KickStarter BattleTech Pre-Release Thread

[Infinitron]

Wow, that final 48 hours reminder brought in some serious cash.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/webeharebrained/battletech/posts/1400815

Our LAST Bonus Backer Mission!
Okay, MechWarriors, listen up! We’ve got only hours left to go, and we want you to unlock as many Backer Mission Rewards as possible. With that in mind, we’ve got a final Backer Mission for you: The Final 48 Push.

We made a quick little video recapping our Kickstarter campaign for BATTLETECH and we want to get it out far and wide to reach folks who either haven’t heard about it yet or don’t know it’s almost over.

So your final mission is all about liking, sharing, and retweeting it!

Twitter link - https://twitter.com/WeBeHarebrained/status/660903403439034368

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HarebrainedSchemes/posts/902894599778708

The TOTAL of the COMBINED likes, shares, and retweets of The Final 48 Push will earn you points towards your Backer Missions Rewards! So far, through the Backer Missions, the Global BattleTech Community has rallied together to unlock cameos from beloved characters, novellas from acclaimed writer Michael A. Stackpole, and livestreams galore. With just a short time remaining, the GBC is inching their way to the final Rewards - a full length novel from Mike Stackpole and a Twitch livestream where Six Beards Enter... and Three Beards Leave.

Go, go, go!

Blood & Sand: The Arenas of Solaris VII
Among the roughly 2,000 planets of the Inner Sphere, there’s no place like Solaris VII—it’s a unique amalgamation of the coliseums of ancient Rome, the hyper-exaggerated showmanship of WWE Wrestling, the high octane and battered metal of Monster Truck Rallies, the gambling and excesses of Las Vegas, the slums of Mumbai, and the political neutrality of Switzerland.

Highly industrialized since the Star League era, Solaris VII was home to several important armaments manufacturers which started staging matches to demonstrate their wares to Star League officials and representatives of the Great Houses. These demonstrations quickly led to staged competitions, which soon became popular entertainment not just on Solaris VII but across the Inner Sphere.

There are dozens of arenas in and around Solaris City, ranging from unofficial matches in junkyards to the cathedrals of ’Mech combat, the titanic Class Six arenas sponsored by the Great Noble Houses of the Inner Sphere.

We’re really excited to bring the arenas of Solaris VII to life and with your help, we can do it!




We’re Closing in on Stage 4!
Almost there! As we charge into the final hours of our Kickstarter campaign, the goal of adding PvP Multiplayer seems within our reach!

There are many reasons that we’re excited about including multiplayer in the game. Our goals for multiplayer range from reconnecting with friends, to making new ones via casual play, to offering organized competitions to test your strategy and tactics against those of other players, all within the incredibly dynamic setting of Solaris VII.

As we’ve seen during our Kickstarter campaign, you have many fond memories of battling friends across the tabletop. Well, those friends may be scattered around the world now, but with the power of multiplayer, you can reconnect across a BATTLETECH battlefield.

As the host of a multiplayer game, you will have control of things like the balance rating / size of each player’s Lance, the choice of arena, map, weather conditions, etc. and of course the victory conditions for the match.

When your friends are not available, we want you to have a good matchmaking system so you can find similarly experienced opponent for casual matches. These casual matches allow you to hone your combat skills against a wide array of other folks’ strategies and tactics without the pressure of your leaderboard standings being at risk.

We also envision a variety of competitive tracks that challenge you to design different types of Lances for different tactical situations - things like arenas periodically hosting championship tournaments which would encourage designing Lances appropriate for that arena, or maybe tournaments based around different victory conditions. That would also encourage players to design Lances appropriate for scouting, territory control, facility destruction, etc.

These organized competitive events would have leaderboards to recognize players’ accomplishments and likely some form of in-game prizes such as ‘Mech components for players that achieve certain levels.

 

[Luka-boy]

Holy surge in pledges, Batman! Unless some disaster happens they'll reach the PVP goal for sure.

 

[Direwolf]

Holy surge in pledges, Batman! Unless some disaster happens they'll reach the PVP goal for sure.

Yeah, I waited for the last 48 hours and pledged $25 bucks about 2 hours ago.
Which is why people linking projection graphs and crying on how they were not going to hit 2.5M were not really thinking.

 

[Ulminati]

The projection graphs were including the usual 48 hour surge. They still hold.

Currently looking at 2.32-2.45 mil including the surge. Which means best case is you'll barely scrape by and the main thing that would've made the game interesting will be an afterthought at best.

 

[Mustawd]

Backed $35. First KS pledge ever. Hope this doesn't disappoint

The projection graphs were including the usual 48 hour surge. They still hold.

Currently looking at 2.32-2.45 mil including the surge. Which means best case is you'll barely scrape by and the main thing that would've made the game interesting will be an afterthought at best.

You still waiting to back?

 

[Ulminati]

You still waiting to back?

At some point during the last week or so I decided not to back at all. I'll get the piratebay edition since I won't be given a meaty multiplayer game anyway.
Maybe if they patch in a director's cut with passable gameplay I'll get it at 75% off in a bundle

 

[Drowed]

Their Kickstarter started stronger than D:OS2 (30% higher in the first and second day, and it reached 2mi in the end), so it was a good bet that they would eventually reach all stretch goals.

 

[oldmanpaco]

At some point during the last week or so I decided not to back at all. I'll get the piratebay edition since I won't be given a meaty multiplayer game anyway.
Maybe if they patch in a director's cut with passable gameplay I'll get it at 75% off in a bundle

Really? You spend the entire campaign bitching about multiplayer skirmish not being an original part of the game, saying you would only back it if it was in and when it finally gets in you don't back it?

 

[Darth Roxor]

ulm finally realised the only companions he could have for that multiplayer were cats, so backing/getting the game for multiplayer stopped making sense to him

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

The projection graphs were including the usual 48 hour surge. They still hold.

Currently looking at 2.32-2.45 mil including the surge. Which means best case is you'll barely scrape by and the main thing that would've made the game interesting will be an afterthought at best.

The kicktraq projection cone now predicts $2.5m-$2.7m, they never seem to accurately reflect the final surge when checked mid-campaign.

The current total including paypal is just under $2,49m with 35 hours still to go so the even the current projection looks light.

 

[Grotesque]

Really? You spend the entire campaign bitching about multiplayer skirmish not being an original part of the game, saying you would only back it if it was in and when it finally gets in you don't back it?

The problem are all the dumbfucks that are stroking his ego by asking him if he'll back it or not so he can put on a diva complex.

 

[Infinitron]

Just $~12,000 left!

 

[Ulminati]

Really? You spend the entire campaign bitching about multiplayer skirmish not being an original part of the game, saying you would only back it if it was in and when it finally gets in you don't back it?

To be fair, we've heard exactly 0 about what they wanted to do for multiplayer since for the longest part it looked like the stretch goal wouldn't be made. And yes, I said I wouldn't back the game without multiplayer. But that doesn't mean I'll throw money at the 11th hour without an idea how much depth they're willing to go into for the multiplayer.

Ultimately, sometime during the last week I had a bad gut feeling about this game - same as I did when I withdrew my pledges for Pillars of Eternity and Star Citizen. My gut feelings haven't steered me wrong yet.

Don't worry. If it's good I'll pick it up for $1 in the inevitable humble bundle. I respect that the priorities of HBS in the campaign have been for the game they wanted. But in this instance, it's not the game I wanted.

 

[Zed]

Just $~12,000 left!

lmao if anyone is excited about any of these stretch goals or whatever they are

 

[ArchAngel]

To be fair, we've heard exactly 0 about what they wanted to do for multiplayer since for the longest part it looked like the stretch goal wouldn't be made. And yes, I said I wouldn't back the game without multiplayer. But that doesn't mean I'll throw money at the 11th hour without an idea how much depth they're willing to go into for the multiplayer.

Ultimately, sometime during the last week I had a bad gut feeling about this game - same as I did when I withdrew my pledges for Pillars of Eternity and Star Citizen. My gut feelings haven't steered me wrong yet.

Don't worry. If it's good I'll pick it up for $1 in the inevitable humble bundle. I respect that the priorities of HBS in the campaign have been for the game they wanted. But in this instance, it's not the game I wanted.

You are a total idiot. If you pick it up much later the MP community will be dead by then. MP in games lives mostly near release of the game.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

To be fair, we've heard exactly 0 about what they wanted to do for multiplayer since for the longest part it looked like the stretch goal wouldn't be made. And yes, I said I wouldn't back the game without multiplayer. But that doesn't mean I'll throw money at the 11th hour without an idea how much depth they're willing to go into for the multiplayer.

Not sure if you saw the most recent update on multiplayer, perhaps you wanted more details but this seems a reasonable start for something in preproduction:

details

There are many reasons that we’re excited about including multiplayer in the game. Our goals for multiplayer range from reconnecting with friends, to making new ones via casual play, to offering organized competitions to test your strategy and tactics against those of other players, all within the incredibly dynamic setting of Solaris VII.

As we’ve seen during our Kickstarter campaign, you have many fond memories of battling friends across the tabletop. Well, those friends may be scattered around the world now, but with the power of multiplayer, you can reconnect across a BATTLETECH battlefield.

As the host of a multiplayer game, you will have control of things like the balance rating / size of each player’s Lance, the choice of arena, map, weather conditions, etc. and of course the victory conditions for the match.

When your friends are not available, we want you to have a good matchmaking system so you can find similarly experienced opponent for casual matches. These casual matches allow you to hone your combat skills against a wide array of other folks’ strategies and tactics without the pressure of your leaderboard standings being at risk.

We also envision a variety of competitive tracks that challenge you to design different types of Lances for different tactical situations - things like arenas periodically hosting championship tournaments which would encourage designing Lances appropriate for that arena, or maybe tournaments based around different victory conditions. That would also encourage players to design Lances appropriate for scouting, territory control, facility destruction, etc.

These organized competitive events would have leaderboards to recognize players’ accomplishments and likely some form of in-game prizes such as ‘Mech components for players that achieve certain levels.
___
Among the roughly 2,000 planets of the Inner Sphere, there’s no place like Solaris VII—it’s a unique amalgamation of the coliseums of ancient Rome, the hyper-exaggerated showmanship of WWE Wrestling, the high octane and battered metal of Monster Truck Rallies, the gambling and excesses of Las Vegas, the slums of Mumbai, and the political neutrality of Switzerland.

Highly industrialized since the Star League era, Solaris VII was home to several important armaments manufacturers which started staging matches to demonstrate their wares to Star League officials and representatives of the Great Houses. These demonstrations quickly led to staged competitions, which soon became popular entertainment not just on Solaris VII but across the Inner Sphere.

There are dozens of arenas in and around Solaris City, ranging from unofficial matches in junkyards to the cathedrals of ’Mech combat, the titanic Class Six arenas sponsored by the Great Noble Houses of the Inner Sphere.

We’re really excited to bring the arenas of Solaris VII to life and with your help, we can do it!

 

[Grotesque]

How to behave like a genuine fagotty faggot:

1. first say that you will back if they reach PvP stretchgoal.
2. disregard #1 because reasons: the depths of multiplayer are unknown to me
3. but quench your fans fears by telling them you'll "get the pirate bay edition" still.

 

[anus_pounder]

Well, I can't actually argue with point 3. Its what I do with all games.

 

[Ulminati]

3. but quench your fans fears by telling them you'll "get the pirate bay edition" still.

Sorry Grotesque. You're just not my type. :/

 

[Infinitron]

PVP multiplayer is in.

 

[ArchAngel]

Not until they register it :D

 

[Darkzone]

I ask myself what stretch goals will be on the stage 4. PVP 2v2? Observer mode? BT ranking and league? BT PvP servers? Any stretch goal?

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

I ask myself what stretch goals will be on the stage 4. PVP 2v2? Observer mode? BT ranking and league? BT PvP servers? Any stretch goal?

"If we're lucky enough to receive funding beyond our $2.5m Stage Four goal, it will go to polishing the features and content we’ve already committed to. After that, any additional funds will go toward funding a Post-Launch Live Team that will continue developing additional features and content. First among them will be Cooperative Multiplayer, which will allow you and a friend to face-off against AI opponents"

 

[Darkzone]

"If we're lucky enough to receive funding beyond our $2.5m Stage Four goal, it will go to polishing the features and content we’ve already committed to. After that, any additional funds will go toward funding a Post-Launch Live Team that will continue developing additional features and content. First among them will be Cooperative Multiplayer, which will allow you and a friend to face-off against AI opponents"

Thx. I haven't been following all the comments and QA by the devs and so, therefore i didn't knew of this comment/answer. Sounds basically very good. SHR hasn't been the great breakthrough for HBS despite a good DF campaign, but BT could technically deliver for HBS a good basis, so they should certainly go for the Post-Launch Live Team. Naturally this can only happen if the basis game is good and hasn't to great deviations from the board game.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Yes, people have already been asking for more stretch goals but HBS always seem to run pretty disciplined KS campaigns. I remember with SR:HK they were clear about what they wanted and didn't expand the scope at all when it was clear they were going to make it. Seems like a good idea to have extra funds diverted to that live team to work on Coop after launch - and they now have history with "Directors Cuts" which enhance base games, after all.