Harebrained Battletech - Silly rabbit. Mechs are for kids.

[Nightlord01]

I was trying to get through that priority mission where youre supposed to destroy the suspicious dropship and did what I could to not blow it up but it seems you have to, and so I did in the end.

Yep, plot required unfortunately.

It would be a really short game if Ostergard didn't get involved, afterall.

[Triptych]

It would have been cool if the campaign had multiple endings and storylines based on choices made by you. Say, if you spared the Dropship and pissed off Kamea, perhaps leading to a split within the Restoration faction itself. NEar endless replayability.

Also, if the option was available in which you side with the Directorate instead, or maybe even get hired by the Taurians or by the Capellans to take over the entire territory in their name. Heck even a Pirate campaign in which you take it over in your own name and form a fiefdom would have been neat.  8)

[Luciora]

You realize what you are asking for is basically a AAA funded game from a tiny indie studio, that only wanted to make a mech skirmish game ala Megamek right?

[rjhancock]

Or an MMORPG set in the BattleTech universe.

[Luciora]

I'm not sure just how PSO or Gundam Battle Online Battletech skinned game would work honestly.  All I can see is one faction blown up out of proportion, to the detriment of the rest, depending on the meme of the week.   :)

Or an MMORPG set in the BattleTech universe.

[rjhancock]

I'm not sure just how PSO or Gundam Battle Online Battletech skinned game would work honestly.  All I can see is one faction blown up out of proportion, to the detriment of the rest, depending on the meme of the week.   :)

I mean... that's ONE way to do it. I was honestly thinking more of a story for each house, missions assigned that fit what each house would get, with each "server" being an era to operate in. If you wanted to run a merch outfit, go for it. If you wanted to work your way up a House, great!. Keep the story loose with the overall idea being universe domination.

[Triptych]

You realize what you are asking for is basically a AAA funded game from a tiny indie studio, that only wanted to make a mech skirmish game ala Megamek right?

I think a scenario builder could have easily been added, you know like just choosing the map and victory conditions as well as max lance tonnage, then add a cut scene builder where you can pick sprites and just type in the various responses and stuff. Then string all the missions together and... tada! Instant custom campaign.  ;D

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

The game's story would have had to have been dramatically different if they were going to justify you siding with the Directorate.  Starting with them not double crossing you and killing your mentor and ending with the princess not acquiring all your debts so that you didn't have any choice about working for her.

[Bedwyr]

I'm not sure just how PSO or Gundam Battle Online Battletech skinned game would work honestly.  All I can see is one faction blown up out of proportion, to the detriment of the rest, depending on the meme of the week.   :)

Honestly, having seen multiple major game mods come and go? Using the HBS framework as your basis would probably be a better bet for creating a sprawling, reactive story. Like, lots of additional wrappers and functions would be needed, but less in the end than trying to wrangle a completely different game type into another mechanical genre.

[Triptych]

The game's story would have had to have been dramatically different if they were going to justify you siding with the Directorate.  Starting with them not double crossing you and killing your mentor and ending with the princess not acquiring all your debts so that you didn't have any choice about working for her.

Oh its not a problem that a bit of comic book styled retconning cant fix.  ;)

For example, Kamea can actually be a Capellan sleeper agent who's main goal is to actually hand the territory over to House Liao once she's in power. She might even be the one secretly pressuring the banks to keep your merc unit in debt until she could come in and "save" you, thereby guaranteeing your loyalty.

Raju's dead body found in Weldry might actually be his twin Ranju. The real Raju was in fact a Comstar agent, the man who was actually responsible for killing Lord Tamati Arano and making it look like an accident. He then comes out of hiding and joins Kamea when you side against the Restoration.

Alex Maderia and his family are actually the ones responsible for the Perdition Massacre, but he manufactures fake evidence in order to frame House Espinosa, because theyre his rivals.

Santiago Espinosa might have found out about this plot, which is why he forced Kamea out of power.

There, a perfectly logical story for you to follow if you sided with the Directorate, yes?  :D

[Luciora]

Its great everyone has an idea of what they want to do, after the finished product, yet want someone to do the work and front the money to do it.  So many modders promise to do something, then the project fizzles out due to lack of effort, over promised goals or something petty. 

Yeah its great to talk about what you want to see, but I've seen it devolve to the point of game bashing just because it didn't turn out to be *thier perfect game*  and again, HBS did a miracle job, from what originally was supposed to be just a simple mech skirmisher.   Everything else was just stretch goals that they managed to implement at the end, including the campaign.  They didn't promise multiple ones or play as an alternate side.  Would that have been great?  Who knows, but that is additional work they would have put in that would have delayed or broken the game, or made interactions repetitive. 

Yeah its great to say what you would have done in retrospective, but none of us worked on it, we have no idea of the scale, scope or programming to do it.  And if we did, we'd be asking money to do it.

[MarauderD]

Its great everyone has an idea of what they want to do, after the finished product, yet want someone to do the work and front the money to do it.  So many modders promise to do something, then the project fizzles out due to lack of effort, over promised goals or something petty. 

Yeah its great to talk about what you want to see, but I've seen it devolve to the point of game bashing just because it didn't turn out to be *thier perfect game*  and again, HBS did a miracle job, from what originally was supposed to be just a simple mech skirmisher.   Everything else was just stretch goals that they managed to implement at the end, including the campaign.  They didn't promise multiple ones or play as an alternate side.  Would that have been great?  Who knows, but that is additional work they would have put in that would have delayed or broken the game, or made interactions repetitive. 

Yeah its great to say what you would have done in retrospective, but none of us worked on it, we have no idea of the scale, scope or programming to do it.  And if we did, we'd be asking money to do it.

Exactly this.  They made a brilliant game, one of the best BattleTech games ever made.  I'm very thankful for that!  (and also for PGI slaying Harmony Gold, allowing HBS to use the mech models, etc)

[Triptych]

Hmm, first off, I think this is the best BT game ever, and I love it so much that Im playing it again.

The talking about other possibilities of the campaign is strictly for fun and in no way a bashing of the game as it currently stands, so I find that remark not only puzzling but silly and defensive for no reason. We're here to have fun and offer other perspectives, so to discuss a "what if" scenario isnt a knock on the game or the designers themselves. At all.

[Colt Ward]

Play the game enough and you know they ran into some limitations . . . like how you often find reinforcements landing on you the exact same time as the original wave.

Personally, I would have loved being able to take 12-16 mechs like we could with MechCommander Gold and seen the Clans arrive . . . but that was not the scope, and to be honest I LOVE that we got the Aurigan Coalition in BTU now.  The sourcebook is awesome and if we got a new game focusing on the Chaos March- because that is the area to do it post 3050- I would love that level of detail.

[Luciora]

Sorry, didn't mean to come down like a ton of bricks, just that I'm really enjoying seeing people continue to talk about the game and don't want to see the thread derailed or shut down again due to arguments about what should or shouldn't be included or x about game is bad.

Yes, its not a perfect game, and I've learned to play around and with the limitations, I even learned a bit of modding to keep my own games fun without relying on external mods.

 :)

[paulobrito]

Well, with the correct mods - BEX for example - you can start playing let's say in 3025 (the initial date is variable), and continue to play up to 3057. By 3050, the clans arrive with lots of fun toys.
During the 'middle years', you can encounter 'nice people' like Comstar with SLDF (and even Royal grade) mechs.
Lots of fun and variety.
Oh, I forget to tell you about the possibility of playing with 2 lances against a lot more mechs than in the clean game? And about allies?

[Jayof9s]

Speaking of larger engagements, this was a first for me. I had a mission to assist the Lyrans with a joint engagement. Me. Lyrans. Feds. I needed a very heavy lance (2 mechs min weight of 80 tons, other two min of 40, and 280+ min overall) and then there was a lance of Lyrans and another of Feds.

All to beat up on a single lance of Cappies. They weren't even a particularly heavy lance of Capellans. And they only got a single lance of reinforcements but my allies focused fully on extracting once we took out the first.

My allies absolutely could have won that one without me. 750 hours in and that was the first time I've gotten that contract.

[Triptych]

Im trying to get an optimum build for the Marauder, so far Ive come up with two options:

Gauss rifle, 2 tons ammo, 4 medium lasers+, max armor, 4 double heatsinks

I recently was able to get a gauss rifle++ from the black market (always pays to make friends with the pirates in this game), and now I have:

gauss rifle++ with 2 tons ammo, 2 large lasers+++, 2 double heatsinks, close to max armor

Does anyone else have a dope build for this mech they can share?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Which Marauder chassis are you using?

[Triptych]

MAD-3R, but I use the CBT chassis mod (because I wanted it as close as possible to the boardgame), which means I can mount anything.

[Colt Ward]

Part of the reason I think he is asking is b/c IIRC the MAD-3D has better heat dissipation than the MAD-3R . . . and the MAD-2R is better than both, just on a stock set up.

[Luciora]

ER or Larges, +++versions and a Gauss tend to be common for any default builds i do.  Since I hold them in the rear, the they get a modest boost to armor.  My crazy build is UAC/5s in the arms and a PPC in the torso.  But that's me messing with the hardpoints manually.

[Jayof9s]

Part of the reason I think he is asking is b/c IIRC the MAD-3D has better heat dissipation than the MAD-3R . . . and the MAD-2R is better than both, just on a stock set up.

3D and 3R both have the same 30 cooling by default. 2R is the only one that's different since it has the built in DHS for 60. None of the mechs in vanilla have extra built-in cooling.

[Colt Ward]

I made a sort of -5M/3D hybrid.  4/6/3 w/the Bank/Exchanger, LL+++ w/+10 damage & +3 Acc in each arm along with a SL+ and a PPC++, either Acc or damage I cannot recall.  It is my backup Marauder to a MAD-3R that is PPC++, LL++, ML+, and AC/2++ . . . I am waiting for a MAD-2R to replace the -3R for the greater heat dissipation b/c the base chassis is built supposing DHS.

Then again, I play self-limited by not using SL/3039 weapons from the market.  I mean I took the pair of DHS Morgan Kell gave me, but so far no more Star League stuff has come my way on the current career.  What is bugging me this interation is I cannot seem to get any PPCs, LRMs, or ACs that are Dmg+Stb, I can find Dmg or Stb/Crit but I have a lot of Dmg+Stb SRMs.

Huh, it always seemed to me the -3D had better cooling though I have never dug into the mod side.

[MarauderD]

Im trying to get an optimum build for the Marauder, so far Ive come up with two options:

Gauss rifle, 2 tons ammo, 4 medium lasers+, max armor, 4 double heatsinks

I recently was able to get a gauss rifle++ from the black market (always pays to make friends with the pirates in this game), and now I have:

gauss rifle++ with 2 tons ammo, 2 large lasers+++, 2 double heatsinks, close to max armor

Does anyone else have a dope build for this mech they can share?

There's an 'optimal' build for the Marauder if you are using it to farm headshots, but having used it, it pretty much trivializes the game play loop.  It takes a while to farm up the weapons, but with a 10 gunnery/tactics pilot it is the ultimate auto-win button.  It requires the Clan quality weapons from the final expansion:

3 U/AC2+++
4 ER Medium Laser +++

All weapons do extra damage, and you have a 35% chance to hit the head with your targeted shots. 10 shots total per round.  It comes out to working most of the time.  If your crew has high morale, you just auto delete the most dangerous mech every round.  Pretty cheesy.  Sometimes it feels satisfying, but after a couple hours, you realize it removes all the challenge from the game. 

[Colt Ward]

Eh, lol, I keep it 'Vet' instead of Elite- either 7 or 8 gun, pilot 6, gut 6-8, tactics 6-8 . . . all depends on the specialization.  Also why I limit the number of assaults I have . . . right now the only one is a Zeus.

I mean, outside of a scout (and some of my scouts still have it), does anyone not take multi-shot as one of the 3 slots?

[MarauderD]

Eh, lol, I keep it 'Vet' instead of Elite- either 7 or 8 gun, pilot 6, gut 6-8, tactics 6-8 . . . all depends on the specialization.  Also why I limit the number of assaults I have . . . right now the only one is a Zeus.

I mean, outside of a scout (and some of my scouts still have it), does anyone not take multi-shot as one of the 3 slots?

I've noticed a wide range of abilities work fine.  Honestly, I took Fleet Footed, Bulwark, and Coolant Vent across the board on my last playthrough--I missed multi shot once in a while, but by the end it wasn't a big deal. 

[Colt Ward]

Well, Multi really works well with the Breach Shot so you knock down the echelons but still get to hit for someone else to pile on.

[Triptych]

OK now that I have a Marauder build... anyone know of any good Warhammer builds?  8)

Im looking to replicate the Marauder's head capping ability, so is maybe having 3-4 large lasers+++ (+10 dam, +3 acc) rather than 2 PPCs the way to go?

[MarauderD]

OK now that I have a Marauder build... anyone know of any good Warhammer builds?  8)

Im looking to replicate the Marauder's head capping ability, so is maybe having 3-4 large lasers+++ (+10 dam, +3 acc) rather than 2 PPCs the way to go?

Marauder's headcapping is because of it's quirk.  You can't really replicate that +17 percent chance to hit your targeted shot on any other chassis.

Warhammer's quirk is something like +10% energy damage.  So stick the largest energy weapons on there you can find and laugh as they get buffed some more by the quirk.  While more of a shotgun, the +++ Snub nose PPC's on a Warhammer put out ridiculous damage, and do a lot of stability damage to boot.  Great mid game way to knock down your opponents.