KickStarter BattleTech Pre-Release Thread

[Grotesque]

 

[khavi]

Good shit that.

 

[khavi]

Good shit that.

Woke up this morning thinking that it's rather a shame that console gaming, and to a lesser extent, PC gaming, had the adverse side effect of completely killing the video arcade as a thing beyond redemption machines kid-gambler training devices.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Woke up this morning thinking that it's rather a shame that console gaming, and to a lesser extent, PC gaming, had the adverse side effect of completely killing the video arcade as a thing beyond redemption machines kid-gambler training devices.

Bullshit. You are downplaying PC gaming's effect on killing the arcades and putting most of the heat on consoles. When was the last time PC gaming came up with cool shit like this?

This is Steel Battalion for the original Xbox.

 

[Ulminati]

I played that. The actualy game was pretty bad. You only remember it for the elaborate controller. (While it looked impressive, the build quality of the controller was mediocre as well. Felt like cheap plastic and the sticks didn't stay centered after a while).

And PC has plenty of things like this:

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Not to mention that when it comes to the whole mecha sim thing, no PC mech game has ever come even remotely close to the same ballpark Armored Core operates in when it comes to simulation depth. And let's not even get into how vastly superior the gameplay is.

Please note that Angthoron has yet to negotiate terms with HBS, so if you donate do so with the knowledge that copies of the game are not yet guaranteed in exchange for your donation.

Any ETA on negotiation of our salvage rights?

 

[Grotesque]

^ God, how I loathe your avatar.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Infidel.

 

[J_C]

It's so beautiful.

 

[Fry]

I had the first Thrustmaster F16 stick back in the pre-USB days. Don't have time for that shit anymore.

Flight sim nerds make RPG nerds look like casuals.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Not to mention that when it comes to the whole mecha sim thing, no PC mech game has ever come even remotely close to the same ballpark Armored Core operates in when it comes to simulation depth. And let's not even get into how vastly superior the gameplay is.


Any ETA on negotiation of our salvage rights?

The mech and AI customization / simulation in Verdict Day blew my mind as well as everything else I had seen before. Nothing else even begins to compare. It was absolutely bananas.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Woke up this morning thinking that it's rather a shame that console gaming, and to a lesser extent, PC gaming, had the adverse side effect of completely killing the video arcade as a thing beyond redemption machines kid-gambler training devices.

I think that lack of high-end arcade machines was a bigger problem. I know that Polish arcades got stuck with pre-2000 machines and never bought any new stuff.

There's a single arcade in my city, near a cinema and it has a lot of gun shooters. Sadly, still mostly old stuff. Though there's one newer one that seems to be inspired by middle east wars, which has nice large guns.

 

[lurker3000]

And PC has plenty of things like this:

I remember my dad had some crazy stick/throttle setup back in his Falcon 3.0 days. He also went full NASCAR with a steering wheel/foot peddle combo. Good times.

Anyway I haven't owned a joystick in what seems like 10-15 years.

 

[khavi]

Bullshit. You are downplaying PC gaming's effect on killing the arcades and putting most of the heat on consoles. When was the last time PC gaming came up with cool shit like this?

This is Steel Battalion for the original Xbox.

Console gaming started the slide, by originally being less expensive, more widespread and accessible. PC gaming is likely a larger industry now (it's hard to find solid numbers, so you end up comparing various games and services to number of consoles sold, i.e. Steam, LoL, etc, and then you get into mobile and casual gaming versus hardcore), but at best they share equal responsibility. Multiplayer online gaming really killed it. Look at the trends and corresponding years.

Spoiler

Also, Re: Steel Battalion. What, are you kidding me? It is put to shame by all the PC flight sim and mech sim pits. Which you can purchase the components for quite easily, and as stated, at higher quality than the SB controller. You've never had a game for PC come bundled with peripherals to that extent, because it wasn't needed. Those items were already available elsewhere.

I think that lack of high-end arcade machines was a bigger problem. I know that Polish arcades got stuck with pre-2000 machines and never bought any new stuff.

Cost factors definitely contributed to that, and it eventually came down to being able to replicate or improve upon the arcade experience from the convenience and comfort of your home.

Seriously though. Battletech.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I had the first Thrustmaster F16 stick back in the pre-USB days. Don't have time for that shit anymore.

Flight sim nerds make RPG nerds look like casuals.

I will never forget the photograph from early 00's showing the flight sim set-up one of the reviewers of Finland's biggest gaming magazine had for himself. We're talking having a vintage fighter jet chair, surplus pilot helmet with a headset modded in, overalls, and the joystick and other controls fitted into the chair with monitor placed a little distance away.

The mech and AI customization / simulation in Verdict Day blew my mind as well as everything else I had seen before. Nothing else even begins to compare. It was absolutely bananas.

While Verdict Day is easily my second-favourite in the series thanks to its more down-to-earth hard edge approach to simulation (my favourite being the sheer amount of atmosphere flicking between scan mode and normal mode to check up on your sensor pod feeds and statistics gave you) and the vertical mobility limitations you had to work with in combat, I still like the super robot sim take in For Answer the best when it comes to pure fighting. For Answer's combat distance variation also showcases some of the sim aspects better, like the large open combat zones being able to show that in addition to changes to initial muzzle velocity over the distance Coriolis effect also starts to change projectile trajectory.

Of particular note in V/Verdict Day tho is how the whole armour system is a "dis how it dun" demonstration to every other damage-specific armor values in mecha sims (ie, Reflective and Reactive in MW4) with the way the system intuitively guides you around the Kinetic/Chemical/Thermal resistances and their implications to your mech's design and utility, and how you learn by the ass to balance your weapon loadouts to match enemy defenses' weak points in some manner (personally I went with Gatling/Plasma twin dual loadout as default).

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Cost factors definitely contributed to that, and it eventually came down to being able to replicate or improve upon the arcade experience from the convenience and comfort of your home.

For some games. Still, cockpit games and gun shooters and many other hardware gimmick-based games are practically arcade-exclusive experience.

I think that lack of new games was the main problem. It was much cheaper to re-brand into internet caffe than invest into modern arcades.

From what I saw the sole remaining arcade in my city has almost only cockpit games and gunshooters and some other hardware gimmick games.

 

[Turok]

OK, so this is Harebrained's plan for building up the game, depending on how much budget they get.

Single player skirmish game --> Single player story-based game --> Single player open-ended game with procedurally generated scenarios --> Multiplayer support

They haven't decided if they're going have hex-based or free movement yet.

They're going to use MWO's art style for the Mechs "to present a consistent universe".

Mitch says Harebrained can't afford to make games without Kickstarter.

Everybody there is playing Crescent's Hawk Inception now.

Like Shadowrun, they will not be "slaves to the tabletop rules". The feel is what's important.

You'll control 4 mechs in battle, but there might be some missions with an extra unit to escort (like sometimes happened in Shadowrun)

Mitch says "BattleTech is not an RPG, it's a tactical turn-based game with story". That's a change. In the past they've said "with RPG elements", not "with story".

But wait, he says the Mechwarriors will have some RPG elements - skills and affinities and stuff. Sounds like they're still brainstorming what exactly those will be.

Or they are just only telling people what they want to hear.

 

[Gozma]

Crescent Hawk's Inception having a good rep is weird. That game is like two hours long. It feels like the shareware episode of a real game.

 

[Bubbles]

Crescent Hawk's Inception having a good rep is weird. That game is like two hours long. It feels like the shareware episode of a real game.

Sounds like the perfect template for an HBS game then.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Still nothing on the pc comes close to steel batalion on the original Xbox, in terms of complexity, 'realism' and them crazy controller(s) ...

 

[Grotesque]

nothing on the pc comes close to steel batalion on the original Xbox, in terms of complexity, 'realism

 

[Kem0sabe]

Do you know of any 3d mech simulators on pc that have their own controller with 40 buttons? or that require complex boot sequences for the mech to even startup?

 

[Grotesque]

the more buttons it has, the more complex the game is!
I get it.




Oh...that gameplay!
The thrills!
The avalanche of stimuli!
I can't handle it...

 

[Kem0sabe]

the more buttons it has, the more complex the game is!
I get it.




Oh...that gameplay!
The thrills!
The avalanche of stimuli!
I can't handle it...

Compared to what? The amazing depth of gameplay of mechwarrior...

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Steel Battalion is a completely different sort of game from just about all other mech sims out there to begin with. If it had its own subgenre, I'd call it cockpit-porn, given how much effort it puts to immersive simulation.