275 replies to this topic

[RaptorRage]

The Heavy Gear Assault website has been updated with the second wave of alpha access now available.

http://www.heavygear.com

Video trailer of alpha test gameplay footage.

[Captain Stiffy]

Isn't heavy gear WAY WAY more like MS:Gundam than Battletech?

Don't get me wrong I'm not hating on Gundam

But battletech is very different. VERY VERY VEEEEEEEEEEEEERY

[RaptorRage]

The closest analogy to other mecha technology or capabilities would be that the Gears are similar to those found in the Armored Trooper VOTOMS series.

[Keira RAVEN McKenna]

RaptorRage, on 12 December 2014 - 08:45 PM, said:

The Heavy Gear Assault website has been updated with the second wave of alpha access now available.

http://www.heavygear.com

Video trailer of alpha test gameplay footage.

I'm not up with the play on this whole mecha world thing but.... that looked an awful lot just like this game!

[Mr D One]

Looks like a lot of jumping, sliding and pop tarting mecha combat.

Perfect for all the so called good game close groups. They can **** off to that, and leave MWO for the real Mech Fighters.

[Strum Wealh]

Captain Stiffy, on 12 December 2014 - 09:44 PM, said:

Isn't heavy gear WAY WAY more like MS:Gundam than Battletech?

Don't get me wrong I'm not hating on Gundam

But battletech is very different. VERY VERY VEEEEEEEEEEEEERY

RaptorRage, on 12 December 2014 - 09:57 PM, said:

The closest analogy to other mecha technology or capabilities would be that the Gears are similar to those found in the Armored Trooper VOTOMS series.

RaptorRage is correct, in that the Heavy Gears (which are only 3-6 meters tall, versus the 17-20 meter heights of the typical UC-era Mobile Suits) are closest to the mecha known as "Armored Troopers" (ATs) (where a typical AT, like the familiar Scopedog, is ~3.8 meters tall) from the 1983 anime Armored Trooper VOTOMS & its sequels.


In fact, the dueling/arena-centric setting of HGA is mirrored by the semi-recent (e.g. 2010) VOTOMS spin-off OVA, Armored Trooper VOTOMS: Case; Irvine.


The same "dueling circuit of Terra Nova" setting was also used for the 2001 Heavy Gear CGI TV series.


That being said, both VOTOMS and Gundam are owned by Sunrise Inc. & both sets of mecha were designed by Kunio Okawara, so they are not wholly-unrelated.

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Keira RAVEN McKenna, on 12 December 2014 - 10:22 PM, said:

I'm not up with the play on this whole mecha world thing but.... that looked an awful lot just like this game!

HGWiki includes an "Introduction to the Heavy Gear Universe", as well as (expanding) category pages for Gear models, weapons, equipment, the different armor & structure materials, the corporations one may be able to approach for sponsorship & parts/weapons/etc, the languages of Terra Nova, notable characters, and more.

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Dar1ng One, on 12 December 2014 - 10:37 PM, said:

Looks like a lot of jumping, sliding and pop tarting mecha combat.

Perfect for all the so called good game close groups. They can **** off to that, and leave MWO for the real Mech Fighters.

Gears are smaller, lighter, and more nimble than something like a BattleMech by design.
Even the biggest Gears (like the Kodiak, Agamemnon, or the King Cobra) are only 5-6 meters tall & mass ~10 metric tons (~10,000 kg).

Here is an image of a Kodiak (head height of ~5.2 meters, combat weight of 10,485 kg) & its pilot:


Here is a smaller Gear (looks like some variant of the Hunter; head height of 4.3 meters and combat weight of 6,627 kg) & its pilot:


Here is a Kodiak (left) next to a Jäger (the Southern knock-off of the Northern Hunter; right):


While Gears aren't that much faster than BattleMechs (most "fast" Gears (like the Northern Cheetah & the Southern Iguana) top-out at ~100 kph, and even the fastest Gears (such as Paxton Arms' Perseus) can't get any faster than ~150 kph; an "average" Gear can't go much faster than ~70 to ~80 kph), their "Secondary Movement System" (SMS) & the ability to equip Jump Jets, their relatively small size, and their human-like flexibility (including the ability to crouch/kneel and jump) makes them a lot more maneuverable.

That being said, larger mecha - called "Striders" - do exist in the Heavy Gear universe (with examples including the Northern Mammoth, and the Naga & the Sagittarius (pictured below) fielded by Southern forces) & are apparently planned for implementation in HGA.

Edited by Strum Wealh, 13 December 2014 - 04:03 PM.

[Strum Wealh]

So, HGA is apparently going to be at GDC 2015 (March 02-06)!

[Anjian]

Wow this would be a dream come true. I was very much playing into Heavy Gear 2 online with death matches and all, spitting death from my rails and my shoulder mounted mortars. I usually prefer to use the King Cobra or the Spitting Cobra. On lower threat value matchjes, maybe the Sand Viper.

[Anjian]

Captain Stiffy, on 12 December 2014 - 09:44 PM, said:

Isn't heavy gear WAY WAY more like MS:Gundam than Battletech?

Don't get me wrong I'm not hating on Gundam

But battletech is very different. VERY VERY VEEEEEEEEEEEEERY

From an online perspective, Heavy Gear plays more like Quake, at least Heavy Gear 2 did. Jump up, shoot bazooka near the feet of your opponent and watch the AOE affects him. The high jumps and the high speed skating separates it from a traditional FPS though, as when you are in skate mode, it feels more like a car with a large machine gun. Well nobody uses machine guns (Heavy Gear 2) we all prefer to use bazookas, rails and mortars then. Machine guns are for low threat value games.

It gets really fun back then with HG2 playing CTF (Capture the Flag). Everyone is skating and jumping as they try to chase and kill the flag guy.

Edited by Anjian, 06 January 2015 - 09:19 PM.

[Colonel Fubar]

Can't wait to give it a test drive, until that day!

[Heffay]

I want to support this game, but it's probably going to get MW:Tactic'd.

[Corvus Antaka]

Marack Drock, on 07 January 2015 - 08:06 PM, said:

The game pretty much is. Development is us slower than molasses in January.

Actually development is going extremely well this month. Just gotta wait for the next patch to hit, it's a big one

[TrentTheWanderer]

The first every Heavy Gear Assault tournament just got announced, with prizes like a GTX 970 and Razer Deathadder. You can read about it on their website. http://heavygear.com/tournament

[Wolf486]

Hey guys I just wanted to let you all know Heavy Gear Assault is having a Tournament in February for their Backers/Alpha testers who get in before January 31st. If you buy a game pack now for as little as $39.95 you can get in on it ! Heres what you can win since the Tournament is Sposored by Epic and Razer!! Razer Deathadder mice, Epic swag, and even a nVidia GTX970!! $1200 in prizes are available for the taking!! I hope to see you all there to pad my score and thank you for reading!!

Edited by Wolf486, 20 January 2015 - 03:38 PM.

[ORCRiST]

I am a HUGE fan of Heavy Gear. The universe, the gears, the politics, technology, etc. I have dozens of HG books from their TT/RP game. Played all the video games too (yes, I'm old).

I've watched Stompybot closely ever since HGA was announced. I, however, am sick of the PVP/arena-only multi-player BS.

I don't know WTH they were thinking since the market is genre-saturated with games like Hawken and MWO.

I've wanted to give them my money since day one, but in good conscience just can't.

What ever happened to the good old days of single-player campaigns? People seem to forget that Mechwarrior and Heavy Gear got started back in the day with SP only, and they were GREAT. I know Stompybot has mentioned a SP campaign as a stretch-goal, but I won't believe it until I see it, and they won't get my money until then.

I don't want to be a dumba** duelist in an arena. I want to fight in the polar wars out in the Badlands. Games like MW and HG need a RP element plain and simple. Sadly, all devs seem to want to do these days is make a kiddie pool on the internet and charge microtransactions for different kinds of water wings.

[Wolf486]

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

I am a HUGE fan of Heavy Gear. The universe, the gears, the politics, technology, etc. I have dozens of HG books from their TT/RP game. Played all the video games too (yes, I'm old).

Very cool!!

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

I've watched Stompybot closely ever since HGA was announced. I, however, am sick of the PVP/arena-only multi-player BS.

They are doing Single player Mission episodes also...You really need to get on the forums and check out the new site.

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

I don't know WTH they were thinking since the market is genre-saturated with games like Hawken and MWO.

Well Hawken is dead until the publisher and developer get out of court from their lawsuit, MWO is eh MWO. I was craveing another something from MekTek and since they are working with DP9 the IP owner to create the game it's a better scenario then MW being owned by Microsoft who doesn't seem care.

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

I've wanted to give them my money since day one, but in good conscience just can't.

I can understand that after dealing with broken promises from other titles. I'd just point out MekTeks history of great work, slow but great!

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

What ever happened to the good old days of single-player campaigns? People seem to forget that Mechwarrior and Heavy Gear got started back in the day with SP only, and they were GREAT. I know Stompybot has mentioned a SP campaign as a stretch-goal, but I won't believe it until I see it, and they won't get my money until then.

As I said there is Single player campaigns being designed that follow the lore and they are intent on delivering a great Single/Cooperative missions where you can choose to invite a buddy or not.

ORCRiST, on 20 January 2015 - 06:19 PM, said:

I don't want to be a dumba** duelist in an arena. I want to fight in the polar wars out in the Badlands. Games like MW and HG need a RP element plain and simple. Sadly, all devs seem to want to do these days is make a kiddie pool on the internet and charge microtransactions for different kinds of water wings.

Well I hate to burst your bubble there but I enjoy both and miss arena battles, so thanks for calling us Duelists Dumba**es Further more you're worried about microtransactions....yes they are going to sell extra stuff for real cash, but you can just use in game money known as TEC to buy everything in the game. No specialty gears like MWO Hero Mechs, no $500 gold mechs, and definatly no advantages gained by buying anything with real money. Buy the game and never have to buy anything again if you choose not to.

I hate having to set people straight on things because they refuse to check it out for themselves and they just spout off without knowing. Please do your research before you buy anything and before you condemn anything. I know PGI put a nasty taste in lots of peoples mouths but MekTek is trying to do things their way and not the Freemium way.

[Heffay]

Wolf486, on 20 January 2015 - 07:57 PM, said:

Further more you're worried about microtransactions....yes they are going to sell extra stuff for real cash, but you can just use in game money known as TEC to buy everything in the game. No specialty gears like MWO Hero Mechs, no $500 gold mechs, and definatly no advantages gained by buying anything with real money. Buy the game and never have to buy anything again if you choose not to.

The specifics are a bit different than how you're describing it. There will be blueprints available for sale that will most likely provide a competitive advantage, but in theory you can get the results of that blueprint by buying it with in-game money from another player. That's how they are getting around a pure P2W conflict, but the implementation is going to be sketchy. If you get a nice new rare blueprint and people will want to buy your upgrade, but if there is a tournament coming up, you might want to retain the competitive advantage and wait for it to be over before selling the parts. It'll be interesting to see the exact implementation they develop.

They are also using a Threat Value for match creation instead of any sort of matchmaking. No idea how this will play out, but it sounds like a balancing nightmare. Are TVs tied to the mechs? Do they apply to each item on the mech? How do you account for synergy of a weapon on a particular chassis, when it's clearly underpowered in some cases? And *every* time something new is released, the *whole* catalog of chassis and parts will have to be refactored.

They are also going to be playing the "pay for convenience" route. Probably some sort of Premium time, much like every other game out there has.

Hopefully they'll get some traction for this tournament though, because with an active player base of less than 80 people, it's not exactly setting the gaming world on fire.

[mogs01gt]

So you have to pay first just to download the game? **** that!

[ORCRiST]

Wolf486, on 20 January 2015 - 07:57 PM, said:

Very cool!!

They are doing Single player Mission episodes also...You really need to get on the forums and check out the new site.

Well Hawken is dead until the publisher and developer get out of court from their lawsuit, MWO is eh MWO. I was craveing another something from MekTek and since they are working with DP9 the IP owner to create the game it's a better scenario then MW being owned by Microsoft who doesn't seem care.

I can understand that after dealing with broken promises from other titles. I'd just point out MekTeks history of great work, slow but great!

As I said there is Single player campaigns being designed that follow the lore and they are intent on delivering a great Single/Cooperative missions where you can choose to invite a buddy or not.

Well I hate to burst your bubble there but I enjoy both and miss arena battles, so thanks for calling us Duelists Dumba**es Further more you're worried about microtransactions....yes they are going to sell extra stuff for real cash, but you can just use in game money known as TEC to buy everything in the game. No specialty gears like MWO Hero Mechs, no $500 gold mechs, and definatly no advantages gained by buying anything with real money. Buy the game and never have to buy anything again if you choose not to.

I hate having to set people straight on things because they refuse to check it out for themselves and they just spout off without knowing. Please do your research before you buy anything and before you condemn anything. I know PGI put a nasty taste in lots of peoples mouths but MekTek is trying to do things their way and not the Freemium way.

I already know everything you just 'informed' me about. Did you actually read my post? Maybe you think you need to 'set people straight' because you don't read/listen to them in the first place.

What part of "I've watched Stompybot closely ever since HGA was announced." didn't you understand? I'm ON the forums, hence 'watched Stompybot closely'. My bone of contention is that it should be a SP game first and foremost rather than a multi-player PVP/E-sport anything. And I'm not the only one, there are loads of people who feel the same way and have commented as such on Stompy's now-defunct kickstarter campaign page. I know who DP9 is, again, did you actually read my post before multi-quoting every sentence?

I wasn't calling duelist's dumba**es (duelists are cool), I was saying I didn't want to be/play a dumba** duelist in an ARENA (aka Khayr Ad-din). Have you ever seen the godawful Heavy Gear cartoon? From my perspective (real or imagined) THAT is what Stompybot thinks HGA should be and what players want.

I mean how many PVP-only games are out there? A dime a dozen.

Now how many immersive story-driven single-player ones? Pretty damn rare.

Fans of the Heavy Gear universe, fans that played and enjoyed the original Heavy Gear games want a breathtaking SP game that DP9 has already painstakingly filled with content, with a multi-player/PVP component.

Not a fish-bowl PVP game like the thousands of generics of that type that litter the internet that just happens to have 'Heavy Gear' in this particular title and about as much substance, and oh, BTW we'll add a SP mission or two.

My comments on microtransactions are about trends in the current gaming industry in general, not specifically aimed at (although applicable to) Stompybot/HGA. Microtran's don't bother me, and are a viable income tool for devs as long as P2W doesn't kill a game, which, although you pointed out (and I already knew) isn't an issue - so far - with HGA.

And Hawken is as dead as much as HGA is alive. Apparently I just played a few rounds in a dead game then? A game is dead when people can't play it anymore, not before.

If you like the E-sport/Arena/PVP-only genre, then more power to you. You cite how you think Mektek working with DP9 is a better scenario than Microsoft/Mechwarrior/FASA, et.al.. So far, they've both shown about as much lip service to their original IP's.

DP9 has thousands of printed pages on the Heavy Gear universe, its politics and its conflicts, its people and its locale's. Yet Mektek/Stompybot has decided to create an entire game based on .05% of that material. What a waste and what a shame. That's just as bad as Microsoft, and for that matter, PGI.

I'm not saying HGA isn't or can't be a good game - its just not one (in its current state) I'm interested in and certainly not going to spend money on - and I'm not alone.

Edited by ORCRiST, 21 January 2015 - 11:48 AM.

[Strum Wealh]

Heffay, on 21 January 2015 - 07:22 AM, said:

The specifics are a bit different than how you're describing it. There will be blueprints available for sale that will most likely provide a competitive advantage, but in theory you can get the results of that blueprint by buying it with in-game money from another player. That's how they are getting around a pure P2W conflict, but the implementation is going to be sketchy. If you get a nice new rare blueprint and people will want to buy your upgrade, but if there is a tournament coming up, you might want to retain the competitive advantage and wait for it to be over before selling the parts. It'll be interesting to see the exact implementation they develop.

They are also using a Threat Value for match creation instead of any sort of matchmaking. No idea how this will play out, but it sounds like a balancing nightmare. Are TVs tied to the mechs? Do they apply to each item on the mech? How do you account for synergy of a weapon on a particular chassis, when it's clearly underpowered in some cases? And *every* time something new is released, the *whole* catalog of chassis and parts will have to be refactored.

They are also going to be playing the "pay for convenience" route. Probably some sort of Premium time, much like every other game out there has.

Hopefully they'll get some traction for this tournament though, because with an active player base of less than 80 people, it's not exactly setting the gaming world on fire.

They actually describe how the game's economy is intended to work on the FAQ page.

Quote

How is the economy in Heavy Gear designed?

We looked to the real-world and games like Eve Online and Star Citizen for inspiration when designing Heavy Gear Assault’s unique and dynamic economy.

Our philosophy, first and foremost, is to have everything in-game unlockable via cash or TEC (in-game currency) once a gamer has purchased the game. All existing and future content we add - whether it is a server pack, a gun, a gear, a blueprint, NPC, will be unlockable with both in-game earnable currency (TEC) or cash. We do reserve the right to keep certain cosmetic only items limited to cash purchases, but we also guarantee that no gameplay affecting item will ever be behind a cash only pay wall.

Most items can be bought and sold between players on the in-game Black Market. Items can only be bought or sold for TEC between players, not cash, on the Black Market.

Blueprints are unique to player accounts, can be bought for cash or TEC, and gear blueprints can be customized to manufacture completely custom gears.

Of particular note is the second section - while they may keep "certain cosmetic only items" - such as alternate armor or weapon geometries, special colors & paintjobs, and such - as cash-only purchases, items that would actually have a tangible effect on gameplay ("a server pack, a gun, a Gear, a blueprint, a NPC", and so on) are intended to be acquirable via in-game currency (that is, TEC) in addition to cash purchases.

Additionally, this dev post notes that certain items (including TEC, special blueprints, and equipment) can be won as a result of one's performance in official (that is, dev-run tournaments).

Quote

...in the case of a tournament or qualifying season, there will be a known top prize, plus several other prizes for runner-ups. There will also be participation prizes.

Prizes can include: TEC, Special blueprints with a limited run, equipment or even qualifying for a higher ranked tournament. Eventually, we want to organize large tournaments with actual cash prizes and legit trophies that pits the best players from around the world.

Also, the FAQ states that "player hosted servers do not participate in the persistent world of HGA" and "layers will not earn fame/infamy, TEC, or stats when playing on a private server", but this dev post states that "'bog standard' pickup matches will earn TEC" (ostensibly when held on dev-hosted, persistent-world servers) - so players can earn TEC to buy stuff, but TEC cannot be farmed in private servers.

Threat Value in HGA is, itself, part of a larger matchmaking mechanic that is based more on having lobbies than on randomized (or semi-randomized) setup.

Quote

Every match will have parameters such as match type, and most importantly Threat Value.

This is the key balancing mechanic. Each piece of equipment will be assigned a Threat Value. The total make up of your Gear's load-out will determine the final TV.

Your Gear's load-out must match or be lower than that of the match in order to be able to play in it.

So as you can see, it doesn't matter how much stuff is in your Gear Bay inventory, all that matters for a given match , is your load out's TV. This means that you will be on an equal footing with anyone else in the match.

Quote

...the intent is to have lobbies as well and not some random matchmaking system that is so prevalent in today's games. Things are planned out and players can setup for a particular match being played on a server.

Further, there will be tournaments and seasons, varying in scale in terms of time and number of players, that will have certain entrance requirements. Players will then stick with a particular builds in those matches.

Certain other matches will allow you to bring multiple Gears. The total of which must come under the weigh-in limit. This lends to strategy as to how you will setup your equipment depending on your play style and those of your opponent.

It would then make sense for a player to accumulate items, to have the flexibility to pick and choose a setup.

As to the actual mechanics of TV itself, it borrows from the Heavy Gear TT game in that every item - every chassis, every gun, every round, every perk, every flaw, and so on - has an associated TV (which can be looked up in the associated HG TT books, like Technical Manual), and the overall TV of the Gear is the aggregate of the components' TVs.
In order for a given Gear to participate in a given match, the Gear's TV (that is, the aggregate of the Gear's components' TVs) must be equal to or less than the TV limit for the given match - so, all of the Gears in a given match are, overall, on (roughly) equal footing with one another.

As far as some analogue to premium time goes, this dev post from last June (and last edited last August) indicates that there were (are?) plans for a "premium subscription" mechanic.

Quote

Premium Subscriptions

May be turned on or off and never gives players an unfair advantage. The time that the premium subscription is turned on will deduct from the balance depending on the amount indicated at each applicable pledge level. You can stop or renew your Premium membership at any time, and you keep all your digital goods forever, regardless of your membership status. Our Threat-Value matchmaking system ensures that whether you’re a Premium member, you purchased an Opt-Out Bundle or you play for free, you’ll always be competing on a level playing field.

Once activated, Premium membership offers the following benefits:

• Bonuses on experience and income
  
• Extra support staff members for the duration of your membership
  
• Exclusive cosmetic in-game content
  
• Special, limited-time offers such as discounts on Gears or weapons
  
• Access to our Mission Editor
  
• Access to our Decal Editor to give yourself and your team its own logo
  
• The ability to host your own private servers for singleplayer, coop or multiplayer
  
• Waived official tournament and game event fees

As for your (that is, Heffay's) notion of "an active player base of less than 80 people":

• Where/when (with link) does that number come from?
  
• What do you expect from a game that is still in it's pre-release testing phase?