Mechwarrior Online Drops

[Aggieknight]

I do hope they do urban combat right, because it helps to stave off a lot of that 'circle strafe death dance' that the games tend to devolve into by allowing you to duck in and out of line of sight blocks--it's one of the things that really lets Light Mechs shine over heavies, and is one of the reason in the PC games it was pretty much Assault/Heavy or Bust. But mostly, I'm worried about a sense of scale--I want to feel like I'm in a massive 30-100 ton fusion-powered death-machine, damn it. If it was one thing the MW games pretty much blew it on, it was a sense of scale. Hardware limitations were obviously why, but that's not a valid excuse now. Lemme mess up the terrain and stomp THROUGH some obstacles a bit more.

That's one of the things I disliked about the first person games and loved about the old paper boards and pewter figures. Assaults just felt so overpowered in the games, where on the board they were powerful but light and medium mechs' maneuverability really balanced things out.

I'm tentatively excited about this. I LOVED the old game, enjoyed the video games. Was chatting about btech with some buds just last weekend, even. I just gotta wait until 3056 when my Nightsky is acquirable. I love me some hop'n'hack.

 

[toothofymir]

Alrighty then, I'll bite. I've never really had much experience with the "Golden Age", so this will be a good chance to brush up on my MechWarrior history.

BTW, where Ultra ACs around, or were they still considered lostech?

And I'm still willing to bet that they'll put in the Clan invasions at some point. Fighting the battle of Tukayyid would be AWESOME!

 

[Enslave_All_Elves]

interested...

I grew up on Mechwarrior, Doom, and Wolfenstein (and tekken once PS came out).

 

[CptNiceHD]

Swear my fealty to one of the five Great Houses? Fight to claim Terra on behalf of the Clans? Bah! Let the Successor States rot and the sons and daughters of Kerensky be buried with the ashes of their thrice-damned Star League. My loyalty belongs to House Calderon. Long live the Taurian Concordat!

Can anyone point me to a mechwarrior wiki or some site/database where I can completely catch up on lore and everything in a fairly quick manner?

Try Sarna.net

3025 was the 'golden age' of the BattleTech universe, once you get to the clan invasion (3050) with all the silly new tech that was added thereafter it dramatically watered down the universe. A proper reboot set before 3025 is beyond fantastic. While I love pulse/ER lasers and ER PPCs and whatnot, having the good ol' basic armaments is where we should start out again.

Not even 3025 will save you from experimental tech. The Lyrans invented Snub-Nosed Artillery Cannons in 3012, and the Mariks Binary Laser Cannons in 2812! =^p

BTW, were Ultra ACs around, or were they still considered lostech?

Ultra Autocannon/5s were recovered in 3035, and UAC/2s and /10s in 3037. For UAC/20s, however, you'll have to wait until 3060. Sorry.

...

Incidentally, I wonder if Piranha Games will include any retrotech BattleMechs to round out the lineup? A Helepolis, for example, would be incredibly lore-breaking to see in 3049, but potentially quite amusing to play as (or against).

 

[Thrakkesh]

I do hope they do urban combat right, because it helps to stave off a lot of that 'circle strafe death dance' that the games tend to devolve into by allowing you to duck in and out of line of sight blocks--it's one of the things that really lets Light Mechs shine over heavies, and is one of the reason in the PC games it was pretty much Assault/Heavy or Bust. But mostly, I'm worried about a sense of scale--I want to feel like I'm in a massive 30-100 ton fusion-powered death-machine, damn it. If it was one thing the MW games pretty much blew it on, it was a sense of scale. Hardware limitations were obviously why, but that's not a valid excuse now. Lemme mess up the terrain and stomp THROUGH some obstacles a bit more.

That's one of the things I disliked about the first person games and loved about the old paper boards and pewter figures. Assaults just felt so overpowered in the games, where on the board they were powerful but light and medium mechs' maneuverability really balanced things out.

Yeah, going from the PC game to the tabletop was jarring in that way, when you see a little light mech and figure 'easy kill' then realize that because he ran in a straight line with a little intervening terrain that it is near impossible to hit him with a solid weapon, and the heavier hitters are threatening your big bad assault's front while he's b-lining to your rear arc. You learned to respect light mechs REAL quick!

Also, way back pre-clan... 'Locust missles.' They then turned into Flea missles... Turns out a 20 ton mech with MASC performing a charge attack at full movement speed was both nearly impossible to hit and absurdly devastating.

 

[Aggieknight]

That's one of the things I disliked about the first person games and loved about the old paper boards and pewter figures. Assaults just felt so overpowered in the games, where on the board they were powerful but light and medium mechs' maneuverability really balanced things out.

Yeah, going from the PC game to the tabletop was jarring in that way, when you see a little light mech and figure 'easy kill' then realize that because he ran in a straight line with a little intervening terrain that it is near impossible to hit him with a solid weapon, and the heavier hitters are threatening your big bad assault's front while he's b-lining to your rear arc. You learned to respect light mechs REAL quick!

Also, way back pre-clan... 'Locust missles.' They then turned into Flea missles... Turns out a 20 ton mech with MASC performing a charge attack at full movement speed was both nearly impossible to hit and absurdly devastating.

Ahhh, yes...going back to the old school Cicada. Almost now fire power, but you'll be damned if you can hit it on 3025 technology while it's running around to get behind you.

Still, I loved 3056 the most. Give me my Nightsky and my hop'n'hack! Tear them assault mechs up that make the mistake of walking into my city.