BATTLETECH grand strategy game wanted

[Kreedo]

I want a paradox interactive made grand strategy game with the Battletech Universe. I would want it to have the scope of Stellaris with the Battletech mechs, units, lore, etc.

I have a feeling there is a big audience here who would love that. Am I alone in that thinking?

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

I want a paradox interactive made grand strategy game with the Battletech Universe. I would want it to have the scope of Stellaris with the Battletech mechs, units, lore, etc.

I have a feeling there is a big audience here who would love that. Am I alone in that thinking?

Now that HBS is taking a break from Battletech (at least for a couple of games), I am hoping to hear that something like this is in the works from a different studio. I'm not ready to take a Battletech break.

 

[Kreedo]

There is another thread for this with "Battletech 4x" in the title.

I would rather do intrigue and more succession wars board game like, than a total war experience. I think it could be doable as long as there are limits on what is put in, at first. Also the catalyst book, Interstellar Operations, has a system in place for large scale battles from which a new game can be modeled.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

One thing I always thought would be cool is a game focused on being a Chief MechTech.

Something like a MechTech simulator/Puzzle Game. Given resources at hand, assigning Mechtechs with given talents to certain tasks, an inventory of parts/weapons, and time limits; you need to get a Lance as battle ready as possible.

The better you perform the task, the higher the units effectiveness, and the more resources you have for the next round of repairs. Throw in random chance and events, it could be fun.

Maybe you hold off replacing heat sinks on Mech A to get a weapon replaced on Mech B since the next map is cold. Maybe by skipping adding additional armor to Mech C, We can work more on repairing a salvaged Mech D since overall it is a bigger mech...then hope it doesn't bite you in deployment.

I think it would make for a fun indie game in the BT universe.

 

[ntw]

One thing I always thought would be cool is a game focused on being a Chief MechTech.

Something like a MechTech simulator/Puzzle Game. Given resources at hand, assigning Mechtechs with given talents to certain tasks, an inventory of parts/weapons, and time limits; you need to get a Lance as battle ready as possible.

The better you perform the task, the higher the units effectiveness, and the more resources you have for the next round of repairs. Throw in random chance and events, it could be fun.

Maybe you hold off replacing heat sinks on Mech A to get a weapon replaced on Mech B since the next map is cold. Maybe by skipping adding additional armor to Mech C, We can work more on repairing a salvaged Mech D since overall it is a bigger mech...then hope it doesn't bite you in deployment.

I think it would make for a fun indie game in the BT universe.

MechTech management simulator - I'm in for it!

 

[unclecid]

I want a paradox interactive made grand strategy game with the Battletech Universe. I would want it to have the scope of Stellaris with the Battletech mechs, units, lore, etc.

I have a feeling there is a big audience here who would love that. Am I alone in that thinking?

though i would prefer it is be TBS and not RTS

 

[unclecid]

One thing I always thought would be cool is a game focused on being a Chief MechTech.

Something like a MechTech simulator/Puzzle Game. Given resources at hand, assigning Mechtechs with given talents to certain tasks, an inventory of parts/weapons, and time limits; you need to get a Lance as battle ready as possible.

The better you perform the task, the higher the units effectiveness, and the more resources you have for the next round of repairs. Throw in random chance and events, it could be fun.

Maybe you hold off replacing heat sinks on Mech A to get a weapon replaced on Mech B since the next map is cold. Maybe by skipping adding additional armor to Mech C, We can work more on repairing a salvaged Mech D since overall it is a bigger mech...then hope it doesn't bite you in deployment.

I think it would make for a fun indie game in the BT universe.

there is a game called Car Mechanic Simulator that would be a great basis for something like that

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

there is a game called Car Mechanic Simulator that would be a great basis for something like that

I have Car Mechanic Simulator 2018 .

I was thinking about it more from a puzzle standpoint than a straight diagnose and repair standpoint (although I think that would be fun too).

Something like balancing resources, time, talent, and upfitting in a way to maximize a Lance's capabilities in the best way before it deploys.

Of course it would have a nice UI and Mechs bay animations. Mechs where you can see work getting done on them in the background.

It's probably a bit too hard to explain my ideas given the complexity of it. Overall I guess think of it as running a Mechbay more than actually doing the wrenching.

 

[Aotrs Commander]

I'm not sure I'd be bothered about a BattleTech game that abstracted out the mechs, as would have to be the case for a typical PDX grand strat. TBS would be better, but only if you had some sort of tactical battles (maybe like, Empire at War?) And the level of effort that would require is almost certainly not practical.

Speaking for myself, the core of the lore is the BattleMech technical bits and bolts itself, and the rest is largely just the framing background for that. Getting out to the point ground battles are abstracted away to Stacks of Numbers would mean you'd have to lose all the bits of BattleTech that are interesting. Honestly, without the BattleMechs, BattleTech's lore doesn't really do anything for me, to be brutally honest. I've seen better, I've seen worse.

 

[sparkyp]

I want a paradox interactive made grand strategy game with the Battletech Universe. I would want it to have the scope of Stellaris with the Battletech mechs, units, lore, etc.

I have a feeling there is a big audience here who would love that. Am I alone in that thinking?

Yes! Gawd yes
That would be so awesome.

A 3025 setting would be incredible. Finite resources. Factory's only turning out 5 mechs each per year. Having to decide where to send your forces. Huge travel time between systems so hard to reinforce a planet under attack. Marriages/alliances. Having to manage internal politics of your squabbling house Bannerman. Being able to hire Mercs. Having a limited navy for moving your ground forces. Putting down rebellions on conquered planets. Being able to drop Spec Forces / surgical Strikes on enemy's. Being able to control mechs/armour/aerotech at battalion or regiment level (Total War anyone?)

Omg please make this happen, Lord Commander

 

[Shark7]

Yes! Gawd yes
That would be so awesome.

A 3025 setting would be incredible. Finite resources. Factory's only turning out 5 mechs each per year. Having to decide where to send your forces. Huge travel time between systems so hard to reinforce a planet under attack. Marriages/alliances. Having to manage internal politics of your squabbling house Bannerman. Being able to hire Mercs. Having a limited navy for moving your ground forces. Putting down rebellions on conquered planets. Being able to drop Spec Forces / surgical Strikes on enemy's. Being able to control mechs/armour/aerotech at battalion or regiment level (Total War anyone?)

Omg please make this happen, Lord Commander

And it definitely needs an economy simulator. With the ability to expand production, but only at staggering costs. Also an expensive research tree, so as the timeline advances so does your tech level.

Decisions, decisions. Do you create a new small arms factory to build up troop levels, or an armor factory to boost your tank support, or maybe a very expensive mech factory so instead of getting 5 per year, you get 6, alternatively, you can build a shipyard and build more dropships to move things around. Each of those vying for you ever dwindling resources.

 

[RabbidHamster]

I’d love to see the core of it be more along the lines of paradox’s Crusader Kings. Plays into the family politics of royalty, trying to stop your realm from fracturing from within as much as you are protecting it from external threats. Maybe start at an earlier era (pre clan). What would be totally interesting to me, would be living through an era of reverse technology (eg technological decline) you can invest in tech, but it’s about slowing loss, not about making gains. Those are the elements I’d want.

 

[Nikitian]

I'm not sure I'd be bothered about a BattleTech game that abstracted out the mechs, as would have to be the case for a typical PDX grand strat. TBS would be better, but only if you had some sort of tactical battles (maybe like, Empire at War?) And the level of effort that would require is almost certainly not practical.

Speaking for myself, the core of the lore is the BattleMech technical bits and bolts itself, and the rest is largely just the framing background for that. Getting out to the point ground battles are abstracted away to Stacks of Numbers would mean you'd have to lose all the bits of BattleTech that are interesting. Honestly, without the BattleMechs, BattleTech's lore doesn't really do anything for me, to be brutally honest. I've seen better, I've seen worse.

I understand that sentiment very well. What about HoI-like operational level of war (on Stellaris-like map, plus planetary scale of some kind)? Between the customizable regimental organization (in 3025 era, the basic unit is probably a company) and 'Mech designer of some kind (even just managing "which remaining factories can still produce which parts, and what can be made with that"), I think "the interesting bits" could be represented even without tactical combat. And at this point, it doesn't seem likely for Stellaris to ever have a fleshed-out ground combat layer, so there is a niche for that kind of war game.

 

[Panzer-Killer]

I understand that sentiment very well. What about HoI-like operational level of war (on Stellaris-like map, plus planetary scale of some kind)? Between the customizable regimental organization (in 3025 era, the basic unit is probably a company) and 'Mech designer of some kind (even just managing "which remaining factories can still produce which parts, and what can be made with that"), I think "the interesting bits" could be represented even without tactical combat. And at this point, it doesn't seem likely for Stellaris to ever have a fleshed-out ground combat layer, so there is a niche for that kind of war game.

IMHO, I think that any HoI-like 4X BattleTech game would be better off having Regiments as standard combat units, like HoI has Divisions...

 

[Nikitian]

IMHO, I think that any HoI-like 4X BattleTech game would be better off having Regiments as standard combat units, like HoI has Divisions...

Oh, yeah, that's what I meant - if HoI4, for example, has divisions that you can construct out of battalion 'elements', I meant that you could have Regiments as combat units, made up of different Companies. Might be too much, but ideally it would be able to reflect different doctrines and tactical approaches of different Major Houses, as well as their change over time (either as technologies disappear, or as technologies reappear, depending on the era).

 

[TLRoff]

A little bit of this, a little bit of that a little bit this a little bit of that.

I want something with the tactical fiddl'n of Battletech here. Point of fact you could pretty much just use this Battletech as the tactical game portion of your "Battletech Wars of Succession"

Start the game at right about the time the Wolf Dragoons appear in the inner sphere. Could actually have several start periods. War of 39, clan invasion, fed com civil war, Jihad, rise of the Republic, Dark age. Several possible era's with the tech base dependent on the era. For space combat you could use something like the battlefleet gothic system or Battlestar Galactica deadlock system. Turns are 1 week real time. 52 turns per year. Players control a faction if its a small scale peer to peer game such as a total war title. If it's an online persistant game the AI controls the factions with events happening at their historical point in time with players having to deal with speed of communication being a very important consideration. You won't know what's happening with distant units or worlds until you get word back. Comstar is not instantaneous.. and communications are passed through relays. From a strategic POV that speed of communication becomes the most important part of the game and how to deal with it. Recall the "history" of the 4th war with Davion giving field commanders detailed ops plans with orders to co-ordinate with near by commands... The Fed Suns military's ability to operate with out comstar communications during the interdict very much took the starch out of Comstars sails. Any strategic and operational level game play is going to have to be able to reflect this. There could be a variety of systems at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. The big trick is making them simple and easy to understand so they don't overwhelm players. I love games like Stellaris and HOI but they are stupidly complex for joe average players.. And if there's only a few thousand people world wide playing the game.. yea its not what you can call successful. Gotta aim for several hundred thousand units sold. I want the publisher working on, maintaining and publishing the game, not running it. A lot less work and expense for them, and it removes that nastiest of the more immoral profit taking practices from the board. (loot boxes, cash shops, gambling etc.)

Remember your George Carlin "If the average IQ is around 80-90 or so, by definition half the worlds population is below average!" When your making a game product you need to take that into account if you want to make lots and lots of sales. George was so politically incorrect. We need more like him. Peeps that point out not only is the Emperor buck nekkid, but he's got a tiny.....

So no matter how you look at it this is NOT going to be an easy game to make. Yes we would utterly love it. I suspect how ever that it should incorporate players being able to operate servers. I've kinda learned my lesson over the years when it comes to online gaming.. I do NOT want to depend on commercial entities to "maintain a service" I barely tolerate having Steam, the Cryptic Launcher, the Epic Launcher, the (enter name here) launcher etc on my machine because I know they are spying on my usage. WHy else when I looks at task manager would a launcher have a half dozen or more process running in memory? If you don't think these corps are not looking over your shoulder you are an idiot! Sorry if that hurts your feelings but hey, get a clue! Yea I'm a died in the wool cultural revolutionary in the regard. Corporations are in the business of making money.. goods and services are a means to that end, nothing more, nothing less. And if you all haven't noticed out there, if its not making the "profits" some corp thinks it should, it dies. So I don't want to depend on a gaming publisher. Frankly you should all know better by now too.

Speaking of, no E3 this year. Yea, I am like so disappointed... NOT! Because since it's inception it's been a showcase of well... Lies from AAA publishers. What you see is NOT what you get. Warcraft III Refunded anyone? That crap gets old.. I'm in my 60's, just please take the old guys word for it.. Pretty sure most if not all the other old guys playing this stuff will agree too. Ya know, after awhile even the thickest blinders are NOT gonna keep the fact out. It's worth avoiding so that why I want players to have the control of multi player.. Just make me the tools. I got fiber optic at home now.. NO issues with through put and running a dedicated game server computer. But AAA publisher utterly depend on mis information and YOU being ignorant. "Surprise Mechanics" anyone? I apologize if this got political but i kinda want to make sure that addressed right quickly because I DO NOT want to have to deal with it down the road. Prevention removes most of the need to have a cure. In case folks have not noticed this recently.

Ok, well I do ramble on at times.. I hope the delivery was... "mostly" polite and entertaining. I want HBS to do a bigger better vaster Battletech game if they can. But I want it gamer friendly because I'm damd tired of not so gamer friendly "commercial" products. I've had better then 3 decades of them and this shit is old. And in the long run, it's not very much fun either.

Blessing to you all
TLRoff sends

 

[Panzer-Killer]

Oh, yeah, that's what I meant - if HoI4, for example, has divisions that you can construct out of battalion 'elements', I meant that you could have Regiments as combat units, made up of different Companies. Might be too much, but ideally it would be able to reflect different doctrines and tactical approaches of different Major Houses, as well as their change over time (either as technologies disappear, or as technologies reappear, depending on the era).

Seems just fine for me. Moreover, Regiments might be classed according to the relative tonnage weight of its component's companies. For instance, given a standard 12 companies strong Regiment, if it has 6+ Assault Mechs' companies than it's an Assault Regiment, 6+ Heavies then it's Heavy, and so on. Moreover, balanced Regiment (i.e. 3/3/3/3 companies) might be classed as Combat Regiments.

 

[sparkyp]

It would need to be more 4 X then a Command and Conquer clone.

Wouldn't want my war factory turning out Atlases every 15 seconds.

 

[Ken-Sw]

New game in early development on steam - sort of Grand strategy Lite
Star Dynasties
Check out the first two videos on the steam page the similarities surprised me

 

[Doc Tenacious]

I'd love a Mech Mechanic Simulator 3018!

As far as the Succession Wars strategy game, I'd be down. But it would be a huge, huge undertaking. First off, there are about 2000 inhabited planets in the Inner Sphere, and probably a good 500 more if we include the Periphery.

Secondly, the scale of the force composition is equally huge. Each of the five successor states maintain anywhere from 50 to 150 regiments of regulars at a given time, depending on the time period. This doesn't necessarily include planetary militias, irregulars, training regiments, warrior houses, personal retinues, mercenaries, or special regiments.

Each regiment contains at least three battalions of 36 units or infantry squads, plus whatever logistics, command lances, motor pool, transports, or support units are attached to the regiment as a whole. That's well over 100 units per regiment, maybe as high as 150 units per regiment. If we want to get down to specific mechs (which I'd like), that's a lot of detail in each regiment.

Don't get me wrong. It would be a helluva game that I'd buy into in a hearbeat. Paradox already publishes the Hearts of Iron series, so you know folks can do very detailed, complicated simulations of epic proportions. But the scope and scale of a Succession War simulator would be a epic.