Creator Harebrained Schemes LLC 12 minutes ago
Hey David Carr! b>>>Are there any plans to do something with lore based Mech flaws? For instance, the Vindicator's head design crushing pilots when they eject or numerous heat/jamming issues with certain designs in 3025.
Jordan’s thought about that, for sure. Sounds fun and fraught with balance issues but… he’s thinking about it.
Hey Alfancis Augustine! >>>FYI this is My first pledged on kickstarter
Wow! Thank you!
>>>My only Question.. will there be Co-op? if non please consider it.
We’ve considered it. Promise.
Hey Joshua Brumley >>>have you thought about adding full controller support for the game?
Not that anyone’s ever talked about. We have it in Necropolis
http://necropolisgame.com/ though.
Hey Vryl! >>>What impact will these backgrounds for the 1.2 million goal have on the game?
If you scroll down the KS page, you’ll see a more detailed description of that funding level:
We'll add a wider variety of battlefield environments to the game, including time-of-day and atmospheric conditions that affect both movement and combat. Confront enemy forces in the low-visibility conditions of a blizzard on a frigid ice world, or carefully manage your heat in a battle across volcanic fields.
Hey Dianne Castillo! I remember you from SR: Hong Kong! >>There are some great questions and answers flying around here in the comments. Any plans to round some of them up and put them in a future update for everyone else to read so they don't miss out on some nifty behind-the-scenes glimpses here on the comment wall?
Great idea! The entire studio is swamped right now but I really want to do that. If someone out there would be willing to screen cap them for me, I’d really really appreciate it!
Hey there, lordofthedice >>>[can I contribute more after the Kickstarter’s over?]
After the Kickstarter ends, you’ll get access to BackerKit, a backer database tool that will allow you to upgrade your reward level even after the KS closes.
Hey Luke Audet! >>>[later] do you think you could add the ability to command more mechs?
We hear everyone and promise to keep it in mind.
@Vladimir Ward >>> I used to interact with you on Dropship Command during the run up to MechCommander II.
I remember you, Vlad! So glad you’re here. You just made my day. Stick around the comments page!
Mitch
Creator Harebrained Schemes LLC about 1 hour ago
Hey Casey Ryback! >>>Will Light and medium mechs remain useful throughout the campaign? In past games, there was usually a power creep to heavy and assault mechs. I want to keep using my Centurions!
We’ll do our best! I tried to maintain their value throughout the MechCommander games as well. One of the ways we did it was to give MechWarriors skill bonuses with different ‘Mech classes. Another was to differentiate their sensors to give them more value on the battlefield. Jordan’s got more ideas on that, of course…
Hey Chad Collier! >>Can we have a Mr. Kluwe?
He’d have to be in an Atlas, I think. Get him to Tweet about us and I’ll see what I can do.
Hey Bytedruid! >>>Mandarin Chinese on my future House Liao banner?
Neat idea.
@white-devil >>>I really do not want to back this game only to find out that it has the shadowrun combat but with mechs.
Shadowrun is a cRPG with tactical combat. BATTLETECH is a tactical ‘Mech combat game with a story and RPG elements. Very different animals, white-devil. While I can’t share specifics until we’re ready, I will say that you can look forward to some serious tactical depth.
>>>I want to hear how the mech rotation speed will matter
If your MechWarrior tries to take a turn at too high of a speed and dumps her ‘Mech, it’ll matter!
>>>[much more detailed question that I can’t answer because it’s too early in development]
We’re still in pre-production and it’s too early to say.
>>>Thanks for the great games you guys have made so far.
Thank you for playing them!
Mitch
Hey Falk Kalamorz! >>>Will Mechs have different "availabilities"? For example, will players just be able to buy a Mech like the Dragon, or would that be limited to units with a good relation in the DC?
I’ve heard McCain and Jordan talking about stuff like this around the studio but that doesn’t mean it’ll make it into the game. *Game development: 10 pounds of ideas in a 5 pound bag.*
Here’s an old question I said I’d track down the answer to:
>>>If the PvP multiplayer is funded, can we use our DRM copy of the game to play with our friends, or does each player need a separate copy?
If you’re asking if a DRM-free game can play against a DRM game, then yes.
Rache Bartmoss >>>how much money do I need to give you so the periphery powers see some action? I know it’s odd to hear since we’re on Kickstarter asking for money but… we can’t be bribed. I know, it sucks. This integrity thing’s been a pain in my ass my whole life. Hey ho, Ryan Bullock! >>>f we make the Solaris stretch goal, will we be able to incorporate combined arms in that for pvp? Great question! No clue. But great question! @Marceror >>>talk about limiting to 4 ‘Mechs First, you don’t sound like you’re complaining at all! No worries, there. I wouldn’t have given you the long, thoughtful answer if I thought you were.
In our Shadowrun games, we limited you to 4 crew members but you could summon elementals, bring drones, and pick up “allies” during missions. I’m not saying we’re gonna do that here, but I just want you to know we get it. Hey Falk Kalamorz!>>>Will the choice of origin influence game-play? Philosophically, it has to mean something or it’s not really a choice - just a coat of paint. Can’t say more than that right now. Hey Tyler Witter! >>>We gonna see the kind of stuff you'd expect mercs to be doing? Garrison duty, snatch and grab resource raids, VIP bodyguard assignments… Another great question. Without commitment, that’s the sort of stuff our second Stage 1 Funding Goal, “Expanded Mission Objectives” is about. At what level of detail? Can’t wait to find out! Hey Logan Ridenour! >>>Will map editing and modding tools be made available to the public? That answer’s in the FAQ at the bottom of our Kickstarter page. Hey Adam Doochin >>> another night shift on the comment wrangling. If I thought of it as a job, I would have quit about 25 years ago.
>>>Any chance of there being a higher tier than Mercenary Mechcommander dedicated to more in-game prominence rather than the e-novella stuff? No. Frankly, that’s all the team can handle. No other reason I can think of, but it’s a good one. Hey Brent Longstaff! >>>that's a Suomi Warders emblem on it's LRM 15 rack, right? From the fanfic series by Dave Waino? Dunno, Brent! To be honest, running a game studio while participating in pre-production and running a studio keeps me too busy to get into that sort of nitty gritty. The last thing I want to do is misrepresent myself to the community. I say things like, “We need an image that not only shows the scale of a ‘Mech but the humanity of the person piloting it”. (Not that I said that this time but that’s the sorta thing I say - except with lots of profanity.) I wrote to Jenn, the artist who painted that one and asked her. I’ll let you know what she says.
Hey again, Canyon! >>>Could we get more than six points per row in the Global BattleTech Community stuff? Some of them we are cruising through… Trust the Force, Luke. Remember, we’ll have Weekly Bonus Missions for you. And McCain’s already concerned about his beard. Ha! @Thunder Snow >>>Maybe a better reward would be if you get enough money to get the game out sooner. Hire more people? Ah, the “mythical man month!” If you put more people on it, it’ll go faster! There are definitely situations where that’s possible - Shadowrun: Hong Kong was one of them because we had a mature game engine, toolset, established gameplay and process, etc. It can still a “command and control” issue (someone’s gotta actually MANAGE those people and the overhead of that means people like me or McCain aren’t focusing on making content ourselves) but it’s possible. However, in a game like this - where you’re breaking new ground with a new game system on a new platform and exploring new types of tactical gameplay, it’s a recipe for disaster. What you want in a situation like this is to keep your core team as small as possible for as long as possible so they can experiment, explore, and edit without having to worry about having to keep a ton of people “productive.” That’s how you get innovation and quality, in my experience. @Elliot >>>Could you give an update about what you're thoughts are on the structure of the story? Thanks for the kind words about our storytelling in the Shadowrun games, Elliot. And you’re right, an RPG’s story and a tactical combat game’s story are different animals. But rather than respond with something like, “It’ll be a 5 operation story of 6 missions each as you move from touchdown on the planet of Port Arthur to taking the starport and allowing the invasion force to land” (or something like that), I’d like to tell you about the writing team. Stick with me - you’ll see why in a minute. One of the things I love about being on the writing team is actually writing on *this* team. That’s because we all “bring something to the party” and make each other better writers through our ridiculously high level of collaboration. Jordan’s the big idea guy. McCain’s the narrative design/structure guy. Andrew’s the brilliant intellectual situation and amazing character guy. Tyler’s the cool use of canon in new ways guy. And I’m the character motivation guy, I guess. I tell you this so you see that structure is only one piece out of the storytelling pie. I could tell you the structure McCain’s exploring, but by itself, it’s kind of irrelevant and easy to pick apart. Until the scaffolding/structure is supported by plot, character, conflict, situation, and motivation and further supported by visual and audio design, it’s just… bones. Sorry for the long-winded response. I just love this stuff and I think it’s part of the fun of running a Kickstarter.
Yo Ryan Bullock! >>>opening up more of the Mercenary MechCommander reward tier if they sell out Nope. When they’re gone, they’re gone. That’s all the art dept. can commit to. Hey Nathan Dang! >>>how broad of roster (ballpark figure) can we expect for vehicles Can’t tell you until we’ve made one of each type and know how long they take to make. From my design POV, it’s not about the number - it’s about making them interesting to fight. To make them tactically interesting and make you have to DECIDE which to blow up first, they need to have interesting battlefield roles/tactics/armament. So we’ll start from there. >>>Also would it be out of the question to be able to command vehicles in addition to 'Mechs Out of the question? No. Rare or infrequent? Yes. Hey Cipher- Weaver of lost dreams! >>>any chance of putting together a small primer for battle tech like you did for shadow run returns? Actually, we didn’t put that together. One of Jordan’s old companies did that and we just included a link. I’m pretty sure others have posted something like that. Try the Googles. Hey hey Marceror >>> why limit the player to 4 mechs? Chance for more? Let’s turn that around, Marceror. Rather than think of one lance as *limiting,* let’s start asking ourselves what would happen if we were able to *focus* on 4 ‘Mechs. What sort of cool tactical ‘Mech combat could we achieve that might not be fun if we had to manage 16 that way? Jordan and Mike feel that 4 is the “sweet spot” for the sort of game they envision. In my experience as a guy who’s been managing talent most of his life, when people as talented as these two say they have a vision, let’s start asking ourselves “what if?” instead of “why not?”
Hey Smaug! >>>how often are you guys updating the PayPal pledge number on the campaign page? We figure we’ll update when there’s a significant event. Like today.
Hey again Rick Chan! >>>Any chance of being able to buy all 5 Houses worth of extras We want you to, man. Seriously. We don’t have the license to sell swag - just make it a reward. Working on it. No joke. @Sean Robinson >>>Have you considered switching the 3rd and 4th tiers? No. We’re like the Cylons - we have a plan. >>>any plans for an expansion that will introduce a campaign/mechs from that Era? In success, all things are possible. And I want my damn Mad Cat. @Lars Reichenbach>>>are you guys planning on giving weapons from different manufacturers individualized quirks or effects? Good catch, Lars! If we hit Stage 3, Jordan and Mike would love to give the equipment more personality that way. THAT SAID - game development is “10 pounds of cool ideas in a 5 pound bag”. That’s why we don’t overcommit to stuff like that. Even great movies leave good material on the editing room floor. @SomeOneSomewhere>>>allow for expansion campaigns and/or make the pak files (shows age) friendly enough that we could 'help' keep the game alive with fan made content? Ha! pak files!! Thanks for that. Game dev nostalgia FTW. I promise to keep that idea in mind.
Hey Dave Slater! >>>single player campaign taking us into the Deep Periphery? Well, we said the story would have you “inexorably drawn into a bloody dynastic conflict set in the Periphery of the Inner Sphere” so you never know…. Hey Geomancer! >>> re: EU friendly shipping Got it! Producer Brian from Golem Arcana
http://golemarcana.com/ ran into the room doing his Admiral Ackbar “It’s a trap!” imitation when he heard about this one. He worked his butt off trying to make Golem shipping EU friendly and ultimately, we spent a LOT of money trying. We do have a lot of institutional knowledge on shipping now, so believe me when I say, we’ll turn every stone to keep the cost as manageable as possible for our EU Backers. Hey hey, Ryan Bullock! >>>I am tempted to bump my pledge up to design my own merc.. Do eeeeeet! Do eeet nowwww! >>> any details on -what- we get to design? Just a name? Backstory? Mech/weapon preferences once the system to replace piloting and gunnery skills is designed? Yep! Name, backstory, ‘Mech/weapon prefs, the works! Now, we reserve the right to change this stuff for canon reasons, game balance reasons, “No, you can’t name your MechWarrior ‘Dorko the Clown’ reasons, but yeah, that’s the idea! Ps. Don't tell my wife >>>up your pledge to $2020 and I’ll make sure it stays between us.
Hey Jeff Wiesneski! >>>Mechwarrior Flight Jacket basic quality of it, how warm it is (I live in Wisconsin), what the jackets sizes are comparable to, etc… I tried on the jacket and it’s pretty warm. I’d call it a Fall jacket but when I was working at FASA in Chicago, I had a similar jacket and used to wear some layers and a hoodie under it in the winter. Hope that helps. Hey PyreLight! >>>do you have any plans to include more tiers? Thanks for posting that article. Someone passed it around the office when it came out. The trick is the balancing act - yes, you can make more money but at what cost? I can stop some members of the BattleTech pre-production team and brainstorm more reward levels and how we’d fulfil them but that would take away from their prototyping time. I’d step away from the comments page, too. Then, if we decided to do more stuff, I’d have to eventually pull some of them away from making the game to make the stuff. That’s not to say, “forget it”. We’re totally listening, want to run a great Kickstarter, and want to do a great job for our Backers and the game. But it’s a balance and I want you to know the truth. Hey Samantha! >>> info on wearables like the flight jackets and hats? Sizing, colour, etc would be super basic & cool info. The color of the hat and jacket is what you see in Spencer’s image. As for sizing, I’ll see if I can track down a size chart. Good idea. >>>Also add-ons? I’ll post something on the FAQ soonish. >>>upgrade to leather flight jackets! Jordan’s DYING for that and I’m saying no. I actually have a sample and it smells great. It’s heavy though, and shipping costs would probably double and it would probably be at a pretty high price. Then, I’m concerned that so few people would pledge at that level, we’d be stuck making and shipping only a few - which would decrease the amount of funding going to the game.
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Praehotec8, on 01 October 2015 - 11:15 AM, said:
Big Tin Man, on 29 September 2015 - 12:29 PM, said:
