KickStarter BattleTech Pre-Release Thread

[Infinitron]

No. That's not it. The game is funded and doing fine. I just haven't seen that thing used all that many times and this as good a place to use it as any as far as I'm concerned, biased or not of me.

Ah. I don't think Fargo has ever actually announced that he's kicked something forward. I kinda assumed he spreads the wealth all over the place.

 

[undecaf]

Ah. I don't think Fargo has ever actually announced that he's kicked something forward. I kinda assumed he spreads the wealth all over the place.

Might be that I'm misrecalling, but I could swear I've seen him do it at least once.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

I think he did with Underworld

 

[Infinitron]

Here's a few notable Kickstarter profiles:

Chris Avellone: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/350730548
Josh Sawyer: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1724533005
Brian Fargo: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1230880079
Kevin Saunders: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/ksaun
Colin McComb: http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/3lbgames
Adam Heine: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/adamheine

 

[Athelas]

These will no doubt come in handy when constructing their psychological profiles and predicting what kind of RPG's they will develop in the future.

 

[khavi]

Still not going to pledge unless they actually pass the PvP mark. And not gonna pledge for more than minimum unless we see some kind of gameplay prototype to gague the complexity of the combat.

I got a bad gut feeling about this, same as I did Pillars of Eternity.

I asked if an alpha gameplay video would be available before the end of the kickstarter, and the reply was unfortunately "we'll see." I think he also misinterpreted my reasons for asking. I don't necessarily want to see how they do things, but rather what they are able to do. However, I also understand that anything shown would be extremely early and likely not indicative of the final version.

>>Any chance of an alpha gameplay video or prototyping in the pipeline during the kickstarter?
We love giving our Backers “peeks behind the curtain” during our Kickstarter and development. I think part of the fun of backing a project is learning more about how things are made. So we’ll see what we can share as time goes by.

Still, my gut feeling is good, rather than bad. Two parts of that equation is their repeated statements about the focus on combat gameplay, the depth of mechanics already discussed, and the addition of a backer beta, something that was not done for either SR campaign.

So much of what I want in the game is wrapped up in the Extended Campaign stage, but that's assured at this point. Hopefully, so is multiplayer, if only so we can guarantee that all of the Extended Campaign mini-goals are met.

 

[Infinitron]

Harebrained Schemes have a policy against showing people pre-release footage - Mitch Gitelman has said that a bunch of times in interviews ("People don't want to see the sausage being made"). They even did that for Shadowrun: Hong Kong, despite the fact that they must have already had an engine and assets available and could have easily mocked something up. So, I wouldn't count on seeing anything at this stage, not even a screenshot. I'm surprised they even have a backer beta, but I guess balance demands it.

 

[khavi]

Harebrained Schemes have a policy against showing people pre-release footage - Mitch Gitelman has said that a bunch of times in interviews ("People don't want to see the sausage being made"). They even did that for Shadowrun: Hong Kong, despite the fact that they must have already had an engine and assets available and could have easily mocked something up. So, I wouldn't count on seeing anything at this stage, not even a screenshot. I'm surprised they even have a backer beta, but I guess balance demands it.

That's hilarious because he was the one that responded in the KS comments with "We love giving our Backers “peeks behind the curtain” during our Kickstarter and development." Maybe it's changing this time around, hence the backer beta? Or maybe it's just PR doublespeak. *shrug*

 

[Infinitron]

That's hilarious because he was the one that responded in the KS comments with "We love giving our Backers “peeks behind the curtain” during our Kickstarter and development." Maybe it's changing this time around, hence the backer beta? Or maybe it's just PR doublespeak. *shrug*

"Peek behind the curtains" = textual description of the work they're doing and mock interviews with members of the development team, not gameplay footage.

 

[Excidium II]

They should just take a camera around the office and ask "what are you doing son", like Larian does but not formal/scripted

 

[khavi]

"Peek behind the curtains" = textual description of the work they're doing and mock interviews with members of the development team, not gameplay footage.

PR Doublespeak it is!

 

[undecaf]

I'm interested in seeing what they have cooking under the 1.85 stage. I'm not in a position to spend too much at the moment, but if it's something interesting, I might be inclined to throw a few more bucks there. They could tease by opening one when they get to 1.55.

Unless of course it's expanded cinematics, expanded portraits, and expanded VA. :D

 

[Infinitron]

I'm interested in seeing what they have cooking under the 1.85 stage. I'm not in a position to spend too much at the moment, but if it's something interesting, I might be inclined to throw a few more bucks there. They could tease by opening one when they get to 1.55.

Unless of course it's expanded cinematics, expanded portraits, and expanded VA. :D

Seems to me that each stage's stretch goals are related to the topic of that stage. So the "story stage" has stuff like that because it enhances "story". And Stage 3 will probably have, I dunno, additional mission types, additional factions, etc.

 

[undecaf]

Seems to me that each stage's stretch goals are related to the topic of that stage. So the "story stage" has stuff like that because it enhances "story". And Stage 3 will probably have, I dunno, additional mission types, additional factions, etc.

Yeah, that's about what I expect. Though I hope they'll push the envelope a bit more with them.

 

[khavi]

Here's a rough list of the things that have been mentioned in streams and comments as being under the umbrella of Stage 3:

• Procedurally generated missions
• Expanded campaign, ability to continue play after main storyline.
• More depth and breadth of mech systems - weapons, sensors, gyros, brands and costs associated by location in Inner Sphere (economy)
• Increasing travel system and ability to fight in multiple theaters with different lances
• More depth to contract/employment system (another game system obviously, but directly mentioned in update #4)

And, I know I'm missing stuff, but that's it off the top of my head.

 

[Grotesque]

where can I find to buy miniatures like the ones at 0:45 in the kickstarter presentation video?

 

[khavi]

http://www.ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php

Personally I'm not to fond of the Ironwind miniatures. They've gotten much better, but they just don't compare to the ones that have been 3D printed using the game files from Mechwarrior Online.

 

[lurker3000]

http://www.ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php

Personally I'm not to fond of the Ironwind miniatures. They've gotten much better, but they just don't compare to the ones that have been 3D printed using the game files from Mechwarrior Online.

You sir are quite possibly the biggest dork visionary to have joined the codex in the last 66 days.

 

[udm]

Introductory box set (new one) minis also aren't bad and are very affordable. They're just not painted.

As an alternative, you could lurk on eBay. Some good deals pop up every now and then.

 

[lurker3000]

Right now whats bothering me the most about this KS (and I have pledged) is that they have not really talked about the game mechanics. I could care less about voice acting or cut-scenes. They say its going to be a faithful interpretation of the TT game but what does that mean? I would like to hear things about heat, movement, cover, speed, range, FoW and the rest.

edit: From a SP gameplay perspective that stuff khavi said about stage 3 all sounds great.

 

[Mustawd]

. They've gotten much better, but they just don't compare to the ones that have been 3D printed using the game files from Mechwarrior Online.

3D printed from game files? Where are those?

 

[Ulminati]

3D printed from game files? Where are those?

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/194331-3d-printing-fun/

 

[Mustawd]

Man, that's cool.

 

[Ulminati]

MWO is pretty cool for what it is. If you can stomach F2P arena shooters, it's a lot less offensive than its competitors. There's no "gold ammo". You don't get put in a game with "higher tier" mechs that your weapons can't scratch. You can "test run" many of the mechs in regular games. The stompy feel is pretty good and it's fun to tinker in the mech lab. The only real complaint I have is that there's not enough new blood matchmaking, making for a steep learning curve. Well that and mission vareity. Used to be map vareity was a complaint too, but it's gotten a lot better over the last year or so.

If you're feeling nostalgic for MW2/MW3/MW4 multiplayer, you could do worse than giving the free version a spin. It's not for everyone and what you see is what you get. But sometimes a man just needs to stomp around for a bit and shoot lasers at people.


(Also, Piranha has done a great job with the mech models and animations. HBS should explore the possibility of licensing the assets for their game).

 

[Rahdulan]

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/194331-3d-printing-fun/

I hear Games Workshop shitting their pants at a mere though of "commercial 3D printers".