As someone who loved the sort of nimbleness of the Firefall battleframes, I'm a
little concerned about the perceived bulkiness of the Omniframe A M.E.K., but only a little. I hope deep down inside that we get mini jets on our legs for in-base freedom of movement, or freedom of movement when switching vehicles.
Aside from that, the Omniframe M.E.K. will open a lot of weapons options, and
the recoil debate is over this thing will absorb whatever recoil the weapons can dish out. It's up to the designers how much to put in, the framework is there, and it's a videogame. I would like a rotary railgun on the left arm, and a rotary grenade launcher on the right.
I doubt it will happen, but it's never too late to put some armor around the pilot, if you want to make a game with mechas, might as well make mechas look like mechas. Just allow (or require) players to walk around the base without the mecha, so character customization would still be important (and that actually would make sense, soldiers don't walk around safe bases in full battle great
)
The pilot sits exposed, but protected by energy shields. This is a what I like to call a “design conceit.” I wanted a way for players to fully customize their character and not have it hidden by a an armored suit all the time. Yet, I still wanted the feel of a MEK you can ride and customize like a car in a racing game. A classic problem with mech designs is how dehumanizing they are, reducing the connection between player and character. By keeping the character visible, you can identify with it more and form a closer bond to both your avatar and your personalized Omniframe.
The even compromise between these two is to have retractable front armor that slides away to the sides and then does that future-mask piece-by-piece melting fold behind the player. Sort of like being able to take your hood off and put it back on with the press of a button in certain MMOs. When it folds back a
very translucent energy shield could materialize briefly in front of the player to remind them what's keeping them safe.
