Game News BattleTech Released

[Black]

You know what really baffles me?

The fantasy soundtrack in a scifi game.

While not bad per se, the music in this game constantly makes me expect an orc assault.

 

[Fenix]

You know what really baffles me?

The fantasy soundtrack in a scifi game.

While not bad per se, the music in this game constantly makes me expect an orc assault.

I absolutely fucking loving it!
Possibly it's nothing so special about this electronic music, but compared to modern meaningless orchestrated piece of shit - it's so good.

 

[karnak]

You know what really baffles me?

The fantasy soundtrack in a scifi game.

While not bad per se, the music in this game constantly makes me expect an orc assault.

I absolutely fucking loving it!
Possibly it's nothing so special about this electronic music, but compared to modern meaningless orchestrated piece of shit - it's so good.

Amen

 

[Cynicus]

In my opinion, video game music took a turn downward--or at least toward the mundane--when it moved away from synthesizers. A lot of the "redbook" stuff from the 90s was pretty great, though. New stuff tends to be so bland that I usually turn it off.

On topic, orchestra music is what you get when the developers lack functional nutsacks. Strings and mechs?....nope.

THIS is the kind of muzak that should accompany a mercenary lance:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Exhibit A

So 90's. Love it.

 

[Darkzone]

Topic Battletech soundtrack.
The soundtrack is a mix of several genres and it has the classical symphonic elements, the synthesizers elements and some ethnic elements (synthesizer emulation) in it. I like it, but sometimes it is too melancholic with the Cello in the foreground. II will defend the soundtrack for many reasons and one of them is: It was recorded in Budapest and you know what they say about Hungarians and Poles (half in this case).
I don't think that metal-techno music would fit a relative slow tactical game. Most of the examples you are using are from a simulator game which is quite hectic. Don't get me wrong i like 90s metal-techno and synthesiser music. In the case of Jon Everist i would put the synthesizer and the ethno elements more forward and made stronger, while i would put the symphonic elements in the background and made them weaker, but that it.

Spoiler

Music as Soundtrack has to fit the setting and in this case it is a bit off, but also the fast paced metal-techno is also not fitting. In my opinion Battletech is a good game that i like and the visuals and soundtrack contribute a certain amount to it. But i agree that it could always be better.
Stronger ethno elements would fit nice especially since the chinese and indian ethnicities in this periphery space are dominant, while symphonic music is more a expression of the white ethnicity, which is a minority in this space. Yes i know that there is quite much white ethno music, but it meant overall since the white people invented the symphonic music. Synthesisers are nowadays viewed not as futuristic, but as retro like the 80s and 90s.

 

[jungl]

battletech sucks balls compared to old mechwarrior games. Hate how they did overheating in that it disables your mechs AND destroys them. What that means with your puny 4 man squad there is no point in fielding a mech that is centered around overheating. If this is how it is in the tabletop that obviously tabletop does not translate well into crpg.

soundtrack sucks ass also I dont want to hear nu age bullshit like im watching the newest cape shit in theaters. Bring back the techno metal!

 

[thesheeep]

Another turn based game with unskippable/non-fast-forwardable animations... what game designers are thinking that omit such an essential feature from their game, I don't even.
I spend less time playing the game than I spend watching some camera cuts (despite having disabled everything that can be disabled!), waiting for mechs to move/turn around (oh god, an if their legs are destroyed...), for the sound clip to play after every action, etc.

Missions in this game shouldn't take half an hour, but they do and 80% of that is useless crap.
The longer I play, the more negative my impression gets, maybe I should wait some months for mods or patches to get rid of all the nuisances - there is a good game hidden behind all of that.

 

[Black]

what game designers are thinking that omit such an essential feature from their game

The type that doesn't even play video games any more.

 

[karnak]

soundtrack sucks ass also I dont want to hear nu age bullshit like im watching the newest cape shit in theaters. Bring back the techno metal!

80's MIDI tunes had their charms too

 

[Fenix]

what game designers are thinking that omit such an essential feature from their game, I don't even

They are fucking PROUD of their work, how dare you try to skip it?!1111111111...................................................................$%^%&^&^

 

[Cynicus]

Darkzone, I wasn't criticizing Everist's music, so please don't bring the Potato hordes down on me. I just don't think it was the best choice for a game about massive machines that fight with the grace of colliding locomotives. Also, I wouldn't propose that heavier music dominate the soundscape but just set the tone. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The music is what it is.

 

[Mech]

Exhibit A

Ahh ya. 31:00 brings me back.

 

[Darkzone]

Darkzone, I wasn't criticizing Everist's music, so please don't bring the Potato hordes down on me. I just don't think it was the best choice for a game about massive machines that fight with the grace of colliding locomotives. Also, I wouldn't propose that heavier music dominate the soundscape but just set the tone. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The music is what it is.

Don't worry i'm not criticising you personally and neither the idea of using any kind of techno and metal in Battletech. I'm just saying that 120-180 bpm is not a good solution for a slow paste game. It is like hearing fast black or death metal to a game of chess (bit exaggeration). In fact i like the use of techno and industrial metal and hard trance when connected to giant robots and war machinery.
Like Sisters of Mercy sang literaly in Lucretia my Reflection: I hear the roar of the big machine. Two worlds and in between. Hot metal and methedrine. I hear your empire down. I hear your empire down.... ( Ture meaning not used here.)
Also i listen to industrial and techno metal and hard trance if i play Mechwarrior Online and it will also fit very good Mechwarrior 5.

 

[Latelistener]

When I see interface in this game...

 

[thesheeep]

When I see interface in this game...

Why?
I found the interface outside of the battlefield rather easy to read. And on the battlefield, too, once you read online what everything means...
Simple symbols, color coded.
Looks fine to me.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

I got kind of bored with it halfway through. During the nice 2-3 skull missions time, about to transition from medium to heavy mechs, having fun... and suddenly plop, did some 3 skull story crapmission and ended up with highlander and battlemaster in my garage and the challenge was gone. Plus the tedious, unskippable animations and camera-stealing, bleh. A pity really, because there is a decent game hidden underneath. Will probably replay it with mods/dlcs a year later.

 

[thesheeep]

I got kind of bored with it halfway through. During the nice 2-3 skull missions time, about to transition from medium to heavy mechs, having fun... and suddenly plop, did some 3 skull story crapmission and ended up with highlander and battlemaster in my garage and the challenge was gone. Plus the tedious, unskippable animations and camera-stealing, bleh. A pity really, because there is a decent game hidden underneath. Will probably replay it with mods/dlcs a year later.

Yeah, I can only agree. A really good core of a game, but a shame they didn't do more with it.

Light mechs, for example, are a complete waste of metal once you have medium mechs.
There is 0 reason to ever field light mechs, other than maybe for shits and giggles (like running 4 firestarters), they are just too brittle and their movement matters little.

Instead of just doing fixed 4-mechs-per-mission, they should have given each mission a tonnage limit (or let the tonnage limit be tied to your ship's upgrades) so you can decide yourself what to field.
Can't field 4 heavies, so maybe you field 1 heavy, 2 medium, 1 light, or only 2 heaves, 1 light, or 6 light, etc.
Would have been way more interesting.

Usually, I'd say mods will fix it, but I have no idea if the game will be modable at all.

I do understand they had to make cuts, so I'm not really mad - it's just somewhat sad to see the missed potential.
I am still mad about the lack of speeding-up options and the other quirks, of course. Quite honestly, I think there is some shoddy programming going on in the game. The loading times are not only Unity's fault - I've seen way better in Unity games with the same amount (or more) of assets.

 

[karnak]

When I see interface in this game...

I know what you mean

 

[Black]

I got kind of bored with it halfway through. During the nice 2-3 skull missions time, about to transition from medium to heavy mechs, having fun... and suddenly plop, did some 3 skull story crapmission and ended up with highlander and battlemaster in my garage and the challenge was gone. Plus the tedious, unskippable animations and camera-stealing, bleh. A pity really, because there is a decent game hidden underneath. Will probably replay it with mods/dlcs a year later.

I watched Beaglerush's stream for a while after that mission. It was pretty fucking sad. Not only is the AI terrible, the game keeps sending shitty lights and mediums against his Highlander, Orion, Black Knight and Awesome. And the morale magic makes the game even easier.

 

[Nael]

You know what really baffles me?

The fantasy soundtrack in a scifi game.

While not bad per se, the music in this game constantly makes me expect an orc assault.

I can remember as a kid in the car with my parents making them listen to this on trips lol

First track on the CD was data and the rest of the tracks was this soundtrack.

 

[Max Edge]

I cannot agree with people who say: "Shut up, play and don't think about politic" ergo "Esthetic is not important". All games elements are important for experience. Not always on consciousness level, but also subconscious. I understood that, when Inqusition was relased. Developers wrote and saind many, many words about rape (they changed one sex scene beacuse "It looked like rape beacuse was written by men, but now is rewritten by woman and it look ok"), appearance ("Pretty faces are unrealistic and sexist" so they made Sera) and woman empowerment ("Leliana is now crazy, cold and unfunny, like every wamyn should be"). I tried play without thoughts about that but ideology screamed to me from every corner. In fact, if I would not know about ideological background, I would take much more fun from gameplay.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

I got kind of bored with it halfway through. During the nice 2-3 skull missions time, about to transition from medium to heavy mechs, having fun... and suddenly plop, did some 3 skull story crapmission and ended up with highlander and battlemaster in my garage and the challenge was gone. Plus the tedious, unskippable animations and camera-stealing, bleh. A pity really, because there is a decent game hidden underneath. Will probably replay it with mods/dlcs a year later.

Yeah, I can only agree. A really good core of a game, but a shame they didn't do more with it.

Light mechs, for example, are a complete waste of metal once you have medium mechs.
There is 0 reason to ever field light mechs, other than maybe for shits and giggles (like running 4 firestarters), they are just too brittle and their movement matters little.

Instead of just doing fixed 4-mechs-per-mission, they should have given each mission a tonnage limit (or let the tonnage limit be tied to your ship's upgrades) so you can decide yourself what to field.
Can't field 4 heavies, so maybe you field 1 heavy, 2 medium, 1 light, or only 2 heaves, 1 light, or 6 light, etc.
Would have been way more interesting.

Usually, I'd say mods will fix it, but I have no idea if the game will be modable at all.

I do understand they had to make cuts, so I'm not really mad - it's just somewhat sad to see the missed potential.
I am still mad about the lack of speeding-up options and the other quirks, of course. Quite honestly, I think there is some shoddy programming going on in the game. The loading times are not only Unity's fault - I've seen way better in Unity games with the same amount (or more) of assets.

Exactly. Even in the realtime mechcommander you had tonnage limits (and the need for some fast, jumpy mech for recon, harassing, sensors, leaping over rivers to capture turret controls...). Here it's just taking the heaviest thing you have, bulwark on all pilots and watch the enemy break upon your wall of mechs.

The latest version of Unity is pretty decent actually, so I agree that performance issues are like 80% shenanigans on HBS side and 20% engine.

 

[Riel]

Yep the game is a rough diamond at the moment, needs a lot of polishing to really be enjoyable.

 

[Thonius]

The interface is just copy paste of that f2p online mechwarrior game by what's their name?..... Anyway that f2p game is there for years yet they added only mechs... sad.