So, nearing two hundred hours with the game and have decided to attempt to contribute with suggestions, which will be split into four categories (UI, Operational, Thematic, Future Content):
UI
Pop-up window when a unit receives fire:
Combat feels a bit distant and lacks a certain immediacy. One of the big influences on this game was XCOM, and in that game whenever a unit takes damage you immediately see it in their overhead health bar. In Battletech you see numbers hovering overhead, but you really have very little information unless something major happens (critical, pilot hit etc). If a unit just takes damage, you have to actually click on the unit to discover where that damage happened. So my suggestion is to have a window briefly open overhead a unit taking damage, with the respective parts flashing as they are hit. Here is an awesome, professional mock up:
This would make combat feel much punchier, as the player would immediately see which locations were being hit as the damage is coming in. EDIT: Okay so it kind of already is in the game (setting menu, my eternal foe) but I still think there is merit to the idea of a pop up window. I also think it should be the default option.
Available contracts notification on navigation screen
After a while it can be hard to keep track of what systems have or have not been recently visited. A small notification could appear below a stars name saying either (Available Contracts) or (No Available Contracts) when it is selected. A couple of times now I have jumped to systems with no available contracts and it was a bit irksome.
Pilot statistics
Very minor thing: on the mechwarrior screen where pilots are upgraded, also show additional stats for each pilot (mechs/vehicles killed, days injured, missions deployed etc). Would be a fun thing to see. EDIT: Hahaha, nothing to see here, move along. I was just testing to see if you knew the game.
Edit: Equip Stock Loadout
Somehow I forgot about this despite thinking about it every time I play the game. Just as their is a button in the mechbay that repairs damage, have their be a button that equips a mech with their stock loadout (if available). Maybe there is a button that I haven't seen, but this is probably the number 1 quality of life addition I crave for this game.
Operational
Add an operational layer to the game:
Flashpoint was a major step in the right direction, but I believe that the game would greatly benefit from an operational layer. Basically, when a player jumps to certain systems, a window would appear with a map of the planet surface divided into zones, which would be the mission areas. One zone would be the landing area (which itself could be a mission, securing a landing zone), and then the player would fight a series of engagements on these zones.
The main benefit of this is that this system could be made as simple or complex as HBS wants it to be, but it would give the player a feeling of control and strategy which would be much more satisfying than simply fulfilling self-contained contracts: they would be fighting over a planet. Here is another professional mock up:
The player would then select an adjacent zone and begin a mission. If the player was successful that would move those mechs and pilots to that zone, which would already create some potentially interesting choices. Broadly, the player would fight a series of engagements against the Uncool Mercs, and, in the end win the battle of Cool Planet for the Cool Faction that pays them. This is something that can be made as simple or as complex as HBS wants, but it would ground the player's experience and make it more tangible (I fought over Cool Planet instead of I took contracts on Cool Planet). Also this wouldn't have to be every planet (just as flashpoints don't encompass every mission in the game), just the ones that are being actively contested.
Thematic
Honorable/Dishonorable Reputation:
This could apply to both the strategic layer as well as the tactical layer, 'cause honor is a thing in Battletech. On the tactical layers, certain actions are considered dishonorable (for example, deliberately shooting a downed mech in the head). Doing these actions would result in accruing dishonor points, whilst doing honorable actions (allowing an injured Mech to retreat perhaps) would accrue honorable points. Alternatively, individual pilots could be given an honorable/dishonorable tag, which would determine if they were willing (or would refuse to) do certain actions. On the strategic layer, the company's reputation could determine if certain contracts were made available to them (either because they took dishonorable missions or did actions which were considered dishonorable on the tactical layer) and vice versa. So a Capellan mission to assassinate a dissident by destroying a building in a Magistracy city would only be made available if the company had a dishonorable rep, while a Capellan mission to escort a member of house Liao offworld would only be given if the company if had an honorable rep.
Thematic consistency:
So a bit more thematic restraint would help. For example, a frequent mission objective is to destroy a factory. In the world of Battletech this is an irreparable loss as factories are not replaceable, every factory destroyed is one less factory in the world, and its a war crime. I'm not saying that this should never be a mission objective, but it should be a Big F*ing Deal (TM) (like the campaign mission involving the Newgrange, which I accidentally typed out as Newgrunge and really should have kept it that way). A bit more thematic restraint would help, aka, don't not do it, but make it weighty.
Sovereignty:
This ties into the operational suggestion but doesn't necessarily require it. Outside the restoration campaign, the map is largely (completely?) static. It would be satisfying for players if certain planets would change sovereignty on the map based on the player completing a series of missions (through the operational layer, flashpoints etc). This already happens in the main campaign, but it could be expanded.
Passive sensors:
This doesn't really fit here but with the next expansion focusing on urban combat, having the ability to toggle passive sensors is going to be a bit important because ambushing is a pretty important part of city combat in Battletech. Or, alternatively, you could say that cities interfere with Mech sensors and therefore the range at which red pips appear is greatly reduced.
Future Content
Fourth Succession War and Andurien Crisis:
So I don't think its an accident that this region of space is the hotness of the Battletech universe for the next couple of decades in the timeline. Many of the suggestions I've made relate directly to how both of these conflicts could be made interesting (a series of contested planets which unlocks more contested planets based on the results of the player's actions. I also think the reputation mechanic in flashpoint works very well in this context, the player would basically ally with a faction and then play through the campaign from their perspective (which would make these two conflicts eminently replayable, Fourth Succession from Liao or Davion point of view). I would however strongly suggest that HBS steer away from Clans because that's kind of the point where much of Battletech seems to have gone off the rails (IMHO).
In conclusion, my points are all great and I am obvs very professional. I fully expect them all to be implemented in the game post haste. Really like the game and think its showing signs of moving away from its influences (most notably XCOM) and starting to become ever more its own thing.
UI
Pop-up window when a unit receives fire:
Combat feels a bit distant and lacks a certain immediacy. One of the big influences on this game was XCOM, and in that game whenever a unit takes damage you immediately see it in their overhead health bar. In Battletech you see numbers hovering overhead, but you really have very little information unless something major happens (critical, pilot hit etc). If a unit just takes damage, you have to actually click on the unit to discover where that damage happened. So my suggestion is to have a window briefly open overhead a unit taking damage, with the respective parts flashing as they are hit. Here is an awesome, professional mock up:
This would make combat feel much punchier, as the player would immediately see which locations were being hit as the damage is coming in. EDIT: Okay so it kind of already is in the game (setting menu, my eternal foe) but I still think there is merit to the idea of a pop up window. I also think it should be the default option.
Available contracts notification on navigation screen
After a while it can be hard to keep track of what systems have or have not been recently visited. A small notification could appear below a stars name saying either (Available Contracts) or (No Available Contracts) when it is selected. A couple of times now I have jumped to systems with no available contracts and it was a bit irksome.
Pilot statistics
Very minor thing: on the mechwarrior screen where pilots are upgraded, also show additional stats for each pilot (mechs/vehicles killed, days injured, missions deployed etc). Would be a fun thing to see. EDIT: Hahaha, nothing to see here, move along. I was just testing to see if you knew the game.
Edit: Equip Stock Loadout
Somehow I forgot about this despite thinking about it every time I play the game. Just as their is a button in the mechbay that repairs damage, have their be a button that equips a mech with their stock loadout (if available). Maybe there is a button that I haven't seen, but this is probably the number 1 quality of life addition I crave for this game.
Operational
Add an operational layer to the game:
Flashpoint was a major step in the right direction, but I believe that the game would greatly benefit from an operational layer. Basically, when a player jumps to certain systems, a window would appear with a map of the planet surface divided into zones, which would be the mission areas. One zone would be the landing area (which itself could be a mission, securing a landing zone), and then the player would fight a series of engagements on these zones.
The main benefit of this is that this system could be made as simple or complex as HBS wants it to be, but it would give the player a feeling of control and strategy which would be much more satisfying than simply fulfilling self-contained contracts: they would be fighting over a planet. Here is another professional mock up:
The player would then select an adjacent zone and begin a mission. If the player was successful that would move those mechs and pilots to that zone, which would already create some potentially interesting choices. Broadly, the player would fight a series of engagements against the Uncool Mercs, and, in the end win the battle of Cool Planet for the Cool Faction that pays them. This is something that can be made as simple or as complex as HBS wants, but it would ground the player's experience and make it more tangible (I fought over Cool Planet instead of I took contracts on Cool Planet). Also this wouldn't have to be every planet (just as flashpoints don't encompass every mission in the game), just the ones that are being actively contested.
Thematic
Honorable/Dishonorable Reputation:
This could apply to both the strategic layer as well as the tactical layer, 'cause honor is a thing in Battletech. On the tactical layers, certain actions are considered dishonorable (for example, deliberately shooting a downed mech in the head). Doing these actions would result in accruing dishonor points, whilst doing honorable actions (allowing an injured Mech to retreat perhaps) would accrue honorable points. Alternatively, individual pilots could be given an honorable/dishonorable tag, which would determine if they were willing (or would refuse to) do certain actions. On the strategic layer, the company's reputation could determine if certain contracts were made available to them (either because they took dishonorable missions or did actions which were considered dishonorable on the tactical layer) and vice versa. So a Capellan mission to assassinate a dissident by destroying a building in a Magistracy city would only be made available if the company had a dishonorable rep, while a Capellan mission to escort a member of house Liao offworld would only be given if the company if had an honorable rep.
Thematic consistency:
So a bit more thematic restraint would help. For example, a frequent mission objective is to destroy a factory. In the world of Battletech this is an irreparable loss as factories are not replaceable, every factory destroyed is one less factory in the world, and its a war crime. I'm not saying that this should never be a mission objective, but it should be a Big F*ing Deal (TM) (like the campaign mission involving the Newgrange, which I accidentally typed out as Newgrunge and really should have kept it that way). A bit more thematic restraint would help, aka, don't not do it, but make it weighty.
Sovereignty:
This ties into the operational suggestion but doesn't necessarily require it. Outside the restoration campaign, the map is largely (completely?) static. It would be satisfying for players if certain planets would change sovereignty on the map based on the player completing a series of missions (through the operational layer, flashpoints etc). This already happens in the main campaign, but it could be expanded.
Passive sensors:
This doesn't really fit here but with the next expansion focusing on urban combat, having the ability to toggle passive sensors is going to be a bit important because ambushing is a pretty important part of city combat in Battletech. Or, alternatively, you could say that cities interfere with Mech sensors and therefore the range at which red pips appear is greatly reduced.
Future Content
Fourth Succession War and Andurien Crisis:
So I don't think its an accident that this region of space is the hotness of the Battletech universe for the next couple of decades in the timeline. Many of the suggestions I've made relate directly to how both of these conflicts could be made interesting (a series of contested planets which unlocks more contested planets based on the results of the player's actions. I also think the reputation mechanic in flashpoint works very well in this context, the player would basically ally with a faction and then play through the campaign from their perspective (which would make these two conflicts eminently replayable, Fourth Succession from Liao or Davion point of view). I would however strongly suggest that HBS steer away from Clans because that's kind of the point where much of Battletech seems to have gone off the rails (IMHO).
In conclusion, my points are all great and I am obvs very professional. I fully expect them all to be implemented in the game post haste. Really like the game and think its showing signs of moving away from its influences (most notably XCOM) and starting to become ever more its own thing.
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