Icarus's blog: "Hope- by any other name."

(wanna save yourself about 20 minutes of rant?
short answer: Personalized Mech JOYGASM!)

So... I dropped in on my local game store and picked up the Armored Core 4 (one of my all time favorite game franchises of ever- where you build mobile suits and do tedius missions- and fight AWESOME one on one duels) "For Answer"
basically the version 1.12 of the 4th in the series.

There are a TON of armored core games.
The numeric rules do not apply here- kinda like grand theft auto.
If you think about it

Grand theft auto Liberty City stories, San Andreas, and Vice City are ALL Gta III (because they share the same engine... a vastly improved engine from game to game- but the same engine)

I could go into another HOUR of explaining the progress of this game from point A to point ... Zeta, but there's not really a point because ... I don't even think a fellow ludologist would really care all that much.

AC 1 and variants, AC 2 with awesome duel only game PS1 -> AC3 PS2-> PS3 AC4
The combat has become about 100 times faster (I used to build what were blindingly fast suits that could dodge bullets... ten years later and my suit is just "meh- kinda fast")
Savy?

The missions were SO much better on the PS 1 versions, they weren't just 3 minute sweeper missions, they actually had a cohesive story, ace pilots trying to kill you, ladder climbing, etc.

So...
AC4
3 minute sweeper missions and
300000 minutes of custom tuning, AC tests, diagnostics, and more tuning.

I've had the game since 5:30, I've completed 4 missions, 4 duels.
*twitch*
I had to get my stabilizers and paint job done right.
Recoil recovery is important
*moretwitch*

I can't even REMEMBER the names of my old suits, hell I know several playthroughs I didn't even name them.

But allow me to introduce my first suit- just barely out of the box (you don't have access to even 1/15th of the parts this early in the game)

The "Stray"
which is actually the same default high speed suit I used at the beginning of Vanilla AC4. Cone themed high speed machine gun unit with midrange mid damage lazer sword, long range low capacity high damage "energy grenade launcher", mid-low armor points, high defense/recovery.

I got about 1/4th the way through the game with this suit in AC4 just slightly adapting the weaponry, and changing the legs out for more run speed (run speed is completely obsolete now- 90% of the time you're using your barely depleting boosters to skate around)

I got through most of the duel levels with it.

So needless to say, I'm fairly comfortable with highspeed units using damage overtime with a melee option

I guess I kinda took it from some of the high rankers in AC1. They tended to have a great beam sword, a great (but low ammo- wide dispersal) shoulder cannon, and one average machine gun (back in my day we couldn't put a machine gun or a shotgun at every feesable orifice by gum)

Eventually I find these suits completely outclassed by the FREAK WEAPONS I encounter like

*slumps head*
Mirv launchers with about a seeking 20 warhead dispearsal, accompanied by a lazer bazooka that can disrupt my radar and... blow through a city block.

Yeah- this shit is in the game.
No, I don't like using em.

This is a limited payload environment.
You deploy with your ammo, you do NOT get more per mission.
I never made a suit that couldn't at least thunk something to death.
No lazer sword- no ammo
means NO offensive capabilities.

And yeah- I've won fights just outrunning warheads and stabbing a dry suit to death.

Also- energy weapons have this ... counterintuitive thing to my strategy
energy weapons syphon from your generator,
you know what else does?
your boosters-
those blasty rockets on your ass that make it POSSIBLE to outrun/outmaneuver the


SCARY DEATH RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess I'd rather run and regroup than ... use something that's obviously a war crime.


So what I innevitably wind up doing
when I just start getting outclassed by tac-nukes and doomsday devices
I just buy >>
as much standard weaponry as I can carry and still run away.

My variant of the Stray wound up having a high damage mid capacity sniper rifle with great aim compensation (even if they outmaneuver computer compensated and hit em anyway) a standard (as in no electric kerplooey storm- instead just a FIRE STORM!!! PEWWWWW!!) grenade launcher, and a long blade mid damage lazer sword. Minor adaptations to the frame all around, but ultimately retaining its base design.

Then someone robbed me
after getting to the SAME point in that game for the FIFTH time due to theft, formats, water being poured into the system, I had restarted too many times

I gave up!
And bought For Answer.

Introducing
The Wicked Cricket.

>>
What? He's got an awesome green-chrome finish, and his head antenae look like a bugs', and so do these big long elec grenade launchers on his shoulders.

He looks like a cricket- if a japanese mad man transformed him into a mech.

He's 90% starter/first upgrade gear.
He... by definition sucks.
The diagnostic tool rates him a C+ at best.

The diagnostic tool will LIE TO YOU!!!

He's mostly "Stray", but I've swapped his machine gun for a rifle with 3x the damage per bullet with about 80% of the ammo.
Yeah >> net gain to offensive capacity.
Not to mention
Increased penetrative properties
greater bullet velocity
greater aim correction (fewer missed shots at a higher damage, hmmmm)
but a MUCH lower firing rate
much higher lock on distance.

So if I'm not chin to chin with someone- this gun sucks by comparison.

Oh gee what a pity >>

See the diagnostic tool that rates your offensive/mobility/defensive abilities kinda rates part synergy instead of applicable damage output.

In other words, there are certain suits that have a 90% offensive capability, which means

based on their targeting computer
leg speed
close quarters weapon
wide dispersal SUPER long range missiles that... NEVER hit because a snail can out run the blast radius after they spread that far
and his mega sweet bazooka with... 20 rounds that has a SLOW projectile speed

yeah- he's got this radius around him where he is theoretically threatening at all angles, at all ranges- with at least one of his weapons.

It doesn't work that way.
Sure... if I'm standing still
have zero missile countermeasures (you bet your ass those are in the game)
and if I'm just not paying attention

sure
this guy might take me out.

Since I use standard weaponry my projectiles travel FAST
since I build for speed and don't drain my capacitor with anything but boost, I can outrun you, and I can usually outrun anything without a MASSIVE explosive radius- and even then, I have overboost for that >>
I fly, I circle, I hover at MY effective range and ping you with fairly average weaponry, you try to nail me with a gigantor cannon
and either it takes a few seconds to fire (so I can move out of line of sight) or I'm already WAY the hell out there, and I have to move... just barely to disrupt the line of fire by a WIDE margin.

Now- I used to be able to actually circle- and just backstab and just used my rifle/machine gun to chip

now since boost is this new system of perpetual skating, its not so easy to outmaneuver and rape.

I'm having to retrain. Not the end of the world, but I think my theory is still sound.
Now if I just had a psychotic partner with a pentient for heavy weaponry in close quarters and high surviveability

oh wait

that guy is totally my friend Chris...but he doesn't own this game-
and this game has full online coop.

You should've seen us in BF2142.
We were GODS.
Sure, we always had Pugs versus clans, and had a losing record- but we were top scorers, highly decorated and well

Gods.

2 guys in a 16-64 player map can't stop the sky from falling :/

My style translates in this game franchise and others.
I'd prefer to be unseen and untouchable, but hey- people spend a LOT of time learning anti-snipe, so I have to be more of a rifleman that fires and fades.
It sucks, but that's how it is.
More often than not, game balance is so paranoid of snipers that they're made virtually unplayable when placed side by side with an assault character.

So the Wicked Cricket's current payload

2 electric grenade launchers (no other option at this time :/ and I need to kill these big rich honkies FAST)
10 shots each, wide dispersal huge damage

high damage mid capacity high accuracy rifle (could be higher but I'm not that far in the game)

mid-high damage mid sweep range lazer sword (sometimes these damn things just lunge or have a punch range- and this game is NOT set up for such systems, you need a WIDE sweep if you're not really damn good or really damn stationary, my last beam sabre had almost a full 360 sweep that was longer than my AC's body, I miss it, everyday)

mid-high AP mid recovery head-torso

mid-low AP high recovery arms, high energy weapon skill,

high turn speed, mid-high run speed, mid recoil recovery legs

High performance (which means high drain) boosters
low capacity high boost duration and energy recovery generator (don't need a lot of capacity for energy weapons since ... I usually don't use the damn things.)

I don't even have my tuner points unlocked yet
these are values you can use to allocate improvements to your suit that are otherwise not available to the factory standard properties of your suit.

In other words- you WANT 2 grenade launchers- but your feeble lil legs won't carry that AND your battle axe
FUCK!

... just spend some points to raise your maximum weight capacity.

I'll probably wind up allocating these how I always do
making sure I never ever ever run out of boost.
Doomsday devices are bad.

So *puts his hand on his chin*

Read all this?
Have a boner for mechs?
Have a PS3?
Have this game?
Have wireless internet?
Love me?

If you answered "yes" to more than one of these questions
we should play.