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[Stuebi]

I can appreciate your complaints, but I gotta say, HBS isn't really known for dropping projects. Love or hate their work, they will support it.

I don't hate it at all, it just that I think it could be massively improved. So I'm actually quite happy that they will continue this. Particularly my complaints about skills and game tempo are easily fixable after all, difficulty display as well, albeit I'm not sure if it's just buggy or not well implemented.

[Sanctume]

I think the game is great fun, but the level of writing for the main plot is atrocious. I mean, I don't think anyone plays a Battletech game for the plot, but still - it is just plain corny. I'm surprised by this because Shadowrun games had a pretty good writing. Did they fire their writers or are they aiming for a corny 1980s paperback space opera feel on purpose?

Other than the mech combat, I think the shipboard events are best part of the game. There should definitely be more of those.

I enjoyed the MechWarrior novels (in paperback) back in the days.  There was so much lore in this, and at the same time, there is room for good writing for a mercenary company to be inserted. 

Of the 35 in studio devs, they have 1 animator for the non-engine animations, and those added in are nice. 

But yeah, a writer polish is needed.  But this game seems more like a working proof of concept with room to make it better.  So I'm hopeful for that. 

[umiman]

One thing I wish for is to have the pre-mission info screen be more detailed in what we're going to face. Even like "1 assault, 5 heavies" or something like that.

Because the issue right now in the end game is that you have to go every mission with assaults. I mean, you can risk going with lighter mechs but you'd just be gimping yourself as there's no cost to just bringing all assaults. Not to mention every other mission involves you facing off against an entire battery of assaults too and there's not much your medium is going to do there.

I would like to bring out my Wolverine or Shadowhawk again once in awhile but not at the risk of it being knocked down and obliterated in one turn.

[Majestic7]

You could solve the intelligence issue like in old Syndicate games - you could choose to pay cold hard cash for better intelligence. Either in the briefing screen or in the maintenance selection.

[Sanctume]

I'm thinking if there is an added tweak per mission as far as round limits and tonnage limits. 
Then we can get some sort of multi-part contracts that can make use of lighter mechs. 

Example.

Part 1: Scout the area and destroy as much patrols (vehicles and light mechs)
Objective: Control an area for 1 round. Gain intel, guard tonnage.
Objective: Control an area for 2 round. Gain intel, guard distribution (light, med, vehicle, turret)
Objective: Control an area for 3 round. Gain intel, number of guard distribution (light, med, vehicle, turret)
Objective: Destroy patrol.  +5 ton limit per 25 ton downed patrol. 
Objective: Get to the evac point.  +25 ton limit. 

Part 2: Skirmish vs Guard. 
Objective: Control an area for 1 round. Gain intel, base tonnage.
Objective: Control an area for 2 round. Gain intel, base distribution (mech sizes, vehicles, turrets)
Objective: Control an area for 3 round. Gain intel, general map layout of base. 
Objective: Destroy guards.  +5 ton limit per 25 ton downed mech. 

Part 3: Base assault. 

[Retropunch]

As others have said, it does feel a bit like a proof of concept. In the past I've hated this, as there's been a few releases that have had rubbish/too little content and devs have gone 'yeah it's more of a proof of concept' as if that somehow negates the fact that you've paid full price for a game with rubbish content.

That being said, I don't think this game is bad, and I think that they definitely do intend to expand on it a lot. Whether that expansion comes in the form of Stellaris style big overhaul DLCs or a pure sequel I don't think it matters, as it's been a success I feel we can be assured of a much more polished further outing. I don't think it excuses the poor writing or rough edges, but it goes a long way to giving them some time to sort it out.

[Man of Paper]

Just had a thought that would've/could improve the game, probably in the form of DLC if they do anything like it.

Instead of the apparently ham-fisted storyline (I still haven't done the quest after the Argo, been enjoying planethopping and the self-built narrative forming), they could've done something like Battle Brothers with a hint of CKII. From what I understand there are different eras with different technologies available. If they let the game be a sandbox "run a merc outfit" game like BB while letting you choose the time period you're active in I think it would exponentially increase replay value. A bunch more random events to help construct a personalized story would've also benefit the game, as someone noted previously.

Alas, this isn't the Games You Wish Existed thread.

[Sensei]

HBS likes to squeeze everything they can out of a game engine. See for example, Shadowrun got like 4 campaigns, mostly about the same size of the original game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Battletech got a significant expansion or two. Obvious ideas might be a more fleshed-out freeform campaign or clan invasion.

Of course, in the short term I'm much more excited for bug fixes and maybe a balance pass on mission intel/difficulty.

[Man of Paper]

Yeah, the difficulty rating system is definitely in need of attention. I just tried an escort mission at Diff.2 and all I came up against was the PPC vehicle and a Commando to secure the position, and three lights that came at the extraction point once we got there. To be fair, terrain did play a huge factor in the sense that a small mountain pass was the only way the reinforcements could get to us. But four lights and one ground vehicle are Diff.1 at best.

[Majestic7]

Playing clans attacking Inner Sphere in the inevitable sequal would be intersting. Since clans actually auction their attacks and the one offering to do the mission with the lowest tonnage wins. So there would be more glory the lighter mechs you take on the ground. I suppose the glory could be used as a currency in the game or something.

[Rince Wind]

Ah, the game told me I didn't have enough (video) memory. So apart from the expected load times I get textureless mechs.

[Dohon]

A new Kickstarter Update has been posted. The Devs give a rought outline regarding the "what next?" issue. Read it here.

Spoiler: Rough Copy-Paste of the Update (click to show/hide)

First of all, to our Backers and new players alike - thank you for your incredible outpouring of love and support last week following the launch of BATTLETECH, and for sharing so many of your amazing game experiences with us. As a small developer, these stories mean the world to us. It's why we do this.

From the heartfelt reactions of our Backers, to the kind words from reviewers, to the epic marathons on YouTube, to the hysterical reactions on Twitch, to the goofy memes floating through social media, this week has been a whirlwind and we are thrilled to be on this ride with you.

We could easily fill this entire post and more just rounding up press and fan reactions to the game - but we'd rather talk about what's next. From the start of this project, we've viewed launch not as the end of the road, but as the birth of a living product. Over the course of development, you might recall that we often answered speculative questions about post-launch features or content with, "in success, all things are possible."

Well - thanks to you, this is the success we hoped for. And many things are now possible! We're working with Paradox on a roadmap for the next year of BATTLETECH development. This will include regular bugfixing, quality-of-life improvements, and free Updates adding new features to the game. Here's a look at the next few months of that roadmap.

BATTLETECH Post-Launch Roadmap
1.  Compatibility / Performance Investigations
Our launch last week wasn't perfect. A subset of players are experiencing hardware/system compatibility and performance issues that our team is working hard to investigate. Solutions for critical issues are always our top priority, and will be released as soon as they're available and tested. Typically, we will release patches to our public_beta branch on Steam for a few days for testing before we push them to the default branch.

On that note - last Friday we released our first patch to the public_beta branch for testing. Today, that 1.0.1 Patch went live - you can read the full changelog here. We expect to release more patches to public_beta in the coming days and weeks.

2. General BugFix (Late May)
We expect to release at least one general bugfix/improvements patch later in May.

3. Localization (French, German, Russian) and Linux Support
These are both Kickstarter commitments and high priorities for our post-launch roadmap. (Along with a couple other Kickstarter commitments that didn't make it in for launch.) We don't have a more precise ETA yet for these items but will update you as soon as we do.

4. Update #1: Customization & Player Options (June/July)
We're already beginning work on our first larger free Update to BATTLETECH. This Update is all about customization and reacting to common pieces of feedback that we've received from you on the game. Here's a list of items we're currently looking at for Update 1 this summer

--Accelerated Combat Options - We're working on options for players who would like to accelerate the pace of combat missions.

--MechWarrior Customization - We know that many players would like to change the appearance, callsign, name, and voice of all their MechWarriors, not just their Commander. This didn't make it in for launch but we'll be adding it in Update 1

--Granular difficulty settings - A set of discrete options for players to customize the challenge level of the game in different areas.

--MechLab / Store / Salvage Quality-of-Life Improvements - Interface additions to reduce friction when buying and salvaging new items.

--Tutorial-skip Option - Allowing players who have already played the prologue missions to skip those missions when starting a new campaign, and get right to the Leopard.

--Addressing Difficulty Spikes - We'll be working on smoothing out some issues with unexpectedly hard (or easy) content. Not to remove all difficulty variance, but to address clear outliers.

--Live-streaming Quality-of-Life Improvements - Audio persisting when alt-tabbed, for example.

It's important to note that the exact contents of Update 1 may shift during development. Please consider these general directions and priorities. We'll post a more detailed and updated list of what's in the Update closer to its release.

5. More BATTLETECH!!
The above is just the beginning! We'll be continuing with more free Updates after Update 1, and we'd also love to release a larger paid content Expansion or two - but right now we're staying focused on bugfixes and immediate reactions to launch feedback.

With your support, we could not be more excited to continue making BATTLETECH even bigger and better.

Thank you.
HBS

[Mini]

Yeah, the difficulty rating system is definitely in need of attention. I just tried an escort mission at Diff.2 and all I came up against was the PPC vehicle and a Commando to secure the position, and three lights that came at the extraction point once we got there. To be fair, terrain did play a huge factor in the sense that a small mountain pass was the only way the reinforcements could get to us. But four lights and one ground vehicle are Diff.1 at best.

There is significant variation between the listed difficulty and the actual difficulty, to simulate bad intel and the employer not being wholly forthcoming. I think it's 1.5 skulls maximum, but I have no source for this. I agree that it can vary a bit too much at the lower end, where it can be anything from a lance of medium mechs with perfect armor to light and medium vehicles with heavily reduced armor, or less.

[Sanctume]

Completing the story missions will that increases the difficulty (minimum skulls) of the planets, and once unlocked can never go back down in difficulty. 

One such mission is when you get the Argo.  Prior to this, there are planets with half-skull to 1.5 skulls.  After this, the planet minimum skulls start at 2.

There is a to tweak this to not increase the difficulty. 

The same mod also has the ability to generate "up to" 10 new missions.  But the missions are tied to faction ratings if they can be done. 

My campaign as after doing the Panzyr, so all planets are at 2 skulls minimum. 

However, with the mod, I can find contracts from half-skull to 4.5 skulls. 

I did a 3 skull mission last night and it was hard, but I lived. 
I have
55t Shadowhawk 2xSRM6+++, SRM4, 1ML;
50t Centuroin with 2 LRM20+++;
60t Dragon 2xSRM6, 1ML, 4MG;
65t Jagger with AC20+++, 1ML, 4MG.

I fought 2 lances: Orion, Enforcer, Griffin, Caraphract;
and another lance flanking Vindicator, Wolverine, Shadowhawk, and Commando.

Since I stopped pursuing the mission, it has become samey--travel to the next star, check store, do contracts to pay monthly expense. 

Still, I could not find the +++ weapons that I found early in the campaign. 
And I am slowly getting higher ton mech salvage. 

I also hired 4 backup mechwarriors in my roster. 
1 to mimic the skills of my main Gun [5] [8], Gut [5]. 

Behemoth: Pilot [5], Gut [5] [8].
1 to replace Behemoth: Gun [5], Gut [5] [8] instead.  I prefer multi-shot to evasive.

Dekker and Medusa are both scout/recon: Pilot [5] [8], Tac [5].

Glitch is my missile boat: Gun [5], Tac [5] [8]. 
I also have 2 forever recruits that I pay $20,000/mo salary.
1 has 14560 unspent xp, the other has 6220 unspent xp. 
Glitch and the forever recruits uses Centurion with 2x LRM20+++.  Effective, and free exp even for unskilled newbies.

[Rince Wind]

It seems some missions kill my graphics driver. The screen goes blank when it finishes loading (the monitor gets no signal at all) and shortly afterwards I'll only have the mouse. Then I need to shut down the game via task manager. And reloading doesn't help. If I mission does this there is no way start it for me.
A bit later I will get a pop-up that the driver is active again.

I have not found a pattern yet.
Well,  I am way below min specs I guess, so I can't really complain.