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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jester47" data-source="post: 1666066" data-attributes="member: 2238">Issues we looked at previously are the following:1.  Mechpilots with 28th century Technology should not have to aim.2.  The ranges of the wepoans seem unrealistic.#2 comes out of a truth about weapons.  Its eaiser to use different weapons at different ranges.  Pistols are better for close in fighting than longrifles.  the Confusion in Battletech comes from two points:  Autocannons and Lasers.  Most every other weapon has the same range.  An AC5 has the standard 24 hexes.  ACs apparently loose range as thier ammo increases in caliber or looose accuracy as you try to saturate the air with shells.  Lasers loose range because it takes more energy to get through the atmostphere.  (thus in our reimagining, space battles and desert sandstorms should be quite different, no?)  This we can deal with.  The d20 cloud of probability allows for those impossible shots with the medium laser and such.  This is good.But why miss?  You have that rad targeting computer, turn it on and use it.  heck there are scripts in quakeIII that can aim for you.  Why do you have to aim in the 28th century? I would say its probably from the way the mech is designed.  It all comes back to the neurohelmet.  This spiffy thing is picking up the commands to drive the mech, keep it balanced and upright, flush coolant etc.  It controls the movement of the mech.  And I think there is the rub.  Aiming the weapons of the mech counts at movement of the mech.  I would surmise that in the 28th century that the engineers would not be able to reconcile a system that overrides the pilots movement impulses with the movements needed to automaticly aim the weapons.  Thus weapons aiming is left up to the pilots brain.  Essentially overriding pilot ego with a computer was too much of a task even for the 28th century.Now it gets weird and cyberpunkish.  So the neurohelmet controls the fireing and the movement of the mech.  When the pilot wants somthing done all he has to do is generate a strong enough impulse for the helmet to pick up.  Really all he has to do is think about fireing at the left leg.  However, the impulse has to be strong enough.  For most of us to get that strong of an impulse, we need cause and effect.  Hence all those controls in the mech that do absolutely nothing.  All they are there for is to give a button to push to reinforce the neural impulse.  The Throttle and Joystick are the same things.  Placebos.  The HUD shows the pilot where he is aiming.  The stick reinforces the impulse for aiming and the trigger for fireing.  The battlecomputer is responsible for collecting the info from the mech and the sensors and displaying it to the pilot.  Using this idea, we can find reasons for the clan targeting computer being a higher tech item in that it is a start in working with the pilots inpulses rather than against them.  This works as the attacks are based on the pilots gunnery skill.  Hence a reason why there is only limited advanced targeting in mechs in the 31st century.  This opens the door for a feat.  The Zen Mech Feat.  Basicly the pilot has learned to control his mind in such a way he rarely needs to press fake buttons.  Also, it allows for the psycho (ala UNBOUND) that is willing to wire himself directly to his mech.  Anyways, more wood for the fire!Aaron.</blockquote>

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