No longer are we denied! New Mechwarrior game!

[Frank]

Why does the world deny us more Mechwarrior/Battletech?

I blame you pirates. This shit is squarely your fucking fault.

Blame outdated business models, overinflated price points, and ridiculous expectations on ROI. It costs nothing to press a CD. If the price point of a PC game was 25 dollars PC piracy would evaporate.

There is even less cost involved in digital downloads. So why are we paying as much to get a pure "soft" copy of a game as people who had to have it printed, pressed, packaged, shipped, stored, and sheved.

Because, despite all this, stores such as Wal-Mart and Gamestop are still where the most games are sold and game publishers go out of their way to avoid pissing them off. This includes gouging us for digital downloads (and like they wouldn't even if they didn't have to deal with the B&M's of the world).

 

[@Li3n]

Why does the world deny us more Mechwarrior/Battletech?

Wooohooo... coming to the PC...

First and foremost, in this day and age and this time, we've all played the PC games in the past and absolutely loved them. But certainly going forward, just out of necessity and because we think we can, we're definitely very focused also on the Xbox 360. So we're very focused on the console standpoint moving forward. Now, we still need to work out a lot with our chosen publishing partner, so some of these questions will become answered, but I think that Jordan and I are in agreement that we want to make a MechWarrior game.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK...........

I blame you pirates. This shit is squarely your fucking fault.

Dude, 360 games get pirated all the time... Gears of War 2 came out weeks before the official release even...

Blame the fact that PC devs feel the need to make you buy new hardware each year to get 100% out of their graphics...

 

[Gurpel]

Why does the world deny us more Mechwarrior/Battletech?

Dude, 360 games get pirated all the time... Gears of War 2 came out weeks before the official release even...

uh. no.

not nearly as much as pc games.

 

[@Li3n]

Why does the world deny us more Mechwarrior/Battletech?

Dude, 360 games get pirated all the time... Gears of War 2 came out weeks before the official release even...

uh. no.

not nearly as much as pc games.

That has to do with the number of PC out there and the fact that someone who payed 500$ for a rig that can only play videogames is more likely to just buy the games too... but the torrents are full of 360 games...

 

[Far]

Not sure if this has been posted yet but apparently M4 will be released soon for free:

http://kotaku.com/5311399/pay-nothing-get-mechwarrior-4

 

[Frank]

Why does the world deny us more Mechwarrior/Battletech?

[quote="@Li3n":2kaiew15]Dude, 360 games get pirated all the time... Gears of War 2 came out weeks before the official release even...

uh. no.

not nearly as much as pc games.

That has to do with the number of PC out there and the fact that someone who payed 500$ for a rig that can only play videogames is more likely to just buy the games too... but the torrents are full of 360 games...[/quote:2kaiew15]

That's bullshit, the reason people pirate more on PC is because it's easy, it's incredibly easy. In order to pirate on 360 you have to modify the console itself, then you can never go online (unless that's changed, I know before you couldn't). It's much. much, much more difficult to pirate on 360 than it is on PC. To say otherwise is fucking madness.

 

[@Li3n]

Didn't they put HDDs in them already?!

Also, i didn't say it was easier... just that the whole there is plenty of piracy on consoles too (except the PS3, because apparently it costs more to make a Blu-Ray DVD copy then to buy the game, might be old info though).

As for online... i think it was CoD 4 that had like 50% more player accounts then copies sold... but that might have just been multiple accounts...

 

[AshburnerX]

Didn't they put HDDs in them already?!

Also, i didn't say it was easier... just that the whole there is plenty of piracy on consoles too (except the PS3, because apparently it costs more to make a Blu-Ray DVD copy then to buy the game, might be old info though).

As for online... i think it was CoD 4 that had like 50% more player accounts then copies sold... but that might have just been multiple accounts...

It's still more cost effective to buy a stack of blu-ray dvds and a Blu-Ray Burner in the long run, but it has a huge setup cost compared to normal DVDs that most people aren't willing to pay for the stuff to do it.

 

[SpecialKO]

I, too, am skeptical given the dev studio's recent efforts, but as someone noted before, big difference when you're developing a game that must come out on a certain date, come hell or high water.

I love the idea that they're going to make the classes of mechs viable across the board. I hated the food chain of mechs approach in previous games. There was simply no way, particularly in multi-player, for a lance of light/mediums to take a lance of heavies/assault mechs regardless of whatever tactical advantages they should have had. Granted, the two forces are not supposed to be at parity, but it was basically impossible because counter-intelligence and ECM and high-speed (and pulse lasers) didn't do dick in the games.

Also, taking place in the pre-Clan era Draconis March?

 

[sixpackshaker]

I never liked the clan invasion era of Battletech. Especially the early dates before the inner sphere caught up in technology.

 

[SpecialKO]

I liked the clan-era storylines, but the game itself (in all forms, IMHO) became pretty lame once it became basically required to have an OmniMech to kick ass.

 

[Espy]

I liked the clan-era storylines, but the game itself (in all forms, IMHO) became pretty lame once it became basically required to have an OmniMech to kick a**.

Well I can only speak to the battletech board game but in no way did it require an Omnimech to kick ass. Yes they had the advantage technologically speaking but the game is all about tactics not who has the bigger PPC.

 

[Alex B.]

In pen and and paper Mechwarrior was the RPG end of the game. So hopefully they will add classes to the game. Pilot, driver, medic, aerospace, mechanic, infantry... I'd love to see that game in depth. It would even make a decent MMO.

Ooh, it would be awesome to have non-mech pilot classes. Imagine being a special ops operative, sent in to kill the enemy pilots before they can get to their mechs, clearing the way for your own mechs to wreak havoc. Or part of a squad of infantry or tanks, forced to face off against an enemy light mech in a street battle. Or a fighter pilot defending drop ships as they make their landings.

Definitely way too much, but it would be cool. It's a great setting even outside the cockpit of a 'mech.

 

[@Li3n]

I liked the clan-era storylines, but the game itself (in all forms, IMHO) became pretty lame once it became basically required to have an OmniMech to kick a**.

Well I can only speak to the battletech board game but in no way did it require an Omnimech to kick ass. Yes they had the advantage technologically speaking but the game is all about tactics not who has the bigger PPC.

Also, aren't Omnimechs just mechs with Omni slots, where you could put any weapon type in?! There's no reason why you can't put clan weapons on a normal Battlemech...

 

[sixpackshaker]

I just remember going from the original games to the Clan Stuff, that the MadCats and other Mechs basically had the armor, heatsinks, and weapons of the next class up of normal mechs. If you and your opponent were equal in tactics, you got wiped out.

 

[Espy]

I liked the clan-era storylines, but the game itself (in all forms, IMHO) became pretty lame once it became basically required to have an OmniMech to kick a**.

Well I can only speak to the battletech board game but in no way did it require an Omnimech to kick a**. Yes they had the advantage technologically speaking but the game is all about tactics not who has the bigger PPC.

Also, aren't Omnimechs just mechs with Omni slots, where you could put any weapon type in?! There's no reason why you can't put clan weapons on a normal Battlemech...

I don't remember how that worked, I think you "could" but clan parts were super rare and SUPER expensive so it wasn't realistic that any inner sphere mechs would have any.
Omni-mechs, or clan mechs in general just had BETTER tech. Better heat-sinks, lighter weight components, they were just plain better.
But the mech is only as good as it's pilot. :slywink:

 

[sixpackshaker]

Not to mention their basic unit was 5 and not 4, even more of a disadvantage.

 

[Espy]

Not to mention their basic unit was 5 and not 4, even more of a disadvantage.

Kind of.
A lance has 4 mechs, but a company has 4 lances so= 16 mechs.
A clan star has 5 mechs, anda Trinary has 3 stars in it so= 15 mechs.

The basic idea was 2 lances= 1 Star. So 8-5. If you went with your lance against a Star you better be good.

 

[@Li3n]

The idea was that they where better because they had access to better weapons and armour from the get-go... but you can equip them on any mechs if you have the money... so you don't need an Omnimech per se, just the weapons.

And the IS started making it's own Omnimechs soon after the clans came... i think the Bushwacker was one of the first attempts...

 

[elph]

Omnimechs were just simply mechs that could be refitted between missions quickly. They were modular in design and their weapons were able to be figured specifically to the pilots liking as well as each situation/role. Non-Omnimechs were mechs without options. You were piloting this mech and it's layout no matter what. You could, in theory, redesign the mech, but in effect you are making a different mech in the same body type out of it (typically it didn't happen).

Wolf's Dragoons was/is one of the first IS merc units to get a hold of Clan tech by salvaging and retrofitting it onto their IS mechs. Also (if my memory serves me right) they started recruiting some dishonored Clan mech pilots and other Clan tech.

In Battletech, the weapons were a slight step above the IS counterparts.

Clan stars also aren't always combined of the same type. A Star could easily be 1 light mech, 2 medium mechs, 1 pack of elementals, and 2 aerospace fighters (not just 5 medium mechs). Granted, most player based games are traditionally kept to mechs alone since having all these different kinds of vehicles can be confusing to manage quickly.

Clans also fight one on one (I'm trying to find the full list of clan rules of engagement) and to get help on a kill is dishonorable.

Clans also bid before taking action with the least amount of forces getting the rights to first attempt.

Going deeper, Clan pilots were generally breed for their role. Clans have a caste system for the most part and Mech Pilots were 'on the top'.

 

[elph]

Espy!

Something I've had on my system for a while but haven't played around with it until just now.

http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It's an open source classic battletech game. It's sorta complex and I haven't really played with it a lot, but maybe some night we can try it out. I'm rusty as hell (seeing as I haven't played Battletech in probably 15+ years).

 

[Espy]

Espy!

Something I've had on my system for a while but haven't played around with it until just now.

http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It's an open source classic battletech game. It's sorta complex and I haven't really played with it a lot, but maybe some night we can try it out. I'm rusty as * (seeing as I haven't played Battletech in probably 15+ years).

DOWNLOADING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's for OSX!!!!!

 

[@Li3n]

Omnimechs were just simply mechs that could be refitted between missions quickly. They were modular in design and their weapons were able to be figured specifically to the pilots liking as well as each situation/role. Non-Omnimechs were mechs without options. You were piloting this mech and it's layout no matter what. You could, in theory, redesign the mech, but in effect you are making a different mech in the same body type out of it (typically it didn't happen).

In MW4 they had the slots be weapon type specific, so if you could put in a L.Laser you could also replace it with 2 M.Lasers of S.Lasers... but not any AC etc. with Omnimechs having Omni slots where you could put in anything as long as it fit in the space.... that way they keep the Omni's versatility but keep them balanced with Battlemechs...

I'm guessing that in the lore one actually had to redesign the inside of the mech where the weapon was stored instead of just putting another weapon in without any other modifications...

Wolf's Dragoons was/is one of the first IS merc units to get a hold of Clan tech by salvaging and retrofitting it onto their IS mechs. Also (if my memory serves me right) they started recruiting some dishonored Clan mech pilots and other Clan tech.

Wolf's Dragoons where lead by clan freebirth spies, except for Natasha Kerensky, who was truebirth! The reason they didn't use clan tech before was because it would have given them away... but as i recall they did have plenty of lostech because they had a map of caches the SLDF set up when it started the exodus.

Going deeper, Clan pilots were generally breed for their role. Clans have a caste system for the most part and Mech Pilots were 'on the top'.

Most Clan-ers where genetically engineered... with freebirths being ostracized even...

 

[Frank]

In the tabletop stuff does it work like the games?

As in Clan ER PPC/Lasers have longer range, do more damage and weigh less but produce significantly more heat and have a longer recharge time.

 

[Rob King]

Espy!

Something I've had on my system for a while but haven't played around with it until just now.

http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It's an open source classic battletech game. It's sorta complex and I haven't really played with it a lot, but maybe some night we can try it out. I'm rusty as * (seeing as I haven't played Battletech in probably 15+ years).

DOWNLOADING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's for OSX!!!!!

I would be interested in checking this out also, but I can't find the OSX version you mention. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

 

[elph]

Espy!

Something I've had on my system for a while but haven't played around with it until just now.

http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It's an open source classic battletech game. It's sorta complex and I haven't really played with it a lot, but maybe some night we can try it out. I'm rusty as * (seeing as I haven't played Battletech in probably 15+ years).

DOWNLOADING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's for OSX!!!!!

I would be interested in checking this out also, but I can't find the OSX version you mention. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

It's a java based program, so it's not a matter of version I don't believe. Although, I've never messed with OSX, the way I understand it is that Java works on any platform or something.

 

[elph]

In the tabletop stuff does it work like the games?

As in Clan ER PPC/Lasers have longer range, do more damage and weigh less but produce significantly more heat and have a longer recharge time.

The best way to explain it is this...



You should notice that the major differences in available tech are:
IS has small, medium, & large lasers Clan does not.
IS has only the ER Laser Clan has ER Small, medium, & Large

IS has AC/2/5/10/20 Clans have Ultra AC/2/5/10/20

Clan has all versions of the SRM available. Streak SRMs are systems that simply do not launch unless you are guaranteed at least some missiles to hit.

The rest, just compare the 2 techs as far as weapons.

One major thing of note, is that a mech (IS/Clan) always has at most 12 points of armor in the head (9 outside, 3 internal). The IS only has 5 weapons (excluding missle systems) that do at least 10 points of damage while the Clan have 8. This is important because, generally speaking, if you are to get a head shot with a clan weapon, you are more likely to get a critical hit on a major system (the mech has 6 systems: Life Supportx2, Sensorsx2, Cockpit, and 1 empty). Yes, it's fairly difficult to get head shots, and I don't think the dev team really centered the mechanics to concentrate so much on them like this, but I have had a few games where I was playing clan, under manned, with honor rules, where I took out a force twice as strong with all head shots on the opposing team.

 

[Espy]

Espy!

Something I've had on my system for a while but haven't played around with it until just now.

http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

It's an open source classic battletech game. It's sorta complex and I haven't really played with it a lot, but maybe some night we can try it out. I'm rusty as * (seeing as I haven't played Battletech in probably 15+ years).

DOWNLOADING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's for OSX!!!!!

I would be interested in checking this out also, but I can't find the OSX version you mention. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

It's a java based program, so it's not a matter of version I don't believe. Although, I've never messed with OSX, the way I understand it is that Java works on any platform or something.

Yeah, I just downloaded it and ran the Java program. I have no idea how to use it yet but... POTENTIAL!

 

[HCGLNS]

I played Megamek years ago, it plays very much like the classic game. The only drawback I ever had was in dealing with players. If you leave a game, you are judged the loser, so people who were often losing badly would sit on their hands and wait for you to quit to save the victory

 

[Rob King]

DOWNLOADING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! It's for OSX!!!!!

I would be interested in checking this out also, but I can't find the OSX version you mention. Am I looking in the wrong spot?

It's a java based program, so it's not a matter of version I don't believe. Although, I've never messed with OSX, the way I understand it is that Java works on any platform or something.

Yeah, I just downloaded it and ran the Java program. I have no idea how to use it yet but... POTENTIAL!

Sweet. It's on my computer, and it's working, but I haven't had a chance to play with it yet.