11 replies to this topic

[Vashts1985]

like online computer chess, has anyone actually sat down and produced and computerized version of the tabletop game?

[a rabid chihuahua]

mektek closest thing I believe.

[Chuggernaut]

^^^^^
Are you thinking of MegaMek? MekTek are the MW4 modder guys.

But yeah, MegaMek. It's been around for a long time, and it's to the point where it supports even the
majority of advanced/experimental rules.

[Koryitsu]

Seconding Megamek. Its not 100%, as its in java, and all the problems a ridiculously complicated program in java brings with it, but man. When i don't have time to bust out the minis, or want to play with a buddy located elsewhere, there's little else that comes close.

They also have a fairly robust add-on called MekHQ that dives into all the drudgery that a BT campaign could get into, and does it fairly well.

If you have a tiny bit of patience, and truly want the tabletop experience without Ral Partha lead poisoning, Megamek is the way to go.

[Alistair Steiner]

I'll have to look it up. The closest thing I could find was Neveron, and there I spent more time trying to keep my population and industry level so I'd have enough money to train my crappy jeeps. And since the battle system used some archaic flash technology, I could never really do the battles. >.< By month four, it felt like 'Mechs were some distant dream I'd only imagined were real. That being said, it was still fun. But if Megamek is a close comparison, I'd be happy to check it out.

Thanks OP for bringing up the question, and all the rest for the answers.

[Darrin Thomason]

In addition Mechwarrior Tactics is currently being produced which appears to fit the bill as well www.mwtactics.com

[Owl Cutter]

I was not aware that MW Tactics is supposed to follow the TT rules closely, thanks! I might consider getting one of them newfangled post-notebook portable PCs just for that, if it is anywhere near as affordable as a dedicated game console...

I actually like for things to be built in java, since it means you don't need Windows to easily get it working. Most of my video game time these days goes into a java MMO, so that's probably where my video game money will go when I get my savings buffer back up since MWO is built using CryEngine... Seriously, we need to pick a river somewhere and [re]name it after Crimea.

[Gigaton]

While it's not BTU, I recommend you try Titans of Steel. It's heavily inspired by the TT rules, and is still BT enought that it's listed on Sarna.net under "other" games. Works on 64 bit Windows 7 too.

One major difference is that it has no turns per se, but rather has second based system and each jock is able to do only two actions (attack and movement) at any given time that take number of seconds to finish, except for pulling the trigger on weapons which is instant (for example, a jock might run his Titan foward while scanning an enemy, he gets to decide what to do next when he finishes either action).

You can DL it for free from Matrix Games' site here: http://www.matrixgam.../237/downloads/

You can also DL the latest patch from the game's forum section at Matrix Games' Forums.

Edited by Gigaton, 03 June 2012 - 11:45 PM.

[Koryitsu]

Alistair Steiner, on 03 June 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

The closest thing I could find was Neveron

Heh, i played a little bit of this, and had a buddy who's also here on the forums dive quite heavily into it. Not quite sure in the months i saw him playing it if he ever actually got himself into a mech either. but hey, i can't say **** about long time investments before payout. I play EVE Online.

Also,

Owl Cutter, on 03 June 2012 - 10:46 PM, said:

I actually like for things to be built in java,

Understood that. Not saying megamek is horrid to play, its just going to come with all the lovelies that java comes with. However, as mentioned nothing else comes close to recreating the TT experience. Luckily, it's also free and has a pretty good community still playing to this day.

Edited by Koryitsu, 04 June 2012 - 01:00 AM.

[domokun]

Koryitsu, on 03 June 2012 - 09:25 PM, said:

Seconding Megamek. Its not 100%, as its in java, and all the problems a ridiculously complicated program in java brings with it, but man.

I haven't played it in couple years. First time I tried to practice using it's user interface against a bot few years ago was pretty enlightening. First turn, no problems. Second turn, everything is still fine. 3rd turn, this feels kinda sluggish. 4th turn, this feels sluggish. 5th turn, this feels sluggish. 6th turn, this feel really really sluggish. 7th turn, did my computer just crash or something. Complex AI written with Java featuring pretty epic memory leak is epic.

[Besh]

Alistair Steiner, on 03 June 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

The closest thing I could find was Neveron,

I played Neveron a few Years ago. Was invited into a Faction dedicated to assist nublets in going forward. Helped a lot. After some time of playing and getting a bit of the hang of it, I was given Pilot Logins to 1 or 2 RLY large - and producing - empires to take their Pilots and smaller ( cheaper ) Mechs into Arena fights. Being not rly bad, I made nice money...was an overall rly enjoyable experience.

[Gremlich Johns]

NBT created a game they called "NBT-Classic" based on the Megamek game that really did a great job of rendering the TT game in a campaign league environment.