With 2 medium lasers, 2 small lasers, an SRM-6, and 2 machine guns.
Although that's the 6R. I like the 6L, with two flamers replacing the machine guns. Sure, they're even shorter range, but they're useful against mechs as well as infantry.
Anvildude wrote:And unfortunately not as customizable as Chrome Hounds, of course. You're going to be stuck with two legs, two arms and 1 solid body. Sigh.
But yeah, the Warhammer looks good.
I wish it would be that in depth though. Nothing says failed design like a mech that eventually overheats itself just by starting up.
Anvildude wrote:And unfortunately not as customizable as Chrome Hounds, of course. You're going to be stuck with two legs, two arms and 1 solid body. Sigh.
Catapults for me! I've been fooling around in the MW4 Free Trial (the actual game, I'm having difficulty running without letting actual viruses on my system) and, though lasers and flamethrowers and machine-guns are all well and good, nothing says "Hello!" like a nice big volley of LRMs.
You can rebind the keys in the Options section of the esc menu.
Personally, I prefer the mouse for looking (Mouse one for primary/fastest recycle weapon group), WASD for legs, with W and S for Accel/deccel. 123 etc for extra weapons groups.
Yea tell me about it. My laptiop doesn't even have a number pad, I had to change the keys, but I still use most of them how they came, with the 1-0 being speed, and I mostly use the [ and ] keys for weapon group changing.
Anvildude wrote:You can rebind the keys in the Options section of the esc menu.
Personally, I prefer the mouse for looking (Mouse one for primary/fastest recycle weapon group), WASD for legs, with W and S for Accel/deccel. 123 etc for extra weapons groups.
I don't bother much with the rest of it.
Pretty much what I do now that I'm used to WASD movement more than I was back when MW2 came out.
MechWarrior® Online™: Can you give us a brief biography on yourself?
Randall Bills: I’ve worked in the Adventure Gaming industry for a decade and a half. I’ve lead the direct development and publication of over a hundred sourcebooks, rulebooks, box sets and game aides. In addition to writing eight novels and a host of online fiction, I’ve been the continuity editor for over fifty novels—as well as half a million words of online fiction—for BattleTech.
I’m currently the Managing Line Developer for Catalyst Game Labs, overseeing the strategic development of the perennial BattleTech and Shadowrun properties, while still writing/developing some BattleTech products under the direction of the current BattleTech Line Developer, Herb Beas.
In addition to those two giant game lines, I’m also overseeing the development of new universes and games, such as the alternate history/steampunk miniatures game Leviathans and the golden science fiction era, pulp-style Cosmic Patrol RPG, as well as new casual board and card games.
MWO: What does your position on MechWarrior Online entail?
RB: The best way to describe my job with MechWarrior Online is Continuity Editor and Fiction Content Manager.
Continuity Editor means that Piranha passes just about everything through me to make sure we put as much BattleTech polish on everything as possible within the constraints of their electronic game medium.
Now that can be a two-way street. For example Piranha might ask me for a list of BattleMechs that would be most appropriate to start the game with based upon the Era they’re looking at. I then generate that list and include a set of criteria for why I chose the list, so they can review and push back if they have in-game reasons for X or Y choice that might not be on my list.
The two-way street part is that instead of me generating content and/or lists completely on my end, they will send documents for me to comment on. For example they might send me a proposal for one of their in-game maps, which includes concept sketches, back-ground details on the specific world/terrain, and so on. I’ll then read through the entire document and provide specific feedback on where the details they’re developing need to be tweaked into X or Y direction to ensure it feels more like BattleTech.
For the Fiction Content Manager portion, that’s about providing the fiction content they need for their site and ultimately the game. This aspect is very much a “living position”, meaning it’ll be growing and expanding as development continues on the game. Currently I’m writing all the INN tweets they’re publishing and I’m just now starting to write (and coordinate the editing) on larger fiction pieces for the website. Heading into next year the demands for how much fictional content will be needed leading up to the launch of the game (and beyond, of course) will increase exponential. What I can’t generate directly (simply due to time constraints with all my other commitments), I’ll manage the creation of through the author pool of talent that’s been working on BattleTech for long years.
MWO: What is your favourite part of your job?
RB: The easy quip is “I get to make crap up for a living!”
The more complete answer is the single most enjoyable part of my job is working with motivated, creatively talented individuals in bringing cool, fun experiences to a community. Whether that’s a novel, a sourcebook, miniatures rules, a board game, an RPG: doesn’t matter what it is, or the ultimate medium…it’s all incredibly enjoyable and immensely satisfying.
I’ve had those experiences for most of my working career across a huge variety of projects. Yet working on something you love adds a whole other dimension. And despite over 15 years working on BattleTech, it still remains one of my biggest geek-loves…the inner 14-year-old in me still yells that titanic metal robots stomping across alien worlds and blowing crap up never, ever gets old.
To have that type of working relationship growing with Piranha so that I can be a part of bringing MechWarrior Online to a community that’s been waiting patiently for a BattleTech computer game this cool for a long, long time…I’m still geeking out about it (I’ve got a big, sloppy smile on just typing this up).
MWO: Why do you think the MechWarrior community is as loyal and dedicated as it is?
RB: At its core I think there are some basic elements that created an initial community and have kept that community all these years.
1. Giant robots blowing stuff up is cool!
2. The factions are incredible iconic and there’s plenty to choose from.
3. Epic story telling.
4. Vibrant, living characters that span the spectrum from hero to villain.
Each of those points overlaps in various ways providing many different ‘snares’ to any given fan. It creates a living, breathing universe that moves far beyond “just a game.” It spawns situations where players—whether in a computer game, a roleplaying game, or on the miniatures table—can have gaming experiences where they fight valiantly for their faction, they play apart of a critical moment described in a novel they’ve read, or they actually meet the characters from the fiction in their games…and survive to fight another day.
Those are the stories you share at conventions and across social media and emails and gaming tables. Stories that hook players into the universe and never let go…
MWO: How did you get involved with BattleTech?
RB: That’s a long, rather convoluted story…I’ll try and keep it short. I promise…ahahah.
First, fan-wise, when I was thirteen I’d moved to AZ and first saw a particular anime series of teenagers in transformable robots saving the world from alien invasion. I was blown away…I’d never imagined a “cartoon” so complex, so filled with adult themes and stories…and over-flowing with giant robots blowing crap up (note the theme…).
When I was fourteen I first saw the BattleTech box set (2nd Edition) on a store shelf and immediately thought there was a connection to the anime series and knew I had to buy it (the confusion was sorted rather quickly, of course, but that Warhammer on the cover just wouldn’t let go of my imagination).
But $20 was a good chunk of money for my 14-year-old self and it took me almost a month to convince myself to buy it. I finally made the decision and along with my best friends Chad and Tony, we biked down to the store and purchased a copy. We tore back home, read the rules at lightning speed and in less than 30 minutes we had a game going: Chad in a Warhammer, me in a BattleMaster, standing right next to each other alpha striking, and Tony in a Marauder plinking away at max range with its AC/5…and there was no looking back. In fact, thinking hard about it, I’m just realizing that that plunge into BattleTech was exactly 25 years ago this month…my head, it’s full of ’Mechs.
Professionally, that’s the convoluted part. In the early 90s my gaming group had begun running most of the BattleTech events at conventions in the Tempe/Mesa area and so my name had started to percolate just a little at the FASA offices (i.e. corresponding with FASA for convention support).
In ‘94 most of my gaming group traveled to Gen Con for the first time and despite best efforts made a nuisance of ourselves geeking out at the FASA booth (and I decided I could never ‘not’ go again; been attending ever since).
In ‘95 Brian Nystul, the BattleTech Line Developer at the time, was brought out to Hex-a-Con as a guest and I asked him if he wanted to play in a “3039 variant” I’d designed of the strategic-level BattleTech box set game Succession Wars. He actually said yes and we stayed up all Saturday night playing (I’ve still got that around here somewhere and while it’s painfully clunky…it was really my first attempt at serious game design).
Two months later my gaming group was back at Gen Con and we even got permission to go to the FASA offices after the show, where we were monster fan-boys, despite my best efforts to ‘be cool’. For example the Clan homeworlds map had not yet been published and we saw it pinned up on Bryan’s wall, so we were trying to distract him while we copied the map down. Ahaha…painful, but funny thinking back on it.
Right after that point FASA decided they needed a development assistant. While they started looking locally, someone said “hey, what about that guy from AZ?” First they didn’t believe I’d moved 1,800 miles to be paid the absolute deplorable wage they offered. But I also didn’t know until years later that they almost didn’t want to even interview me because of the fan-boy office experience. Only because Bryan had spent endless hours with me at that convention did he give me a good word and so FASA gave me a chance.
Course at the end I almost did balk at it…moving 1,800 miles for crap pay to a city I’d never been to, to an apartment we picked off a map, to a place with no family, no job set up for my wife, leaving all my friends and the gaming group I’d spent years building…I was a wreck for a week. But my wife, bless her soul, gave me the kick I needed: “If you don’t take this job, you’re not the man I married.”
They say behind every great leader is a great woman. Same applies here…I say behind every happy gamer (professional or not) is a wonderful wife (or husband) that puts up with far too much crap…no way I’d be here today, excited to dive into a brand new BattleTech adventure with MechWarrior Online without Tara.
MWO: Why do you enjoy the BattleTech universe?
RB: Beyond that inner 14-year-old above yelling that blowing crap up is cool?! Or beyond the points I listed above of what makes BattleTech compelling?
Now don’t get me wrong…I love aliens. In fact some of my favorite movies and TV shows I watch I’m endlessly bemoaning that the aliens aren’t alien enough.
However, one of the things that’s always fascinated me and something I often explore in my fiction, is the idea that what mankind does to itself can be far more horrific then any monsters or aliens. And that includes overt wars, Machiavellian amoral moves in the dark by geopolitical power players, or even how we endlessly damage ourselves.
Despite BattleTech’s scifi setting, almost without exception what occurs in the universe is driven by mankind. The most fantastic, uplifting achievements and the basest abominations: it’s all at the hands of the characters that populate the universe, from the best and brightest hero to the blackest villain.
Now BattleTech has plenty of black & white characters…simply something that’s going to happen when you’ve published tens of millions of words from hundreds of authors over two and a half decades. But even with those black & white characters, BattleTech is filled with a thousand shades of grey that bring the universe to life in ways that are always compelling. There’s always someone to cheer for and someone to love-to-hate.
Obviously I still enjoy playing the board game; in fact I’m right in the middle of starting up a rather large game with my son right now. But without those story elements that I can still read and enjoy, not sure the love affair would’ve lasted all these years.
MWO: You’ve written many books on BattleTech over the years – which one stands out as your favourite?
RB: Stop asking the hard questions! Hahaha. Seriously though, not even sure where to begin…so many favorites for so many different reasons.
If you’re asking about my novels I’d probably have to go with the Dark Age Era Heretic’s Faith. I was able to invent and explore a whole faction sub-culture there, as well as delving into different types of story telling techniques (such as a re-verse flashback sequence) that really pushed my skills.
As for the board game…I’d probably have to say Total Warfare, the current core rulebook (and by extension the entire core line of rulebooks for the board game). They were actually incredibly intimidating to tackle. While the core of BattleMech combat mechanics remain as they always have, I changed more in the core rules than every previous line developer combined. Not to mention completely changing the presentation of the physical books to color and hardback, mixing in heavy doses of fiction, folding in aerospace units, and more.
It was a huge undertaking and the book’s not perfect by any stretch. But a good chunk of the renewed interest in playing BattleTech that Catalyst Game Labs has revitalized these last few years can potentially be laid at the feet of that new core rulebook line, and stands as one of my proudest professional achievements.
MWO: Is there any part of one of the books you’d love to see re-enacted in MechWarrior Online?
RB: Two things immediately pop to mind.
1. Orbital insertions. Being on a DropShip and then getting inside the ’Mech, which is then cocooned and dropped into an orbital insertion. You’re totally blind as the ablative cocoon heats up around you and then suddenly it explodes away from you and you’re plummeting towards the ground, aerospace fighters attacking you as they streak by, as the boiling conflict below leaps towards you at terminal velocity and you’ve got to use your jump jets just right to survive touch down and instantly launch into a battle where the enemy’s got the upper hand… That’s a level of action and immersion that would take MechWarrior Online to a whole new level.
2. Physical attacks. Yes, even in the fiction and board games they’re not as effective as weapons fire. But there’s a visceral feel to punching a BattleMech, or chopping at one with a hatchet, or charging/Death From Above that’s just awesome when you land it. It shouldn’t work very well and be hard to pull off…but when you do pull it off it should be a move everyone in the game talks about for some time to come.
MWO: How many of the MechWarrior Video games have you worked on?
RB: I’ve had various levels of involvement with, if I remember correctly, half a dozen different BattleTech computer games of various types (including those I’m working on now).
MWO: Which MechWarrior Video game has been your favourite so far?
RB: That’s a hard question to answer. To this day I think the ability to roam across dozens of planets and negotiate your own contracts found in the original MechWarrior was wonderfully immersive and gave players a feeling of control of their experience that was more RPG than FPS.
At the same time being able to re-experience the epic-story telling of the Clan Invasion through MechWarrior 2 (and the various expansion packs) was awesome.
And of course MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and its Solaris VII fighting was beyond a blast.
mmm…if push comes to shove, however, I think I’d have to go ahead and say MechWarrior 2. The epic nature of the experience and storytelling (even if the gaming experience itself was better in other iterations) rates it at the top for me.
MWO: If you had to pick the ‘greatest MechWarrior’ of all time, who would it be?
RB: mmm…I know this is likely going to spark discussion, but I think I have to go with Kai Allard-Liao.
The scene in Michael Stackpole’s Lost Destiny: Blood of Kerensky Volume 3 novel, where Kai is on Alyina and the Jade Falcon Elemental Malthus finds out who Kai really is—Malthus has been hunting him under a different name—and he and his fellow Elementals start laughing at themselves that they should’ve sent an entire Star (25) of Elementals against Kai…that scene remains one of my all time favorites, and is a wonderful end cap to the progression of Kai, showcasing how freakishly dangerous he is in a ’Mech.
MWO: What BattleTech rules do you think haven’t been translated well to Video games? Which have been translated well?
RB: I don’t think missile weapons and jumping have ever been done as well as they should to reflect the reality of the BattleTech universe.
In previous games a big assault ’Mech with nothing but long-range missiles could be one of the most powerful units in the game. LRMs absolutely have their place, but the lock, fire and forget vibe of previous games introduced an element that’s very rare in BattleTech. It should be the skill of the pilot, not of the BattleMech and its computers that makes the difference.
As for jump jets, some of the games were terrible at it, turning jump-capable ’Mechs into hover-BattleMechs. Others have been better, but I still don’t think they really captured the ferocity of a 70-ton BattleMech hurtling through the air in a harsh ballistic arc. There should almost be a growl sound as that 70-ton BattleMech hammers up over a hill and down into the ground, unleashing weapons right in your face.
As for things done right, the latest iterations of the game I thought did damage really well. Especially as a BattleMech starts on fire and then belches smoke, the way it limps and stagers as actuators are destroyed, and so on. That’s a great, visceral feel to watch as your opponent degrades in front of you as you continue to savage him.
MWO: Is there any part of MechWarrior you’d love to just take straight out of canon?
RB: I’ve said many times over the years that if I’d been there the game mechanics of the Clan weaponry would be very different. It’s not just how powerful those weapons are, but that it seemed from the get go to violate the story aesthetics as presented.
Here were these great, in-your-face warriors and yet they had weapons that allowed a player, in game to simply walk backwards and fire at crazy distances to down your enemy. When we introduced the Clan Heavy Lasers years ago those were more along the lines of what I thought the Clans should’ve had all along…really dangerous and powerful weapons, but shortish range, where the Clanner would be in his element, able to take down 3 and 4 enemy BattleMechs in a whirling dervish of expert maneuvering and markmanship.
MWO: BattleTech has a large cast of strong female characters. What is it about BattleTech/MechWarrior that allows it to highlight women so effectively?
RB: Well right out of the gate there’s an issue of BattleMechs and how much they equalize the playing field. If you're a great pilot your nationality, or your ethnicity, or your gender doesn’t matter…you’re still gonna kick butt and take salvage.
I think it’s also a matter of how, from the very start, most female characters have been portrayed by a variety of authors. Instead of the damsel-in-distress syndrome of far too many game universes, from the get-go BattleTech chose molds such as Elizabeth (The Virgin Queen), or using an example from other fiction, Sarah Conner from Terminator 2.
In other words, women in BattleTech can be just as Machiavellian and politically potent as any male counter-part, while they can be just as ruthless and physically capable. The scene of Sarah doing chin-ups in her cell when you first see her in T2 when the Dr. shows up, and she turns around with ‘that’ look in her eye and says: “Good morning Dr. Silverman…how’s the knee.” Memorable, powerful…literally forces you to take a mental step backwards in your seat the first time you see it…a heroine you know is going to savage you on any battlefield if you get on her bad side. I always imagined Natasha Kerensky was very much in that mold right there.
MWO: Which part of MechWarrior Online are you most excited about?
RB: Beyond blowing crap up…ahahah.
Actually the thing that has me most excited is the chance to see all types of BattleMechs have a place on the battlefield. While I’ve enjoyed many of the computer games over the years, almost all of them were either a race to the assault BattleMechs, or a race to some of the most powerful weapons (uummmLRMsuumm).
To know that I can jump in a light ’Mech and do exactly what you can pull off in the board game (and just as important, what the fiction depicts for the universe) with a true melding of multiple tactics to achieve victory …that’ll be a truly spectacular geek-out moment to experience.
MWO: Do you have a big timeline bible? A lot happens in the BattleTech universe, how much do you have memorized?
RB: Hahah…first, yes. Very big ones. The way in which Catalyst Game Labs told the story of the Jihad over the last six years was pretty unusual from previous story arcs such as the Clan Invasion or Fourth Succession War and so it necessitated keeping very good track of a living timeline. Back in 2004 before we launched the Jihad, Herb (the current BattleTech Line Developer) and I put together a 10,000 word timeline/proposal for how we’d be handling just the first sourcebook. Six years and a dozen sourcebooks and hundreds of stories latter that master timeline document that stretches in-universe from a few years before the Jihad (and the seeds that were sown for various events) up through the Dark Age era clocks in at a staggering 115,000 words.
As for what I remember, honestly, I don’t have memorized nearly what I used to. When FASA first hired me back in 1996 I had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the most crazy minutia within the universe; a consequence of my gaming group loving to try and stump each other in trivia across the gaming table. So in many ways the instant and correct knowledge on my tongue is less than it was…but I do almost always know exactly where I need to go hunting to find a piece of minutia if I can’t remember. (Not to mention if push comes to shove I toss out a quick request to our fantastic fact-checking volunteer apparatus…great, great, bunch of people that help ensure continuity quality for Catalyst books.)
MWO: What House would you pledge allegiance too, or are you a Mercenary?
RB: House Kurita. Something about the honorable samurai standing against a horde of enemies—even when his master’s betrayed him—that has always captured my imagination. Not to mention Heir to the Dragon remains one of my all-time favorite BattleTech novels, so I’m sure that colored my perception right at the start of my BattleTech experiences.
MWO: Do you have a favourite Mercenary faction?
RB: Northwind Highlanders. While I'm a proverbial “mutt” so far as I’ve blood from a pile of nationalities, one of the biggest contributors is Scottish…particularly the Campbell name. Due to that connection I’ve technically the right to where the black watch tartan. So not only does that already give me an affinity towards all things Scottish, but the death of the Black Watch during the fall of the Star League is one of my all time favorite stories of the BattleTech universe.
Then I was given the chance to write the Northwind Highlanders scenario pack my first year at FASA…the very first cover credit I ever received. That type of emotional/professional connection will always leave them my favorites.
MWO: Which is your favourite ’Mech and Why?
RB: Ahhaha…15 years at this job and I still get asked that question often. It’s almost impossible to answer, though. I’ve got favorite ’Mechs I’ve played, favorite ’Mechs I’ve designed, favorite ’Mechs for how they look…but if push comes to shove, similar to the “emotional connections” to Northwind Highlanders above, I think I’d have to go with the Banshee 3S. Here’s the path to why it became my favourite (sorry for the length, but it’s a fun story I hope the community enjoys reading):
In the original Technical Readout: 3025 BNC-3E Banshee write-up it discussed the fact that House Steiner had begun experimenting with a “S” variant of the 3E.
Enter BattleTechnology, a magazine published in the late 80s and early 90s as a companion to BattleTech. What made the magazine so compelling is that the entire thing (from fiction, to ads, to scenarios) was presented as though it were a magazine published from within the universe. It provided a level of immersion I’d never experienced with a gaming magazine.
In issue 0202 there was a full TRO write-up for the BNC-3S, which expanded upon the details of Technical Readout: 3025, covering its development and field testing, including discussing that a 3S was destroyed during a raid on La Grave in 3027. It was one of my first views of how you could add a whole pile of new, cool material within the lines of what’s already been published without upsetting any continuity.
The next BattleTechnology issue was covering the start of the Fourth Succession War (Michael Stackpole’s Warrior trilogy that began that story arc had just published), and the editor asked the fans to write in with a “where were you when the Fourth War began?” Again, this was an “in universe” perspective, so the write-ups had to be as though you were a MechWarior in the universe.
I’d fallen in love with what a monster the 3S could be on the gaming table. Then, having seen that BattleTechnology example on how you can write new material within the confines of existing material, I wrote up a letter to mail. On how I was part of a merc unit with a blood feud against House Steiner in the employ of the Draconis Combine and were part of the force that struck the La Grave system in ‘27 and were directly involved in the attack on that 3S. Since the snakes would never give salvage rights to a merc unit at the time, the merc unit did some obfuscation and managed to hide the salvage on their DropShip and get off planet with it. By the time of the start of the Fourth War a year later, the merc unit had managed to patch it back together and could ram the Lyran’s own 95-ton unit down their own throat.
In other words, I plugged all those details into existing continuity without upsetting any core issues…and took my first step down the path of the job of any writer/developer in an on-going, shared universe.
That little letter was actually published in BattleTechnology Issue #9. In fact I was at a local gaming convention called Hex-a-Con in AZ when I picked up that issue in the dealer’s room, walking the floor, and I stopped dead as I realized my letter had been published. The writing is terrible and it’s only a few paragraphs long…but my dream of being a writer and working on BattleTech were ignited on that day…thus leaving the 3S as my all time favourite design.
MWO: Which ’Mech redesign is your favourite so far? Are there any ’Mechs you really want to see redone?
RB: I really love the Hunchback. One of the things I love about Alex work (and why Catalyst Game Labs has used him many times for the board game) is that often he manages to capture the essence of what a particular BattleMech looks like and conveys that in a new and exciting way that makes you take a double-take on a design you’ve been seeing for more than twenty years.
Despite the subtle changes he’s made, the Hunchback “screams” Hunchback in a way that immediately makes we want to grab some dice…er…until MechWarrior Online is out, then it’ll be a joystick of course…
As for which I’d like to see a new version of…well, considering my emotional connection to the 3S…would love to see Alex’ take on a Banshee.
MWO: If you were a MechWarrior, what would your focus be? Scout? Brawler? LRM-Camper?
RB: Despite initially loving assault ’Mechs (as noted above), I prefer what I call “knife-fighters”. Designs that are exceedingly maneuverable with a small but finely-tuned set of weapons and I can bounce in and round the enemy units on the knife’s edge: death to the enemy by a thousand paper-cuts…but if I’m not patient and careful only a few good hits will take me down.
My current favourite for that is a variant I was lucky enough to design: PXH-7k Phoenix Hawk (the record sheet is found in the Record Sheets: 3085 Unabridged — Project Phoenix pdf). With its jump of 9 and Snub-nose PPC, along with enough armor to help you past a few mistakes…it’s almost the perfect knife fighter.
Now don’t get me wrong…walking a Clan Hellstar onto the field and unloading four Clan ER PPCs into an enemy that literally tears a medium ’Mech in half has its own visceral fun. But I love the skill of the knife fight…as well as the frustration on my opponent’s face that I keep him bleeding while he can hardly touch me.
MWO: How big a role does electronics gear (C3, ECM, Active Probes, etc) play in the BattleTech Universe?
RB: In the Succession War Eras, not much. But from the time of the Clan Invasion on it’s played a huge role. In fact the entire way in which the Clan Invasion was ultimately halted was presented from ComStar’s extensive training in combined-arms tactics, which including electronic warfare. And that aspect has only grown.
Personally I really enjoy playing such electronic warfare out on the gaming table. Conveys a fantastic level of immersion for my games.
MWO: Does the community ever surprise you with how well it knows the BattleTech universe?
RB: I shouldn’t be surprised at this point. But every once in a while they can still surprised me on that front.
Course I love how in-depth their knowledge is across the universe, because I know it comes from that same love and respect for the universe that I have.
In fact, it’s that very knowledge and love that we’ve harnessed over the last decade to create several volunteer fact-checking groups; great, dedicated fans that love to see the universe and game always growing and improving. Their in-put and support has made all the BattleTech books published by Catalyst Game Labs that much better.
Mechwarrior Online: Information Warfare Explained
Piranha Games explains how "information warfare" will help rule the battlefield in the upcoming Mechwarrior Online.
All the firepower in the world doesn't mean much if you don't know where to point it. That's where "information warfare" comes into play: figuring out where your enemy is and what they're up to, while preventing them from doing the same to you. That sort of tactical chess game will play a big role in Mechwarrior Online, as players make use of the "BattleGrid" to manage the flow of combat information.
The BattleGrid is "a combination of command center and dynamic battlefield map" that will offer a scalable, top-down map, objective and waypoint markers, Friendly and Enemy unit markers, support units and orders. But not all information will be available to everyone, as each Mech will support "modules," linked to the Pilot Tree and unlocked by training various skills, that provide different types of information.
Targeting information will be available solely through "Line of Sight/Detection," or LOSD, which means that if nobody on your side can see an enemy unit, it is effectively invisible; lose LOSD in battle and you lose all current information about your target. But having LOSD doesn't mean you'll know all there is to know.
"Details about a target are not inclusive, and is now layered based on the type of modules and BattleMech you are piloting," the team explained. "The concept helps emphasizes using specific Mech and Module combinations to gain and share enhanced targeting information."
LOSD can be had through direct line of sight, radar, top-down satellite scans, localized UAVs, battlefield detectors and other friendly, non-Battlemech units in the field. Detection devices may also support multiple modes including night vision, thermal vision and "magnetometer assisted," which will be a huge boon in close-quarters urban combat. Countermeasures will be at hand, however, allowing players to block, spoof or even intercept and decode enemy communications and intel.
It all sounds very cool and anything that encourages proper mixed-unit tactics, as opposed to the traditional mad rush for the Assault class that these games usually devolve into, is okay by me. I'd be thrilled to take a Jenner into combat if there was a chance I could do something more with it than just be the first to die. A more detailed breakdown of the information situation can be found at mwomercs.com; the free-to-play Mechwarrior Online is set to come out later this year, exclusively for the PC.
didn't see the new mech floating around, so thought I'd through it in:
it's nice to see another mech out, not exactly a mech I was wish listing, but it's nice all the same to see them getting another one out. here's hoping the Warhammer or even the Marauder is out next, or maybe even a Battlemaster.
Huh, I may have to add this to the list of games I'm waiting on. I've always been slightly more of a MechCommander player than MechWarrior, but I can't resist the urge to pull my Kurita scout out of her P&P retirement.
Reading more about the gameplay, it does sound as if Commander could be fun. A little like in Battlefield 2 (I still miss this feature in BF3), perhaps ...
Still, the Scout role sounds equally important and fits better to the pilot character I have in mind. Perhaps my reluctance is/was based upon me not having been into shooter games all those years ago when the MechWarrior titles were big, at least not as much as I was into strategy. I only took up the RPG later as well, so perhaps it's about time I am expanding my horizon in that regard.
I may have to switch my allegiance to Liao, though, as I always had a soft spot for the Raven (or "chicken walkers" in general) and I suppose that one makes more sense to be fielded by that faction...
I dunno about the UrbanMech... never used one in the tabletop, but I could see it being useful.
In a real-time simulation, though... not sure how great a Light Mech with a blistering top speed of just over 32kmph and only one ton of AC/10 ammo, and, when that's used up, only a small laser will actually be, even in an urban setting. I piloted one once or twice in MW2: Mercenaries for the lulz. It's like playing the game on hard mode.
A lot of them aren't as I like a more all around type of mech. Sort of a change from my usual preference of the standard mass produced piece of crap. Usually satisfying for it to overcome more.
I'm waiting to see how Urbanmech comes out though, but the Cent definitely went to the top of the list with that concept.
MW Online has a poll up on facebook right now for which light mech you'd like to see included- the flea, the falcon, the something else, or the URBANMECH. I know you'll all make the right choice, and give the deadly trashcan its shot at the big leagues.
I'm especially excited to see if they will be bold enough to make the variant with the AC20 and turn it into the terror of the street corner..
I really think I'll need to pick my mech when the game comes out and I can look at armament options and test some out, cause I seriously hate the IS Mech aesthetics.
Puscifer wrote:I like Mechs that can really get in your face and feth you up, so I'm going for Atlas or Hunchback.
When the Clans come out, I'll go for a Loki, Mad Cat or Hunchback IIC and eventually a Daishi.
Both of those have a problem with the "can get in your face" part. Many 'mechs would simply refuse to allow the atlas or hunchback to get in their faces. The catapult for example would bombard them, run away, bombard them, run away, etc, being as fast or faster than both of them but with longer range.
yeah looking forward this game, hoping since Clan Mechs' won't in at the start that will mean more IS mechs
unless they set the game during the start of clan war timeline which is fast approaching, hopefully we can
get some decent IS vs IS action before the clanners ruining the fun
I played Chrome Hounds for a few years with one of the top clans, DivineChaos and I still miss those guys. If the gameplay and functionality of the two games are as similar as they sound I might die of ecstasy.
I'd like to see the Clans, at least at first, be a PvE option, keeping the PvP elements in the IS for a while. I just get the feeling that lot of players will start in IS until Clan mechs become available then jump ship.
I'm not so sure- it will be really tough to walk away from your intricately customized machines, decorated to the fullest, and your special reputation based variants to grind through the bog standard Prime variants.
Remember, the Clans are at least a year out.
It is pure speculation, but I'll just bet that the coming of the Clans coincides with the release of some, if not all, of the 3050 upgrades of the existing frames.
Finally getting access to an AS7-K and reminding your foes that an Atlas is ALWAYS terrifying, or beginning the crawl up the ranks of vatborn- I think the choice will be easy for many players.
Now that being said, I will be jumping ship as soon as the Comguard become a playable faction to get ready for the Word of Blake movement.
I suppose they could take their mechs with them, though likely get the new shiny stuff. I'm hoping it is optional as I might like to just keep what I'm using at that point.
helgrenze wrote:I'd like to see the Clans, at least at first, be a PvE option, keeping the PvP elements in the IS for a while. I just get the feeling that lot of players will start in IS until Clan mechs become available then jump ship.
I'll do what the majority of the guild does, but the moment the Summoner becomes available to me (either via being Clan or scavenging it), You all know what I'm piloting.
due to a flub on MWO's site, they kind of gave away that the Commando is Mech #7, though the staff and web support quickly went about deleting all traces of this on their forums. I myself didn't actually see the mech, the original post was taken down far before I could, but I saw the Topic tab, and a few others started up Topics about it, before quickly having them brought down.
I am interested to see what they've done with the little bugger, I never had a chance to interact with a Commando till Mech Commander 1, a decent scout, and not all that bad support to the Firestarters and Centurions I would deploy them next to in the game.
Oh, did they chose it as a result of one of those favorite 30ton/35ton etc polls? I wanted the other mechs....
:/
Its good to see that people have been on the mechwarrior site instead of just reposting everything new here.
I thought the Catapult was the ugliest mech in MechWarrior 4, but the artwork earlier in the thread was pretty damn impressive. I like the art style. A lot of the mechs from Battletech had been aging poorly in their appearances in various media but these online guys are giving some very nice updates to the look and feel the bots.
Also, love the look of the new Commando. I always liked the *idea* of the 'Mech, but never how it looked. It looks more squat and powerful than tall and lanky.
Kick as much ass as a light. I had some fu nlast night running around last night in a commando with rader off sniping the crap out of heavys and assults. Trying hard to pretend that I was a scout or someting. didn't really work when they just walked up to be and blew me up.
I wonder if a raindow skin would even be avalable. I don't think so, inless it was some kind of custom design thing you could do or a special dlc. Can't see the point of it. The win loss balance would soon convince you to chsnge back.
The larger question is why on earth anyone would paint up an Owens as Rainbow Dash. I'm no brony, but even I know she's supposed to fly. Owens aren't that fast, and don't even have jump jets. Madness. A Spider would have made a much better choice.
Personally, I'm hoping I can get enough varieties of pink and purple to make my mercenary mech look like an Irken Elite. I imagine the classic transformers will make many appearances as well if we get anything close to panel by panel painting.
Clan invasion took place at 3049, and according to Sarna's wiki, the Uziel was part of the 3067 'mechs. IT is listed as a dark age 'mech too, which makesit even more unlikely as the dark age was well after the end of the clan invasion. Short answer, probably not. Long answer: I would really have to check the specific datasheets to determine when it was first made, but it seems unlikely.
Have you seen the new update? OMG! Massive details on pilotting and fire control. Actual screenshot of cockpit.
Atlas vs Atlas battle in the offing.... at medium range from the look.
Not sure where you're getting that the Summoner is around in 2872, at least in the IS. Depending on release, the Clan invasion won't happen for at least a year.
As for closest to the summoner, I'd say either a Cataphract (if it's around at the time) or a Grand Dragon.
Ah. It may have been introduced in 2872, but that's only for the Clans, which are not in MW:O yet. Timeline (as I put in my earlier post) has them invading at some point next year. And there is no information on what/when Clan 'mechs will be available.
I am completely in love with whatever artist(s) they have working on this. They've managed to take what are arguably some of the ugliest mechs in the series and make them look like something I would actually be proud to pilot! Even the Jenner doesn't look as horrible as it used to.
I'm sure it still has the Movie Theatre Cockpit though. That poor mech was such a joke in the game. Oh look! Jenner! ... Locking On... LRM's Away... Cockpit Destroyed.
I guess I'll have to dial back my way-back machine to find a good IS Mech I like. There were a few, but I was always a Clanner for some reason. I'd kill for a Cerberus, but that is definitely NOT in this timeline.
I'm verymuch looking forward to the InfoWar stuff, as well as seeing what I can do for a Command Mech. A lot of ya'll seem to be totally gung-ho about your roles, and none of them seem to be sitting in that command chair barking orders and giving updates. I'm not afraid to slug it out, but I was in love with the approach Chromehounds took on Command.
Even AC5 is going to have a 'handler'. I'm not sure how that's going to work, but I'm certainly interested.
I like the idea of Dakka forming a Merc corp. I don't think we should even bother with a 'color scheme' though. If we can make a symbol to tack on to all our Mechs, cool, but we're a community of Wargamers! No way we're all going to agree on a scheme. We'd be much better represented by our individuality, combined with our abilities to Metagame and work together.
If we work as a kickass team, it doesn't matter what we look like.
I signed up with my pilot name... not callsign, but my actual Pilot name I used back when my friends and I used to play ALL the time. Tabletop, RPGs, Online... oh the addiction.
Someone have a list going of our names? If not I'll scroll back through the past 14 pages and write em' down. Or we could post a spot on the forrms over there and we could all check in.
Amen to that. A Commander is in a Battlemech, that's an asset! You need to be out there laying down fire and slugging it out with the rest of them.
Unless you're hiding in a command APC somewhere, you need to be pulling the trigger.
I'm still digging for more info on how the command stuff is going to work, but I'm thinking that's going to be my bag. Poor Mike, a mechanic turned pilot turned battlefield commander. I bet he wished he kept turning wrenches.
Probably has better com devices and that's about it or something like that. I do think we need some form of leadership though, in maybe a squad by squad basis. Of course not being too knowledgeable about mechs I definitely won't give out any orders.
Probably. I figure it's target designation with a splash of assisting in coordination.
I figured proper ECW would be performed by the mid-range Scouts. Mechs like the Raven which are pure badass for that sort of thing.
But the 'command' might have some support tricks or something. Chromehounds made the Command useful because it made you a mobile beacon to make sure your troops could stay connected. You could lay out a little hurt if you needed to, but you were no frontline combatant.
The only thing that really looks comfortable for a command role so far is the Catapult. I always imagine Command mechs being on the bigger side of things, firmly in the Medium to Heavy category. You don't want command in a Locust that gets broadsided by a Gauss barrage while snooping around. That's just demoralizing.
I seem to recall one of their role warfare interviews where they said commanders would have access to things like drones, close air support and artillery strikes. They definitely want to reward overall battlefield awareness with massive destructive capability.
I'd say that the Dragon is also a good candidate for command. It has very few distractions- weapons systems- good speed, and heavy armor.
True, the Dragon would be a good call. If I could bring myself to pilot a House Kurita creation. If I had one I'd use it, but I'd definitely be keeping my eye on something else.
The one teaser trailer has the Warhammer launching a remote drone after the Satellites get taken down, which gives him an aerial view of the fight, and allows him to survive the resulting ambush.
Till that Atlas shows up.
At least he stood his ground. I like that. He's outclassed, but he still puts up a fight. Who knows, maybe that Atlas pilot is a terrible shot? Likely? No, but you gotta give it a chance. Not like the Warhammer is a slouch, that's a pretty good mech right there. I'll put it on the list.
See, I loved the Command role in Chromehounds as well- when I actually got a team that listened to me, and didn't just have Metallica blasting over a muted game or something. And that's Chromehounds, where you had to follow orders. I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
Ouch. That's a little harsh. I agree that is what I expect from most of the online community, but what I thought Melissia was saying was she wouldn't want someone 'in command' that hid in the woods somewhere and told everyone else what to do.
Even AC5 is going to have a 'handler'. I'm not sure how that's going to work, but I'm certainly interested.
You get an Operator, he doesn't have a mech, just a top down view of the map. He can mark locations, scan for enemies and then look up all stats on enemy AC's and relay these to his allies. He also see's anything in a friendly AC's deployed recon units. And he can just look over the shoulder of allies when it's boring on the map and just enjoy the view. Operators are going to be the distinct difference between a good team and a great team.
For offensive they can also deploy turrets of quite a few varied types including jammers.
Chemical Cutthroat wrote:@Soladrin - I am SO there. I love AC, and I'm not too bad at it, but that sounds like it could be fun if you get good at all the command tricks.
Well, if your in need of a great organized and friendly community/team. Check this place out!
Opposite, xbox 360. Our leader has an account which downloaded the demo when it was out in japan.
If you then download his profile and go to his download history, you can download it again. Log off, go on your own account, and voila, you have the demo.
Brilliant! Certainly not an effort I'm willing to go through, but that's pretty clever.
And gives me higher hopes! Since I really prefer gaming on my 360 as opposed to my PS3.
Back on the topic of Mechwarrior... I'm certainly hoping Comstar becomes an option at some point. Particularly since it adds so much drama to the universe, and the battle of Turkayyid!
Anvildude wrote:See, I loved the Command role in Chromehounds as well- when I actually got a team that listened to me, and didn't just have Metallica blasting over a muted game or something. And that's Chromehounds, where you had to follow orders. I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
I figure it'll be less "go here do this, they're there so you have a chance" and more "enemy is here, here and here. Sending support."
Anvildude wrote:See, I loved the Command role in Chromehounds as well- when I actually got a team that listened to me, and didn't just have Metallica blasting over a muted game or something. And that's Chromehounds, where you had to follow orders. I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
THat is so not what do.
I am glad to have teamwork. I do not, however, want to be bossed around during a game.
Teamwork needs to be intuitive, developed from experience. It is not fun if it's teamwork by shouting.
Anvildude wrote:See, I loved the Command role in Chromehounds as well- when I actually got a team that listened to me, and didn't just have Metallica blasting over a muted game or something. And that's Chromehounds, where you had to follow orders. I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
THat is so not what do.
I am glad to have teamwork. I do not, however, want to be bossed around during a game.
Teamwork needs to be intuitive, developed from experience. It is not fun if it's teamwork by shouting.
Leave that for the military or work. Not a game.
It's not teamwork if it's shouting to begin with. If anything, to be a good commander player, in any game really, you need a cool head and just call out targets and offer advice on how to take things down.
Ah. Sorry about that Mel. But yeah, like Soladrin said, if you've had run-ins with shouty Commanders, then they weren't very good Commanders.
The role's not for bossing, but for keeping things in order. A good Commander's role is to keep track of the overall mission objectives and make sure their Lance, or Pack, or whatever doesn't run into an ambush, or is able to set their own ambush up- telling the grunts where to go and what their target priority is so that those grunts can concentrate on the important business of blowing up the enemy without being blown up themselves.
Yeah. In a lot of multiplayer games, I'm guilty of being the lone wolf at times. But that's because in so many FPS games and the like you're playing with a bunch of idiots. Teamwork is non-existant and people only use mics to scream obscenities at each other. And insult their heritage and sexual history. It's times like that where I'm perfectly happy to Mute All and treat them all like bots.
There are a few games that bring me out of that, and most are team oriented games. Trenched was fun. Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 was a BLAST when working together with friends. Planetside was another good one. Right now, ME3's multiplayer has started to give me renewed faith in people, (okay not really, but it's been a nice change of pace). I say 80% of the games I've played have had some sort of organization and feedback.
I'm hoping MWO online proves to be another good outlet for well organized, intelligent gamers. It would help if they didn't suck too, but I'd rather have someone on my team who sucks and knows it but tries hard anyway than someone who just whines about getting robbed or the game being broken to mask their failures.
I last played mw2 a long time ago. I got very excited by what i have read today.
Looks very interesting assuming that the wallet effect doesnt balls it all up as with most free to play mmo games (with money stores). Ive seen this loads of time in world of tanks.
I don't mind paying for a particular Mech, I do mind it when that mech is gonna be better then anything else purely on the basis of it costing (more) money.
Mechs should all be the same price (unless their overly specialized or crap) since they all have a use. Power in Free to play games should in no way be related to your wallet size.
Mechs should all be the same price (unless their overly specialized or crap) since they all have a use. Power in Free to play games should in no way be related to your wallet size.
Yeah, but it is.
As much as everyone wants to say it isn't, some things will be fundamentally better. If this wasn't the case, why would you bother buying the packs? To continue mediocrity and fair play? No! You want that fancy ammunition for your LBX/Autocannon, or that newer, more efficient heat sink, or whatever.
I definitely believe things can be 'fair', but balance we'll just have to wait and see. I wouldn't be adverse to dropping twenty bucks out of the gate to horde some gear and give me an edge early on. Because that's what I'm paying for, more stuff to customize something that fits my playstyle so I can brutally murderize the other team faster.
My view on the commander (whoever that may end up being):
They should be the ones with the overall picture, general areas to scout, when to bring up this group or that group, or pointing out priority targets. What we don't need is someone who tries to micromanage every player. What we *do* need is 1 (or two) people calling out things like where the enemy is.
Right, and gathering information, keeping a good link with whoever's scouting ahead, and listening to his team regarding where and when to use special abilities.
If you Scout is in a near panic because he just stumbled over a team of heavies, the Command should be able to single out the area, guess some ranges, and either direct others in the area or call in a strike of some kind.
Again, we'll have to see what all the abilities are for a commander. Maybe they'll have some passive buffs and things as well.
Anvildude wrote:See, I loved the Command role in Chromehounds as well- when I actually got a team that listened to me, and didn't just have Metallica blasting over a muted game or something. And that's Chromehounds, where you had to follow orders. I have a feeling most Mech pilots are going to be much more like Melissia- lone wolves that you're lucky to keep from firing on their own lancemates.
THat is so not what do.
I am glad to have teamwork. I do not, however, want to be bossed around during a game.
Teamwork needs to be intuitive, developed from experience. It is not fun if it's teamwork by shouting.
Leave that for the military or work. Not a game.
It's not teamwork if it's shouting to begin with. If anything, to be a good commander player, in any game really, you need a cool head and just call out targets and offer advice on how to take things down.
This is what killed Alien Swarm for me (A free game, btw). You HAVE to work together to get along the later stages on hard difficulties, but people were more interested in bossing people around. About 90% of the games would include one person telling, not asking, other people to fill roles, and if you didn't want to fit the exact role (I'll play a Tech and open doors, I will NOT play a Medic and heal people....) you were labeled "A Fething Idiot who was the reason Valve hadn't updated the game!"
I have no problem following orders, but I am not going to be bossed around.
Also, a Lance is five mechs, right? Are we going to start dividing ourselves into Lances, like the Guild Wars 2 Dakka Korps are doing?
Edit: What's all this talk of money and buying things? I thought this game was going to be F2P.
And there's a thin line between bossing and ordering- one that basically consists of how well each of the people trust each other- which is nill when they've been thrown together for the first time, and can only be grown if they either already know each other, or are forced to work together long enough to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses and use them correctly.
So there is no official Commander role, there are simply people who have installed Commander modules on their ’Mech. If someone has three module slots on their ’Mech, they could install three Commander modules, one Commander module and two Scout modules, or any other sort of combination. As a result, the game does not officially enforce, or even recognize, any sort of strict Commander role. It will be up to players to decide who should bring which Commander modules (as well as any other modules) into the match, as well as establish any sort of chain of command they wish to follow.
Commander Skills:
• Order View – Allows the pilot to right click and request friendly BattleMechs to attack or defend areas/objectives on the BattleGrid
• Command View – Provides a layer of information over the BattleGrid including objectives and any intelligence information passed back by scout Mechs on the front line
• Call Air Strike – Calls in an air strike that does AOE damage in a straight line
• Call Artillery – Calls in a land based artillery bombardment on to a target area
• Call Naval Bombardment – Calls in Naval artillery bombardment that has a larger and more powerful result than regular artillery
• Call UAV – Calls a UAV that passes overhead of the battlefield and relays ALL enemy positions to the command pilot
• Call Predator Drone – Drops a heavy explosive device on a targeted area
• Call Satellite Sweep – Full detail information is passed to the command pilot including enemy location/direction/speed
• Danger Close – A short range radar detection system that lets the command pilot know of any nearby enemy BattleMechs
No info on specific modules that will be available/unlocked by what skills.
Rather disappointed with the lack of Death From Above, but other than that, looks awesome.
Perfect ambush will be me jumping on someone's head, marking another target for Mel's LRM's to smash, and then mopping up the rest before they know what will hit them.
I wonder how effective jumping actually is in the game though? I saw some rather high cliffs (higher than an atlas' head), could I, say, jump on / over those cliffs in my catapult to escape less mobile enemies?
Given that the guy in that video was specifically aiming at his opponent's left arm, I think it is damage by section.
To solve the drop speed thing, what you do is simple-- don't use all of your jump jet power to jump ,so that as you are falling you can pulse the jump jets to slow down.
I doubt if the Atlas even has them in this game, but I could be wrong there-- depends on how much customization they go with (usually chassis either have the option for jets or don't, and I know of only one Atlas variant that has jump jets-- and those three jets wouldn't do much to something of its size).
The Catapult has them default though, so that it can get to vantage points and escape pursuers.
Please, please - give me a way to get jump jets on an Atlas in this game.
If this happens, I also want a way to hear my opponent's screaming as I come cruising out of the sky at them, and a way to put a Trollface on my Atlas.
I just imagine JJ's on an Atlas just leaves scorchmarks on your footprints, because that beast isn't going anywhere.
I wonder if they're going to do straight 'up' JJ's or if they're going to harken back to the terrible ideas of MW2 where you had direction jets. That was always fun.
Well directional jets would be nice on the more mobile units. In Senjo no Kizuna you have two pedals for your jets; forward and upward thrusters. Allowing you to dash forward a bit. On the heavier mechs I'd say they'd be more of an air break than jump jets, slowing a fall at best. More than that and you're likely generating too much heat.
You could probably get ones for the sides too, but that'd be over complicating it. I'd remove them for something more useful and use rotating the body to change the direction of the forward ones. I don't expect the mechs to be flying around everywhere so being able to strafe in the air may not be all that useful.
On lighter mechs back in the day it was broken. It became more Armored Core and significantly less Mechwarrior. It did allow for some really fine maneuverability, but when abused the results were both frustrating and hilarious.
I believe in the later games they took them out, and made them straight 'jump' jets, rather than 'dodge-everything' jets.
I remember in my old Clan back in the day we used to joust with Fireflies... strip them of armor, try and max out their speed, and dead-sprint at each other.
In the tabletop version, I designed a 100 ton mech with JJs... thing was a long range beast nicknamed the Gorgon.... Twin LRM 20s, Gauss, Srm 4pack on the back. Racked up 5 DFA kills.
Automatically Appended Next Post: In the tabletop version, I designed a 100 ton mech with JJs... thing was a long range beast nicknamed the Gorgon.... Twin LRM 20s, Gauss, Srm 4pack on the back. Racked up 5 DFA kills.
Chemical Cutthroat wrote:I remember in my old Clan back in the day we used to joust with Fireflies... strip them of armor, try and max out their speed, and dead-sprint at each other.
That almost never ended well.
Sounds like something I might try. Though I'd keep a light weapon on it.
Hopefully looking something like this.
If all else fails I guess there's still urban, hopefully it'll be able to roll or something.
Yep! That's the one. It's basically a walking artillery platform, and it has a cool look to it. I like the Macross version better personally, but that's because I think the arms look better.
If I'm going big angry mech I think a Kodiak would be more entertaining, there's a big mech with JJ's that I can get behind.
If melee is ever added, that could be interesting.
Yeah, it'd be nice if you could load up the armor on said arm and then have a command that holds it up across your vitals as you march forward.
But the idea of an Atlas punching something, clawing someone with a Kodiak, or crushing something with a Hatchetman is just too cool. I think the Draconis Combine had a mech with an s-word as a melee weapon as well. How efficient that is I have no idea, but I'm sure it looks cool.
Personally I just want the arm to be more than just sitting there and needing you to rotate to actually make use of it. People who aren't idiots would just roll their eyes and shoot out a leg instead.
Have the right physics for melee in it and people could play football with an urban after ripping off its limbs.
Legs tend to be a hard shot, depending on terrain and whatnot. You can also pack a good deal more armor on your legs than your arms... or rather, you could, in order to stop that from becoming a problem. I used to stack a bit more armor on my legs and whatever my primary weapon arm was, just to help ensure some survivability.
Oh, that Stone Rhino looks beautiful. See, that's what I want. Something big, stompy and stable, that can hit you at a couple miles with the Fist of an angry God.
This is? Google also said something about it being called Vixen at times.
Yes, that's the Incubus.
It's called Vixen by the IS forces, Incubus by the clan forces. This is a common duality.
For example, the popular Mad Cat has a far better clan name-- Timberwolf.
Then there's the Mad Dog (aka the Vulture), the Hellbringer (aka the Loki), the Gargoyle (aka the Man'o'war), and the Nova (aka the Black Hawk). The clan's answer to the Atlas is the Dire Wolf, or the Daishi, quite possibly the best all around assault weight class 'mech in the lore.
Yes, Mechwarrior is a completely different animal. It's like comparing Rainbow Six to Unreal Tournament.
Or... not... bad example.
Mechwarrior is typically a brutal slugfest when you're talking the heavier mechs. It comes down to aim, patience, and keeping your cool under fire. You can't freak out, and you need to plant every shot you make. It's pretty intense, even without all the bouncing around of Armored Core.
Typically, you'd try and ambush someone at range, or slug it out in a more tactically interesting area than standing in a river and lasering each other to death.
Yes, someone staying in a river or other predictable area is going to be an easy kill despite the heat benefit ti'd give. you only want to spend as much time in water as is necessary to cool off, then get out before you're bombarded by LRMs or painted for artillery.
Oh, I've played mechwarrior. I'm a huge mech fan in general.
AC just happens to be my favourite. (mostly because I've played all 14 of them).
Mechwarrior, in my experience. Is mostly about getting the drop on people, and not giving them the chance to ever recover from it. At least, for the heavies anyway.
In Armored Core it's far easier to disengage and take a different approach. And since theres no sectional damage, only a total AP you don't lose effectiveness over time except for running out of ammo.
In the end it's the speed and the way the game feels that makes me prefer AC though.
And (IMO), AC has far more depth in the customization aspects.
Lights are often depicted as too slow tbh. Light 'mechs need to be much more mobile and faster than heavies and especially assaults, but many games fail to do this.
Nope, AC 4 and FA already had online mp co-op and pvp.
AC 5 is gonna have 5vs5 +2 operators team play, with full team setups, global map with territories to grab and then customize with turrets. 10 player Battle royale and 4 player co-op missions.
My problem with AC's multiplayer is that I'm leagues behind good players. I can get through the main game alright, but the moment I play someone else, I'm dead before I know what happens.
Soladrin wrote:It's different, not better mate. They are worlds apart in terms of gameplay.
Also, PVP has been in since the first game... even the first AC game on the PS1 had split screen. XD
Oh I know, I loved going Reverse Joint Gun-Arm in AC2, and have fond memories of the game (Loved those games where everyone ran out of ammo and we just kind of had to stop mid fight ).
I remember playing AC back in the day when it was rare to find JJ on a Core. Used to bug my buddy when I'd always take Tank tread 'legs' which had 'em built in, and snipe, grenade and missile him from on top of buildings.
Hey, at least MW isn't as slow as Chromehounds (though I almost wish it were. 100 ton bipeds are not supposed to move very quickly, you know?)
It seems that as the mecha speed up, reflexes and rapid tactical thinking is what's most required- the slower you get, the more important it is you have larger, tighter Strategy and teamwork. In a game like AC, I can't imagine anyone sacrificing themselves to bait an ambush or trap when, at most, it'll get you a couple good hits before the enemy jets out of there, while that'd be a perfectly good strategy in MW or CH.
Anvildude wrote:I remember playing AC back in the day when it was rare to find JJ on a Core. Used to bug my buddy when I'd always take Tank tread 'legs' which had 'em built in, and snipe, grenade and missile him from on top of buildings.
Hey, at least MW isn't as slow as Chromehounds (though I almost wish it were. 100 ton bipeds are not supposed to move very quickly, you know?)
It seems that as the mecha speed up, reflexes and rapid tactical thinking is what's most required- the slower you get, the more important it is you have larger, tighter Strategy and teamwork. In a game like AC, I can't imagine anyone sacrificing themselves to bait an ambush or trap when, at most, it'll get you a couple good hits before the enemy jets out of there, while that'd be a perfectly good strategy in MW or CH.
Well, AC has some notoriously high powered weaponry that kinda offset that. For instance physical blades (one of the hardest weapons to actually hit with) can pretty much 1 hit KO anything that isn't a heavy. So it's actually a very viable tactic.
The biggest improvement in 5 however, is the team system. It's pretty much a clan system, teams can have 20 members, team level up from every mission a member does, be it single or multiplayer. High team levels give part unlocks for the team shop. The team itself also takes a percentage of your income to fill it's bank, which can be used to build turrets on your territories. Territories is where it's all at in AC V. You can run intrusion missions when the enemy team isn't online, and just chip away at a territories durability, once it hits zero, you can grab it. This also awards conquest points. Conquest points are used PvP matches to put wagers down. Whoever wins a conquest match immediately claims that territory and gains all the wagered points. The more territories you have, the more points you need to wager.
They also added trading parts with players. Now at first, this seems silly, cause everyone can get all parts anyway. But, they added a new tuning function. When you acquire a weapon, you can choose a tuning focus (range, fire rate, power etc.). Whenever you take that weapon into a match/mission it will get upgrades on the thing you selected (and downgrades on other stats) randomly. Thus, you add an element of leveling things and getting like 10x parts of the same one just to get that one with the perfect stats. These then form the basis of an online economy.
This game should be interesting. Mechwarrior was such a fun game. I used to play that all the time on the original Xbox Live Service. It was really the only game to play on Xbox Live before Counter Strike came out and Halo 2 came out later in the original Xbox life-cycle.
But this should be interesting. I hope they put some MMO type leveling for your mechs in online play. That would be pretty cool.
I hope by leveling it was more to do with the pilot if anything and by that having it as small perks as what classes or parts you have access to; keeping the design of the mech and the skill of the player as the most important part.
Even more amazing, the Awesome is one of the finest mechs in its class, and stands way above anything in its weight class. The 3025 stock model can stomp on just about anything up to the clan invasion, with proper support.
So we have 8 now, Jenner, Commando, Hunchback, Centurion, Dragon, Catapult, Awesome and Atlas. Looks like a nice mix of general purpose mechs. I wonder when we'll start seeing the oddballs, like the snipers (Panther, Vindicator), missile boats(Trebuchet, Dervish), and jumpers (Spider, Assassin).
Hmm, I'm tempted to get one and hopefully make it look as douchey as possible. Name aside the look of it throws it into the maybe pile for me if it is a medium and not a heavy.
To pass the time until the release, perhaps we could wishlist what mechs we want to see in the game?
I personally would love to see the Starslayer in the game, if it was in the game, it would be my mech of choice, as I love its comination of firepower, manouverability and protection.
Light:
Firestarter (...who doesn't like fire?)
Hammer (long range support)
Raptor (first IS omni)
Raven (just plain awesome)
Wolfhound (always liked it)
Medium:
Stormcrow/Ryoken (one of the best all around 'mechs IMO)
Wraith (speed, and some surprising hitting power)
Griffin (always held a spot in my heart)
Heavy:
Black Knight (love it)
Grand Dragon
Warhammer
Marauder
Summoner/Thor
Rifleman
Assault:
Banshee
Battlemaster
Pillager
Devastator
Really it'd probably be easier to list the 'Mechs that I don't want to appear in game. Really a short list: theTimber Wolf / Mad Cat. That is only because the moment it's available, that is the ONLY thing you'll see.
Mostly because light autocannons are really damn weak. It might work against a team of light 'mechs, but any assault 'mechs will just wreck a rifleman spam team.
Melissia wrote:Mostly because light autocannons are really damn weak. It might work against a team of light 'mechs, but any assault 'mechs will just wreck a rifleman spam team.
If only that were the case with 40K's Rifleman spam...
Well, it might depend on what we're packing. We can take a mixture of lasers, Autocannons, PPCs, hell if we're lucky we may be able to finangle a missile launcher or two onto our mechs.
infinite_array wrote:Well, it might depend on what we're packing. We can take a mixture of lasers, Autocannons, PPCs, hell if we're lucky we may be able to finangle a missile launcher or two onto our mechs.
I can't remember if the Rifleman chassis has enough space to support a gauss rifle, if so, we should take 1 per lance to act as a sniper, imo anyway.
infinite_array wrote:Well, it might depend on what we're packing. We can take a mixture of lasers, Autocannons, PPCs, hell if we're lucky we may be able to finangle a missile launcher or two onto our mechs.
I can't remember if the Rifleman chassis has enough space to support a gauss rifle, if so, we should take 1 per lance to act as a sniper, imo anyway.
The Warhammer would fill that role better, it is 10 tons heavier. Both, however, suffer from cardboard armor syndrome, they carry less armor than similar weight mechs. It's a trade off for heavier weaponry. A speedy mech with average weapons can take either one down with a back shot or two.
Ledabot wrote:You could take an awesome in every lance to act as a sniper. Would that work?
Dibs on this roll. Though I'll probably switch out the arm PPC for an autocannon.
helgrenze wrote:
Krellnus wrote:
infinite_array wrote:Well, it might depend on what we're packing. We can take a mixture of lasers, Autocannons, PPCs, hell if we're lucky we may be able to finangle a missile launcher or two onto our mechs.
I can't remember if the Rifleman chassis has enough space to support a gauss rifle, if so, we should take 1 per lance to act as a sniper, imo anyway.
The Warhammer would fill that role better, it is 10 tons heavier. Both, however, suffer from cardboard armor syndrome, they carry less armor than similar weight mechs. It's a trade off for heavier weaponry. A speedy mech with average weapons can take either one down with a back shot or two.
Very true. But if there's a point in the match where our Warhammer or Rifleman is on the front line, then there's a pretty good chance something's gone wrong.
I suppose the Warhammer could defend itself a little better, since it's larger (assumed) assortment of weaponry.
infinite_array wrote:Well, it might depend on what we're packing. We can take a mixture of lasers, Autocannons, PPCs, hell if we're lucky we may be able to finangle a missile launcher or two onto our mechs.
I can't remember if the Rifleman chassis has enough space to support a gauss rifle, if so, we should take 1 per lance to act as a sniper, imo anyway.
The Warhammer would fill that role better, it is 10 tons heavier. Both, however, suffer from cardboard armor syndrome, they carry less armor than similar weight mechs. It's a trade off for heavier weaponry. A speedy mech with average weapons can take either one down with a back shot or two.
Very true. But if there's a point in the match where our Warhammer or Rifleman is on the front line, then there's a pretty good chance something's gone wrong.
I suppose the Warhammer could defend itself a little better, since it's larger (assumed) assortment of weaponry.
I always thought the Warhammer was designed to be on the front line, knocking the teeth out of anything in its line of sight?
Krellnus wrote: I always thought the Warhammer was designed to be on the front line, knocking the teeth out of anything in its line of sight?
Oddly enough, no. It's more of a mobile weapons platform - quick for a heavy class mech, bristling with firepower, but as was said before, it has cardboard armor. It's sort of a 'glass cannon'.
Melissia wrote:I recommend having a hunchback as the brawler to defend the riflemen, actually.
I dunno, hunchbacks aren't really manoverable, do you think they will be able to react fast enough against multiple enemies, I mean I guess anything fast enough to close in will be dropped by the AC-20 if it gets caught, but I haven't played a mechwarrior game in ages, so what would I know?
infinite_aray wrote:Oddly enough, no. It's more of a mobile weapons platform - quick for a heavy class mech, bristling with firepower, but as was said before, it has cardboard armor. It's sort of a 'glass cannon'.
Huh, ok fair enough, guess you learn something new everyday.
J-mechs have the same armor issues as the Rifleman and Warhammer, but are better on heat and sustaining fire. Very good at playing sniper and can fire all weapons without heat problems
I guess it's because they're in that odd zone between Mediums/Lights and Assaults - you go one way, you get more speed and less firepower, and the other way has less speed and more firepower.
I really don't want to see this argument start. I subscribed to this thread to see a discussion, not a flamewar. I'm just trying to think of an assult class that has above average speed. The Mk ll has good agility for its tonnage. Thoughts
Everything has a weakness, or at least an area where it doesn't excel. The Atlas has limited long-range firepower, for example, having only their LRM-20s, and they also have no jump jets (at least, most atlas variants don't, and theo nes that do sacrifice armor or firepower to get it, or both) and are fairly slow making it hard for them to take multiple objectives. Similarly, most variants don't have ECM and other support tools, and the ones that do sacrifice either armor or firepower to get it, or both.
Generally speaking, a group of different mechs working together to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses are gonna be better than four of the same mech.
For one, each of the mechs has a distinct role, and a distinct weakness, and because of this there is less temptation to lone wolf. Teaming up on enemies brings them down faster.
Not saying spamming one kind of 'mech cannot work... just that I think they're going for a teamwork based game..
Sometimes they trade both armor AND speed for firepower, or trade armor for firepower and speed.
And even that often varies between variants-- one variant of a heavy mech might give up armor for jump jets and a bigger engine, for example, while anotehr one might give up its jump jets for more weaponry or heat sinks.
n0t_u wrote:Comes down to pilot preference I suppose. Stuff like if you want to be able to take more hits, or dish out more so you take less.
Aye.
Personally, I learned long ago that no matter what, your taking hits over any decent lasting encounter and it's far better to be able to take a hit; that's why I refuse to touch Lights.
n0t_u wrote:Comes down to pilot preference I suppose. Stuff like if you want to be able to take more hits, or dish out more so you take less.
Aye.
Personally, I learned long ago that no matter what, your taking hits over any decent lasting encounter and it's far better to be able to take a hit; that's why I refuse to touch Lights.
But that's why I love Lights and Mediums, why worry about being able to take a hit when you don't get hit at all.
I'm a missile boat guy myself, and particularly partial to the Longbow. I loved just racking the whole thing up with MRMs in MW4. My buddies and I still occasionally play over LAN lol.
Lord of battles wrote:Could anyone recommend me a good mechwarrior novel or two?
Anything by Michael A. Stackpole. Lethal heritage is probably the best place to start- it is just a fantastic novel, and introduction to Battletech's particular spirit.
Something you might be interested in looking into is the Battletech/Clancyverse Round Robin on Spacebattles.com. It's fan-made, and a crossover, but honestly it's pretty good, I think.
I can understand it making it easier, but the locked to only weapons of a certain type at a certain point is annoying. If it were to have hard points I'd just rather it be like the Chromehounds one.
As much as I would love the full customization of the board game or games pre MW4/MC2, the hardpoint system makes sense.
Look at a Catapult. Without the hardpoint system, your giant missile boxes could have PPC's in them, doesn't really make sense. Furthermore, it allows you to see the type of 'Mech and have a general idea of what it's carrying, if not the specific loadout. That's something that's necessary in games. We all play 40K here, just think if you're going up against a tac squad, now you know that there's 1 special weapon and 1 heavy weapon in there, you might not know exactly what it is, but you know it's there. Same thing applies. Just as you wouldn't want to run into a tac squad that has 40 plasma guns, you wouldn't want to run into a Flashman that's actually a missile boat.
Shrike325 wrote:Look at a Catapult. Without the hardpoint system, your giant missile boxes could have PPC's in them
The way they have it set up, the CPLT-C4 variant would be illegal.because you cannot switch your two medium lasers for a small laser so you can have space to upgrade your LRMs to LRM-20s.
This would actually make the catapult lay towards its roll even more.. And you say preventing this is a good thing? Frankly it's stupid.
Also? The CPLT-K does exactly what you described. It's a canon variant, switches out the LRMs for PPCs, adds heat sinks, and drops the lasers for machineguns for anti-infantry duty when it isn't giving direct fire support with its PPCs. The CPLT-H2 has a ppc in one shoulder and a rocket launcher 20 in the other, and the CPLT-K2K upgrades the vehicle with clan technology, along the same line as the CPLT-K.
Melissia wrote:The way they have it set up, the CPLT-C4 variant would be illegal.because you cannot switch your two medium lasers for a small laser so you can have space to upgrade your LRMs to LRM-20s.
Maybe I'm confused by your meaning, but I'm pretty sure I could do that in MW4's system. Is Online's different?
Shrike325 wrote:Look at a Catapult. Without the hardpoint system, your giant missile boxes could have PPC's in them
The way they have it set up, the CPLT-C4 variant would be illegal.because you cannot switch your two medium lasers for a small laser so you can have space to upgrade your LRMs to LRM-20s.
This would actually make the catapult lay towards its roll even more.. And you say preventing this is a good thing? Frankly it's stupid.
Also? The CPLT-K does exactly what you described. It's a canon variant, switches out the LRMs for PPCs, adds heat sinks, and drops the lasers for machineguns for anti-infantry duty when it isn't giving direct fire support with its PPCs. The CPLT-H2 has a ppc in one shoulder and a rocket launcher 20 in the other, and the CPLT-K2K upgrades the vehicle with clan technology, along the same line as the CPLT-K.
They did have the CPLT-K in mechwarrior 4 but they treated it as a diffrent mech because of the hard point system. I don't know what your complaining about since it is there.
Melissia wrote:The way they have it set up, the CPLT-C4 variant would be illegal.because you cannot switch your two medium lasers for a small laser so you can have space to upgrade your LRMs to LRM-20s.
Really?
By my reading that's fine, as the slots are divided according to energy weapons and ballistic weapons, and don't all have to be full. You would just drop the medium lasers, add the small laser, and leave a slot empty.
I think they should have limited it by weight, in terms of what each mount could support, but this system doesn't seem terrible.
Well on the MW:O forums, they are apparently discussing whether a coolant flush system should be implemented, ignoring the fact that it is a bit later than 3049 IIRC.
Thoughts?
I'm liking the re-imaging of the Mechs personally. The Raven actually looks like something you'd see on the battlefield rather than the RoboTech derivative that it looked like before....
