Any Plans For BATTLETECH After 2019?

[Marauder3D]

I was lucky to have passed on that game. At the time I wasn't as interested in playing a more tactical game (I was happy with the FPS/Sim style of MechWarrior). I do remember that it didn't last long. Bummer that you were so burned by it .

I was lucky as well. I passed on that game because the art style was a massive turnoff. Say what you will about PGI and MWO, but Flying Debris' art is absolutely fantastic, and some of his takes on mechs are the best I've ever seen.

 

[Scoughman]

Tactics was definitely very new-Starcraft-y but I liked the design of it and would've loved to have that game in the roster too. Such a shame. Would be amazing if someone picks it back up, seems unlikely though.

 

[Corraidhin]

One way to expand battle scanarios would be a virtual battlefield. Individual lance battles to secure objectives in regional maps. Work from outer regions to secure them around a central objective.

Each mission is consecutive, and tonnage/mission requirements can be balanced so you can't throw assault lances at each mission. Damage would accumulate over the missions, meaning you'd need to select from remaining mechs as you close in on subsequent objectives.

 

[ronhatch]

I think this would be interesting too. I think most of the things a campaign like this would need is in the game as is. The only thing I could see being a bit touchy is a Clan game without Omnimechs. I personally wouldn't mind since the game is covering an interesting part of BattleTech lore (one never explored in a PC game before), however I think some would feel "cheated" if their favorite Omnis were excluded. Many just wouldn't know that the Clans created Omnimechs (like the Timber Wolf) well passed their foundation.

I think that part of the idea would be the most difficult to work through.

I'm late getting to the thread, but FWIW... the game has always had an "Omni" flag in the 'Mech definition JSONs, even back during the Beta releases.

So while that isn't by any means saying that the code for omnis is ready, it's still very clear that some consideration has been made regarding how to fit them in. I strongly suspect that fully adding in complete support for Omnimechs would be a task that could be done in the timeframe we've been seeing for the existing expansions. Though bringing in the Clans at all would likely require a major overhaul of the game just to deal with the social aspects of how they wage war.

Edit: Oh, and now that I've posted the above, I'm realizing that the context of your comment was the idea of following the founding of the Clans... where, yes, the tech wasn't there yet for Omnimechs. Never mind, then.

 

[Jade_Rook]

From a story perspective, the beginning of the Clans would be really interesting to explore. From a mechanics perspective you don't have to worry about as much of the advanced Clan gear.

From a fan perspective, saying that a Battletech game includes the Clans creates some assumptions. One of those weighs 75 tons and is called the Mad Cat. Players will expect to see omnimechs in a Clan game.

 

[Ed Steele]

From a story perspective, the beginning of the Clans would be really interesting to explore. From a mechanics perspective you don't have to worry about as much of the advanced Clan gear.

From a fan perspective, saying that a Battletech game includes the Clans creates some assumptions. One of those weighs 75 tons and is called the Mad Cat. Players will expect to see omnimechs in a Clan game.

FASA launched the Clans with the Invasion, so the first experience the majority of BATTLETECH players had with Clans were overpowered OMNIMECHS, the history of the Clans from the Exodus until the Invasion was fleshed out in later publications, so most players are not familiar with that timeframe (at least what the Clans were doing during that timeframe). So, like I said earlier it would be a great opportunity for HBS to introduce players to that era of Clan development in a similar way to how they brought focus to the (mostly) ignored periphery with the Arano Restoration vs Taurians.

 

[Nebula Serpent]

I would love to play it from a Clan perspective again. We haven't had that since 1995 in Mechwarrior 2.

Maybe mix it up with parts of the campaign with Inner Sphere, parts of it with Clans. Kind of like 90's RTS where you switched sides as NOD or GDI, or Zerg/Terran/Protoss. It also allows interesting storytelling and player experiences.

 

[Ed Steele]

I would love to play it from a Clan perspective again. We haven't had that since 1995 in Mechwarrior 2.

Maybe mix it up with parts of the campaign with Inner Sphere, parts of it with Clans. Kind of like 90's RTS where you switched sides as NOD or GDI, or Zerg/Terran/Protoss. It also allows interesting storytelling and player experiences.

MW2 was about the Refusal War between Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf, which was a narrow loss for Clan Wolf and caused Clan Wolf to be split into two Clans. The Ghost Bear's Legacy was about a covert operation by the Crusader faction of Clan Wolf to steal some genetic material from Clan Ghost Bear in order to rebuild their Clan.

 

[Nebula Serpent]

MW2 was about the Refusal War between Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf, which was a narrow loss for Clan Wolf and caused Clan Wolf to be split into two Clans. The Ghost Bear's Legacy was about a covert operation by the Crusader faction of Clan Wolf to steal some genetic material from Clan Ghost Bear in order to rebuild their Clan.

Yes? I know. Not sure what that has to do with my post. I was saying that when or if a sequel happens and if it includes the Clans, it would be cool to play from the Clans perspective. Maybe switch it throughout a campaign, so the first third you play as Inner Sphere, then second third as one of the invading Clans, and then final third back to the Inner Sphere, or whatever. You see?

 

[Ed Steele]

Yes? I know. Not sure what that has to do with my post. I was saying that when or if a sequel happens and if it includes the Clans, it would be cool to play from the Clans perspective. Maybe switch it throughout a campaign, so the first third you play as Inner Sphere, then second third as one of the invading Clans, and then final third back to the Inner Sphere, or whatever. You see?

Yeah, that would be interesting, but I like playing as the same character all the way through a campaign or career and I am sure there are others that feel that way too.

 

[Rubidium]

I assume they will still be using the PGI models. I'm not particularly up on either MWO's inventory of Clan mechs or the history of the Clans, but how many of the pre-Omni Clan mechs are already modeled? HBS can make an occasional mech as a one-off a la the Hatchetman, but I can't imagine they would want to make an entire inventory of new mech models if they can avoid it.

Even leaving the marketing aside (and I agree that if they sold a "Clan" game, people would expect them to include the most iconic Clan mechs), the availability of PGI mech models is likely going to lead them to prefer certain eras/settings.

 

[Ed Steele]

I assume they will still be using the PGI models. I'm not particularly up on either MWO's inventory of Clan mechs or the history of the Clans, but how many of the pre-Omni Clan mechs are already modeled?

There are a decent amount of IIC MECHS in MWO right now and IIC MECHS were the interim between regular Star League MECHS and OMNI MECHS. If the did an "origin of the Clans" type campaign, you would start with Star League MECHS which were just IS MECHS with lostech and then would eventually get IIC MECHS and finally OMNIs just before the invasion, although if you followed Kerensky in the Exodus, then you would be either elderly or dead before IIC or even OMNI MECHS would be around. So a period between the Exodus until the Clans were first formed would be best, since Star League MECHS and lostech are already available in BATTLETECH.

 

[Nebula Serpent]

Yeah, that would be interesting, but I like playing as the same character all the way through a campaign or career and I am sure there are others that feel that way too.

It could be achieved with you playing the same character where you are Inner Sphere, then captured as a Bondsman, and then you escape and come back to the Inner Sphere. Not sure if the lore permits a Freebirth Scum to control a star of clan mechs, but that could be one way.

Otherwise, you just play the same character every time you play the Inner sphere missions, and a different character when playing clans - wouldn't that be sufficient? Like World in Conflict did with its American and Russian faction.

 

[Corraidhin]

There are a decent amount of IIC MECHS in MWO right now and IIC MECHS were the interim between regular Star League MECHS and OMNI MECHS. If the did an "origin of the Clans" type campaign, you would start with Star League MECHS which were just IS MECHS with lostech and then would eventually get IIC MECHS and finally OMNIs just before the invasion, although if you followed Kerensky in the Exodus, then you would be either elderly or dead before IIC or even OMNI MECHS would be around. So a period between the Exodus until the Clans were first formed would be best, since Star League MECHS and lostech are already available in BATTLETECH.

I like this plan myself, use your original character for the campain as a veteran commander bringing your kids through to build a better merc company.

Either: reset and play through the campaign on a fixed timescale as with career mode

Or: Take the timescale and divide the C-bills and tonnage to that value. The player gets to choose which mechs/equipment/salvage to sacrifice to come down to the limit.

The new campaign would start there, giving continuation of your existing character whilst bedding in your new ones. Maybe pick a couple of your original crew as grizzled veterans with a special ability to represent their vast experience.

I'd implement this as DLC season pass for the current game, with a new/better dropship and/or flagship. Have two vessels roaming the map at once hitting multiple intertwined objectives.

All this could lead to a full on Clan invasion release in BT2, I agree the Clans would need a reworked game to do them justice. And who better to face them than a veteran merc company that can field multiple assault lances?

 

[Jamey]

Not sure if the lore permits a Freebirth Scum to control a star of clan mechs, but that could be one way.

There are definitely examples in lore. The obvious one would be Phelan Kell.

 

[Nebula Serpent]

There are definitely examples in lore. The obvious one would be Phelan Kell.

Sure, but commanding a star? Is that a thing?

 

[Jamey]

Sure, but commanding a star? Is that a thing?

Freebirths were discriminated against, but could achieve any rank in the Clans. Phelan Kell was a Khan.

 

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

I loved this idea of allowing to import our current MC and some gear if HBS decide to offer a new campaign as DLC (yes please!) or in BT2 expected clan invasion.

A elite pilot with custom mech won´t mean that much if we´re to face stars with a lance. And even if good balance is reached, one can always turn on options that make the game harder to make up for this heritage bonus.

 

[Rubidium]

I'd really worry about the balance if you could potentially have people come in with a full roster of assault lances and tons of +++/lostech or starting with nothing. Even if you include a "hard mode" switch, it's really difficult to balance (not even counting that different people might be at different stages in their careers/campaigns when they migrate). Our character has been leading the mercenary unit for 20 years by that point, even if he survives all the various wars that hit the Inner Sphere and Periphery in those intervening years.

Much better to let a new character take over. You can always give them the same name/portrait.

Besides, that way they don't have to keep +++weapons with the same stats, but can rebalance them as wanted for the new environment without worrying about how to convert (e.g. if they decide not to have +damage small lasers, they can do that without having to figure out what to do with the imported ones).

 

[BARBOSA (Aries)]

I think the best option (if feasible) would be choosing over starting with a new char or importing the old one.
I thik its the most likely to happen in the DLC scenario, as everything so far was there to be used by saves old or new.
And i don´t see the eventual changes in BT2 as an issue. It´ll be another battletech based game, so mechs and weapons will be the same.
If they drop the +gear in BT2, you just get stock. You´re still coming out ahead (and honoring the former campaing legacy) if you can start with extra xp and custom mech.