Battletech

Zloth

I smell a... wumpus!?
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Well, actually it's all-caps BATTLETECH just like Elex is actually ELEX. <grumble>

Judging from my first hours in game, the RPG features of the game really pale compared to the tactics so I'm guessing it belongs on this side of the RPG wall.

Anyway, the game is out. I'm having a blast. Reviews are good.

NVIDIA released some new drivers to support the game yesterday but those drivers seem to have installation problems on some 1060 machines (source).
 
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I don't think this is a 'non-rpg' though. It is a tactical RPG to me (unless you only play skirmishes of course). The campaign has plenty of choices to be made, personality traits dictating response options, pilot stats affecting combat, etc.
 
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I didn't buy the game (yet) but if I understood right from what I've read on steam and elsewhere menus are a mess as if someone took a bunch of papers, threw them in the air and then they felt randomly all over the place. Dunno if that's true, but I love micromanagement and tinkering (don't we all) and horrible menus would be a huge turn off.

Another thing based on screenshots. Overall the game is ugly. Not as ugly as Nintendo Gameboy horrors of course, but still. With better visuals it would probably sell much more, newcomers to the genre won't buy it easily.

And I don't like what a few of you posted in the forum. Pilots killed who cares they're easy to replace, while mechs should be cared for (repair cost?). Somehow I lost enthusiasm. Never cared for machines anywhere but for people.

Why is this thread in nonRPG section?
 
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And I don't like what a few of you posted in the forum. Pilots killed who cares they're easy to replace, while mechs should be cared for (repair cost?). Somehow I lost enthusiasm. Never cared for machines anywhere but for people.
It's realistic though. Lose a pilot? Hire another one, plenty of people need money and the pay is good. Mercs are an old lost technology so most mechs you see are just retrofits of parts or something, they cost a lot of money and they're usually passed down from father to son (or mother to son or father to daughter or they to they or they to son or they to daughter or father to they or mother to they).
 
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That is very much in tune with that universe from what I remember back when I played the game, the robots were much more valuable than your average pilot was. An exceptional pilot, however, was a different tale.
 
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It's realistic though. Lose a pilot? Hire another one
Sorry, but I just can't roleplay EA CEO. I refuse to. ;)
Btw, EA fired a bunch of Maxis staff lately. People are easy to replace, right?

Maybe the game should have been called Battletech:Expendables.
 
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I applaud any and all attacks against Electronic Arts, but make certain you aren't compromising your stance by using a single one of their products or any platforms that may be associated with them. Otherwise, your comments hold not an ounce of water or relevance.
 
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I did finally get a choice that made a difference but it was just +1 to morale. As far as RPG'ness goes, this seems just a little more RPG'ish than XCOM. I'm fine with the topic being on either side, though.

Menus?? It's got plenty of buttons and LOTS of tool tips but not so many menus. (Hovering over colored+bold text so you can get more lore details is very nice!) The GUI has only confused me when I did the multi-shot thing. That could have used a mini-tutorial the first time I used it to explain what to click when. Now that I've got it, though, I'm good with it.

So I guess we can't put mechs in storage if they're broken? I had a rough mission but got enough scrap to put together a new light mech. I wanted to shove the locus down into storage but the button is disabled. In fact, all the mechs that were disabled would not go down. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1371223101

Sorry, but I just can't roleplay EA CEO.
Uhhh, life on Mother Base? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=616236399
 
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Okay okay I admit my example was excessive, but you do know already what I think about resources infinity. While in this case endless respawns are pilots on your side, it doesn't mean I'll like it.
 
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There is one odd thing... no quick save key. Really!? It only takes a couple of seconds to save but.... really!?!?

P.S. Vehicles seemed like such easy marks. Then I ran into a pair of SRM carriers. I think each one had about 8 SRM6s on it. One shot blasted off the right arm and torso of my medium-weight mech and knocked it down, making easy pickings for the second.
 
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There is one odd thing… no quick save key. Really!? It only takes a couple of seconds to save but…. really!?!?

P.S. Vehicles seemed like such easy marks. Then I ran into a pair of SRM carriers. I think each one had about 8 SRM6s on it. One shot blasted off the right arm and torso of my medium-weight mech and knocked it down, making easy pickings for the second.

Yeah, the SRM carriers need to be killed before they reach you.

You haven't seen the Mech destroyers yet though :D

Two AC/20s - 100 damage a pop
 
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Menus are ok, fun factor though is not just 'ok' but awesome.

It has the right taste of let's just do another mission so I can maybe do this or prepare for that if everything goes according to the plan..
 
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You haven't seen the Mech destroyers yet though :D
Yeah I have. I did a skirmish at War level and each side had a King Crab. I shot a Locus in the back with just one AC/20. BOOOOOM!!

Edit: and then there was a Demolisher! I managed to kill it before it got a shot off.
 
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I've been doing quite well.
I have played through several more story missions without the need to reload so my total reloads in 30 hours or so has been 2.

I consider that to be quite reasonable.

I still think this game is a one time thing unless they add lots of mods.

It's the only thing that has made me want to replay games like xcom and mount and blade.

I think the game is about halfway for me now.


One thing that's well done, if you look at the star map as you progress the story you will see that the map changes as you win more story battles :)

Tip of the day:
Instead of using sensor lock to remove evasion, try using the multishot. As that would allow you to remove one evasion of off each mech you targeted.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
 
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I was on a similar pace for reloading until I hit one merc mission where I was supposed to destroy a convoy. I figured the convoy would be a bunch of APCs like I had escorted earlier. No - it turned out to be an assault class vehicle, a heavy vehicle, and a couple of lights escorted by a light and two medium mechs.

I didn't do well at all. So I re-loaded and didn't do well again. And again. I think I got through on the 4th or 5th try.

I got to buy a PPC+ that had +2 extra accuracy. That thing has been great! It cost half a million but it's already paid for itself.

I'm going to try a new method of evasion breaking tonight. I finally pieced together a medium mech from salvage and got a Shadow Hawk. I put in an SRM6, two small lasers, two medium lasers, an LRM5, and cranked the armor almost all the way to the top. One good kick should take that evasion right off!
 
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I was on a similar pace for reloading until I hit one merc mission where I was supposed to destroy a convoy. I figured the convoy would be a bunch of APCs like I had escorted earlier. No - it turned out to be an assault class vehicle, a heavy vehicle, and a couple of lights escorted by a light and two medium mechs.

I didn't do well at all. So I re-loaded and didn't do well again. And again. I think I got through on the 4th or 5th try.

I got to buy a PPC+ that had +2 extra accuracy. That thing has been great! It cost half a million but it's already paid for itself.

I'm going to try a new method of evasion breaking tonight. I finally pieced together a medium mech from salvage and got a Shadow Hawk. I put in an SRM6, two small lasers, two medium lasers, an LRM5, and cranked the armor almost all the way to the top. One good kick should take that evasion right off!

Only one evasion leaves when you shoot with one mech.

Tip of the day:
- Always take Mech Salvage unless they're light mechs you already have or amazing +++ weaponry is in the salvage. Even if you do not use them, Mechs can be sold for several hundred thousand, which is much more than any weapon you'd be able to sell.
 
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So I am on story mission which I completed with ease but I could not get the secondary objective.

I thought to try and see if I can and I do not think it is balanced correctly.

The secondary objective is too difficult to reach. I tried sprinting there with no regards for my mech and it isn't possible.

I think the expectation is for me to have a light or medium mech do it but the description doesn't sound as if that's a requirement.

I'm a bit annoyed at that but I guess I will love with it.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
 
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Only one evasion is dropped when you shoot them. When you KICK them... hmm, or is it actually because they almost always end up 'unsteady' afterward? Guess I'll have to watch more closely.

At any rate, the mech is turning out pretty well - though I thought SRMs shot after doing a melee attack. Not so.

Some info on upcoming changes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/637090/discussions/0/1696045708664983901/
 
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Only one evasion is dropped when you shoot them. When you KICK them… hmm, or is it actually because they almost always end up 'unsteady' afterward? Guess I'll have to watch more closely.

At any rate, the mech is turning out pretty well - though I thought SRMs shot after doing a melee attack. Not so.

Some info on upcoming changes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/637090/discussions/0/1696045708664983901/

Small lasers and machine gun automatically shoot after melee, that's about it I think (maybe flamehtrowers too?).
 
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Only one evasion is dropped when you shoot them. When you KICK them… hmm, or is it actually because they almost always end up 'unsteady' afterward? Guess I'll have to watch more closely.

At any rate, the mech is turning out pretty well - though I thought SRMs shot after doing a melee attack. Not so.

Some info on upcoming changes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/637090/discussions/0/1696045708664983901/

Yes, melee attacks in general would only remove one evasion. If you try it on an enemy with high evasion and guarded (doesn't happen often) you will have an easier time to notice.

Like you said, they end up unsteady and that removes evasion completely.

The changes seem very welcome to me. The only thing that is a negative is no official mod support. That will make the game less replayable as mentioned previously.

Everything else seems good.

Also, wolfing is right, it's all of the "support" weapons that shoot after you do a melee strike, so that includes, MG, Flamethrower and Small Laser.

Note that all of these can also be shot without melee attacks if you are close enough to target (90m, I believe)
 
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