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[PjotrStroganov]

God I wish I still had my MW:2 cd. I would so throw that in the computer and rock that soundtrack out.

http://obsoletegamer.com/mechwarrior-2-ost/

 

[akira28]

Can't wait to pick up my flamer and do my part for House Steiner against traitorous Kurita scum

I met Katrina Steiner once, did I ever tell you? Beautiful woman. Piercing blue eyes...

 

[epmode]

Such a great soundtrack. Such a great game. Maybe this release means that we can eventually get a SINGLE PLAYER sim again. But I doubt it.

 

[Lime]

I really like the FlyingDebris' interpretation of the 'Mechs.

Such a great soundtrack. Such a great game. Maybe this release means that we can eventually get a SINGLE PLAYER sim again. But I doubt it.

Piranha has said they originally wanted to make a SP game, but no one would fund it. If MW:O is sufficiently successful we can hope for one.

Too bad the entire SP mech sim genre is completely dead

 

[Orayn]

If MechWarrior Online is successful, I can see Piranha using some of its assets to make a single player game styled after previous single player campaigns. Maybe a svelte, $20-30 affair that would potentially be the first in a new series.

 

[Wiktor]

If MechWarrior Online is successful, I can see Piranha using some of its assets to make a single player game styled after previous single player campaigns. Maybe a svelte, $20-30 affair that would potentially be the first in a new series.

I wouldn' t mind seein DLC single/co-op campaignas for Mechwarrior Online. Would be pretty good way to test the interest in this kind of thing.

 

[Noisepurge]

New BattleMech revealed: Centurion

Where is mah Warhammer! And i guess they are saving Mad Cat/Timberwolf for last?

 

[golem]

I want to see a new Marauder too

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Summoner _O_

 

[deim0s]

New BattleMech revealed: Centurion

Excellent work from FlyingDebris, as always.

Why do I get a Word of Blake feeling on that Centurion Design?

 

[faulty_fork]

Why do I get a Word of Blake feeling on that Centurion Design?

Haha yeah, it kind of looks like an evil brother to the original Centurion.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Where is mah Warhammer! And i guess they are saving Mad Cat/Timberwolf for last?

If the clans wont be in the game at launch, I doubt we will see all the mechs

 

[Orayn]

If the clans wont be in the game at launch, I doubt we will see all the mechs

It's set at the very beginning of the Clan Invasion, so expect their tech to be scarce of absent for at least a while. The cool flip-side is that MWO's in-universe date is the same ours +1038 years, so each wave of the invasion will essentially happen in real time.

 

[Divvy]

The new Centurion looks great, but doesn't look like it'd be very fast.

 

[daedalius]

http://obsoletegamer.com/mechwarrior-2-ost/

There a way to download these off of there?

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Sent a PM. But here's another link.

 

[daedalius]

Sent a PM. But here's another link.

I actually have the soundtrack somewhere, its just buried in who knows how much junk in my closet, lol.

 

[Orayn]

Dev Blog 3: Role Warfare is up!

Role Warfare is a term used for applying in-game mechanics and features, which assist a player in optimizing the game for their style of gameplay.

There are 4 basic types of gameplay roles in any team based game. These are the common roles found in military conflicts between two or more forces, and are similar to a chess game in terms of how they play out on the battlefield. The four roles are:

• Scouting – Gathering information as a reconnaissance/stealth unit that gets relayed back to the rest of the friendly force.
• Defense – The defender holds the ground gained by the offensive forces and protects those in need.
• Assault – The assault role is for the tactical forward units whose primary role is to seek and destroy.
• Command – The command role is split into two different levels, lance and company. Lance command falls to those in charge of up to 3 other players and assist in coordinated attacks on key targets. The company commander utilizes the 2 other lance commanders and all information being relayed back to him to make global calls on the battlefield.

Role Aggregation

Role Aggregation combines all of the BattleMech and Pilot Skill customizations to create customized gameplay that the player has chosen to follow.
It all begins in the game’s cycle of playing matches. The player first starts off by selecting contracts or entering quick matches and playing the game in general.

As players play through matches, they earn XP for their BattleMechs. XP is gained by performing various tasks within a match and bonus XP can be gained by being successful at the end of the match. Bonus XP can be gained from the meta-game which can give XP based on faction/allegiance to a House.

After each match XP is stored in the last BattleMech used. This pool of XP can be spent on BattleMech efficiencies. Each BattleMech chassis has its own pool of XP and custom Tech Tree. At certain branch points in the BattleMech Tech Tree, a Pilot Point is awarded to the player.

Each branch under the BattleMech’s Tech Tree represents attributes that fall into the Role Categories described earlier on.

Pilot Points that are unlocked in the BattleMech Tech Tree are then assigned to the player’s pilot avatar (MechWarrior).

Now the player can use the Pilot Points to unlock pilot abilities in the Pilot Skill tree. As abilities are purchased, Modules are unlocked in the store.

Again, the branches in the Pilot Skill Tree represent attributes that fall into the Role Categories described earlier on.

After purchasing modules from the store, using soft currency (C-Bills), the player can equip them to the BattleMech of their choice. The maximum number of Modules that can be equipped is determined by the BattleMech chassis.

It is this game cycle that brings customized gameplay to the player experience. The combination of BattleMech Modules and Pilot Abilities will dramatically augment the play style of the player.

Roles Playing Out on the Battlefield

How the roles play out on the battlefield relies on the players’ activity. If a player customizes their gameplay to be a scout, then they should play the role of a scout and relay information back to the command players.

Scouts

Scouts are the main source of information on the battlefield. It is their utilization of Information Warfare that is the key to the success of a team. Scouts need to get to the front lines as soon as possible in order to gather information as fast as possible. They should utilize fast moving BattleMech which allow them to do so and at the same time allow them the opportunity to escape should the need arise. Advanced scout players will need to use scout Modules to enhance their abilities to detect enemies and relay information.
Suggested BattleMech Class: Light/Medium
Suggested Modules: Radar and Detection enhancements
Suggested Pilot Skills: Scout class skills

Defense/Assault

The defense and assault roles are very similar in their core gameplay. The only difference between the two is how they want to balance their skills and modules. There are numerous configurations that will prove to be beneficial to either role being played.

Defense may want to skew their attributes to heavier armor and friendly assistance modules, while the assault may want to skew their attributes to targeting and assistance modules. Both roles need to be combat effective in both long and short range abilities.
Suggested BattleMech Class: Medium/Heavy/Assault
Suggested Modules: (Defense) Assistance and Detection enhancements, (Assault) Assistance and Targeting enhancements
Suggested Pilot Skills: (Defense) Assistance of friendly units and Detection/Protection skills, (Assault) Enhanced Targeting and Assistance of friendly units

Command

Command players are a special breed that will need to be "situation aware" of everything happening on the battlefield at any given time. It is up to the command player to let all friendly units know of key operational changes in plans or actions to be played out while in combat. The command player is always at risk due to the nature of the role and their dependency on the Battle Grid to issue orders and distribute information. It is because of this, command players should be protected by other players on the same team. Movement co-ordination is the key to the survival of the command player by making sure the command player is never left alone.

It is important to note that radar/information sharing has a defined range. This means that a command player cannot simply stand at their original spawn location for the entirety of the match. They must keep moving in order to make sure all members of the team are within communications range.
Suggested BattleMech Class: Light/Medium/Heavy
Suggested Modules: Ability to call upon support units/Radar enhancements
Suggested Pilot Skills: Self-defense and Information sharing skills

 

[Orayn]

Part 2 is up! Lots of detailed information about XP and skill trees.

Experience Points (XP)

XP is a cumulative point system used to unlock BattleMech Efficiencies by performing in game actions correctly. All earned XP is divided by a percentage between General XP and BattleMech Chassis XP.

General XP can be spent on any BattleMech efficiency, while BattleMech Chassis XP can only be earned on the current active player BattleMech.

Examples of XP Actions:

• Destroying an enemy unit.
• Detecting an enemy unit.
• Assisting a friendly unit.
• Disabling an enemy unit.
• Accomplishing a command order.

BattleMech Efficiencies

This is the basic layout of the tree for any of the ’Mechs or variants that we launch with (or when we initially introduce the base model and chassis of any brand new ’Mech). Players need to spend XP to unlock all of the upgrades on each tier in order to be able to access the next tier. The jump jet related upgrades on tier 4 would be removed for any ’Mech that doesn’t have jump jets. In order to access Elite I, the player needs to not only unlock all upgrades on tiers 1-4 of this model, but they have to do the same for every initial variant. After they access and spend XP to unlock Elite I, tier 5 is then accessible for all initial variants. Elite II is accessed in a manner similar to Elite I. The player must have unlocked tier 8 on each of the initial variants.

 

[Orayn]

New developer interview is up!

MWO: Does MechWarrior Online offer challenges that other games you’ve worked on haven’t?

[Omid] Yeah, nailing down the difference between Lights, Mediums, Heavys and Assaults is tricky. They need to be different from each other while still remaining useful in their own right. Role Warfare is both the challenge and solution to that core problem.

[Thad] It certainly brings more pressure, for two reasons. Firstly it comes with a fan base which is very passionate and very particular about what they want, so it’s incumbent upon us not only to build the best possible game, but to build the best possible MechWarrior game, which means the bar is set very high and it’s going to be measured against some of the best military sims of the past two decades.

Secondly, because of the free-to-play model, it is absolutely imperative that we craft a compelling gameplay experience that will keep people engaged and keep people playing the game. It isn’t enough to build levels that are fun for the player to blast through once in a single player campaign – we need to build levels that are interesting enough and fun enough to that the player wants to return to again and again.

[Kevin] The levels in MechWarrior Online are huge, and I mean multiple kilometres huge. Since day one our goal has been to offer a premium free to play experience, and on the art side that means that we need to have densely populated levels, current gen realistic graphics, and as many bells and whistles as we can throw at it. The entire team is pulling out every trick in the book to achieve a high art quality bar while maintaining performance numbers for a large scale multiplayer game.

Another interesting challenge has been creating a proper sense of scale within the levels. We need a lot of large objects in order to act as view blockers, but if too many things are large then the BattleMechs quickly look like toys. To counteract this, the levels need a large number of easily recognizable small scale objects for our minds to compare scale. On some levels with a ton of manmade objects like a city, this is relatively easy. However, forcing scale in levels with very few manmade objects can be difficult. Rocks and trees can be any scale, so it comes down to adding the right variety of objects and paying attention to each scene as a whole. Ultimately we should be able to take a screenshot of any scene in the level and accurately feel scale - this is easier said than done, but after a few months I think we are getting a pretty good handle on it.

MWO: What makes MechWarrior Online unique?

[Omid] I've never worked on a project where we've been in such close touch with the community from the beginning - as a developer, it’s a really cool experience to actively create a feature while the fans are being introduced to it. And as a fan, it's awesome to see how the community can get involved and influence development.

[Thad] I think MechWarrior Online is going to be the first MechWarrior game where the different classes of ’Mech really mean something on the battlefield instead of being transitory steps to pass through on your way to piloting the big shit kicker. There will be specific and very legitimate advantages to piloting each and every ’Mech in this game, and because of that the battles will have a great deal more character than multi-player MechWarrior battles from the past.

[Kevin] In my opinion there is still a lot of room for improvement in what free-to-play means. It is up to us as developers to deliver a solid core game, ensuring that paying players have no unfair advantages while creating incentives for people to actually pay, while fostering a culture where it is actually perfectly fine for someone to not pay a cent yet play the game for years. I have a lot of hopes for MWO to be able to really push this entire “premium” free-to-play market to somewhere really positive.

I really like the sounds of their thoughts regarding F2P.

 

[subversus]

"Multiple kilometeres huge" - that is Cryengine 3, baby!

 

[Orayn]

"Multiple kilometeres huge" - that is Cryengine 3, baby!

This reminds me... In their "Role Warfare Month" announcement, they said that something big was coming toward the end of February - Not the beta details, but the next biggest/best thing. Real gameplay footage, mayhaps?

 

[Noisepurge]

If the clans wont be in the game at launch, I doubt we will see all the mechs

yeah but Mad Cat/Timberwolf is the one design that is as close to a mascot as the series has

 

[Orayn]

I'm sure they'll give it a grand (re)introduction when the Clan Invasion starts in earnest, some time after the game launches.

 

[Lime]

I doubt this was posted (if it was, I apologize in advance!). It instils confidence about how the cockpits in the game are going to be:

I'm sure they'll give it a grand (re)introduction when the Clan Invasion starts in earnest, some time after the game launches.

I can't wait to see FlyingDebris' interpretation of the popular Clan designs.

 

[Lime]

Also, Russ Bollock has mentioned we will see screenshots before or during GDC, which is the 5th to 9th of March.

 

[DarkFlow]

They better let me join a clan or ComGuard when that story rolls around. Clan wolf or jade falcon here I come.

Edit: if they do let you join clans, how cool would it be to do bloodname trials. You fight some guy everyday in a bracket till someone wins.

 

[Orayn]

More developer Q&A went up on Wednesday.

Let's say you level up your mech and pilot through a series of battles, and then one fateful day you have your ride completely destroyed. Do you lose all mech XP and start over in a new mech, but retain your buff pilot abilities? –BarHaid

[PAUL] You will not be able to have your ’Mech destroyed but that being said, if you somehow lost your ’Mech you would not have to rework your way through the Mech Tree. You retain your XP for that chassis.

[DAVID] Your ’Mech can never be completely destroyed. Even when it’s shot to pieces, your team of mechanics and techies are skilled enough to restore it to a bare minimum, just barely functioning state. If you pay your repair bills, they’ll be able to repair it all the way up to a perfectly pristine condition. So you won’t lose any of your ’Mech XP or the ’Mech Efficiencies that you have unlocked with it. Also, keep in mind that the ’Mech Efficiencies represent not just the small tweaks and tuning that your tech team performs on the ’Mechs that you pilot, but also your ability as a pilot to squeeze the extra mile out of every system as you become more familiar with operating a particular model or variant.

[GARTH] To be clear, you could take a damaged ‘Mech into combat, if you wanted to.

Will every chassis' variant perform more or less the same role, or will we see various roles amongst each of the chassis' variants? –Halfinax

[PAUL] It will depend on how you pilot each chassis and how you configure it with modules. If you want to make a Dragon a scout, and you have another Dragon Variant that you want to have as an attacker, there’s nothing stopping you from doing so.

[DAVID] There’s nothing that inherently labels a particular model or variant as being a “scout ’Mech” or a “command ’Mech”, and any ’Mech can take on modules that were unlocked from any of the Pilot Skill Trees. That being said, different variants tend to come with differing amounts of armour, different engines, different weapons and other equipment, etc. These can leave, for instance, one variant more suited for scouting while another variant is a more aggressive attacker.

 

[Tamanon]

They better let me join a clan or ComGuard when that story rolls around. Clan wolf or jade falcon here I come.

Edit: if they do let you join clans, how cool would it be to do bloodname trials. You fight some guy everyday in a bracket till someone wins.

Bloodname trials would be badass.

I'm guessing though that they won't be able to just give the Clans vastly superior mechs like the story goes, otherwise it'd just be a bloodbath.

For the glory of the Dragon!

 

[dLMN8R]

I doubt this was posted (if it was, I apologize in advance!). It instils confidence about how the cockpits in the game are going to be:

I can't wait to see FlyingDebris' interpretation of the popular Clan designs.

holy shit.

*drool*

 

[Orayn]

New BattleMech revealed: Commando

 

[Lime]

Holt shit, amazing interpretation of the design. Looks incredibly cool! (if I'm allowed to use such a term)

Almost makes me want to pilot the damn thing.

 

[Aselith]

Ekman says joystick support is a strong probability,

Wat? That's a no-brainer. It would be fucking retarded to leave out joystick support.

Those mechs DO look really nice though. Very interested in this one.

 

[skullwolfgp]

Wat? That's a no-brainer. It would be fucking retarded to leave out joystick support.

Agreed, these types of quotes should be reserved for stuff like force feedback

Spoiler

please have force feedback

 

[Dead Man]

New BattleMech revealed: Commando

These mech designs are awesome.

 

[Lime]

These mech designs are awesome.

FlyingDebris, aka Alex Iglesias, is probably one of the best things that has happened to Battletech within the last 10 years. He's even included in lots of pages in the "new" Battletech art book.

 

[Woorloog]

Commando's cool but i prefer ChickenMechs like Catapult, or less-humanoid humanoid mechs like Centurion (almost "headless"), Summoner/Thor and Dragon.

And that cockpit concept... nice, very nice. I assume the red rectangle is the actual view in-game?

 

[Dead Man]

FlyingDebris, aka Alex Iglesias, is probably one of the best things that has happened to Battletech within the last 10 years. He's even included in lots of pages in the "new" Battletech art book.

Just looked up his DA page, damn he has a lot of cool stuff.

 

[PistolPete]

Before I continue, I'm all over this game day one. Please take my money. I don't care if its f2p.

BUT - I've played the tabletop game and all the PC games since the original mechwarrior on my 286, and there's always been one nagging issue with the Battletech universe: what is the point of even having a mech in a battle?

They're slow. They don't have a low profile like a tank. They're not easy to hide. Their humanoid frame seems like more of a liability than anything (aim for the legs!) Sure, I'd shit my pants if I saw one coming at me, so from a psychological perspective they score a point. Other than that, they seem like huge targets for fast things that fly.

Can someone who knows the lore explain this to me? Ill accept "they look cool" because that's what I've been going with all these years but if there's a reason to all of it I'd like to know.

 

[Dead Man]

Before I continue, I'm all over this game day one. Please take my money. I don't care if its f2p.

BUT - I've played the tabletop game and all the PC games since the original mechwarrior on my 286, and there's always been one nagging issue with the Battletech universe: what is the point of even having a mech in a battle?

They're slow. They don't have a low profile like a tank. They're not easy to hide. Their humanoid frame seems like more of a liability than anything (aim for the legs!) Sure, I'd shit my pants if I saw one coming at me, so from a psychological perspective they score a point. Other than that, they seem like huge targets for fast things that fly.

Can someone who knows the lore explain this to me? Ill accept "they look cool" because that's what I've been going with all these years but if there's a reason to all of it I'd like to know.

I always just assumed it was because they look cool. Most sci fi in popular culture is tactically unsound, but it looks cool.

 

[Lime]

Before I continue, I'm all over this game day one. Please take my money. I don't care if its f2p.

BUT - I've played the tabletop game and all the PC games since the original mechwarrior on my 286, and there's always been one nagging issue with the Battletech universe: what is the point of even having a mech in a battle?

They're slow. They don't have a low profile like a tank. They're not easy to hide. Their humanoid frame seems like more of a liability than anything (aim for the legs!) Sure, I'd shit my pants if I saw one coming at me, so from a psychological perspective they score a point. Other than that, they seem like huge targets for fast things that fly.

Can someone who knows the lore explain this to me? Ill accept "they look cool" because that's what I've been going with all these years but if there's a reason to all of it I'd like to know.

Applying realism and rational reasoning to the Battletech universe do not work. Just look at the ranges of the weapons.

Although in the manual to Mech Commander, they address why 'Mechs are superior to other vehicles. I can't remember it specifically, but it had something to do with the speed of traversing hills and mountains :/

 

[Aselith]

Before I continue, I'm all over this game day one. Please take my money. I don't care if its f2p.

BUT - I've played the tabletop game and all the PC games since the original mechwarrior on my 286, and there's always been one nagging issue with the Battletech universe: what is the point of even having a mech in a battle?

They're slow. They don't have a low profile like a tank. They're not easy to hide. Their humanoid frame seems like more of a liability than anything (aim for the legs!) Sure, I'd shit my pants if I saw one coming at me, so from a psychological perspective they score a point. Other than that, they seem like huge targets for fast things that fly.

Can someone who knows the lore explain this to me? Ill accept "they look cool" because that's what I've been going with all these years but if there's a reason to all of it I'd like to know.

More powerful and faster than infantry and more adaptable than tanks? They aren't huge or anything and even the slowest can go up to 50mph. They'd have their uses like any other piece of equipment.

 

[Orayn]

My favorite explanation for the prominence of BattleMechs is that the weird feudal shit of the BattleTech universe causes uneven development of technology, to the point where more resources were being put into developing advanced 'Mechs than other vehicles.

PLUS they look cool.

 

[Lime]

Teaser screens are up. Love the texture work:

More at their Facebook page.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Holy shit. I want this so much more now.

 

[Davidion]

Oh my, oh dear

 

[Orayn]

More... I must see more! GDC, hopefully?

 

[Card Boy]

That is sexy. This is how a Gundam game should be.

 

[derFeef]

Oh lookie. Are those screens from the game or just the trailer?
I guess trailer.

 

[Orayn]

Oh lookie. Are those screens from the game or just the trailer?
I guess trailer.

To me, it looks like a combination of an in-engine cutscene/trailer and an early version of the cockpit view. Definitely CryEngine 3, though.