The "Request of Fealty" Letter -or- "For A Better Game; All-Ideas-In-One" Letter

A Request of Fealty
(revised and updated)
by MagnusEffect

INTRODUCTION

Back in the scarier days of being a MW/BT fan, when my friends and I first heard of the (then) MechWarrior Reboot, we were all sooo excited we got together and tried to come up with the ultimate fan request letter. Mind you, most of us were/are pushing 30, so take a moment to visualize us all huddled around the coffee table, drinking beers, and shouting out ideas while i hastily try to get it all on paper.

THIS is the updated version of that letter that more closely address MWO game mechanics based on what we know about its current form. I recognize there is a certain stigma that “Free2Play” often means a lower production budget. I don't know how much the developers have to work with. I understand they have faced and will face many challenges ahead. What I need people to understand is that we need more than just a prettier MW game, we need something that truly raises the bar in terms of content and innovation. Show us more than just a cockpit, show us the living universe of a mechwarrior!

POINT #1) Response to previously mentioned ideas from developer team

"All Carrot, No Stick" sounds great! Free2Play is fine as long as it doesn't become “Pay2Win”. Allow us to buy at our leisure optional content that gives us opportunities for things such as cosmetic customization, PvE Co-Op missions, XP boosts (whatever that might be) for people who work and time is a premium but money is not, rare (but not superior) mech designs, etc.
Go with the idea of mech class specialization. Every mech class needs to play a USEFUL role! However, allow some flexibility. Players shouldn't HAVE to field one of each mech class to still be a viable force.
Weight limits on buildings is an excellent idea! Just be sure most of them are destructible.
Definitely make it more than just a “point and shoot” venture. Eliminate the “all-guns-zeroed on-one-point” nonsense; allow some weapon spread. Big guns should have some kick to them (Mech3). Getting hit hard should throw your aim. Even walking or running should cause some varying degrees of aim instability.
Love the idea of mechs actually being able to “hide”. There should still be some level of computer targeting, but if a mech is on the other side of a mountain, it should be allowed to “break lock”.
Making heat a more prominent issue is an excellent idea! Bring back ammo detonations due to heat! Bring on other heat related issues such as pilot dizziness or anything else you can think that heat could cause. Heat was too easily ignored in Mech4.

POINT #2) UNIVERSE & MISSION IMMERSION! Give us a reason to keep going! The worst thing about many games is the developers give no incentive to the player to keep playing... and collectible items don't count! Games with the longest lifespan are those that allow players as much creative control as possible or present the player with constantly different circumstances. Look at SimCity as a classic example. The game never really ends. You continue to add to the city because the city is your creation! This translates to MechWarrior in various ways:

GIVE US DIFFERENT MISSIONTYPES AND A SIMULATION MODE.
- Missiontypes: more than just kill the other guys... Assault, Defend, Raid, Escort, Rescue, Recover & Retreat, etc.
- Maybe throw in secondary objectives that trigger randomly during a regular mission.
- Simulation mode: all of the above, but now you can play just for fun with whoever with no risks, but no rewards... well besides fun Here you could also introduce less realistic things like quick-repair bays and have teams duke it out between 2 firebases. Sort of like a capture the fort kind of thing. There isn't any harm in adding it in a “simulation” match.
End the “Victory = Progression to next mission, Defeat = Do-over” ridiculousness. No out-gunned force won a hard fought victory without taking some losses! Instead, why not introduce a sort of sliding scale system for missions triggered by some hidden counter (succeed x amount of missions and progress). To put it more visually, think of it like a football game:
- Each down is like one mission and each forward completion gets you closer to your goal.
- Sometimes you go forwards and sometimes you go backwards. If you do well, you will progress more quickly than if you didn't.
- Only a crushing defeat or the loss of a key mission should cause a “game over.”
- Again, think something like Mech2: Mercs. This means you could even pad scripted missions with more randomized missions in between.
- EXAMPLE: A plot important mission requires you to reclaim an air field. You inflict some damage to the defenders, but are ultimately forced to call a retreat. After exiting the mission zone and returning to the mission briefing you realize your new mission first involves destroying your pursuers before you can regroup to strike at the airfield again.
Perhaps even allow the player to chose which target he wants to attack first. Best example I can think of would be the mission briefing screen from Dawn of War II. Missions are presented from an aerial satellite or topographic hologram-like view and you chose your own attack vector. Missions could even be time/date sensitive.
Give us cool hotdrop or dustoff interaction with dropships; maybe waiting inside one while it lands before exiting to find yourself in the middle of a firefight? (think Saving Private Ryan).
For 3049, give us a more retro feel for IS mechs Mechs need to look and feel like 400 year old war machines that have been constantly retrofitted over generations. We want to see Weisman and Babcock vision of a futuristic version of the idealistic life of WW2 fighter and tank pilots.
Allow some form of logistical support while in a fight. Full repairs of a mech within a few seconds seems totally unrealistic, but what about dropping in a supply truck for replenishment of ammo?
Give us a better feel of logistical needs! Allow for some version toggle menu of options that allow for various logistical controls. Newer players could have the option to only worry about basic needs for their unit, but veterans of the series should be allowed to use a sort of “ultra logistics” mode where everything, including spare parts, weapons, & ammo must be maintained by the player. (Think like Mech2: Mercs, NOT Mech4: Mercs). Veterans would LOVE this.
Allow companies to hire or purchase JumpShips and DropShips. Bigger unit commands will need to buy bigger/more ships if they want to move their forces all at once. Hiring independent ships should be cheaper up front and buying your own should be an investment to cut down on costs long term.
Do away completely with the old “mech store” system of Mech4. It makes no sense to be “buying” so many mech parts (especially whole mechs) when you are stuck on a planet in the middle of a siege. It would make more sense to just be able to salvage anything you pull (or steal) off the field of battle (more on this below).
Introduce a “discovered weapons cache” system or allow players the choice at any time to raid enemy installations or convoys for more supplies rather than buying from a shop.
Outright purchasing of items should be limited to players being on planets that support such a market.
MULTIPLAYER: MUST have a territory conquest mode for MechWarrior. This is NOT optional. It pretty much writes itself: players battle across the Inner Sphere frontlines in an attempt to control planets for their chosen faction. Introduce bonuses to factions that hold certain key planets. Offer some incentive for signing on with underdog/losing factions. (Again, Chromehounds offers a decent example). Probably would be more realistic if players can't push any one faction all the way to their capital... its a big map after all.
INTRODUCE BATTLEVALUE to matches: Multiplayer matches need to be more that just equal tonnage teams divided by equally numbered players. This is especially true once the Clans are introduced. Maybe have BV limitations for individuals and also BV and tonnage limitations for the group as a whole (or something similar that is balanced). true, in most cases, matches will need to be set to groups with equal BV, but image the case of a raiding party attacking a garrison force?:
- The raiding party will likely be veterans with better equipment (i.e. higher BV per mech), but stricter tonnage limitations due to dropship restrictions.
- The responding garrison force will likely be secondary reserve units (lower BV per mech), but tonnage limitations would be far less constrained since they do *live* on the planet.
Any chance of PvE? Create some level of force randomization (think random encounter tables from Battletech tabletop game) and randomly spawning encounters.
GIVE US THE “RESEEN” IN SOME FASION without violating copywrite laws. The reasons for this are that some mechs simply carry certain weapon configurations in ways no other mech does! What other period mech of the same weight can you think of that carries the loadout of a Thunderbolt, a Warhammer, a Marauder, etc? Ultimately, I don't care if it looks exactly like a Warhammer or if it is even CALLED a Warhammer as long as it still FEELS like a Warhammer. The Reseen Thunderbolt and Marauder don't look anything like the Unseen versions, why can't we have those?I don't care if we even have to commit heresy and go for something “noncanon” as long as they have the characteristics of the Unseen/Reseen.
IN REGARDS TO THE CLANS
- The Clans NEED game mechanics that cause them to play fundamentally different. They need to FEEL like the Clans.
- If they can't be made to play really differently, then make them vicious AI that we all have to fear/fight against as an unwelcome third party/wildcard (PvE content).
- We REALLY need to avoid the Clans become "just another House" like in recent MW titles.
- Simply making their equipment cost more and dropping into battle with less tonnage/mechs is boring and uncreative. Think harder people.

POINT #3) GAME MECHANIC TWEAKING: Make it better than before!

PLEASE FIX THE BOATING + PINPOINT ACCURACY ISSUE: Laser boats, and to a lesser extent, missile boats were a big issue in previous games. Here are some ways to solve this problem:
Stock large weapons (AC/10&20s, LRM/15/20s, PPCs, Lrg Lasers, Gauss Rifles) can only be fitted with similarly sized weaponry on a 1:1 basis. These are the weapons that usually define a mech's characteristics anyway. Smaller weapons can be clustered and swapped out more easily.
Increase the potency of individual large weapons, but make it harder to fit many of them. Most mech designs are built around only 1-3 primary weapons, with secondary weapons fitted in as necessary. In MW4, seeing a mech with 6 or 7 Lrg Lasers was ridiculous, but common.
Do away with previous games aiming system of all weapons aimed at a single point. Players should be able to aim with some degree of success, but there should be some weapon spread.
Decrease Alpha Strike usage!: The toll an alpha strike takes on mechs firing them has been incredibly downplayed in every game, especially in larger mechs. Mech electrical and mechanical systems are VERY complicated things. In the IS, they are also commonly hundreds of years old. An alpha strike triggers a MASSIVE surge of energy through all systems. All the heatsinks in the world won't IMMEDIATELY disperse that much heat. The more weapons involved in an alpha strike, the more likely something should break or cause unbearable heat. On larger mechs they should be reserved for acts of desperation or a final all-or-nothing killing blow. They should NOT be a primary method of attack.
WEAPON CHARACTERISTICS:
Make big guns SCARY again! Mech4 really toned down weapon damage and made mechs far more resilient than they had any right to be. Even Mech2 was weird in its damage as certain larger weapons (i.e. Lrg Lasers) were completely ignored in favor of a boat load of more efficient medium lasers. An AC/20 should without exception sever any limb on a light mech it connects with... a single salvo should probably kill them if it connects with a torso too, but I guess that could depend on things. PPCs, AC/20s, LRM/20s, etc. are suppose to be scary. MAKE THEM SCARY!
Give smaller weapons like Flamers and Machine Guns a real purpose; maybe give them attack bonuses against entrenched infantry and lightly armored vehicles. Flamers could set fire to buildings, forests, etc. Machine Guns could act as tracer fire to help aim bigger weapons. TEN Machine Guns really should equal the damage of one AC/20 (albeit a bit scattered and with much shorter effective range). Whatever you can think of really.

COOLANT & FLUSHING: The mechanics behind "flushing" coolant in previous MW titles have been all wrong. Based off of the game's tech, a mech only carries so much coolant. When flushing, you are essentially dumping the "hot coolant" out of your mech and letting the remaining "cold coolant" take over (not all coolant is hot or cold in a mech, just like not all the water in your pipes is hot or cold... it cycles). However, by doing so you are left with LESS COOLING CAPACITY. In previous games, nothing was taking in to account for this.
Coolant flushing should be handled similar to SWEATING:
A mech purges "liquid" to ventilate heat to the outside.
However, like the human body, a mech only carries so much "liquid". The more you "purge" the faster you ventilate "TEMPORARY HEAT" (i.e. weapon heat buildup).
Your mech still generates a "CONSTANT HEAT" just from the engine, running systems, etc.
Flush too much coolant and you suddenly are having to fight just to keep your mech operational all together! Suddenly, the lame coolant flush "feature" becomes this neat balance between maximizing firepower and totally ******** yourself.
Even then, you should only be able to do a complete flush (taking you from overheated to minimum heat scale) once or twice before dumping so much coolant that your mech can barely operate at all, nevermind actually firing heat intensive weapons.
SENSORS & TARGETING:
For targeting and scouting purposes, completely do away with the old radar methods and introduce basic principles of RADAR and HEAT SIGNATURES (IR sensors)... PLEEEEAASE (READ: NEW FEATURE!).
IR Sensors: A cool running mech could potentially hide much more easily... or completely... such as in a cold lake (this tactic has been used to great effect in Battletech lore). But a hot running mech should be more easily spotted on sensors. Also, a mech hiding behind a thin concrete wall should be somewhat easier to target than one hiding behind a large hill or thick structure, since heat can “bleed through” objects up to a point.
Radar: Mechs should pick up targets on ridgelines or open areas regardless of heat signatures. Radar should NOT pickup mechs hiding inside ruined buildings, forested areas, etc. Basically, Radar should require line of sight, but heat sensors may not. The trick is heat sensors are easier to give off false readings (MAKE FLARES USEFUL!)
Both Radar and IR signatures could be shared on the same readout screen.
Time of day and atmosphere could also play into radar behavior.
Beagle Active Probe and ECM (assuming you include them) should do something more interesting (closer to BattleTech rules) than previous incarnations.
MAP: Give players a tactical map that they can switch to and tell lancemates to “go here, defend here, attack here, escort this, wait in ambush here” etc (think Ghost Recon series). You shouldn't have to hold their hand so much everywhere. Allow for a camera view of what your lancemates see so you can direct them remotely; very useful when your mech is down.
Downplay *easy* concentration of fire by minimizing advertisement of gamertags on mechs. Player's gamer tags should be *somewhat* anonymous on radar or when targeted (until maybe they get sort of close?). In an actual war, soldiers don't know who they are shooting at. Many times they can't even specify what target to shoot at. It would also pave the way for better utilization of TAG, jamming, command console features, and spotting gameplay mechanics to compensate for this.
MECH SPECIALIZATION: MORE CONTENT TO BE ADDED LATER
More on mech class experience: I think you should be able to gain experience in multiple classes, but the class of mech skills you don't use should degrade over time (as they say: if you don't use it, you lose it). That way it is impossible to completely “max out” your skills in every class. However, it should be possible to be relatively proficient in multiple classes of mechs.
More mech class experience gives steadier aim, better sensor readings, more effective punching, less chance of falling, better heat management, better agility or more responsiveness in controls and throttle, etc.
DESTRUCTION, SALVAGE, & REPAIR: MORE CONTENT TO BE ADDED LATER
Introduce TRUE dynamic salvage from a controlled battlefield
LEGS: Allow legs to become crippled like in Mech4, but at some point LEGS SHOULD GET BLOWN OFF! A mech with legs blown off can't move, but at least it can still shoot.

POINT #4) IT IS TIME FOR PHYSICAL ATTACKS!: Put those mech hands to work! The Succession Wars were a brutal affair and this would only strengthen that experience. People have been wanting this one for a long time and it would definitely increase the intensity of city battles, but this needs to be done carefully.

Battlemechs are relatively slow, clumsy things. What we don't want to see is lightning fast physical attacks similar to Armored Core or some other Japanese mecha game. Attacks should require some windup and follow through before a mech can swing another punch/kick. ( maybe about 3 seconds between attacks?)
Physical attacks could also cause mechs to be knocked down (one or both parties involved) depending on previously mentioned idea of pilot experience in piloting certain mech classes. Higher experience means less chance of falling. (this should be the same for when pilots receive ranged damage as well; more damage = greater chance of falling)
Mechs should struggle a little bit more to stand back up than in previous games.
A punch from a battlemech needs to feel BRUTAL. It needs to convey a sense of 15 tons of armored fist impacting and crushing another mech's skull. Bits of twisted metal or broken glass needs to be seen exploding off the impact. A physical strike of any sort should at the very least cause the mech that was struck to stagger back a few steps (distance depending on weight).
Weight should also play a LARGE part in this based on the scale of the two mechs involved. An assault mech should be able to lay a 20ton mech out far more easily than another assault mech. A light mech should deal far less damage to any target than an asssault mech.
There is really only one effective way to do it: Assign ONE attack button that is CONTEXT SENSATIVE!
Aiming your reticle high will give a punch which may or may not strike the head.
Aiming low gives a kick, but due to clumsiness of mechs, this can only be done when the mech is moving at a slow speed or standing still. Kick 'em while their down!
Punching a target while charging directly at full speed instead causes a shove which does less concentrated damage in itself, but has an increased chance of knocking the mech over.
When prone, the “action button” could be used to stand your mech up again, but you should still be allowed to fire from a prone position (depending on how you are facing).
If you fail to connect with the attack, there is a chance you could lose your balance and fall (again, depending on mech class piloting skill)
Maybe trigger a button mashing grapple fight sequence when two mechs attack eachother at the same time. The victor would shove their opponent to the ground... just a thought.
Another idea... (assuming you have hands) using the action near rubble or fallen mechs will allow you to break/snap/shoot off limbs or girders and use them as makeshift clubs

ACTUATORS:
Mechs with hand actuators deal more punching damage than those without.
Mechs with just elbows deal half the damage (Warhammer) and if that arm is used there is a chance of damaging weapons in that arm. I would say at least 25% chance.
Mechs with no elbows (Catapult) cannot punch at all, but can still charge and kick.
The benefit of not having hand actuators could be the use of larger sized weapons in the arms depending on the size of the mech (assault mechs should still be able to use all but maybe AC/20s in the arms and still have hand actuators).
Possibly allow mechs without elbows to reverse their arms to fire backwards using a rear camera... just a thought.

After all this, if you REALLY want to earn some brownie points, give us mech hatchets (hello hatchetman/axeman). Emphasize the brutality of such an attack. That would be epic. Probably would be best if they can be fitted to any mech with hand actuators.

POINT #5) READ MY LIPS: CONTENT. CONTENT. CONTENT.

Don't go the route of Mech4 with the fancy live action videos or Battlefield 3 with “hyper-realistic graphics” if you can't first secure plenty of content. Ask yourself this: Are some cool 3 minute videos worth unremarkable gameplay? There are many creative ways to tell a story. Find one that is compelling. Personally, I like the idea of a hand-drawn storyboard method. Maybe something artful like Mark of Kri's approach or with limited animation like the intro to Sins of a Solar Empire. Maybe you could transition from the hand-drawn storyboard to in game battle video when it is desireable. It is generally a cheaper method that can be quite beautiful when done correctly. Doing this will allow more assets to be focused on finding good voice talent and working on more content (both are a must). Holographic-like mission briefing videos are always cool though... and easier to make
Allowing user content either through custom campaigns, missions, mechs, or maps will GREATLY increase the lifespan and popularity of the game. The core MechWarrior fan base and mod community is very well founded... but you all already know this. This is really a no-brainer.
Really, the bottom line is give players a CHOICE of playing the game either in a more simplified version (for newer players) or something closer to the source material (for veterans and fans of the series). It is the ONLY way to make everyone happy.

Well I guess that is it. If you got to this point, we really appreciate you giving us a fair shake. Good luck on making what we all hope is a groundbreaking experience that lives up to expectations... heheh... no pressure ; )

Most sincerely,
MagnusEffect

Edited by MagnusEffect, 12 November 2011 - 04:11 PM.

The "Request of Fealty" Letter -or- "For A Better Game; All-Ideas-In-One" Letter

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