I've contained my personal commentary and reactions to a bare minimum, indicated by italics.
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Questioned about PGI's energy/exhaustion level, Russ says lots of hard work has been put in by the team but his personal energy level is just today picking up. "There are things we didn't do, but..." (ominous)
<30 tickets available at this point, almost sold out. There will be major attendance by "VIPs" (rattles of a list of streamers plus George Ledoux). 50% growth in size year on year. It's a bigger venue/hotel.
(10 minute mark)
MechCon will be 12 hours - noon to midnight. HBS, Catalyst Games and PGI will there.
Daeron wants to talk about MWO. Russ would prefer to talk about other participants first. Russ wants to know from Daeron what Catalyst are planning to show because Daeron has been to more MechCon meetings than Russ (!) Daeron replies they will be showing off their tabletop gaming (surprise!) in a bigger booth than last year.
nVidia is supplying the PCs to be used in demos and WC.
HBS are going to have multi- and singleplayer versions of their game available on 10 machines. Russ speculates that it will be a fairly-close-to-final version of BattleTech. HBS will also give a presentation from the stage.
More about how MechCon has grown. "Everything's just bigger and better, Daeron!" says Russ.
An MWO city map is coming up, by the same designers who gave us Rubellite Oasis. Map with some gameplay footage will be shown at Mech Con. Artistically it "might surprise people". Russ has "some nervousness" about it. (ominous?) Russ isn't sure when it will be patched in. He was originally targeting Feb, but now thinks it will be March.
"A lot of map work" besides the city map is going on. Paul is uncomfortable about this being discussed. Russ defers further questions to Paul. Paul doesn't want to discuss it.
(23 minute mark)
Phil wants to know more about Solaris and Mech personalisation. Paul just wants to avoid answering questions, and after a (tedious) minute asks Phil and Daeron to lay out what they think they know about it (FFS). More minutes of trying to get Paul to say something about anything. Eventually, even Russ gets mildly irritated by the level of non disclosure and asks Paul to say more.
Eventually it is disclosed that four other arenas (ie besides the already seen Steiner Arena) are planned. Each has a different theme. Paul helpfully discloses that one will have "a lot of dirt and rocks in it".
The bolt-on cosmetics that are being introduced along with Solaris wont affect hitboxes. They will fall off if hit. The bolt-ons are more than just new arms and legs. Many are ready already. Amazing Mech designs will be possible.
Some bolt-ons will look melee-like. However, Russ cautions us not to expect melee combat in Solaris. Makes a vague statement about Maybe One Day™. (pause while I repair the monitor that I just put my head through)
MWO will have some significant time on the stage: video on Solaris, video on new map, release month announcement for Solaris ("closer than most anticipate", further away than some might want)... "This is a BIG FEATURE. This is a MAJOR feature update." They are adding aspects to MWO that aren't directly related to Solaris... functionality to Mechs that is far-reaching.
"MWO is not the forgotten product. MWO is significant to us, still very important. MWO is still getting significant development time, resources and features development."
(34 minute mark)
Conversation moves to MW5... Alexander Garden was the pilot seen in the recent promo video. The purpose of the video was to give a sense of the scale, see map aesthetics and destructability, procedural map. Bombadil says there's "another year of development" ahead for MW5. Don't pick the video apart on gameplay matters. Criticism is premature.
Russ says the build featured in the video was a month ago. The demo he is playing today is 10x better than the one shown in the video. Demo will be playable at MechCon. The need to be ready for PC Gamer, then PolyGon then MechCon has really helped them push the game's development.
Russ "feels like he is one of us" in making the game we all want. He is trying to give players what we have always wanted. Says he is completely sincere in this. Discusses how MW games became more linear as they went on. Wants MW5 to be more open and free. MWO was the fulfillment of what Russ always wanted in a multiplayer environment. MW5 will be what Russ always wanted as a single player - replayability, run a business as an entrepreneur in the IS.
MW5 will have no loading screens.
(45 minute mark)
Engine choice is very important. PGI have enough expertise and staff to change the engine, BUT that takes up time and resources. For MW5 they want to use the engine "as is" so they can focus their dev time on the game and content.
Discussion about persistent immersion while playing MW5. Russ has always wanted to walk around the hangar, see his Mech being repaired, etc. Every time a Mech gets damaged, you'll feel it in not just in your Mech, but in your hip pocket as you manage your business.
4 map biomes will be playable at MechCon. Canyon, Mars, Moon, Earth-like Forest. The latter is the best looking one so far.
Replayability is critical. We are pushing hard for it and its turning out well. 40,50,60 hours of gameplay probably (this seems to relate to the length of your career in a single end to end game). You're running your Merc business. Your location in the IS will affect the chassis available, and the contracts/enemies you get.
Mentions "reaching Elite Status by end of your career time" might not be possible if you try to traverse the entire IS. But you can start in different places. Says the game "could be infinitely replayable".
Regarding what "procedural map" means for MW5... (Gist is that it's only half procedural in the way that many of us would understand.) They are using "rule based generation". Designers make the most interesting levels, but they don't have 20 years to build the game. So PGI are taking a mixed approach. Designers are creating the tilesets and rules for assembling them into maps. Biomes will be applicable to all tilesets.
Sentry posts, base locations, Mech opponents will vary by mission. (yay!)
(55 minute mark)
Russ is open to questions from chat. But cautions that he is holding news for MechCon and so may choose not to answer many questions.
MW5 is "you buy it and you own it". It is not F2P. It is a single purchase. Doesn't mean there won't be DLC. But DLC will be extra content (not loot crates). He doesn't know yet, but more traditional model, such as expansion packs.
Russ wants to take a break and confer privately. (Maybe Russ is counselling Paul over his almost complete non-contribution. Or maybe Paul is complaining to Russ about saying things :-)
(1hr 7 minute mark - podcast resumes)
There will be a MechLab in MW5. Your Mechs will be constantly getting damaged. Unlike MWO, you have to repair. MWO has an "insane" level of customisation as it adds unending depth. But MW5 has a different reliance to achieve its variety... lore and marketplace.
Marketplace will be a critical aspect of MW5. Purchasable goods will constantly update based on period of time, location in space, etc. It will be a big deal when you eventually see a Mech with a tech upgrade like Ferro. In the marketplace, different manufacturers will offer different versions of the weapons. Technicians (that you apparently will need to hire) will have different expertises with different weapons and manufacturers. The marketplace can't be overwhelmed by too much customisability, so it has to be different to MWO.
Russ says there are still some major announcements to be made at MechCon.
Phil and Daeron wax lyrical about how happy they are with what they've heard, and how important it is, that MW5 will have depth in terms of equipment, economy, logistics, replayability etc... things missing from MWO.
On this Russ says MW5 isn't just about taking missions, fight Mechs, come back. Managing how little damage you take also matters a lot due to the economy. Fighting is a consequence of the mission, not the only goal of the mission. Eg. some missions might be to destroy farms and you can choose whether to engage with defenders or not.
Will there be moral choices? Will you have a relationship with your unit's mercs? Russ is vague and his reply suggests "no". It will be more basic ... "reputation level with different Houses".
Russ invites design/mission suggestions via his Twitter.
(1 hour 24 minute mark)
MW5 will be available on Steam and elsewhere, including a PGI portal. It will require Steam as PGI want to use the Steam API 100% for features like friend lists.
There will be a Solaris 1v1 Arena at MechCon. Preview of what you can do in the new MWO Mech Bay (part of the Solaris patch) will be shown at MechCon.
Russ enjoys an existentially philosophical moment... "When I die of a heart attack who will take the MechCon torch forward?" (Clarifies that he is not alluding to a genuine health issue.) "Sometimes it's cool to reflect on the last 6 years of being immersed in BattleTech. We've accomplished a lot. That's really cool I think."
Hosts and guests express love for the WC finalist teams, most of whom they will see again at MechCon.
(1 hour 33 minute mark)
More MechCon hype. Logistics of the event. List of VIPs. Decision not to announce Mech Pack today.
Thank you sponsors, don't forget to subscribe, etc.
Edited by Appogee, 02 December 2017 - 02:41 AM.