Mech Sims - Beyond Battletech

[Balr0g]

Mech games I would recommend:

Mechwarrior 3: FPS Mech Simulator and it has the imho best simulation of actual Mech building
Mech Commander 2; Real time oredecessor of the Battletech 2019 startegy game
Armored Core series: 3rd person Mech fighting
Future Cop LAPD: 3d isometric mech game (the mech can transform into a hovercraft)

Unfortunately those games are rather old so you need some tricks to play them (Armored Core, Future Cop are Ps2 and Ps1 games)

 

[White Devil]

Mech games I would recommend:

Mechwarrior 3: FPS Mech Simulator and it has the imho best simulation of actual Mech building
Mech Commander 2; Real time oredecessor of the Battletech 2019 startegy game
Armored Core series: 3rd person Mech fighting
Future Cop LAPD: 3d isometric mech game (the mech can transform into a hovercraft)

Unfortunately those games are rather old so you need some tricks to play them (Armored Core, Future Cop are Ps2 and Ps1 games)

Good fucking luck getting MW3 to work on a modern computer. Ironic that it's considered the best of the lot but also the one that's the biggest pain to get working. Most people I know said fuck it and just play it on an old machine if they're really jonesing for it.

 

[Urbanmech]

Good fucking luck getting MW3 to work on a modern computer. Ironic that it's considered the best of the lot but also the one that's the biggest pain to get working. Most people I know said fuck it and just play it on an old machine if they're really jonesing for it.

what about Mechwarrior Living Legends? Also was there a way to turn off the Stackpole effect in 3?

 

[White Devil]

what about Mechwarrior Living Legends? Also was there a way to turn off the Stackpole effect in 3?

Does MWLL still have a community? Last time I played it, shortly after PGI tried to C&D them into oblivion, there was maybe one and a half full servers. Even then, it's a Crysis mod and always played janky as fuck. None of the mechs had "weight" to them.

As for Stackpoling in 3, I haven't played that game in probably 15+ years so I honestly don't remember.


Honestly, at this point, I'd rather just play a MegaMek campaign with a group of cool people.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

I assume your aware of battletech, its a turn based game set in the mech warrior universe, which itself is based upon a table top war game.

Wow, that post almost physically hurt me.

Spoiler: AUTISM INSIDE

A more accurate statement would be that MechWarrior is set in the BattleTech universe, which itself is one of the most expansive and well-fleshed out universes in science fiction. BattleTech itself is a hex-based game that can be played at any level from 1v1 honor duels to full-bore planetary conquest, complete with infantry, armor, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, space combat, and even naval and subsurface operations. Additionally, BattleTech can be played with any level of commitment to the fluff, from simply slapping 'mechs into each other without regard to operating as a full pseudo-historical wargame, recreating any particular engagement from the roughly 500 years of near-ceaseless warfare the setting has covered since the rise of the BattleMech.

 

[Corn Flakes]

Wow, that post almost physically hurt me.

Spoiler: AUTISM INSIDE

A more accurate statement would be that MechWarrior is set in the BattleTech universe, which itself is one of the most expansive and well-fleshed out universes in science fiction. BattleTech itself is a hex-based game that can be played at any level from 1v1 honor duels to full-bore planetary conquest, complete with infantry, armor, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, space combat, and even naval and subsurface operations. Additionally, BattleTech can be played with any level of commitment to the fluff, from simply slapping 'mechs into each other without regard to operating as a full pseudo-historical wargame, recreating any particular engagement from the roughly 500 years of near-ceaseless warfare the setting has covered since the rise of the BattleMech.

Addendum: the BattleTech board/wargame also takes approximately 500 years to complete a single match if you have more than eight 'mechs per side. Or any number of 'mechs if you're running any Advanced/Experimental rules.

(Still love it, though.)

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

Addendum: the BattleTech board/wargame also takes approximately 500 years to complete a single match if you have more than eight 'mechs per side. Or any number of 'mechs if you're running any Advanced/Experimental rules.

(Still love it, though.)

This is mostly true, yes, which is why MegaMek comes with near-universal recommendations if one wants to go off the deep end. There is a reason why the BT community's motto is "there's a rule for that": every single autistic "what about x" question has at some point been asked and answered in the games' 30-year history. However, nearly all of these rules are either for niche situations or flat-out optional, with an unspoken "please don't actually try this on tabletop" for many of them. The simple beauty is that despite the monstrous size of the rulebooks, the basics are incredibly simple and can be learned in 15 minutes or less, and more complexity can be added as the players grow more confident.

 

[Corn Flakes]

This is mostly true, yes, which is why MegaMek comes with near-universal recommendations if one wants to go off the deep end. There is a reason why the BT community's motto is "there's a rule for that": every single autistic "what about x" question has at some point been asked and answered in the games' 30-year history. However, nearly all of these rules are either for niche situations or flat-out optional, with an unspoken "please don't actually try this on tabletop" for many of them. The simple beauty is that despite the monstrous size of the rulebooks, the basics are incredibly simple and can be learned in 15 minutes or less, and more complexity can be added as the players grow more confident.

Indeed. BattleTech is very much like GURPS: the basic system is fairly simple. Add up a couple numbers, roll some dice, consult some tables.

What truly makes the game drag on is that it relies on a lot of sequential 2d6 rolls that you can't just lump together like in many other wargames. If you have six weapons firing, you have to calculate all the modifiers separately, then roll them separately, then roll for locational damage separately. It's very intuitive, sure, but it does take a very long time when you have more than just a lance out in the field. It really adds up.

Spoiler: Minor BT autism

Back in college I was invited to a big overnight match at a local game store. Battle of Tukayyid, ComGuards' 278th Division vs. Clan Wolf Alpha Galaxy. Eight lances vs. five stars, each controlled by a different player, with an additional player controlling the attending artillery and vehicles for each side.

We got in at 6PM, we got out at 8AM, and we just barely finished the game. Highlights include every single Timber Wolf on the board taking a hit to the ammo, and the command lance's Atlas being decapitated on turn 2 by a Shadow Cat's Gauss Rifle from max range (while the Cat was going flat-out with MASC on).

It was awesome but holy fuck it took forever.

 

[White Devil]

There used to be a joke with the guys I used to play with in college; Someone is getting hit with the yard stick by the end of the night because tempers would ALWAYS flare during a battle.

 

[Easterling]

Wow, that post almost physically hurt me.

Spoiler: AUTISM INSIDE

A more accurate statement would be that MechWarrior is set in the BattleTech universe, which itself is one of the most expansive and well-fleshed out universes in science fiction. BattleTech itself is a hex-based game that can be played at any level from 1v1 honor duels to full-bore planetary conquest, complete with infantry, armor, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, space combat, and even naval and subsurface operations. Additionally, BattleTech can be played with any level of commitment to the fluff, from simply slapping 'mechs into each other without regard to operating as a full pseudo-historical wargame, recreating any particular engagement from the roughly 500 years of near-ceaseless warfare the setting has covered since the rise of the BattleMech.

I never really followed it much I was just aware of the miniatures that Ral Partha did in the 90s. You can still get them as well which is quite refreshing, always kills me a little inside when a hobby dies out totally.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

Indeed. BattleTech is very much like GURPS: the basic system is fairly simple. Add up a couple numbers, roll some dice, consult some tables.

What truly makes the game drag on is that it relies on a lot of sequential 2d6 rolls that you can't just lump together like in many other wargames. If you have six weapons firing, you have to calculate all the modifiers separately, then roll them separately, then roll for locational damage separately. It's very intuitive, sure, but it does take a very long time when you have more than just a lance out in the field. It really adds up.

Spoiler: Minor BT autism

Back in college I was invited to a big overnight match at a local game store. Battle of Tukayyid, ComGuards' 278th Division vs. Clan Wolf Alpha Galaxy. Eight lances vs. five stars, each controlled by a different player, with an additional player controlling the attending artillery and vehicles for each side.

We got in at 6PM, we got out at 8AM, and we just barely finished the game. Highlights include every single Timber Wolf on the board taking a hit to the ammo, and the command lance's Atlas being decapitated on turn 2 by a Shadow Cat's Gauss Rifle from max range (while the Cat was going flat-out with MASC on).

It was awesome but holy fuck it took forever.

11+ into a headshot, fucking ouch.

I never really followed it much I was just aware of the miniatures that Ral Partha did in the 90s. You can still get them as well which is quite refreshing, always kills me a little inside when a hobby dies out totally.

Those models are still actually the most commonly used these days, with a subset of heretics that prefer to 3D print models ripped from MechWarrior Online.

 

[White Devil]

The MWO designs are fucking ugly and they're all samey looking. God, I hate the MWO Atlas so much.

 

[A_Callow_Youth]

The MWO designs are fucking ugly and they're all samey looking. God, I hate the MWO Atlas so much.

Do I have to break out the Kerensky quotes? IMO the Atlas is one of the better MWO designs, except for the backside. Actually, that's probably my most common complaint across the lot, is how flat they are on the backside. It works for the Stalker, not so much for 90% of the cast.

 

[White Devil]

You can break out whatever you want, I don't give a shit. They made the Atlas a fat kid in a candy store.

Except for some of the Clan mechs, all the MWO designs are the same humanoid shit with a slightly different head. Their only good redesign in my opinion was the Warhammer.

 

[Snekposter]

A 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally.

So fuck you, the Atlas is supposed to be an ugly-ass hunk of fuck you and fuck your lancemates, and fuck this random-ass Commando that its going to use as a club to teach your pansy, non-Lyran ass a lesson. Scout mechs work best as a mixed formation, after all.

 

[White Devil]

This is more pants shitting inducing than the squat, overweight former linebacker MWO gave us:

There's also the original MW5 trailer Atlas:

 

[Corn Flakes]

I'm not too butthurt about MWO's designs because they do something FASA's designs were criminally terrible about: they can actually move without clipping into themselves or falling over. Some of FASA's artists were good at what they did, but others had no idea how to draw a robot that wasn't just a bunch of boxes stacked on top of one another. That Atlas, for example, wouldn't be able to torso twist at all without clipping the AC/20 against the hip.

And they managed to make some extremely goofy designs look more or less alright, and gave them better scaling. The tabletop making all 'mechs 2 levels high (and therefore uniformly 12 meters tall) for gameplay balance purposes resulted in some very weird-looking mechs when you took their scale into account.

11+ into a headshot, fucking ouch.

Fucking ouch indeed. It's fine, though. IIRC, that Shadow Cat's pilot went unconscious in the open a turn or two later and every single ComGuards LRM in range of him dropped a salvo on his head. The pilot woke up the next turn and the mech survived with two engine crits from a blown-off side torso, no weapons, and only 2 points of internal structure left on the CT.

Just BattleTech things.

 

[Snekposter]

Could be worse. Could be a city fight with a Mech's Number 1 killer: basements.

 

[TFT-A9]

what about Mechwarrior Living Legends? Also was there a way to turn off the Stackpole effect in 3?

Stackpoling in 3 wasn't super obnoxious, really (though since having a leg blown completely off was a kill, I legged a number of mechs instead of coring them). 3's Stackpoling also gave you funny things, like what happened when you alpha'd with a Supernova in Prime config. Mech lived up to its name, there.

Also, in regards to MechCommander 2: the AI in that game is pitiful. Protip: have a fast light or medium in your lance, they're your "rabbit". Enemy AI autistically fixates on the first mech threat they see and will chase that mech even if it means getting obliterated by the rest of your lance. Run your fast light/medium in, get their attention, and proceed to have that mech run past your bruisers. Enemy AI will dutifully chase right into a trap.

I'm not too butthurt about MWO's designs because they do something FASA's designs were criminally terrible about: they can actually move without clipping into themselves or falling over. Some of FASA's artists were good at what they did, but others had no idea how to draw a robot that wasn't just a bunch of boxes stacked on top of one another. That Atlas, for example, wouldn't be able to torso twist at all without clipping the AC/20 against the hip.

FlyingDebris does (mostly) good work. TRO:3025's stuff looks pretty terrible for the most part, it got significantly better with later editions (though Plog's stuff is really hit-or-miss). MWO's Marauder is actually my favorite iteration because it's still recognizable as a Marauder without being a Glaug (fuck you, Harmony Gold) and it doesn't look as hilariously janky as the first stab at Reseen Marauders looked. Honestly the worst of MWO's takes tend to be the Clan mechs - the MWO Timber Wolf/Mad Cat looks pretty bleh and the Dire Wolf/Daishi looks way too whalish even for a 100-ton bag of guns. Dire Wolf/Daishi also has a terrible walking anim rig that has been dubbed the "Direwolf Prance/Moonwalk".

 

[Corn Flakes]

Could be worse. Could be a city fight with a Mech's Number 1 killer: basements.

Granted. The best way to get rid of an Assault 'mech in a city fight isn't to shoot them, it's to push it into a building with a basement.

FlyingDebris does (mostly) good work. TRO:3025's stuff looks pretty terrible for the most part, it got significantly better with later editions (though Plog's stuff is really hit-or-miss). MWO's Marauder is actually my favorite iteration because it's still recognizable as a Marauder without being a Glaug (fuck you, Harmony Gold) and it doesn't look as hilariously janky as the first stab at Reseen Marauders looked. Honestly the worst of MWO's takes tend to be the Clan mechs - the MWO Timber Wolf/Mad Cat looks pretty bleh and the Dire Wolf/Daishi looks way too whalish even for a 100-ton bag of guns. Dire Wolf/Daishi also has a terrible walking anim rig that has been dubbed the "Direwolf Prance/Moonwalk".

Yeah, I was referring to things like the Marauder. It's just about the best incarnation of the 'mech I've seen so far. The Clan 'mechs do look weird, but we have to remember that a lot of them already started out looking weird as fuck. There's only so much you can do with the source material. Anything from TRO-3055, for example, is a dead loss. Might as well redesign the thing from the ground up.

The Timber Wolf and the Dire Wolf are unexcusable, though. Those are 'mechs that were perfectly well-modeled in previous games, I have no idea how their artists managed to screw the pooch so hard with them.