**Major update (Jan. 7th, 2023)!!

Notable updates are:
- Increased thrust durations for all Jump Jets except for standard Jump Jets
- Increased vertical thrust for all Jump Jets, with a reduced initial jump (so as to put more emphasis on – and to allow for greater – vertical thrust. (Helps to better soften landings and allows for greater versatility/capability.))
- The creation (and inclusion) of newly-created Jump Jet thruster VFX! (See below section on visuals for complete details)

This has been on my mind for a while, so I am glad to finally share it!

Please enjoy!**

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Overview:
This mod introduces five new types of Jump Jets (JJs): Boost Jets, Loft Jets, Hover Jets, Light Hover Jets, and Short-hop Loft Jets.

Boost Jets allow for a quick burst of extreme, horizontal speed; Loft Jets allow for a longer, more diagonally-powered jump; and Hover Jets allow for highly-sustained, vertical-only acceleration. Light Hover Jets are lighter-weight, lesser-capacity/-demanding (requiring only one slot to use), lesser-capable versions of the standard Hover Jet; and Short-hop Loft Jets are similarly lesser-capable than standard Loft Jets, except their purpose is to be a faster, shorter, more horizontally-biased diagonal jump with a faster recharge time.

Boost Jets are best for avoiding damage and closing distance quickly; Loft Jets can be used for leaping over wild terrain and repositioning with moderate speed; Hover Jets are best for firing down upon enemies over difficult terrain and for enhanced death-from-above (DFA) tactics; and Short-hop Loft Jets are best for more-deliberate repositioning than Boost Jets, and quick leaps over shallower terrain than what is best fit for standard Loft Jets.

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Jump Jet Classes and Data:
There are two classes of JJs in this mod: high-powered and low-powered. High-powered JJs require two adjacent JJ slots to use, while low-powered versions require only one.

High-powered JJs include: Boost Jets, Hover Jets, and Loft Jets. Low-powered JJs include: (standard) Jump Jets, Light Hover Jets, and Short-hop Loft Jets.

More-comprehensive descriptions are included in the game’s tooltip (hovering one’s mouse over the given item) for each type of Jump Jet.

For full information on the included Jump Jets, please see the following Google Sheets spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lkWzm252_M_l5FmQb2ibnooMEgnIn9DHeq0cxCbNzPU/edit?usp=sharing


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Visual Enhancements:
Lastly, this mod includes enhanced visuals for Jump Jets. Enhancements include: Jump Jet jets that react to movement/’Mech velocity; heat distortion from the heat of the jets; improved and more-vivid thruster lighting; and more realistic/improved jet visuals and colour.

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Note:
Jump Jet capabilities can be quite powerful for certain types of jump jets (especially High-powered ones), but still fall within realistic physics – with regards to thrust, at least. (There is one possible exception: The maximum acceleration one can experience within this mod is from Boost Jets; accelerating horizontally at 80 m/s^2 – or ~8.1 g – while being used in a practical configuration (using two of them). There is an extreme outlier case, however, where one can equip three Boost Jets (while using the vanilla ‘mech lab); resulting in an acceleration of 110 m/s^2 – or ~11.13 g. Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is anything I can do to prevent this. (This is part of why there are two tiers of Jump Jets: high- and low-powered, with their resulting slot configurations.)) Other parts will have to be left up to the imagination, and/or in thinking what could-have-been with more modding control (like a faster take-off for certain Jump Jets, and softer landings with thrust vector control/additional secondary/tertiary jets).

Also, note that this mod is compatible with YAML. Enjoy. :)

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In Closing:
I wanted to create something with more control and nuance to them (as well as different visuals), but, unfortunately, the ability to mod Jump Jets is relatively limited. I made something, regardless, and figured it would be nice to share with everyone to try something different, or for those that try this to make an entirely different playstyle out of. (This includes simply making standard Jump Jets more performant.)

Please enjoy, if you choose to use this mod!

- Masters

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Other mods by me!:
Alternate Flamer Visuals: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/847
Better Cantina Rewards: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/1005/
Dimmer Loot Beam: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/851
Enhanced Critical: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/848
Enhanced 'Mech Traits: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/910
High-damage Critical: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/860
Improved Airstrike: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/850
Increased Enemy Difficulty: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/861
Increased Treefall Animation Rate ("The 'Timber' Mod!"): https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/852
Increased Warzone Rewards: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/849
Increased Warzone Rewards (Light): https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/854
Party Critical: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/866
Projectile-based Machine Guns: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/748
Re-balanced and Expanded Jump Jets: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/858
Re-balanced and Expanded 'Mechs: https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/1004
Re-balanced and Expanded Weapons (My main mod): https://www.nexusmods.com/mechwarrior5mercenaries/mods/744

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I now have a Ko-fi!

Contribute here if you'd like to: https://ko-fi.com/altamasters1011 :)

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Installation Instructions:
To install, download the .7z file; extract the contents; open the resulting folder and cut the folder inside; and place (paste) into your MechWarrior 5 "Mods" folder within your video game library (please see the provided, simplified guide to locating the folder if you don't know where to find it). The remaining folder (the folder with the same name as the .7z file) can be discarded (deleted).

Please be aware that MW5 requires the player to select the mods they wish to activate within their own mod menu within the game (simply titled "Mods"), and then requires the player to restart the game for it to take effect. See information on load orders in case any conflicts occur, and both download and arrange the mods as you see fit; depending on the version of the game you have (Epic Games vs. Steam).

{Here are the general folder paths to follow to install the mod:
For Steam: <OSDrive>:SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries\MW5Mercs\Mods
For Epic Games: <OSDrive>:\Epic Games\Library\MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries\MW5Mercs\Mods
For Windows: <OSDrive>:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\MW5Mercs\Mods}