Battletech nerds rejoice? Mechwarrior 5 being worked on?

[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

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Just let me get a bushwacker, please!

[Vladimir]

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.

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

Just let me get a bushwacker, please!

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.

[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?

[Vladimir]

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?

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.

[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.

[caravel]

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

[Martok]

[/geek mode on]

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.

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.

[Zenicetus]

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.

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.

[Reverend Joe]

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

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

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.

[Ramses II CP]

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

[Whacker]

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!!!!"

[Krusader]

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

@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.

[Martok]

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

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

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

[Krusader]

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

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

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

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.

[Vladimir]

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

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

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