26 replies to this topic

[S3dition]

I remember hating the graphics and immediately going back to MW3 until MW4: Mercenaries.

Also - WAAAAAAY too many youtube links.

[Bagheera]

RIP: MPBT.

You forgot the MU* versions.

[Hex Pallett]

The only thing nostalgia-inducing regarding videogames is Need For Speed. 7-10 are the pinnacle games for the franchise. Those games are all about how to build your own rides. The ghetto goodness. I still believe NFS9: Most Wanted is the best game in the franchise. Now NFS is no more than hypercar/supercar fantasies with stupid teenage-rebellious spirit bullsh*t.

[S3dition]

Helmstif, on 03 April 2014 - 07:15 AM, said:

The only thing nostalgia-inducing regarding videogames is Need For Speed. 7-10 are the pinnacle games for the franchise. Those games are all about how to build your own rides. The ghetto goodness. I still believe NFS9: Most Wanted is the best game in the franchise. Now NFS is no more than hypercar/supercar fantasies with stupid teenage-rebellious spirit bullsh*t.

Need For Speed 1 on the 3D0. Beats everything hands down.

[Pht]

That video you have for the canceled release of MW5 is not for MW5. It's the old unreal engine driven demo video that kicked off mechwarrior online.

I have some of the old publically released pics of MW5 stuff... I'll go dig it up and post them.

From the RUMORS ... again, RUMORS ... that I heard, MW5 made it five or six stages into playable alpha state when it went into mothballs; I have no idea why. Not very long thereafter mechinsult came out and looked, in some ways, suspiciously like the MW5 stuff that we got to see later - I heard rumors that the MW5 game engine was used for mechinsult.

[Werewolf486 ScorpS]

If that makes you sad then MWO must make you cry.

[Bagheera]

S3dition, on 03 April 2014 - 08:41 AM, said:

Need For Speed 1 on the 3D0. Beats everything hands down.

Clearly you never played Test Drive for EGA graphics (or was it CGA?) circa 1990 or so.

[S3dition]

Pht, on 03 April 2014 - 01:31 PM, said:

That video you have for the canceled release of MW5 is not for MW5. It's the old unreal engine driven demo video that kicked off mechwarrior online.

I have some of the old publically released pics of MW5 stuff... I'll go dig it up and post them.

From the RUMORS ... again, RUMORS ... that I heard, MW5 made it five or six stages into playable alpha state when it went into mothballs; I have no idea why. Not very long thereafter mechinsult came out and looked, in some ways, suspiciously like the MW5 stuff that we got to see later - I heard rumors that the MW5 game engine was used for mechinsult.

That's funny. PGI explicitly stated that they never made it past video mockup stage. Nobody would give them money for it, as it was a very high upfront cost in a questionable and mostly dead genre. That video was, without a doubt, for Mechwarrior 5 and was never in any way related to MWO.

[Evil Ed]

I'm sad about the fact that I never did hear about MW:LL - it looks fantastic. Guess playing that would have brought me into MWO CB too.

Edited by Evil Ed, 08 April 2014 - 11:11 PM.

[Vaenson]

Nice job collecting all this snippets !!! Just remember i got my first MW game in package with my new Matrox Mystique (i think it has less vid ram then my telefon)

[Steinar Bergstol]

Bagheera, on 03 April 2014 - 06:47 AM, said:

RIP: MPBT.

You forgot the MU* versions.

Aaah. Memories. I spent a lot of time in the computer lab back in college playing BT 3056 and BT 3034 (and 3034 II) back in the early to mid-90's.

[ssm]

Vaenson, on 09 April 2014 - 12:38 AM, said:

Nice job collecting all this snippets !!! Just remember i got my first MW game in package with my new Matrox Mystique (i think it has less vid ram then my telefon)

It was very common - MW games always had top-notch graphics for their time, and were often used by hardware companies to promote their product. I remember that's how I got MW2:Mercs.

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 03 April 2014 - 02:09 PM, said:

That was the commercial released in 2009 (watch the end credits and the license it says 2009) for MW (MW5).

It's the PGI pre-relase video that was released to whip up interest in PGI's attempt to release what they would later call mechwarrior online.

Quote

How I know-
1. Smith and Tinker was in the commercial and they lost rights to MW when PGI bought the license for soul use, but before were working together on MW5 or MW:Reboot EVEN THE WIKIPEDIA AGREES WITH ME).

2. That was the commercial Harmony Gold was upset about because Warhammer was in it.

3. Title does not say MechWarrior:Online
This commercial was taken up again in 2011 by PGI to promote MW:O.

First: http://mwomercs.com/...10/2-dev-blog-0

The history of PGI's involvement; original source document.

Second:

Let a somewhat old-timer learn you a little something interesting: MWO is not mechwarrior five in a very real sense.

Microsoft was making mechwarrior 5. It was to be called "mechwarrior prime." The community at large called it mechwarrior 5 (because it was to be the fifth).

It was canceled some time around 2004. We believe it was reused to make mechinsult.











http://www.dailymoti...fasa_videogames <-- Intro video for MW:P


I remember being on mektek when a developer posted some of the pictures and commentary for the public; and I believe that was the very first time any of them had talked about MW:P since it got canceled.

Because of this there's some confusion over just what to call the un-released but in playable alpha mechwarrior prime (five? prime?) and PGI's product.

If, however, you're making a list of all of the MW video games, you might want to consider mentioning MW:Prime.

MW video games have somewhat of a tangled history.

Edited by Pht, 12 April 2014 - 10:17 AM.

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 12 April 2014 - 10:10 AM, said:

MW:Prime never even got to a demo stance to my knowledge (I did look all over for stuff on it but found nothing).

According to what I have been told from two independent sources in a position to know things directly, MW:P got into 6 or seven stages of playable alpha before it was canned.

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 12 April 2014 - 11:47 AM, said:

Seems that everything you say about all canned MW games is- They got into many stages playable alpha.

Touchy touchy .... (and pretty presumptive)... not everyone who disagrees with you thinks you're an idiot.

I doubt you've even read the majority of my posts on *this* board, so how it is that you know even a simple majority of what I say about canned MW games is very questionable.

[Spokes]

Bagheera, on 03 April 2014 - 02:49 PM, said:

Clearly you never played Test Drive for EGA graphics (or was it CGA?) circa 1990 or so.

[SnagaDance]

Gods I remember that game.....

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 12 April 2014 - 05:57 PM, said:

I would but the only thing you have said is-

Um ... I was just reacting to what you posted. You made a universal claim, which required universal knowledge.

As far as what I've only posted in this thread - yes, I said that MW:P (I called it MW5) was canned... because to the best of my knowledge, it was.

Quote

The MechWarrior commercial that Smith and Tinker said was for a MW5 was actually for MW:O even though Smith and Tinker was on the credits and MW:O only came into existence in 2011.

PGI said:

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.

...


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 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.

So, originally, S&T held the MW licensee-rights from microsoft and JW was trying to get a project started. PGI approached S&T and S&T decided to let PGI use the license they got from MS to make a new MW video game; and PGI decided to do the video as a way to whip up interest, because they needed backing, badly (thus the S&T logo & etc in the video.).

Quote

And that the actual MW5 was called MW:Prime which until now I have never even seen a Screenshot for.

Not surprising, given that MW:P never even made it to the point of having a website. It was at the "rumors" stage when it got canned, so only people with some access to the developers knew about it; and it wasn't until the developers began talking about it in public that most people learned about it.

Edited by Pht, 16 April 2014 - 08:55 AM.

[Pht]

Marack Drock, on 17 April 2014 - 07:43 AM, said:

That MW:Prime didn't have MS's logo therefore I can't ever believe it was real, you know why? Because to this day MS still owns the rights to MW and if the logo wasn't there then I just think it was a fan project or Joke.

Also that wasn't FASA Studios logo at the time either.

You can believe we never landed on the moon too.

That doesn't make you right.

Coincidentally, this has to be the politest way I have ever been called a liar.

By the way. Megamek is still in active development.

----

Quote

Brennan Priest


Technical Art Director

Microsoft

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
January 1999 – 2004 (5 years)
FASA Studios [Technical Art Lead]
-Mechwarrior Prime:
Identified tool needs. Managed tool development. Trained artists. Wrote design specifications test cases. Documented art processes.

http://www.linkedin....n/brennanpriest

(also credited with being on the dev team for mw4: http://www.allgame.c...511&tab=credits)

Quote

Character Animation and/or Motion Capture Editing for: Transformers DS, Bee Movie DS, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Amped 3, MechWarrior: Prime, Shadowrun and Halo 2

http://jcsstudio.com...ore-instructor/

http://www.stevesuhy...2FUIflat640.jpg

One of the lead artists at fasa studios, steve suhy. BTW, notice: fasa studios icon on the screen.

Quote

FASA Studio

Founded by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III, FASA has created successful new game worlds since 1980. The company (formerly known as also as FASA Corporation and also FASA Interactive) is known for games such as BattleTech, Crimson Skies, VOR: The Maelstrom, and Shadowrun. FASA has licensed its games for novels, computer games (the MechWarrior series), virtual reality games, miniatures, toys, a television series, a card game and more.
FASA Studio was acquired by Microsoft in 1999 and became part of the Microsoft Game Studios family of development groups. Unfortunately, the studio was officially dissolved on September 12, 2007 and is no longer in operation.


FASA Studio

Founded by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III, FASA has created successful new game worlds since 1980. The company (formerly known as also as FASA Corporation and also FASA Interactive) is known for games such as BattleTech, Crimson Skies, VOR: The Maelstrom, and Shadowrun. FASA has licensed its games for novels, computer games (the MechWarrior series), virtual reality games, miniatures, toys, a television series, a card game and more.
FASA Studio was acquired by Microsoft in 1999 and became part of the Microsoft Game Studios family of development groups. Unfortunately, the studio was officially dissolved on September 12, 2007 and is no longer in operation.

Company Info



Website:
http://www.fasastudio.com/

List of FASA Studio Games

Filter: All Games Published Games Developed

Title
Platform
Release Date

MechCommander
PC
June 24, 1998

MechCommander 2
PC
July 19, 2001

MechCommander Gold
PC
June 23, 1998

MechWarrior 4: Clan Mech Pak
PC
July 25, 2002

MechWarrior 4: Inner Sphere Mech Pak
PC
June 15, 2002

MechWarrior 5
PC
Cancelled

http://www.ign.com/c...ies/fasa-studio

also: http://www.ign.com/a...aries-interview

Quote

No More MechWarrior

True MechWarrior fans, prepare to be disappointed. MechWarrior 5 is cancelled and the future is uncertain.


by Ivan Sulic
March 21, 2003



Submit Tweet Share +1 Share

Bulletin boards can be good and they can be bad. I'm a huge MechWarrior fan, so instead of saying anything and letting my bias taint you, let me just cut and paste the official word from "Von," FASA employee extraordinaire who graced the Dropship Command message boards to drop a real bomb today.

Hello all,
First I'd like to take a moment to let you know what's been going on within FASA studio. We're currently wrapping up production for Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge for Xbox, I know these souped-up aircraft are not Battlemechs, but I'm sure fans of the Crimson Skies universe won't be disappointed. We've also been busy providing our Xbox Live fans with new MechAssault downloadable content.

Over the past few months there has been plenty of speculation, email, and pleas for information regarding the future of the PC MechWarrior franchise, namely . Although an exceptional effort was made by an extremely creative and talented development team, we have decided not to continue the development of the project at this time. There were several factors in this decision, but most prevalent was our concern that we were not advancing the genre enough to meet and exceed our customer's expectations. Please know that this was a very difficult decision, but one we felt was in the best interests of our customers.

Von ~

We deeply love the Mechwarrior franchise, and are committed to keeping it alive. Our plan is to re-invent Mechwarrior in a way that brings a fresh experience to our devoted customers and new fans alike. We would like to thank all of you for your continued support of the Mechwarrior 4 series of games, and greatly appreciate all the feedback we've received on our games. We are intensely focused on delivering outstanding game experiences, and rest assured we are working feverishly on some wonderful next-generation games.

I called Microsoft representatives, of course, and they assured me we'd have more information to share by Monday. Until then, that's all there is to say. I'm going to go home and shoot myself now. Oh, MechWarrior, how I love thee so.

http://www.ign.com/a...ore-mechwarrior

Quote

Von Fri Mar-21-03 08:49 AM Charter member
96 posts
"With baited breath, I say:"



Hello all,

First I'd like to take a moment to let you know what's been going on within FASA studio. We're currently wrapping up production for Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge for Xbox, I know these souped-up aircraft are not Battlemechs, but I'm sure fans of the Crimson Skies universe won't be disappointed. We've also been busy providing our Xbox Live fans with new MechAssault downloadable content.

Over the past few months there has been plenty of speculation, email, and pleas for information regarding the future of the PC MechWarrior franchise, namely MechWarrior 5. Although an exceptional effort was made by an extremely creative and talented development team, we have decided not to continue the development of the project at this time. There were several factors in this decision, but most prevalent was our concern that we were not advancing the genre enough to meet and exceed our customer's expectations. Please know that this was a very difficult decision, but one we felt was in the best interests of our customers.

We deeply love the Mechwarrior franchise, and are committed to keeping it alive. Our plan is to re-invent Mechwarrior in a way that brings a fresh experience to our devoted customers and new fans alike. We would like to thank all of you for your continued support of the Mechwarrior 4 series of games, and greatly appreciate all the feedback we've received on our games. We are intensely focused on delivering outstanding game experiences, and rest assured we are working feverishly on some wonderful next-generation games.

Von ~
"The nutter in the WWI fighter plane with legs"

http://www.dropshipc...g_id=39216

Edited by Pht, 18 April 2014 - 04:19 PM.

[SnagaDance]

Well that's all well and good Pht, but do you have any PROOF?!