BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
Catalyst Game Labs => Ask the Writers => Topic started by: grimlock1 on 21 February 2019, 15:32:42
-
Mix tech, or Great House built Clan spec mechs are showing up in general use in 3145 onward.
Do you, as writers, have any guide lines, rules of thumb, quirks, or habits that help you pick what equipment gets upgraded to Clan spec?
These examples are just some random picks from SSW, but why does AS7-D3 get a Clan Streak 20, and medium xpulse, rather than an IS LRM 20 and Clan medium pulse? Why does the Vulpes use IS DHS, not Clan?
What do the conversations leading to these decisions look like? That is assuming assuming that anyone can share.
-
The vast majority of Mech design occurs in isolation. Someone is assigned the task, and executes it. Playtesting revolves around errors. Since we're not trying to create perfect Mechs (generally speaking), anything that's suboptimal isn't an error, but a choice.
Sometimes, that choice is "I felt that way". Sometimes there's more to it. It'd be a case-by-case thing.
Rule of thumb for upgrades and variants is that you try to avoid major changes. But you don't close the door on an Internal Structure replacement.
Beyond that, there's usually some guidance from the Dev about how prolific a certain technology has to be.