A few things i'd love to see in the possible future (and I know this is probably going to be somewhat unrealistic depending on scope of gameplay and whatever they'd like to develop), but NPC infantry and Vehicle units which have effects based off of mech equipment usage.
(they'd have to come up with a lot of new systems to make this work...Voting system, Basic NPC AI...NPC units...new functions for each item...new systems to track the flow of the battle...etc)
To keep it within the game concept, both sides drop with 8 mechs (2 lances) along with their battalion of infantry platoons and vehicles (which I would believe would be acceptable within the Battletech universe in concept).
Have a game mode where both sides have dropzones on a planet (their spawning points).
Objective of both sides are to get their vehicles and infantry to a rallying point to occupy a capitol/population center of the region/planet.
The three major unit types would be.
1) Infantry units (which can take over bases and facilities to activate their abilities/function and move via man-jump packs or vehicles depending on the type of facilities unlocked. Armed machine guns initially. Can obtain SRMs and Inferno SRMs with facility captures)
2) Tank and LRM carrier units (Tanks armed with autocannons which can be directed using the TAG laser system if equipped, LRM carriers can attack anything with a NARC beacon. Ultra ACs can be unlocked)
3) Scouting units (hovercraft with small lasers which can spot targets they come across).
All weapons will work of course, BUT
- Flamers **** all the **** up...(platoons are decimated, armored tanks cook off their ammo, and scouts fly by in a blaze and crash)
- SRMs are good against tanks but cannot be directed by TAG
- LRMS are good against the vehicles and facilities and can be guided for indirect fire with the TAG laser (and provide a sort of splash damage because of the general quantity of LRMs being landed. you'll cover a large patch of area with 2 x LRM 20s for example).
- If the infantry are mechanized (vehicles) any weapon which can harm a vehicle are effective. If they've been "upgraded" to jumptroops, then the small pulse weapons, LB styled autocannons and machine guns are the only really efficient weapons to wipe out the platoons (or just area saturation with SRMs/LRMs)
The infantry units spawn at a set rate from the dropship zone (which is protected by the dropship weapons to keep the other side from rushing the spawn points). Each dropship per "game" will spawn/release the following with a maximum the ship can hold..
8 Battlemechs (your team!)
1 infantry platoon every 30 seconds. (maximum of 1 battalion of 3 companies. Each company with 4 platoons for a total of 12 platoons total)
1 Scout craft every 2 minutes (maxium of 4 scout craft)
1 Tank lance every minute (maximum of 4 lances of 4 tanks...16 tanks total)
NPCs can be directed via a pre-game lobby where there are three sections.
1) Infantry Strategy (which facilities to capture to improve their chances of winning)
2) Armor Strategy (which passes to move toward to make sure their autocannons are available at those locations for Mechs to direct)
3) Scouting strategy (patterns of the grid to scan...etc)
The PRIMARY objective of the game is to obtain the greatest number of capture points and/or capture the capitol (use a ticket system similar to conquest but make it where destoyed units will cause the tickets to decrease from the other side...so they can't just ignore their NPC units as it can be used to lower their number of total victory tickets)
Each strategy will have a set of pre-made patterns the NPCs will try to follow kind of like picking plays in a Football game which will determine the movement of your units and their assigned objectives.
Choose the infantry strategy: "take communications and intel" and the infantry platoons will immediately move toward the ECM facilities which will effectively jam the enemy ECMs. Choose "acquire tech" and they'll arm themselves with SRM launchers (including the dreaded inferno rounds which will cause a mech's internal heat to spike considerably). Choose "deny enemy movement" and they'll blow up tunnels, caves, bridges and passes to block the enemy team's mech and NPC movement (effectively changing the battlefield and the necessary strategies).
The strategies can be shifted once every time a point is captured, a kill is scored, or an objective denied (allowing the team to adjust their strategies on the fly and which will be notified by visual and audio cues.
Your platoon just took the Jammer facility! ECMs are now half their effective range. PING...strategy point is now avaialble, please vote on your selected strategy now.
1) Attack Enemy Weapon Facility (Destroy Enemy SRM launchers)
2) Blow up Bridge at E7 (deny the enemy movement)
3) Acquire SRM technology at Weapon base
4) Acquire Jumppack technology at Advanced Recon Faclitiy
5) Attack Capitol
6) Abstain from vote (allow someone else to decide)
Strategies can also be managed by "deceased" mech pilots (who are no longer piloting a mech but can now act as NPC unit directors, letting people play and be useful even after they've died).
Those who die sooner get the least useful positions to help after death. Those who cause damage and havoc among their enemies get better after-death jobs. Rush to the enemy base? Best you can do is place a marker when an enemy is spotted (which will act as if you had targeted using R so your living allies can see their blips)....Kill 3 enemy mechs? you get a tank lance to direct! and their kills now count toward your CBill total. Yay!).
Once the last mech is dead, the game will fast calculate how the game would have gone according to the set strategies (pre-calculated based off of what objectives were completed and how many forces are still alive).
The assumption is the Battlemech is the master of the battlefield and would have turned a loss to a win if they were still around, but if they die...it's all over and the current conditions will determine the victor.
Would make the game long as hell, but a man can dream.
(i've got a ton more, but I only had a small amount of time to type it all up).
Basic concept...
Make it where the equipment in the game means more than JUST how much damage it can deal.
Have some of the equipment direct the NPC forces if used in a certain context (TAG laser to direct an autocannon target...for instance.)
Make it where escaping and living (even in a damaged mech) will still make you an effective player (since you can direct the NPCs, or take out the enemy infantry platoons)
Keep it simple but allow the game to feel like it's about more than just slug the enemy mechs until victory...
Imagine if you will....
I'm in a light mech.
We've set our infantry strategy to "Communications and Intel" and the Armor strategy to "Protect Convoy" becasue we're short on ECM mechs to counter the enemy and vitally need intel! As our platoons move toward the ECM facility to the east, I push forward and scout the area ahead with my Beagle Active Probe.
Almost immediately I get a hit, I spot a Centurion providing overwatch on an enemy platoon moving toward the same ECM facility our forces are moving toward. Maybe they're light on ECM too!
The Centurion outmasses my Commando by a good 25 tons but it looks like he hasn't spotted me yet and all I can see is just the infantry platoon moving in front of him. Instead of wasting my life trying to whittle him down, I take careful aim and TAG him. A quick radio report indicates the Armor Lance behind me has begun their barrage. Explosions blossom along the Centurions's left torso and arm as the four simultanious AC/5s pepper him with rounds. Good thing we told the Armor to protect the platoon convoy otherwise they would'nt have been available.
As I prepare to launch a pair of Streak SRM missles toward the enemy, the Centruion's left torso explodes as his autocannon ammunition is hit and I get a notice the target was destroyed....looks like he's must have had an XL engine because he's now down for the count (odd he didn't decide to put his ammo in his legs...but whatever). I quickly move in with my small pulse laser and start shooting the enemy convoy. As their vehicles blow up in puffs of smoke my forces move in and begins to capture the facility...looks like we're going to be blocking their ECM by a good 50% (meaning their ECM carriers will cover only 90 meters around them instead of 180...a good advantage in a battle such as this.).
My console pings me...it looks like the infantry platoons are now asking for new direction....the grid fills up as all of the mechwarriors (the eyes and ears of the invasion force from our lofty positions on the battlefield) tally where they'd like to go next. Looking at the Map, it looks like our scouts have made it to the 6 line, looks like they've exposed 2 enemy platoons of infantry and a pair of hunchbacks trying to take the munitions depot (which will give them better autocannon fire from their tanks and Inferno rounds for their infantry). Looks like we're too far from their depot, but they'll probably try to come down the bridge... I tack in my vote and the board lights up (I was apparently the last one to tally). It looks like we're going to blow up the bridge and slow up the enemy platoons and tanks from getting on this side of the river. On my headset I hear one of the other Mech pilots mention he's in position with his Missile Boat.
"Looks like it's going to be a good battle..." I mutter to myself with a smile. Turning my mech, I push forward on the throttle and move toward our next objective. Lets see how their tanks like a little TAG guided LRM fire....
Edited by Hakai, 20 December 2012 - 07:31 PM.
3
) in a similar design to Tribes:Ascend. A base wit the flag, a generator that powers turrets that can be destroyed ( would be repaired by the generator over a time period again )
