Campaign length

[GeneralGonzo]

Has anyone a rough estimation of how long the campaign will be?
Either in missions possible to be played or a rough hour estimation.

I hope they put a huge emphasis on the campaign since I plan to dive deep into the singleplayer experience instead of going multiplayer.

 

[Bubbasan]

Well, the game is theoretically unending as long as you avoid bankruptcy. You can continue the mercenary missions whether you succeed at restoring the … I forget the name for the “good guys” … or not.

 

[GeneralGonzo]

Well, i read about the story, to restore the righteous queen on her throne, so when you achieved that goal, the campaign should be ended, shouldn´t it ?

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

I think the game should never end and one should be able to establish a dynasty of mercenary leaders including all the infighting among the heirs. Or maybe I just played Crusader Kings 2 too much, in which case it would be advised to ignore me.

 

[TaurianMerc]

The main story campaign yes. But there are lots of unrelated contracts you can take along the way and they will still be available afterwards.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Has anyone a rough estimation of how long the campaign will be?
Either in missions possible to be played or a rough hour estimation.

I hope they put a huge emphasis on the campaign since I plan to dive deep into the singleplayer experience instead of going multiplayer.

BattleTech is going to have a rich and extensive single player campaign. There will be a main story campaign (small spoiler warning ahead if you want the main campaign setup to be a complete surprise)...

Spoiler

...that will center on helping Kamea Arano restore her claim to the throne and resume leadership over the Periphery nation of the Aurigan Reach (after she was ousted in a coupe and resulting civil war).

Outside of that main campaign, there are continuously generated side contracts to help gain additional money, assets, and experience. The main campaign is actually optional, so you can choose to not participate, however the more lucrative contracts (and some other advantages) are in the main story campaign. Essentially, the game could go on infinitely if a player continues to take side contracts and grow their Mercenary company well after the main story has ended.

Like Bubbasan said above, the only fail condition is running out of money.

 

[Leith Maclaine]

In addition to the aforementioned open universe after the campaign. The only guidance we have gotten is long. Like kiss the wife and kids goodbye long. Individual Missions are estimated at about 30 minutes to an hour depending on game play style. Game Play Style will also affect the number of missions.

 

[stjobe]

It should also be pointed out that the procedural missions don't start after the main campaign is over; they're available from day one. The devs have said that you're expected to spend some time doing those missions in-between the main campaign missions.

 

[Chaon]

Thinking of how many missions are in the game for the campaign only? We have no idea. They haven't mentioned how many storyline missions there are at all.

And we are not locked in to just taking the storyline missions, we can take any contract we like at any time. Do a couple campaign missions and then spend the next couple days just doing random contracts. Then come back and do some more campaign missions and again wander off to do random contracts.

Or you can just focus on completing the campaign missions to the end, win or lose for the Restoration, and afterwards then you continue to play the random contracts for as long as you like. There is no end unless you go bankrupt.

Each battle can take from 20 minutes to an hour depending on your play style. Add 10-20 minutes of play on the Argo/dropship and you can see there is going to be a long time playing this game for a lot of people. It's not going to be something you complete the campaign in 10 hours and that's it. We should be able to get a lot more time out of this game.

 

[Samskara]

We should be able to get a lot more time out of this game.

And an Assault's weight worth of replayability.

 

[Col. Klink]

In the February Q&A the devs said it would be a long game, with a bigger campaign than originally planned. And that's not even counting the "endless" merc simulation.

 

[Cynwulf]

Mileage will probably vary from one player to another dependent on how many non story line missions you do along the way and dependent on how many non story line missions you do after the story line ends......

 

[Eximar]

And an Assault's weight worth of replayability.

However, there will only be one first time to play through the campaign.

So, considering Beta ended with an abysmal AI, untenable sight ranges, and a long list of other things that HBS will have changed but only tested with the tiny internal group, I would highly recommend not playing it until at least one, and probably two patches have gone out. Play MP and Skirmish and give them lots of feedback.

 

[Bilbo999]

However, there will only be one first time to play through the campaign.

So, considering Beta ended with an abysmal AI, untenable sight ranges, and a long list of other things that HBS will have changed but only tested with the tiny internal group, I would highly recommend not playing it until at least one, and probably two patches have gone out. Play MP and Skirmish and give them lots of feedback.

Seems to me, any changes they might make in these areas would make a second play through of the campaign that much more appealing. On subsequent play throughs I only planned on hitting the campaign missions long enough to get the Argo anyway. Besides which, If I waited for patches the campaign would invariably get spoilered to hell and back by the time I played it.

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

However, there will only be one first time to play through the campaign.

So, considering Beta ended with an abysmal AI, untenable sight ranges, and a long list of other things that HBS will have changed but only tested with the tiny internal group, I would highly recommend not playing it until at least one, and probably two patches have gone out. Play MP and Skirmish and give them lots of feedback.

That is a lot of assumptions to make from a Skirmish Beta that was still both early in development, and intended to be a test bed to find out what works and what doesn't, and to gain player feedback. It is unfair to use a Beta (especially that early in development) to pre-judge a finished game before it launches. That is why it is often best to avoid hyperbole and instead judge a finished product on it's own merits.

 

[Tnarien]

However, there will only be one first time to play through the campaign.

So, considering Beta ended with an abysmal AI, untenable sight ranges, and a long list of other things that HBS will have changed but only tested with the tiny internal group, I would highly recommend not playing it until at least one, and probably two patches have gone out. Play MP and Skirmish and give them lots of feedback.

I'm curious where you're sourcing your information to support this opinion since the only public betas have been carefully targeted combat-focused affairs.

 

[Eximar]

That is a lot of assumptions to make from a Skirmish Beta that was still both early in development, and intended to be a test bed to find out what works and what doesn't, and to gain player feedback. It is unfair to use a Beta (especially that early in development) to pre-judge a finished game before it launches. That is why it is often best to avoid hyperbole and instead judge a finished product on it's own merits.

None of that is an assumption. I simply stated facts. Hyperbole is exaggerated statements, which clearly isn't the case here. Amechwarrior's various AI mods performed much better than the one we ended Beta with. The sight/radar ranges we ended Beta with severely limited the effectiveness of long range direct fire weapons. I had a couple hundred hours in the Beta and I tested mods heavily to see the difference, so I'm not just pontificating without basis.

Of course Beta is a test bed, but they didn't make a lot of changes while it went on. Therefore, when the game launches, HBS will need to see how successful their changes were and act accordingly, like any game.

Also, nowhere did I judge this game. I'm old, I've played everything to do with BT since 1985 and I am incredibly happy to have this game. I want it to succeed wonderfully and add lots of content over a significant game life. I have faith in HBS or I wouldn't have backed the KS, but I'm not going to naively assume everything will be just right at launch.

You're entitled to your opinion, but my post wasn't negative, it certainly wasn't exaggerated, and it didn't warrant your response at all.

 

[Q_res]

The sight/radar ranges we ended Beta with severely limited the effectiveness of long range direct fire weapons. I had a couple hundred hours in the Beta and I tested mods heavily to see the difference, so I'm not just pontificating without basis.

However, your post is missing an extremely vital piece of information. They explicitly stated that those ranges were intentionally shortened, and spawns moved closer together, for testing purposes. So drawing conclusions based on the Beta numbers is still flawed.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Right out of the gates at Launch, the Solo-Campaign will be the focus of so many of us. HBS knows this. I trust the AI will be ready for even the wiliest of us hardcore BattleTech Vets. : )

 

[Samskara]

Yeah I'll be diving right into the campaign. I trust HBS to release a product ready for the masses.