34 replies to this topic

[minobu tetsuharu]

This is going to be years away before we officially see them but after Operation Bulldog Protomechs are going to be introduced.

For those who don't know Protomechs are mechs less than 10 tons that are meant to be grossly cost effective.

The pilot doesn't use a neurohelmet and controllers/pedals. Instead the pilot uses a neural interface embedded through their entire skin to control their machine. This interface is based on enhance imaging technology which allows them to perceive their environment sort of like a bat or dolphin with their sonar but with far more radical precision.

These overall factors gives us mechs with far greater feats of agility than battlemechs. A protomech has limited bullet timing skills and can actively dodge incoming shots a battlemech can not under no circumstances could do.


Things get a little more absurd because protomech pilots don't work alone. Up to five protomech pilots are integrated in communication network where the pilots share vision with each other. In universe this is done because the neural skin is damaging and the act of piloting a protomech makes a person feel godlike and they need to be tightly integrated into a team to maintain perspective that they aren't gods and to minimize insanity.


I'm only bringing this up because when they were first introduced people disliked what smelled and looked like anime style mechs being introduced to the boardgame. It didn't help that the art designs for the mechs made them uncharacteristically look like cyborg mythical monsters.

Due to the nature of the boardgame people settled down and enjoyed protomechs for what they are worth. They are units with a considerable advantage in the positional battle and in attrition warfare (as long as your pilots don't get killed).

Otoh protomechs will be IMO very different in a simulation or arcade game setting.

They have the firepower of assault battle armor. They lack the means to go into all the place battle armor can but the are vastly better at coming close to battle armor capabilities while having better mobility and agility than battlemechs.

It would be interesting to see if the devs stick to canon such that in a match for every battlemech you could deploy you have the option of deploying 5 protoemechs instead. This would allow larger clans to play together as a group which is cool but I wonder how that would impact the usefulness of recon specialist mechs.

Overall I'm looking forward to protos but there are good reasons to be concerned about how they fit into a game.

Have fun speculating.

To those who can't have fun with this don't clutter up this thread with comments like "don't worry about a feature when the core game hasn't been released."

Your point is duly noted and doesn't need to be stated.

[Pariah Devalis]

I thought they were curious little things. I'd imagine their controls would translate easiest to a typical FPS setup, though. Bullet time is ridiculously hard to implement in a multiplayer setting, though, and there will be no way to enforce they go in points of five. I can't say I ever really liked the designs myself, though. Anyways, don't they use Aerospace pilots instead of Mechwarriors for the smaller pilot size?

[Munchausen]

Not even sure how they will deal with elementals, let alone protomechs. Somehow I doubt either will be something that you can play individually, just as you are unlikely to play a single soldier in an infantry unit.

[Stormwolf]

I'd love to see protos maybe in a post 3060 DLC scenario.

Not really sure on how they should be implemented though.

[NatashaKerensky]

You're presuming that ProtoMechs will be added to the game. I haven't seen any news that indicates that anything other than actual 'Mechs will be in-game, so stuff like battle armor, tanks, aerospace, VTOLs and ProtoMechs are probably not going to be added. Just because this is closer to actual BattleTech doesn't mean that every single piece of combat gear will make it into the game. Especially on a F2P game. The more stuff that gets added, the more stuff that has to be coded - allowing customized 'Mechs means more memory, which means more chances for lag. More combat rides means more stuff that has to be rendered on your screen. Which means more memory and more lag possibilities.

[Riyal Galen]

Wouldn't that also mean expanding the fight back into Clan Space as well as allowing access to none invading Clans, specifically Clan Blood Spirit? (Not that I am opposed to playing a CBS) In theory, these sound like they would be a cool little adversary, sorta like a larger, teethier version of Gnomes and Elemental Battle Armors.

Gameplay wise, for some reason, I keep seeing the way one operated a Cyclone from the Robotech:Invasion game and cannot help but shudder.

[Marauder3D]

Even as a Smoke Jaguar, I would much rather see an array of Battlearmor added to the game than protomechs. Give each faction a standard and "unique" battle armor to draw on.

For example:

Lyran Alliance: Inner Sphere Standard and the Fenrir class.
Draconis Combine: I.S.S. (Raiden) and the Kanazuchi
Free Worlds League: Longinus and the Achileus
Capellan Confederation: I.S.S. and Fa Shih
Federated Commonwealth/Federated Suns: I.S.S. and Infiltrator Mk. 2 (Puma)

I think BA would add more depth to the game, and would be one hell of a challenge. A skilled BA pilot or better yet a skilled BA point would be a thing to be dreaded.

Protomechs always seemed munchy to me, I never warmed to them.

[God of War]

Protos suck!

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Marauder3D, on 06 November 2011 - 07:00 AM, said:

For example:

Lyran Alliance: Inner Sphere Standard and the Fenrir class.
Draconis Combine: I.S.S. (Raiden) and the Kanazuchi
Free Worlds League: Longinus and the Achileus
Capellan Confederation: I.S.S. and Fa Shih
Federated Commonwealth/Federated Suns: I.S.S. and Infiltrator Mk. 2 (Puma)

DCMS barely bothers with the Inner Sphere Standard, afaik.
You also forgot the Kage for the DCMS.
All should have access to the Gray Death Scout and Gray Death Standard suits as well.

Timeline of IS Battle Armours:
2720 - Nighthawk Mk. XXI (PA(L))
2904 - Tornado (PA(L))
3050 - Infiltrator Mk I (Light)
3051 - Gray Death Scout (Light), Gray Death Standard (Medium), Sloth (Heavy)
3052 - Inner Sphere Standard (Medium)
3055 - Raiden (Medium)
3056 - Kage (Light)
3057 - Achileus (Light), Longinus (Medium)
3058 - Kanazuchi (Assault), Cavalier (Medium)
3060 - Fa Shih (Medium), Fenrir (Assault), Infiltrator Mk II (Medium)
3061 - Purifier Adaptive (Medium)
3065 - Grenadier (Assault), Phalanx (Heavy), Rottweiler (Medium)
3066 - Trinity (Medium)
3067 - Void (Medium)
3069 - Kobold (Light)
3070 - Hauberk (Assault), Djinn (Light)
3071 - Nephilim (Assault), Shedu (Assault), Tengu (Heavy)
3072 - Asura (Medium)
3073 - Se'irim (Medium)
3077 - Kopis (Assault)
3080 - Gray Death Strike (Medium)
¿3083? - Angerona (Medium)
3084 - Ravager (Assault)
¿c3085? - Gladiator-S (PA(L))

As for protos, I don't think we'll have to worry about those yet.
They're an interesting concept, though.

Edited by Alizabeth Aijou, 06 November 2011 - 09:24 AM.

[CaveMan]

I think they're 10+ years down the road, and were a bad idea to start with. They're complicated and don't serve an obvious ingame role. Somebody just wanted Heavy Gear in Battletech.

[simon1812]

battle armor, elemental armor, I dont see why not, though I prefer elemental armor because they can be equipped to take down other bigger mechs so they can actually contribute to the battle. so they r more than just a curiosity for players to mess with.

[theginganinja]

The main problem I see with adding Protomechs is that the implants needed to pilot them have an unfortunate tendency to cause the pilot to go insane, which wouldn't be so great...

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Well, the other downside is that it tends to shorter their life expectency to about 5-10 years after implant.

[Sheogorath]

Protomechs always seemed to be oversized powerarmour to me, but then again I never used or fought any so I wouldnt know.

[Alizabeth Aijou]

ProtoMechs are much better, actually.
Easily capable of having more armour than a 20-ton 'mech, while having two "near miss" hit locations, making them even harder to destroy.

[minobu tetsuharu]

Protomechs have the firepower of assault battle armor but have the mobility of battlemechs and better feats of agility.

They aren't more durable than a 20 ton mech especially below 8 tons. When they do get hit the damage usually is going to remove a limb a protomech can't afford but unlike a battlemech you can't knock them over and expect to get free hits in while they are trying to stand back up, they recover too fast to be exploited like that.

When of the things that will make or break protomechs is if they can adequately take cover behind objects like trees or hide in buildings like infantry.

[Jack Gallows]

I hope they don't introduce protomechs, and stay with Battle Armor. I generally disliked the idea of protomechs, and think they'd be made obsoletely due to the invasive nature of piloting them.

[T S Hawk]

How about we cross that bridge when get to it. Because Protomechs are a long way off still. And we are not sure how the timeline will advance in the game just yet.

[Cifu]

Five worlds: Don't put in the game!

We won't have vehicles, we won't have elementals / power armours, nor infantry of any kind. But you suggest to put Protomechs in the game? No, personally i think there is many ways how to make the game more "Mechwarrior" feel, but the protomech's are not part of that.

[Hayden]

Jack Gallows, on 07 November 2011 - 01:28 PM, said:

I hope they don't introduce protomechs, and stay with Battle Armor. I generally disliked the idea of protomechs, and think they'd be made obsoletely due to the invasive nature of piloting them.

I lump Protomechs in with Battle Armor: Battle armor requires extremely well-conditioned (or genetically modified, in the case of the Clans) individuals; Protomechs initially used former clan Aerospace pilots, undergo surgery to implant a neurological interface and on top of that "feel" the pain associated with taking battle damage (reading this out of the 3060 TRO). They're cool to be sure, but there wouldn't be a lot of cross-over between Battlemech pilots and others, you know?

Now, this is still just a game, so it's not totally unacceptable to include them, but I don't think they quite fit, are rare to begin with, and wouldn't be available for 10 years, assuming they keep on their current timeline.

EDIT: Or, more succinctly,

T.S. Hawk, on 07 November 2011 - 01:36 PM, said:

How about we cross that bridge when get to it. Because Protomechs are a long way off still. And we are not sure how the timeline will advance in the game just yet.

Edited by hayden, 07 November 2011 - 01:43 PM.