Here is the link: http://www.dropshipcommand.com/forum/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=7&topic_id=39216&mesg_id=39216&page#39217
Is this a big blow to PC gaming or will they recontinue the series at a later date? I never got into the Mec games so I could care less, but I’m sure there are a lot of fans who are going to be quite dissapointed.
:(
On one hand I’m disappointed, because I avidly play the games in the series, but to be frank, I hope the license goes to a better developer. Mechwarrior 4 and it’s respective expansions are without a doubt the worst of any battletech/mechwarrior games, in terms of story and gameplay. Some might even say MW3 had better (less cartoony, more realistic) visuals too.
What I would really like to see is someone picking up the gauntlet of multiplayer battletech 3025.
I didn’t read this as being the end. I read it as: The games aren’t doing as well as we’d like, so we’re scrapping what we’ve done so far and starting over on something new.
Peter
Well, I hope Peter’s right and they’re taking the series in a new direction.
The giants of the series, to me, are still MW2 and MW2: Mercenaries. Both of those games were best of breed for their time (it helped that they were among the first generation of 3D titles, too). But the combination of good gameplay, graphics, and story made those two very interesting to me.
What I would love to see is a Mechwarrior game more along the lines of Freelancer, where you could build up your own mercenary force and either sell services to the highest bidding house or head out into the periphery and stake out your own little empire.
But I read this article as more likely a death knell than the rebirth. I hope I’m wrong.
ASJunk
I’d really like to see them do the next Mechwarrior game with open ended gameplay. Make it open-ended like Freelancer or GTA 3. Let the player travel to lots of locations on several different planets (and hitch a Dropship between planets), take on dynamic missions, take on story missions, hire lance mates, upgrade weapons, buy new mechs, etc, etc. Maybe this would be a bitch to code, but I don’t see why they couldn’t be designing the next game like this right now.
I didn’t read this as being the end. I read it as: The games aren’t doing as well as we’d like, so we’re scrapping what we’ve done so far and starting over on something new.
Peter[/quote]
Yeah, but what? As I mentioned on the front page where I put this story, they’ve done a tactical game (mechcommander) and a cockpit sim. What’s left? An RPG?
It would be fun to see them do a 4X game – Mechlords anyone? I doubt a 4X Battletech game would be a big seller, though.
Bah. I’m still waiting for someone, anyone, to develop a Succession Wars PC game.
I see these games either transitioning to console ala MechAssault, or going the way of Freelancer and changing the control mechanism so you don’t have to have a joystick to play them on PC. Or possibly both.
The days of making games that require a joystick on PC are pretty much over. Unless you can get in and out of the game with a $1-$2 million budget, there’s no way you can be profitable with them (that I’ve seen).
And the type of people who play these games are the most demanding, so budgets in the neighborhood of $5-$6 million are probably more realistic.
I played Mechwarrior 3 & 4 smoothly without a joystick – just keyboard and mouse. Not sure what you’re talkin’ bout, Willis!
DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!
Well, I guess I would be less bitter about this situation if they scrapped MW5 for a MW RPG… :D
BTW, what’s not to like about the MW4 games? It actually added strategy to mech loadouts, since you had different types of hardpoints unlike MW3. The multiplayer was much more interesting because of this.
I’d like to see just one fucking strategic mechwarrior game. I know, I know, it’s hard to make a turn-based strategy game when you’ve got an endless series of mediocre FPS-style mechwarrior games to churn out.
Bastards.
I am with Jason all the way here. However, there have been some decent shareware games that do this. There was also the Battletech CRPG back in,…umm, was it 93 94? But I still want to see a full-scale production tactical TBS game that really captures the table-top miniatures game.
They can leave out the fat guys with pony tails who always argue about the optional rules at every convention game.
Yeah, but I don’t want a shareware game. What’s the point of a license if you don’t use it?
The Microsoft handling of Battletech is analogous to someone aquiring the license to Risk or Axis and Allies and making only first person shooters out of it. Mindboggling disregard for the pre-existing fanbase.
Well, MW2 was the same thing, before Microsoft got it.
I felt like they were forcing me to waste space on ineffective weapons I didn’t want. Aside from a few medium lasers as a backup weapon, I tend to focus a mech on a particular large weapon. Missiles, LBX, Gauss, whatever. I need more space for those, and forcing three types of hardpoints on me just made me mad. Two types of hardpoint per mech would have been fine, but most of the time I didn’t want to waste the weight on some paint scratcher like an SRM2 or an MG. Now my mech is underperforming because those useless hardpoints mean it can only fit Light Gauss instead of the real thing.
Hmm, I may have to dig out MW3 again. I don’t think I ever finished Pirate Moon.
I didn’t read this as being the end. I read it as: The games aren’t doing as well as we’d like, so we’re scrapping what we’ve done so far and starting over on something new.
Peter[/quote]
Yeah, but what? As I mentioned on the front page where I put this story, they’ve done a tactical game (mechcommander) and a cockpit sim. What’s left? An RPG?
It would be fun to see them do a 4X game – Mechlords anyone? I doubt a 4X Battletech game would be a big seller, though.[/quote]
I would love to see a Battletech RPG. The game universe is incredibly ripe for such a product.
If you don’t want paint-scratchers, bulk up your armor, heat sinks, or speed instead – all of those are actually useful things to do, and you’re not wasting space. Or if you can’t fit the weapon you want on, choose a different mech. There are plenty of options in each weight class.
I guess what I liked about MW4 is that it didn’t let you turn a Catapult into a Nova Cat – mechs were more than their tonnage limits, and you knew which kinds of mechs had what kinds of hardpoints.
Of course, the irony here is that Mechwarrior (in the pen & paper days) was the RPG version of Battletech…
I agree 100%. It’s a rich world to work in. I just hated MW3 and MW4 – both lacked soul. I didn’t play any of the add-ons, so I can’t comment on those. But they just weren’t for me.
As Tom wouldn’t say, “they weren’t fun.”
ASJunk
Mech-Com…that’s what they should do. Put your mechwarrior force on some planet and have you play policeman on other worlds. Keep funding by saving planets from incursion, lose it by failing missions. Have base defense mission on your homeworld… etc.
Everyone wants X-Com for the modern era, this license is very well suited to pulling it off and having it be “bigger” than X-Com.
–Dave