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[umiman]

6. I'm not sure if elevation does anything? Maybe it affects aim? Didn't seem like it did anything for me. Doesn't seem like there's any point in standing on a hill other than to get clear line of sight.

I haven't played this particular game, but in actual BattleTech you have to be "hull down" to get a benefit from elevation. Stick your legs behind a hill with your torso poking out and you'll probably see a bonus.

Standing on a hill looking down at something isn't really useful, although it can improve your line of sight (seeing over trees, instead of having to look through them.)

Turns out it does affect accuracy. Gives a small boost depending on height. I could see it when I fiddled with jumpjets as the game will tell you your potential accuracy if you move to an area.

[Dohon]

Paradox will do a stream on the game in about one hour and a half. Check it out here then.

(I'll link to the Youtube upload once it's up on their channel).

EDIT: Turns out the stream was yesterday and it involved them playing the single player mission that was previewed earlier. If you still want to see it, have a looksie here.

[Dohon]

The Backer Beta has been taken offline. Launching the beta in steam leads to an error about a missing file.

I found the following message in the Steam folder.

MechWarrior!

Thank you for your participation in the BattleTech Backer Beta! While it is a little sad that the time for playing this version of the game has come to an end, you can bet that means the full version is coming soon..."How soon?" you may ask. Soon - thank you for your patience as we wrap up development and stay tuned for more information.

We have learned a lot from your feedback and just the fact that you played has helped make the game better. We very much appreciate the playtime you put in and hope you enjoy the adjustments we have made when the full game arrives. We look forward to your playing at that time just as we know you are!

Best wishes,
Your Friends at Harebrained Schemes

[Mephansteras]

The beta was fun. I am really looking forward to playing the full game.

[Dohon]

Also, HBS started a series of tweets called Mech Mondays. So far, we got a glimpse at the Locust LCT-1V, Commando COM-2D, Firestarter FS9-H, Hunchback HBK-4G and the Awesome AWS-8Q.

[lordcooper]

What's the reasoning behind not leaving it running until launch?

[Retropunch]

What's the reasoning behind not leaving it running until launch?

I imagine there are two reasons:
Firstly, having a time period where people can't play it will make them more likely to buy it when it does come out. Most people get a craving for a certain 'type' of game, and so playing the beta probably scratches that itch enough to not need to buy it until a sale/etc. I know that was the case when I was playing one of the recent 4x games - I played the beta enough that I really didn't see the point when the final version came out. This effect is especially potent if you've got hooked on the beta and it's pulled away from you - you might have burned out otherwise.

Less commercially, I imagine that they're not really taking any more input from players - they've probably got all that they can out of the the beta testing side of it so more bug reports etc. won't help.

I don't like it as it goes against the 'if I've bought it then it's mine' principle that I think is very important, but I can see why they'd do it.

[Dohon]

HBS also wanted to take down the servers and integrate a new authentication system, getting them ready for the full release. And getting in some upgrades / bugfixes on the backend as well.

Still no firm release date, but once it's out there, I'll post it here.

[Dohon]

Some new Mech profile tweets, this time the Quickdrawn QKD-4G and the Trebuchet TBT-5N.

THere is also a new Kickstarter update. No solid release date yet (beyond a "in the next few months"), although it seems like they are in the "tweak" fase. They also explained a bit on the new multiplayer direction (originally more of a "solaris league" thing, now more of regular skirmish). There are also several kickstarter stretch goals that will be added after release.

Spoiler: Content of the Update (click to show/hide)

Happy New Year Everyone!

We’re excited to report that the team hit their end-of-the-year goals and are on track for a great launch this year. While we don’t have a release date to announce yet, we definitely feel good about the state the game is in.

It’s an amazing feeling to have all the pieces in place and to finally play the game we imagined over two years ago! During the week between Christmas and New Years, we took a step back to review our progress and look for areas that need more attention and now we’re back in the thick of it, fixing bugs, balancing the game, PLAYING the game, and taking action to improve the experience day-by-day.

By and large, BATTLETECH is surprisingly close to the vision we originally pitched in the Kickstarter in September 2015. As anyone who’s made a video game can tell you, it’s incredibly rare to finish a game with all the features you envisioned when you start making it. So while we’re surprisingly close, we’re not perfect.

With release in sight in the next few months, we want to tell you about a few features that were part of our Kickstarter Campaign, but need to be delivered post-launch in order to focus development and testing as we move towards release.

 Linux support
Legendary 'Mechs and MechWarriors
Ability to play different types of missions in Skirmish mode (The campaign itself still has plenty of mission types though.)
Some Valhalla-tier reward items (specifics TBD)
Famous character cameos in the campaign (a Social Mission Bonus from the Kickstarter Campaign.)
Famous AI Lances in Skirmish mode (another Social Mission Bonus from the Kickstarter Campaign.)
Rest assured that we are still committed to delivering these features after the game’s initial launch and at no additional charge to Backers.

One other change - instead of a multiplayer experience focused around competitive tournaments & leagues, we've opted for a more friend-focused model of multiplayer functionality. Players can invite each other to matches via Steam/GoG, create private games, and browse public games from the lobby.

Because of this change in direction, we also won’t be delivering a Solaris-themed multiplayer experience at launch. Instead, the game will ship with a diverse set of multiplayer maps across all the game’s biomes to battle on. We recognize that Solaris VII is a great setting for BattleTech experiences, and in success, we still hope to explore different ways to bring Solaris VII to life.

And finally, a feature that wasn’t a Kickstarter commitment but that we talked about online a bunch is Ironman Mode. Unfortunately, that won’t make it in for launch but we’d love to add it later.

Mech_Con 2017
Before we go, we want to thank everyone who came out to Mech_Con 2017 last month. We had a blast hanging out with everyone and hope you did, too. There’s really nothing more invigorating for us than meeting you face-to-face and sharing our mutual excitement for BATTLETECH.
 
The highlight of the evening for us was watching Jordan & Mitch go head-to-head in an epic (though tactically challenged) Battle of the Gray Beards™ with McCain doing color commentary. The two combatants fought a Trial of Honor with the loser kneeling before the winner and pledging to be his Bondsman for one horrible week. You can check out the duel between Jordan and Mitch at this link around the 5:56 mark.

Okay, back to the grindstone. We’re starting back up our Livestreaming Dev Q&As on Wednesday, February 14th hosted by our friends at No Guts No Galaxy. See you then!

See you then! -- HBS

[Parsely]

No Solaris?! Boo!

[Mephansteras]

Does sound like they want to do Solaris at some point.

[Dohon]

New Q&A was done yesterday. Watch it here.

Spoiler: transcript (click to show/hide)

• Mitch Gitelman, Jordan HBSissman, Mike McCain
• It took HBS a lot longer than expected to get the multiplayer beta out. That moved the multiplayer deployment schedule back. HBS started to look at all the pieces that still needed to be done. HBS played a lot of multiplayer, they watched the backers play a lot of multiplayer. And then, HBS started to think about everything they'd love to do on the campaign, which was huge. HBS started to really realize two things. One, something had to give. HBS didn't have enough development resources to to do everything originally hoped for. Focus equals quality. And that focus, both the motivation at HBS and what they saw in the discussions, needed to lay first on the single-player campaign. The second issue is that multiplayer is fun and HBS has done it alot as well. But, like tabletop BattleTech, it has a lot of randomness. That gives you a lots of wonderful surprises which is really fun to play. But it is not ideal for kind of modern competitive play, like you see in eSports and stuff like that, because you know your skill can be augmented or detracted by really bad die rolls or really good die rolls. Not great for live-streamed grudge matches on a stage. That's why HBS felt they needed to focus on the resources they need to make sure that the quality was  there, to make sure that the single-player game was in the right place. So, HBS backed off a little on the multiplayer for know. Once the game game comes out and as people play it and HBS get feedback and, they will see what's possible in the future. HBS will (and do) listen to feedback.
• HBS will need a little more time to get the linux version out. They are committed to those backers with Linux. So, it will probably be out two or three months after release.
• Localized versions of the game will release probably about the same time frame as the Linux version. Actual BattleTech fans are helping right now with the issue. It is an important issue for HBS. The people who do the localization, they needed to understand their language and the unique terminology of BattleTech. Also, all the languages that have been promised in the Kickstarter are still being done. 
• Important reminder: the Q&A's done by HBS are not a venue where they make announcements. People looking for ship date announcements or announcements on post-launch content will find out more in the Kickstarter updates.
• The game is functionally complete. HBS released the backer beta in June, but that was a weird term. It was a beta version of the combat experience, not a beta of the full game. The nomenclature could have been beter. The game right now is in beta. The campaign experience is fun, HBS has a lot of people playing it. It is the final critical stage, where it is still buggy. HBS is working on honing the balance of that campaign, load times, more content, polishing the text of conversations you'll have.
• You can add jump-jets to any Mech. Whether you should though ...
• Mech Quirks were in the initial design documents, but it is not in the game. It might one day though.
• There is a change to the Mechs that will be in the game. Warhammer, Marauder and Raven are out for first launch. The Raven will be held back until HBS has worked more on the sensor warfare part of the game. However, the Catapult K-2 is now in, as is the Black Knight. There is a reason why the Warhammer and Marauder is out, but no comment.
• There is not tonnage-limit when deploying your lance to a mission. You can have a lance of four King Crabs without problems. By the time you actually have that much resources, you are pretty far along in the campaign. It takes time and effort to have four King Crabs or Four Atlasses or what not.
• There are weapon variants. Weapons are made by different manufacturers and they have different stats. YOu have stock, common and rare variants. Certain manufacturers corresponds to certain stat boosts in certain category of weapons. There are no weapon trade-offs. A better weapon is a better weapon. Also, weapons are spread across planets. Every starsystem ahs stores available. What and how many depend on the system, its affiliation, its tech level, wealth, ... Also, if you see a weapon with a + behind it, that means it is a more rare variant. You have normal, + and ++. And just maybe, there might be +++ ...
• + weapons might be better in dealing stability damage, the amount of heat it inflicts, the critical shot chance, overall damage, ...
• Most of the time, the opponents you will face in the campaign will run stock variants. Most of the time. However, opponent Mechs will not always be at full health. Some Mechs have been poorly maintained.
• Pilot skills of the enemy will also vary. You won't know their exact skill level, but you will see their specialization.
• So, salvage ... You think about it when negotiating a contract. You decide how much money want versus how much salvage you want versus the reputation gain with your employer. If you take less money and salvage, you get more reputation. As to salvage, you first decide how much salvage you get overall and then how much of that you can "priority pick". The rest is then awarded / chosen by your employer and given to you. At the end of the mission, things destroyed can not be salvaged. A blown out torso is gone, but the intact arm can be salvaged. Everything is picked up, including the stuff you lost. You then choose the pieces you want "for sure". The rest gets picked random from the salvage pool. However, your stuff (as in, that was yours at the beginning of the mission).
• Just to be clear, if you lose a Mech in combat, you get the damaged chassis back. If you lose a component, it will be removed from that Mech but it will  be returned to you, unless it is completely destroyed. Losing the entire Mech was too big of a penalty according to HBS. It still takes time and (a lot of) money to repair it.
• Headshots are the best way to get as much salvage from a Mech. Or the legs. But Mech salvage has been abstracted by HBS. You don't salvage a specific Atlas Arm or Catapult Leg. Mechs come in salvage parts. Three salvage parts make the Mech. The Shadow Hawk you blasted to pieces for instance, and you can pick up one or more pieces (also depending on how many others you destroyed in that battle). If you have three, you can fully repair that Shadow Hawk back to function.
• Mech parts can be bought as well. You can find Mech remains at stores. Not perfect availability, but it is there.
• You can buy a whole Mech at once. Not cheap!
• In the story campaign, you can also get gifted Mechs from the Restoration. As a Merc, you basically have to get salvage or buy it. There might be other ways, but, spoiler!
• Because you are a mercenary, you also need to think on how you are going to tackle a mission. FOr instance, for an assassination contract, it is viable to send in a light, mobile lance of sniper Mechs and get out fast once the deed is done. In that case, you'll also want to make sure you maximize C-bill payout, because you won't get much salvage.
• You can add better Mech actuators which increase melee performance, better gyros that increase stability performance, heatbanks/converters that help increase your heat tolerance (meaning, increasing the total amount of heat a Mech can take before overheating/shutting down). There is also a cockpit modification that gives another extra free "hitpoint" to your pilot.
• Repairs and refits cost time and money. And time is precious, because while you wait, you keep spending money on other things.
• HBS did a balancing pass on hardpoints and they have been increased across the board to give you more options and flexibility. This is to counter the fact that you almost never at any given amount have access to things you want. If you lose the AC20 on a Hunchback, and you don't have a spare, you want to put something else in it and keep the Mech available. You are often figuring out how to make a chassis work with the parts you have. And HBS finds it fun! Making a Shadow Hawk work a bit like a Catapult by adding LRMs works. A Large Laser on a spider less so, because you have to strip off a lot of armor (according to Mike). Jordan has an extraction spider, a mech with just armor and jump-jets. It grabs the VIP and gets out!
• You cannot change the internatl structure of a Mech. You can reduce or add armor, not internal structure.
• Ammo is a component, you add it to a Mech, it can be destroyed. If it doens't get blown up, ammo is automatically replenished after the match. You don't have to buy individual rounds.
• You can have up to 18 operation Mechs at one time, but you need to upgrade the Argo before you can hold that much. You start with 6 slots (in a Leopard), then have the Argo with 6 slots and then upgrade it to 18. There is also Mech storage. If you put a Mech in storage, you don't have to pay upkeep for it. It is no longer active. The weapons and components are removed and put in your general pool and can be used for others. Pulling a Mech out of storage takes a few days (to get it ready) and then you have to "refit" it with the weapons and components again, taking time again. Storage room is unlimited, the Argo is BIG.
• Mech Techs is a resource you maintain on the Argo and affects repair speed and the like. Upgrading the Argo will affect it and increase it, events can affect it. However, Mech Techs don't get portraits or individual stats. It is just a general stat.
• Mechs can be named.
• The Mechwarrior 3D portrait system as promised in the kickstarter is in the game.
• You can customize the identity of your Merc Outfit. There are quite some emblems you can choose (and those are in a file folder you can reach, so you can add your own). These are just for you though, won't be shared in multiplayer.
• There are paint schemes as well. You can change the color of mech by choosing primary, secondary and tertiary color. Different Mechs come with different paint schemes that deal where which color is applied to the mech. So, you choose the overal colors for your unit and they then get applied to mechs by way of that mechs paint scheme. There isn't an interface with more detail than that, but they are working on it.
• Never forget: time is money in the game. So, time is a constricting factor (according to Jordan). Aggressive players might however face a shortage of pilots and constricted by that. Kiva is working hard on the balance between time, c-bills, pilot, salvage and so on. HBS doesn't want you say "here is my perfect lance of 4 mehcs and their pilots" and then drop missions and don't do new ones until those are repaired/healed again ad infinitum.
• Gaining power starts with better Mechs and leveling up the pilots. Upgrading the Argo is the long game, for instance allowing faster repairs, faster healing... But upgrades have prerequisites. Upgrading the medical bay (for faster heals) may first require upgrading the powerplant of the Argo.
• There is no black market in the game. But the "regular" market can be described as having some gray areas for sure. There also are events that effect the market.
• Your reputation with different factions affects the price of equipment and hiring costs of mechwarriors depending on the system. Some Mechwarriors won't join you if your reputation is the low.
• It costs time and money to travel between systems. Contracts however can give you money to cover the travel cost to a planet. If you don't do the mission in that system though, you'll get bad reputation penalties.
• You can't trade in a mech chassis as a "partial-payment" when buying a new one. You can sell it fully and use the money to buy another one.
• The player is a Mechwarrior. You cannot permanently die, but you can stay a long, long time in the hospital when sufficiently hurt. You level up, gain skills. There is a short background selection system, which will subtly affect your game and campaign. Your starting abilities are determined by your background, as are your starting tags and your starting heraldry.
• Experience points are needed to level up your Mechwarriors. They gain it when going on missions, you spend the points to improve skills. If you upgrade the Argo with training pods, they will gain XP outside of combat.
• Personality traits were planned like Mech Quirks, but aren't in the game. Might come later. The event system might influence certain pilots, which might result in future events dealing with those pilots.
• Systems have hiring halls where you can get pilots. The quality and number are determined by the system. You need an high enough MRB rating to hire more experienced pilots. They have a hiring cost and their monthly upkeep. No negotiations needed. However, it is cheaper in the long run to hire a greener pilot and train him up yourself.
• No funeral expenses for killed pilots. Events regarding funerals are in though.
• There is a small eject animation for pilots. Think Mech Commander.
• The second special ability for the Guts tree is Juggernaut. When meleeing a Mech, you reduce the initiative of the enemy Mech by 1 for 1 round.
• Each contract is authoer based on what the client asking for and what the mission is. That regulates the max amount of salvage. How much you take home, depends on how you perform during battle. However, things like leaving a mission early and thus not getting salvage, that is abstracted.
• Higher reputation gets you access to missions with higher pay, but higher danger. And you get more preferential access to better equipment in stores.
• If you leave a missions without doing much, it is called a "Bad Faith" retreat. You won't get paid and you take a reputation hit. Still the right thing to do sometimes, because you can be outclassed. There is a pre-mission indication that says how hard the mission is (on a scale from 1 to 10 skulls), but you can be surprised in-mission. There is also a good faith retrait. You have put in an effort, did damage and got some objectives, but you pulled out because damage was too much.
• The intel you receive on non-story missions is often not complete. Beware.
• A higher-ranked AI opponent won't inherently perform better than a lower ranked one. A higher ranked one might receive more skills than a lower ranked one. They will use sensor locks, reserve and stuff though, yes.
• You will fight alongside AI controlled units.
• Your starting lance is always the same.
• Planet ownership doesn't change between the Great Houses. As you progress through the story though, planets will switch ownership from the Directorate to the Restoration.
• There is definitely no Star League storage cache hidden somewhere in the campaign. No, definitely not. No comment. Move along.
• You won't go into conflict with your employer and dispute whether or not your retreat was a breach of contract. Not the focus of the game.
• You have artillery strikes and you can fight vehicles. You don't call in artillery yourself and you don't own your own vehicles. You can fight alongside them, but don't control them.
• It is a long game. It's fun and exciting, but it'll take some time. HBS isn't a fan of pinning down a definite number. It in part depends on how you go about it. If you do more missions between the story missions, it'll take longer. Missions get harder later on and you need to buff up.
• Duncan Fisher voice-over post-launch? In success, all is possible.
• Day-and-night cycle and weather during missions do not influence line of sight. It looks cool though.
• Biomes do have an influence of heat. Lunar or asteroid, heat will punish you. Frosty missions, heat will be less problematic.
• There is a level cap on your pilots. It is hard to reach that cap.
• While you can truly tank your reputation, it will not allow you to turn "villain".
• Mechwarrior xp needed to level up is progressive.
• There will be defensive missions. There are also escort missions.
• Retreating after a pilot ejected a Mech will not result in your pilot getting lost or killed.
• If a Mech gets killed, the pilot may or may not die. You'll find out after the mission. If they eject, they will be back, with all the wounds they had at time of ejection.
• There will not be an after action report or something to tide us over. With all respect and with all the love they have, HBS is focusing on getting the game in our hands, not on keeping us entertained.
• The campaign is real-time, but every time you do an action (check the mechbay for instance), time stops.
• The Argo is not in danger of beign blown up completely. Events might impact its status though.
• No such thing as collateral damage.
• Quads are off the table, even not going to be in when "in success" ...
• Hiring Mechwarriors means you hire the pilot. They will not come with Mechs.
• You always sell items for less than they cost to buy. The sell value will fluctuate depending on system and other factors.
• There are no loans in the game anymore. It got cut. You go broke? You are done.
• You cannot betray your employer and gain more money / salvage that way.
• Flamers might have more than 3 charges. Still being balanced.
• Favorite animation in the game: the new fall animations (Jordan), Shadow Hawk punch (Mike), Atlas punch on a prone unit (Jordan), some jumps (Jordan), the fact that Mechs balance properly on the ground below (Jordan).
• Mechs can't dance. Won't happen, even in success... No twerking UrbanMech.
• Part three of the novella is in editing. Jordan is trying to reach Stackpole for the fourth part.
• Story missions are tough. If you go too fast, you will overreach and go broke.
• The game looks even prettier than the latest footage we were shown.

[Hanzoku]

Thanks for the transcript again!

There is a reason why the Warhammer and Marauder is out, but no comment.

Yeah, it's called fucking Harmony Gold.

[deoloth]

Thanks for the transcript again!

There is a reason why the Warhammer and Marauder is out, but no comment.

Yeah, it's called fucking Harmony Gold.

Lets buy a copyright from a company that doesn't have the rights to sell the copyright, sue a similar game series (that granted had very similar looking robots at the time), then sue the original sellers over the copyright that they didn't have the rights to sell us the first time, somehow convinced a judge to let us keep the copyright that we bought from a company that couldnt legally sell it to us in the first place, so we can keep control of that copyright and then keep suing people over the copyright for the next few decades!

That is literally what is happening with HG. I'm not making that up. It's seriously like Apple selling the rights to Windows 10 in Canada, after buying the rights from Google. (Just on a smaller scale).

Actually, Good summary on that mess here
How anime landed BattleTech and the MechWarrior games in legal trouble
and here,
Update on Harmony Gold Lawsuit

[ZeroGravitas]

Thanks for the transcript again!

There is a reason why the Warhammer and Marauder is out, but no comment.

Yeah, it's called fucking Harmony Gold.

Lets buy a copyright from a company that doesn't have the rights to sell the copyright, sue a similar game series (that granted had very similar looking robots at the time), then sue the original sellers over the copyright that they didn't have the rights to sell us the first time, somehow convinced a judge to let us keep the copyright that we bought from a company that couldnt legally sell it to us in the first place, so we can keep control of that copyright and then keep suing people over the copyright for the next few decades!

That is literally what is happening with HG. I'm not making that up. It's seriously like Apple selling the rights to Windows 10 in Canada, after buying the rights from Google. (Just on a smaller scale).

Actually, Good summary on that mess here
How anime landed BattleTech and the MechWarrior games in legal trouble
and here,
Update on Harmony Gold Lawsuit

Nah, that summary is out of date. The motion for summary judgment was dropped and HG amended their complaint on Monday: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.242820/gov.uscourts.wawd.242820.83.0.pdf

Tatsunoko had the rights to merchandising for Macross outside of Japan. Tatsunoko sold those rights to HG, which is exactly what the arbitration and lawsuit between HG and Tatsunoko confirmed. No, HG doesn't have a copyright on the mechs themselves, but they do have the right to US merchandising of the mechs. The msj was based on the premise that HG somehow didn't acquire those rights from Tatsunoko, but the fact that everyone has agreed to drop the msj and allow HG to amend indicates that the standing argument probably wasn't a winning one. It's going to come down a judge deciding how much of the designs are rip-offs of Macross.

edit: for the record I backed HBS' Battletech on KS.