New Mechwarrior game coming?

[ElGuapo]

Did you use flares much? One of the best battles I ever had was with a bunch of guys on QT3 where we did a 6 v 6 night battle in the desert. We were shooting flares, blowing up oil tanks, and generally running around causing havok when someone spotted an enemy. Since it was night, you couldn't really tell color or who was on what team, since Chromehounds didn't have any friend/foe icon overlays (which I loved). The rest of the battle was mass confusion as we are shooting at each other, identiying targets, realizing we are surrounded, etc. One thing we learned pretty early was that we could distinquish friend from foe in the dark by flashing your lights. If you saw someone coming toward you, you would flash your lights and if you had comms, ask them to flash theirs back. If they didn't you gave them a warning shot and if they didn't respond, you lit them up.

That battle was all over the map eventually. I even liked that when you died in that game you respawned as a worthless, puny soldier, but you could actually still hear the distant sounds of battle and could go watch the fight playing out as a foot soldier. One of my dream additions for Chromehounds 2 would have been to flesh this out a bit more . . . maybe give your guya rocket launcher or C4 so he coudl battle tanks and troops, blow up trucks and buildings, bridges, etc. It would be slow going and one hit would mean death, but man that would be fun.

Man, that was a great game. I'd play that game still, if the servers were still up.

[Timex]

Did you use flares much? One of the best battles I ever had was with a bunch of guys on QT3 where we did a 6 v 6 night battle in the desert. We were shooting flares, blowing up oil tanks, and generally running around causing havok when someone spotted an enemy. Since it was night, you couldn't really tell color or who was on what team, since Chromehounds didn't have any friend/foe icon overlays (which I loved). The rest of the battle was mass confusion as we are shooting at each other, identiying targets, realizing we are surrounded, etc. One thing we learned pretty early was that we could distinquish friend from foe in the dark by flashing your lights. If you saw someone coming toward you, you would flash your lights and if you had comms, ask them to flash theirs back. If they didn't you gave them a warning shot and if they didn't respond, you lit them up.

Man, that was a great game. I'd play that game still, if the servers were still up.

CH was indeed great, but ended up having ridiculous balance issues with some of the heavy cannons.

Regarding flares, in MW4 the flares were generally useless... But they did 0.1 damage, or something like that.

I used to run a joke mech, which was an owens cranked to max speed, loaded with as many flares as it could carry. I'd just run around and spray flares all over an enemy mech. I actually managed a few kills using only flares against mechs with stripped head armor.

The one useful thing about flares was if you learned the location of the camera in a mech, because if you stuck flares on the right location you effectively blinded the pilot.

[Jarrodhk]

Did you use flares much? One of the best battles I ever had was with a bunch of guys on QT3 where we did a 6 v 6 night battle in the desert. We were shooting flares, blowing up oil tanks, and generally running around causing havok when someone spotted an enemy. Since it was night, you couldn't really tell color or who was on what team, since Chromehounds didn't have any friend/foe icon overlays (which I loved). The rest of the battle was mass confusion as we are shooting at each other, identiying targets, realizing we are surrounded, etc. One thing we learned pretty early was that we could distinquish friend from foe in the dark by flashing your lights. If you saw someone coming toward you, you would flash your lights and if you had comms, ask them to flash theirs back. If they didn't you gave them a warning shot and if they didn't respond, you lit them up.

That battle was all over the map eventually. I even liked that when you died in that game you respawned as a worthless, puny soldier, but you could actually still hear the distant sounds of battle and could go watch the fight playing out as a foot soldier. One of my dream additions for Chromehounds 2 would have been to flesh this out a bit more . . . maybe give your guya rocket launcher or C4 so he coudl battle tanks and troops, blow up trucks and buildings, bridges, etc. It would be slow going and one hit would mean death, but man that would be fun.

Man, that was a great game. I'd play that game still, if the servers were still up.

A lot of my best memories from MP games in the last several years come from Chromehounds. A lack of sequel really really sucks.

[RichVR]

Wow, just did some research into Chromehounds. Since it wasn't a PC game it was completely off of my radar. As well it sounds like the game that would have gotten me to buy an XBox. I am sorry to have missed it.

[Fishbreath]

Another dev blog post, this time on roles and advancement. The model looks World of Tanks-esque, with an additional pilot avatar component.

They keep on saying the right things about roles and how they'll play out, but I remain uncertain that they'll be able to pull it off.

[flyinj]

Did you use flares much? One of the best battles I ever had was with a bunch of guys on QT3 where we did a 6 v 6 night battle in the desert. We were shooting flares, blowing up oil tanks, and generally running around causing havok when someone spotted an enemy. Since it was night, you couldn't really tell color or who was on what team, since Chromehounds didn't have any friend/foe icon overlays (which I loved). The rest of the battle was mass confusion as we are shooting at each other, identiying targets, realizing we are surrounded, etc. One thing we learned pretty early was that we could distinquish friend from foe in the dark by flashing your lights. If you saw someone coming toward you, you would flash your lights and if you had comms, ask them to flash theirs back. If they didn't you gave them a warning shot and if they didn't respond, you lit them up.

That battle was all over the map eventually. I even liked that when you died in that game you respawned as a worthless, puny soldier, but you could actually still hear the distant sounds of battle and could go watch the fight playing out as a foot soldier. One of my dream additions for Chromehounds 2 would have been to flesh this out a bit more . . . maybe give your guya rocket launcher or C4 so he coudl battle tanks and troops, blow up trucks and buildings, bridges, etc. It would be slow going and one hit would mean death, but man that would be fun.

Man, that was a great game. I'd play that game still, if the servers were still up.

Yeah, I was in that battle with you. Seriously one of if not the best online multiplayer battles I've ever played.

[Timex]

Wow, just did some research into Chromehounds. Since it wasn't a PC game it was completely off of my radar. As well it sounds like the game that would have gotten me to buy an XBox. I am sorry to have missed it.

Heh, it was the game that got me to buy my Xbox.

[Fishbreath]

There's a new developer interview up at the website. There's not normally much of interest to me in these, but this one has some parts that I thought were neat:

[Omid] This is a tough question. I loved the original MechWarrior because it was my first entry into the universe, so it’ll always hold a soft spot for me. I also admire the way MechWarrior 3 captured the sense of actually piloting a 'Mech within the cockpit. But if I had to pick a favorite, I’d say MechWarrior 2. It was the single greatest improvement in the series.
[Thad] Yes. MechWarrior 3.

---

[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.

---

[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.

Mechwarrior 3's one of my favorites too, so I'm glad to see them citing that as an influence.

[TurinTur]

Trailer (CG, resolution is kind of shitty)
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/02/28/ex...nline-trailer/

[Black Isis]

<nerd>Grrr. BattleMechs didn't need joysticks, their pilots all had neurohelmets...</nerd>

Still. Giant robots. :)

[Supper's Ready]

Is it just me, or was that the computer voice from Mechwarrior 2: Mercs, in the trailer?

<nerd>Grrr. BattleMechs didn't need joysticks, their pilots all had neurohelmets...</nerd>

Still. Giant robots. :)

Actually, in the fiction (which I'm totally not embarrassed to have read a ton of in my teens) the pilots use both Neurohelmets and joysticks. They fire off weapons with buttons on the sticks, for example.

[Black Isis]

It has been a while since I read any BattleTech fiction, so I'll defer to your expertise. I don't think I read much more than Michael Stackpole's Clan invasion stuff, which I don't remember being too horrible. But I devoured the hell out of background material, in the way I always do for RPGs. :)

Now, if someone makes a Heavy Gear game that isn't as awkward and frustrating as the old ones...then I will go totally nuts. :)

[Thesper]

It's "All systems nominal"! Not "All systems online"!

-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbCDQ...eature=related

It gives me hope that they at least tried to recreate that little bit of fluff from the MW2 games though. Yay mechs!

[RichVR]

Is it just me, or was that the computer voice from Mechwarrior 2: Mercs, in the trailer?

Sure sounds like her.

[MrCoffee]

Trailer (CG, resolution is kind of shitty)
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/02/28/ex...nline-trailer/

Love how they link THE OTHER mechwarrior merc game at the bottom.

[Alan Friesen]

<nerd>Grrr. BattleMechs didn't need joysticks, their pilots all had neurohelmets...</nerd>

Still. Giant robots. :)

<nerd> Actually, in the Battletech universe, pilots controlled most functions with a stick, rudder, and pedals. The neurohelmets were used by the 'Mechs for stability: using the brain's natural balance to drive gyros to help hold Mechs upright. </nerd>

I finally have a stick and throttle combo. Can't wait to play a Battletech game with proper controls!

[MrCoffee]

Do you have your neurohelmet tho?

[Jaws_au]

It's "All systems nominal"! Not "All systems online"!

-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbCDQ...eature=related

It gives me hope that they at least tried to recreate that little bit of fluff from the MW2 games though. Yay mechs!

Ha! That annoyed me too... my god how the voice clips from MW2 are embedded in my brain.

"Shutdown sequence initiated - shutdown sequence overridden"

I also remember reading a FAQ for MW2 somewhere:

Q: Is the lady who did the computer voice as hot as she sounds?
A: Yes.

[Talorc]

I'm slightly more concerned over the thought of air dropping a 100t Atlas - this seems slightly er, um risky? I doubt its "built like a brick shithouse" profile is particularly aerodynamic and excuse while I go look at some tech readouts to see if any Atlas configurations circa 3049 had jump jets.

It's totally cool and all, but someone is not going to be laughing if the Assault Mech craters into a ravine or something.

[Mike O'Malley]

The Atlas can bend its knees and absorb the impact. A tank couldn't.

[Black Isis]

I am pretty sure in the fiction Mech drop pods had disposable braking rockets.

[cannedwombat]

I'm slightly more concerned over the thought of air dropping a 100t Atlas - this seems slightly er, um risky? I doubt its "built like a brick shithouse" profile is particularly aerodynamic and excuse while I go look at some tech readouts to see if any Atlas configurations circa 3049 had jump jets.

It's totally cool and all, but someone is not going to be laughing if the Assault Mech craters into a ravine or something.

The first rule of BattleTech club is: don't think too hard about BattleTech Club. This is a system after all (at least in the tabletop version) where effective range is inversely proportional to barrel diameter for ballistic weapons.

[Uncle Larry]

It's "All systems nominal"! Not "All systems online"!

That was the Clan version. The IS battle computer lacks the corresponding speech pack (lost tech).

[Jason Townsend]

Ha! That annoyed me too... my god how the voice clips from MW2 are embedded in my brain.

Totally.

[Timex]

I doubt its "built like a brick shithouse" profile is particularly aerodynamic and excuse while I go look at some tech readouts to see if any Atlas configurations circa 3049 had jump jets.

Technically, if I recall, air-dropping mechs was not done using the mech's JJ's themselves, but rather with auxiliary rockets which fired during the jump and then were detached from the mech upon landing.

[RichVR]

Indeed. Jump jets had a limited firing time. Nothing that could be used from a reasonable height for a carrier ship.

[Stepsongrapes]

This is a system after all (at least in the tabletop version) where effective range is inversely proportional to barrel diameter for ballistic weapons.

A common misconception. All autocannons (which, as we all know, operate like catapults) are, in fact, identical. Rather, it is the projectile that differs in size. So, if you shoot a projectile that is twice the size out of the same cannon, it will obviously not travel as far. Duh.

[JoshV]

Technically, if I recall, air-dropping mechs was not done using the mech's JJ's themselves, but rather with auxiliary rockets which fired during the jump and then were detached from the mech upon landing.

The russians already kind of do this with tanks:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4uGfOppQD_g?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Granted nobody is inside during the drop...

Edit: bah, i forget the syntax to have videos show up.

[MrCoffee]

Don't think you could ever embed videos on this forum... atleast i never saw anyone doing it.

[cannedwombat]

A common misconception. All autocannons (which, as we all know, operate like catapults) are, in fact, identical. Rather, it is the projectile that differs in size. So, if you shoot a projectile that is twice the size out of the same cannon, it will obviously not travel as far. Duh.

Google (and thus I) believes that the barrel sizes are varied, so the only logical conclusion is that the ratio of projectile weight to propellant must be constant.