BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

[tgb]

So far I've played the tutorial and part of the first story mission. I like what I see up to this point (although not as much as XCOM), but with a few caveats:

Long loading times

The tutorial is useless, consisting of "move there" and "shoot at that". If I hadn't watched a couple of video guides, I probably wouldn't understand the interface or HUD at all.

There aren't enough tool tips. See above.

No difficulty selection.

Only one save slot. From what I can tell it's Ironman or nothing.

Unless you know the lore (which I don't) the story is convoluted and confusing. It's like Game of Thrones but starting in the middle of the fourth season.

I'll be able to get back to it this afternoon and will add more later.

Correction, I’ve been told at QT3, that there is more than one save slot. You might want to doublecheck.

That was me that told you.

[stessier]

Okay, that's funny.

[Grifman]

That was me that told you.

Hahaha, did you change your name there? I thought you were "tgb" there also.

[tgb]

That was me that told you.

Hahaha, did you change your name there? I thought you were "tgb" there also.

I was, but when I got a new computer my account got messed up and I had to register again. Hence "Sonoftgb".

Can someone please explain why, even though there’s some distance between my mech and the target, my only combat option is melee?

[IceBear]

Hmmm...there was a manual for the skirmish beat that detailed the interface but doesn't look like it's in the final game

[IceBear]

That was me that told you.

Hahaha, did you change your name there? I thought you were "tgb" there also.

I was, but when I got a new computer my account got messed up and I had to register again. Hence "Sonoftgb".

Can someone please explain why, even though there’s some distance between my mech and the target, my only combat option is melee?

No line of sight to the target (keep in mind if all your weapons are on your right arm and you didn't torso twist to get them in the arc it's like you have no LOS)

Target is out of range of your weapons?

Target is inside minimum range?

You turned off your weapons?

[tgb]

I didn't turn weapons off and I had LOS and was facing the right way. Could be I was inside minimum range. I need to learn that shit.

[IceBear]

What was the mech and loadout? Another possibility is that all your weapons were destroyed?

[NickAragua]

Just taking a five second alt-tab break to point out that this game is freaking amazing.

My guess is that you can press "v" to switch out of melee mode and back to your guns.

[jztemple2]

Finally home, ate dinner with the missus and am finally ready to dive in. Sorry, no time for intro cutscenes.

[El Guapo]

Downloading now!

[jztemple2]

Should I feel bad that I'm just clicking through the story info about House of this and Lady that? That just seems way above my pay grade. I just want to pilot mechs and shoot things. Lots of things

[El Guapo]

And.... it won't start! Crashes whenever I try to boot it up. It created a crash report folder and asked me to "send it to the developer of the game", but no information on e-mail address or otherwise where to route it. So...that's great.

[jztemple2]

Well, that sucks

You can go to the BattleTech forum and post in the bug reports subforum. You should be able to upload your zipped crash folder there.

[jztemple2]

Just found this over on the Paradox forum, Cyttorak's Illustrated Tutorial, has info on the strategy level of the game as well as the tactical.

And on this forum post, Weapon stats overview, has a downloadable spreadsheet to help you design your Mech.

[El Guapo]

Well, that sucks

You can go to the BattleTech forum and post in the bug reports subforum. You should be able to upload your zipped crash folder there.

Yeah, I just did that.

I hate playing computer games on computers.

[gbasden]

Just taking a five second alt-tab break to point out that this game is freaking amazing.

Word.

[IceBear]

I think most of us that know about pulse lasers, gauss rifles, ultra autocannons, etc know enough about the lore to know why they aren't in the game (although I've seen enough lostech comments to think you might find them later). For those that don't the Star League Defense Force left the inner sphere (the collective name for colonized space) hundreds of years before the time period of this game...3025 (which was the time period of the original tabletop game). In the centuries of warfare after the SLDF left the understanding of much technology was lost...what the Inner sphere can produce now is a pale shadow of what it could...basically the remaining factories are off limits to warfare targets to keep from losing anymore. There are still caches of SLDF weapons out there which might contain these weapons. In a few more decades (Battletech 2!!!) the descendants of the SLDF (now calling themselves the Clans) will invade and bring all those goodies you remember from the mechwarrior games

[Paingod]

Still resisting the urge to check guides and spoilers.

I played in the Beta a little, and I've gone through 4 missions in the Campaign (2 scripted, 2 random). My impressions so far are:

Spoiler:

• It's BattleTech. I've never played the tabletop version, but have played almost every PC game related to it - from MechWarrior 2 to MechCommander to MechWarrior Online. There is no mistaking it, and I loves me some giant robots.
• They get the sense of scale and power right. I'm playing through the campaign and don't yet feel like Mechs rain from the sky in abundance - like I do in MWO and MechWarrior Mercenaries. The feeling will probably kick in, though. I'm still amused that I'm piloting my "Ancestral" Mech.
• A previous comment about repetitiveness in missions is so far accurate. The game even mocks it. One of the NPC's talks about it. "It's a giant robot, you're going to get missions to blow things up" ... so far all four missions has been just this. That's fine. It's why I'm there.
• Combat mechanics have so far been relatively intuitive for me, but again - I've been playing Mech games for 20 years.
• Combat itself feels a little clunky, but I'm not a ninja, I'm in a Mech - so clunky doesn't feel out of place.
  • Hitting an enemy Mech in the leg with a PPC and just devastating it after it fell over. Yay!
  • Having an enemy Mech run up to my character (not a hired Mech) and one-shotting me in the head with melee. Killed me. I didn't wait to see if that was game-over at the end of the mission. I just re-loaded. Boo.
  • Melee attacks don't actually make contact sometimes, even if they hit.
  • Death from Above! Hooray! My are my legs broken? I have to pay to fix what? Dammit. Use with caution.
  • As far as tactical smoothness, it's no XCOM - which has beautifully oiled tactical mechanics. It works, but it's not well oiled. It's more grinding gears and clunking. Not broken or annoying, but not slick. I haven't been able to do any flanking or intense cover/fire/dodge/run fights. Everything so far has been "Get up there, knock 'em down"
  • That doesn't mean I don't have options, though. Inspiration lends itself to a couple called shots each fight. Knocked down mechs get called shots on them. Cover/Evade/Hiding are essential. I just don't yet feel like there's a point to trying more than marginal finesse.
• The metagame has been easy enough to follow, but I admit that I haven't done much. I haven't even customized a Mech yet. I haven't felt a need to.
  • I'm already doing an eyeroll at Pilot Damage. A pilot gets hurt for 1 out of 3 damage and is out for almost a month. Since getting hurt is a random chance, it's happened in half my missions. I'm picking up extra pilots (and thus costs) just to cover it. I suppose it's a good way to keep me rotating pilots in and out, but I tend to do that anyway to build a robust roster.
  • The stock Mechs I started with have been pretty functional.
  • The game does allude to wanting to use different builds for different environments because of heat concerns, though - from arid to low-atmo to open vacuum. I've seen temperate and arid so far, day and night.
  • Repairs aren't too burdensome, but I've yet to get my ass handed to me and come limping home.
  • Salvage is essential, and I like that you negotiate that against your contract price - do you need money or parts right now?
  • I'm undecided about the Mech salvage mechanic - so far every Mech I've seen for salvage or on the market comes in pieces. You need to get three pieces to make the Mech. The most salvage I've seen is two pieces at once.
  • I like that some weapons are "unique" and get little extra bonuses, like finding an LRM10 on the market with +1 Stabilize Damage - making it easier to knock over enemies. I didn't buy it, though. Would have cost me 1/3 of my total cash.
  • There's an abundance of talk about my huge debt to banks and loan sharks, but I've yet to see a way to pay them off. I'm really hoping I'm not going to be flush with cash and still dragging along a tacked-on "debt story" at some point.
  • I like the interaction with my crew leaders so far. They've been pretty helpful.
  • The little "decisions" during downtime between missions haven't been hard choices to make. I'd like it to feel more meaningful and not "This is the obvious right choice" - but I can live with it. So far it's lead to some minor bonuses to morale.
• There's more reading in this title than any previous Mech title. Someone mentioned it feels like being dropped into Season 4 of Game of Thrones; if I skipped all the cut scenes and text, I might feel that way.
  The story is pretty straight-forward so far.

Do I love the game so far? As far as a Tactical Mech Combat game, yes. It's close to (the original) MechCommander so far in terms of keeping me engaged, which is good. It may surpass that when I get more into it. We'll see.

[IceBear]

Your main character cannot die, just a fyi. I had mine incapacitated and he's still in the hospital (66 days). If your NPC pilots get incapacitated they can die (I think there's a chance they will live based on their guts score)

I headshotted a mech and all 3 pieces were available for salvage. The less damage you do to it and the better the chance of multiple pieces.

As for pilot injuries that was in the pen and paper (and Jordan invented Battletech so I'm ok with it in this game). As you improve your medical facilities the time comes down

[Stefan Stirzaker]

Great game so far but feel like turning off some of the camera follows when mechs fire as it pans to slowly and i miss where the shots hit.

One bug was third mission. Capture base and one mech at end was on hill and ehen i destroyed final defender the employer ship came in to land and destroyed the shadow hawk and killed driver. I reloaded

I got 3/3 mech parts bu t coukdnt sell the mech and had to scrap it fir credits. Not sure ehy you cant sell the whole mech

*edit* i do not like having to take down both legs to disable a mech. I thought tabletop was one leg

[Paingod]

Your main character cannot die, just a fyi. I had mine incapacitated and he's still in the hospital (66 days).

I dunno. I wasn't "Incapacitated" - it said "Dead" under his image ... he probably would have respawned in the Leopard, but I didn't wait to see.

I headshotted a mech and all 3 pieces were available for salvage. The less damage you do to it and the better the chance of multiple pieces.

That's good to know. A headshot has a 2% chance according to the game when I aim (maybe more when I get better). I've tried a few and was generally glad that missing that still hit the CT and took down the enemy.

[DD*]

I played most of yesterday (off and on) and have mixed feelings. It really is a pretty solid computer version of the tabletop game - that's good. It's also a pretty solid computer version of the tabletop game, and that's not so good. This guy over at RPS makes some good points, I think. There is a very solid game inside Battletech, but it needs more "play" to be truly fun.

I managed to get a few missions down the road then ran out of money. Boom, game over. Now I have to restart the entire campaign from scratch and there is apparently no way to skip the whole tutorial mission(s). Great.

Also, I was beating my head against the wall on the whole salvage thing - I've got multiple mechs in storage but I can't move them to an open bay. No indication as to why that is, or how to fix it. Nothing I could find in the tutorials, nothing online (and based on what I saw in the forums, I'm far from the only one with this issue), etc. Very frustrating. And the timelines for repairs and healing is ludicrous right now....

OTOH, the lore with all of the rollovers and additional color is just outstanding. I think once some patching and perhaps modding is done to address some of the gameplay issues, this will truly rock. I'll give it 5 of 8 tentacles as it stands right now.

[Paingod]

I managed to get a few missions down the road then ran out of money. Boom, game over.

I'm just 4 missions in myself, but after talking with my crew and having everything they said about debt and creditors after our ship, I've been reluctant to spend money on anything. The finance screen tells me I should have roughly 5 months of bills covered with what I have now.

I'm curious if you hit a spate of bad luck with huge repairs, or if it was just a planning issue - like you snagged too many new toys and the bills came due. I suppose I'm worried that luck can ruin you.

[IceBear]

Once you have 3 pieces of one mech it should automatically move to an open bay or ask you to swap one out. The key point is you need 3 pieces.

I'll give it a solid 8 out of 10

It's an excellent representation of the Battletech game including the random tables to determine where you hit (which is frustrating but otherwise the game becomes target the head or legs like Mechwarrior was)

[Rip]

Great game so far but feel like turning off some of the camera follows when mechs fire as it pans to slowly and i miss where the shots hit.

One bug was third mission. Capture base and one mech at end was on hill and ehen i destroyed final defender the employer ship came in to land and destroyed the shadow hawk and killed driver. I reloaded

I got 3/3 mech parts bu t coukdnt sell the mech and had to scrap it fir credits. Not sure ehy you cant sell the whole mech

*edit* i do not like having to take down both legs to disable a mech. I thought tabletop was one leg

You have to put them in storage and then you can sell them in the store. Until the patch though you will more than likely get more for scrapping them.

Nope even it TT a one legged mech can walk but not run.

I actually find it easier to kill the pilot via injuries from knockdowns, ammo explosions, and LRM rain. In the end I don't focus on carving them up (unless it is something I REALLY want) since you still get at least one part even if you core them.

[wonderpug]

How do you target specific components on an enemy mech? Is called shot the only way to do that?

[IceBear]

Yeah I have used knockdowns to inflict 3 pilot wounds and take the mech more or less intact for more salvage.

And yes you could still move in a new legged mech

[IceBear]

How do you target specific components on an enemy mech? Is called shot the only way to do that?

Yes, but in the tabletop game you rolled on random table (which is how I got my headshot kill I'm sure). The way.those tables worked was they transferred inwards. No left arm and you hit the left arm it goes to left torso. So if there's a weapon you want to hit try to fire from that side...the chances go up.

Keep in mind you can use inspiration for a called shot or target a knocked down mech. Knocking mechs down let's you do called shots and injures the pilot. I am trying to knock down when I can

[DD*]

And I just finished the tutorial again, was getting the "3 years later..." cutscene and CTD. Dammit.

[Rip]

How do you target specific components on an enemy mech? Is called shot the only way to do that?

Yes, which you need enough morale to do (note Vigilance is more useful IMHO). When a mech is down everyone gets free called shots.

Knocking mech down is really powerful. LRM boats with enhanced stability damage launchers can wreck some fools. I've only had one mission where I even had to do any repairs. If not for the occasional lucky headshot I wouldn't need a med bay so far. I even to the locust on a few mission while the spider and dekker were out.

Just finished putting a nice +2 accuracy AC/20 on my new Cent. Locust to storage and Spider/Jenner for backup or if I need speed for a mission. Probably don't really need six mechs at this point but since I have the money, why not? Sitting at $3M c-bills and all my pilots have two skills. Haven't needed to hire any new pilots yet.

I've done the recover Argo mission but not flying it yet. A few more procedural missions and I will probably knock that one out. Just trying to take it slow and not finish the storyline too fast.

[Paingod]

Knocking mech down is really powerful. LRM boats with enhanced stability damage launchers can wreck some fools.

NERF! NERF!

Seriously, though, I'm trying to avoid being too cheesy, but have liked the LRM mechanics so far. Used against me, they don't feel too powerful. I've been trying headshots and leg shots, but aim is terrible. I've legged a couple mechs after knocking them down with a Precision strike to a leg.

[stimpy]

Didn't get much time in last night, but for the time I did get, it seemed to run pretty poorly.
I'll have to look into why later tonight.

[wonderpug]

There's not a way to 'lock' a BioDerm into being assigned to a specific HERC, is there? I guess I'll get to know what everyone's good at as I play more, but for my first few freeform mission assignments I keep forgetting who was using which HERC.

[IceBear]

You did that just to annoy us long time BT players didn't you

Whenever I go to a mission the pilots remained assigned to the mechs they were last in.

[wonderpug]

You did that just to annoy us long time BT players didn't you

I've been legally discouraged/disallowed from calling giant robots mechs for so long, it's the least I can do in this game to return the favor and call them HERCs or Gears or whatever.

[DD*]

How do you scrap a mech? That may help with my money issues - when I go the store there is no option to sell under mechs, but I had multiple partial chassis. The documentation I’ve seen does leave a bit to be desired...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Archinerd]

I stayed up too late.

[IceBear]

How do you scrap a mech? That may help with my money issues - when I go the store there is no option to sell under mechs, but I had multiple partial chassis. The documentation I’ve seen does leave a bit to be desired...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Based on my experience you can only sell full mechs (ones that you have 3/3 parts for). Seems silly that you can buy mech pieces but they only want full ones in return. Maybe that'll be patched in (and I honestly thought you could sell parts until I just tried and saw the only mechs in my sell section were the complete ones...didn't see them in equipment or weapons sections either)

[NickAragua]

So yeah, I played this way too late last night. For me, the initial few missions were pretty easy. I did the plot mission where you first recover the Argo, and suddenly the difficulty jumped. Next procedural mission after that, instead of being at 25% or 50% armor, the bad guys were all at 75% or 100% armor and I was fighting a lance of mechs and two Striker tanks (i.e. outnumbered), rather than a couple of loose scrubs. The lance of mechs included a Hunchback 4G, but thankfully he didn't join the fight until almost everyone else was dead.