129 replies to this topic

[NocturnalBeast]

Lorian Sunrider, on 17 September 2015 - 01:15 PM, said:

HBS actually has a track record of delivering though.

Yeah, my kid has the first Shadow Run game on Android, it is really good.

Kyone Akashi, on 17 September 2015 - 07:18 AM, said:

Now, now .. no reason to stir up that sort of debate here as well.

Besides, I'd say Harebrained has been pretty good about making up on their promises in Shadowrun so far. They even retroactively added the (unpromised) save feature developed for Dragonfall to their first game, after it was originally cut for budget reasons.

Don't get my wrong, I am nothing but optimistic about HBG's Battletech.

[Dulahan]

Ed Steele, on 17 September 2015 - 02:20 PM, said:

Yeah, my kid has the first Shadow Run game on Android, it is really good.

And it pales in comparison to Dragonfall and Hong Kong.

These guys know what they're doing, that's for sure!

[NocturnalBeast]

Doh, car died . If I can manage to get a new car before I lose my job, I will still have to wait on spending any more money on games.

[Kyone Akashi]

For anyone who has not already seen and backed it:

The Kickstarter is live and kicking!

At this rate it looks like it will reach the minimum goal of 250k within the first hour. Their 2.5 million stretchgoal sounds rather .. ambitious, but they've got my monies and my best wishes.

[RedDragon]

Why must it be Kickstarter? I don't have a credit card

[Dulahan]

RedDragon, on 29 September 2015 - 10:14 AM, said:

Why must it be Kickstarter? I don't have a credit card

It takes PayPal too?

[Kyone Akashi]

Dulahan, on 29 September 2015 - 10:25 AM, said:

It takes PayPal too?

Only if your PayPal account is connected to a credit card, I think.

BUT Harebrained Schemes have set up an alternate payment method on their own website specifically for these people!

That being said, note that prepaid credit cards would be a third option here.

[NocturnalBeast]

I am curious if HBS's BattleTech game is the reason that the fan-made BattleTech game that the guys at NGNG were working on was abruptly cancelled?

[Heffay]

Ed Steele, on 29 September 2015 - 03:03 PM, said:

I am curious if HBS's BattleTech game is the reason that the fan-made BattleTech game that the guys at NGNG were working on was abruptly cancelled?

They are working on a Mechcommander remake. It's not cancelled, just deferred due to resources.

[NocturnalBeast]

Heffay, on 29 September 2015 - 05:57 PM, said:

They are working on a Mechcommander remake. It's not cancelled, just deferred due to resources.

That is good to hear, it looked promising. I really hope they do their Mech Commander remake, so the Mech Commander fans can play that and not pester HBS to make BattleTech realtime.

Also, it is good to see that your Win / Loss ratio is probably as bad as mine (tier 4).

Side note: PGI your forums are agonizingly slow!

Kyone Akashi, on 29 September 2015 - 10:50 AM, said:

Only if your PayPal account is connected to a credit card, I think.

BUT Harebrained Schemes have set up an alternate payment method on their own website specifically for these people!

That being said, note that prepaid credit cards would be a third option here.

Yeah, I wish Kickstarter would play nice with PayPal. I would prefer to use PayPal over my CC.

Edited by Ed Steele, 29 September 2015 - 10:53 PM.

[Kyone Akashi]

Looks like they might just crack the 1 million stretchgoal within the first 24 hours! $123.000 to go in 5 hours. And there we go.

Just a drop of bitterness:

No campaign editor, and AI tanks/aerospace (and maybe infantry) will be limited to the enemy. I can't really fathom these decisions, but the rest of the game still looks awesome enough that it won't change my resolve, at least if it reaches the open-ended campaign level.

Also, they are at least considering to add coop gameplay some time down the road, phrased as "something they'd like to do".

As an addendum to the above: here is Update #2 revealing a couple of neat new stretchgoals:

• $1,100,000 - Cinematic Transitions
  
• $1,200,000 - Player-Character Origin Stories
  
• $1,350,000 - Voice Acting
  
• $1,550,000 - 3D MechWarrior Portrait Customization

Ed Steele, on 29 September 2015 - 10:54 PM, said:

That is good to hear, it looked promising. I really hope they do their Mech Commander remake, so the Mech Commander fans can play that and not pester HBS to make BattleTech realtime.

I vaguely recall hearing about this, but it was ages ago. Anyone have a link?

Ed Steele, on 29 September 2015 - 10:54 PM, said:

Yeah, I wish Kickstarter would play nice with PayPal. I would prefer to use PayPal over my CC.

It's a matter of payment security, I think. Kickstarter wants to make sure they actually get the money that people pledge, and a credit card attached to the account is the safest option, and the fastest way of ensuring that the creator receives their funds.

I think that perhaps this should be resolved on an individual basis, though, if people could just preemptively transfer funds from a bank account to their PayPal account which then become available for safe payment once the chargeback threshold has passed.

Edited by Kyone Akashi, 30 September 2015 - 11:28 AM.

[Barantor]

Going to link this in this thread too....




Love me some Duncan Fisher.

[Kyone Akashi]

Recording of a recent livestream interview with Jordan, Mitch and Mike:



Note that the stream starts at about 16 minutes in, so feel free to fast-forward until that point.

[Hans Von Lohman]

I'm kind of disappointed in this game. I was hoping to get multiplayer, but my gut instinct is that is unlikely to happen. I don't think they're going to reach 2.5 million dollars.

[NocturnalBeast]

Marack Drock, on 04 October 2015 - 12:55 PM, said:

you and me both.

Just wait and see, there are still many days left, some people are probably just waiting for paydays, or to see the next stretch goals.

[Hans Von Lohman]

Ed Steele, on 04 October 2015 - 02:26 PM, said:

Just wait and see, there are still many days left, some people are probably just waiting for paydays, or to see the next stretch goals.

Typically what happens with Kickstarter money is that there is an initial burst of money in the first few days, then a minor trickle over the weeks, then a final push of money, yet not as large as the first few heady days of enthusiasm.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy we are getting a game, and even just having a decent AI to play against is the #1 goal I want, but having some multiplayer PvP skirmish would have been nice.

I'm actually surprised they made that goal their final, high end priced one. PvP doesn't require any AI to be made in the first place, no story, and just a working GUI that you will need anyways.

Edited by Hans Von Lohman, 04 October 2015 - 02:49 PM.

[Sereglach]

Hans Von Lohman, on 04 October 2015 - 02:48 PM, said:

I'm actually surprised they made that goal their final, high end priced one. PvP doesn't require any AI to be made in the first place, no story, and just a working GUI that you will need anyways.

Multiplayer needs MUCH more than that to be functional:
-Servers (or at the very least coding for a means to find players based off another service, like GOG or Steam multiplayer services)
-Matchmaking (how do players connect with each other? ranking considerations?)
-Network coding (how do the players' systems communicate throughout the match?)
-Multiplayer UI art elements and capabilities (and the coding that coincides with them, like friend/ignore lists, UI graphics, team handling, logos/decals . . . especially if customizable, etc.)
-Special team balancing considerations (how is a team built? tonnage/size limits? customizable units? mech lab availability? time limits before match starts? time limit to make a move aka "thinking time"?)
-Lobbies (and the whole heap of stuff that goes with that, like setting up match limitations, map selection/randomization, etc.)
-Maps that are balanced for multiplayer (story maps are not set up with those kinds of play in mind)
- . . . and more.

That's why they've set the stretch goal for multiplayer as high as they have. It will require more work than anything else.

[RedDragon]

Hans Von Lohman, on 04 October 2015 - 02:48 PM, said:

Typically what happens with Kickstarter money is that there is an initial burst of money in the first few days, then a minor trickle over the weeks, then a final push of money, yet not as large as the first few heady days of enthusiasm.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy we are getting a game, and even just having a decent AI to play against is the #1 goal I want, but having some multiplayer PvP skirmish would have been nice.

I'm actually surprised they made that goal their final, high end priced one. PvP doesn't require any AI to be made in the first place, no story, and just a working GUI that you will need anyways.

Yeah but you will need a lot better balancing method because as always everyone will insist on modifying their mechs to get the most cheese out of it. In PvE that doesn't matter that much, in PvP it does (look at MWO ...). Also they need actual server logistics for the leaderboards and maybe even for the game sessions if they don't want to host them on the client side.

[Kyone Akashi]

I'm somewhat disappointed at the multiplayer bit as well, though I would care much more for coop than just PvP. The latter will just be skirmishes in Solaris (woohoo ... how exciting ...), whereas coop could have allowed you to share your campaign with a friend, with stuff like "hiring" their mercenary lance for a combined operation, or at least having said friend take over half your team.

But from what was explained, my hopes are placed entirely on the open-ended singleplayer campaign. 1.85 million sound doable, at least when keeping in mind that there should be another upsurge in pledges during the last 2-3 days. From where they are right now, they only need another $400.000 to unlock this stretchgoal, so I'm not too worried.

Did you read the recent updates?

"We are currently thinking that mercenary contracts will contain a variety of clauses or terms that can be negotiated. For example, you might trade a higher initial downpayment for increased salvage rights on a given mission. Or, insist that the client provide some of their own military support for a particularly dicey operation, in exchange for a reduction in fees for completing a mission objective.

You may decide to negotiate and try to improve a specific clause in your contract, but remember - it’s a negotiation, so improving the terms in one area may cause the employer to worsen the terms in another. Ideally, different employers will have different contract terms they’re prepared to negotiate and “hot button” issues that may result in negative reactions if pressed too hard. We like the idea that over time you might learn the negotiating style of a particular representative, and thus improve your negotiating success rate with them.

In BATTLETECH, an employer’s agenda isn’t always what it seems. Don’t be surprised if the minor noble from House Marik who’s assigned to negotiate with you slips a little something for herself into your mission objectives. Going out of your way to accomplish that objective might earn you more favorable terms on future contracts, but at what cost?"

Hell yeah.

[NocturnalBeast]

Kyone Akashi, on 04 October 2015 - 03:39 PM, said:

I'm somewhat disappointed at the multiplayer bit as well, though I would care much more for coop than just PvP. The latter will just be skirmishes in Solaris (woohoo ... how exciting ...), whereas coop could have allowed you to share your campaign with a friend, with stuff like "hiring" their mercenary lance for a combined operation, or at least having said friend take over half your team.

But from what was explained, my hopes are placed entirely on the open-ended singleplayer campaign. 1.85 million sound doable, at least when keeping in mind that there should be another upsurge in pledges during the last 2-3 days. From where they are right now, they only need another $400.000 to unlock this stretchgoal, so I'm not too worried.

Did you read the recent updates?

"We are currently thinking that mercenary contracts will contain a variety of clauses or terms that can be negotiated. For example, you might trade a higher initial downpayment for increased salvage rights on a given mission. Or, insist that the client provide some of their own military support for a particularly dicey operation, in exchange for a reduction in fees for completing a mission objective.

You may decide to negotiate and try to improve a specific clause in your contract, but remember - it’s a negotiation, so improving the terms in one area may cause the employer to worsen the terms in another. Ideally, different employers will have different contract terms they’re prepared to negotiate and “hot button” issues that may result in negative reactions if pressed too hard. We like the idea that over time you might learn the negotiating style of a particular representative, and thus improve your negotiating success rate with them.

In BATTLETECH, an employer’s agenda isn’t always what it seems. Don’t be surprised if the minor noble from House Marik who’s assigned to negotiate with you slips a little something for herself into your mission objectives. Going out of your way to accomplish that objective might earn you more favorable terms on future contracts, but at what cost?"

Hell yeah.

If we get to Tier 4, then I am sure there will be more stretch goals, so I would wait and see what happens. But if we at least unlock tier 3, we will have a single player game with a great deal of replayability.