Piranha Games has posted up a new dev blog post discussing the MechLab of their upcoming MechWarrior Online.
From the Post:
How does it all fit?
MechWarrior Online incorporates a “Hardpoint” system which dictates, above all other customization, that weapons can only be swapped out with weapons of the same weapon type. For example, energy weapons cannot be swapped with ballistic weapons.
Each location on a BattleMech, such as the Right Arm or Center Torso, may include a number of hard points. The number of hard points in a given location is determined on a per variant basis, and is based on the weapons included in the variant’s default loadout. For example, a ’Mech that, by default, comes with 2 Medium Lasers and an Autocannon/2 in its Left Torso may actually have 3 energy weapon hard points and 2 ballistic hard points in that location. So, if the player is able to satisfy the weight and critical slot requirements, they could equip an additional energy weapon and ballistic weapon into that Left Torso, or swap out the Medium Lasers for other energy weapons, etc.