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[FalconerGray]

Link to part 1: http://mwomercs.com/...the-battlemech/

2.0 – Creating a living universe for the Mechwarrior of the Future

The Mechwarrior franchise comes from a greater background than just the simple act of combat. Political intrigue, treason, large economies, diplomacy are foundations of the battletech universe, highlighted by the rise and fall of empires and heroes. With the right level of planning and depth, every mechwarrior taking part would be contributing to a living, breathing universe truly controlled by the community, with a future unwritten, dictated only by the actions of the players. Here's how the greatest ever mechwarrior game mode would work....


2.1 – The overview

Spoiler

The objective here would be to create a flagship game mode, a dynamic universe that could draw attention and create headlines as being a truly living world that the players shape and define with their every move. The obvious disclaimer here is that this is a game for the future and that it would rely on far more sophisticated computing power and development capabilities for it to be possible. The other note is that it assumes a large playerbase, one that might not ever be realized. But, these are speculations and dreams that may still have a hope, who knows what the gaming world will look like in 10, 15, 25 years time?

With the Inner Sphere and it's surroundings as our setting, we have everything needed for the beginning of a great story...and this is where things get interesting. The basic concept is similar to what we currently know through Faction Warfare and the previous 'Mercenary' title campaigns – players join and fight for a faction, with the outcomes of those battles influencing the state of the in-game universe. But we're going to take it much, much further than has ever been attempted before.

The Great Houses of the Inner Sphere and the surrounding factions – the Periphery, Mercenaries, eventually even the Clans – will engage in battles planned out and chosen by the members of the war council, the leadership element of the faction military made up of high ranking officers and elected officials. Resources such as battlemechs, infantry, vehicles, aerofighters, jumpships / dropships and support crews are not finite and proper supply lines will need to be established if extended combat is expected. Each planet will be unique and perpetual, no two will be identical and returning to a war ravaged planet for a second time will see evidence of previous combat in the form of damage to infrastructure, destruction of terrain and other notable effects based on the results of previous battles.

What we are looking at is the potential for a PvP multiplayer game to provide the experience of a highly detailed, in-depth PvE campaign. So how does it work?

2.2 – Factions & armies, officers & soldiers

• Factions will earn C-Bills through the civilian economies of productive planets (whilst those civilian elements remain undisrupted by warfare), through sale of units or services (from transport duties to full mercenary combat) or by acts of piracy (most likely in the case of the Periphery)
  
• Resources are finite – factions will produce battlemechs and other units through factories (or purchase from other factions) and then ship those units to the planets they are required on
  
• General players will have no leadership responsibilities, but can choose to enlist as an officer, allowing them to call drops and climb the ladder of command, with the highest ranking officers being those responsible for commanding the overall direction of the faction, including the distribution of units / resources, acts of diplomacy and war

Spoiler

Every planet is worth something. In one way or another, having a planet under will bring benefits to that faction. The civilian population will be contributing through their own economy, which would be an automatic system of no concern to the military (the players), as long as their infrastructure is left intact and not disrupted by combat. There will also be planets that are primarily military in nature, housing factories that can produce battlemechs, tanks, dropships and other crucial military units. A factory like this can be re-tooled to produce different units, but the changeover period will cost time and c-bills and there could be a difference in the production time associated with the new unit. For example, a faction that is not under any real pressure might focus on expanding their fleet of jumpships and bigger, more valuable battlemechs. But a nation in desperation fighting for survival might need to cease production of the bigger, more expensive units in favour of cheaper battlemechs that can be quickly produced and sent to reinforce the front lines. A unit destroyed in battle needs to be replaced and if you are losing units quicker than you can produce them, then you might find yourself in trouble fast.



Most of this won't be of any concern to the general population who will likely be content with taking part in the battles and focusing on the combat element of the game. But there will be those who are more interested in the fields of leadership and decision making, who will begin down the path of an Officer. Every military operation needs a commander, so a system of rank would be put in place to determine who it is that is responsible for leading the troops into battle. An aspiring officer would need to go through a training program beyond the standard military academy before being permitted to take control, but once completed, they can begin to climb the chain of command, based on their success on the battlefield and through further modules of training. It is important to note though, than a player holding a command-level rank could choose to opt-out of their responsibilities before dropping, allowing them to still enjoy a more relaxed level of play if they were not prepared to take on the full requirements of an officer.

2.3 – Politics, faction command, control and civil war

• High ranking officers will be responsible for choices critical to the future of the faction, deciding where to send units, how to spend C-Bills, which factions to support or attack
  
• Orders and directions made by this “War Council” will be broadcast for all members of the faction to see through an in-game 'notice board', or news section
  
• Non-ranking players will still have the opportunity to speak on issues that they see as important
  
• The controlling players will have free choice to act as dictators or rule in a democratic fashion, either making choices independent of the feedback given by other players or putting important issues – including leadership positions – to a democratic vote
  
• In the event of unrest within a faction, there is the possibility or internal power struggles and even splits resulting in civil war and potentially new factions to formation

Spoiler

A military government would be responsible for leading a faction and making choices relating to the future of the faction, but those choices would be under constant scrutiny of those not in control. An unranked mechwarrior might find themselves frustrated by constantly dropping underprepared and underpowered and would want to express that frustration. Some sort of in game community forum would be utilised, perhaps even in a basic form that would see players give feedback in the form of preset choices, rather than free form discussions. The point would be to allow those in power to have a quick snapshot of satisfaction or disapproval that they are receiving from the troops on the ground. There would also be the possibility of internal conflict within the leadership and although two different parties may be able to resolve their differences to allow the faction to continue at strength, there may come a point where more extreme measures come into play.


Elements of the government or the general military population might deem it necessary to remove certain individuals from power, perhaps in the form of a political movement, or in situations of high conflict, even an assassination. If the uprising party gained enough support from members of the general playerbase, then it could result is the forming of an entirely separate and independent new faction.

2.4 – The fighting week – shaping the universe through time

• The same battles are fought over the course of a week*, with the average result then being the 'actual' result applied to the universe to begin the next week
  
• Up-to-date results provided to the War Council to allow for preparation and planning for the next week
  
• All actions take time, including unit production, transit between worlds, repair and rearm after battle, all being taken into account during the course of the game

Spoiler

*a week being to give everyone enough time to play and enjoy the game, to provide enough unique games to create an indicative 'actual' result and to allow the war council enough time to plan ahead, but it doesn't necessarily have to be run over a week if a better option presents.



I had initially thought of making each battle unique and truly one off, but this is not a fair way to run things for the playerbase of the game. Instead, jumping into a drop could see you land on any one of the battlefields that your faction is contesting for that week, you'll fight out that battle and the results will be counted to go towards the next week of fighting. If a battle is fought 100 times, resulting in 40 wins for faction A, 30 wins for faction B and 30 'draws' or unfinished battles (more on this later), then faction A is deemed to have won the battle. The status of both sides, such as the number of units lost, the damage to the infrastructure of the planet (any factories, spaceports, civilian buildings, etc) will be determined by the average result of those 40 wins for faction A.

Each war council will receive progression updates as the result of each battle comes through, allowing them to track and predict the likely result to begin planning for the next week of battle, or send out messages instructing field commanders to change tactics or objectives in the event of a closely fought week. Determining the next week of combat could be done by putting each possible action to a war council vote, or in the case of a faction running as a dictatorship, simply by having the leader or highest ranking officers select the course of action that they deem suitable.

Planning will go beyond the simple choice of which planet to attack or defend, it will also involve looking at the number of casualties to determine if extra units will be required to join battles or reinforce planets with these units will need to be transported from their current planet to their new assignment via jumpship. Again, this takes time and will need to be accounted for in the planning stage. Is it wiser to quickly reinforce a planet from units close by, or pull troops from safer territories with the added risk of increased travel times? If it will take 3 weeks for a jumpship to leave one system and reach the next, then it will take 3 full weeks for that jumpship and it's cargo to be available for use in the destination system. If transport will take less than one week, then it will be possible for those units to join a battle in progress as reinforcements.

2.5 – Combined Arms, garrisons and the distribution of forces

• Playable infantry, aerofighters and other vehicles to fight alone or alongside battlemechs
  
• Use of combined player & AI units to balance numbers (ex. 1 infantry player will also be in control of a full squad of AI units, same for all other units besides battlemechs)
  
• Faction leaders will allocate available forces to different planets as required
  
• With a finite amount of units, a planet of lesser value might hold a garrison of mixed infantry, vehicles and a small number of mechs, whilst a high value target might be reinforced with a heavy compliment of battlemechs and support

Spoiler

In the battletech universe, battlemechs are highly valuable and in some cases, quite rare, with there being many positives to a combined arms approach. Foot troops can spot for other units, rig mines and other traps and infiltrate & capture buildings that might be more valuable intact. Tanks and other armoured vehicles can pack a solid punch for a relatively low cost, with the added bonus of being a smaller and occasionally more flexible unit whilst airborne units such as aerofighters and helicopters are able to take on a wide variety of tasks not fully suited to battlemechs. These units have been heavily featured in the world of battletech and are well deserving of a position in a mechwarrior title.


Every faction, from the smallest band of raiders to the wealthiest of houses would all find situations where combined arms will be the best available option and if done correctly, I can imagine there being players who end up gravitating heavily towards these non-mech options. With the right level of care and attention, it could even be a way to draw players who might not have an interest in mechs to the game, especially if the experience is truly unique to the battlemech component of the game.

The value of combined arms will also be apparent when looking at the way military forces are distributed throughout the planets by their ruling factions. With a limited number of military units available to be spread throughout an entire territory, it is logical to expect that battlemechs and other heavy units will be concentrated near borders or at planets of high importance, but ther will still be a need to leave a defensive force available on planets that have a potential threat of invasion, such as worlds bordering the periphery. Because periphery raiders are less likely to have a formidable army to deploy, the much cheaper and more readily available options of infantry and vehicles could be enough to hold a planet long enough to deter attacking forces. The time cost associated with moving forces from planet to planet should mean that factions will need to be careful and tactical with their deployment choices, or risk catastrophic losses by leaving a planet undefended.

2.6 – The timeline, development, production and technology

• The game will begin at a set point in the battletech timeline with the appropriate technology of the time and appropriate unit distribution per factions
  
• New tech developments will be made available to factions with strong economies and the infrastructure to develop them, perhaps keeping a lore-friendly lineage of certain designs (such as Kurita specifc mechs, etc)
  
• Any new tech – including battlemechs – will need to be produced by retooling factories to develop the new units, which will then need to be rolled out into the combat forces as they become ready for use
  
• Tech developments and battlemech designs can spread through to other factions by way of salvage, diplomatic trades or the most likely case, through capture of planets with those units production

2.7 – The battle – PvP throwbacks to the campaigns of old

• Matches will begin at the hand of a Field Commander, who will choose one of the available battlefields and allocate forces pre-game
  
• Other players will be slotted into the game, filling spots opened by the Field Commander
  
• Players will be assigned to the available battlemechs based on their experience and profession – players can selected a preferred class and preferred mech based on their abilities
  
• Mechlab customisation will be permitted only at the discretion of the Field Commander
  
• The battle has a maximum runtime of one week, with in-game time counted in real time and between game time accelerated as required
  
• Objectives will vary based on the orders given by the War Council
  
• Large scale maps, with areas opening or closing as the combat moves
  
• Queued players will be entered into the game as spaces open up as the battle progresses
  
• It's more than just Kill or Be Killed!

Spoiler

So here we have the very point of it all, the battle. If you're only going to read a single section, this is the one. Let us pretend that the field has been set for the first ever week of play. Battlemechs and supporting units have been distributed throughout the planets and the first battles have been set. One of your worlds bordering the periphery is under threat from raiders, not big drama though, as it was an expected target for it's relatively high population, so was allocated a full lance of mechs with infantry support. Offensive jumpships have been sent to try and take some nearby planets and other small defensive skirmishes will be fought along the border, but the single most important battle will be the for a key border planet, a large and highly productive world, with a large civilian population, a mech factory, mech barracks / repair base and a high capacity freight level spaceport.


A Field Commander will be player who has completed a level of officer training covering the details required to plan out an entire battle campaign. When logging into the game, he will see the available battles, whether they are offensive, defensive or ongoing fights, the units at his disposal and the objectives listed for each battle. Those objectives will be set by the War Council, depending on the planet and it's status. A defensive battle on the periphery might be a simple case of warding off all attackers with minimum casualties. An attack on a major target such as the planet listed could be a bit more complicated.

In this case, the planet will be highly sought after for it's mech factory and spaceport. The mech factory is obviously valuable for it's ability to contribute to the size of your army, whilst the spaceport will be critical for effective distribution of new battlemechs and parts. A freight level spaceport allows for a greater number of units to be transported off world than what we be possible without such a facility, making it a very important piece of infrastructure to any mech producing world. Whilst attempting to take a planet like this at this stage of the war, the objective would likely be to take control of the planet whilst leaving the important targets intact. A struggling faction attempting to turn the course of a losing war might see things differently.

To begin the game, we need two Field Commanders, one for each faction. The attacking FC has been given a sizeable force to work with, 2 dropships carrying 3 full lances of battlemechs, 2 vehicular units and a field base. The occupying FC has a powerful garrison of 3 battlemech lances, 3 vehicle units, 2 infantry units, 1 helicopter unit and 1 aerofighter unit. (note1 - these numbers would be dictated by the distribution of forces as set by the Faction, there would be no limit to the maximum numbers to be deployed. Note 2 – the non-mech units represent a single player who would be in control of additional AI units. For example, the two infantry units would be two individual players in control of 12 footsoliders, with the ability to switch from unit to unit at will).

Initially, the two FC's would be the only players in game, with both being at a briefing and planning screen. The occupying FC would distribute his forces throughout the area, while the attacking FC would need to chose a drop zone. Pre-battle information could be imbalanced depending on the situation leading up to the battle. The occupying force will have full details of terrain, advantageous positions, etc, whilst the attacking force in this case will likely only have satellite imagery to go off. The attacking FC would be free to chose a drop zone as close or as far away from the targets as desired, as well as choosing the time of night or day, with the risk / reward factor that would be expected.

So the attacking FC selects a drop zone, with a lance of mechs to be deployed via orbital drop to scout and clear the site. The occupying FC would get a very broad indication of the area that the dropships are likely expected to land and would be given the choice of launching a pre-emptive strike in the hope of catching the enemy as they land, or waiting for the invaders to attack. If the occupying FC decides to launch an attack on the dropships, then a game would begin.

The occupying FC would choose how many units to send out to meet the attackers, with the likely objective of those units being to locate and destroy the enemy if possible, but not to take any unnecessary casualties. A unit lost at this stage of the fight will be one less unit available to defend the base. The attacking units being hot-dropped would have the objective of safely securing a drop zone and defending the area until the rest of the forces can be deployed successfully. Players will only be called into the game as required, based on the number of units activated by each FC. This is to save people from sitting and waiting for their unit to be needed and also allow the game to launch with a small number of players. However, this phase of the game would only launch if the occupying forces elected to make that early attack. If they go against making such a move, then the game will move onto the next phase.

The next phase will go forward depending on the actions of the FC's. The attacking FC can choose to launch an attack on the enemy with as few or as many units as he chooses, while the defending FC can choose to attempt to locate or attack the enemy field base, or stay purely on defence. The game will commence with the number of players / units called into battle by each side. If the attacking FC has left a single lance to defend their field base, then those units will only be called into battle / bring players into the game if the defending force has decided to launch a counter-attack, or if the FC calls for those units as reinforcements mid mission. On the same token, if the spaceport is under attack, then the units at the mech factory wouldn't be activated – each 'target' would receive have an entire map to itself, however, those maps do continue onto each other, so if an attacker chooses to strike two different objectives at once, the area of play will be spread over two conjoined maps.

Each battle doesn't necessarily have to end in the total destruction of either team. If the defenders have put up a solid fight and the attackers have suffered heavy losses, they might choose to retreat, repair and rearm. If the defenders are also heavily wounded, those units might be better off letting the attackers complete their retreat, as both sides leave the battlefield to lick their wounds. This would end the game, taking players back to a lobby screen. It's during this phase that repairs can be made, ammo can be reloaded and new plans can be made. However, everything takes time. The attackers might have 18 hours worth of repairs needed to bring their forces up to full strength. However, they might be able to put together a functional group of units in say, 6 hours. The defenders would be in a similar situation, with repair and reloading set to take time, depending on the jobs selected.

If both sides decide to carry out their full repairs, then the time would progress forward until that has been completed and the battle will begin again, just as it did before, but with any changes in the field – such as damage to terrain, infrastructure or captured facilities – being reflected in this next phase of battle. But there is an alternative strategy available, one of a quick turnaround in an attempt to catch the other side off guard. If one side as enough fresh units, they might choose to launch a quick strike before the other has completed their repairs. If this is the case, then the match would begin with one side on the back foot. There might be some mechs that have to enter the battle in a damaged state, or others that simply are not ready to join the field. If this happens, the FC might call for reinforcements if there are any forces stationed at any of the other sites, which would see those mechs activated by new players, with their objective being to reach their allies and fend away the attackers.

The idea here is that a match could continue on and on, as long as both sides were still capable of fighting, allowing players to experience what is essentially a PvP campaign. I picture the battle described as being a fight of about average size, possibly taking between 1 to 3 hours to complete, depending on the number of battle phases (individual 'drops' or missions) that it ends up going for. Smaller battles might take less than an hour but the event that I would be most excited for, is the potential for enormous large scale invasions, such as those depicted in the Battle of Tukkayid. If two sides were fiercely engaged in an ongoing war, they might reach a point of going “all in”, with a battle spanning many maps, with multiple FC's taking part and many, many units being involved in the fight. It's even possible that these fights could last for longer than a week (in game time). If that were to happen, then that battle would be incomplete, and would roll over to the next (real) week of combat. To recap on how that works, if in the previously described battle, the attackers win the majority of times, then during the next week, they own that planet. If they are pushed back more times than not, then next week will reflect that. But if the majority of the battles fought are inconclusive – that is, in the one week of available in game time is not enough to determine a winner, then that battle will still be in progress for the next week. Whatever the result, the conditions of the next week would be determined by the average conditions over all of the matches that count. For example, if the attackers are deemed the winner, but destroyed all infrastructure in the majority of their matches and lost nearly all of their forces in the process, then that's how things will carry over into the next week.

- closing -

I love battletech and mechwarrior, I really do, but I've never been truly satisfied by any of the games that have come and gone to date. Of course, this is not the fault of the games or their developers, it's just a case of what we have to work with at the time. My hope is that someone will read this and find something of value in amongst this ridiculously long mess of words, grab onto that idea, expand on it and make it their own, so that when the times comes that we're talking with developers about the features we want to see in a future Mechwarrior title, the ideas that we're talking about will be on the scale that this series truly deserves. It's a legendary franchise and maybe one day, it'll receive legendary treatment.



- note,

It's likely that through all the inevitable 'TL;DR' posts, people will be wondering why on earth I wrote something like this? Well, I've been hanging out in hospitals a lot lately whilst my partner has had a heart condition monitored and just this week operated on. So there's been many days filled with nothing to do but find a way to keep the mind distracted from other unpleasant possibilities and this is what I ended up doing! I know that it was unnecessary and will likely dissapear into the void of the internet, but it has been the right thing for me to do. I apologise for the mess, it did get a bit hard to concentrate in places, but if you found something of value in all of this, then I'm glad. And in case anyone is wondering, the surgery was a success and recovery is underway.

Enjoy life.

Edited by legatoblues, 05 June 2016 - 04:21 PM.

[Ace Selin]

TBH, if i cant read it all, PGI can never code it all.


Congrats on the positive surgery outcome, thats much more important than any game anyway.

Edited by Ace Selin, 03 June 2016 - 03:35 AM.

[FalconerGray]

Ace Selin, on 03 June 2016 - 03:34 AM, said:

TBH, if i cant read it all, PGI can never code it all.


Congrats on the positive surgery outcome, thats much more important than any game anyway.

Absolutely. 27 hours spent at the hospital over Monday and Tuesday. Never been so exhausted doing nothing! But, plenty of time for the brain to make ideas and plenty of time to write them down. Better to have them out into the world instead of taking up space in my head, even if they aren't likely to mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

Edited by legatoblues, 03 June 2016 - 04:00 AM.

[Death Proof]

Nice write up.

We share very similar visions for the future of Mechwarrior.



And...definitely put this in a google doc, so that it doesn't get lost. I hope you have a copy of this saved locally.

[Death Proof]

And before some party pooper comes in and spills a bunch of reality all over the place, yes, the scope of something like this is well beyond the means of most developers and the hardware that most players have access to...but one can DREAM!

Edited by Death Proof, 03 June 2016 - 06:11 PM.

[FalconerGray]

Cheers, Death Proof. And yeah, when I was writing this, at no stage was I thinking along the lines of "What could PGI do now?". I was thinking about what we could have many years down the track. I look back at how long I waited after MW4, how long I've been playing this franchise for (20 years now) and imagining the huge leaps that could happen in the next 20 years and what it would mean for our game. For that reason, I think it's important to be thinking big picture now, so that we're prepared for it once we can make these lofty goals a reality.

[Cy Mitchell]

Yes, but they could do SOME of the things that you proposed now.

[FalconerGray]

Rampage, on 03 June 2016 - 07:34 PM, said:

Yes, but they could do SOME of the things that you proposed now.

Yeah, that's true. But I didn't want to be dismissed as a hater. There are a lot of things I don't like about MWO, but I think it's more productive to take a positive stance on possible improvements, whereas if I try to focus on exactly what it is I'm unhappy about, I can't articulate it as well and come across as a tool.

I saw your edit in the previous thread, thanks for taking the time to read it all, it does mean a lot. As you said, they're just opinions and everyone has their own, but my hope is that by putting our opinions out there, we can all expand on our own ideas through the help of others, evolving our expectations and desires.

And because of course, f yeah Battletech!

[Rebas Kradd]

As you've said, PGI promised much of this, and foolishly so as it would probably take even CIG quite a while. Most haters think it should have all taken three months.

But I think there are elements that could come into play. We do have the license until 2018, maybe longer.

[Funkin Disher]

Read it all, and would absolutely kickstart that game.

[FalconerGray]

Funkin Disher, on 05 June 2016 - 07:27 PM, said:

Read it all, and would absolutely kickstart that game.

Cheers FD.

[Kyrie]

Nice megathread, reminds me of the ones we had going back in 2012. ;-) (See signature)

[C E Dwyer]

Well your asking for a Paper and dice roll play game on a PC

That will never happen in a multi player shooter game.

Everquest got the closest, with factions, but even getting the factions to like you, involved killed hundreds of critters that the faction disliked.

Outside of multi player shooter games total war is the closest, and that's turn based, but has a political ,tech, and economy system.

In this franchise, your hopes rest with the H.B.S game, a turn based game, whether that will be enough, for you is another matter.

Your a merc unit, combat its got, an economy it's going to have, whether the politics will be good enough for your desires, and the tech is limited to savaging, and what's around in 3025 is another matter

[Kipps Customer]

Death Proof, on 03 June 2016 - 06:10 PM, said:

And before some party pooper comes in and spills a bunch of reality all over the place, yes, the scope of something like this is well beyond the means of most developers and the hardware that most players have access to...but one can DREAM!

might be a lot more achievable as a 2D game rather than 3D

[Johnny Z]

+1 for the sentiment.

A few things I didn't like but the theme is great.

[Almond Brown]

Take a mix of EU4/HOI4/Stellaris and move the planet (+4000 more) some 135K light years to the left, then change the Armies that do Battle on said Planets to ones composed of men, tanks, fighters and BattleMechs and you have the game you seek... Political Intrigue (aka hellish levels of micromanagement), Territorial Wars and fighting by many Factions, (aka even more hellish levels of micromanagement), Resource Management and Manufacturing, (aka even more, of the more, hellish levels of micromanagement) and finally deployment of said produced resources across vast empty space to fuel your ever growing War machine... (aka even more of the more + more hellish levels of micromanagement).

Could be great fun, surely. To frigging bad that about a max. of 400 people would find that level of micro-management hell some kind of FUN!.

P.S. And for anyone who would simplify that system to offer it to more players... LOL! That is what MWO is ffs.

P.S.S. Almost forgot. Add GD a "PAUSE Button" too..." Makes for great MP play "Pause Buttons" do...

Edited by Almond Brown, 29 August 2016 - 08:05 AM.