5 replies to this topic

[ice trey]

Mechwarriors of the past and present, I'd like your input on this.

For all the ranting and raving going on about systems and which 'mechs we want to take, I'd like to ask something a little less crunchy, a little more fluffy. I'm curious about which maps/planets/whatever stuck with you the strongest over the whole of the Battletech universe series of games, reaching back as far as The Crescent hawks Inception, to as far forward as Mechwarrior Living Legends or even the Blender Battletech game?

If I were to give my own input, I would have to say that Mechwarrior 2's landscapes were the most interesting. Even beyond the really alien landscapes, and in spite of (or perhaps because of) the graphical limitations of the time, even the mostly terrestrial landscapes had something incredibly... alien about them. Maybe it's just the way that the horizon spreads out into infinity and manages to be perfectly flat; perhaps it's how day can turn to night in a matter of minutes; or perhaps even just the deeper hues of the sky, giving the appearance of a thinner atomosphere...

For me, the giant ice-mesas were always the most interesting battlefields. Seeing towering chunks of ice that dwarfed even dropships jutting out of the reflective surface was always so interesting. Likewise, the mars-like mining world where you had to escort a hover-train; the wide labyrinthine canyons and mesas with towering walls; and of course, the strange world with the thick, purple atmosphere and radar-hampering crystal formations many stories tall... Mechwarrior 2 Mercs had some truely creative landcapes as well, but they didn't have the same eerieness that the Mechwarrior 2 planets sported.

[Alistair Steiner]

Favorite map... Well, I started with MW3, but mostly played MW4 since 3 was my friend's. I liked the crystal formations on the moon levels early in Black Knight. That was interesting. Though seeing the MODLs in Black Knight was mind-blowing as well, considering how much bigger they were than even Assault 'Mechs. MWLL's Extremity is excellent too, with a fast-rotating asteroid turning day to night in 6-minute intervals (I think), with a temperature range from 160 C to -160 C (again, I think), creating some very different strategies depending on the moment, resulting in a pool of green liquid being either a solid or liquid, and making Long Tom artillery explode from overheating if they don't let their heat fully dissipate before firing another round.

[Hayden]

In MW2 mercs there was a mission where the player had to raid a Draconis Combine fire base. This was a night raid, dangerous, and I still vividly recall the (primitive yet vibrant) tracer rounds, lasers, missiles and assorted building fires illuminated in the enhanced vision. And like OP said, the "alien" feel; just beyond the firebase an endless plane stretching off into the horizon, above it the night sky. Good stuff.

In MW3 my favorite map was probably the one with the blown-out dam, with the flooded village at the approach.

[Yeach]

MW4 Big City.
Was fun to jump jet onto the highest tower.

[Mason Grimm]

Moved to OT since it doesn't really deal with THIS incarnation of MW

[Wraith 1]

I think one of my favorite maps was not a planet, but rather the Ice Ship that you had to defend in MW2: Mercs, it sends a chill up my spine just thinking about it. I agree that MW2 had some more interesting maps (the Jade Falcon trial arena rocks), but for me MW2: Mercs just had the best, most eerie feel to it of any game I have ever played.