Battletech Kickstarter News.

THis. Thanks for the more in depth run down. I was aiming for Cliff's notes. ;-)

No problem. I have fairly good grasp of the situation. The hard part is editing the things I'm NOT supposed to talk about.
 
Let's just say FASA (and the SR and BT product lines) have had a...colorful...history.
 
These guys were hilarious with their drunken stream talking about the game development. Tomorrow they are doing a table top BT game and charity event. Six beards enter three beards leave was part of the kickstarter stretch goals.
Link
 
These guys were hilarious with their drunken stream talking about the game development. Tomorrow they are doing a table top BT game and charity event. Six beards enter three beards leave was part of the kickstarter stretch goals.
Link

dayummmm, who is the ginger girl in the lower right loop?
 
I REALLY wouldn't be against Randall & Crew.

While he's not QUITE the walking BattleTech encyclopedia he was 15 years ago (a bunch of kids and getting older kinda has that effect on you), he can pretty much whup your ass and make you think him for it...
 
Do not underestimate the ire for PGI among the core fanbase...the hate runs deep.

Just curious.....Why the hate for PGI?

I played MPBT: Solaris on AOL (that was my gateway drug to MMOs), MW2 and Mercenaries. When MS took over the IP, I stopped paying attention. So I don't know which games PGI did and what they did to piss off the core fanbase.

This project looks cool as hell! I wish I could have joined the kickstarter campaign. This is a MW that looks promising.
 
Just curious.....Why the hate for PGI?

I played MPBT: Solaris on AOL (that was my gateway drug to MMOs), MW2 and Mercenaries. When MS took over the IP, I stopped paying attention. So I don't know which games PGI did and what they did to piss off the core fanbase.

This project looks cool as hell! I wish I could have joined the kickstarter campaign. This is a MW that looks promising.
PGI gets a lot of hate for how they've handled Mechwarrior Online. It's not a Mechwarrior game like the others in that it lacks a single player campaign and is a F2P title. It is also a VERY shallow game, with limited maps and game modes. They've also had some pretty odd misteps along the way. The promised MMO-like components (Called "Community Warfare") that never panned out, and the CW that we have now is really poorly implemented, unbalanced and underpopulated. They also can't stop tinkering with mech and weapons balance. Many weapons also just don't act like they do in other games. The AC/20 is weak as hell. ECM is NOT ECM from other MW or CBT games. It's not bad imho, but it's not the same tech. They've also fouled up the simplicity of mechs with quirks unique to each mech. And when they introduced the clans, they did some VERY weird things to TRY to make the game more balanced (ignoring the fact that the Clans were made to BE OP from the beginning.)

They also sold individual gold mechs for like $500 each.

Most of the folks who feel this way (not all) somewhat lopse the forest for the trees in that MWO is a fun game. It's very stable, has little or no cheating and can be enjoyed completely free if you wish to.
 
PGI gets a lot of hate for how they've handled Mechwarrior Online. It's not a Mechwarrior game like the others in that it lacks a single player campaign and is a F2P title. It is also a VERY shallow game, with limited maps and game modes. They've also had some pretty odd misteps along the way. The promised MMO-like components (Called "Community Warfare") that never panned out, and the CW that we have now is really poorly implemented, unbalanced and underpopulated. They also can't stop tinkering with mech and weapons balance. Many weapons also just don't act like they do in other games. The AC/20 is weak as hell. ECM is NOT ECM from other MW or CBT games. It's not bad imho, but it's not the same tech. They've also fouled up the simplicity of mechs with quirks unique to each mech. And when they introduced the clans, they did some VERY weird things to TRY to make the game more balanced (ignoring the fact that the Clans were made to BE OP from the beginning.)

They also sold individual gold mechs for like $500 each.

Most of the folks who feel this way (not all) somewhat lopse the forest for the trees in that MWO is a fun game. It's very stable, has little or no cheating and can be enjoyed completely free if you wish to.

Thanks for that explanation. I've got MWO installed on my home PC, but just never bothered to log in. I imagine that it's World of Tanks, but with Mechs. Ugh. And it sounds like it pretty much is.
 
Thanks for that explanation. I've got MWO installed on my home PC, but just never bothered to log in. I imagine that it's World of Tanks, but with Mechs. Ugh. And it sounds like it pretty much is.
Meh, WoT is a little more p2w than MWO, and imho, MWO is a little more fun, as there is a greater number of vastly different mechs and weapons to go around. My recommendation is play for a month or so for free and use the trial mechs to find a chassis you like and then buy it and earn the quirks. And... NEVER go to the forums and learn about "meta" builds. It's just a bunch of people shoehorning a video game into a spreadsheet, and it's not fun.
 
I dunno. Some of the meta builds aren't that bad.

Hell, that's like half the fun of BattleTech itself.

Crazy stupid builds. Like cramming 7 Gauss Rifles into a single mech...

Or 51 ERML and then taking bets on how big and dense your thermal plume will be.
 
I dunno. Some of the meta builds aren't that bad.

Hell, that's like half the fun of BattleTech itself.

Crazy stupid builds. Like cramming 7 Gauss Rifles into a single mech...

Or 51 ERML and then taking bets on how big and dense your thermal plume will be.
Some aren't bad, true. Like the LRM5-boats from the Vulture and Catapults. But my point is that getting yourself wrapped up in whether your particular build is properly aligned with the current meta just makes the game a chore as opposed to fun.

Me? I rock a slightly min-maxed assault. My King Crab has six AC/2s and 2 LPLs. I call her "The Shredder" because I can chew through an atlas' arm in about 6 seconds of sustained chain firing 2 at a time. Runs cool as hell and rocks the hell out of the enemy pilot too. I LOOOOVE targeting Daishi with it, as they almost all have loads of ammo in the arms.
 
re the PGI question, I will be brief as this is OT for this thread and others have presented pretty fair critiques so far.

I would add asshat dev behavior on the forums, censorship, and mass bannings. It is an ugly scene indeed. I would concur with the above poster that it is, in fact, a fun game, and to avoid the forums like the plague if you choose to play it.

Also, never, ever, run more that one account from the same IP. Keeping an alt account on your secondary system for a little fun with house guests will earn you a permaban and loss of all investment, you have been warned.
 
Also, never, ever, run more that one account from the same IP. Keeping an alt account on your secondary system for a little fun with house guests will earn you a permaban and loss of all investment, you have been warned.

Well that's just stupid! What if my wife wants to play? (She used to love going to the Battletech Center in Chicago with me and my friends and kicking ass.)
 
Well that's just stupid! What if my wife wants to play? (She used to love going to the Battletech Center in Chicago with me and my friends and kicking ass.)

That's the one that made a lifelong enemy out of me. I lost two hangars of fully upgraded equipment and many hundred hours of grind.

That was 2 years ago, and yes, I am still butthurt and bitter.
 
The beard-off last night was hilarious. I was not expecting the donation driven game modifiers they did.

I feel bad for Jordan's Atlas (and his credit card :sneaky:)
 
The beard-off last night was hilarious. I was not expecting the donation driven game modifiers they did.

I feel bad for Jordan's Atlas (and his credit card :sneaky:)

I don't watch a lot of game streams but that was way too funny. I might have to check in with them in the future. Sounds like they will do the modifiers again with a bi-weekly mech show. I think the dev Mitch is going to be one of the first guest.


"In anticipation of the 2017 release of Battletech we’ve created a whole new way to experience Mech Warrior demolition. This unique RPG will be split into two parts:

Part 1 An expansive intergalactic story sending a group of reluctant heroes out to claim powerful tech lost throughout the ages.

Part 2 Our team faces rotating special guests and a unique form of table top Battletech–our custom 3D printed mechs experience real damage and the feat of permadeath. Audience members are able to affect the game “Hunger Games” style by sending in repair crews and/or weapon attachments."
 
I'm happy with how it is looking. Can't wait to play.

And they have a late backer option for anyone who wants to jump on board.
Link
 
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AND I an super pumped. I was afraid of poor IQ given the Unity engine, but I am very impressed.
Looking forward to getting my Backer goodies soon too.

Definitely needs some work, but I am very impressed.
 
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They using unity right?
Yea. HBS has done some amazing things with the engine. I generally hate Unity based game visuals, but between the Shadowrun games and now this, I'm willing to wait and see. I submitted an "ask the devs" post in re PC options like aa/AF/HBAO etc. No response yet.
 
Oh snap...
Just got my shipping confirmation on my backer goodies.
 
Yea. HBS has done some amazing things with the engine. I generally hate Unity based game visuals, but between the Shadowrun games and now this, I'm willing to wait and see. I submitted an "ask the devs" post in re PC options like aa/AF/HBAO etc. No response yet.

Unity has also started sucking less. Since it has become popular for use in bigger games, there has been a good amount of improvements to it. Remember that big devs give feedback and work with the developers of the engine. If the engine devs don't work with them, they'll go elsewhere. So it has become a far more competent engine. They've added a ton of features and also cleaned up a number of the issues it used to have with things like sound.

Also a lot of how good, or bad, an engine is depends on the developers implementing it and Unity has a TON of shit developers. The problem with being cheap, easy, and available is that you get a lot of people that suck using it. So you can get biased against it because of all the garbage that gets spewed using it, not considering that the engine isn't necessarily what's at fault for it being so garbage.
 
I had a chance to play the game last weekend at Gencon. "Super pre-alpha", one single player mission. The devs said it was the first time they were letting it be played in public.

I didn't back the kickstarter (because its a kickstarter) but am a Battletech fan. It was pretty fun though. Turn-based with initiative favoring light mechs, the mission had 4 mechs (shadow hawk w/jump jets, atlas, commando, and a sniping dual-PPC mech I dont remember). Heat was implemented, physical attacks were not yet. Audio was a real strength of the game, all the weapons sounded meaty and a volley of LRMs and SRMs sounds really good. The atlas caused the whole ground to shake as it walked which was cool. Movement was also nicely done - it's a two-click system that also lets you set your facing arc after you choose a waypoint.

Got to play a short mission to take out some enemy tanks and a few mechs. I blew through it losing 2 of my 4 mechs, meanwhile a buddy was slowing picking his way through at the same time and completed without any losses. Really looking forward to this now, I can see playing it a lot.
 
Definitely excited for how this game is looking so far. I also did not back the kickstarter (also because it was a kickstarter), despite the good track record of Harebrained. Now that there is the late backer option, and with game footage and (potentially) less than a year before launch, I might have to put my order in. I never played the PnP Battletech, but have been playing the PC versions since the Crescent Hawk games and original MechWarrior, and I played the crap out of the MechCommander games- this new Battletech game is right up my alley.

I might just have to pony up for the $50 version with beta access because I can't wait to get my hands on this game.
 
I had a chance to play the game last weekend at Gencon. "Super pre-alpha", one single player mission. The devs said it was the first time they were letting it be played in public.

I didn't back the kickstarter (because its a kickstarter) but am a Battletech fan. It was pretty fun though. Turn-based with initiative favoring light mechs, the mission had 4 mechs (shadow hawk w/jump jets, atlas, commando, and a sniping dual-PPC mech I dont remember). Heat was implemented, physical attacks were not yet. Audio was a real strength of the game, all the weapons sounded meaty and a volley of LRMs and SRMs sounds really good. The atlas caused the whole ground to shake as it walked which was cool. Movement was also nicely done - it's a two-click system that also lets you set your facing arc after you choose a waypoint.

Got to play a short mission to take out some enemy tanks and a few mechs. I blew through it losing 2 of my 4 mechs, meanwhile a buddy was slowing picking his way through at the same time and completed without any losses. Really looking forward to this now, I can see playing it a lot.

FYI, the dual-PPC mech was the Marauder :) One of my favorites and always reminds me of ED-209 from Robocop

marauder_by_punakettu.jpg
 
Yeah it basically felt like MechCommander 3, but turn-based instead of RTS style.
 
Got the back kit today. VERY impressed with the gear, except the hat. The hat is a nightmare. The patch is off center and the brim isn't centered, so one long edge is longer than the other. But that's ok. I't's not a highly structured hat, so you don't notice with the Kurita logo.
Glad I opted for the large jacket. They run small. But it is a REALLY nice quality. Not cheapy thin stuff, and has some real insulation going on as well. Also included close ups of the badges/patches. The Kurita one is removable. WOn't post the banner and other smaller gear, as pictures of those are all over at this point.

VERY pleased.
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Got the back kit today. VERY impressed with the gear, except the hat. The hat is a nightmare. The patch is off center and the brim isn't centered, so one long edge is longer than the other. But that's ok. I't's not a highly structured hat, so you don't notice with the Kurita logo.
Glad I opted for the large jacket. They run small. But it is a REALLY nice quality. Not cheapy thin stuff, and has some real insulation going on as well. Also included close ups of the badges/patches. The Kurita one is removable. WOn't post the banner and other smaller gear, as pictures of those are all over at this point.

VERY pleased.

Looks nice. I waffled on the coat and went with the lower tier. Wish I had gone with the coat.
 
Not to nit pick, but they did not license them... Hence the legal troubles.

Its more complicated then that. The rub was that the middleman company they licensed from may or may not have had the proper distribution rights at the time and the original owner of the Macrosse IP tried to squeeze them. Its a mess
 
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