Mechwarrior Online Devs Drop the Deets

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Mechwarrior Online Devs Drop the Deets


A far-reaching developer Q&A sheds a lot of light on plans for the upcoming Mechwarrior Online.

A brand-new Mechwarrior game is in development, which is awesome, set one year ahead of the Clan invasion of 3050, which is awesome, and will be built around free-to-play online combat, which is somewhat less awesome but certainly not cause to give up hope. And now we're finally getting some details about what's in store thanks to an in-depth Q&A session with a half-dozen of the game's principal developers.

Mechwarrior Online will feature "persistent game world information" such as match results and planet ownership, but each game will run on its own dedicated server rather than through a single, overarching persistent world. Matches are currently expected to take about 20 minutes to run, although that could change as the game is tweaked, and because it's still early in the development process, features and technologies like head tracking, destructible terrain and pilot injury have not yet been locked in.

The devs also touched on what they described as "the beauty of the F2P model," as Game Systems Lead Designer Paul Inouye put it. "We will be releasing the compact but well-developed game that we want players to experience with the ability to expand on the core presentation to give you the triple-A quality title that we want to share with the awesome community that has been waiting for so long," he said. "Our use of agile project development and listening to community feedback allows us to steer and correct our designs and implementation as needed."

Mechwarrior Online will launch as a PvP-only game, although post-release options for PvE gameplay are also being considered. As to the question of the Unseen, the devs were somewhat evasive despite the presence of a Warhammer in the original announcement trailer but said that all mechs in the game, regardless of their origin, are getting a design overhaul [http://mwomercs.com/news/2011/11/17-developer-interview-1-alex-iglesias] by concept artist Alex Iglesias.

The Q&A covers a lot of ground, so if you're at all curious about the game it's definitely worth your time. Check it out in full at mwomercs.com [http://mwomercs.com/news/2011/11/27-developer-qa-1].


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Owyn_Merrilin

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Whether this turns out to be a worthy successor to the name or not really depends on two things: mission design, and the way the mechs handle. I can actually see multiplayer game modes with objectives just as complicated as anything from the old singleplayer campaigns -- in fact, I think it would be really cool to run one of those where your lance is going against actual humans, instead of drones. The controls are the iffy part; I just don't see a hard core sim getting the userbase it needs to survive as an F2P online game. I'm starting to worry that this is going to be more Mech Assault than Mechwarrior.

I think it will probably be a fun /game/ either way, if anyone is wondering.

Edit: Not to mention one where your /lance mates/ are human as well; this could be incredibly cool if done right. I just don't want to get my hopes too high, because the odds of it really being done like that are pretty darned slim.
 

Jaeger_CDN

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Aug 9, 2010
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Hopefully they'll include joystick support not just for the bloody xbox controller.

If they manage to pull this off properly, it might actually be an MMO game I'd even pay to play.
 

Saulkar

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Right now I have Mechwarrior: Living Legends to keep me over, however Mechwarrior Online has a lot to live up to against it.
 

Catalyst6

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Apr 21, 2010
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I'm certainly interested in seeing where this goes. I just worry that they're going to venture too far into Pay2Win territory, since the easiest way to make money would be to sell parts/mechs...
 

LorienvArden

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They allready sworn to avoid "pay2win" like all good devs should. If they stick to premium skins, badges and perhaps xp/cash buffs it shouldn't be a problem.
 

Owyn_Merrilin

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Well this makes me sad; six comments in almost four hours. I really hope this game doesn't flop, but I'm afraid the brand has been so diluted and let to lie fallow for so long that almost nobody cares anymore.
 

Space Jawa

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Jaeger_CDN said:
Hopefully they'll include joystick support not just for the bloody xbox controller.
Funny you mention this, because I suddenly with I had a modern joystick.
 

Jaeger_CDN

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Space Jawa said:
Jaeger_CDN said:
Hopefully they'll include joystick support not just for the bloody xbox controller.
Funny you mention this, because I suddenly with I had a modern joystick.
I still remember playing MW2 with a MS sidewinder force-feedback pro joystick. Took alot of real estate on my desk but made the game that much more fun having that thing kicking in your hands when shooting a LRM rack or jumping. I still got the beast, it's just a shame I don't have a gameport on my rig anymore. A wimpy xbox controller isn't the same and it's a pain getting my other joystick working with games.
 

Andy Chalk

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I played with a Thrustmaster setup myself, and it was awesome. And if the new game supports joysticks - and I mean really supports them, with a full-blown, balls-out, "just like it used to be" HOTAS setup - that'll go a long way toward convincing me that this Mechwarrior is the Mechwarrior I've been waiting for.
 

SL33TBL1ND

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Nov 9, 2008
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Well that was incredibly interesting. I was surprised to learn that real-time would equal in-game time. As in, we will eventually get Clan 'Mechs.

Can't wait for this one.