KickStarter BATTLETECH - turn-based mech combat from Harebrained Schemes

[Bohr]

Tyler Carpenter AMA on now
https://www.reddit.com/r/Battletechgame/comments/8g2e8j/im_tyler_carpenter_one_of_the_hbs_devs_on/

 

[mwnn85]

Better reinstall MechCommander.

If you want turn based.
Install Titans of Steel instead.

All the links to the full, free game on the Matrix site are dead but I've dug up a fast, working link:
https://www.usitility.com/titans-of-steel-warring-suns/download-windows-xp
http://www.matrixgames.com/products/237/downloads/

There's MekWars / MegaMek as well but I'd tried neither:
http://www.mekwars.org
https://www.megamek.org

Battletech needs at minimum a few patches to iron out all the technical and gameplay quirks.
For a game that takes place on relatively small maps with only 4 units under your command, it shouldn't be pushing PC's to maximum - even in the fairly static ship menus.
Don't know where they've gone wrong; the Unity version they're using is virtually up to date.
Forcing v-sync but it doesn't make much difference =\
Wait for the enhanced edition or be a guinea pig.

 

[Alpharius]

Tyler Carpenter AMA on now
https://www.reddit.com/r/Battletechgame/comments/8g2e8j/im_tyler_carpenter_one_of_the_hbs_devs_on/

For my favorite work in the game? I love having created the crew of the Argo. I didn't write them, but I came up with their back stories, personalities, etc. And each one is based on a RL friend of mine, so that fills me with warm fuzzies.

:incloosive:

 

[Bohr]

A few of the Reddit comments (they seem happy with the sales so far, more content def coming "some free some paid", stubborn refusal to add difficulty levels despite all the complaints both from those finding it too hard and those wanting more challenge... but a few options 'like Long War')

Spoiler

 

[Duellist_D]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...re-release-thread.99331/page-105#post-5571356

Worked like a charm, thanks.


So, is there any way of manually setting missions to "successful"?

I'm in an assassination-mission. Killed all mooks, killed the target, so fine so far.
But then i'm stuck. The game exits combat but never shows me an indicator where i could extract from.
I can walk all around the map or "withdraw" (subsequently losing the scenario), but I'd like to properly exit it because i'm expecting tons of loot.

 

[Lord Andre]

I've really come to despise retarded fanboys crying about muh lait mecs not being useful...

 

[agris]

I've really come to despise retarded fanboys crying about muh lait mecs not being useful...

I can't write a wall of text explaining this, but from walls-o-text that I've skimmed, it seems to be rooted in the fact that light mechs are useful through all stages of BT using the PnP rules. So light mechs being useless late-game in HBS's BT is seen a proxy for their inability to translate the TT rules to their game in a way that captures all the tactical nuance of the source material.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...re-release-thread.99331/page-105#post-5571356

Worked like a charm, thanks.


So, is there any way of manually setting missions to "successful"?

I'm in an assassination-mission. Killed all mooks, killed the target, so fine so far.
But then i'm stuck. The game exits combat but never shows me an indicator where i could extract from.
I can walk all around the map or "withdraw" (subsequently losing the scenario), but I'd like to properly exit it because i'm expecting tons of loot.

In my experience this bug won't happen if you take enough time with killing the primary target in assassination (as the last one too) so they start trying to run away. It's probably Lando's transmission about the target running away that causes the bug.

 

[Infinitron]

I've really come to despise retarded fanboys crying about muh lait mecs not being useful...

I can't write a wall of text explaining this, but from walls-o-text that I've skimmed, it seems to be rooted in the fact that light mechs are useful through all stages of BT using the PnP rules. So light mechs being useless late-game in HBS's BT is seen a proxy for their inability to translate the TT rules to their game in a way that captures all the tactical nuance of the source material.

Question is are they useful in tabletop even in the context of being limited to a lance of four mechs.

 

[Bohr]

A few more (some love for large lasers, some slightly surprising comments about "+" weapons and lostech) - and there was another comment about juggernaut being looked at as it's not useful against assaults.

Spoiler

 

[gestalt11]

One thing about light mechs in this game is that they are the first initiative phase so by reserving you can double up on turns, i.e. go last then first next turn making it possible to jump/run and attack then run away before they can answer. But you can do the same tactic with a medium if you are against heavies or assault so ....

 

[Stavrophore]

One thing about light mechs in this game is that they are the first initiative phase so by reserving you can double up on turns, i.e. go last then first next turn making it possible to jump/run and attack then run away before they can answer. But you can do the same tactic with a medium if you are against heavies or assault so ....

Exctly. For ambush a medium with tactician and 3xSRM6 is best, since you will always go first and can unleash two turns into the backside of the enemy mechs, killing it outright. Eventually, a pilot specialization to move away after the strike, but you will sacrifice tactician benefit of going before all[doesnt matter when fighting heavies].

 

[Lord Andre]

I've really come to despise retarded fanboys crying about muh lait mecs not being useful...

I can't write a wall of text explaining this, but from walls-o-text that I've skimmed, it seems to be rooted in the fact that light mechs are useful through all stages of BT using the PnP rules. So light mechs being useless late-game in HBS's BT is seen a proxy for their inability to translate the TT rules to their game in a way that captures all the tactical nuance of the source material.

Retarded fanboys are retarded. Light mechs do not become useless late game but their value decreases as the game progresses which is logical. Same thing happens here as well. Retarded fanboys have this retarded head-canon where they only remember that one time they took down an Atlas with a lucky shot. Nevermind that the Atlas was already bleeding scrap and dozens other times their precious light was roflestomped without a second thought.

That’s it. I’m sick of all this “Clan Heavy Mech” bullshit that’s going on in the Battletech video game right now. Light mechs deserve much better than that. Much, much better than that.
I should know what I’m talking about. I myself commissioned a genuine light mech in the Draconis Combine for 2,400,000 C-Yens (that’s about 20,000 C-Bills) and have been practicing with it for almost 2 years now. I can even shoot through slabs of solid steel with my light mech.
Draconis Combine smiths spend years working on a single light and fold it up to a million times to produce the finest mechs known to mankind.
Light mechs are thrice as fast as Heavy mechs and thrice as strong for that matter too. Anything a heavy mech can do, a light mech can do better. I’m pretty sure a light mech could easily core an Atlas wearing max armor with a simple alpha strike from the back.
Ever wonder why Steiner never bothered conquering Kurita? That’s right, they were too scared to fight the disciplined Samurai and their light mechs of destruction. Even in the Clan Invasion, Clan officers targeted the men with the light mechs first because their killing power was feared and respected.
So what am I saying? Light mechs are simply the best mech that the world has ever seen, and thus, require better stats in the Battletech game. Here is the stat block I propose for light mechs:
+5 Evasion every round/+10 after move/+20 when sprinting
Double damage when attacking front/ triple for sides/ octa damage from the back
jump jets let you teleport anywhere on the map...(like behind a dumb Atlas, nothing personal kid)
all enemy mechs are always sensor locked for lights
Now that seems a lot more representative of the destructive power of light mechs in TT, don’t you think?
tl;dr = Light mechs need to be more useful in the game, see my new stat block.

 

[Blaine]

Question is are they useful in tabletop even in the context of being limited to a lance of four mechs.

Why, yes. Yes, they are.

Perhaps if you actually cracked a tabletop book for a change rather than spending all of your free time shilling for under-performing, under-delivering, name-dropping SJW crowdfunding bandwagoners, you'd have a more holistic perspective of the relationship between tabletop RPGs and strategy games and their computerized counterparts.

Did you know that it's easily possible to run an entire tabletop RPG campaign with absolutely zero trash mob encounters? I know, pretty crazy stuff.

 

[Cael]

I've really come to despise retarded fanboys crying about muh lait mecs not being useful...

I can't write a wall of text explaining this, but from walls-o-text that I've skimmed, it seems to be rooted in the fact that light mechs are useful through all stages of BT using the PnP rules. So light mechs being useless late-game in HBS's BT is seen a proxy for their inability to translate the TT rules to their game in a way that captures all the tactical nuance of the source material.

It is more to do with the fact that there is no reason to use light 'mechs EVER in the campaign game because you start with mediums. It is like a 1d2 weapon in DnD.

 

[Cael]

Question is are they useful in tabletop even in the context of being limited to a lance of four mechs.

Why, yes. Yes, they are.

Perhaps if you actually cracked a tabletop book for a change rather than spending all of your free time shilling for under-performing, under-delivering, name-dropping SJW crowdfunding bandwagoners, you'd have a more holistic perspective of the relationship between tabletop RPGs and strategy games and their computerized counterparts.

Did you know that it's easily possible to run an entire tabletop RPG campaign with absolutely zero trash mob encounters? I know, pretty crazy stuff.

Stupid part is, I already answered that way back in pre-starter. He is asking the same question again and again, hoping for a gotcha moment. Guy is a joke and a bad joke at that.

 

[Duellist_D]

In my experience this bug won't happen if you take enough time with killing the primary target in assassination (as the last one too) so they start trying to run away. It's probably Lando's transmission about the target running away that causes the bug.

Can confirm.
Completely existing the game and then restarting it helped.

 

[Cael]

A few more (some love for large lasers, some slightly surprising comments about "+" weapons and lostech) - and there was another comment about juggernaut being looked at as it's not useful against assaults.

Spoiler

+10 PPCs... Yeah. OK... While we are at it, when can we get our +6 Holy Avenger? Callsign is Paladin, after all...

 

[Duellist_D]

I read a few pages in this thread.
Its a highly amusing one, all this butthurt is really cute and adorable.
Like watching a hall where a bunch of trigglypuffs congregate to derp around.

 

[Blaine]

Stupid part is, I already answered that way back in pre-starter. He is asking the same question again and again, hoping for a gotcha moment. Guy is a joke and a bad joke at that.

He's clearly never played the tabletop game (by his own admission) and has most likely never been in the same time zone with any version of the tabletop rules.

He doesn't want to know the answer, of course. He merely wishes to imply (not express, mind you!) that poor game design on the part of HBS isn't the culprit here, and that the tabletop game suffers from the same drawback.

Keep hiding behind your rating buttons, Infinitron. Obviously, people like me who've actually played classic BattleTech can't be trusted. There's literally nothing else you could do to bypass me, such as read a digital copy of the rules yourself, ask your disingenuous question on one of any number of tabletop gaming discussion boards, use a search engine to find videos of tabletop BattleTech being played, et cetera. Funny thing: You're extremely good at finding answers when they're answers you actually want to find.

Nope, there's clearly nothing you could possibly do to learn the answer to this question. You've done all you could.

 

[Cael]

Stupid part is, I already answered that way back in pre-starter. He is asking the same question again and again, hoping for a gotcha moment. Guy is a joke and a bad joke at that.

He's clearly never played the tabletop game (by his own admission) and has most likely never been in the same time zone with any version of the tabletop rules.

He doesn't want to know the answer, of course. He merely wishes to imply (not express, mind you!) that poor game design on the part of HBS isn't the culprit here, and that the tabletop game suffers from the same drawback.

Keep hiding behind your rating buttons, Infinitron. Obviously, people like me who've actually played classic BattleTech can't be trusted. There's literally nothing else you could do to bypass me, such as read a digital copy of the rules yourself, ask your disingenuous question on one of any number of tabletop gaming discussion boards, use a search engine to find videos of tabletop BattleTech being played, et cetera. Funny thing: You're extremely good at finding answers when they're answers you actually want to find.

Nope, there's clearly nothing you could possibly do to learn the answer to this question. You've done all you could.

At first, it was pretty obvious that the ruleset being used by HBS was bad in many, many ways and nothing like BTech in the slightest. It may appeal to some new age millennial who love the "I got phat lewt" bunch of players who expect a shiny new sword every other encounter ("except more plus-ier!!") than the one before, but was definitely going to put CBT fans offside, mainly because of how fucking stupid some of the rules decisions were. Ballistics being beefed up is a classic example. It is obvious that these guys have never played the game with 'mechs heavier than mediums given how much they believe ballistic weapons to be weak compared to energy weapons (because they are...on 'mechs with low payloads, but when you run into heat issues on heavier 'mechs...). And the talk about large laser being beefed up sounds like another one of those "but lasers should do more damage than PPCs because it is pure energy" arguments coming up.

But then the other even worse stuff started coming out. The performance issues, the obvious laziness ("I didn't think of that!"), the unprofessionalism, the lack of polish, the difficulty in modding, the problems with bugs and crashes, the way it melts hardware. And still, the shills go, "Neener-neener, we can't hear you! HBS is the best and we love slurping its ass!" And like their sjw counterparts, they obsessively downvote others to "show their displeasure" like some Victorian schoolmarm talking down to schoolkids. No arguments, no discussion, just keyboard warrior-ing.

 

[Lord Andre]

drivel, butthurt and faggotry

You've worked yourself into a frenzy and are spouting ridiculous nonsense, spit flying everywhere. The game does the setting justice and it can be quite fun if you actually play it instead of trying to find insignificant bullshit to act outraged about.

 

[Cael]

drivel, butthurt and faggotry

You've worked yourself into a frenzy and are spouting ridiculous nonsense, spit flying everywhere. The game does the setting justice and it can be quite fun if you actually play it instead of trying to find insignificant bullshit to act outraged about.

I didn't think performance issues is "insignificant bullshit", HBS shill. But one never knows what fanbois are wiling to accept from their paymasters. Just... don't drop your pants for them until I've left the room, thanks. There are sights I really don't need to see.

 

[Drakron]

how fucking stupid some of the rules decisions were. Ballistics being beefed up is a classic example. It is obvious that these guys have never played the game with 'mechs heavier than mediums given how much they believe ballistic weapons to be weak compared to energy weapons (because they are...on 'mechs with low payloads, but when you run into heat issues on heavier 'mechs...). And the talk about large laser being beefed up sounds like another one of those "but lasers should do more damage than PPCs because it is pure energy" arguments coming up.

Correct me if I am wrong but isnt the balance of ballistics vs energy been mostly about how to offset how energy is pretty much unlimited ammo they create a lot of heat so mechs goingt full energy after their alpha strike they could not even fire for another 5 minutes as ballistic weapons limited ammo was balaned by the low every requirement so they could really unload but then run out of ammo?

Wasnt balance a number of components were heat sinks, weapon slots and all created a system were mechs had to juggle weight, limited weapon and heat sink slots with their loadouts were a catapult was a hell of a support mech in the LRM configuration but wasnt suitable for prolonged engagements due to eventually run out of ammo?

 

[Lord Andre]

drivel, butthurt and faggotry

You've worked yourself into a frenzy and are spouting ridiculous nonsense, spit flying everywhere. The game does the setting justice and it can be quite fun if you actually play it instead of trying to find insignificant bullshit to act outraged about.

I didn't think performance issues is "insignificant bullshit", HBS shill. But one never knows what fanbois are wiling to accept from their paymasters. Just... don't drop your pants for them until I've left the room, thanks. There are sights I really don't need to see.

Anyone that doesn't agree with my ultra-edgy shit is a shill... usual retard logic.

I run the game on a 4 year old Y50-70 Lenovo laptop and it runs smooth with every setting set to high. These aren't unreasonable specs. Not sure what kind of toasters steamtards trying to run the game on... AMD?

The game isn't even that great but edgy over the top bullshit pisses me of.