172 replies to this topic

[darkchylde]

Battletech would make for a great film and TV series as long as you get good people working on it. It has politics, assassinations, BATTLEMECHS, power/internal struggles, death, rebirth..did I mention BATTLEMECHS !!!! - and let us PRAY that if this does happen one day...it doesn't get the Dungeons and Dragons treatment.

[wolf74]

I think the Wolf Dragoons story would be a Good Start to the Battletech Universe.
Start off with a Young James Wolf in front of the Clan Council (Shadow figures with Animal Looking out lines) Getting order to go in to the Inner Sphere and see what has happened to the Home Lands.

Next Scene: Davion Delos Star System, Sensor Station.
Operator 1 : Man this grave yard shift stinks. Nothing, Ever happens out here.
Older Operator 2: Shut the Hell up. I trying to get some re (Interrupted By Jump sensor Alarming going off), <Light Changes from Soft white to a Flashing Yellow>
Operator 1: I have unscheduled Jump detected, Checking for IFF ID code
Operator 2: (Scrambling to get to his chair), I bet it one of those Dam Shipment Group showing up Early Again, Shut that Alarm off with (Interrupted By Operator 1)
Operator 1: 2^nd Jump I have a 2^nd Jum…. Make that 3 no 4 Jumpships possible fifth, sixth or seventh.
Operator 2: (Face goes pale) My god it an invasion force, but why here there nothing out here.
Operator 1: We need to go to Red Alert, Sir!, Sir! (Call operator 2 Name)
Operator 2: Right, Right Red Alert, (Messes with a Computer) (Light Change from Yellow to Red)
Operator 2: This is Sensor Station (Name here), of Delos Star System. We are Declaring a Red Alert, Invasion force has been detect, We have Multi confirmed Jumpships, I Repeat Multi Confirmed Jumpships!
Wipe to the outside of the station Focusing on the Comm’s Antenna (with House Davion Logo painted on it), pan out quickly and turn in to the system fly into the system bouncing off a few satellites on the way to Delos IV.

(End opening scenes)

I'm not a Good Story writer at all, My Teachers would be happy to see something longer that "It Live, It Ate, than it Die." out me. But above is something I see for a starting point. The for shadow of the Clan Counel is something that sits on the Side line for a Long time in the story.

Edited by wolf74, 26 March 2015 - 08:34 PM.

[Escef]

Elizander, on 26 March 2015 - 11:31 AM, said:

Same reason why there is no Dragon Lance D&D movie... reasons

There was a Dragonlance movie. Animated, straight to video, had Keifer Sutherland and Lucy Lawless doing voice acting. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825245/

On the primary topic... No, I don't want a Battletech/Mechwarrior movie. And you guys throwing around the names of high wage directors and/or actors are out of your minds, you'd be lucky if you could get enough funding for this kind of project to hire their hairdressers.

[QuantumButler]

who needs a movie when we have the best cartoon ever produced?

[Johnny Z]

Captain Stiffy, on 26 March 2015 - 07:42 PM, said:

HRM Let's see

Many warring houses - check
Extremely brutal world - check
A shadowy threat from the outside nobody wants to acknowledge - check
A lengthy and detailed story - check

MechWarrior could be the next Game of Thrones if HBO did it.

The thing is, it would be way more expensive. Thats why it hasnt been done yet. But with cgi it may be coming more into the realm of affordable in a huge budget sort of way.

1st movie - tragic break up of the star league and everything that goes with it.

2nd movie - skip couple hundred years or how ever long and the houses are warring etc.

3rd movie - clans invade sending shockwaves through the inner sphere ending in an uneasy stale mate leaving the series open for the next 3 movies.

[slide]

As much as I would like to see a BT movie/TV series, anything based on the original novels circa 3025 would be nixed by Harmony Gold as there are just to many iconic unseen mechs represented. And as we know fans just cannot accept the look of the reseens.

Grayson Carlyle without a Marauder just won't work for fans.
Gray Noton with out a Rifleman with arms that Pivot all the way over won't work as a story plot line without a Rifleman, period.

As some suggested the legend of the Jade Pheonix with Aidan Pryde might work.

Personally I think you would be better off going back to the time of the Camerons in the 2700's, introduce Stefan Amaris and his coup, Kerensky' epic battles to retake Terra (Battlemechs and Spaceships = win) and on to the Exodus. The basic plot is there but with enough wriggle room to introduce new characters and stories without treading on any existing plot lines. If it is successful you could jump to the return of the clans.

I love all the intrigue and politicking of IS 3000-3050 but he IP will strangle it until such time as every HG employee ceases to exist.

[Captain Stiffy]

Johnny Z, on 26 March 2015 - 08:53 PM, said:

The thing is, it would be way more expensive. Thats why it hasnt been done yet. But with cgi it may be coming more into the realm of affordable in a huge budget sort of way.

1st movie - tragic break up of the star league and everything that goes with it.

2nd movie - skip couple hundred years or how ever long and the houses are warring etc.

3rd movie - clans invade sending shockwaves through the inner sphere ending in an uneasy stale mate leaving the series open for the next 3 movies.

Full set-and-costume period pieces like Game of Thrones and Carnivale are WAAAAY more expensive to produce than sci-fi stuff that is green screen and CGI.

For reference the average game of thrones episode costs 6 million dollars which is twice what breaking bad costs and Stargate SG1 cost around 1.2-2 million.

Edited by Captain Stiffy, 26 March 2015 - 09:14 PM.

[Johnny Z]

Captain Stiffy, on 26 March 2015 - 09:11 PM, said:

Full set-and-costume period pieces like Game of Thrones and Carnivale are WAAAAY more expensive to produce than sci-fi stuff that is green screen and CGI.

For reference the average game of thrones episode costs 6 million dollars which is twice what breaking bad costs and Stargate SG1 cost around 1.2-2 million.

Im not looking at the huge budget it would take as a bad thing. I was thinking more along the lines of a LOTR sci-fi type deal. Really amazing stuff wouldnt it be?

[A merc named Spectre]

If the studios really wanted to make a Btech movie, I reckon it would be easier to do one loosely based on the PC games such as MW4 original or MW4 Mercs.

Gray Death and Jade Phoenix might make great trilogies but I doubt any studio would gamble on 3 movies when they don't even know if 1 movie will sell.

Other than movies, I have always felt sad that Btech did not have a proper toyline.

[Johnny Z]

A merc named Spectre, on 26 March 2015 - 10:19 PM, said:

If the studios really wanted to make a Btech movie, I reckon it would be easier to do one loosely based on the PC games such as MW4 original or MW4 Mercs.

Gray Death and Jade Phoenix might make great trilogies but I doubt any studio would gamble on 3 movies when they don't even know if 1 movie will sell.

Other than movies, I have always felt sad that Btech did not have a proper toyline.

I bet LOTR was a gamble. Mechwarrior has alot of characters but none that I know to well or at all. Natasha Kerensky mostly, only for the famous War Hammer and such. But I agree, this game at least needs alot of story and npcs and such for sure.

[anonymous161]

CocoaJin, on 26 March 2015 - 09:37 AM, said:

Because no descent studio has the rights and they couldnt make money screening it in thousands of mother's basements?

lol right? I'm really glad I'm not one of the near age 40 or 40 and up basement dwellers on this site.

[Koniving]

cSand, on 26 March 2015 - 09:06 AM, said:

With all the major studios apparently having run out of ideas enough to just rehash everything ever made (superhoeros, old shows etc etc)...

you'd think this would a great time to make a huge budget Battletech movie


Someone on here must be a filmmaker...

GET TO IT

Put MIcheal Bay in charge cause it would have to have loads of HUGE explosions!!!!

Honestly everything Micheal Bay touches turns to crap...

But that said...

The creator's channel. And screw NGNG for trying to host it with no link to the creator's youtube channel (links a few other places, but prevents you from seeing the user's content or increasing the user's views. Very underhanded).
https://www.youtube....KgeF1xvmS1hSFpw

Virtually anything and everything produced as a movie though would be blatantly lore inaccurate, though. Simply because like Mel Gibson, they'll add whatever they feel like to produce whatever they want.

Sadly, Bruins wasn't allowed to continue to make this.

So for now, you can see some of the plot ideas in the comic books found here. Click Gallery, then Comics on the drop down.

darkchylde, on 26 March 2015 - 07:55 PM, said:

Battletech would make for a great film and TV series as long as you get good people working on it. It has politics, assassinations, BATTLEMECHS, power/internal struggles, death, rebirth..did I mention BATTLEMECHS !!!! - and let us PRAY that if this does happen one day...it doesn't get the Dungeons and Dragons treatment.

Truth be told -- Battletech's plot reads like Game of Thrones with only a quarter as much internal family relations (censor, really?).

I'm not kidding.

Edited by Koniving, 26 March 2015 - 10:36 PM.

[Escef]

Koniving, on 26 March 2015 - 10:32 PM, said:

And screw NGNG for trying to host it with no link to the creator's youtube channel (links a few other places, but prevents you from seeing the user's content or increasing the user's views. Very underhanded).

Are you the creator? Did you contact NGNG over this? Was it perhaps an oversight? Why would they not link it on purpose, what is the benefit to them? Especially as DC has only put out 43 videos over the course of 3 years, only about 14 of which are MW related? As the expression goes, do not attribute to malice what can more easily be explained by incompetence. (Not calling NGNG incompetent, but saying that this was underhanded is obviously attributing to malice what is more likely an oversight.)

[NextGame]

cSand, on 26 March 2015 - 09:06 AM, said:

With all the major studios apparently having run out of ideas enough to just rehash everything ever made (superhoeros, old shows etc etc)...

you'd think this would a great time to make a huge budget Battletech movie


Someone on here must be a filmmaker...

GET TO IT

Put MIcheal Bay in charge cause it would have to have loads of HUGE explosions!!!!

Im not a film maker, but I can see 4 rather blatant problems.

# Writing a compelling story that's easily understood for the layman viewer. Your battletech movie would end up having very little about the stompy robots and a lot about the characters. You would end up seeing a lot of lore retcon and universe changes to make things fit. Btech fan base would not be happy.

# Making the mech animation sequences interesting. They are generally very stiff, which doesn't make for exciting viewing, this would limit their screen time, see previous point.

# Expensive to make at any decent level of quality due to CGI costs needed.

# It would be hard to hype something like this to the general public, so big budget, high risk.

Edited by NextGame, 26 March 2015 - 11:14 PM.

[Koniving]

Escef, on 26 March 2015 - 10:49 PM, said:

As the expression goes, do not attribute to malice what can more easily be explained by incompetence.

Fairly possible and it is true to be a bit of an assumption. I would personally be offended as the creator if it were the case (particularly since the original video included a petition and fund raiser to get a license to produce a legitimate animated movie, a petition that NGNG's copy of the video did not share.

Though in general I haven't been pleased with NGNG's flagrant use of insider access. It's unsettling to say the least (and also DC's copy of the video didn't even show up in the searches, I had to figure out his name from the NGNG credit, plug that in, and then search his channel for the video because youtube only pulls up NGNG's version in a search for it. Though I confess I hardly think that's something NGNG could be behind... but I have a tin foil hat just in case.)

[Escef]

Koniving, on 26 March 2015 - 11:18 PM, said:

(particularly since the original video included a petition and fund raiser to get a license to produce a legitimate animated movie, a petition that NGNG's copy of the video did not share.

The creator's video mentions being unable to obtain a license. Probably why the fundraising plug isn't there. I'd contact the parties involved before putting out conjecture on this. Especially as NGNG has gone out of their way to help the BT/MW community through exposure, tutorials, and free access to their team speak 3 server.

[Koniving]

NextGame, on 26 March 2015 - 11:13 PM, said:

Im not a film maker, but I can see 4 rather blatant problems.

# Writing a compelling story that's easily understood for the layman viewer. Your battletech movie would end up having very little about the stompy robots and a lot about the characters. You would end up seeing a lot of lore retcon and universe changes to make things fit. Btech fan base would not be happy.

# Making the mech animation sequences interesting. They are generally very stiff, which doesn't make for exciting viewing, this would limit their screen time, see previous point.

# Expensive to make at any decent level of quality due to CGI costs needed.

# It would be hard to hype something like this to the general public, so big budget, high risk.

A movie would not have the time necessary. We'd get robot jocks with nearly naked people instead of goofy grey skintight suits (Mechwarriors wear as little as possible inside their mechs, see Mechwarrior RPG sourcebook).


(Note, when the transition began from the 'headlocked' neural helm to a more flexible and comfortable neural helm more closely resembling military helmets, Battlemechs lost a lot of functionality that isn't seen again in any mech until Clans equipped with E.I. nanomachine "tattoos" come back into the picture. Thankfully most Clans are opposed to melee combat, otherwise it wouldn't be that far fetched to see Gargoyles doing karate. The actual number of Clanners using E.I. is super limited though for the same reason older Neural Helms were discontinued despite the obvious advantages. Losing your mind.

Anyway a series would make better sense. It'd need to balance the combat and character development. Anything vaguely related to the lore would actually have minimal involvement of BattleMechs due to their production to attrition rates being close to wiping the machines to extinction. But when one does enter the scene, it'd be a huge deal.

"Mechs" and how they move literally depends on which version of the lore you read (and the time line).
Mechs in the 2700s are extremely flexible and capable. It isn't until nearly 2900s that they begin getting stiff, as many mechs are recycled over and over and over again. Maintenance can only do so much.

Furthermore, 1980's Battletech claims that mechs are small and agile, ranging in sizes of around 8 meters (length or height) up to around 14 meters. Many descriptions claim that min range accuracy penalties and short stated ranges are due to the difficulty of hitting something "as small and agile as a Battlemech."





These explanations created by first novel author William H. Keith and subsequent fluff given and edited by those at FASA involved with the creation of the first edition of BattleDroids, second edition (renamed) BattleTech.

They were made non-canon in 2008 by Catalyst Games, mainly due to conflicts of "fluff" produced in the 1990s, which (among many changes) had changed PPCs from "too heavy to swing around easily" (since most PPCs in the 1980s BT were hand held) to "PPCs would explode in your face without a field inhibitor, which degrades the energy build up to the point that it has to 'charge' before firing). Great for balancing in a way for real time, but leaves the min range penalties for ACs out in the cold. 1980s BT would have you at 100% damage at close range in MWO with standard PPCs.

Anyway.

1987's scale of the Shadowhawk.

On the left is a 55 ton tank in Crysis. Center, is the 1987 scale for the Shadowhawk at 9.63 meters (same as the Dougram, which is the name of the anime mech the Shadowhawk was ripped from). On the right is MWO's scale. Remember all 3 objects are hauling 55 tons.


The Wolverine, a brawler (in the literal sense of the word, it was well known for punching its enemies into submission) and command mech in BT is actually a fair bit larger than the Shadowhawk, which is little more than a recon and spotting mech with decent weaponry and support capabilities. In MWO, the Shadowhawk is MUCH taller than the Wolverine. Though both are 55 tons, a number of the BT Wolverine's size differences are attributed in part by the significantly greater armor thickness (Shadowhawks typically range from 4.5 tons 9.5 tons of armor in the "2nd" generation of Shadowhawks, SHK-2D, 2D2, etc., while the Wolverines ranged around 11.5 to 12 tons of armor. The 5M Shadowhawk, a 5th generation Shadowhawk, carries as much armor as a Wolverine along with XL engine, Endo steel and DHS, increasing its size a fair bit. Depicted above in the artwork was a Shadowhawk 2D with 4.5 tons of armor, the Shadowhawks 2H and 2K are supposed to be bulkier in some way). Below is a Wolverine lifting the rear end of a tank.


In comparison, this is an MWO scale Shadowhawk with a 55 ton tank.

Quite a terrifying difference -- though it leads to the question of later versions of Battletech... Why are mechs large enough to smash tanks into each other and yet weigh the same? Makes me favor the original BT scales and implications. Besides lots of stand up cockpits, and mechs where the 'viewport' only holds a head and shoulders rather than a full cockpit.

1990s BT puts them as considerably bigger and sluggish. This was partly due to animation limitations in the time span of creating Mechwarrior 1 (1989), Mechwarrior 2 (1993, 1995, 1996).

Though scales had been established, a lot of Clan lights were given large sizes which people thought were unfair (for the most part the understanding that Endo Steel and Ferro makes you 'bigger' and such was reflected was a lost concept, one that also could not be reflected in games at the time, resulting in progressively larger mechs).

Dasher: Endo/ferro. Koshi: Endo/ferro. Both have 7.5 tons available pod space (6.5 on Dasher if you assume the MASC system is locked). Note the heights are measuring the tallest point on the mechs, not their foot to head heights.
Warhawk: Ferro and endo, 85 tons. Remember endo require either bulking or lengthening of body parts, and ferro is repeatedly described as 'bulky' and 'thicker' than its similar standard armor counterpart, with 'more layers' (girth, thickness, size) being required to get the same protection. But being lighter, sometimes that gets preferred.
Dire Wolf: Standard and standard, 100 tons and better armored. Comes out to be just as thick as the much lighter Warhawk.

This Annihilator, scaled around 12 meters tall, became 17 meters tall in Mechwarrior 3. Such inspired MWO's Atlas to be 17.6 meters, when the thing isn't even supposed to be 13 meters. (Note: MWO's Hunchback is 13.6 meters and in MWO it is considered the shortest medium of 50 tons or more).


---

On the third subject: Japan has a solution to anything that would otherwise be a huge to impossible budget or simply unfeasible for live action: Animation. Such can be done here, so it wouldn't have to strive for a 'real to the eye' look, just a 'fitting to the art style' look.

On marketing... There is that. Though a series can monopolize on the hype that those watching it can spread to others.

But yeah.. Those are four problems that many film makers would see in the face of development. Not to mention the overload of knowledge needed.

Edited by Koniving, 27 March 2015 - 12:15 AM.

[Joseph Mallan]

cSand, on 26 March 2015 - 09:06 AM, said:

With all the major studios apparently having run out of ideas enough to just rehash everything ever made (superhoeros, old shows etc etc)...

you'd think this would a great time to make a huge budget Battletech movie


Someone on here must be a filmmaker...

GET TO IT

Put MIcheal Bay in charge cause it would have to have loads of HUGE explosions!!!!

I'd rather see Josh Whedon directing. He does good ensemble casts.

Also this kinda hurt our getting a Mech movie!

[Raggedyman]

Piney, on 26 March 2015 - 09:12 AM, said:

Well, there was Robot Jocks...........

Crash and Burn!!

[Lily from animove]

Firelizard, on 26 March 2015 - 09:21 AM, said:

Pacific Rim didnt even try to take itself seriesly. It was big robots and monsters beating the crap out of each other. No more, no less.

And it was GLORIOUS!

But this si what you expected, I mean have we ever expected anything of high value from a godzilla movie? as long as stompy Godzilla trashed some cardboard houss and brawled with other giant monsters without beign too much slapstick it was fne and delivered what the fanbase wanted to see.

Transoformers the movie was similar, some dualogues were really unproper in many situations if you would wanted it to be a serious movie about transforming robots, yet original transformers was never truly serious as well.

But BT as a movie, dunno where one would have to make a proper start to invlove the non BT fans into the universe. Robot jocks was kinda cool, but not sure if people would like to see such a thing. Maybe introducton could be some solaris like tournament where some groups fight against each other before bringing the audienc in later movie parts into the full range of the BT universe.

But starting with the big scale and all houses and such,would be too much at once.

And if you want to make it succesfull, just hire orlando bloom.

all the BT fans wil come to watch it.
Half the females populaton will come to watch it, and half of them will drag their boyfriends to the cinema as well.

@Koniving yes we can put lore supported half naed females in mechs,gonna sell good xD

Edited by Lily from animove, 27 March 2015 - 05:22 AM.