Stuff Everyone Needs to Know

Liquid Leopard
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Terrible game developer... Is terrible.

Posts: 20

Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Sept 25, 2015 13:40:02 GMT

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Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:40:02 GMT

I’m a bit surprised that –SO- doesn’t use their forum ~~much~~ at all.
A forum is a good place to talk about the good mech builds, "sanity check" them, and make sure everyone knows about them.

Don’t be the scrub that puts SRMs and an XL in a Stalker!

Be the guy that brings a TDR-9SE with 3 Large Pulse Lasers, so we can kick all the ass!

MWO’s default control settings are sketchy, and it’s not self-evident how to change them to help your aim.

A forum is a good place to talk about that, and where to get a TAG toggle macro, and how to make changes in your user.cfg file.

Regardless of how long I stay in this unit, I want my comrades in the FRR to be successful, and I don’t want to (re)post the good stuff on the mwomercs forum where any scrub from any faction will see it. (I promise I’m not just a compulsive post whore!)

Well, there’s already a thread that covers mech builds. (And mostly says to look at G-Man’s tier list)

But, in case any of you DO start to look at the forum, I’m going to summarize what I know about:
- Hitbox Localization
- User.cfg Changes
- and maybe some more stuff later

I'm imagining this as kindof a "readme" file of helpful hints for new people that come by.

Last Edit: Sept 25, 2015 14:04:19 GMT by Liquid Leopard

Liquid Leopard
New Member

Terrible game developer... Is terrible.

Posts: 20

Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Sept 25, 2015 13:46:43 GMT

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Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:46:43 GMT

Hitbox Localization
This is something that we want EVERY player to know about.

I once heard a player say "Go ahead and get an XL. A Stalker has hitboxes like a Catapult."
NOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!!!!!!11!1!!!!!1111111
...So, there's probably a lot of room for confusion about this.

Here’s the hitbox localization thread that I keep going to:
mwomercs.com/forums/topic/166699-hitbox-localization/
The original poster updates the front post periodically, to add new mechs.

This is where you can see why the Stalker is so damn tough:
The CT hitbox is pretty much a strip down the middle of the mech. The side torso hitboxes are huge, and take all the damage. It’s actually easier to blow a side torso off a Stalker than the aim for the arm and destroy that first.
Even when a side torso has been destroyed, that hitbox can still protect the CT. When the side torso hitpoints have been used up, damage to that hitbox is applied to the CT, but at a 50% loss. So, torso twisting and spreading the damage will still protect the CT and prolong the life of a Zombie Stalker. Even if you didn’t have a CT weapon, you can still be a distraction to the other team.

As of 9/25/2015 it includes Clan mechs up to the “Arctic Cheater”, but not the Resistance 2 mechs. Don’t worry, the Mauler and Black Knight will show up in this thread eventually.

I have the Black Knights, and they appear to have huge CT hitboxes. They almost always go down from being cored out, so you don’t risk much by putting in an XL engine.

I don’t have my own Maulers, so I have to credit my friend WildshotDOA for what I know about them. He runs all of his with 300std. engines. He took the missiles out, so the shoulders are slightly smaller, but he still thought an XL engine made it blow up more frequently. (His primary weapons are 4 x UAC/5)

It’s worthwhile to point out that a few Clan mechs can grow or shrink depending on what weapons go where, and the owner can use that to their advantage.

The ~~Ebon Jaguar~~ Cauldron Born has a huge CT hitbox (like my poor Catapults) and if it has enough lasers on the left shoulder and a ballistic weapon on the right shoulder, the side torsos get bigger and help shield the CT.

Also, the ~~Timber Wolf~~ Mad Cat can have any SRM launcher on the shoulders, or LRM5s, without the shoulders getting much bigger. Install an LRM10 or bigger launcher, and the shoulders get huge. When the TBR first came out, shooting off that missile box was my favorite thing to do to them.

Last Edit: Sept 27, 2015 13:00:04 GMT by Liquid Leopard

Liquid Leopard
New Member

Terrible game developer... Is terrible.

Posts: 20

Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Sept 25, 2015 13:53:42 GMT

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Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:53:42 GMT

User.cfg file

I think it should be front page news, and not reserved for people who guess the right search terms for the forum. This is one of the things where PGI hasn't taken the time to explain, so they leave it to the community to keep each other informed.

The thread where I got this information has been heavily moderated, with a lot of posts edited and deleted, so it seems to me that PGI has spoken; The remaining information and alterations are OK as far as they're concerned.

When you find your user.cfg file you can change the file extension to .txt, and then you can read and edit it.
By default, this file is blank.

I found my user.cfg file here:
C:\Games\Piranha Games\MWO Public Test\MechWarrior Online

The one I copied is from Gray Ghost's post from 24 August 2014:
mwomercs.com/forums/topic/92015-high-end-usercfg-file/page__st__340

I think my MWO usage is probably processor-bound, since I have a decent video card. If I just turned down in-game graphics settings to help my frame rate, it didn’t help my frame rate that much AND the game graphics looked ugly.

By editing this file I got improvements in my frame rate AND made the game prettier.
Even if you don’t want to mess with it, you need to know that other guilds are using it en masse.
For example, –MS- wants everyone who plays with them to optimize their user.cfg settings. Just go to the FRR TeamSpeak hub, scroll down to the –MS- channels, and read the various walls of text they’ve posted. I incorporated a couple of their user.cfg changes into my file.

Here's one thread where people share and compare user.cfg files,
mwomercs.com/forums/topic/156904-usercfg-guide/

This link takes you to the thread where I actually copied some .cfg setups to try them.
mwomercs.com/forums/topic/92015-high-end-usercfg-file/page__st__340

The user.cfgs I tried were from August, and the thread fizzled out in November, but it's probably important to know...

Modo44 wrote:
...most variables were locked a couple of months ago to prevent cheating (zero fog, no cockpit -- you can probably find it on YouTube). ...This is also why disabling PostAA is no longer possible, so everyone gets ghosting/motion blur all the time.

So, the settings were locked at one time, and editing your user.cfg file didn't do anything for a while, but I can tell it's working again. And I don’t get that annoying ‘ghosting’ any more.

Once I pasted in Gray Ghost’s user.cfg, the first thing I wanted to adjust was the field of view.

I opened the spoiler shutters for "lowest_no_shadows.cfg", then copied and pasted to "user.txt"
cl_fov = 85 is the line for Field Of View (zoom)
Change it a lot, or you'll be zoomed way the **** out. Default value (for zoom = 1.00) is about 60.
(Not 75, like when they posted all this)
EDIT: Oh, yeah... This is a setting in the game now.

Though my frame rate was up around 60 fps most of the time, I saw it drop sometimes. I often couldn't tell what was causing it.
Later it was really apparent that the frame rate drop coincides with a lot of LRMs in the air.
When the LRMs are really bad, I've seen my frame rate drop into the 20s. Or teens.

I used to think 18 frames per second was awesome. Now that my eyes are used to 40+, 18 looks like crap, and is bordering on unplayable. No wonder my stats used to suck so much worse. Well, the LRMs and machine gun tracers are "particle effects".

SO, I found the line that controls the number of “particles” on the screen, and entered a lower number.
LRMs don’t destroy my frame rate like they used to.

However, those large bodies of water at Forest Colony affect my frame rate when I spawn there. Well, it could have been worse.

Is there a catch?
With every patch, I now get a message saying "Issues were found with your install base. It is advised to run the repair tool to fix them."
Don't do it!!!

The time I played along, the repair tool deleted my user.cfg file. But, I made a new one from my backup and got back to business.
The last 3 patches I haven't played along, haven't run the repair tool, and my game runs just fine.

Last Edit: Oct 4, 2015 15:32:37 GMT by Liquid Leopard

volkster New Member Posts: 6	Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Dec 4, 2015 8:44:24 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by volkster on Dec 4, 2015 8:44:24 GMT tl;dr - since i am at work now gonna read later but you are right, the forum is almost not used. Maybe there should be an notification in the message of the day to visit and participate here?

Liquid Leopard
New Member

Terrible game developer... Is terrible.

Posts: 20

Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Apr 9, 2016 20:12:39 GMT

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Post by Liquid Leopard on Apr 9, 2016 20:12:39 GMT

Keep checking the Hitbox Localization thread every once in a while!

The CT has changed on the Black Knight, so it's not as bad as it used to be.

And, the CT hitbox on the Catapult shrank A LOT.
So if anyone is just starting out on Catapults, maybe buying an XL engine isn't as important as it used to be.

And this isn't just for your own mechs:
Even if you never own a~~n Ebon Jaguar~~ Cauldron Born you'd probably like to know that it's CT hitbox is still huge.

The original hitbox thread doesn't have the Marauder, Warhammer, Rifleman, or Archer yet, but Tarogato posted his own pics of Marauder hitboxes:
mwomercs.com/forums/topic/216117-taros-hitbox-repository/page__p__4852205#entry4852205

Last Edit: Apr 9, 2016 20:12:56 GMT by Liquid Leopard

phirric New Member Posts: 24	Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Apr 11, 2016 7:32:32 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by phirric on Apr 11, 2016 7:32:32 GMT I'm trying to add to the data on this in hopes it draws more traffic

Liquid Leopard New Member Terrible game developer... Is terrible. Posts: 20	Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Apr 16, 2016 0:15:22 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Liquid Leopard on Apr 16, 2016 0:15:22 GMT You mean like a trail of bread crumbs to lead people here?

phirric New Member Posts: 24	Stuff Everyone Needs to Know Apr 16, 2016 5:49:20 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by phirric on Apr 16, 2016 5:49:20 GMT I was thinking more of a giant pit lined with spiked so that even those oblivious yahoos would fall into it and MAYBE learn something

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Stuff Everyone Needs to Know

Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:40:02 GMT

Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:46:43 GMT

Post by Liquid Leopard on Sept 25, 2015 13:53:42 GMT

Post by volkster on Dec 4, 2015 8:44:24 GMT

Post by Liquid Leopard on Apr 9, 2016 20:12:39 GMT

Post by phirric on Apr 11, 2016 7:32:32 GMT

Post by Liquid Leopard on Apr 16, 2016 0:15:22 GMT

Post by phirric on Apr 16, 2016 5:49:20 GMT

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