20 replies to this topic

[CK16]

[LegendaryArticuno]

Yeahhh I dont ever see Battletech ever making a mainstream impact

[Davers]

LegendaryArticuno, on 08 March 2016 - 10:31 PM, said:

Yeahhh I dont ever see Battletech ever making a mainstream impact

Sure it could, if done right. Pacific Rim did well enough to get a sequel after all. Game of Thrones + Giant Robots sounds like a real winner. We just got to rename Clans 'Wildlings'.

EDIT
Actually, Battletech as written wouldn't work today. It's far too anti-Chinese. The current trend in Hollywood is to show the Chinese government as benevolent and good (as seen in the Transformer movies and The Martian) since China is a huge market for them.

Edited by Davers, 09 March 2016 - 01:59 AM.

[m]

Here's a really old suggestion I made that everyone here might like:

http://mwomercs.com/...ame-in-some-way

[MeiSooHaityu]

Davers, on 09 March 2016 - 01:50 AM, said:

...Game of Thrones + Giant Robots sounds like a real winner...

Sounds like a perfect idea!

+1

[Martel66]

Those Battletech Centers were ahead of their time. Imagine what they could do with a similar budget using today's VR technologies.

[MeiSooHaityu]

I was lucky enough to play at a Battletech Center once. At one time there was one nearby my house at a Dave and Busters. It was cool, but a bit expensive as you would imagine. I played once with a more simplified controller setting. it was pretty cool from what I remembered (it was a while ago after all).

[Davegt27]

m, on 09 March 2016 - 03:58 AM, said:

Here's a really old suggestion I made that everyone here might like:

http://mwomercs.com/...ame-in-some-way

I have no idea who Sgt. Achilles is so I could not respond

[MeiSooHaityu]

Davegt27, on 09 March 2016 - 07:55 AM, said:

I have no idea who Sgt. Achilles is so I could not respond

He's dead. Alexander already killed him...Well, in his mind anyway.

[Sandpit]

Game of Thrones + Pacific Rim = Btech universe

Instead of horses and swords you have mechs and tanks

toss in a little Firefly to represent areas like FWLM and you're a billionaire

Martel66, on 09 March 2016 - 07:37 AM, said:

Those Battletech Centers were ahead of their time. Imagine what they could do with a similar budget using today's VR technologies.

oh man, imagine what they could do with today's graphics and communication and networking tech

[LORD TSARKON]

Martel66, on 09 March 2016 - 07:37 AM, said:

Those Battletech Centers were ahead of their time. Imagine what they could do with a similar budget using today's VR technologies.

Correction.... the PODS were ahead of their time (Cockpit environment...combat joystick.. radar screen.... 12 Speaker sound system... you could quickly change fire control weapon systems on the fly and even EJECT AMMO which I did alot because I would run a Vulture V4 with crapton of LRMS that were fired like long RANGE SRMS compared to this game and OWNED)

The Software was atrocious and to set up each game took like 10 minutes... imagine if Matchmaker today took 10 minutes and thats with a LAN system....

The frames per second were so bad that I would usually put the game on Heat vision (it looked like Game Boy color) and I could see targets farther away.. but everything was GREEN color).. we also used SPash damage

My biggest gripe besides price was that if you had a beeper or some other Electronic device it would sometimes cause the PODS to mess up so badly the entire game would crash... and Virtual World would have to reboot their servers... some people like me have high static Electricity flowing through them (they would de Static you before you got into the PODs by the way) that I was once accused by employees of having a high powered BEEPER or some other device ( I was so angry I allowed them to search me only AFTER I demanded a REFUND plus 1 FREE gAME FOR LATER on)..

Cool thing was a PRINTOUT they gave you afterwards of your combat (it was usually free for all..)

I would go with like 5-7 friends and one time a huge group of Battletech nerds showed up and we all agreed to have LOTS OF HEAT, SPLASH damage.. and have SPAWNS in a 50 meter CIRCLE... I went 8 kills.. 8 deaths but alot of people went like 50 kills,ect... Virtual World said it was the world record for most Kills ever recorded in a game... I need to find that paper.. lol

Edited by LORD TSARKON, 09 March 2016 - 09:35 AM.

[Gravitas]

Sandpit, on 09 March 2016 - 09:19 AM, said:

oh man, imagine what they could do with today's graphics and communication and networking tech

Nothing, because Microsoft owns the license! And PropWash (Head of VWE) has to work out what can be done with a license for BT/MW in location based entertainment, it becomes problematic. There's quite a few of us BT Center/VWE vets around. Some don't post as much or play as much, since the pods are a pretty unique experience and MWO doesn't nor can it really match up. Building your own simpit gets close, but you miss out on having 4/8/16 of these things in yelling proximity of each other.

The main impediment to recreating the Battletech centers isn't tech based, but fabrication of a pod in large numbers to be cost effective and then feasibility of a retail location.

But the pods are still out there! Right now, PropWash and BigKidzGames will be seen at conventions in the northern US (GenCon and others) as they are based out of Michigan. VGCorps from Dallas takes pods to north Texas region conventions, and MechCorps in Houston has southern TX and even over in to LA and Georgia for DragonCon as events.

I've had the privilege of volunteering for VGCorps before and it was one of the greatest experiences sharing the fun that can be had with others, both vets of the centers and new people that had never seen them before. And even though currently the game played in them is a modified version of MW4, hours upon hours upon years of fun can be had.

[TexAce]

Davers, on 09 March 2016 - 01:50 AM, said:

Sure it could, if done right. Pacific Rim did well enough to get a sequel after all. Game of Thrones + Giant Robots sounds like a real winner. We just got to rename Clans 'Wildlings'.

EDIT
Actually, Battletech as written wouldn't work today. It's far too anti-Chinese. The current trend in Hollywood is to show the Chinese government as benevolent and good (as seen in the Transformer movies and The Martian) since China is a huge market for them.

Man, if Firefly would only be.....sigh...it was always in front of its time....

[Dirus Nigh]

I was watching HyperRPG last night on twitch when Weisman was doing a Battletech news bit. He was answering some quistions from chat as well.

My question was: Is it possible to get Jim Balushi to do another barker video for their new Battletech game like he did for the Vertual World center in Chicago. Is answer was rather fun.

It turns out that Jim Balushi a native of Chicago came into the Battletech Center way back in the day. He played a few games and thought it was totally cool. Weisman out right asked him if he was willing to make a promo video. You see the results in the OP.

Unfortunately Weisman said that getting Balushi to do another video not be possible.

https://www.twitch.tv/hyperrpg/profile

Edited by Dirus Nigh, 09 March 2016 - 10:12 AM.

[Whipley]

TexAce, on 09 March 2016 - 09:42 AM, said:

Man, if Firefly would only be.....sigh...it was always in front of its time....

I think the word you're looking for is "shiny".

[Exilyth]

Davers, on 09 March 2016 - 01:50 AM, said:

Actually, Battletech as written wouldn't work today. It's far too anti-Chinese. The current trend in Hollywood is to show the Chinese government as benevolent and good (as seen in the Transformer movies and The Martian) since China is a huge market for them.

A lot of fluff is written from a davion perspective: warped, twisted and full of lies.

Showcasing the truth about the capellan people's defense of their homeworlds against the evil tyrant Hanse Davion (see: steiner-davion wedding, operation rat, ...) and his barbaric, uncultured, analphabetic hordes (see: federated suns - literacy rate) would certainly be well received outside the FedSuns.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

CK16, on 08 March 2016 - 10:29 PM, said:

Oh wow, that's the old 1.0 cockpits, before the Tesla II system.

Man, I didn't get to pilot till they'd introduced the Tesla II system, but the Virtual World Interactive center I used to go to back in the 90's still had one of the old square box pods on display, while I love the Tesla II pods, the classic square pods just have a feel to them that I like a bit more.

I miss this, in fact, I'm trying to set up a trip with my fiancée to go and actually visit one of the existing battletech pod bays.

Anyone know where there's any active pod bays these days?

[Xetelian]

We tracked down 8 pods here in WA and on a buddies birthday had a pizza party at the arcade where they were setup.

I ran around in an Annihilator for the most part and an Atlas for a couple rounds. Each match prints out a score sheet and I still have them around here somewhere.

These were the pods featured at the Wizards of the Coast in Seattle. I have no idea how they got 8 working pods up and running in a little arcade that was a total hole in the wall. No signs advertising their arcade, just one working door in a run down shopping center. They had the whole building setup with games and pinball machines. I don't know how much the night cost because I bought the pizza not the access to the pods but I'm sure it was really cheap.

I remember being 14 and catching a ride down to WoTC in Seattle to play in the pods for like $20 for half an hour or some outrageous price.

[wanderer]

<- ex WoTC employee, though I never got to visit corporate and hit the pods

They got Weird Al in on at least one of the training videos, too.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

Proud to say I got to play all iterations of the pods.

The classic VWE centers were something else.
Great production value. I still have membership card and pilots manual.
The front lobby tended to look like a 1930's era adventurers guild. Complete with hardwood bar and lounge area.
Most of them had a pretty sweet TimberWolf statute in the lobby.
l