Speeding up the Kojedo

[The Lone Badger]

I'm piloting a modified Kojedo, which is highly satisfactory in all but one aspect - it's slow. Neither Arc Jets nor Overchargers seem to have any effect at all. Is it just a function of Arachnoids that they can't be sped up?

[Erathoniel]

Are you running (I'm assuming GH1) by pressing "r"? Alternately, if in turtle mode do the fastest options. If you are saying you can't skim or fly, try more jets. More jets always work. That or you can abandon it for a faster mecha. Alternately, taking off some of the legs might lower the weight to allow better movement. How much does it weigh?

[The Lone Badger]

54T at the moment. I'm using the menu system (better control for a multi-turreted mech) and clicking 'run' in that, which is still only 66dpr. I guess I could try adding lots and lots of jets, but enough to make a battroid of the same mass hover pretty quickly seem to have no effect.

[Phil Munoz]

AFAIK, jets don't work on arachnoid, they are strictly ground walkers.  Overchargers might work, but I'm not so sure, I never messed with overchargers.  Keep the legs, if there aren't enough legs for your mecha's body size you'd be slower, I think.

[Francisco Munoz]

Overchargers will help while running. If you have a good mecha engineering skill you can swap a few pieces to get less mass (even as after 1st glance at the design files the Kojedo's legs, head and turret  were one of the best ones you could install)

[The Lone Badger]

Is limb quality just how much they weigh?

[Francisco Munoz]

Limbs have size, armor and mass.
 Kojedo can equip limbs up to size 4 (+1 the mecha size)
 IIRC basic legs weights size+1 mass (0.5 tons per mass point)
 Each armor point is also 1 extra mass.

 Kojedo legs are size 3, armor 2, mass -4
This means that they weight 1 ton less than the plain no armour leg of the same size (and 2 tons less than the Razer legs with the same size and armor).
 The code counts the total leg size points and then divides it by the mech mass.

[The Lone Badger]

I can see armor, durability and weight but I can't see where Size is listed for mecha and parts.

[Francisco Munoz]

You have to check the design files... usually if no size is listed there the limb have the same size as the mecha (listed in the start after its type.. "Zoanoid 4")

[The Lone Badger]

Thanks. Also, for the purposes of skills is weapon size = DC? (Mecha Artillery is used for weapons of 'size' 11 or above)

[Erathoniel]

Yes, I think. A weapon's size may however be able to be defined separately from DC, as, of course, it is physically possible to have a pocket artillery, though this may not be true in GearHead.

[Zereth]

Aren't all missiles regardless of DC used with Artillery (or Heavy WEapons in the case of personal scale missiles)?

[Erathoniel]

I don't think so. In real-time mech games, lighter missiles work more like guns, and heavier missiles usually work like artillery. More physically accurate, too.

[draconuszero]

Missiles count as artillery no matter the size I believe.

[Michael]

Quoting: Erathoniel

I don't think so. In real-time mech games, lighter missiles work more like guns, and heavier missiles usually work like artillery. More physically accurate, too.

Well, not in GearHead.

There's a decent play-balance argument for things being the way they are.  

Weapons in the missile class get bonuses to hit based on a mecha's SE rating instead of TR.  Since TR is normally capped at +0, while any headed mecha can be upgraded to SE +6, this would make low-DC missiles very attractive to a Mecha Gunnery-only pilot.

At present, I don't find Mecha Artillery to be worth the skill slot.  So it would be bad for play balance to make that decision even easier.


As to arguments from realism, I'd say that we'd need to make a distinction between unguided rockets and guided missiles.

The former should probably be considered MA regardless of DC, since they are much slower than bullets or laser fire (by the same token, the Longman's DC20 laser should be MG -- but play-balance again...).

The latter type (di-di-di-di-di-di-DOOOOO whooosh) really should use neither MG nor MA, but Electronic Warfare.  With such weapons it doesn't matter if your aim is sloppy -- what matters is whether you can beat your opponent's jamming.