BETA - BATTLETECH Update 1.1 Release Notes

[Paendragon]

3 months to balance the game and this is all you can come up with? Are you serious?

Weapon changes make no sense. PPC buff still leaves it dealing over 25% less damage per tonne than the AC5, so it's still pointless. In anycase, LRMs still out damage, out stability damage and outrange all other long range weapons AND are only weapons in the game that fire indirectly (and yes, they still deal more damage per tonne than the LL even with the buff). SRM6 gets buffed even though it was the best weapon in the game anyway. Flamer was already useless in campaign due to low ammo, and now you make it even worse.

Mech changes make no sense. Assault mech obviously already the best class, and now you DOUBLE their stability reserves AND even increase stability recovery. Knockdowns are now basically impossible. You can DFA with an assault mech and still need additional 140 stability damage to be done it before it gets knocked over now, the AI probably couldn't even manage that even with an entire lance. Same logic for heavies. 5% accuracy debuff for light mechs isn't going to make any difference to their usefulness.

Still no option to turn off the purposeful incorrect reporting of hit chances. No changes to the many over/underpriced mechs in multiplayer. No mew missions that don't just equal "Destroy all the things".

Honestly, the bug fixes and optimization are great, but if this is the best you can do just leave game design to the modding community. Roguetech is already lightyears ahead of the vanilla game.

[Mod Edit: Personal] It is a game.

It is an impressive list of changes I can tell you as somebody who works in the industry. Besides, you might have missed all the other bug fixes they have introduced in the past weeks?

As to the stability changes for heavier Mechs - that was an explicit request from the community. And along with the change that all systems now show a variety of contract difficulties it is now easier then ever to chose a low skull contract and field lights and mediums. A compromise I personally can live with until the random mission system gets an overhaul. Which will take time if they plan to tackle this.

Also: If you disagree with the balance changes, nobody stops you from modifying the .json files and/or continue playing RogueTech.

Chill & Enjoy. Life is too short to get all worked up about trivial things.

 

[MajorPrankster]

Started a new game. Thanks for the settings!
Ironman/Unequipped/8 +Destruction

Whole game is smoother, by a wide margin!

Began playing in the 1080 resolution I have been having to use, bumped it back to 4k, no real issues.
Using the current High settings, no Motion Blur, VSync Enabled.
Previously 4k would kill my graphics card for no reason, even with the beta client and some VSynce wizardry in the NVidia tools.
So VERY happy to play in 4k!
Using a GTX 1080 FTW for reference.

UI is generally snappier, decidedly better.

Camera still skips/drops some frames as it runs around the battlefield, but noticing no graphic other issues.

Brought up an existing old campaign, still some loading time waits for the big inventory, but once loaded is faster than before.

The AI in the opening missions acted differently than it ever has, so I see a change.

Good job!

 

[~bingobango~]

• 'Mech Destruction - when enabled, 'Mechs disabled from Center Torso destruction are permanently lost. This setting is intended for veterans and those seeking a significant challenge.

does this setting also cause enemy mechs to be destroyed from a CT shot?

 

[Voranth]

• PPC heat generation reduced to 35 (was 40).
• ER Large Laser heat generation reduced to 25 (was 40).
• Large Laser heat generation reduced to 18 (was 30).
• Pulse Medium Laser heat generation reduced to 16 (was 25).
• Medium Laser heat generation increased to 12 (was 10).
• Small Laser heat generation increased to 6 (was 5).
• AC/2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 5).
• AC/5 heat generation reduced to 8 (was 10).
• AC/10 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 15).
• AC/20 heat generation reduced to 24 (was 25).
• LRM-10 heat generation reduced to 10 (was 12).
• LRM-15 heat generation reduced to 14 (was 15).
• SRM-2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 6).
• SRM-6 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 14).
• Flamer starting ammo reduced to 4 (was 6)

Thank you so much, this list of weapon changes looks absolutely incredible

I'm happy they only changed heat instead of doing what most balance attempts do and tweak too many things at once.

 

[Ultimax]

As to the stability changes for heavier Mechs - that was an explicit request from the community. And along with the change that all systems now show a variety of contract difficulties it is now easier then ever to chose a low skull contract and field lights and mediums. A compromise I personally can live with until the random mission system gets an overhaul. Which will take time if they plan to tackle this.

I think the stability changes in a vacuum are fine, but it's going to be a pretty ridiculous amount of grinding to get enough salvage with Assault mechs as you will likely destroy them long, long before you knock then down enough to incapacitate the pilot.

So I think if they dealt with that, it would be fine.


Other thoughts.
1) I think all ACs, except for the 20, need higher base damage by at least 5 - if not 10.
2) PPCs still too hot, and also should be 60 damage base.
3) Giddy about the Ultrawide changes, SO HAPPY!

 

[Max_Killjoy]

You'll have to be a bit more surgical about salvaging assault mechs now, is all... maybe take a bit more risk getting pilot hits from side torso damage.

 

[SQW]

Weapon penalties for non-stock loadouts? What now?

Up until Q&A 8, Mike was talking about how you'll get a penalty for slapping on a replacement weapon if you don't have the original spec and how free-for-all retooling of the mech will incur penalty compared to standard loadout. Obviously that didn't make the cut during the final phase of production but that's a really nice way of balancing our Frankenstein against the AI.

 

[Fauxknight]

Weapon changes make no sense.

Agreed, some of the changes are something:

• PPC heat generation reduced to 35 (was 40).
• ER Large Laser heat generation reduced to 25 (was 40).
• Large Laser heat generation reduced to 18 (was 30).
• Pulse Medium Laser heat generation reduced to 16 (was 25).
• Medium Laser heat generation increased to 12 (was 10).
• Small Laser heat generation increased to 6 (was 5).
• AC/2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 5).
• AC/5 heat generation reduced to 8 (was 10).
• AC/10 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 15).
• AC/20 heat generation reduced to 24 (was 25).
• LRM-10 heat generation reduced to 10 (was 12).
• LRM-15 heat generation reduced to 14 (was 15).
• SRM-2 heat generation reduced to 4 (was 6).
• SRM-6 heat generation reduced to 12 (was 14).
• Flamer starting ammo reduced to 4 (was 6).

PPC - could use a bit more heat reduction, but it does have two extra effects, so this might be ok.
ERLL and LL - Heat reduction is a bit off the chart. Interesting to go from nerfed to buffed.
MPulse - Still a bit high for a weapon that doesn't do much, if we start getting +++ versions maybe...
MLas - Kinda the middle ground baseline to compare everything else to, interesting to nerf it when the better SRMs for buffed.
SLas - Already set too high before change, though not a significant enough change to mean much anyways.
ACs - Yay, though I prefer 3/3/9/21. 20s are just running too hot.
LRMs - Previously the only weapons to use their actual TT values. LRMs are already a top tier weapon, the 15 was already perfect and now it's more so, the 10 lagged behind the others so maybe it needed touched on.
SRM - Best weapons in game, didn't need buffed. (though they will be worse at called shots now, they will still rock overall damage and stab damage).

 

[Max_Killjoy]

Up until Q&A 8, Mike was talking about how you'll get a penalty for slapping on a replacement weapon if you don't have the original spec and how free-for-all retooling of the mech will incur penalty compared to standard loadout. Obviously that didn't make the cut during the final phase of production but that's a really nice way of balancing our Frankenstein against the AI.

Well, I'm glad that didn't make it in, and hope it never does without an on/off switch.

Customization is a big part of what makes Battletech fun for me.

 

[Max_Killjoy]

Agreed, some of the changes are something:



PPC - could use a bit more heat reduction, but it does have two extra effects, so this might be ok.
ERLL and LL - Heat reduction is a bit off the chart. Interesting to go from nerfed to buffed.
MPulse - Still a bit high for a weapon that doesn't do much, if we start getting +++ versions maybe...
MLas - Kinda the middle ground baseline to compare everything else to, interesting to nerf it when the better SRMs for buffed.
SLas - Already set too high before change, though not a significant enough change to mean much anyways.
ACs - Yay, though I prefer 3/3/9/21. 20s are just running too hot.
LRMs - Previously the only weapons to use their actual TT values. LRMs are already a top tier weapon, the 15 was already perfect and now it's more so, the 10 lagged behind the others so maybe it needed touched on.
SRM - Best weapons in game, didn't need buffed. (though they will be worse at called shots now, they will still rock overall damage and stab damage).

It does look more like a general heat-reduction pass than a balance pass, to be honest.

 

[Delpheus]

MechWarrior customization. Players can now customize the appearance, callsign, name, pronoun, and voice of all non-Ronin MechWarriors in their mercenary company. The starting MechWarriors (Behemoth, Dekker, Glitch, and Medusa) are now considered Ronin.

What about mechwarrior customization in multiplayer? That is literally the only reason I stopped playing. You don't seem to care about multiplayer at all....
Bring custom pilots to multiplayer. We can customize our mechs, so why not our pilots? The current painfully limited pre-made system is stupid.

 

[pedal_pusher]

[Mod Edit] It is a game.

It is an impressive list of changes I can tell you as somebody who works in the industry. Besides, you might have missed all the other bug fixes they have introduced in the past weeks?

As to the stability changes for heavier Mechs - that was an explicit request from the community. And along with the change that all systems now show a variety of contract difficulties it is now easier then ever to chose a low skull contract and field lights and mediums. A compromise I personally can live with until the random mission system gets an overhaul. Which will take time if they plan to tackle this.

Also: If you disagree with the balance changes, nobody stops you from modifying the .json files and/or continue playing RogueTech.

Chill & Enjoy. Life is too short to get all worked up about trivial things.

There's nothing impressive about a game developer than gets outpaced by its own modding community when it comes to balancing its own game. The bug fixes, UI and performance improvements they have released have been excellent, but whoever is responsible for improving game balance/design is doing a terrible job. There's been endless threads on this forum/reddit on mission design/weapon balance and they clearly aren't interested in any of them. As you say, it doesn't make a difference to the modding community, but the level of effort they have put into rebalancing the game is just [Mod Edit: Disrespectful]

 

[MeiSooHaityu]

Well, I decided to try an Iron Man run with the mission difficulty set to hard, and I also had mechs CT cored (unrecoverable). I made it only past the first side mission past the Majesty Metals mission. ONLY ONE MISSION IN lol. It was a convoy ambush...with a couple Strikers, a Manticore and a SRM CARRIER! Enemy forces were a Spider, Panther, and 2 Locusts.

I beat the mission but a lucky shot from the Manticore killed the CT of the Spider and Dekker and the SURPRISE! SRM CARRIER wrecked my Vindicator and then the Mantiore drove up at point blank range and CT cored the Vindicator with it's PPC, killing Glitch in the process.

The enemy mechs were jumping in my flank too. Both the Shadow Hawk and Black Jack suffered rear arc damage.

Even though the mission was technically a success, I couldn't recover from being 2 mechs down in the first mission.

So yeah...maybe I need to do baby steps. I'll keep the previous settings, yet back off the mission difficulty lol.

P.S. That enemy Manticore was a MVP. it performed the finishing blow on both my downed mechs .

 

[Beric]

Well, I'm glad that didn't make it in, and hope it never does without an on/off switch.

Customization is a big part of what makes Battletech fun for me.

Agreed customization is fun, but at the same time it makes the game trivial when you're running your min-maxed builds again stock builds.

IWe need to either disincentivize min-maxed builds,or give the OpFor some min-maxed builds of their own. Some of the stock builds are really really bad.

 

[Max_Killjoy]

Agreed customization is fun, but at the same time it makes the game trivial when you're running your min-maxed builds again stock builds.

Not going to derail the thread after this, so I'll just post the reminder that customization and min-max are not the same thing, and leave it at that.

 

[ColonelJarJar]

Thank you thank you! I've been holding off playing the campaign because I wanted my first SP experience to be an awesome (brutal) ride. Looking forward to getting Dekker killed.

 

[Delpheus]

Please make multiplayer pilots customizable.
That is the only thing we desperately need.

 

[XViper]

So I have a question.

In regards to this:

IMPORTANT: Additional note for players who mod various game files…Reminder that modding is not officially supported. If you have saved a game with any mod active, that saved game will not work after an update has been applied unless you replace all modded files exactly as they were when the save game file was created. Saved games require the exact same data state in order to function properly.

If Save games don't work without the 'exact same data state', are save games going to work with major content updates like this?
If so, how/why?

 

[ArathornW]

Thanks for the update !

 

[Camicon Dachass]

So I have a question.

In regards to this:

IMPORTANT: Additional note for players who mod various game files…Reminder that modding is not officially supported. If you have saved a game with any mod active, that saved game will not work after an update has been applied unless you replace all modded files exactly as they were when the save game file was created. Saved games require the exact same data state in order to function properly.

If Save games don't work without the 'exact same data state', are save games going to work with major content updates like this?
If so, how/why?

Save games don't work when content is removed, but they do work when content is added. Adding a mod mid-playthrough is possible, removing a mod mid-playthrough is not. I'd assume that major content updates work the same way. Just make sure you reinstall all of your mods after the update, and you should be fine (assuming that the content update doesn't break the mods you're using. This is why I've stuck to only editing/adding .jsons; those are comparatively safe mods, in terms of being compatible with developer updates).