2 replies to this topic

[Colonel Clunge]

I'm pretty sure this will be in the thread somewhere but couldn't spot it immediately, I have been thinking of one really obvious way of making things a lot more interesting without the need for new weapons, mechs and maps (although those things are great too!).

MISSIONS.

This was sparked by my memories of TT where sometimes we ran simple 6 vs 6 battles using tonnage limits as the parameter but sometimes we used the scenario guides that you could buy. The Gray Death Legion was one I remember really well.

What was great about these was that the mission parameters and game conditions could varying wildly which made it really interesting. So you had get from A to B alive with a certain amount of mechs alive. The ambush force was much stronger. The map was tighter. But the escape force only needed to successfully run the gauntlet to win - kills did not matter. Other things spiced it up too - like the inclusion of starting conditions that reflected an on going campaign - so you didn't always start with a brand new mech free of damage. Sometimes you had weapons missing etc. Convoy support was another mission type.

I might be oversimplifying it but it seems like this type of mission based play would be relatively easy to implement.

Are am I overly optimistic?

[DoctorDetroit]

Colonel Clunge, on 13 October 2016 - 08:45 AM, said:

I'm pretty sure this will be in the thread somewhere but couldn't spot it immediately, I have been thinking of one really obvious way of making things a lot more interesting without the need for new weapons, mechs and maps (although those things are great too!).

MISSIONS.

This was sparked by my memories of TT where sometimes we ran simple 6 vs 6 battles using tonnage limits as the parameter but sometimes we used the scenario guides that you could buy. The Gray Death Legion was one I remember really well.

What was great about these was that the mission parameters and game conditions could varying wildly which made it really interesting. So you had get from A to B alive with a certain amount of mechs alive. The ambush force was much stronger. The map was tighter. But the escape force only needed to successfully run the gauntlet to win - kills did not matter. Other things spiced it up too - like the inclusion of starting conditions that reflected an on going campaign - so you didn't always start with a brand new mech free of damage. Sometimes you had weapons missing etc. Convoy support was another mission type.

I might be oversimplifying it but it seems like this type of mission based play would be relatively easy to implement.

Are am I overly optimistic?

Probably a little over optmistic, but still a good idea.

I would say we start with something easy like defending a base/city against PvE waves of enemy tanks and mechs running simple triggers. Academy already has a start on that.

Edited by DoctorDetroit, 13 October 2016 - 11:19 AM.

[Ultra-Laser]

I'll point to Mechwarrior4: mercs as a good example of a well done early/first mission. One of the earliest jobs you could take was a good ol' smash and grab on an enemy convoy. Your task was not to destroy the convoy itself, but instead you just killed up a pair of plain old light mechs and the conventional vehicles that came in to support them. Simple, fun, quick and uncomplicated. All while fighting an enemy force that most could easily best that also served as what amounted to a checklist of all the different unit types you'd be up against over the course of the entire game (mechs, tanks, VTOLs, hovercraft) and getting a fair haul of salvage to top it all off.

That last part might actually serve as a good "extra" reward for beating PvE missions, particularly ones aimed at new players. C-bills are good as the main course, but handing someone free gear they otherwise might not have tried out could be pretty nifty. Perhaps these could even be tied to specific actions, like giving the player a salvaged fusion engine if they kill the mech carrying it by legging it rather then simply coring it like usual.