BattleTech - Dev Q&A

For anyone who missed it/can't watch the video but wants a summary of the Q&A, here you go! Please point out any errors and I'll fix them when I can. There were some contradictory and rambling bits where I might have got the wrong end of the stick or missed something.

What happened with the cuts to multiplayer? - Not enough dev time to realise all the desired goals, needed to focus resources on the single player experience.

When will the Linux version be out? - 2-3 months after release.

When will localisation of the game be complete? - Similar time frame to Linux release. Being actioned by Battletech fans, will include all languages mentioned in Kickstarter

Current State of the game - the game is functionally complete. It is now a proper beta version of the whole game, not just combat. The developers are polishing the entire campaign to find bugs and balance the gameplay.

Can you add jump jets to any mech? - Yes

Do certain mechs have unique quirks? - Not at the moment, in success...

Mech list changes from the Kickstarter? - Warhammer and Maurauder (Cacophony Pyrite) and Raven (need something for the ECM package to do) are all out for ship date. Black Knight is in, Catapult K2 is in.

Will there be tonnage class limits for singleplayer missions? - No drop tonnage limit in the campaign.

Are weapon variants still in the game? - Yes, different manufacturers provide different tweaks to stats. There are stock, uncommon and rare weapons. Every star system visited has stores available, different manufacturers will be found in some systems depending on that system's wealth, affiliation etc. Uncommon and rare weapons are better than stock weapons, there are no trade-offs (+stability damage, -actual damage for example).

Are the opponents going to use modified mechs? - Most of the time opponents are using stock mechs. Some times the opfor will consist of poorly maintained mechs and/or have poor pilots.

+Salvage+

Two factors to salvage in contract negotiation, priority and quantity. At the end of the mission, anything left on the battlefield from Opfore mechs (and vehicles?) goes into a big salvage bucket.

Priority salvage picks lets you select items from the salvage bucket.

How do I target a mech to get the most salvage? Head shots are best, legging a mech 2nd best.

Mech salvage is abstracted to a degree. Mechs come in salvage parts, 3 salvage parts make a mech. Mech remains can also be found in stores.

You can also buy a whole mech in a store (this is not cheap).

How you approach a mission can significantly impact the amount of salvage available.

When you lose a mech on the battlefield you recover the chassis. It will take a lot of time/money to repair

++

Can you obtain mechs in ways other than salvage or purchase? - Story missions might result in more mechs.

+ Mech Bay+

What customisable parts can you add to your mechs other than weapons etc.? Actuators (+melee), Gyros (+stability), something else to impact maximum heat tolerance, cockpit mod (protect the pilot from 1 injury), +accuracy buff

Will extra hardpoints be added to mechs? - Yes, Tyler did a pass on all the Mechs and there are some additional hardpoints to improve chassis flexibility. Some of that change is to give you more options during the early part of the campaign when you could be really strapped for parts/mechs. PPCs in a Blackjack or a Large laser on a Spider are both bad ideas. Jordan has a Spider with just armour and jump jets for 'Extraction Missions'

Ammo is a component you equip to a mech, if it gets destroyed it's gone, if the component survives a battle it is automatically resupplied at the end of the battle.

A fully upgraded Argo can hold 18 active Mechs. You start with 6 slots in the Leopard (and then the Argo). It can be upgraded to have 12 and then 18 active Mechs.

Mechs put into storage are de-equipped (weapons go into active pool of gear). Taking a 'Mech out of storage takes "2-3 days" and then you need to re-fit it (how long that takes wasn't mentioned). So it is a two-step process: Get the chassis out of storage, and then re-fit with weapons, armour, and other components.

Mech Techs - As you upgrade the Argo your Mech tech rating goes up that makes them better/faster at fixing things. Events can also effect Mech tech rating.

Will we be able to name our mechs? - Yes

How can we customise the visuals of our mechs? Lots of emblems to choose from, they are in an accessible folder and you could overwrite one with one of your own. Paint schemes you can change primary, secondary and tertiary colours on a Mech. You choose a scheme for your company, that is applied to the Leopard, Argo and all your mechs.

++

Is the 3D mechwarrior portrait system in the game? - Yes

+In-game economy+

Of all the different resources in the game, which is used to constrain the player the most? - Time is the most constraining, save possibly for super-agressive commanders who can burn through pilots quickly. Kiva has been experimenting with that balance. Devs are trying to avoid a situation where the player has an 'A team' of 4 perfect Mechs & Mechwarriors that they drop on every mission (waiting to fully heal/repair that team between each mission). There should be enough pressure to encourage players to mix things up.

Getting better Mechs and Mechwarriors is the main way to boost your effectiveness. Argo upgrades can have big effects but are also really expensive. Lots of upgrades have dependencies (i.e. boost power system to be able to improve mechbay)

Is there a black market? - Kinda, the regular market is fairly grey, some events might have a black market style to them. Your reputation with various factions will affect prices for gear and pilots (some pilots won't even sign on if your rep is insufficient)

Travel costs? - Time and money. Some contracts will pay for you to travel to a system to do a mission there. Not doing the mission after taking that money is a big reputation hit.

Can you trade in mech parts as partial payment with vendors? - No, you can sell components and complete mechs. You won't get rich selling mech parts.

++

Player character info - you are a mechwarrior, you can't permanently die but can spend a long time in the hospital. You can level up, gaining new abilities. Your background has a subtle effect on events in the campaign and affects your starting skills.

Mechwarriors gain xp in combat and that xp is spent to improve their skills. You can upgrade the Argo to have sim pods to train and gain xp on the Argo.

The event system can cause events based on tags attached to your mechwarriors, and also add tags to them which can trigger further events.

Different systems have hiring halls, the attributes of the system affect the hiring hall. You need a high enough Merc review board rep to hire mechwarriors. It is more expensive to hire high quality Mechwarriors than to train up your own over time.

No funeral expenses in the game, events sometimes touch on funeral.

Ejection animation is in the game. Your mechwarrior is not modelled after ejection and is assumed to escape.

What does the 2nd ability for the guts skill do? - Juggernaut: possibly gives a melee bonus, when you melee an opponent it knocks their initiative down by one.

Will the contract system take the type of mission into account re: Salvage? - The most significant factor is how you play the mission in terms of generating salvage.

Can you report employers (like the miners in the demoed mission) to the MRBC for breach of contract? - Nope, in success...

What are the benefits of high reputation? - Higher pay, more difficult missions unlock, better prices at stores.

If you retreat without doing much, what happens? - This is a bad faith retreat, you take a rep hit and lose money. Might still be the right thing to do in case of an ambush etc.

Will there be non-story missions where you can be screwed over? - Betrayal doesn't really happen in random missions, bad intel can create bad situations though.

Will the AI have scaling levels of competency? - Nope.

Do they use skills? - Yes

Will we fight alongside AI controlled allies? - Yes

Is our starting lance always the same? - Yes

Can we flip control of planets between houses with missions? Not the main noble houses but you can conquer Directorate planets for the Liberation. This gives you access to the stores on those planets.

Is there a Star League cache in the game? - Definitely not, no comment [​IMG]

Vehicles & Artillery and the game - There are artillery strikes that can occur in missions, and vehicles that can fight/be fought. You don't have control of them (even if they are on your side).

How long is play time overall? - A lot longer than we thought. It's a long game. You have some control in terms of how long you spend doing missions between main story missions.

Do we somehow not lose our mechs if they are left on the battlefield? - You don't lose your mechs.

Does the weather/time affect LOS? - No, but biomes influence gameplay via heat management.

Your own mech parts aren't put into the salvage pool.

Is there a level cap on mechwarriors? - Yes, there's an effective cap. It's hard to reach.

Can you reduce your reputation low enough to be a villain? - Nope

Mechwarrior XP to level up is progressive rather than linear.

Will there be defensive missions? - Yes, absolutely. Escort and defend missions. You might have to stop buildings or units from being destroyed.

Mechwarriors who are ejected are not left behind when you retreat. They have whatever wounds they suffered before ejection.

Is the campaign day by day or turn based? - Campaign times passes day by day, when you're doing something like making changes in the mech bay, time pauses until you finish making your choices.

Is the Argo ever in danger? - Not really

How does salvage for ammo work? - It's treated like a component. If the component is not destroyed then the ammo is replenished.

Are we billed for collateral damage? - No

Quads? In success? No, they are now completely off the table. [​IMG]

Do hired mechwarriors come with their own mechs? - No

You sell mech components for much less than you can buy them.

Can you mod mechs into the game? - Yes

How do loans work? Loans are cut from the game. Don't go bankrupt.

Can you choose to betray your employer for some sort of gain? - No

Are flamers 3 shot weapons? There may be some with more than 3 shots.

Next Novella coming out? Not sure. Part 3 is in editing.

How close to bankrupt will we be operating? Depends on how you are playing.

There are no twerking Urbies in the game

Some visual improvements have happened to the game since the last demo mission.
 
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Warhammer and Maurauder? I thought the copyright crap had put the kibosh on those. If theyre in thats awesome.

Has there been any talk of non mechs?

Edit - found this bit... Vehicles & Artillery and the game - There are artillery strikes that can occur in missions, and vehicles that can fight/be fought. You don't have control of them (even if they are on your side).
 
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What happened with the cuts to multiplayer? - Not enough dev time to realise all the desired goals, needed to focus resources on the single player experience.

Day 1 purchase for me!
 
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That is the kind of response I like to hear when multiplayer concerns crops up. Glad I backed this one and really looking forward to when I can mech around!

Thanks for the text, much appreciated!
 
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My guess is they will want ship at some point in April. I hope it works out. Can't wait.

I want this a few months before Kingmaker hits in summer.
 
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Thanks very much for this, Silver! I'm not much for watching lengthy videos just to hear people yak. An edited transcript is muy superior.

Looks like 2018 is going to be Year of the Turn-based Strategy Game.
 
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Thanks for that, Silver! I started the video, saw 1 hour and closed it. :)

Does anyone know the most recent estimate of release date?
 
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Funny when hovering with the mouse along the play bar to see these Tree Stooges wiggling their heads. Haha. No way I'm wasting life minutes to watch this talk about a trainwreck of a game.
 
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TrainwrecK? You're the first person I've heard say anything negative about the game. Care to elaborate?
 
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TrainwrecK? You're the first person I've heard say anything negative about the game. Care to elaborate?

He thinks every game is a train wreck. I haven't seen him post one positive thing about any game. So, i wouldn't put too much faith into what he thinks.
 
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