therefore possibly increase "the feel".
 
- Perspective: Currently in the game we have 2 very different perspectives. We have the garage with giant humans that can barely fit in a scout. Whilst on the battlefield we have tiny cargo trucks and minuscule sky scrapers. Map design also plays a very important role in perspective. Valkyrie pulled it off pretty well, but has some other issues.
 
- Garage: More than the giant mecanos. The optimizations and general mech upgrades have no "feel". A simple fix to this would be to implement a visual representation of mech parts into the menu. This could be an inventory system like MW where one can visualize his sidegrades on his mech. Or even something as simple as the camera zooming on a specific part of your mech when hovering/picking a specific sidegrade. ( Yes i said sidegrade. New system is coming out... eventually...  ) )
 
- Turn rate cap: Could potentially improve the feeling of heaviness if it were properly implemented. Sadly as it stands, the player has to notice this tiny little icon in his overly cluttered crosshairs and associate that icon with his capped turn rate. The player has little to no clue as to why his turn rate is capped, and this can lead to frustration. MWO has a turn rate cap but manages to display it very efficiently and also offers more twitch precision aiming.
 
- Lore: Allows for  easier suspension of disbelief. But opens up a whole can of worms. Considering we have managed interstellar travel and developed floaty ore technologies. Why are the mechs so clumsily heavy.
1.) You're looking at a much older build of Hawken in that video, which I would like to point out is mainly designed to be a proof of concept. The evidence of this being an older build can be seen in the lack of identifying icons next to enemy mech readouts and that Sharp Shooter looking mech that turns up around the 0:52 mark is packing an SA Hawkins and a Grenade Launcher. No Type B mech in the game is capable of using that load out that we know of. This could even be running on a build which allowed players to equip any weapon load out they wanted on any chassis.
With that in mind I don't believe judging the weight of the mechs off that video is a good idea because it isn't currently implemented in the game. I believe we should wait until the destructible environments are playable before we open up that discussion.
2.) Mobility is hit and miss with me. When piloting a Type C I can definitely feel the weight in everything I do. The slow acceleration rates, the movement of the mech as I clomp along, that heavy thud when I land, and the slow flight all adds to the feeling that I'm in a monster of a machine. Type A's on the other hand seem to go from one extreme to the other. Boosting around, dodging, jumping, and general movement gives me the feel that I'm incredibly agile but when you find yourself without fuel or suddenly get caught on a corner I feel like I'm trying to push start a dump truck. It's very jarring and can often leave me frustrated, especially with the uneven geometry of the maps. Type B's, in my opinion, have the best balance of weight versus mobility. I feel the weight when I'm moving, I can feel the heft of the mech when I dodge to the side, but I never feel like I've suddenly gained two tons like I do with Type A's.
The problem here is that mobility is king in Hawken and it leaves very few reasons to go with the mechs that can and will leave you a sitting duck over the ones that allow you to zip around. I feel like the focus on giving the player the sense that they are piloting a heavy mech while also maintaining mobility ends up as a conflict in the end. How do they fix this problem? I'm not really sure as I enjoy both aspects and I feel as if fixing the weight feel for mobility will detract from the fast paced combat and of course the reverse going the other way.
3.) I couldn't agree more. I feel like Hawken needs more bass, those heavy thuds, the kind that rock your core and demand your attention. Certain aspects do an amazing job at conveying this to the player such as that crash you drop to the ground or the thud of your mech walking along. Other aspects such as damage being taken leave much to be desired. I think more interior focused sounds would help bring the player into the idea that their mech is being torn apart by damage. Smoke in the cockpit, sparks flying, lights flashing, these things would definitely get me feeling like I'm in a giant mech.
4.) This one I feel can piggy back off my last idea of interior damage and effects. If things jostled around more, felt more interactive than just an icon on my screen feeding me information, I would feel more involved with my mech. For example the EMP does a great job at reminding me I'm piloting a mech but those are so few and far between that it feels very rare for me to get caught by one. Then when I am caught by the EMP my whole focus isn't on the fact that I lost my interior systems but rather avoiding the person attacking me. If systems went down and had to be repaired I believe this would bring the feel of piloting a mech. If I take X amount of damage suddenly my fuel gauge is gone or I lose my radar, that would get me involved. The screen cracking is a weak display of damage in my opinion and hardly gives the sense that my mech is being torn apart. 
5.) I hadn't noticed this until I read this thread but you are absolutely right. The size of the mechs in the garage compared to the world in-game are vastly different. The game world either needs to be scaled to match the garage or the garage needs to be scaled to match the game world.
6.) I like this idea and I think it could extend further than that by showing a break down of the mech for things like internals and where usable items are stored. Whether it is pulling the mech apart piece by piece (
like in this trailer here) or simply showing an x-ray view of the mech I think would help to convey the idea that these are massive machines.
7.) Again I agree that this needs to be adjusted though right now I don't have any major issues or complaints with it. 
8.) Actually I think the lore does a good job at covering why the world of Hawken is currently in the state it's in. With the Hawken virus having destroyed so much what remains is being pieced together from salvage and is by no means top of the line or new. Supplies are diminishing and people are making do with whatever they can. Perhaps the lore needs to play a stronger role within the game itself to get this idea across. Mechs like the Scout include stuff like this though in their description though I'm guessing very few actually read these.