44 replies to this topic

[ScoutMack]

So, Steiner has a new scout mech?

[PirateNixon]

If you can't recall every mech off the top of your head, here's a link. I would like one, please. I SAID PLEASE NOW GIVE IT TO ME!!!

[evil merlin]

I really can't wait for this game to drop. I still have fond memories of playing the pen and paper game at my buddies house for hours.

I also remember his then 2 year old daughter walking across the hex map, half naked and dropping a **** right in the middle of the whole thing.

It was horrifying yet amusing all at once.

[deputydog]

DVS is a nice mech. Id take that over an atlas anyday.

[Frisk]

Quote

General Kerensky himself designed the specifications for the Devastator to make up for perceived flaws in the prototype Titan. However, when Stefan Amaris seized the reigns of the Terran Hegemony, production of the Devastator was stalled until the invasion of Terra, when a mere six prototypes were delivered to the Star League Defense Force. After its deployment in the battle for Terra, the Devastator remained lost to the Inner Sphere for centuries, until troops from the Federated Suns chanced upon the blueprints in a Star League base on the world of Hoff in 3023. A downgraded version of the 'Mech was prototyped in 3033 by the NAIS, using technology available at the time. It was not until 3044 that a Devastator appeared that was constructed using the intended technologies (DVS-2); this version was finally put in production by 3048.
The Devastator is powered by a Vlar 300 XL Engine giving it a top speed of 54 km/h. The 'Mech is protected by eighteen and a half tons of Durallex Heavy armor and has fourteen double heat sinks to dissipate waste heat.

[Kris Cosara]

??? Its 3058 Tech...or? So, 8 years to early


Edit: ok ok Sarna.net ftw :-) i have to read first... Sorry about that

Edited by Kris Cosara, 20 June 2012 - 09:26 AM.

[Storm McIntyre]

Prosperity Park, on 20 June 2012 - 08:28 AM, said:

Not only am I cunning and ruthless, but I'm DVS-2...

Great. I log in and immediately take an armor-piercing pun to my left knee.....

[Name113200]

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Devastator

[a rabid chihuahua]

InnerSphereNews, on 23 October 2011 - 07:32 PM, said:

Welcome to Dev Blog 0!

Why is it called Dev Blog 0? Well, a lot has happened in the two years since we first announced MechWarrior back in 2009, and we felt a quick recap would help bring everyone up to speed on the events of the last 2 years. In order to make this blog a little more personal, we have referred to many people by first name.
The usage of we generally refers to:

• Jordan Weisman founded FASA and co-created BattleTech. Jordan has also been responsible for numerous other ventures including WizKids, and Smith & Tinker.
  
• Russ Bullock, Owner/President of Piranha Games Inc.
  
• Bryan Ekman, Owner/Creative Director of Piranha Games Inc.
  
• And sometimes the entire team at PGI, some 50+ awesome developers!

So let’s go back to the beginning before the 2009 announcement, when Piranha Games first began working with the MechWarrior license.
Rebooting Piranha Games

Three years ago, during the summer 2008, we put in motion a new strategy for Piranha, one that would focus our efforts on building killer original action games. With this ultimate goal in mind, we focused on three key areas.

• Only take on action based work-for-hire games, such as Transformers 2 and Duke Nukem Forever.
  
• Build an experienced development team, capable of creating fun and engaging products.
  
• Develop a game by acquiring or licensing an existing intellectual property (IP).

With these goals in mind, we began identifying properties that fit the bill. In October 2008, while looking into the MechWarrior rights, Russ, learned that Jordan was working on a new venture at Smith & Tinker. Jordan, through S&T had licensed some of the digital FASA rights back from Microsoft. Not long after the initial call, we began working with Jordan on a new concept, a major update to the MechWarrior franchise.
Rebooting MechWarrior

The initial ideas revolved around revitalizing or rebooting the series by focusing on two areas:

• Increasing the overall graphical fidelity of the entire game, especially the BattlMechs.
  
• Solve some of the long standing gameplay issues from previous MechWarrior games.

From these two key areas, early design pillars emerged in the form of:

• Urban Combat to address circle strafing and long range sniping.
  
• Dynamic Battlefield further expanded on the concepts of Urban Combat and mechs having roles.
  
• Dynamic pacing, introduced an early version of one of the final pillars, Information Warfare.

It would be designed for the Xbox 360 and PC. The game would take place on the planet Deshler, in the year 3015. Single player would revolve around Adrian Kohl and his exploits during an invasion by Kuritan forces. A gritty series of missions, designed to draw people deep into the rich vibrant and treacherous world of BattleTech. Multiplayer was a blend of features from previous MechWarrior games and modern FPS experiences. The package as a whole was the first step in making MechWarior cool again.
We continued to iterate on the design for several weeks, then started developing a plan of action.
Early on we decided to produce a marketing video that would demonstrate many of the core features and rebooted art style. We had three goals:

• Announce the project and generate a major buzz within the gaming community.
  
• Generate publisher interest.
  
• Increase Piranha’s profile as a quality developer with publishers and the community.

The marketing campaign contained 3 teaser videos , the final full length trailer, and a feature interview on IGN. We rolled out the plan during the second week of July, 2009.
The reaction was overwhelming. We anticipated the announcement would generate a lot of buzz, however the end result outperformed even our highest expectations.
Oh Yeah, Harmony Gold

Contrary to all the press and speculation that Harmony Gold was getting in the way of a deal or development, this had no impact whatsoever on development or signing a deal for MechWarrior.
Closing a Deal

The hard work began in earnest after the video release. We had an aggressive schedule to visit publishers and gauge interest. In the month of August we met with all of the major publishers, pitched the MechWarrior game to a captive audience and waited. The answers rolled in slowly, starting with the smaller publishers. Then word showed up from the big five. The answer was no.
We knew going in, there were two major risks. No PS3 version due to a Microsoft restriction, and the epic market collapse and major recession. In the end, it was mostly the lack of a PS3 option that did us in. The scope and budget required to develop a console reboot needed the support of a PS3 SKU and we just couldn’t convince publishers to take a risk. By late fall 2009, our dreams of making a MechWarrior game, began slowly drifting away.
Through the end of 2009 and into 2010 we rallied numerous times, reducing scope and budget, re-pitching the concept as a LIVE only title, etc. etc. In the end, nothing stuck.
To be honest, 2008/09 were some of the hardest times this company has ever seen. We spent a lot of time, resources, money and energy on MechWarrior, and it wasn’t looking good.
Then, in the spring of 2010, we secured the Duke Nukem Forever contract. This was a huge achievement and a cornerstone in our development history. MechWarrior played a large role in helping us secure the deal. A few key hires filled out our incredibly talented multiplayer AAA team.
MechWarrior took a back seat, as we focused on a very challenging and time compressed project.
2010 ended, and we rolled into 2011 without much fanfare as Duke Nukem Forever entered the final phases of development.
The Birth of MechWarrior Online

In the winter months of 2011 we assessed the state of MechWarrior. We came to the realization that any further work on MechWarrior would come at great risk to PGI. If we planned to take on significant risk, we needed to control the IP. After several sessions of deliberation, we decided to plunge in head first. Russ approached Smith & Tinker with regards to licensing the MechWarrior rights and within a few weeks, we signed a deal.
Not long after signing, we quickly realized licensing the rights was one of the most important and future sighted decisions made by us in the last 12 years. Offers were coming in from all over the planet, especially to make or license a free-to-play MechWarrior game.
Because of the overwhelming interest, we decided to spend some time researching what a free-to-play (F2P) MechWarrior game would look like. We spent some design cycles adapting our previous concepts and quickly realized a synergy between F2P and the BattleTech universe. We worked hard through spring, negotiating, designing, and rejecting a few potential partners. As it turns out, we didn’t have to look very far.
During much of the past 12 months there was a local group that also had a large amount of interest in developing and publishing a MechWarrior title. Once Piranha had become the license holder they came over immediately and met with us. From this point onward we decided to combine our efforts with Piranha as the rights holder and with them as the Publisher. After about 6 months of hard work together, funding had been secured, Infinity Game Publishing was born and development could begin.
The most positive thing that can be said about the relationship between Piranha and IGP is that both companies wanted to make the same game and Piranha was free to execute upon our vision.
The road to this Blog was an adventure filled with many hurtles and momentous occasions. We are excited and proud of the direction MechWarrior is taking as a PC F2P game. It offers us the ability to make a successor worthy of the MechWarrior name, and one that fans will enjoy for years to come!
Welcome to MechWarrior Online.

Sweet!

[Axatillian]

WardenWolf, on 20 June 2012 - 08:31 AM, said:

As much as I want to see a lot more mechs in this game, I would like to see some of the missing tonnage spots filled in first. Before we get another 100-ton, 300-engine rating design (like the Devestator) I would prefer to see a couple of mechs in the 85-95 ton range; perhaps the Cyclops (for commander roles), Mauler (for long-range support), or Highlander (to have an assault with jump jets).

no doubt I would love some med mech love probly wont see it but Phionex Hawk for the win

[Grey Norse]

What does a body have to do to get a picture around here????



Never mind, I found the drawing.

Edited by Grey Norse, 20 June 2012 - 10:55 AM.

[lavishinferno]

Adridos, on 20 June 2012 - 08:01 AM, said:

What else could we expect from Steiners?

the Devastator is a davion mech not steiner

[Stormcujo]

Where is the list of mechs at? I just want my Mad Cat and my Cougar/Puma

[Jaxwen]

That would be the new number one choice mech to have. Yes, put the Devastator DVS-2 in the lineup! Would make my job in Fire Support much mo' bettah'.

[verybad]

Hmm, third reference to the Devastator in these News Flashes. Pretty certain it will be a premier mech released for sale AFTER the game goes gold.

I don't think it will be part of the initial releases however, as it's 100 tons, could (would?) cut into elite and legendary sales. (Atlas)

There's no arguing that it's a very effective mech, kind of like an Awesome on steroids in terms of firepower and playstyle.
In addition, it has a minor look similarity to the Warhammer, something that many people love.

Edited by verybad, 20 June 2012 - 11:31 AM.

[Skylarr]

Devastator
Manufacturer Norse-Storm BattleMechs Inc. & Corean Enterprises
Introduce 3036
Model DVS-2
Class Assault
Cost 22,398,000 C-bills


Description


General Kerensky himself designed the specifications for the Devastator to make up for perceived flaws in the prototype Titan. However, when Stefan Amaris seized the reigns of the Terran Hegemony, production of the Devastator was stalled until the invasion of Terra, when a mere six prototypes were delivered to the Star League Defense Force. After its deployment in the battle for Terra, the Devastator remained lost to the Inner Sphere for centuries, until troops from the Federated Suns chanced upon the blueprints in a Star League base on the world of Hoff in 3023. A downgraded version of the 'Mech was prototyped in 3033 by the NAIS, using technology available at the time. It was not until 3044 that a Devastator appeared that was constructed using the intended technologies (DVS-2); this version was finally put in production by 3048.
The Devastator is powered by a Vlar 300 XL Engine giving it a top speed of 54 km/h. The 'Mech is protected by eighteen and a half tons of Durallex Heavy armor and has fourteen double heat sinks to dissipate waste heat.


Armament

The Devastator carries an arsenal focused on long-range combat. The primary weapons are a pair of Poland Main Model A Gauss Rifles backed up by two Donal PPCs. For close combat, the Devastator carries four Intek Medium Lasers, one of which is mounted in the rear of the center torso to keep enemy infantry from getting too ambitious.

Edited by Skylarr, 20 June 2012 - 09:10 PM.

[Dreager96]

I hope they do start filling in the middle area of the mech race with mech's like the thunderbolt, wolverine, cauldron born, some serious mech's that aren't there for just eye candy.

[Skylarr]

lavishinferno, on 20 June 2012 - 10:56 AM, said:

the Devastator is a davion mech not steiner

Corean Enterprises is a multinational BattleMech manufacturer with sites in the Federated Suns and Free Worlds League.

Norse-Storm Technologies Incorporated is a BattleMech manufacturer headquartered on Lyran world of Loxley.

[Dagaz]

WardenWolf, on 20 June 2012 - 08:31 AM, said:

As much as I want to see a lot more mechs in this game, I would like to see some of the missing tonnage spots filled in first. Before we get another 100-ton, 300-engine rating design (like the Devestator) I would prefer to see a couple of mechs in the 85-95 ton range; perhaps the Cyclops (for commander roles), Mauler (for long-range support), or Highlander (to have an assault with jump jets).

Would agree with this. Love the Mechs we are seeing but lots of others / tonnage missing. Would be nice to have at least 3 of each tonnage available even if we have to buy them.

BTW have they announced a Warhammer or Maurader?

Edited by Dagaz, 20 June 2012 - 10:16 PM.

[Cmdr Rad]

Sweet, just what we need, another PPC boat