BattleTech WIBNs (Wouldn’t It Be Nice?)

[DutchRits]

I brainstormed some ideas for future improvements. I'm leaving them in an outline format for brevity's sake.

1) Upgrades to the Leopard

This kind of annoyed me. Not only can I upgrade the Argo, but I cannot upgrade the Leopard. That should change, and here are some ideas:
a. Aerofighters (Note: Would NOT introduce a separate combat mechanic)

i. Reasoning:

1. Stock Leopard’s have two Aerofighter bays. The in-game interactions indicate that the Leopard is a stock model, though potentially mounting inferior weaponry
2. In-Game Events indicate that the Argo and Leopard are all but defenseless vs pirates
3. Aerofighter support is a key (and canon!) requirement for a successful planetary assault, and to ensure proper defense of the dropship for insertions/extractions.​

ii. In-Game Events:

1. Would provide a counter-pirate option for in-transit events

a. Could lead to potential damage to the Argo/Leopard which would impact in-game effectiveness & transit​

2. Additional option for the Argo
3. Introduces need for Aerospace Superiority planning during planetary invasions. Impact would determine the effectiveness of Tactical Combat Support (see #2, below)​

Aerospace Superiority: The degree of control of the Aerospace environment by friendly and enemy forces. In game it would be reflected as a spectrum based upon a pre-invasion event.
- Enemy Aerospace Supremacy: enemy has complete air dominance. No Friendly Airstrikes or Strafes are possible; Enemy Airstrikes and Strafes are more frequent. Significant delay in dropship extractions & loiter time. Expect damage to dropship.
- Enemy Aerospace Superiority: enemy has an Aerospace advantage. Friendly Airstrikes and Strafes have reduced effectiveness, quantity, and frequency. Enemy Airstrikes and Strafes are uncommon, but of greater quantity/frequency than friendly ones. Minor delay in dropship extraction & loiter time.
- Contested Aerospace: neither side has an Aerospace advantage. Limited availability for both sides. Dropship extraction & loiter time are baselined.
- Friendly Aerospace Superiority: friendly forces have an Aerospace advantage. Friendly Airstrikes and Strafes gain a bonus to quantity/frequency. Enemy Airstrikes and Strafes have reduced effectiveness, quantity, and frequency. Minor bonus to friendly dropship extraction & loiter times.
- Friendly Aerospace Supremacy: friendly forces have a significant Aerospace advantage. Friendly Airstrikes and Strafes gain a greater bonus to quantity/frequency. Enemy Airstrikes and Strafes are not possible. Major bonus to friendly dropship extraction & loiter times.

iii. Introduces a mechanic for ‘Mechs to counter Aerospace effectiveness and/or damage them.

1. I.e., Rifleman or Jaegermech anti-Aerospace targeting (canon ability that plays upon the in-game targeting system add-ons)
2. Upgrades to Aerofighters and/or purchases of heavier designs improves effectiveness of CAS (see #2.b & #2.c, below) and resiliency to anti-Aerospace abilities​

b. Weaponry

i. Provides bonuses to counter-piracy in-transit events
ii. Increases effectiveness of Tactical Combat Support (see #2.d, below)​

c. Customization & Support

i. Renaming: why is it just ‘Leopard’? I’d like to be able to name the vessel.
ii. Layout: improves storage capacity and/or Command & Control (C2) capabilities

1. The Leopard obviously provides a role similar to an modern AWACS or JSTARS, giving early warning for new contacts and tactical updates; NOT the same as the ‘MechCommander’ interface, though the role is similar
2. Sensor Bonus:

a. External origin of Sensor Locks (random?)
b. Boost to sensor coverage, similar to radar sweeps in the MWO Incursion game mode​

3. Fire support (see #2.d, below)​

iii. Structure: improves ability to transport larger-sized/heavier ‘Mechs
iv. Infantry support: allows for the ability to capture facilities (e.g., the capture of turrets during the early campaign mission)
v. Vehicular Support: if I can fight them, why can’t I field them? Add 1-2 Lance slots for vehicles.​

2) Tactical Combat Support

a. Reasoning: Aerofighter & Artillery support are ubiquitous in the tabletop BT game. These features are also prevalent in MWO & MechCommander, and so players would already be familiar with their usage and utility.
b. Close Air Support (CAS): consists of two options, both conducted by the Leopard’s Aerofighters (see #1.a, above)

i. Airstrike: Only Aerofighters with ballistic or missile loadouts
ii. Strafe: Only Aerofighters with ballistic or energy loadouts
iii. Quantity & effectiveness of CAS abilities is determined by Aerofighter loadout
iv. Frequency of CAS abilities is determined by air superiority status​

c. Artillery Strikes

i. While logic would dictate that since the force composition for the player would preclude artillery (usually company size or larger), it is possible that it could be available based upon the Leopard’s weaponry (see #1.b, above)
ii. Artillery would only be available on missions in which the player is supporting/is supported by conventional forces (i.e., the Arano Restoration) or the Leopard​

d. Leopard Fire-Support

i. Improved through upgrades (see #1b & #1.c, above)
ii. Similar to the ‘Air Control Tower’ capability of the MWO Incursion game mode
iii. Ability to conduct ‘Resupply’ of ammo-based weapons mid-mission, and/or swap out ‘Mechs & MechWarriors.
​

3) Putting a new ‘Mech together from Salvage

a. The Good: I like the in-game mechanic of needing three pieces of ‘Mech variant salvage before you have enough to field a complete ‘Mech.
b. The Bad: The fact that as soon as I get the third piece as salvage I ‘magically’ have a complete ‘Mech in the bay immediately post-mission took me by surprise. Sure, it’s a nice perk, but given that those pieces were in storage AND they need to be put together, it should require time and resources to assemble the salvage, equip it, and prep it for combat worthiness.​

4) Training for the Support Characters

a. I can train my MechWarriors to increase their effectiveness, so I should be able to do the same for Yang, Dr Murad, Alexander, Sumire, and Darius.

i. Yang: upgrades to ‘Mech repairs, refits, and salvage
ii. Dr Murad: upgrades to Argo/Leopard repairs (see #1.a.iii.1, above) and Customization & Layout (see #1.c.ii, above)
iii. Alexander: upgrades to contract negotiations, faction rep, and store prices
iv. Sumire: upgrades to Argo/Leopard performance during in-transit events, extraction & loiter times, Leopard combat effectiveness
v. Darius: upgrades to contract negotiations, Leopard Fire Support (see #2.c, above), and C2 (see #1.c.ii, above). Perhaps bonus to MechWarrior talent available for hire?​

b. Generalized Support Personnel: training/recruiting for better quality technicians/astechs, admin personnel, crew, loadmasters, and gunners.

i. Techs/Astechs: better Tech Rating, lower repair/refit times
ii. Admin: better contracts
iii. Crew: better performance by the Argo and Leopard
iv. Loadmasters: reduces loading/unloading times for insertion/evac
v. Gunners: increased Tactical Combat Support from the Leopard; better results during in-transit events​

5) Financial Report Additions

a. Support Costs for Argo & Leopard: not to get TOO far into the minute details, but it should cost me something to keep these two vessels operating. It exists for the Argo, but doesn’t for the Leopard (unless I missed it)
b. Support Costs for Consumables:

i. “An Army Marches Upon Its Stomach” – Frederck the Great & Napoleon Bonaparte ('nuff said)
ii. There are already in-game events centered on food. This could impact morale and crew health
iii. 'Mech consumables (ammo) are already 'figured into' the monthly cost, IIRC​

6) Lance Deployment Delays

a. Transition Delays: it takes time to transit from dropzone-to-Argo, dropzone-to-dropzone, etc.

i. Leopard may not be available for immediate re-deploy since it’s already supporting a lance
ii. Leopard may need preventative maintenance and cannot immediately re-deploy for another mission
iii. Recommend: Add the ability to purchase/capture a second Leopard​

b. Post-Mission Preventive Maintenance:

i. ‘Mechs should require a minimum amount of post-mission preventive maintenance to keep them functional, replace armor, etc. While some of this is reflected in the Financial Report costs for active ‘Mechs, it is NOT reflected in actual time the ‘Mech spends in maintenance.
ii. Would prevent immediate re-deployment and requires rotation of ‘Mechs and MechWarriors​

c. Simultaneous Deployments: This is in-game time, not real time. I.e., if I send a lance for one contract and the transition time means that they are unavailable for another contract, then I should be able to deploy other MechWarriors and 'Mechs.

i. Not possible with one Leopard and only 4 ‘Mechs & MechWarriors
ii. Requires a second Leopard, more ‘Mech Bays, more MechWarriors
iii. Requires more support personnel, crew, gunners, etc.​

7) Canon ‘Mech Quirks

a. MWO tried this, to varying degrees of success.
b. The quirks are canon and would make ‘Mech customization a bit more interesting.​

Anyway, those are my ideas. I may add to them as I continue to play. Any thoughts?

 

[DutchRits]

8) Contracts

A. Increased Difficulty Variability

1. I could be mistaken, but contract difficulty appears to be tied to the player’s completion status of the main campaign.
2. There should be a plethora of contracts on any given planet of various difficulties and objectives. I.e., give me a reason to use Lights & Mediums again.​

B. Linked “mini-campaigns”

1. Others have used the “Grey Death Legion” example, or MC1/MC2. All valid. Basically, I want the option to take a series of contracts which impact the planet itself, such as which faction controls the planet.
2. Tie these mini-campaigns to the Kickstarter/Ronin MechWarrior backstories, or even to the randomly generated backstories. I.e., make the characters and MechWarriors more than just a random name in a scripted text event; make them like your followers in Diablo 3. Let their story lead to contracts.
3. The Battletech TT Chaos Campaign ruleset contained guidance for linked scenarios, which could very easily be implemented in this game. It would introduce bonuses/penalties for completing/failing secondary objectives.​

C. Disappearing Contracts

1. Personally, it’s annoying as hell to finish a contract only to not have any more on that planet, so you select one-of-two contracts on another planet, travel to the system, complete the contract...and then not have a follow-on. The other contract disappeared in the day you ran the original one.
2. If A.1 isn’t implemented, at least retain a constant 1-2 random contracts on the same system.
​

Adding more as I think of them and editing as I go.

 

[DragonHeart53]

I like the ideas of everything except 8C. It makes sense that contracts disappear as they are either done by another mercenary company or there is no more work to be done.

 

[DutchRits]

I can kind of agree, though there should be a “timer” showing how many days a contract is good for, then. They shouldn’t ALWAYS disappear. And you introduce the possibility of confronting a rival Merc group...

 

[DragonHeart53]

First you have to ask the question, "Does the employer know when the mission is going to passed it due date ahead of time?".

 

[DutchRits]

Sure. Most of the contract missions are time-sensitive. A convoy carrying a diplomat/sensitive info. A pirate lance doing recon. An SLDF memory core that has to be defended. All would have an expected “end date” for the action.

 

[DragonHeart53]

Yes, but they would be relatively random. The pirate could be too busy bickering to do the recon right or the diplomat/sensitive info was sniped off more quickly than expected.

 

[DutchRits]

So the contracts would have a random expiration, then. Known expiration’s would be displayed (like the ones where they have to extract a scientist, etc.) and others would have an expiration that wouldn’t display. Regardless, you’d have a turnover of contracts, like when you mod the # of contracts, variance, and frequency of turnover.

 

[DragonHeart53]

Yes

 

[Remillard]

I will admit that it's always seemed a little strange that I could choose an "Ambush Convoy" mission, but then delay for weeks "Oh hey, my guys are injured and mechs are toast, can't actually do that mission just yet." Some of the mission types could have an "on this day" kind of mechanic for increased realism.

 

[Jakobu]

You had some good ideas, I liked 8A and 8B the most out of all your suggestions.

 

[Dizzy_XC]

Good thread. Disagree with 8c. If contracts didnt disappear, the structural compression of how HBS implemented your monthly merc expenses would largely be negated. And imo, that's the main strength of the game. But fear not, in simgameconstants theres a toggle for missions disappearing and you can set that from 1 to 0.

 

[DutchRits]

Small UI improvements:
- being able to reorganize Mechs in the mechbay.
- stop the incessant scrolling in the mechbay and store! (Using the mod for this one)

 

[Max_Killjoy]

Regarding mission timing, a LOT of them don't make any sense if you think about just the travel time even if you take the contract, travel, and do it immediately.

"We need you to rescue this person who is about to be moved, but it's OK if it takes you 27 days to get here..."