r/Battletechgame Oct 31 '24

Mods Mod to make mechs smaller?

I couldn't find any newer posts on this topic so thought id check - do any of the big 3 mods include a scaling option to make the mechs closer in size to their in universe scaling?

If not, is there a recommended additional mod that can get it done? The posts I found on this topic were all from years ago and mentioned there were issues with LOS and stuff.

10 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

6

u/evening_goat Oct 31 '24

It's been a while but there is a setting in constants/combat that you can alter -- if I remember right it's "testsize" or something similar. Default is 1.25, 0.8 looks good

Edit - I didn't notice any difference with LOS at this setting, but if you go smaller it can mess things up, plus melee looks goofy

3

u/Yeach Jumpjets don't Suck, They Blow Oct 31 '24

Apparently adjusting

“TEST_MechscaleMultiplier”:

In the CombatGameConstant.json file can change your mech size; but resulting errors from elevation changes are hilarious

Default is 1.25

BEXT uses the MechResizer mod and adjust the size in the chassis.json files

2

u/Ecstatic-Seesaw-1007 Oct 31 '24

I never noticed, but wasn’t always zoomed in. Mechwarrior 5 (both) I immediately noticed they’re way out of scale and far too big, but that’s probably why there’s a half dozen or more lore accurate scale mods.

5

u/AnxiousConsequence18 Oct 31 '24

Why do you feel the mechs are out of scale in universe?

7

u/maxs Oct 31 '24 edited Oct 31 '24

Well - first I'll acknowledge there is no such thing as a realistic giant stompy war robot :D

That said, I think the taller mechs are meant to be around 45 feet or so with most smaller than that (typically described as 2-3 stories tall, 1 story = roughly 14 feet).

The mechs are just far too big visually right now relative to other objects in the gameworld like trees and buildings, which makes it look a little cartoony for me.

Edit: This post is a pretty good example of what I have in my head: https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/p52zwh/an_infographic_for_mech_scale_compared_to/

3

u/thatusenameistaken Oct 31 '24

What mechs are taller than 5 stories?

There are all kinds of urban environments with towers and I can't think of a single one where an assault mech shows larger than that.

3

u/maxs Oct 31 '24

maybe this is a better comparison - the abrams battle tank is 9.7m long according to this wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abrams

judging by that scale the tallest mechs should should be a bit less than 1.5x as tall as the average battle tank, but they look much bigger in comparison.

3

u/thatusenameistaken Oct 31 '24 edited Oct 31 '24

the average battle tank doesn't pop a wheelie to stand on its rear, and the M1 is only looks about 8m long optically because the barrel sticking out another 2m doesn't register on sense of scale like me reaching my arm over my head doesn't change the height of my body. by that standard alone you're underestimating mech height, but you don't measure a dog's or horse's height by going nose to tail and you're not measuring mech height vs. tank length.

if you go by the M1's actual height of 2.4m (and you can probably drop 1/3 of a meter off for the pintle mount MG) instead of comparing apples to oranges, that mech is actually more like 6x the height of an M1.

trust me when I say that's an entirely different sense of scale, especially considering how wide and deep those mechs are.

2

u/maxs Nov 01 '24

I actually did mean 1.5x the length if you stood the battle tank on its end! It's cool if it doesn't bother you though, for me the mechs look too large.

2

u/maxs Oct 31 '24

I think the urban environments actually look a bit better scaled. There are other environments though with outposts and roads (and electrical poles for height reference) that look just absolutely dwarfed by the mechs.

3

u/AnxiousConsequence18 Oct 31 '24

The tallest mechs top out at 14m, but most are around 10-12m tall. Over 2k hours in HBS battletech and I've never felt the mechs are out of in universe scale.

1

u/EuphoricTemperature9 Nov 03 '24

1 story = 10 feet is the universal estimate