Returning players, please read this post.

[mbear]

Pffft it's just an Associates in Culinary Arts...of course, if I don't study, I risk my chef instructor beating me to death with a saute pan next time I have lab...

Oh God. I just had a flash of a Commando wielding a frying pan. "Today on Iron Chef..."

[plutonick]

This is a useful post that hasn't been updated for a while... may I suggest the following changes regarding the COMPUTER GAMES part?

COMPUTER GAMES
1. Why aren't there CGL-branded BattleTech computer games?
A simple reason: CGL doesn't own the electronic rights to BattleTech. Microsoft does. They licensed these to Smith and Tinker, who's working with Piranha. They already released MechWarrior Online and are in the process of developing MechWarrior 5 which is single player game, campaign mode FPS. There's also MechWarrior Tactics at http://mwtactics.com/.  I think it's in beta, but I don't know. (this is cancelled) There is also the BattleTech γαμε being developed by Harebrained Schemes. BattleTech is a Turn-based tactical/campaign game which had a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign.

2. So if there are no computer games, how can I get my BT fix?
The best option (IMHO) is MegaMek. It's faithful to the board game, so if you like the tactical perspective rather than the first person perspective used in the MechWarrior franchise, you're in luck. MekHQ (from the same team of MegaMek) is the campaign module, and MekLab is the TechManual module of MegaMek. There's more info at the MegaMek site, http://megamek.info/.

MechCommander, MechCommander Gold, and MechCommander 2 used to be available for free download, but I can't find valid links anywhere. (Though Microsoft has made the MechCommander Source Code available for download so if you're a programmer you can use that as a starting point.)

If you prefer the first person perspective, but don't want MechWarrior Online or cant wait for MechWarrior 5 you're out of luck. For a while the MekTek team was distributing MechWarrior 4, and there is was a BattleTech-flavored expansion to Crysis called "MechWarrior: Living Legends". but those have been taken down.

[pheonixstorm]

So legal/development issues are settled with PGI/MS then? This could still be a bit of a grey area. Haven't kept up on it though.. I know MW4 as a free download is a goner

[plutonick]

If you are talking about Living Legends all I know is that it was unavailable for a time, but now it's flourishing again. Dunno why really.

[Kit deSummersville]

There is also the BattleTech γαμε being developed by Harebrained Schemes.

The what? Is that Russian?

[Sartris]

The what? Is that Russian?

greek?

[plutonick]

yup, Greek. That's what happens when you type game using greek characters :)

[Feenix74]

mbear - You might need to review and update the original posting in this thread as battlecorps is currently M.I.A.

[mbear]

mbear - You might need to review and update the original posting in this thread as battlecorps is currently M.I.A.

Yeah. I'll get on that.

[mbear]

This is a useful post that hasn't been updated for a while... may I suggest the following changes regarding the COMPUTER GAMES part?

COMPUTER GAMES
1. Why aren't there CGL-branded BattleTech computer games?
A simple reason: CGL doesn't own the electronic rights to BattleTech. Microsoft does. They licensed these to Smith and Tinker, who's working with Piranha. They already released MechWarrior Online and are in the process of developing MechWarrior 5 which is single player game, campaign mode FPS. There's also MechWarrior Tactics at http://mwtactics.com/.  I think it's in beta, but I don't know. (this is cancelled) There is also the BattleTech γαμε being developed by Harebrained Schemes. BattleTech is a Turn-based tactical/campaign game which had a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign.

2. So if there are no computer games, how can I get my BT fix?
The best option (IMHO) is MegaMek. It's faithful to the board game, so if you like the tactical perspective rather than the first person perspective used in the MechWarrior franchise, you're in luck. MekHQ (from the same team of MegaMek) is the campaign module, and MekLab is the TechManual module of MegaMek. There's more info at the MegaMek site, http://megamek.info/.

MechCommander, MechCommander Gold, and MechCommander 2 used to be available for free download, but I can't find valid links anywhere. (Though Microsoft has made the MechCommander Source Code available for download so if you're a programmer you can use that as a starting point.)

If you prefer the first person perspective, but don't want MechWarrior Online or cant wait for MechWarrior 5 you're out of luck. For a while the MekTek team was distributing MechWarrior 4, and there is was a BattleTech-flavored expansion to Crysis called "MechWarrior: Living Legends". but those have been taken down.

I didn't use exactly what you've got here, but I did update the computer games section. Thanks for the reminder!

mbear - You might need to review and update the original posting in this thread as battlecorps is currently M.I.A.

You're right. Where the Catalyst Store has a product, I updated the link to point to that product. Where the store doesn't have a product (e.g. several record sheet PDFs) I've removed the link. Above the table that compares TROs and Record Sheets, I put a single link to DriveThruRPG.com. I think this is an acceptable balance between providing utility to new/returning players and not undermining possible CGL web sales.