51 replies to this topic

[zverofaust]

Seems to me if you're not on these forums every day you can "miss out" on things, so I'd like to make a place where we can accrue known, confirmed facts and discuss unconfirmed rumours about the game so we can all get some sort of consistent frame of reference for what this game will actually play like. I don't know about you but I'm still quite confused about the features of this game, and I've been here for a couple months. God help the poor guy who's just heard about the game and tries to come here looking for info!

So without further adieu, I will try and create a nice organized list of confirmed facts and unconfirmed rumours in an easy-to-read format. Any and all help is appreciated! If you want to give some info PLEASE provide some sort of source, be it an IGN article or Dev interview, etc.

CONFIRMED FACTS ABOUT THE GAME

• Mechwarrior Online is set for release in the second half of 2012. It is being developed by Piranha Games and will be published by Infinite Game Publishing.

• The following Mechs are confirmed as being in the game, as seen in the MWOMercs.com Media section:
  
  - Atlas
  - Jenner
  - Hunchback
  - Dragon
  - Catapult
  - Centurion
  
  (This isn't *actually* 100% confirmed, as pictures of these Mechs on the Media page are only concept art, but I think we can assume by how much noise the developers are making over them that they are planned for release.)

• MWO will utilize CRYEngine 3, the same engine used for Crysis 2. (One can't help but note the irony as acclaimed mod Mechwarrior: Living Legends is based on the first Crysis' engine)

• MWO will utilize a free-to-play (F2P) model, and gameplay will focus exclusively on multiplayer interactions, with no single-player element planned. While the exact nature of the F2P model hasn't been explained thoroughly. The developers have stated they will try to avoid a Pay-To-Win theme, and have stated before there will be no exclusive Mechs or items available only for (real) cash.

• Most matches will involve teams of 12 vs 12 fighting against one another according to the devlopers, though this depends on technical capabilities required for the full game and could possibly be lowered (to 8v8, for example). Source.

• Developers announced the "Battle Grid", as confirmed in the latest Dev Blog. BattleGrid acts as an advanced in-game map, presumably interactive, showing a top-down view of the battlefield as well as elements such as friendly and enemy units, objective and waypoint markers, and perhaps most interestingly, will show orders -- suggesting some sort of in-game heirarchy during battles. Source.

• Players earn Experience Points (XP) for in-game actions such as damaging or destroying enemies, helping friendlies and carrying out command orders. All XP earned will go towards BattleMech Efficiencies, and players will receive it in two forms: General XP that can be used on any Mechs, and Chassis XP that can only be used on the Mech used to earn it. Source.

• Players will be able to unlock upgrades for their Mech based on that Mech's specific, unique Mech Tech Trees. All Mechs appear to have 10 levels of upgrades, with multiple upgrades per level; these are basic upgrades that improve Mech performance such as increasing speed, torso twist speed/max angle, heat management, etc. Source.

• As a Mech is upgraded, Pilot Points are awarded. Pilot Points are used to add extra abilities, and have their own Skill Tree seen here. Unlocking these abilities will also unlock related Modules that can be placed on the BattleMech for further specialization. Source.

• Melee combat will be a part of MechWarrior Online, a first for the MechWarrior series. There will be a specific planet inMechWarrior that demands melee combat as a primary means for destruction. It's strongly suspected that this planet could in fact be Solaris VII, the gladiator planet. Source.

• Death From Above attacks will be supported (that is, using a heavy Mech's jump jets to launch into the air and land on a smaller enemy). Source.

• Command-role Mechs will be able to call in off-map attacks such as Air Strikes, Artillery and Naval Bombardment, and Predator Drone attacks. Source.

• There will be 4 basic types of maps on release: Urban, Jungle, Ice Planet and Desert. It is assumed there will be several map variations of each type of planet. Source

• Every Mech will have a "Module Board" where specialized pieces of equipment are attached. Modules themselves are unlocked by earning and using Pilot Points and abilities. Modules will be available in the in-game C-Bill item store. To fit the same Module on multiple Mechs you will need to buy multiples of that Module, one for each Mech. Source. Source.

• Line-of-sight information of enemy units on the battlefield is NOT universal. What this means that in order to share information about enemies you've spotted to your teammates, and vice versa, requires some sort of Module or a C3 Network. Source.

• There are several ways to detect enemy units:
  
  - Direct Line of Sight (You see him with your eyeballs)
  - Radar (Your radar systems detect him)
  - Satellite Scan (You get a birds-eye view of the battlefield, from space)
  - UAV (You get a more localized view from an unmanned aerial vehicle)
  - Detectors ("Sensor mines" you drop on the battlefield)
  
  Along with these special types of information-gathering tech, we will also have access to Night Vision, Thermal Vision, and "Magnetovision" which uses magnetic anomaly detection or some such technobabble. Source. All of these gadgets and gizmos will be available as Modules.

• Timeline-wise, MWO will initially focus on various military interactions between the major players of the Inner Sphere, the Successor States. The developers have stated that, for the purposes of introducing major canon events, the timeline of the in-game universe will match up with our own, so that one year in the real world will equal one year's time passing in the BattleTech universe. 2012 in the game's universe is 2049; therefore, the Clans will not make an appearance until roughly a year after the game's initial launch, in 2013. Source.

• An expansive, "living" meta-world has been designed around the game, with player actions influencing the overall flow of what goes on in the MWO universe. Players can take part in inter-faction warfare to help their faction conquer planets from enemies, and player Mercenary corps can fight over their own planets in the "Periphery". Source.

• There will be three types of Planets in the meta portion of the game:
  
  - Core Worlds, controlled by the devs/GMs that play important historical roles or are otherwise "untouchable";
  - Faction Worlds, open to attack by other factions, the primary way in which faction warfare players will do battle;
  - Border Worlds, planets in the Periphery of the Inner Sphere not under the administration of any of the major factions. Mercenary Corps will be able to fight over these.

• Players will be able to join, individually, any of the major Successor States; the Federated Commonwealth (an alliance of the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth), the Draconic Combine, the Free Worlds League, the Capellan Confederation and the Free Rasalhague Republic. These factions are engaged in various conflicts with one another, and a player's actions taking part in battles on behalf of their faction will influence this greater "meta" war and ongoing story of the MWO universe. Factions can attack and conquer planets from other factions, with the outcome of these attacks determined in-game by matches fought by faction-aligned players. Source.

• Players can instead join a Mercenary Corp made up of other players (like a guild, clan etc). Mercenary Corps can fight on behalf of a faction by bidding on and winning contracts. A logical conclusion is that players can not simultaneously be aligned to a particular faction *and* a member of a Merc Corp. Mercs can also take part in fighting over "Border Worlds", not aligned to any of the major factions, fighting against other Merc Corps. While in possession of a border planet the Merc Corp receives benefits and points. Source.

• Players can do neither of the above and instead be "Lone Wolves". These players will have no options for helping specific factions and will mostly take part in "random battles". According to Dev Q&A 2, Lone Wolf players will still take part in the broader inter-faction/mercenary conflicts, filling out ranks if a particular battle can not be filled by faction or mercenary players only. This may mean that a Lone Wolf player has no control over who they fight for; they will click a button and simply be put into a game on a random side. Source.

• While part of a faction, players earn bonuses to their C-Bill payments and receive Loyalty Points and have access to special skins and other items unique to that faction. A player's rank, increased by fighting for that faction, determines what kind of bonuses they get; at the highest ranks players may be able to influence meta-decisions their faction makes such as which planets to attack. A player's rank is non-permanent and maintaining a rank requires constant play; otherwise his/her rank will slowly reset after inactivity. Source.

• The developers have stated they want to introduce some game dynamic that dissuades players from jumping in and out of different factions and Merc corps, by offering each type of player (Faction, Merc, Lone Wolf) different and unique rewards that they will lose if they leave, as well as an unelaborated "penalty" for leaving. Source.

• The developers have also stated that faction-specific rewards will NOT be unique. It will simply be easier for a faction-aligned player to gain access to faction-specific items/Mechs than a non-aligned player (a "member's discount"). Source. This somewhat contradicts previous statements, though I suppose if the price difference is substantial enough it could be enough to make them "practically" exclusive.

• At launch, planetary conquests will be decided by a single match, though the developers plan to elaborate on this dynamic in the future. Source.

RUMOURS! (Yes, with a U)

• The Warhammer may be in the game. It was seen in the old, outdated trailer and briefly mentioned in this Q&A, in which answering a question about it seems purposely avoided.

• At launch, players will have immediate access to Mechs of all sizes, from Light to Assault. This was stated by a developer via a forum post, though some time has passed since this statement and we do not know if this remains true.

Again, if you have any information please post it, and give some source!

Edited by zverofaust, 03 February 2012 - 04:21 PM.

[The1WithTheGun]

I don't think the Warhammer should be on that list - that trailer has nothing to do with the current game in development.

[metro]

looks like Matt may have competition for his job. lol...cuz we all know all he does, is repeat what he hears!


Hula THAT !!!

Edited by Metro, 01 January 2012 - 03:57 PM.

[Adridos]

zverofaust, on 01 January 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

• At launch, players will have immediate access to Mechs of all sizes, from Light to Assault. [Citation needed; I've seen this said many times on the forum but can't pinpoint where exactly this comes from.]

I am one of those who saw that. It was once said by a dev long time ago. I am not even sure which forum section it was on (General or Suggestions), but I can swear it is true. You will not find the source now, though, as it will be realy deep in old threads, sorry.


P.S. Yes with an U, not Yes with a U.

[MrJoshua]

Thank you so very much for all that wonderful information. I don't have the time to check every day and now I feel up to date.

[karish]

thanks Zvero this is great

[NotNewHere]

i have heard alot of talk about "information warfare" does this mean Advanced E3 targeting computers (shareing targets with your lancemates) and stealth armour will be implimented? because in the current game the only thing you can do is narc taging, and the unbalanced mechs makes it way to risky to be worth it,

[Cong Min Voronkov]

Nicely put together info.
But you may want to change the “most matches will be 12 vs 12” with “matches will be a maximum of 12 vs 12”

Edited by Cong Min Voronkov, 02 January 2012 - 05:48 AM.

[Threat Doc]

zverofaust, on 01 January 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

RUMOURS! (Yes, with a U)

At launch, players will have immediate access to Mechs of all sizes, from Light to Assault. [Citation needed; I've seen this said many times on the forum but can't pinpoint where exactly this comes from.]Again, if you have any information please post it, and give some source!

In a recent interview, and podcast, it was said that LPs or XPs will lead to unlocks for certain faction-only 'Mechs. I don't have the specific sources, and it's been expressed that it was a slip that has not been verified, and they meant to say skins rather than 'Mechs, though any chance at clarifying this slip has gone unheeded, thus far.

[spear]

Hi zverofaust
Thanks for the info about what is coming, any idea about mechs being able to talk to each other as in WoT platoon members can talk to each other about where to go.

[zverofaust]

Nightwish, on 01 January 2012 - 05:18 PM, said:

i have heard alot of talk about "information warfare" does this mean Advanced E3 targeting computers (shareing targets with your lancemates) and stealth armour will be implimented? because in the current game the only thing you can do is narc taging, and the unbalanced mechs makes it way to risky to be worth it,

What "current game"? The only thing we know at the moment is that there are plans for more emphasis on electronic warfare, and we know one thing they've talked about is using some sort of UAV to see things from a high vantage point. We can assume though that we'll probably see things like BAPs, C3 Networks, ECM, NARC beacons and TAG lasers but there's been no word about how they'd actually work in-game.

[Hiroshi Tachibana]

Nightwish, on 01 January 2012 - 05:18 PM, said:

i have heard alot of talk about "information warfare" does this mean Advanced E3 targeting computers (shareing targets with your lancemates) and stealth armour will be implimented? because in the current game the only thing you can do is narc taging, and the unbalanced mechs makes it way to risky to be worth it,

They said that scout 'mechs will have a viable role, as well as attackers, defenders, and "commanders". I'm paraphrasing quite a lot, but it seems like the whole team will have to be rounded out instead of just "everyone grab an atlas". Maybe there'll be scout drones like we saw in the trailer, jamming (Guardian ECM), and enhanced sensors (Beagle Active Probe). Can't wait to see how they implement it all.

I'm really hoping to see amazing things about this game, but I'm not trying to get my hopes too high. Having read through most of the books as a kid at my local library, there's a LOT that I can expect, and I'm trying to instead just let the devs impress me with what they come up with, rather than expect everything out of the books and (potentially) be disappointed.

[Derick Cruisaire]

Thank you for consolidating this information in one spot. This will make keeping up to date considerably easier.

[Tifalia]

Nice compilation and certainly will help many people, old and new who are after facts on what the game will be like once it is launched, however it might be a good idea idea to only post information that is definitely slated for the release, as opposed to may be or not 100% confirmed, like you have said for the 'mechs that will be included.

Edited by Tifalia, 01 January 2012 - 08:03 PM.

[Felbombling]

Thanks for the hard work on this. I have high hopes for this game, it looks like tons of fun in an exciting environment. I'm wondering about tactics, though. Should be good laughs to see some eager heavy run off into a cluster of enemy Mechs while eleven other Mechs are standing around asking about tactics.

"OMG! The Atlas is afk taking a bio break!!"

[Zams]

I hope the warhammer and its Clan variant make it in the game. Its a badass mech.

[Ghost]

It's tempting to sticky this. Good work!

[warpig07]

with the balance they want to put in the game, itd make sense to allow light through assault mechs at the beginning, seems similar to the class system used by the Battlefield Series

[Seth]

Wow, this is great stuff! I can tell it took a lot of work to put that together. Here's another one you can add:

Melee combat will be a part of MechWarrior Online, a first for the MechWarrior series. There will be a specific planet in MechWarrior that demands melee combat as a primary means for destruction. It's strongly suspected that this planet could in fact be Solaris VII, the gladiator planet. Source

Edited by Seth, 01 January 2012 - 11:52 PM.

[Nik Van Rhijn]

Excellent post. One thing I think should be highlighted from the Info Warfare section in Game;
"Tactical manoeuvres will be required now more than ever and the key to success is using InfoTech alongside great team play. The newly implemented Battle Grid will give commanding units a bird’s eye view of the battlefield and scouts will be able to feed real time recon information to them. The battlefield commander will be able to call in air strikes, artillery strikes and other support unit requests."
This section alone would make MWO unlike any released full MW game (beta's etc excluded) and gives me great hope for what we will get.