Moving forward... ADVANCED BATTLETECH

[Prussian Havoc]

One Big and Stompy , bright and beautiful thing BATTLETECH has achieved for almost all its tens of thousands of gamers is to spark in them a hunger for MOAR-things-BATTLETECH.

Today, there is a bulk of BATTLETECH owners who have mastered its game design and features.

Today, there is a bulk of BATTLETECH owners who have completed its Restoration Campaign.

Today, there is a bulk of BATTLETECH owners who have completed a Career Attempt.


Today there is a bulk of BATTLETECH Owners who are ready for ADVANCED BATTLETECH. : )

But what could that ADVANCED BATTLETECH include?



Moving forward, I would like to see HBS get into all those glorious BattleMech Construction and Maintenance, Mercenary Contracting, Unit Operating WEEDS, they largely opted to abstract away.

Perhaps this could be a joint-effort with @LadyAlekto and the RogueTech Community as so very much of what I see as an ADVANCED BATTLETECH is largely in place with RogueTech.

What do you think?

Where might BATTLETECH go from today?

 

[unclecid]

But @Prussian Havoc we already have Battletech Advanced.
@bloodydoves has made it for us.....

 

[Jolly Joker]

I think, the main problem going "advanced" is - the AI.
The more deep and complex the game, the more it's a struggle not against the AI, but against the complexity of the game mechanisms's workings, and once you decoded them, the game is done.

So Advanced Battletech starts with improving the AI, and improving the AI means, feed the AI with every Mech the player configures. This goes back to the old Origin game OMEGA, in which you have to program a robot tank to beat 2 opponents. Once you've done that you get more funds (allowing better programming) - but your programmed battle tank now becomes the opponent.

BATTLETECH is the perfect game for this, because half the fun is to take the chassis and the equipment and configure "superior" (and specialized mechs).

So ADVANCED BATTLETECH would be the actually existing BATTLETECH that allows the AI (the Opfor) to hijack the player designs and use them.

 

[Axterix13]

If one were to let the AI hijack the player builds, then the mechs of Battletech are reduced to being nothing more than skins, and that in turns makes it less Battletech. So such a thing would need bigger restrictions on what the player can change. Or else it needs to be set in munchkin space, because that sort of thing would fit the Clans a lot better than the IS. And a Clan campaign, ideally set only in Clan space, could also introduce new "contract" mechanics, with the bidding the Clans do... Definitely some interesting potential there. And by setting it pre-Clan IS invasion, it could also explore something that hasn't really been covered much.

Anyway, personally, I don't want to get involved in the minutiae of mech maintenance or contract negotiation. I don't think most players would. Such a game would have a much smaller potential audience.

For me, an advanced Battletech would be one in which the galaxy around the player changes more, where events happen as the timeline progresses. Where player decisions matter and impact the direction things go. A universe that feels more alive, rather than just a bunch of planets that all have the same type of missions that offer the same types of rewards. One where mechwarriors are more distinct from each other, have more personality, beyond just what voice they use. One that makes the galaxy feel alive, not one that makes me sit at a desk doing paperwork.

And second to that, would be more options that limit things. Playing with no or very low inspiration gain. Reduced ability to customize mechs. Mechwarriors that can't all get 10/10/10/10. Bringing back medium range, penalties for moving, and so on. Assaults should be rare, and heavies shouldn't be super common either. Getting a new mech should be a big deal, rather than something you need to have a big ship with a cargo area for just to store them all. But as options, because for most players, even ones who have played this game, dropping them into the deep end wouldn't be fun for them. Heck, lots of new players already have problems with what we have.

 

[Corraidhin]

For me it would be the oftdn discussed strategic layer. Add that to an updated iteration of the lance level combat and you expand the game way beyond it's current limits.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

For me it would be the oftdn discussed strategic layer. Add that to an updated iteration of the lance level combat and you expand the game way beyond it's current limits.

Agreed.

But I’d take it a step further still...

NEXT ECHELON Command & Control
- And this one has been percolating a lot lately. It is a step between BATTLETECH and MechCommander.

Abstract three of the player’s four BATTLETECH “Entities” into a Lance, and the fourth Entity into a 2-Mech HQ’s Section.



Thus the BATTLETECH Engine would still be moving around the map four player Entities, but their number of “parts”:would increase dramatically.

The player would no longer aim and fire every individual weapons. The player would no longer be giving Move Orders to every single Mech.

Instead the Player would be giving Company Commander to Lance Commander orders each Turn, with the AI “filling in the the blanks” and turning those orders into individual weapons fire and local maneuver exploitation of emerging tactical opportunities.



Key to this would be the Players ability to Shape the Battlespace. Off map artillery and Airstrikes would be useful. Incorporation of ECM (Packrat) into the HQ Section would be useful. Perhaps foregoing ECM and instead taking a single LRM Carrier. Or maybe going with a repair truck and Mech Bay MechTechs to gain a 10% Armor Fix and topped off Ammunition supply bonus. Maybe a “FASCAM” Vehicle to lay down a limited minefield. Or an engineer vehicle to construct an obstacle or three.

Something like this would elevate the BATTLETECH experience to the next echelon and the next level. : )

 

[Corraidhin]

Agreed.

But I’d take it a step further still...

NEXT ECHELON Command & Control
- And this one has been percolating a lot lately. It is a step between BATTLETECH and MechCommander.

Abstract three of the player’s four BATTLETECH “Entities” into a Lance, and the fourth Entity into a 2-Mech HQ’s Section.

View attachment 544061

Thus the BATTLETECH Engine would still be moving around the map four player Entities, but their number of “parts”:would increase dramatically.

The player would no longer aim and fire every individual weapons. The player would no longer be giving Move Orders to every single Mech.

Instead the Player would be giving Company Commander to Lance Commander orders each Turn, with the AI “filling in the the blanks” and turning those orders into individual weapons fire and local maneuver exploitation of emerging tactical opportunities.



Key to this would be the Players ability to Shape the Battlespace. Off map artillery and Airstrikes would be useful. Incorporation of ECM (Packrat) into the HQ Section would be useful. Perhaps foregoing ECM and instead taking a single LRM Carrier. Or maybe going with a repair truck and Mech Bay MechTechs to gain a 10% Armor Fix and topped off Ammunition supply bonus. Maybe a “FASCAM” Vehicle to lay down a limited minefield. Or an engineer vehicle to construct an obstacle or three.

Something like this would elevate the BATTLETECH experience to the next echelon and the next level. : )

I'd still like this laid over the exosting combat system though, with the commander having a limited number of battles or turns to give full orders.

 

[Streamlock]

I was toying with the idea in my head of a Battletech: Tactics spin-off.

You would command up to a company or reinforced company in strength. The deployments would be up to several weeks in length in a battlezone, and require different lance arrangements: command, fire, support, cavalry, etc.

It would also feature command decisions. Do you go after long toms to deny the enemy artillery, or capture a depot to restock munitions?

You could reuse the engine, but it would be tweaked to play mainly in a pulled out fashion without any cinematic shots and optimized for quicker turn resolution. Reuse most of the tactical layer assets. It may be too costly as it would require a new, custom strategic layer ;-(

Not sure how the broader audience would dig that. HBS did make something special here that clicked with people that where only vaguely familiar with BattleTech.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

...Not sure how the broader audience would dig that. HBS did make something special here that clicked with people that where only vaguely familiar with BattleTech.

I agree, and anything our Modding Community can do to deepen that interest and retain those gamers new to BattleTech will be to the greater good of the franchise, building a ready base of support for Fire HBS and other-than-HBS BattleTech titles. : )