Senior Gameplay Engineer Thomas Dziegielewski Chat Transcript

Last night the MWO devs hosted a chat with Senior Gameplay Engineer Thomas Dziegielewski, the transcript of which can be found below the jump.

Thomas Dziegielewski: Hi Mechwarriors my name is Thomas Dziegielewski and I'm the Senior Gameplay Engineer at Piranha Games. I am primary on the weapon system, damage effects, heat system, upcoming info tech stuff but have my hands in everything gameplay. I hope I can shed light on a few things here today.

IGP_Mike: Aeronerd Asks: When you test the game play, do you do so against other beta testers or do you use a separate server?

Thomas Dziegielewski: In some cases I have to do both. When confirmed bugs we have found it's advantageous to play against players in real situations and see how and when they occur.

IGP_Mike: Amadeaus asks: will they change the AMS system to only shoot at missles targeting your mech vs any incoming missle friendly or enemy?

Thomas Dziegielewski: Right now the ones targeting you are primary for the AMS, after that it goes after any enemy missiles. I am unaware of any plans wanting to take down friendly missiles.

IGP_Mike: Kennoir asks: When will using multiple jump jets make a difference? How will they affect the jump mechanism?

Thomas Dziegielewski: Oh very soon, I've been bugging Omid for weeks! Sadly it is not on my plate to deal with, but I can't really give you a timeline for it...Priorities.

IGP_Mike: [SoR]Fluffypinkbunny asks: do heatsinks in the same location as the weapons, reduce heat more or less than those who arent. example, medium laser in the arm, heat sink in the arm. or laser in arm, and heat sink in torso, any difference?

Thomas Dziegielewski: Currently they do not. The only things that help heatsinks right now are ambient temperature and volumes like water or the craters which heats things up. I'd also like to add that the deeper you are in the water the more they will cool down.

IGP_Mike: MagnificentBastard asks: What is your standard work day like? What exactly do you do?

Thomas Dziegielewski: Get in check our software for the latest bugs in my bin and get cracking. Nag designers for new features which I love putting in. I refuse to take an hour lunch as I consider them to be a waste of time usually. During the day I'll play a few games on the beta server to relax.

IGP_Mike: Amechwarrior asks: Have they considered expanding upon weapon effects to embrace the background flavor while differentiating between weapon types? For example, the PPC disrupting electronic or targeting systems, various autocannons having differing fire rates and impact effects.

Thomas Dziegielewski: I've built the system to allow for all this. Our effects artists Ryan Van Vliet has done an awesome job thus far. It is just bandwidth he doesn't have right now to iterate upon the effects you describe. I'm also pushing for different effects in different temperatures but design has to agree first

IGP_Mike: adrienne_vorton asks: did you guy think about giving the gauss a little disadvantage, like the delay similar to ppc´s? because the accuracy it has is something that is an advantage never possible in the tabletop... the weight seems not to make all the advantages up...

Thomas Dziegielewski: ah yes the famous GaussCat debate. The designers are still balancing the issue. One disadvantage which doesn't really help with the GaussCat is that the weapon explodes (or should soon) when the component goes.

IGP_Mike: VengantMjolnir asks: Are there plans to tweak the PPC to be more effective? Or alternatively can you confirm that the PPC has issues with its hit mechanics as it stands?

Thomas Dziegielewski: The only issue I was aware of was the problem with the PPC visual effect. The PPC is essentially the same system as the Autocannon or Gauss so it would exist in them as well. PPC also has a min range before which the PPC does barely any damage which some people see as a bug.

IGP_Mike: ElwoodBlues asks: Are there any plans to scale the time it takes for a mech to get up based on weight, engine size or presence of arms?

Thomas Dziegielewski: I would love to answer yes, but nothing is yet planned for it.

IGP_Mike: Megafisto asks: What is your favorite mech/mech variant right now?

Thomas Dziegielewski: CPLT-C1 4 medium pulse 2 streaks srm. 91 kmph

IGP_Mike: Pilot3604 asks: how NARC going to improve LRMs? i mean today i've seen AWS-8T with 4xLRM20 (136 potential dmg). what is expected impact of one such salvo.

Thomas Dziegielewski: Current Implementation of the NARC beacon is basic and only allows faster lock-on time for yourself and teammates on the NARC'd target and lock loss.

IGP_Mike: Aeronerd asks: the fastest mechs "teleport" quite often given the current netcode of the game, making them artificially more difficult to hit. Are there improvements to this netcode planned? or is it something inherent to the engine?

Thomas Dziegielewski: It is an ongoing process. We will not stop improving the system. That also goes for the firing delay for projectile weapons.

IGP_Mike: [DHB]Voss asks: Are all weapons being tracked across the board to pinpoint which ones are possibly too effective as well as those that may be lacking?

Thomas Dziegielewski: We are receiving telemetry data from all the games being played. It is a great asset to the designer and is information they'll use to address any issues plaguing the game.

IGP_Mike: Thanks Thomas! Great Q&A! A transcript will be made available on the forums shortly.

Thomas Dziegielewski: Thank you! Hope to see you all on the battlefield!