Battletech nerds rejoice? Mechwarrior 5 being worked on?

http://pc.ign.com/articles/100/1001659p1.html Check the videos page.

I can't help but be excited.

However.

Mech5 was canceled back in the day in favor of those craptastic Mechassault games. Further, Wizkids really let the franchise go to crap, esp. with them pushing that Dark Ages abomination in attempt to compete with WH40k in the miniatures market. It's also become standard fare these days for major games to be primarily released on consoles with the PC usually a poorly done afterthought (see: Deus Ex 2, Halo, Bioshock). Mech3 was the pinnacle of these games, it was the closest thing to a mech 'sim' that we ever got, and closest to how they tabletop rules work within the confines of a PC game. The mech4 games were fun, don't get me wrong, but they were far more arcadish and played closer to an FPS than a walking tank sim. I'm not holding my breath, BUT I am getting excited here.

Please please please please please PLEASE don't screw this one up guys!

No way.

Wonder if any of the old MekTek guys got hired? I couldn't deal with MW3's net code, but MW4 was years of MP entertainment for me. I couldn't even stand to look at the MechAssault games, you could've replaced the 'mech' with a fluffy pink bunny without changing the game in the slightest.

I bet they screw it up. I bet they screw it up a lot. I bet they make it a MMORPG.

:egypt:

Nahh, they won't make it a MMORPG, but they'll screw it up by making it multi-platform, so it won't have the control setup you'd have on a PC. I still remember how much fun it was to control my Mech with the same joystick, separate throttle and rudder pedals I used for flight sims, back in the day. Nobody (well, almost nobody) makes tactical combat sims any more, just "action" games for a wider market.

If it really was a cockpit-level Mech game for the PC, supporting multi-axis controllers, and all the other elements were in place (decent enemy AI, good terrain, good scenarios that weren't too heavily scripted, non-cheesy plot and voice acting).... I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

"Teaser" videos indeed! Let's see if there's any real meat on those bones.

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Originally Posted by Ramses II CP

No way.

Wonder if any of the old MekTek guys got hired? I couldn't deal with MW3's net code, but MW4 was years of MP entertainment for me. I couldn't even stand to look at the MechAssault games, you could've replaced the 'mech' with a fluffy pink bunny without changing the game in the slightest.

I bet they screw it up. I bet they screw it up a lot. I bet they make it a MMORPG.

:egypt:

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MURDER. YOURE. FAEC.

GOD I hope we are wrong. I seriously do. But I am not holding my breath.

I am willing to bet a paycheck that it will be multiplatform. I am reasonably sure that it will be somewhat arcadish and not a "sim" like I (we?) want, as Mech3 was. I some what doubt but would not be surprised if it turns out to be Dark Ages. Don't know about you guys, but I did not recognize either of the mechs in video 2 or 3, video 1 was just a stupid leg. Video 2 almost looked like a Warhammer, video 3 looked like a really messed up, agile looking Stalker. Who knows, we shall see.

We all realize what the holy grail is hidden in all this, right? Releasing the Mech3 source code as open source. :smitten:

Meh. Failing that, I've got my eye on that Mechwarrior Living Legends mod for Crysis.

What I loved about the Mechwarrior games was being able to map my PC flight sim controllers to control the mech. Joystick for weapons and targeting, separate throttle controller for speed and miscellaneous controls, rudder pedals to twist the torso for circling fire... yeah, baby!

If they're going down that road to a tactical mech combat sim, I'll buy it in a heartbeat (assuming the rest is good -- decent AI, useful terrain, non-cheesy plot and voice acting). If it's a multi-platform "action" game set up for console controllers, I'll pass. The telling point will be what they show of a cockpit view, if any. That was conspicuously absent in the trailers. Anybody can model an external 3D view of a mech these days. Putting the player inside the mech is on a completely different level of game design.

Cool. I might actually have to take an interest in this one.


My primary experience with the series was with Mechwarrior 4, which I know isn't supposed to be the greatest (either 2 or 3 seems to be the best, depending on who you ask). Still, my old roommates and I had a lot of fun playing it, especially in inter-clan matches....although our in-house (literally) skirmishes were quite enjoyable as well. ~;) I was never as good at the as the other three, but I did have a good time nonetheless. Would love to see another game like it return, especially as I'm also a longtime fan of the BattleTech universe (I played the pen-and-paper RPG back in the day).

I never got into MW (tried the M4 demo but joysticks are ultimately too complicated for me).

Now a Mech Commander 3...

I'm very much MW2, DOS era when it comes to BattleTech - that game had a lot of class.

MW3 was simply absymal. I've never seen a game so lacking (and with so many publishers involved either). MW4 with it's "plot" and tacky cutscenes was another disaster for me. I can't believe how they dumbed these games down and took the flexibility away from the player. I also hated the departure from the clans in MW2 to the gung ho IS in MW3 and MW4 especially. And then there's the fact that MS bought FASA back in 2000...

For me the pinnacle of the series was the first one. As primitive as it seems now it was a computerized version of the original game. I’m forgetting the name of the war between the Wolf and Jade Falcon clans (Trial of Refusal or something) but that’s how I was introduced to the Battletech universe. Yea, I’m a Wolf Clan in Exile geek. I wish them well.

I enjoy the cultural significance as well: Kerensky and the other Russian as well as the Mongol influences.

Of course it will be multiplatform because they will expect half the PC crowd to get it from pirate bay or whatever replaces it. And if they made it a simulation-like game, they would likely get even less sales.
and if it looks as good as the trailer suggests, the development costs could be high...

I suspect something like Mafia 2, you think it will be great because of the awesopme predecessor(s) and then you see some actual gameplay footage and it looks exactly like those 200 other action games. :no:

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Originally Posted by Vladimir

For me the pinnacle of the series was the first one. As primitive as it seems now it was a computerized version of the original game. I’m forgetting the name of the war between the Wolf and Jade Falcon clans (Trial of Refusal or something) but that’s how I was introduced to the Battletech universe. Yea, I’m a Wolf Clan in Exile geek. I wish them well.

I enjoy the cultural significance as well: Kerensky and the other Russian as well as the Mongol influences.

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Yes the clans were unique in that they had all that technology and the will to blow it all up and themselves with it. No ejecting or salvage etc. :inquisitive:

I'm not sure what the war was called, but the only "trials" I can think of are the "trials of grievance", where those in the same clan would settle their differences and/or advance in rank. The clans theme of MW2 had a lot of class and subtlety whereas the later games were tacky with poorly acted cut scenes etc.

MW2 had good sound effects and graphics for it's time, and if you were fortunate to have the 3dfx edition you had 3d acceleration using glide as well. I like the "bitching betty" cockpit info as well. It would calmy tell you pretty much everything you needed to know: "critical hit, weapon destroyed", "connecting to satellite link" as well as info on your Mechs heat build up (in kelvin). You'd also be informed of the ambient temperature when you dropped in to the combat zone. etc. It was much more like a sim, much more polished with less gimmicks and the idiocy that was in the later games. (I would play it now if I could).

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Originally Posted by Caravel

It was much more like a sim, much more polished with less gimmicks and the idiocy that was in the later games. (I would play it now if I could).

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I bring you salvation and a firm reprimand.

Never played the 1st Mech game.

Next, I absolutely LOVED Mech2, all 3 of em. I still have all 3 original DOS CDs and the Titanium Trilogy. It was also my unwitting introduction to everything Battletech, which I didn't realize was also a PnP game. My first true online gaming experience with a complete stranger was with some guy I sorta knew through Compuserve who had Mech2 also, we played Netmech over the modem a few times. He also taught me the 2AC20 Direwolf instakill trick. I can't count the number of hours that Mercenaries sucked out of my life.

That said, I still think Mech3 was the best, but only by a small margin. It was everything I wanted in an updated Mech game. Better graphics, sim-like gameplay, same Btech type mech configurations and goodness, and the MFBs and lancemates added a personal touch to the game. I did miss the original bitchin' betty though, the new one wasn't that great. There was nothing nonsense or gimmicky about it. :whip: :beam: Bad Caravel!

The Mech4 games were arcadefests, BUT I still enjoyed them, just not nearly as much as the original 2.

Now, for your salvation. http://www.warp13.co.uk/mech2 Just use MW2hook. You need the Win95 versions or Titanium trilogy versions of the game. PM me if you run into problems. I just got done beating all 3 original Mech2 games a month ago after I found that.

:balloon2:

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Originally Posted by Whacker

I bring you salvation and a firm reprimand.

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:sweatdrop:

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Originally Posted by Whacker

Never played the 1st Mech game.

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Neither have I. It's a very old game.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

That said, I still think Mech3 was the best, but only by a small margin. It was everything I wanted in an updated Mech game. Better graphics, sim-like gameplay, same Btech type mech configurations and goodness, and the MFBs and lancemates added a personal touch to the game. I did miss the original bitchin' betty though, the new one wasn't that great. There was nothing nonsense or gimmicky about it. :whip: :beam: Bad Caravel!

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It was awful. I actually think I still have it somewhere along with the expansion pack... or I might have sent it to the charity shop years ago... :inquisitive:

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Originally Posted by Whacker

The Mech4 games were arcadefests, BUT I still enjoyed them, just not nearly as much as the original 2.

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It was quite simply craptastic. I have it somewhere but I'm less likely to play that than even MW3.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

Now, for your salvation. http://www.warp13.co.uk/mech2 Just use MW2hook. You need the Win95 versions or Titanium trilogy versions of the game. PM me if you run into problems. I just got done beating all 3 original Mech2 games a month ago after I found that.

:balloon2:

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Well thanks for that. I will certainly give it a go, if I can come by the MW2 Windows 95 version. I wasn't actually a big fan of Mercenaries or even GBL - it's the original MW2 that is the best for me. I actually have the Mercenaries 3dfx edition, which was only available with 3dfx Voodoo Rush graphics cards...

:bow:

OH MY GOD.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/100/1002275p1.html

Here's the interview: http://pc.ign.com/articles/100/1002164p1.html

New video! It's confirmed, takes place in 3015, based on a Kurita invasion.

Positives: It LOOKS beautiful. I was right, it was a Warhammer! HAH! It LOOKS like a sim! Things are big and clunky and don't move like friggin' gundams.

Negatives: It's going to be a stupid multiplatform game. The interfaces looks decidedly consoleish and horribly oversimplified. I hope to god they fix that. Bad interfaces and controls can ruin a game completely.

Against all better judgment I am getting pretty excited now!

Edit - And I just had a LOT of the wind taken out of my sails.

"Russ Bullock: First and foremost, in this day and age and this time, we've all played the PC games in the past and absolutely loved them. But certainly going forward, just out of necessity and because we think we can, we're definitely very focused also on the Xbox 360. So we're very focused on the console standpoint moving forward. Now, we still need to work out a lot with our chosen publishing partner, so some of these questions will become answered, but I think that Jordan and I are in agreement that we want to make a MechWarrior game. "

Yet again, the PC becomes a simple afterthought.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

Yet again, the PC becomes a simple afterthought.

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No surprise there. The 2 joystick console controller should work well for moving the mech and rotating the body, fiddling with weapon cycles and other stuff will probably be kludged up though. The vid looks nice, destructible terrain and all, and I like the bit about making all mechs viable throughout the campaign. Watched the rewind vid, pretty cool that they added visual cues like weapon cooling and such.

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned they ****** it up good and proper already by wasting it on a console. This isn't a MW game, it's just the next iteration of MechAssault. Blech. Auto-targetting. Locked hardware controllers. No 3rd party tools or innovation.

Mark my words, just like the MA series this is another generic bad game profiteering on the MW name. :thumbsdown:

:egypt:

Being a fan of the Mechwarrior games, and having played all the games (still couldn't finish the last mission in Ghost Bear Legacy, the one in the ice cave i think....), this is one welcome news. That is until I read they just did the latest Transformers game(?). Has anyone seen or played this game?

In related news, MW4 (and ex-packs) will be free to download from BattleTech.com soon.
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/m...letech-com.php

Just let me get a bushwacker, please!

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Originally Posted by drone

No surprise there. The 2 joystick console controller should work well for moving the mech and rotating the body, fiddling with weapon cycles and other stuff will probably be kludged up though. The vid looks nice, destructible terrain and all, and I like the bit about making all mechs viable throughout the campaign. Watched the rewind vid, pretty cool that they added visual cues like weapon cooling and such.

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Ahh…I remember being able to play the game from a single, huge, joystick. Torso rotation, throttle, and everything.

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Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good

Just let me get a bushwacker, please!

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The Timberwolf is my baby. I love that thing more than 100 tonners. I would make modifications for an anti-missile system or two. It was poorly implemented in console games though.

The Timber Wolf was top class. I liked the Summoner, Hellbringer and Mad Dog as well though. I was never that keen on the big assault class mechs such as the Dire Wolf or Masakari - you get too overconfident in those. As for the IS mechs, they're basically crap and inferior in design and function. So what is there to like?

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Originally Posted by Caravel

The Timber Wolf was top class. I liked the Summoner, Hellbringer and Mad Dog as well though. I was never that keen on the big assault class mechs such as the Dire Wolf or Masakari - you get too overconfident in those. As for the IS mechs, they're basically crap and inferior in design and function. So what is there to like?

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Quoted for truth.

Early Clan invasion IS tech was just too unwieldy to use on a decent weapons platform. The game designers did a good job when they created Clan tech. Powerful and compact without going overboard.

What I've always been told and my impressions somewhat support is that clan tech is generally lighter and hits harder, but it also produces more heat and is a bit more fragile. IS PPC vs Clan ErPPC for example. Clan mechs seem to be able to take roughly the same amount of punishment as their IS counterparts, but they can load more gear due to more efficient design. I think the reason the IS kept getting their asses handed to them was the clan ruthlessness and superior weaponry. ALL clan weapons as I understand it outdistance their IS counterparts by a good margin.

The ballistics weapons (autocannons) also have a higher rate of fire compared to the IS equivalents.

[/geek mode on]

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Originally Posted by Whacker

What I've always been told and my impressions somewhat support is that clan tech is generally lighter and hits harder, but it also produces more heat and is a bit more fragile. IS PPC vs Clan ErPPC for example. Clan mechs seem to be able to take roughly the same amount of punishment as their IS counterparts, but they can load more gear due to more efficient design. I think the reason the IS kept getting their asses handed to them was the clan ruthlessness and superior weaponry. ALL clan weapons as I understand it outdistance their IS counterparts by a good margin.

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Well certainly in the pen-and-paper version, Clan mechs outclass their IS counterparts in virtually every way. Their weapons are longer range, do more damage, and usually generate less heat. In addition, Clan armor composites give them around 20% more protection (IIRC) than those of the IS, and their engines allow their mechs to be significantly faster. Taken all together, a single Clan mech is roughly equal to two IS mechs of the same weight class -- and it will still often win even then, as Clan pilots receive so much more....intensive training than their IS counterparts that when they "graduate" to regular combat duty, they're quite literally already hardened veterans.

The caveat, however, is that Clan mechs are much more expensive than IS mechs, and cannot afford to field as many. Plus, there are hints (although not specifically confirmed) that the Clans don't have the same population and manpower pools that the Great Houses of the IS do. So there are at least some offsetting advantages.


[/geek mode off]


Sorry, couldn't resist. ~D :embarassed:

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Originally Posted by Caravel

The Timber Wolf was top class. I liked the Summoner, Hellbringer and Mad Dog as well though. I was never that keen on the big assault class mechs such as the Dire Wolf or Masakari - you get too overconfident in those.

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Apparently they're including a sort of RPG ability to slowly improve whatever class you prefer, instead of steadily moving up through bigger and bigger mechs during the game. So you can stick with a light or medium class mech throughout the game and still win it. Not sure how they'll balance that, though. It won't look right if you can easily take down the assault mechs with something much lighter. Still, I like the concept.

Y'know, you can release your nerd rage all over me if you want, but I always thought that Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries was the most fun (not the actual Mechwarrior 4; that one was kinda dull.) I mean, granted, playing with a real joystick is fun, but I never had either the money or the room on my desk for a joystick, so the second and third games were really hampered for me; plus I never got Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries. The fourth game just worked the best with what I had. Personally, I just wish that the Mercenaries missions had been more extensive and possibly sandboxier; I wouldn't mind playing a few hundred missions per game, even if it meant many of them were "stock" missions randomly created (hey, war is hell, and it can be kinda boring too.) I guess the 'Mechs could have also been "clunkier" as Whacker so eloquently put it.

The IS does alright when they rip off clan stuff.

Like my baby, the Bushwhacker. ^_^

Get MechWarrior 4 for Free Soon

I quite liked Mechcommander. Too bad that was discontinued.

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Originally Posted by FactionHeir

I quite liked Mechcommander. Too bad that was discontinued.

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Despite being based around the IS, Mechcommander was a decent game. It's probably one of the games that I was always surprised to find myself replaying. I've never played any beyond the first one though.

Me neither.

The second one isn't as good; it lost something in translation to 3d. The controls aren't terribly good and I think the live action stuff crossed the line from good cheesey to bad.

Unfortunately MC1 freezes on my computer and MC2 doesn't. :(

MechCommander 2 was (IMHO) broken as released, but fans fixed it a few years later and made it even better than the first one. I played through a fan mod about 3 years ago that was fantastic, but I've lost the link (And my MC2 disks) since. :thumbsdown:

:egypt:

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Originally Posted by Ramses II CP

MechCommander 2 was (IMHO) broken as released, but fans fixed it a few years later and made it even better than the first one. I played through a fan mod about 3 years ago that was fantastic, but I've lost the link (And my MC2 disks) since. :thumbsdown:

:egypt:

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This was probably the mod: http://www.wolfman-x.net/

And both games are now free, 1 and 2. They've even released the complete source code for MC2 as part of the XNA devkit. You can download them all here: http://mechcommander.org/

downloading, thanks :grin:

I wasn't aware there was a mod for MC2. I will give that a go (in between STW) when I finish the other game I'm on at the moment.

:bow:

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Originally Posted by Whacker

This was probably the mod: http://www.wolfman-x.net/

And both games are now free, 1 and 2. They've even released the complete source code for MC2 as part of the XNA devkit. You can download them all here: http://mechcommander.org/

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That was, in fact, the excellent mod I played and it looks as though some work has been done on it since I last took a swing at it. Since the game is free now I should make another run through, see what's changed. Mostly I remember it actually being difficult in some spots, forcing me to think and conserve resources to succeed.

I'm still very sad that MW5 is going to be a console game. :thumbsdown:

:egypt:

Honestly, I didn't find the mod to be very hard at all. If anything I noticed a few bugs, like the list of clan mechs available for purchase didn't update after a bit. The other really, really obnoxious one was that an updated building model would explode when a mech walked close to it, and it'd invariably take out the mech and the surrounding entire 3 city blocks.

Overall I found the game to be not hard at all, stock and modded. The trick to everything is to pull small groups of enemies and deal with them individually. Mechs are the easiest, just hold numpad 8 when you click to attack so they'll aim for the cockpit. A few shots with PPCs and you have a perfect mech to salvage.

Two things I wanted to mod in. First, give the stupid repair bays and repair trucks a lot more resource points. Having a repair truck run out before it's done patching up even half of my badly mauled Zeus was obnoxious. Second, I want the clan heatsinks to be purchasable in the customization menu.

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Originally Posted by Whacker

Honestly, I didn't find the mod to be very hard at all. If anything I noticed a few bugs, like the list of clan mechs available for purchase didn't update after a bit. The other really, really obnoxious one was that an updated building model would explode when a mech walked close to it, and it'd invariably take out the mech and the surrounding entire 3 city blocks.

Overall I found the game to be not hard at all, stock and modded. The trick to everything is to pull small groups of enemies and deal with them individually. Mechs are the easiest, just hold numpad 8 when you click to attack so they'll aim for the cockpit. A few shots with PPCs and you have a perfect mech to salvage.

Two things I wanted to mod in. First, give the stupid repair bays and repair trucks a lot more resource points. Having a repair truck run out before it's done patching up even half of my badly mauled Zeus was obnoxious. Second, I want the clan heatsinks to be purchasable in the customization menu.

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Hrm, as I recall back when I played it the first five or six levels were tough due mostly to tech and mech quantity differences. The basic mechanic of the gameplay, draw individuals and overwhelm them, is simple so once you accumulate the resources to have a decent stable of mechs the game gets a lot easier.

Things may have changed since then, I guess. Eventually I'll make another run through and see. The unmodded game was pathetically easy and broken in a number of ways.

:egypt:

Hope it's not too off-topic but I wanted to expand on this a little:

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Originally Posted by drone

In related news, MW4 (and ex-packs) will be free to download from BattleTech.com soon.
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/m...letech-com.php

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Here is a Q&A thread from the people who will be releasing MW4. Apparently it's only going to be Mercenaries (fine with me, that was the best one by far, campaign-wise) plus some expansions and MekPak 3.1, with MekPak 4 possibly coming later. (I never even knew those MekPak things existed... sounds fun.) It will be a few weeks until release, so probably August, maybe a little later.

The Mekpaks are excellent, Mektek did great work IMHO. All the usual whining came from all the usual suspects, but loads of added content for free is nothing to sneeze at IMHO.

There's still a multiplayer league running out there that I used to play in called MechWarrior Leagues:

http://www.mechwarriorleagues.com/cg...main/index.cgi

:egypt:

The best things that Mektek and the HDP team fixed were the stupid sounds, IMO. I couldn't stand those damn things.

Here you have what amounts to a big huge sabot shotgun that can punch through very heavy armor and does ridiculous damage. What does it sound like?

"BLOOOOP!!!!"

https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8256/facepalmh.jpg

:wall:

Well, I'm just waiting for MechWarrior: Living Legends mod for Crysis myself, until I can check if the new Mechwarrior game is any good or Mechassault in sheep's clothes (never played Mechassault, but have so far not read one positive post about it on various fora).

And as for my faction preference, well my signature image should give a good indication :grin:

@Martok:
Clans have better tech and all that yeah. But what offsets them is that they have 710 million or so total population with 0,01 percent of those as warrior caste (compared to Inner Sphere, where any modest planet has average 1-2 billion inhabitants). In addition their worlds are very resource-poor. Plus, what many people seem to not realize is that the Clans are VERY authoritarian...one Clan was outright annihilated because they espoused unClanlike tendencies such as democracy, free speech and freedom. Most Clans can be compared to ancient city states where only a small minority ruled, with the rest having nothing to say.

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Originally Posted by Krusader

one Clan was outright annihilated because they espoused unClanlike tendencies such as democracy, free speech and freedom.

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Clan Wolverine. The fabled Minnesota Tribe is rumored to be the clan's last remnant. ~D

EDIT: And sadly, yes, I really did know that off the top of my head. (Gods, I'm such a nerd sometimes....) :gah2:

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Originally Posted by Martok

Clan Wolverine. The fabled Minnesota Tribe is rumored to be the clan's last remnant. ~D

EDIT: And sadly, yes, I really did know that off the top of my head. (Gods, I'm such a nerd sometimes....) :gah2:

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Ain't that bad...I even know they used to be the Star League Defense Force 331st Minnesota Division. :gah2:

About Minnesota Tribe:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

DNA tests of a fallen Minnesota Tribe warrior was conducted by the Grand Kurultai and proved that they were indeed Clan Wolverine...and if latest sourcebooks on Jihad storyline are true, the Clan Wolverine remnant is a faction within the Word of Blake.

Let's keep the discussion clean and not mention any of that horrific, banal Dark Ages nonsense which does not exist. *covers ears, closes eyes, and hums to self*

What I would have absolutely LOVED is them pulling something like Lucasarts did with Bioware. They wiped the slate clean, went back to a relatively untapped/unused era and started from scratch. Lo and behold they ended up producing what IMO ranks up there with the best PC RPGs of all time, KOTOR1. Imagine if they'd done the same thing except going back to the height of the Star League. :sweetheart:

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Originally Posted by Whacker

Let's keep the discussion clean and not mention any of that horrific, banal Dark Ages nonsense which does not exist. *covers ears, closes eyes, and hums to self*

What I would have absolutely LOVED is them pulling something like Lucasarts did with Bioware. They wiped the slate clean, went back to a relatively untapped/unused era and started from scratch. Lo and behold they ended up producing what IMO ranks up there with the best PC RPGs of all time, KOTOR1. Imagine if they'd done the same thing except going back to the height of the Star League. :sweetheart:

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Dark Age is pretty much dead by now.

And the tabletop miniature game is having its Reneissance atm, with new books, minis and whatnot being released including Anniversary book with loads of art, boxsets with 3025 era mechs and a Clan 3050 era boxset later. Add in that they have been allowed to use certain iconic BattleMechs from before now, the so-called "Unseen". Classic Battletech is simply called Battletech now, which is indicative about Dark Age's status. Granted the legacy of Dark Age is that the new timeline the Jihad (3067-3082) has to be written and follow certain historical tidbits established by Dark Age. Although the Jihad was planned by the original creators though.

As for the PC game. I'll say again. I hope they don't dumb it down for a general console audience and instead focus on Battletech fans. As someone said 25 million people have used one kind of Battletech product, be it RPG, miniatures, novels, video games etc.

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Originally Posted by Martok

Clan Wolverine. The fabled Minnesota Tribe is rumored to be the clan's last remnant. ~D

EDIT: And sadly, yes, I really did know that off the top of my head. (Gods, I'm such a nerd sometimes....) :gah2:

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:jawdrop:

The clan that shall not be named. You will pay for this, freebirth!

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Originally Posted by Krusader

As for the PC game. I'll say again. I hope they don't dumb it down for a general console audience and instead focus on Battletech fans. As someone said 25 million people have used one kind of Battletech product, be it RPG, miniatures, novels, video games etc.

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I'm not holding out any hope whatsoever after reading the interview with the devs.

What I am considering is writing an impassioned email to them begging for a few scraps and pittances. For one, if they just give us the ability to FIX crap. That's honestly all I ask. Oblivion and Fallout had/have horrible, garbage interfaces that work great for the console but suck horribly for the PC. Even now with what we know and how to modify them, the best mods still fall way short of what could, should be possible. Give us the ability to script, configure, whatever these things ourselves and that'll go a long, long way. There seems to be this overriding mentality that simplicity is best and everything should be boiled down to about 4 control actions, including WASD/mouse, and that the average gamer has no more IQ or ability to memorize 5 keystrokes in a game. FFS, come on. I had every control memorized for several games as complex as ATF simultaneously, and I'm no genius by any means.

Crap, crap, crap. Some bad news regarding the license(s) for certain Mechs:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Quote:

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“Sometimes things just don’t go as you want them to.”

That’s always an auspicious beginning to anything, isn’t it? Well, in this case it’s true. A few weeks back, we came out with some fantastic news. We were bringing the ‘Unseen’ back! We reviewed documents, talked to a great many people, and spent time with some lawyers. We felt we had a solid position.

Sadly, some of the information we acted upon turned out to be inaccurate. Twelve of the ‘Unseen’ images previously used within the BattleTech universe were involved in a court case in the 1990s: Archer, Longbow, Rifleman, Warhammer, Wasp, Stinger, Phoenix Hawk, Crusader, Marauder, Stinger LAM, Wasp LAM and Phoenix Hawk LAM. This we knew. But at the end of that court case, as part of a confidential settlement, it was agreed that the sole and exclusive world-wide right to these images (outside of Japan) would rest with another US company.

It is for this reason that we have chosen to revise our plans to publish these specific images in current product.

Though we spoke with a number of individuals before making our initial decision, no one involved in Catalyst was aware of this agreement. Still, the owner to these images has been very cool with us about the whole situation. They are a good group of people, and we will continue our attempts to work with them as we look toward the future.

I hope you all know, this was something we attempted out of a true passion to bring you everything you have wanted out of BattleTech over the past 25 years. This was one of those big holes we thought we could patch, and sadly we were wrong. I know there are times where it’s easy to see Catalyst as “The Powers that Be” for the games we make, but let me use this as an opportunity to remind you that we are also huge, huge fans (just in case you didn’t already know that from my years of blogs). Over the past two years there have been several projects behind the scenes that we’ve been working like crazy on because WE want to see BattleTech be a great game from every angle. We want it approachable for beginners, and compelling for veterans. More than anything we want to be able to share as much as we can from 25 years worth of story and products… and this was a big piece of that puzzle. Yet we simply can’t in this one case, and for that we as fans and game designers are truly saddened.

So after all of that, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies. Though we’re still able to use many of the unseen designs, these core twelve remain some of the most beloved. I hope you understand it was entirely out of our own passion for the game that this entire situation has unfolded as it did.

The BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction PDF has been adjusted accordingly, as has the printed product

Thank you all for your support over these past few years. It’s what has made even set backs like this all worth it as we continued forward making a great game even better.

Randall Bills, Managing Developer Catalyst Game Labs

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So in short, most of the mechs I would've wanted to play as are not even going to be in the game. :furious3: For me, that alone is practically reason enough to not get it.

couldnt they just tweek them slightly in the cosmetics department and change the name?

Yeah, wasn't happy myself. Of the earliest Mechs, the Warhammer is among my favourites. But when it comes to Battletech rights and licenses, its just one big snafu. Microsoft owns video game rights, Eisner movie rights and some third company other rights again.

Wait, what is this "unseen" thing they're talking about?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Martok

Crap, crap, crap. Some bad news regarding the license(s) for certain Mechs:




So in short, most of the mechs I would've wanted to play as are not even going to be in the game. :furious3: For me, that alone is practically reason enough to not get it.

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They've already been used in the other games, if I remember correctly. I believe this applies only to the tabletop games.

The unseen mechs, or the ones that don't suck anyway (The LAMS, I'm sorry to say, are lousy art and ripped off from other stuff anyway), are in the expansions to MechWarrior 4. If I recall correctly the Longbow was a stock Mercenaries mech too, so it was put in by MS/FASA before Mektek got involved.

That doesn't mean they'd be in a new game necessarily, but it does imply that Microsoft has or had some access to the rights.

:egypt:

No land-air mechs? What a shame. They always rocked in tabletop battles.

The Warhammers can be seen in some ports of Japanese Mecha to American... sometimes with rather interesting joining of different series into the same universe/arc.

From memory they are in the same series as the LAMs. And are kind of a ship defense unit that stays put (doesn't fly off) and do a fair amount of damage just walking on the surface.

anyone every play on a battletech mux?

http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/...1021493p1.html
MechWarrior in Legal Trouble?

Harmony Gold claims that parts of the upcoming MechWarrior game's trailer violate its trademarks.

Huzzah! MekTek finally gets the legal go-ahead from Microsoft for the free MechWarrior 4 release. Took M$ long enough, rumor has it they almost ruined MekTek by just sitting on this.
http://www.mektek.net/index.php?ind=...ingle&ide=1143

When does the Free Release come out?

Not sure. I think all the work is done, they were just trying to clear legal hurdles. I would imagine it would be out in a couple of months. I'll definitely post when it is released.

And it's out.
http://games.spreadit.org/mechwarrio...ek/2010/05/02/

Or, at least I think so. MekTek's servers are getting hammered, so you might want to wait a few days.

They should have done it over a torrent as well.

I'll get it later.

I just hope gog.com will get to release the older Mechwarrior games, notably Mechwarrior 2 with Ghost Bear Legacy. And also the Heavy Gear ones.

I think there are a few torrents up for it. Their installer is basically a torrent system anyway, or I was led to believe.

Urgh, I am really not happy. There is a ton of Spyware/Virus plants all over google search.

However, I found a mirror download to the torrent on another forum. Hopefully, it is all safe.

Quote:

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Here you go guys

Torrent Mirror

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AL579RW9

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To use the file, you rename the MTX extention to .zip and unzip it.


Edit: There seems to be patches and other things. Perhaps it is best to wait till everything is sorted.

Is mech 4 multiplayer?

I just read yesterday that it needs a custom downloader but the site where you can get that is (or was at the time of reading) inaccessible and even those who got the downloader have connection problems, restarting downloads and corrupted files. Doesn't sound too good. :shrug:

My understanding is that you first have to download MTX, (basically, their download/patch manager), and then get it through that mechanism. Since MekTek decided to go this route, instead of through a decent torrent mechanism, their server is a molten pile. Give them a few days to sort it out. On a related note, if you type "mektek" into Google, "mektek down" is the second option. :laugh4:
http://www.thenonews.com/news/game-n...eat-a-ppc.html

Bump! MekTek is back online, and ready to go.
http://mektek.net/projects/mw4/index.html

Watching these videos made me so nostalgic.