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KickStarter BATTLETECH - turn-based mech combat from Harebrained Schemes

Saduj

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Aug 26, 2012
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Hmm, that was before this thread got shitted up with too much GD nonsense so I only have myself to blame for missing your post. Deleted more saves and noticed improvement in load times too. Will try the inventory thing next.

The game creates tons of saves whether you manually save or not. And it incents you to hang on to inventory until you get to a friendly system to sell off your junk for a better price. So of course save games and inventory items should bog down the game. :argh:
 

ArchAngel

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OK, I did that mission that rewards you the Highlander at the end, now the tactical missions are back to being "fair". Also it was fun the last part of that mission where you get a bunch of assaults and need to fight through lots of enemy units. That Atlas is pretty OP unit :D

And now Highlander is my most armored unit but I use him as a long range dps mech, I just could not resist using all that tonnage to put lots of weapons on him :D
 

almondblight

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They're supposed to still be working on improving things like this, but there are plenty of discussions out there about how poorly the game is coded.

Not really surprising, considering their coders couldn't figure out how to implement a save system for SRR.
 

Ruchy

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I think the game is good but not great.... with my gripes largely being the same as everyone else's, no reason to not bring 4 atlases when what I would like is two lances of mediums or three of lights.
Hopefully HBS do the same as they did with the shadowrun franchise and use this first game as a proof of concept that people want this stuff and continue to refine it into a great experience.

Queue fabulously optimistic tag.
 

ArchAngel

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I think the game is good but not great.... with my gripes largely being the same as everyone else's, no reason to not bring 4 atlases when what I would like is two lances of mediums or three of lights.
Hopefully HBS do the same as they did with the shadowrun franchise and use this first game as a proof of concept that people want this stuff and continue to refine it into a great experience.

Queue fabulously optimistic tag.
As I play more and try to finish the story my score for the game keeps dropping and dropping. When I first started it was about 8.5/10 and now it is 7/10 and I expect by the time I finish it will be 6 or under.

The main reason is gameplay. Unlike Xcom games there is nothing new happening as the game progresses. All you do is play same mechs vs same mechs but now all their numbers have increased (armor and weapons). There is no new tactics to use, no new mechanics to consider and map objectives all feel and play the same.
Outside of combat there is zero meaningful decisions to make and story itself is a bore. Compared to this, even unmodded Firaxis Xcom remakes are 10/10 games.
 
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Vaarna_Aarne

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Well there were a few extra tactics you used to be able to use as 'mechs got bigger, since then you could go for pilot kill via knockdowns instead of slowly wearing down the armor.

But then they gave Heavy and Assault 'mechs higher stability since there obviously weren't enough reasons to only use Assaults.
 

Cael

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Well there were a few extra tactics you used to be able to use as 'mechs got bigger, since then you could go for pilot kill via knockdowns instead of slowly wearing down the armor.

But then they gave Heavy and Assault 'mechs higher stability since there obviously weren't enough reasons to only use Assaults.
In the TT game, it is lights and mediums that tend to get more types of tactics available, generally because of their movement factor. It is kinda hard to do a hit and fade when you can only move at the speed of slug. For heavies and assaults, the tactics is generally on the company level, where placement of 'mechs and use of terrain become far more important. When you are going lance vs lance, assaults tend to end up in the "stand and deliver" mode of "tactics".
 

ArchAngel

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Yes, that is all you do in this game. You manage line of sight so you can shoot at enemies while some of theirs cannot shoot at you. If you are in area where that is not possible then you manage cover positions with some evasion.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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It depends really, you either use Bulwark or you use jump jets to move from cover to cover. Key goal isn't so much to making sure the enemy cannot shoot at you (since more often than not they can shoot at you but you can't shoot at them), but making sure you whenever possible kill enemies before they can take their turn. Because you are always outnumbered, this means your options to go for the rear are limited since if you are fighting a more numerous opponent this would just mean exposing your own rear for far heavier punishment (which is worse the more outnumbered you are; part of the reason you must kill as many dudes as fast as you can is that the general battle scenario has a second enemy group come at you from the side so you have to reposition and keep killing so you don't get rear flanked).

It's decent enough fun early on, but it gets pretty tedious by the time you are using Heavies and Assaults only (and even then, odds are you'll eventually reallocate to 85+ range since that little bit of extra movement range and initiative order is not enough next to just higher effective tonnage; and extra stability now too) and fight only Heavies and Assaults, and it's only more tedious after the patch when stability is no longer an "Achilles' heel" for Heavies and Assaults (quotation marks because it's not really a weakness, they just weren't more resistant to it). And it's already more tedious since the enemy will also go up in pilot skill pretty much parallel to you so you never break out of the encounter equilibrium, so you just end up having longer fights where every advantage you have acquired exists to cancel out an enemy counter-advantage. The only genuine NEW tool to your arsenal is your limited supply of Double Heat Sinks which allow you to make builds previously out of question.
 

Cael

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It depends really, you either use Bulwark or you use jump jets to move from cover to cover. Key goal isn't so much to making sure the enemy cannot shoot at you (since more often than not they can shoot at you but you can't shoot at them), but making sure you whenever possible kill enemies before they can take their turn. Because you are always outnumbered, this means your options to go for the rear are limited since if you are fighting a more numerous opponent this would just mean exposing your own rear for far heavier punishment (which is worse the more outnumbered you are; part of the reason you must kill as many dudes as fast as you can is that the general battle scenario has a second enemy group come at you from the side so you have to reposition and keep killing so you don't get rear flanked).

It's decent enough fun early on, but it gets pretty tedious by the time you are using Heavies and Assaults only (and even then, odds are you'll eventually reallocate to 85+ range since that little bit of extra movement range and initiative order is not enough next to just higher effective tonnage; and extra stability now too) and fight only Heavies and Assaults, and it's only more tedious after the patch when stability is no longer an "Achilles' heel" for Heavies and Assaults (quotation marks because it's not really a weakness, they just weren't more resistant to it). And it's already more tedious since the enemy will also go up in pilot skill pretty much parallel to you so you never break out of the encounter equilibrium, so you just end up having longer fights where every advantage you have acquired exists to cancel out an enemy counter-advantage. The only genuine NEW tool to your arsenal is your limited supply of Double Heat Sinks which allow you to make builds previously out of question.
That is a problem with every game that has enemy scaling. You basically have more of the same except longer the further you go into the game. That is a stupid encounter design and another black mark against a game that is already so black that it would be invisible in a dark room even if it smiled.

This is a result of one of the base foundations of the game: HBS wanted to make a XCom type game. The fucktard Weissman basically creamed himself over the idea early on, and we are seeing the results of his dead horse raping.

The only way a game like BTech can have infinite encounters using procedurally generated (PG) missions is if you have infinite number of 'mechs you can control. The "level limit" (i.e., 'mech tonnage) is far too restricted to have that kind of a game design otherwise. You MUST restrict what the player can get so that he doesn't end up with the inevitable 4x 100 tonners 6 missions into a 30 mission game.

Once again, I point to Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, a 1996 game. It gave a mix of PG missions and main quest missions but kept what 'mechs you can get under strict control. It is not until far into the game that you even had a change to salvage a heavy, let alone an assault. Of course, you could buy them, but you'd have to be a master at the game if you want to have the funds to buy an Atlas by the end of the 3rd campaign. Assuming that the Atlas is even available for purchase, that is. And if you want a second one to outfit your buddy? Hahaha! Good luck with that one.

There are a TON of things that M2M got right that a game 22 years later doesn't even come close to matching:
1. Limited funds meaning that if your buddy lost his 'mech, you are likely to be in strife trying to get him another.
2. Very limited salvage (in fact, this is fixed, which I don't really agree with, but it actually made the game challenging in many ways, but easier in others) means that you are not going to get a whole lance of Clan 'mechs within 2 missions after they show up.
3. A "dynamic" market system where 'mechs and equipment come on the market or disappears (i.e., bought by someone else), and PPCs can suffer a defect recall resulting in a scarcity of PPCs, etc.
4. PG missions that does NOT scale to your level. The very FIRST PG mission, before the first campaign/main quest mission even, can match your 25-ton Commando up against 6 enemy 'mechs of various sizes, all of which would be heavier.
5. Main quest missions/campaigns can and WILL disappear if you miss their starting dates, which usually means less C-Bills and salvage for you. You can play the entire game on PG missions and completely ignore the main quest campaigns except for the Luthien campaign (which is the only mandatory campaign as it is the end chapter of the game) if you want, but my bet is that you're going to be crying in the Luthein campaign if you do.
6. A focus on the established universe, not out-of-place bullshit (note to Kevin: If you like the Spanish so much, you fat dick gobbler, you could have just set the game in Neuva Castile fighting against the Umayyad Caliphate, you flaming muppet! BTech "expert", my arse!).
7. Real TT rules on 'mech building, not made up crap that is in name only.
8. Established 'mechs and variants, not super-mechs for the Mary Sue.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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The progression follows the exact MechWarrior model, you don't get access to Assaults just like that. And IIRC you can't even buy Assault salvage or full 'mech until after the last story mission, and the same principle of showing up in stores later is there with Heavies too, you're always better off upgrading chassis tonnage via salvage. The stores have certain fixed items on certain planets, but mostly it's randomized within certain limits though I'm not sure if the inventory change is based on time, travel, contracts, or all three. The random contracts will first start having a lone Heavy or two, and later on a lone Assault or two, and that's how you probably have upgraded your tonnage by the time it's all Heavies or mostly Assaults respectively.

And it's not enemy scaling per se either, the skull rating ranges aren't tied to what you have.
 
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My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit.
The progression follows the exact MechWarrior model, you don't get access to Assaults just like that. And IIRC you can't even buy Assault salvage or full 'mech until after the last story mission, and the same principle of showing up in stores later is there with Heavies too, you're always better off upgrading chassis tonnage via salvage. The stores have certain fixed items on certain planets, but mostly it's randomized within certain limits though I'm not sure if the inventory change is based on time, travel, contracts, or all three. The random contracts will first start having a lone Heavy or two, and later on a lone Assault or two, and that's how you probably have upgraded your tonnage by the time it's all Heavies or mostly Assaults respectively.

And it's not enemy scaling per se either, the skull rating ranges aren't tied to what you have.

You can get full mechs before ending the story if I remember correctly. I spent some time off in Taurian space away from the story missions for a bit and I think they had some full light mechs for sale at that point. The patch did make a progression a bit better from what I can tell. The early planets have a chance to have higher level random missions, and the late planets have a chance for lower level missions just to mix things up. Still the march to assault mechs is not much different from the MW games.
 

ArchAngel

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When I did last story mission I had one assault and 3 heavy mechs.
After that one I got another assault but it does not matter anyways.
I didn't really grind missions between story missions, only did a few more than required.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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You can get full mechs before ending the story if I remember correctly. I spent some time off in Taurian space away from the story missions for a bit and I think they had some full light mechs for sale at that point. The patch did make a progression a bit better from what I can tell. The early planets have a chance to have higher level random missions, and the late planets have a chance for lower level missions just to mix things up. Still the march to assault mechs is not much different from the MW games.
I meant buying full or salvaged Assault Mechs. I don't recall any until the last story planet, but it might just be shit like BattleMaster so it wouldn't even register.
 

Bohr

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Nov 20, 2012
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Anyone tried this mod?
https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/278/

WarTech
BattleTech mod (using ModTek), that enables factions on the map to war each other.

Requirements
Recommended
Features
  • Factions start, end and join wars
  • Factions attack system they see as valuable
  • Doing a mission for one faction raises control for this faction
  • Planets change owners if control percentage is flipped
  • Border planets have higher difficulty
  • Contract targets depend on neighbour planets
  • If you are liked by a Faction they offer you good paying priority contracts for target planets
For detailed explanations check WarMechanics

Settings
- AttackPercentagePerPlayerMission - int - default 10 - How much control a successful player mission will grant the employee faction.
- excludedFactionNames - List<string> - default ["MercenaryReviewBoard","ComStar","Locals","AuriganPirates","NoFaction"] - Factions listed here will be excluded from the wars.
- PercentageForControl - int - default 30 - How much percentage of control is needed at minimum to control a planet.
- WeightOfNeighbours - int - default 1 - How important it is for Factions to conquer planets that have lots of own neighbors(prevents border gore)
- minMonthDuration - int - default 1 - The minimal Number of month a war goes before factions have a chance to surrender.
- maxMonthDuration - int - default -1 - The maximal Number of month a war goes before it ends automaticly (-1 = infinite)
- InlandPlanetDifficulty - int - default 0 - The Planet difficulty of inland planets.
- BorderPlanetDifficulty - int - default 0 - The Planet difficulty of border planets.
- priorityContactPayPercentage - float - default 2 - The multiplicator for the priority missions (normal payment * priorityContactPayPercentage )(normal salvage * priorityContactPayPercentage)
- FatiquePerLostAttack - float - default 0.5 - How much war exhaustion each faction gets for a lost background battle.
- FatiqueLostPerMonth - float - default 3 - How much war exhaustion each faction gets each month at war.
- FatiqueRecoveredPerDay - float - default 0.5 - How much war exhaustion each faction recovers each day when out of war.
 

Grotesque

±¼ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Divinity: Original Sin Divinity: Original Sin 2
37553567_10215005872753162_2575187297473396736_o.jpg
 

LESS T_T

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Codex 2014
PAX West panel: http://west.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/bringing-tabletop-to-pc-the-battletech-dev-story

Bringing Tabletop to PC: The BATTLETECH Dev Story
  • FRI 08/31 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
  • HYDRA THEATRE
For many on the dev team, bringing a turn based tactical version of BATTLETECH to the PC in - arguably the deepest visual exploration of the game’s 3025 setting ever - was a dream come true, but one fraught with challenges. The game’s deep lore and firmly established mechanics provided wonderful basis, but also challenges in how to adapt the game from a 35 year old tabletop game into a modern video game.

PANELISTS
Jordan Weisman [Founder and CEO, Harebrained Schemes], Kiva Maginn [Lead Designer, Harebrained Schemes], Andrew McIntosh [Writer, Harebrained Schemes]
 

Deuce Traveler

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Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
PAX West panel: http://west.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/bringing-tabletop-to-pc-the-battletech-dev-story

Bringing Tabletop to PC: The BATTLETECH Dev Story
  • FRI 08/31 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
  • HYDRA THEATRE
For many on the dev team, bringing a turn based tactical version of BATTLETECH to the PC in - arguably the deepest visual exploration of the game’s 3025 setting ever - was a dream come true, but one fraught with challenges. The game’s deep lore and firmly established mechanics provided wonderful basis, but also challenges in how to adapt the game from a 35 year old tabletop game into a modern video game.

PANELISTS
Jordan Weisman [Founder and CEO, Harebrained Schemes], Kiva Maginn [Lead Designer, Harebrained Schemes], Andrew McIntosh [Writer, Harebrained Schemes]

Man a modern Battletech video game using the 3025 setting sounds awesome. It will be cool if someone actually does it.
 

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