First, I assume that you talk about "fictional " new game, not about MechWarrior Online or MechWarrior: Tactical Command. A game with single-player campaign ...
Nice, but not likely. It's definitely possible. Probably longest campaign was in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries which campaign spanned across ten or fifteen years (cannot remember exactly).
Yes, a fictional, new game...Which, hopefully wouldn't be so fictional if someone would get programming. :) And, yes, a single player campaign. Actually, I think the longest potential campaign was Activision's, although calling that a campaign is a really loose use of the term. You could skip the storyline and simply take contracts across the Inner Sphere. But, I would love to have some sort of long-term campaign that was not the standard "Let's by the cheat book and beat this in 12 hours game." I, personally, think a game should be playable over a very long time. Give it a storyline for the short attention span theatre kids, and something less story driven, perhaps, but, playable over the long run for guys like me.
In connection with 1., do you have "a campaign" taking decades or maybe centuries in mind? Difficult task to make player interested in so long storyline. Most games make player to impersonate an in-universe character. How would you solved this problem? Make player interested in some Bloodhouse(Clan) and its successive members? (scion of Noble House for the Inner Sphere, conquering territory?)
Not sure how to ultimately solve the issue, I would like to see the player having a stake in a unit/Clan, or region, which would drive their actions. I think if you give the game an engine where success means that their faction gains (perhaps their successes lead to faction X having control of certain planets in n years. Or their failures mean a whole campaign fails. Not sure how you'd program that, but, I do know that I have played games in the past that used similar types of engines.
It's not easy to command big unit in a battle. I think you are overreaching from MechWarrior to MechCommander.
I think you command it much the same way you issue commands in MW4. It makes me excited when I run the Governor's Mansion mission knowing that my 2nd lance is out of my control and doing their own thing. If I have made bad personnel choices, or bad 'Mech choices, they lose. I lose. That is how things happen in the real world. Personally I enjoy that. Perhaps, you use a scheme similar to the waypoint scheme Activision's Mechwarrior used, where you could send your lancemates marching to certain points on the map. Perhaps that is how you control such a big unit. Once forces are outside of your area of direct control, perhaps you only communicate through the company/trinary commanders, or batallion, if you allow for a regiment/galaxy.
I don't think you have to make the game like 'Mech Commander to do that. I think you can mate the first person aspect of Mechwarrior with that overarching command style.
One word - copyright ...
see point 6.
Why should Harmony Gold help its bussines rivals?
Then, redesign them. I know that's not ideal, but, I like the original 'Mechs. And, I think if approached the right way, Harmony Gold might be able to be brought to the table, but, I am sure that conversation is going to be hard to start, given the actions of people in the past. I don't think that Battletech and Robotech are really rivals. Very, very similar, but, quite different stories and events. I think if you could somehow include nods to Harmony Gold within the game (not sure what you would do, that would involve knowing what would make them happy) then, you might be able to do something. Note, that's a LOT of might and maybe's.
But those skills must be useful in combat, otherwise people will still decide for same two or three skills. Skill for negotiations could be useful. Skill for making black-market friends who can obtain cheap spare parts. Drinking friend who can obtain some interesting intelligence in nearest bar...
Some skills from MechCommander 2 vere good too.
I probably should have been more clear here. In MW4 several pilots are noted as being good with scouting, or mediums, or "hot-headed." Yet, when you play the game, they are none of those things. I would love to see someone like Sheridan from the original Black Widow Company sourcebook...Reckless, charges into battle, ignores orders. Well modeled, so that they aren't suicidal, but, bordering there, and certainly insubordinate at times, that pilot could make battles a LOT of fun. Not really looking for someone to have negotiating skills, but, that MIGHT be an option to work with a contract system. Certainly 'Mech pilots with tech skills would be a valuable addition to a unit. (Especially if you added an option to start with a hard luck unit, like Wilson's Hussars.)
Well, you do not have unlimited supply of Overlords, do you?
Who says I don't have REALLY deep pockets? ;) I understand your point, but, I would like to see in game deployment limited by in game factors, and not the scenario simply saying, hey, you're paying for those other people, but, you can't use them. I am not going to deploy less than the maximum available force (unless I am a Clanner) to obtain the objective. You could make the game so that sometimes it scales up your opposition in the mission, sometimes not. Random fog or war kind of stuff.
That's nothing new, every MW and MC game had it (except MW 1). The problem is the same as always. Your lancemates aren't the smartest ones and sending them away could result in disaster. Most players won't do that unless forced by game to do that.
Could is the operative word there. As I said above, I really like being able to give different parts of my unit different jobs to do. If I choose to keep my force concentrated I do, but, I like to be able to shift them to actually have the feel of a real fight. Again, I use the example of the mission Governor's Mansion in MW4. Using both of my lances to smack the initial batch of hovercraft would be a waste. In the real situation, I would dispatch my other lance to guard that Northern Mansion, and keep my lance to their flank. If needed, I can always run in that direction, and if I am late and lose, that's just spice for the game to me.
MW games and MC1 already had it. I would combine black market from MW4: Mercs (not that one from MW4: BK with barter) with limited cargo space of your dropship or mobile field base from MW3. MW4 was unrealistic in this thing because it allowed you to stock chassis of forty 'Mechs. The item prices should differ depending on the territory you are in (so cheap lasers in FWL and so on) and maybe even randomly.
I would love to see it in a MW4 kind of game. The repair situation was pretty much based on do you have the cash, not, do you have the parts. And, if you burn up more ammo than you have, that ought to haunt you in a campaign. I would like to see things like gyro hits, and heat sinks being knocked out. Weapons lost due to ammo shortages, or lack of a replacement. In some ways, MW4 (and 2 and 3 and all that preceded those) made the game too easy from a supply standpoint. The original Mercenaries Handbook had a system for handling that which had a bit of detail, but, not so much as to be overwhelming as I recall it. You could implement something along those lines and have a pretty satisfactory way to simulate damage being a pain in the hiney.
As for the music, I'll take your word for that. :)
