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Actually, a fun thing is that the reason the Inner Sphere called it the Mad Cat was because, as the first Clan mech their computers ever saw, they couldn't grok what it was and tried matching it to the known Mechs in the database- And the body/legs and arms were clearly the Marauders (MAD), yet the shoulder mounted missile boxes were clearly the Catapults (CAT)- and so the targeting system kept flashing back and forth between MAD and CAT.

And I, too, continue to be disappointed by the graphics. I got a 3d capable computer setup, and there's an option for 3d right there in the menues, but it's not enabled yet! Come On!

I don't think the graphics are that bad. It enables people with lower end computers to play thus widening the player base. The only thing I wished as far as appearance goes was that camo actually worked instead of only really being noticeable when you get close.

Firestarters ho! It is great to know we'll get a scrappy light.

Blargh. I want the Flea. Or an Urbanmech.

So, how does everyone like the new cockpit glass so far?

Another Big Patch tomorrow:

UI 2.0 Release is finally upon us. I still don't like the colours and still think the loadout and camo spec screens are a mess, but at least the new frontend is supposed to remove a lot of design limitations, plus they promised they'll keep working on it to make it better in the future. We shall see. On the upside, the 'Mechs do look way better in the new Mechbay, judging from the previews.

Weapon Modules for Range Adjustment Tiers 1 and 2 out of a projected 5 tiers total. These are "sidegrades" that will come with some sort of drawback (likely increased heat or cooldowns).

Perimeter Defense Turrets added to River City and Crimson Strait Assault. This first turret release includes a dual MedLas emplacement and an automated LRM10 launcher.

Full details here.

Also, welcome to the savage wars of the Inner Sphere, Daston.
Don't tell me you've joined Davion, too!

Heh, didn't even know this thread was here.

Extremely pricey mechs aside (and only putting money into Mech Bays and some half-price paint unlocks), I've been having great fun with the game.

With UI2.0, does this mean mechs can break 150mph now?!

Having just downloaded and installed the UI2.0 update, I notice several things...

First, a lot of 'oh, this doesn't work' style stuff, (on something they've been working on for a LONG time).

Second - You can no longer see the loudout, equipment or stats of mechs in the store...

Was considering getting the half price X-5, but being I can't look at it, no chance.

Edit - you can view the stats of mechs in the store, by going to your mechlab, switching the organisation to 'Purchasable', and select them through that...

There is no way to see how many points of armour you have left, and the interface is FAR less intuitive than it was before.

Pretty though.

Edit 2 - Sure would be nice if you could see any weapon stats.

Edit 3 - WHY ARE MY LRM20's WITH ARTEMIS IV NOW JUST LRM 20's!?!?!?!? It's 1.2million to buy 2 launchers I'd already bought! O_o

 Ovion wrote:
Oh dear

At least they are getting the smurfy mechlab feature to us in march.... Losing artimis sucks though.

Ledabot wrote:At least they are getting the smurfy mechlab feature to us in march....

Or rather, something that looks somewhat inspired by smurfy's, but is still a whole lot more cluttered.

I'm still not sure how to change a mechs loadout now. I cant seem to find the accept button...

You have to use the Checkout button.

Incredibly counter-intuitive I know, but it fits with the rest of it -_-;

Honestly, the only things I like about UI2.0 are the shiny full mech model, and the Inventory window, because I like seeing lists of everything I own to help me decide what to buy next. (Though not listing how many points of armour you have irritates me.)

Otherwise, it seems to be an unmitigated failiure.

I was going to get the X-5 after I finally figured out how to look at it.
1500MC for a hero isn't that bad (about £4.50), and I could live with that.
But being it lost my Artemis IV, everything is gltichy, and there's tons of complaints about things not working, I daren't do anything at the moment for fear of losing it... and now the half price X-5 offer is over.

Ah well, that's £4.50 saved.

I mean, for a 'released' game (it not in beta now folks!), it's so unpolished.
And of course the amount they charge for things!

The Clan Pack is US$240 / GB£150!
Of the last £150 I've spent on video games, I've got around 25-30 full titles, and an entire wireless Rock Band kit for Xbox360...

/Rant
Just mildly irritated I've had no reply about my Artemis launchers.

It's a shame, because I love Mechwarrior / Battletech.
Even got a second Joystick for playing MWO with, and taking the keyboard entirely out of the equation is great fun.

And that's why I'm putting my money towards [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1509489292/mav-modular-assault-vehicle]M.A.V.

Seriously. Check it out.

Ovion wrote:I mean, for a 'released' game (it not in beta now folks!), it's so unpolished.

UI 1.5 was polished.

Ovion wrote:Just mildly irritated I've had no reply about my Artemis launchers.

Be sure to check all your owned items in the Mechlab. Missile launchers are now split between the normal and the Artemis version rather than adapting automatically to an upgrade applied to the 'Mech.
I've read on the forums that this confused a lot of people.

On the plus side, I suppose this means you can now mix your launchers and thus save crit space if you just want to have, say, Artemis LRMs but normal SRM?

Ovion wrote:Even got a second Joystick for playing MWO with, and taking the keyboard entirely out of the equation is great fun.

Hmmh. I'm considering getting a HOTAS setup both for MWO and Elite Dangerous. For MWO, I would also have to get pedals for the full Battletech experience (and because steering the 'Mech left/right with either the throttle controller or the torso-linked joystick sounds like a hassle).
How accurate are your shots with a joystick in MWO, actually?

Anvildude wrote:And that's why I'm putting my money towards M.A.V.
Seriously. Check it out.

Hmmh... I doubt the battles would be as smooth and fancy as the ones in MWO and I've become enamoured with the setting, but the extreme level of Lego-like customisation in that game looks fun.
May have to keep an eye on it.

 Lynata wrote:

Ovion wrote:I mean, for a 'released' game (it not in beta now folks!), it's so unpolished.

UI 1.5 was polished.

Ovion wrote:Just mildly irritated I've had no reply about my Artemis launchers.

Be sure to check all your owned items in the Mechlab. Missile launchers are now split between the normal and the Artemis version rather than adapting automatically to an upgrade applied to the 'Mech.
I've read on the forums that this confused a lot of people.

On the plus side, I suppose this means you can now mix your launchers and thus save crit space if you just want to have, say, Artemis LRMs but normal SRM?

Ovion wrote:Even got a second Joystick for playing MWO with, and taking the keyboard entirely out of the equation is great fun.

Hmmh. I'm considering getting a HOTAS setup both for MWO and Elite Dangerous. For MWO, I would also have to get pedals for the full Battletech experience (and because steering the 'Mech left/right with either the throttle controller or the torso-linked joystick sounds like a hassle).
How accurate are your shots with a joystick in MWO, actually?

Anvildude wrote:And that's why I'm putting my money towards M.A.V.
Seriously. Check it out.

Hmmh... I doubt the battles would be as smooth and fancy as the ones in MWO and I've become enamoured with the setting, but the extreme level of Lego-like customisation in that game looks fun.
May have to keep an eye on it.

If you have an Artemis IV mech, you cannot mount non-Artemis IV Launchers to it. (Apart from Streaks, which are incompatible).
I have checked all of them. I was messing with my C4 when the update hit, so they weren't sat on the mech when the update hit. :(

I suppose I could mount my 2 Streak SRM2s to it.... but... just no. :(

I'm honestly not fussed about about foot pedals.

I already had a Saitek Cyborg Evo, which is a fine stick, and has XYZ axis, and I was going to get a Throttle.
Throttles are expensive. A second Ambidextrous/Left Handed Joystick was £5 including postage. (Vs £30-50 cheapest for a throttle)
I mean, my second stick isn't anything special it's some unknown brand 'PC Line Tournament Pro Stick', but it moves smoothly and the all of 2 buttons are sound.

I have my Throttle (forward/back), Jump Jets (Button2) and Weapons Group 2 (Trigger) keyed in to the Pro Stick.
Then Torso Pitch (for/back), Leg Turn (left/right), Torso Twist (stick twist), plus all the various other gubbins (trigger, 5 thumb buttons, POV Switch, 6 base buttons) keyed in to the Cyborg.

It works pretty well, though accuracy does suffer a little, I'm getting better the more practice I have with the twin sticks.
It's also perfectly fine with a Missile boat, being that doesn't require any pinpoint accuracy.



MAV looks like Chromehounds.
Chromehounds was bad.

 Lynata wrote:

Anvildude wrote:And that's why I'm putting my money towards M.A.V.
Seriously. Check it out.

Hmmh... I doubt the battles would be as smooth and fancy as the ones in MWO and I've become enamoured with the setting, but the extreme level of Lego-like customisation in that game looks fun.
May have to keep an eye on it.

MAV looks like Chromehounds.
Chromehounds was bad.

Chrome hounds was amazing, I'm far from a MW fanboy, I'm an Armored Core fanboy.

That said, M.A.V. Looks like ass.

It's not that I'm A Mechwarrior fanboy, I like lots of mech based game series (Front Mission, Armoured Core, etc - I know there's more just I can't think of them right now!), as well as tabletop stuff (where Scout mechs had a use!).

Just when I played Chromehounds, the gameplay was not very good in singleplayer, and being in an area with poor internet at the time, I couldn't try out online much (and what I did was subpar).

But at the end of the day, it didn't stand on its own merits as a single player game.

And to expand on my previous post, when I'm saying "smooth" and "fancy" I'm referring solely to the visual experience.

MAV looks like it has some very cool ideas, many of whom I'd like to see in MWO some day, but it also is a "garage-born" indie game that (judging from the video) unsurprisingly just doesn't have the budget for AAA-title looks. Don't get me wrong; I like indie games, I'm playing Starbound and GhostControl, Mount & Blade and Shadowrun Returns, and have backed half a dozen more projects on kickstarter ... but as far as 'Mech combat is concerned, I just can't deny that (aside from the established setting, which I've quickly grown to love over the past 3 years) MWO's looks do a lot for atmosphere and immersion, which directly affects my enjoyment of the game.

tl;dr: I think I'd play MAV less for the Mech feeling, and more because of the crazy customization, as this is where this game will seem to truly stand out. At the same time, I don't think this is enough to pull me away from MWO.
Once the game is actually playable I'd happily check out a couple Let's Plays on YouTube and then see if I can scrounge up 20-30 bux to join the fun for in-between my MWO battles, though.

PS: Had an awesome match with my Jenner-K last night. Over 900 damage and 5 kills, even though I had swapped my SRM pack for Narc.
Throwing out the Capture Accelerator in favour of Seismic Sensor really paid off for the last two enemies - a Cicada and a Dragon, both already heavily damaged (though I had lost all armour on my left torso at that point too). The Cicada made the mistake of advancing on our base alone, as I was hiding behind a hill, using Seismic to decide when to strike and thus being able to flank him as he passed me. Legging him (he had zero armour left on both legs), I withdrew behind the same hill as before and waited for the Dragon whose CT was already orange. Rinse, repeat. I had been the last one alive and the chat basically exploded in expressions of disbelief and cheers. These are the kind of moments I'm playing that game for. So rare and hard to achieve, but all the more gratifying when it happens.

Oh, yeah. Everyone (including the people who loved Chromehounds) knew that the singleplayer was terrible. It was a glorified tutorial, and precursor to the actual game, which was the online multiplayer. That's one of the things MAV's gonna try to fix, actually.

And for those who (rightfully so, granted) think it doesn't look polished enough- that's exactly what the Kickstarter is for. Chad Maudlin knows he's not the best artist, so he's raising the money primarily to pay for actual artists to do the assets properly, and so he can focus on getting the coding up to snuff- Unity currently doesn't like a lot of what's happening (We managed to create/find a bug within the Unity coding that the Unity guys never knew about!) and so a lot can still be improved. The game is in a semi-playable state, though. Honestly, it's as playable as Mechwarrior Online, if not as pretty, and without a sizeable enough community for constant matches. But if you know someone's gonna be hosting a server, you and a bunch of buddies can get on and have a deathmatch or a base rush game- which is all that MWO is right now, isn't it?


Is UI 2.0 really as terrible as people say? I haven't played in a while (doing Loadout and MAV and Minecraft instead).

Lets just say somehow I'm not shocked UI 2.0 isn't all it was promised XD

I gave PGI a lot of benefit, but at this point, I think they just don't care anymore. At least when STO prioritizes money over playability (to the point playability starts to really suffer), they're upfront with me about it.

Anvildude wrote:
Is UI 2.0 really as terrible as people say? I haven't played in a while (doing Loadout and MAV and Minecraft instead).

It has doubled, to tripled the number of clicks to do anything.
You have to click 4 times, and move the mouse at least halfway across the screen between each click.
Furthermore, it's so bad that engines are hard to find, and modules are damn near unusable.

Yes, it's all very pretty but it's basically the worst layout for a mechlab I've ever seen.

UI1.5 was at least functional. (I actually had no problem with it overall).

Actually. for giggles, I will screenshot between every page, from logging in, to taking the SRM2's off of my C4 (it did better than I thought it would actually, but still really, really badly), to logging out, to back to desktop.
BRB!

I haven't seen UI 2.0 yet, but I really didn't see what the problem with UI 1.5 was.

For some reason.
The screen shots of UI2.0 keep crashing Drawplus....
After 2 attempts I give up.

It was however, 36 clicks with the mouse, with at least half of those requiring you to travel at least half way across the screen, and 14 different pages, to:
Log in
select mech
remove 2 Streak SRM2s, 1 Ton of Ammo, 1 NARC, 1 Ton of Ammo, 6 Heat Sinks, a Flamer and a TAG laser
save
log out

It'd be +16-18 clicks (again, with quite a bit of travel) to mount 2 LRM20’s, 7 Tons of ammo

A couple of choice screen shots that survived:

 Hordini wrote:
I haven't seen UI 2.0 yet, but I really didn't see what the problem with UI 1.5 was.

1.5 was functional, but there were a lot of convenience and functionality abilities that could have been implemented. UI 2.0 was supposed to achieve that but while it looks pretty, it's also not very functional.

I even disagree on it being "pretty", unless you mean that it now has more colours and shiny glow effects. UI 1.5 looked spartan, military, which fits the setting a whole lot better than htis new Vegas look. Which happens to be something I already disliked on MechWarrior Tactics.

Ovion: Wow, somehow that Catapult really fits your avatar.

I like glowy and blue.

But I liked the UI1.5 too tbh. (Would have been nicer in blue instead of orange, but that's just me )

And ha, sorta does doesn't it.

Entirely unintentional, but nice.

I keep meaning to play around with the colours more (I'm only using 2 of the 4 I bought atm), but I like this scheme quite a bit.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I bit the bullet and bought new launchers, so I can have my LRM Boat back.And there are my pretty, if likely awful mechs! : D

Yeah, I've been pretty much done with this game since the whole clan thing happened. UI 2.0 shows me I was right to leave.

 Soladrin wrote:
Yeah, I've been pretty much done with this game since the whole clan thing happened. UI 2.0 shows me I was right to leave.

Quoted for truth, my man (although I bailed earlier).

I have monitored this thread because I really liked this game at one point and hoped to read ITT they've turned it around. Sorry (but vaguely unsurprised) to read what you guys have posted about UI 2.0.

Well, it's just the frontend - it is a nuisance, especially if you want to customise a 'mech or even just change your modules ... but the battles themselves are still fun.

In fact, the addition of automated defense turrets to Crimson Strait and River City turned out to be a rather awesome feature. Depending on how the players on both teams deal with this addition, they can be a real gamechanger.

[edit] Also, what's wrong with "the clan thing"?

I'm assuming it's the whole US$240 / GB£150 Clan Pack, with the US$500 / GB£310 for 1 Gold painted Mech (and while that's now been changed to include the Masaraki pack, it didn't initially).
That was released directly after the Phoenix Pack, when they were meant to be releasing something else.

What were they meant to release, exactly? I don't think they made any announcements or promises.
The Clan packages were opened for pre-order at December, and the Phoenix Pack was released to any who had preordered that in October.

And, I'm sorry, but I just cannot grasp what's so horrible about people paying for what is essentially early access and vanity items. All the Clan 'Mechs will be available for c-bills just like all the IS 'Mechs have been so far.
I mean, isn't this just like the higher tiers of some kickstarter campaign? Someone explain why this is bad please!