Battletech Community News - Heavy Metal Edition

[Prussian Havoc]

If the new weapons are available as .json files, i'll definitely make them available in skirmish just for testing builds. It's easy enough and doesn't really mess with your campaign or career, you just have to replace the files with your backup for multiplayer. I'm impatient, too Not when it comes to my career, I kinda like the grind, but I want to see what I get for grinding

Does it lend itself to being captured as a Mod?

Between that and Multiplayer Modding, maybe we can get COILs into both sides of the Skirmish House (Single and Multiplayer.) : )

 

[Ken-Sw]

How common will Coil's be in an unmodded Career ?
It is possible we will not even see one for quite awhile.
Boating may not be an issue if they are very rare.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

How common will Coil's be in an unmodded Career ?
It is possible we will not even see one for quite awhile.
Boating may not be an issue if they are very rare.

Agreed.

With no other FLASHPOINTS being add beyond those of the HEAVY METAL Mini-Campaign (which will stretch deep into a Career Attempt) having more than two COILS to rub together in any manner of BATTLETECH gameplay may indeed require Modding.

 

[44th MAC|Bonsai]

Does it lend itself to being captured as a Mod?

Between that and Multiplayer Modding, maybe we can get COILs into both sides of the Skirmish House (Single and Multiplayer.) : )

Shouldn't be much of a problem, as it's about 1-3 lines of code changed for every weapon, but I'm not really an expert on multiplayer or mod distribution, especially not modded multiplayer. I'm just a "json editing enthusiast" for private use only. But afaik weapon availability in skirmish and multiplayer is defined by the same tags and it should work if both partys have identical files.

But as I said, hardly an expert. Since they changed the shop system for campaign/career, I don't even quite understand why there is more than one tag left defining availability in skirmish/multiplayer.

How common will Coil's be in an unmodded Career ?
It is possible we will not even see one for quite awhile.
Boating may not be an issue if they are very rare.

I expect them to be rare, but I don't really want to boat them from what I know at this time. They might add up nicely with critseekers or other weapons though. The only way to find out is excessive testing ;D

 

[Doctor Machete]

With a GRH at 3xCHEVS, no JJs and with Gyro+Cockpit I get this:
- 6xCOIL-S 3xTEX++ 3xDHS, 14t armor, 270 alpha, 18 heat
- 4xCOIL-M 3xTEX++ 4xDHS, 13t armor, 300 alpha, 18 heat
- 4xCOIL-L 3xTEX++ 0xDHS, 13t armor, 420 alpha, 74 heat
- 3xCOIL-L 3xTEX++ 4xDHS, 13t armor, 315 alpha, 24 heat

With a Firestarter at 5xCHEVS, no JJs and with Gyro+Cockpit:
- 3xCOIL-S 0xTEX++ 2xDHS, 8.5t armor, 225 alpha, 69 heat
- 2xCOIL-M 1xTEX 0xDHS, 8.5t armor, 250 alpha, 80 heat
- 1xCOIL-L 0xTEX 4xDHS, 8.5t armor, 175 alpha, 33 heat

I don't think they'll work very well with heavies and assaults, with mediums maybe, and lights is where I think is going to work best, although you'll need to have very good positioning.

I've tried Heat Banks but I don't think they're a good solution because recovery will be slower, and it is already slow to begin with in most cases. The COIL-L for light mechs I think has a decent balance of punch, heat and armor.

 

[gh0s7]

(....)
175 damage is going to instantly kill, from any direction, most light mechs. You have LL range and synergy with breeching shot later on as well. Plus this is just the least favourable example in the Jenner. Coils are going to get more powerful with stacking exchangers, maybe on fast mediums. Ironically, the Banshee might become an absolute monster.
(....)

Assuming you're talking about the E/M variants which are the ones with the bigger engine, it won't have space for more than 2 COIL-L, since it only has hardpoints on the torsos.
From the Assaults, the only fast one with potential for boating COIL's will be the Battlemaster.

 

[Mabberton]

Was thinking about your BATTLETECH 2 thoughts, and I think I agree with your train of thought. A couple of other points about advancing the timeline because as you mentioned, Mitch has made multiple mentions that going further with the existing BATTLETECH would have to advance the timeline.

1. Tech - One of the best reason to advance the timeline in a Battletech game, is to advance the tech base for the game and provide tasty new mech bits for the players to use. In canon, this is initiated around 3028 by things like the Helm Memory Core and the 4th Succession War. But with Heavy Metal, HBS has released a bunch of the canon new tech (UAC5, LB-10X, TAG, Narc, etc.) without explicitly advancing the timeline. Why do that now, out of canon, if the next expansion/set of expansions would have taken care of it anyway, with a more canon-friendly explanation? Why steal the thunder of what could have been a "Helm Memory Core Expansion?" Unless there is not going to be any more (major) expansions, and they did not want to leave BATTLETECH without that tech forever (except for mods).
2. Fourth Succession War - I have often thought that if HBS wanted to have the player take a direct part in the 4thSW, a couple of major changes to the game would have to occur. First the existing contract system would not really work for a military campaign. Maybe a set of focused mini-campaign flashpoints would, but these flashpoints would have to be timed because a military flashpoint/mini-campaign shouldn't just keep respawning if you don't start it the first time. And if the player is joining the war on behalf of one side, it doesn't seem likely that Military HQ is going to be thrilled that the player disappears every once in a while to go complete a few random procedural missions. Second, of course, is that the bulk of the 4thSW happens completely off the existing map. In the canon 4thSW, nothing basically happens in the small sector of the existing map's Davion/Laio space. To say nothing of all the fighting between the Kuritans and the Steiner/Davion forces or the Marik/Steiner sector.
3. Mod Support - HBS is adding mod support in v1.8, but why add it now? I don't think it is a complete stretch to say that it makes sense to hold off on official mod support for a game until the code is relatively stable and all the major bits are implemented. Even assuming HBS does not intend to actively assist modders to update their mods as things change in the future, adding official mod support seems like it does up the ante a bit for transparency during future development to help out with what is an official feature of the game. So adding mod support now would be easier/less risky (from a player/modder expectations point of view) if major development is complete, and supporting mods could be a way to help make up for the fact that official HBS expansion content for BATTLETECH might slow down dramatically or even stop altogether.

Mike

 

[Edmon]

Was thinking about your BATTLETECH 2 thoughts, and I think I agree with your train of thought. A couple of other points about advancing the timeline because as you mentioned, Mitch has made multiple mentions that going further with the existing BATTLETECH would have to advance the timeline.

1. Tech - One of the best reason to advance the timeline in a Battletech game, is to advance the tech base for the game and provide tasty new mech bits for the players to use. In canon, this is initiated around 3028 by things like the Helm Memory Core and the 4th Succession War. But with Heavy Metal, HBS has released a bunch of the canon new tech (UAC5, LB-10X, TAG, Narc, etc.) without explicitly advancing the timeline. Why do that now, out of canon, if the next expansion/set of expansions would have taken care of it anyway, with a more canon-friendly explanation? Why steal the thunder of what could have been a "Helm Memory Core Expansion?" Unless there is not going to be any more (major) expansions, and they did not want to leave BATTLETECH without that tech forever (except for mods).
2. Fourth Succession War - I have often thought that if HBS wanted to have the player take a direct part in the 4thSW, a couple of major changes to the game would have to occur. First the existing contract system would not really work for a military campaign. Maybe a set of focused mini-campaign flashpoints would, but these flashpoints would have to be timed because a military flashpoint/mini-campaign shouldn't just keep respawning if you don't start it the first time. And if the player is joining the war on behalf of one side, it doesn't seem likely that Military HQ is going to be thrilled that the player disappears every once in a while to go complete a few random procedural missions. Second, of course, is that the bulk of the 4thSW happens completely off the existing map. In the canon 4thSW, nothing basically happens in the small sector of the existing map's Davion/Laio space. To say nothing of all the fighting between the Kuritans and the Steiner/Davion forces or the Marik/Steiner sector.
3. Mod Support - HBS is adding mod support in v1.8, but why add it now? I don't think it is a complete stretch to say that it makes sense to hold off on official mod support for a game until the code is relatively stable and all the major bits are implemented. Even assuming HBS does not intend to actively assist modders to update their mods as things change in the future, adding official mod support seems like it does up the ante a bit for transparency during future development to help out with what is an official feature of the game. So adding mod support now would be easier/less risky (from a player/modder expectations point of view) if major development is complete, and supporting mods could be a way to help make up for the fact that official HBS expansion content for BATTLETECH might slow down dramatically or even stop altogether.

Mike

Can't help but agree with the reasoning. I've thought of a few of these myself (Mod support, for example, I think your thoughts here match mine pretty exactly).

Interesting detail on the 4th succession war. I did not really know a huge amount about it.

 

[jj284b]

i think main reason why they adding Mod support now, is that they consider game to be finished, no new content after HM is planned and they already are fully focused on BT2..

 

[Mabberton]

In a nutshell, the 4thSW involves the Federated Suns invading about the "upper" quarter of the Capellan Confederation, although much of that region ultimately ends up as uncontrolled territory by say 3057. Also, the St. Ives Commonality splits off from the CapCon during the 4thSW to become the St. Ives Compact. The changes in status along the Steiner borders (both Free Worlds and Draconic Combine) and the FedSun/DracCom border are much more modest, although collectively they were able to make a wider corridor between their nations heading into the Federated Commonwealth years. Check out the maps on Sarna for the Inner Sphere for 3025 and 3030 to get an idea where the 4th SW was focused.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

i think main reason why they adding Mod support now, is that they consider game to be finished, no new content after HM is planned and they already are fully focused on BT2..

I believe there is an audience for BATTLETECH DLC’s. And we know a BATTLETECH Live Support Team has been set up within HBS. Given HBS’s “Secret Project,” I think the pace of DLC releases may decrease. This pace may not support the sale of a “Season 2 Pass,” but we could still see continued HBS development of BATTLETECH.

The good news is that it is in HBS’ best interests to clarify this at some point. Here’s to hoping that “some point” is sooner rather than later. : )

 

[Prussian Havoc]

In a nutshell, the 4thSW involves the Federated Suns invading about the "upper" quarter of the Capellan Confederation, although much of that region ultimately ends up as uncontrolled territory by say 3057. Also, the St. Ives Commonality splits off from the CapCon during the 4thSW to become the St. Ives Compact. The changes in status along the Steiner borders (both Free Worlds and Draconic Combine) and the FedSun/DracCom border are much more modest, although collectively they were able to make a wider corridor between their nations heading into the Federated Commonwealth years. Check out the maps on Sarna for the Inner Sphere for 3025 and 3030 to get an idea where the 4th SW was focused.

The Fourth Succession War is a BattleTech Big Ticket Item!. As such it seems tailor-made for HBS treatment as a “Major Motion Picture” of an expansion. : )

 

[Kranng]

You need to cool for only a single turn, but no-one is forcing you to go full power. Remember, you only have to out perform 4 medium lasers and the Jenner can't actually keep firing those forever (4 turns, then it's down to 3). The coil is dramatically better.


175 damage is going to instantly kill, from any direction, most light mechs. You have LL range and synergy with breeching shot later on as well. Plus this is just the least favourable example in the Jenner. Coils are going to get more powerful with stacking exchangers, maybe on fast mediums. Ironically, the Banshee might become an absolute monster.

Imagine the Dragon with a COIL-L - i've got that with a proper pilot to 5 and 6 pips - that should be some powerful damage. Too bad it only has (?) 2 Energy hardpoints. :-(

 

[Kranng]

How many COIL-Smalls can you fit on a Grasshopper? What is the more bang for the buck on a Firestarter COILs Large, Medium or Small? What mix of Heat Banks and Heat Exchangers work best in a BattleMaster to cool off a multi-COIL BattleMaster?

It’ll be a long time playing a Career Mode game before you’ve got enough COILs and other gear to answer questions like this. It just seems a shame to have all this gear fenced off from Skirmish IMO.

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Imagine the Dragon with a COIL-L - i've got that with a proper pilot to 5 and 6 pips - that should be some powerful damage. Too bad it only has (?) 2 Energy hardpoints. :-(

But at least those Hardpoints aren’t in the same location! At 8-Critical Spaces a pop, the COIL-Large is unfriendly toward the creations of less forward thinking Mech Designers than the Dragon’s own Luthien Armor Works. : )

 

[Kranng]

But at least those Hardpoints aren’t in the same location! At 8-Critical Spaces a pop, the COIL-Large is unfriendly toward the creations of less forward thinking Mech Designers than the Dragon’s own Luthien Armor Works. : )

Hmm...One in the LT and one in the arm....sounds like I will playing with my COIL and my dragon...er...my 'Mech! I meant my mech!