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 Melee weapons absolutely exist. However, this game takes its art assets from Mechwarrior Online, which does not include melee combat and is thus absent dedicated melee mechs like the Hatchetman.
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Jan 31, 2018 17:57
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pgi's laziness notwithstanding i don't think any mechwarrior game has actually included melee weapons have they
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Jan 31, 2018 17:58
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You don't even need weapons to melee
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Jan 31, 2018 18:00
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Not even Living Legends includes Melee and they went deeper into the mechanics than any other Mechwarrior game.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:01
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MWO Beta was the only time I remember melee combat being part of a Mechwarrior game, and it was pretty serious jank back then that made some of the tighter maps hellish for lights (the only thing that let you survive running around a corner into a larger mech and tripping was your hitboxes completely bugging out while you were on the ground). Doing it right would be adding a pretty serious gameplay mechanic and it's something that the game would need to be designed around from the beginning, not just have bolted on on a whim. That's probably not the reason PGI hasn't done it, but in any case I'm fine with them not overreaching themselves. If HBS Battletech is very successful and there's a lot of clamor for the Hatchetman I suppose there's a chance they could pay PGI to make a model for it in the sequel / expansion / whatever. Voyager I fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Jan 31, 2018 |
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Jan 31, 2018 18:04
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I have to assume the end-goal of choice for HBS is having on-staff capability to produce those assets if this game ends up successful enough, but considering how expensive modeling and rigging can be, that sounds like one of the many "in success" kind of goals.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:11
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RabidWeasel posted:Is there a reason why melee weapons are apparently just not a thing? I mean in the real world it's probably a dumb idea but coolness demands that I can put a giant chainsaw on my giant robot. Axes and swords are fine but people don't like to talk about lumbermechs 'round here.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:24
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Psion posted:I have to assume the end-goal of choice for HBS is having on-staff capability to produce those assets if this game ends up successful enough, but considering how expensive modeling and rigging can be, that sounds like one of the many "in success" kind of goals. Given that they have an OK working relationship with PGI I imagine they would probably try to hire some of their modelers to produce some basic assets that they could modify in-house. They're already pretty extensively changing or building on stuff with the PGI models that they're using right now. Animations is the big thing that comes to mind, for example.
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Jan 31, 2018 18:44
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Sure, I don't mean they should junk a good working relationship. But having at least some in-house means the freedom to produce whatever roster they want to make a game in any era they want, as opposed to being tied down by PGI's pipeline. That's why I'm assuming such anyway, but obviously I don't work for HBS  I do think it's probably a positive for the brand overall to have design consistency between products so I'd expect it to be in the same style. Psion fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Jan 31, 2018 |
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Jan 31, 2018 19:43
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Psion posted:Sure, I don't mean they should junk a good working relationship. But having at least some in-house means the freedom to produce whatever roster they want to make a game in any era they want, as opposed to being tied down by PGI's pipeline. That's why I'm assuming such anyway, but obviously I don't work for HBS I'm going to guess that the reason they're not doing it in-house is that it's a pretty small company and if they can outsource all of that to someone else it saves them a lot of money and, almost as importantly, a lot of time.
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Jan 31, 2018 19:47
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HBS at least acknowledged melee mechs and apparently there is an in-house desire. But since they aren't making the mechs themselves so...  But really PGI putting the hatchetman in would get me to start playing MWO again. Chopping mechs with a giant loving ax is pure joy; Guess I better fire up titanfall tonight.
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Jan 31, 2018 20:12
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Cyrano4747 posted:I'm going to guess that the reason they're not doing it in-house is that it's a pretty small company and if they can outsource all of that to someone else it saves them a lot of money and, almost as importantly, a lot of time. i mean that's exactly what they said when they started this game so it's not much of a guess. I'm discussing a future hypothetical for the sequel, though, where it may be a different choice.
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Jan 31, 2018 20:22
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Cyrano4747 posted:I'm going to guess that the reason they're not doing it in-house is that it's a pretty small company and if they can outsource all of that to someone else it saves them a lot of money and, almost as importantly, a lot of time. If we get DLC (sequels whatever) I could certainly see HBS producing at least some mechs in house. If you only need to do 2-3 mechs that PGI didn't do that certainly cuts down dev cost/time. Especially since they would already be building on top of a completed game so that in theory should cut down on the overall resources needed.
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Jan 31, 2018 21:18
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spaced ninja posted:If we get DLC (sequels whatever) I could certainly see HBS producing at least some mechs in house. If you only need to do 2-3 mechs that PGI didn't do that certainly cuts down dev cost/time. Especially since they would already be building on top of a completed game so that in theory should cut down on the overall resources needed. They have already made models for the game. All the vehicles are done in house, apparently those are the same assets that pgi are using for MW5. The last video demo they did had vehicles in it, though turret traversal wasn't implemented at the time. A good Battletech game has to have plenty of treadheads to totally overpower!
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Jan 31, 2018 21:25
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PoptartsNinja posted:Wolf Pack, but it's unfortunately not very good. The real "Sequel" to Wolves on the Border is the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy which is why that was second on the reading list. Ah that is a shame, I was hoping to read up on what happens after the ending of Wolves on the Border and their inevitable push for revenge. I thought that for the first time the Draconis Combine didn't ALL come across as badmen and there were a couple of sympathetic characters. What becomes of Minobu's assistant, Michi Noketsuna, in the universe? The last we hear of him in the book he accepts the Wolves offer to be dropped off somewhere outside DC territory but decides not to join them.
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Jan 31, 2018 22:17
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He eventually takes them up on the job offer and becomes the head of their intelligence service. The original Mercenaries field manual is supposed to be a report written by him
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Jan 31, 2018 23:11
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Phrosphor posted:Ah that is a shame, I was hoping to read up on what happens after the ending of Wolves on the Border and their inevitable push for revenge. I thought that for the first time the Draconis Combine didn't ALL come across as badmen and there were a couple of sympathetic characters. He becomes Boba Fett for a while (seriously, he takes over as the Bounty Hunter), then after finishing his revenge and the death of Takashi Kurita, he joins the Dragoons in Wolf Pack as above. Wolf Pack's not a great novel, but if you liked the Dragoons I'd read WotB -> Blood of Kerensky -> Wolf Pack since that's the order they happen in, and Brian Cameron doesn't make much sense if you don't understand who and what the Clans are. And if you liked House Kurita not being the bad guys, I'd follow that up with the Camachos Caballeros novels so you can bask in Chandrasekhar Kurita's glorious personage and hang out with the Red Witch and her awesome Yakuza.
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Jan 31, 2018 23:19
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Phrosphor posted:Ah that is a shame, I was hoping to read up on what happens after the ending of Wolves on the Border and their inevitable push for revenge. I thought that for the first time the Draconis Combine didn't ALL come across as badmen and there were a couple of sympathetic characters. I'd actually say after Wolves, you should read Heir to the Dragon. Although it's heavily Theodore Kurita's story, it also has the proper follow up to Michi's story. Additionally, it features some Dragoon expatriates that you might recognize from Wolves in the Border that followed Michi on his vengeance quest, and one of the cool lieutenants of Theodore's is Fuhito Tetsuhara, Minobu's brother. Also it doesn't suck.
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Jan 31, 2018 23:30
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Holybat posted:I'd actually say after Wolves, you should read Heir to the Dragon. Although it's heavily Theodore Kurita's story, it also has the proper follow up to Michi's story. Additionally, it features some Dragoon expatriates that you might recognize from Wolves in the Border that followed Michi on his vengeance quest, and one of the cool lieutenants of Theodore's is Fuhito Tetsuhara, Minobu's brother. Cheers for the advice folks, I will check out Heir to the Dragon and then the Blood of Kerensky books. I just don't like clan stuff, but I guess the wolves are Pseudo clans. For my money I would have loved the setting to stay 3028 style for a lot longer! Coincidentally I just reached the point in the Battletech LP where Minobu commands the combined RCT group against Hells Horses. When I started that update I had no idea who he was but now at the end of it reading the summary I am kinda stoked the players voted for him. Phrosphor fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Jan 31, 2018 23:51
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Blood of Kerensky seemed like iconic reading but then I checked the author and it was Stackpole so now I'm scared of it.
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Feb 1, 2018 01:33
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It's been a while since I read Blood of Kerensky but what was the reason Natasha Kerensky went back to clan wolf and stayed there instead of remaining with the Dragoons? Was it ever explained how Jamie wolf and the others felt about that?
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Feb 1, 2018 01:36
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Tythas posted:It's been a while since I read Blood of Kerensky but what was the reason Natasha Kerensky went back to clan wolf and stayed there instead of remaining with the Dragoons? Was it ever explained how Jamie wolf and the others felt about that? The Clans had to vote for a new IlKhan, which required all bloodnamed individuals to return. Natasha Kerensky was the only living, RIP William Cameron member of the Dragoons to still have a bloodname. None of the Dragoons comment on it but her absence is absolutely noted and remarked upon. Voyager I posted:Blood of Kerensky seemed like iconic reading but then I checked the author and it was Stackpole so now I'm scared of it. I don't dislike early Stackpole novels. His combat's alright and Blood of Kerensky has enough viewpoint characters that it never forces you to endure Kai's crippling depression for long. Ranna Kerensky and Evantha Fetladral are legitimately good characters.
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Feb 1, 2018 02:13
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DatonKallandor posted:Not even Living Legends includes Melee and they went deeper into the mechanics than any other Mechwarrior game. The sole exception I've heard of (never tried) is a physics quirk in MW3, where more speed = lots of collision damage Take a Bushwacker Run towards an enemy at max speed Torso twist right When you get close, twist left If you make contact with the enemy with your arm, it gets blown off. And the enemy takes enough damage to instantly core it
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Feb 1, 2018 02:19
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PoptartsNinja posted:The Clans had to vote for a new IlKhan, which required all bloodnamed individuals to return. Natasha Kerensky was the only living, RIP William Cameron member of the Dragoons to still have a bloodname. Evantha mostly disappeared after those books, didn't she?
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Feb 1, 2018 02:39
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Taerkar posted:Evantha mostly disappeared after those books, didn't she? Mostly yeah. You still get Ranna clowning on Victor and friends though.
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Feb 1, 2018 02:53
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Well she was a clan elite pilot (1 or 0 gunnery) that mainly piloted a Warhark - LPL edition.
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Feb 1, 2018 03:30
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My prediction is expansion based on the 4th Succession War, and maybe a smaller DLC where you manage a Solaris stable rather than a Merc outfit. Both will contain new Mechs that integrate with the old campaign. Clans will be saved for the sequel but done mostly because PGI already did all the work. I hope we'll be able to role play the same outfit throughout the timeline. E: with the exception of Natural Selection I've found Stackpole's novels decent. You don't go into BattleTech novels seeking high literature. They're mostly trashy airport bargain bin novels, but if you like the setting they're certainly enjoyable. Like a typical Rock film. You don't go into them expecting an Oscar winning performance. You go in to shut your brain off and just have dumb fun. Alternatively you can pick up whatever source books you feel like. Sky Shadowing fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 04:09
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How is the average quality of writing in the Battletech books compared to the Shadowrun stuff? I mean, the Shadowrun novels aren't exactly high literature but they're quite a bit of fun, and most of them are decent enough at least to be interesting. I know that there is some crossover between authors, which is promising.
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Feb 1, 2018 04:19
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aniviron posted:How is the average quality of writing in the Battletech books compared to the Shadowrun stuff? I mean, the Shadowrun novels aren't exactly high literature but they're quite a bit of fun, and most of them are decent enough at least to be interesting. I know that there is some crossover between authors, which is promising. The 2 Battletech novela's from the kickstarter campaign are alright. Quick reads. Not super memorable. Fairly fun. Stackpole wrote them and seemed to have fun doing it.
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Feb 1, 2018 05:00
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Taerkar posted:Evantha mostly disappeared after those books, didn't she? Mostly, but she still takes down a BattleMech while using the TAG Elemental.
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Feb 1, 2018 05:15
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HBS don't do expansions. What they'll do is 'Game 2' which they'll be tempted to crack out in 12 months now that the technology is built. It's an open question whether they'll stick to their style of games of a certain size or scope, or whether they'll take the fact that they've got a working pseudo-random mission generator and with some Paradox guidance go down the route of a bigger game that remains live with regular content expansions the way Pdx does.
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Feb 1, 2018 14:14
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Alchenar posted:HBS don't do expansions. Saying "HBS dont do expansions" is a little soon... They have self-published a short list of games that got the go-ahead because of support via kickstarter. Now they have the backing and support of a legit publisher and are making a game that may have really wide appeal and make them a lot of money. They also have a lot of content that they had to cut from this game that they are about to release. There is nothing telling us either way that they will "not do an expansion" for HBS: Battletech. edit: Yes I know the second paragraph goes against what I said in the first paragraph but it seems people need to be reminded of the difference between Paradoxes
AAAAA! Real Muenster fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 14:44
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Dragonfall was an expansion to Returns, remember. It was just so good they turned it into it's own game.
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Feb 1, 2018 14:51
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Saying HBS doesn't do expansions is a little.. dumb. Besides the aforementioned examples, they're a small indie studio that's not turned out a lot. The Battletech fanbase is way bigger than the Shadowrun fanbase and if MWO can keep going after all these years, I'm sure there is untapped money out there for HBS to support Battletech for years.
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Feb 1, 2018 14:57
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Virtually most of the money HBS makes, assuming they budgeted properly, should be pure profit. Given that the Kickstarter contributed most, if not all, of the budget. That's obviously a bit of a two edged sword, though, because 50,000 or so of the hardcore fans have already bought the game. That's why DLC makes sense. Most of us here already contributed our money. DLC is a way to recoup more from us.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:07
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Sky Shadowing posted:Virtually most of the money HBS makes, assuming they budgeted properly, should be pure profit. Given that the Kickstarter contributed most, if not all, of the budget.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:31
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:Keep in mind, though, that once the kickstarter was complete they did not expect the game to take this long to develop, so once the game is released it may not be pure profit if the kickstarter money was all gone halfway through last year. Obviously I don't have any information on the exact reasons, but there's a good chance this is why they partnered with Paradox in the first place. A big part of what publishers do and why they exist in the first place is that they front studios the money to stay open while a game is being developed. The fact that they started this project 100% independent and then signed on with Paradox to help distribute BTech (and never had to with the earlier SR games) points to them maybe running out of cash. Honestly it's a very good thing and is yet another example of why you should only back kickstarters by people with a proven track record. These people know the business and, if this is what happened, knew what to do when they realized they were going to run out of cash. A new, inexperienced studio might have just shipped a half-baked product or folded completely, leading to yet another cautionary tale of buyer beware with kickstarter.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:41
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Also they did do an expansion for Shadowrun: Hong Kong :v;
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Feb 1, 2018 15:42
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:Keep in mind, though, that once the kickstarter was complete they did not expect the game to take this long to develop, so once the game is released it may not be pure profit if the kickstarter money was all gone halfway through last year. I think they're a few months over time, if that, because the original estimations on the Kickstarter were for just the first phase- basically, beta. As it added more stretch goals the timeframe went up. I think Paradox is a good partnership and I hope to see the game in the Steam Top Sellers for a few months. Paradox can market it well enough to do that.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:47
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Cyrano4747 posted:Obviously I don't have any information on the exact reasons, but there's a good chance this is why they partnered with Paradox in the first place. A big part of what publishers do and why they exist in the first place is that they front studios the money to stay open while a game is being developed. The fact that they started this project 100% independent and then signed on with Paradox to help distribute BTech (and never had to with the earlier SR games) points to them maybe running out of cash.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:48
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