Articles

MekTek Shows off parts of it's Unreal Engine

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:12:35 +0000

MekTek Shows off parts of it's Unreal Engine

Vam's Quote ---------------
This footage was taken using a variety of MekTek and Epic Assets to demonstrate the fast paced feeling planned for Arena based combat. This footage was prepared for meetings with PGI, S&T, Microsoft, and Epic. Mech mechanics were not shown in these videos because at the time we were engineering methodology to use our customary Mech engine, ICE, with Unreal. ICE is an existing Mech engine developed entirely from scratch by MekTek from 2002-2008 using older Directx technologies.
End Quote ------------------

Posted Facts about MechWarrior IP

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:24:14 +0000

ComStar Terminal just posted som interesting development Facts. Follow them on Facebook

Inner Sphere Houses Linked on CST

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:43:26 +0000

ComStar Terminal has just added links to Inner Sphere Houses. Unit Links are on the way. Don't let your unit be the only one not on there.

Jordan Weisman on the Move with MekTek

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:56:51 +0000

Mektek and Jordan Weisman unveal Solaris Assult Tech.

http://www.moddb.com...is-assault-tech

This is using the Unreal 3 game engine unlike the system hog CyEngine, you will be able to run the Unreal 3 game engine with even a simple Dual Core and 512meg graphics card.

Not Only is MekTek releasing Solaris Assult Tech but they also have in production Tachtical Command using the iPhone and iPad OS for portable gaming which is what the Unreal 3 Engine also allows you to do.

MWO News Online

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:25:52 +0000

http://massively.joy...warrior-online/

Concept Art

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:15:35 +0000

MechWarrior Online has released their HunchBack Cockpit Concept Art in pieces but now see it fully assembled.

Disapointing News from MWO

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:22:37 +0000

Crytek GmbH (“Crytek”) is excited to reveal that Piranha Games’ recently announced premium free-to-play game MechWarrior® Online™ (http://www.mwomercs.com) will be powered by the all-in-one game development solution CryENGINE®3.

http://mwomercs.com/...5744#entry35744

Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle, the mighty BattleMech™. Command your Mech™ and customize it to suit your battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.

Have a feeling that some of the MWLL guys are going to have their hand in the game with their idea of a "Custom Mech"

Not to mention that you are going to need on hell of a Computer Rig to play MWO since it is using CryEngine.

MWO Developer Q&A 1

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:10:22 +0000

Developer Q&A 1 – The Reboot of MechWarrior®

Participants:
Bryan Ekman – Creative Director – Head of design and vision.
Dennis DeKoning – Art Director – Head of art.
Matt Craig – Technical Director – Head of engineering.
Matt Newman – Producer – Project planning and management.
Paul Inouye – Lead Designer – Game systems and presentation.
David Bradley – Game Designer – Overseeing Mech combat and BattleTech® rules.
What are you doing to get the sense of scale right for piloting a giant BattleMech?

[DENNIS] Right from the beginning, the importance of accurately representing the scale of the ‘Mechs was evident. Depending on the world assets alone for size comparison was not enough; the ‘Mechs had to be able to stand alone and still be convincing in their scale. Adding a variety of smaller, ancillary objects achieved this goal as long as they were recognizable and therefore bases for comparison against the overall bulk. I.e. Ladder rungs, hatches, tie-down cleats etc. provided they were to the appropriate scale and appeared to be usable to a human. Another way was through the use of appropriate texture scale such as scratches, gouges, paint patterns and details too small to justify geometry.
I assume that game play will be in the form of some type of match system. If so, how long would you estimate a typical match would last?

[PAUL] Right now we’re thinking a normal match with objectives would take approximately 20 minutes. But please keep in mind, this number might change through gameplay testing.
What is your definition of tactical advantage; can you provide examples? Is there an end game (themepark) or is it open ended (sandbox)?

[PAUL] A tactical advantage gives a player more information than his/her opponent. This can also relate to the strict numbers game, in which the calculated odds of winning are skewed to one side of the 50/50 chance of success. When dealing with tactical advantage in MWO, we look at it from both perspectives. The first is that we want to make sure that teamwork will provide a tactical advantage, as it should. A team that works efficiently with each other should have a higher chance of success compared to a bunch of players doing their own thing. The second perspective is where we want to make sure that players do not have a statistical, tactical advantage where their chance of winning is increased by bad tuning/balancing.

[MATT N] If I can see you before you see me that is a tactical advantage.
Can players start a Merc Corp that is already canon? Or will you protect canon faction/unit names? I.e. I want to start the Eridian Light Horse Merc Corp, I’m the first to register the Merc Corp’s name so is it mine or will I be able to join the Waco Rangers and interact in it like I would a House unit?

[PAUL] Merc Corp names are registered names. Once it’s taken, it’s gone. As for canon protected faction/unit names, we will be locking out some of the key players in the BT timeline.
At this point, how often would you guys like to introduce new content/store items/features/etc. per year?

[PAUL] A bi-weekly release schedule would be ideal. I’ve played numerous on-line games where content stagnated and it became very frustrating waiting for promised items and not having them show up. We’ll be working with our art team and content teams to make sure we get items and maps out in a timely manner. Content is the longest game development process so we’ll be working diligently to get you the stuff as soon as possible.

[MATT N] I would like to introduce new items all the time. New Content takes the longest but it would be great to have weekly patches.
Are we going to see new elements to the cockpit, such as the 360 degree squeezed into 180 degrees view bar mentioned so many times in the novels?

[DAVID] The most prominent new addition to the cockpit will be elements dedicated to managing your InfoTech. Some of these, like different vision modes, have been seen before in other ‘Mech games. Others, such as data and images from your UAVs and remote sensors will be brand new to MechWarrior® Online™.

[MATT C] While we are very conscious of the games canon we are equally conscious of drawing from the canon the aspects that are fun when translated into a game. Say we were testing out having a 360 degree view and it made the game less fun during play testing I think it is safe to say we would cut it, at the current stage of development we are still trying out new ideas relating to the cockpit design so you never know what may end up in the game at launch.
One of the beautiful things with the F2P model that we’re growing to love as developers is that unlike a boxed product where our options to make changes based on consumer feedback are severely limited, with this model if the community demands a feature enough post launch then there is every possibility and intention that that can happen. As excited as we are to see the game upon launch we are just as excited to see what the game will look like a year from launch.
[MATT N] How about Hula girls? You like Hula girls right?
Is this game going to have lots of servers like a WoW or are you hoping for a single persistent server world like EVE Online?

[MATT C] Each game spawns its own dedicated server, these are not persistent like WoW, as mentioned that would take us into MMO territory. There is persistent game world information, i.e. match results are communicated to affect the balance of power in the Inner Sphere, who owns what planet etc. but there is no true persistent world, more of a persistent meta-game.

[MATT N] Lots of Servers Lots and Lots of servers
How much attention is being given to audio fidelity and is there a particular MW game you will be drawing sound effects from?

[MATT C] We are very focused on giving MWO the best audio fidelity within the project constraints; we don’t plan to pull sound effects from any particular game. As with most aspects of the game we are drawing from the best that has gone before and then adding our own Piranha twist.

[PAUL] I’ll add that we firmly believe that nothing will kill the gameplay experience faster than bad game audio. We will be generating all new audio content for MWO. Remastering old sound from previous MechWarrior® titles would not do MWO justice and it wouldn’t be too appealing to you the player either.

[MATT N] What was that? I can’t hear you over the sound of my Hunchback’s AC-10!
Do you guys have any idea if you will be hitting any Cons next year with early versions of the game? I need to know so I can figure out which to go to (Please say PAX)

[PAUL] If Bryan pays, I’ll go to whatever cons he mentions in his reply.
[BRYAN] Future announcements will reveal our marketing plans. We are going to be a key trade shows next year.
With the release timeframe you have, are you planning on releasing a fairly compact but well developed game and adding lots of content in the months following that?

[PAUL] Herein lays the beauty of the F2P model. We will be releasing the compact but well developed game that we want players to experience with the ability to expand on the core presentation to give you the AAA quality title that we want to share with the awesome community that has been waiting for so long. Our use of agile project development and listening to community feedback allows us to steer and correct our designs and implementation as needed.

[MATT N] In my mind Quality has always trumped Quantity. Especially when you can continually add content and respond to what the users want with updates.
How long has the game been in development? how far along is development? (is more of the game on paper or code currently)

[PAUL] The game has been in development for a short period of time following a fairly lengthy pre-production cycle. That being said, our internal engineering team is burning through code faster than words can describe. There’s a passion driving them to make the best MechWarrior® game for the players and fans around the world.

[MATT C] The key goal with the release schedule is, to release a solid chunk of core gameplay and content that reflect the pillars that have already been described. Beyond that, we’ll be very anxious to see how it is received by the community.
[MATT N] 2762.5 , Not Alpha Yet, We don’t use paper.
Do you have plans to support head tracking, such as the popular-in-the-sim-community TrackIR 5.0? In previous FAQ's, you have stated that it will be possible to destroy certain buildings in urban areas. What other types of destructible terrain are you planning on implementing?

[MATT C] Stay tuned for future announcements regarding technology partners. We’re not at a stage currently to discuss everything with regards to destructibility in the game. Just know that we want to blow everything up as much as you do!
Will the MechWarrior® (that is, the player's avatar within the 'Mech) be subject to any particular effects during missions (e.g. injury resulting from hits to the BattleMech's head, falling, ammo explosions (injury as the result of an electric shock from feedback through the neurohelmet), and/or prolonged extreme overheating of the 'Mech)?

[PAUL] We are continuing to investigate what we will be able to do, but it’s a fine line between providing detail and obscuring gameplay and HUD information.

[DAVID] The MechWarrior® won’t actually take any sort of damage or be at risk of dying separately from the ‘Mech itself. However, we hope to have some visual effects like the ones that you’ve mentioned.

[MATT N] If you get shot with an AC-20 in the head the hula girl has real Hula girl Physics™!
Will you have PvE elements on MechWarrior Online?

[PAUL] I may or may not pass out depending on Bryan’s answer to this.
[BRYAN] Not at launch. We're looking at ways to incorporate PVE post launch and withing the framwork of the MWO concept.
What difficulties have you had transferring the mechanics from the tabletop game to a PC game, and what mechanics have you had to change or modify? Since this is a reboot, will history change in-game or do you mean reboot in the same way as a movie franchise is rebooted?

[MATT N] Hey you said REBOOT! You win a prize! Someone knows how to get their questions answered! Good job!

[PAUL] Challenging question and I’ll try my best to answer. There’s been a common misconception amongst the community that I’d like to clear up. While MechWarrior® Online™ does refer to BattleTech® for historical and canon reference, it does not mean that it’s a direct port of the table top rules to a videogame. The table top rules are laid out to make sense for a turn based strategy game. Some of those rules just don’t apply when dealing with a real time game environment. Core rules such as munitions accuracy, heat management and movement speed will have to be tuned for real time gameplay and will differ in varying degrees from the table top rules. How far they differ will come out of gameplay testing and tuning and at this point I cannot comment further on how that progress is going. It is an exciting time in the studio right now and I don’t want to release information too soon and have it change on you, the community, later. I am quite vulnerable to pitchforks and torches.

[DAVID] While there hasn’t been anything that I would call a great difficulty, the thing that we always have to keep in mind is that we want to capture all of the flavour of the tabletop game but need to be aware of when a direct translation of a tabletop system won’t work for a real time computer game. Though I would say that the biggest impasse we’ve come across is melee combat; that’s a system we don’t want to tackle until we know we can do it right.
I know the original trailer had a Warhammer in it, so will the reboot have the un-seen, re-seen or will the 12 not be seen at all?

[MATT N] I remember that trailer and I don’t think there was a Warhammer in there... I think it was an Urban Mech. Man I love those trash cans.

[PAUL] And you guys think I should be medicated?!?
Do you have plans in rebooting the series to take it past MWO like books or movies? Has there been anything that has been added or removed from the series to make the reboot more appetizing to newcomers? Are there any fears that you have about rebooting the franchise?

[PAUL] There will always be some fear when dealing with such a large franchise that has a huge and loyal fan base. We are all fans of the franchise and want to put out the best game we can and we also look to you, the community, to help us achieve that. The passion that has been demonstrated throughout the community really drives home the importance of our decisions here in the studio and we hope you can bear with us as we detail design and implementation to make the final feature set rock solid. As for any changes made for newcomers, I think the level of accessibility (controls and training) will be the determining factor of keeping them interested. I’ve been working with the design team to make sure we address anything that my turn a newcomer away on their first day.

[MATT N] No comment. And we have NO FEAR! We are MechWarriors®!
[BRYAN] The MW rights are scattered across the known universe. The chances are low that anything we do here in MWO will translate into other mediums.
In regards to the Unseen, does this mean we will see the Marauder, Archer, and the rest of the 'Unseens'? Will they be the original formats, the 'Reseens' or will they be Alex's own variations on these iconic ‘Mechs?

[MATT N] If we are going to make any Mech, it is going to go through Alex’s treatment.
Reboot can mean many things to many people, from changing the entire storyline, system, and everything else to just making small changes here and there to some of the ‘Mechs weapons, etc. My question is this, what specifically, does “Reboot” mean to you and the creators of this game? What do you plan on rebooting as a whole? The entire game world from the ground up? Cosmetic changes to most of the units? What direction do you plan on taking when rebooting MW entirely?

[MATT N] For me it means, the ‘Mechs get a visual overhaul and the gameplay is tweaked to mitigate: always knowing where the enemy is, the arms race, circle strafing and legging being too viable.

[PAUL] For me it’s the opportunity to bring the franchise up to date in both graphical and gameplay capabilities. Yes, the various incarnations of MechWarrior® were fun and a lot of nostalgia comes with it. One of the fun tasks of being a designer on this project is the ability to keep that sense of nostalgia while bringing forth modern gaming features. Leveling, skill trees, persistence, economy tracking and stat tracking are just some of the features that we all love and would love to see in MechWarrior® Online™. It’s really a chance to add features, to a game that we’re all familiar with, that really round out the experience as a whole. As a systems designer, I look forward to the challenge of keeping the core experience of MechWarrior®, mixing in some new game mechanics and give you MechWarrior® Online™.
From the DevBlog on the reboot, what do you mean by: “Solve some of the long standing gameplay issues from previous MechWarrior® games?”

[PAUL] For me it’s the open expanses of flat terrain that evolved into circle strafing madness. While it will still be part of the game, our new environments will allow us to curtail that type of gameplay while opening up new avenues of exploration and Information Warfare bringing every class of ‘Mech to the front lines of combat. Yes you will be able to form a team of all assault class ‘Mechs, but you’re going to end up as fodder to a co-ordinated team of mixed class ‘Mechs and an orchestrating commander.
Beyond being online and persistent; how will MWO bring the MW concept forward, or will it be more of the same simply updated? Second will the game be more sim-like than previous titles that show barren cockpits and play like driving tanks in FPS games?

[PAUL] We used to throw around a tag line here at Piranha. “This is not your father’s MechWarrior®”. There are so many aspects of gameplay that are being added to MechWarrior® Online™ that the game will feel different in a very good way. Our ability to feedback information to a player has evolved drastically since the last MechWarrior® title. This includes updated HUD displays, cockpit displays and if you have the toys, force feedback and more! Our cockpit is not barren. We are implementing new technologies to allow you to look at various instrument panels and get tactical information by doing so. Combat between ‘Mechs shouldn’t be just spotting an enemy and shooting. Logistics and battlefield awareness should play a role as well considering you’re piloting a massive powerhouse into combat.
Is there any particular aspect of the combat which you felt needed to be radically revised and/or updated?

[DAVID] The greatest challenge when it comes to combat would be properly implementing melee combat. As a result, this is something that we’re going to put on hold until we know we can do it right. As for more traditional aspects of MechWarrior® combat, we want to make sure that there exists a proper balance to the different weight classes of ‘Mechs, so that they each have their own distinct uses, and encourage good team play when used together.

[PAUL] To touch on David’s comment, we are also bringing in the ability to skill up your pilot. Your pilot is the actual avatar sitting in the cockpit. The dude or dudette that you’re viewing the world through. This brings a whole new level of pilot awareness to the battlefield and you’ll be hard pressed to see why it wasn’t included before. You will be able to fine tune your pilot’s skills into one of the various roles we have planned for MechWarrior® Online™. This includes scouting and commanding for your team mates.
How much influence is the forum and its participants having on your decisions, if any?

[MATT N] The Forum creates great catalysts for Discussion on how we implement the planned features and sometimes inspire unplanned features.

[DAVID] We do check in on the forums from time to time. There are a lot of interesting ideas that come out of the debates on there, and we do keep some of those considerations in mind.

[PAUL] I frequent the forums on a semi-daily basis. A lot of the conversations have a lot of thought put into the suggestions and opinions and I find that the conversations provide us with a lot of insight into our target audience and what you the gamer is going to expect in our final product. There are a lot of great ideas that are simply out of our scope for this project but it’s good to know that we are not far off base when looking at our current feature set and what the community is asking for. I do however have a deep burning hatred for all things “My Little Pony”.
What do you consider the fundamental core of the BattleTech® Universe that you feel can't be touched during a reboot? What do you feel needs to be changed the most?

[PAUL] I don’t think we want to change anything behind the lore of the BattleTech® Universe. The story lines and rich history of the Great Houses and families that drive them along with the politics and controversy are just something we think is at the heart of every MechWarrior® fan. You can even see this right now in the MechWarrior® Online™ forums where the various House discussions show how the community can identify themselves with one of the factions involved in the universe. Another thing we wouldn’t want to change is the elite status of the MechWarrior® themselves. To say a MechWarrior® is just a pilot/driver of a ‘Mech is like saying that a ‘Mech engineer is just a tinkerer. As for what would need to be changed the most, I think some of the technology and industrial designs need to be updated to meet today’s understanding of future technologies.
Targeting in the table top game had no group fire, and damage from each weapon was randomly distributed across different areas of the 'Mech. Will you be "rebooting" group fire? PS: Do you like my location?

[GARTH] He says he's on top of the TNT roof with binoculars, I think we should answer that.

[PAUL] I won’t answer squat unless he has a gun.

Okay seriously, the topic of pin-point accuracy/concentrated damage is something we are going to have to watch very carefully. There’s no real reason why lasers shouldn’t be pin-point accurate and ballistic shot munitions shouldn’t do area damage. We could go into numerous physics debates discussing how particles (including energy) disseminate over distance but that is not going to be conclusive to balanced gameplay. As for group fire, there’s nothing really wrong with the model and it provides a means of making a MechWarrior® tactically think about what gets fired and when. Needless to say, gameplay tuning will drive how we approach targeting and concentrated/area damage.
Have you any plans to add new material to give a unique MWO perspective and enhance the end users experience?

[PAUL] There are two pillars in our design mandate that target this question directly. The first is Role Warfare where we make sure that players of any play style will find their niche and each niche is a positive supplement to their Lance or Team. The second is Information Warfare where we bring in our InfoTech systems which help players relay information back and forth between forward scouts and the rest of the team. This information relay system allows scout and commanders to pass information to assault and defending ‘Mechs.
In rebooting the MechWarrior® game what was the game designers’ rationale for the year 3049 being chosen?

[DAVID] I think that starting just before the Clan invasion allows us the greatest opportunity to really dive into BattleTech setting. We get to start with just the Inner Sphere, who are experiencing a surge of newly (re)discovered technology, and their inter-House politics, and then we get to shake things up when the Clans arrive. Running the game through the Clan Invasion allows the players to experience for themselves what is arguably the best known period in BattleTech history.

[PAUL] We want the player base to be able to experience Inner Sphere tech combat and really to get used to how ‘Mech technology works. We want players to really get into this game and create builds that they can share with friends and allow the community to share strategies in combat and creating/customizing BattleMechs. We figured that the exciting time following the Succession Wars just prior to the Clan Invasion would allow us to really create some intense House vs. House tensions. We also want to introduce other aspects of instability that happened during the introduction and subsequent invasion of the Clans. Starting the game in 3049 made the most sense as we will be able to front load the experience of MechWarrior® Online™ to the first two years of the game being live. Who knows what kind of interesting bits and pieces might appear in the game as time progresses?
Is the trailer for the game really in game footage? Because if it is, then the game will be amazing!

[PAUL] The 2009 video teaser is not the trailer for MechWarrior Online. It was a technology and inspiration piece that we created and yes it was all in-game footage. DevBlog0 and the FAQ on this site explain in detail the creation of the video and what it was used for.

MWO - Blog - Just a piece

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:22:37 +0000

Q. How loyal will MechWarrior® Online™ be to the tabletop rules (heat management, melee, armor penetration, etc.)?

A. We are adhering very closely to the BattleTech® tabletop rules. Some mechanics in the tabletop version of the game do not translate well into a videogame and we are coming up with our own rule sets that mitigate these differences in an intuitive and fun manner.

Q. Will you be able to pick what faction you play in MechWarrior® Online™?

A. Yes. One of the customizations in MechWarrior® Onine™ is to train your pilot to suit your play style. Pilots will bring their efficiencies to whatever BattleMech® they get in.

Q. Will MechWarrior® Online™ ship with a map editor or any other kind of Mod Support?

A. At the moment we are not planning on shipping a map editor for the mod community. While this may seem unfortunate, the beauty of how our content delivery system works in a Free-To-Play environment is that we will be constantly pushing new content downstream to the player. This prevents the game from stagnating like a standalone product and also allows us to keep on top of quality control so you as a player get the best experience possible.

Q. Will DLC be offered in the new MechWarrior® Online™ game?

A. Not in the way that you imagine it. Content will be pushed to you via the game patcher. Once a patch has been applied, new game content is immediately available to you. Larger patches could be considered expansion packs but again, it's pushed to you the player at no cost.

Q. Will MechWarrior® Online™ have any online persistency?

A. Yes, this is where our plan for the Inner Sphere comes into play. All players in Merc Corps will be fighting for control over various border planets. The state of these planets is persistent.

Nov 01Release Announcement: MechWarrior: Living...

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:50:01 +0000

MechWarrior: Living Legends 0.5.3 public open beta hotfix has been released.

This patch addresses isusses found in our recent MWLL 0.5.2 release
Bug Fixes
- Fixed VTOL spawning in aero hangar
- Switched to static linking for the VC Runtime (this will stop the need to install redistributables on player machines)
- Improved Morrigu driving behaviour
- Fixed Shiva variant with Clan weapons
- Fixed wrong naming for Clan Arrow IVs
- Fixed stuck spots and other problems for the following maps: TSA_Extremity, TSA_Sandblasted, TSA_Inferno, SA_BrokenVista, TC_Sandblasted
Other Changes:
- Thor now meets art quality and baseline performance standards.- Loki legs have been tweaked.

Attention AOL E-Mail users

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:11:34 +0000

Before you register on the HouseLiao.com forums please make sure you add houseliao.com to your allowed domains on your AOL privacy features otherwise AOL will block the validation e-mail that is automatically sent by the forums for validation.

I have manually approved those users that I personnaly know who use AOL accounts so you should have full access now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

MWO - Why you want Free 2 play - Nuff said??

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:55:47 +0000

Why you want MechWarrior Online to be Free-To-Play

by Bryan Ekman Nov 4, 2011 4:16 PM PDT
Why you want MechWarrior® Online™ to be Free-To-Play!

Since the announcement came out, one of the hottest topics has been about Free-To-Play (F2P). This Into the Lab will discuss the details of why MechWarrior® Online™ is F2P and how we came to love the concept () and why you should too. So let’s get started.

How many times have you bought a game for 60 bucks and felt disappointed? Or if you’re like me, paid 60 bucks, played for 2 hours and never touched the game again because you get busy with life or work? Or loved a game so much, that you wished there was more, only to wait 2 years for a sequel! The Free-To-Play model solves this problem by allowing players to drive value and content.

How does this translate into MechWarrior™ Online™? Great question! Let’s talk about the design principle we’re using to drive MWO, simply referred to as: “All Carrot, No Stick”.

The core experience is available to anyone for no cost at all. You as the player, get to choose how and if you spend money. And make no mistake, I want you to spend money, but only on the things YOU value. In fact, when you spend your money, it tells me that we’ve succeeded in creating a game players enjoy. Sounds like a basket full of carrots to me.

Key to achieving this concept is a design that rewards players for participation, skill, tactical thinking, team play, and heroics in a way that is engaging to the individual and contributes to the overall community experience. These rewards take many forms, including in-game currency called C-Bills, experience points, and prestige. Players can also purchase items which make this experience more fun, engaging, or efficient depending on what matters to them.

For example, if you are an offense player like me, you will be rewarded with money, experience, and prestige by dealing damage, and killing or helping to kill the enemy. I’m also a collector; I love to own one of everything. So MWO provides me with the ability to acquire and store items of value (collector), while rewarding me for doing what I love most, crushing other MechWarriors in the field of battle (offense player)!

We are catering to all major player archetypes, the lone wolf, the team player, the collector, the efficiency/tuner, the tinkerer/builder, the leader and many more. These archetypes are all represented within the context of MechWarrior® Online™ a free-to-play BattleMech action/sim.

Now let’s talk about Pay-To-Win, the red-headed step child (no offense to all the red heads, we really do love you).

There are those who will rumble about Pay-2-Win, which equates to the person with the biggest wallet winning. I’m not going to lie, some things can and will allow you to acquire items faster, or even instantly with real cash.

Foul! Foul! You said you can’t buy a tactical advantage! That’s a stick! That guy with the wallet is going to be able to buy the biggest, bad assed items in the game! He’s going to kick my butt with his wallet.

Well here’s some food for thought, maybe the biggest isn’t always the best! To take a quote from an early MechWarrior® presentation – This is not your father’s MechWarrior®! One of our core pillars is Role Warfare and is designed to, well – level the playing field – another concept from our original design. We're doing away with the arms race and making BattleMechs of all shapes and sizes have a purpose and role on the battlefield. If you love scouting, grab that light mech, train and gear it up. Be that sneaky guy who relays critical information back to the rest of your lance. Maybe you’re a commander type, who loves to multitask, directing fire support, air strikes, and multiple lances in a mech suitable to that role. If you play any of these roles well, and with skill, you will be rewarded.

So remember this, time and experience (the real kind), will always equal greater skill. Greater skill will always equal more rewards. You can’t buy skill, you earn it.

Now if that wasn’t enough here are some of my other favourite reasons why you want MechWarrior® Online™ to be F2P!

We can iterate quickly.

This means we can listen to your feedback and actually do something about it.

We have live game metrics.

This means we can respond to key indicators and refine the game play experience.

We are not bound by content delivery limitations of a console platform.

For now, getting new content delivered through a console is a costly and arduous process.

We can use test servers and a beta community to test our ideas and new content before pushing it to live servers.

This isn’t new concept. However, it’s vital to keeping the quality bar high for MWO.

In summary:

All Carrot, No Stick.
Balanced roles to suit a variety of player styles.
Skill is earned.
You can make your own choices!
Spend money on things YOU value.
MechWarrior™ rules! (Fan Boy moment)

Hello HUNCHIE !! I think I LOVE you...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:36:49 +0000

Going back to some of the things I talked about with Jordan. He said you guys had some very nifty simulation aspects, almost. Things like lance members being able to share recon data. You could send your light Mech forward and it could pull line of sight and send that back to your fire support Mech. Things like that, being able to work with air support units. Are you still planning on weaving some of these elements into the combat?

BE: Absolutely. That’s another one of our core pillars, which is what we call “information warfare.” Which basically boils down to controlling the flow of information on the battlefield. Whether it be your own information, or the information of your enemies. So we really want to establish more roles on the battlefield. We want to make gameplay be less about an arms race, where you start in a light Mech but you really want to get into an assault Mech, because it’s the best thing there is. What we want to do is make that light, and those mediums and those heavy Mechs, have a purpose on the battlefield and give players the ability to have fun with them. And actually have a tactical advantage by creating well-composed lances and well-composed mercenary corps.

So the answer is yes. We have a core feature called information warfare that fits into what Jordan was talking about.

RB: It’s really about making sure that we overcome some of the problems or challenges that some of the past games had. And one of those, frankly, is as Bryan said, it’s an arms race. Some of that was due to the technology limitations at the time. With the wide-open terrain maps, it would quickly degrade into everyone has one of a couple different Mechs decked in one of two different ways.

And you’re laughing because you know just what I mean. And we’re just determined to make sure that the lance unit needs to be well-balanced. And you said it yourself: there’s going to be opportunities for that light scout Mech to become such a valuable member of that lance, for him to go ahead through terrain that he can be well-protected in, find out where the enemies are, and relay that information back to his lance mates. And that’s just one example of one class and role of Mech, and how they’re going to become useful to their lance.

So, in an ideal world, a well-balanced lance would have one of each weight class, and one of each role, and there’s going to be limitless ways of composing your lance. But the best lance is not going to be four 100-ton Assault Mechs.

How many players will be involved in these engagements? Is it just going to be lance on lance combat, or Mech company combat? How many people per team?

BE: The final numbers we’re not announcing just yet. We are going to support multiple lances per session on at least two teams. So yes, there will be multiple lances and multiple team combat.

You name at least two combat modes here, Conquest and Versus. Am I correct in assuming that Versus is a deathmatch, and can you get into Conquest a bit?

BE: Yeah, Versus covers team deathmatch, deathmatch, one-on-one, and any type of head to head with no objectives other than to kill the enemy.

Conquest is more about controlling the battlefield. It’s a mix of Conquest and Rush. You might need to occupy and advance, so it’s a much more tactical gameplay. And this is going to be our primary mode that we roll out with, and the one I think players are going to enjoy the most. It offers more than just going out there and killing each other. You actually have to work together, work with the tools you’re provided, control the information flow on the battlefield, and so on, so forth. So it’s a much more detailed combat mode.

So you talk about upgrading skills, a leveling system, upgrading your Mech, and this is such a tricky area for F2P games. There are all these fears about pay-to-win games, and Mech aficianados, they know the specs on a Mech. They know what the Mech is capable of. How is progression going to work? It’s F2P, but obviously money comes into it somewhere. What does your money buy you?

BE: One of the most important things in any F2P games, in my opinion, is not allowing players to buy skill. The fastest way to destroy your game is to allow your players to buy something that gives them a tactical advantage over an enemy. So we’ve been very careful about what you can purchase and what you need to earn.

Can you get into items and upgrades yet?

BE: You’re going to to be able to purchase, using a variety of different methods, Mechs, Mech pieces, skills – but I’ll be careful with what i mean about skills.

When it comes to the pilot, you’ll be able to train your pilot to fit the role that you like. But you won’t be able to pay real cash for pilot training, for example. That would be through earned experience points or earned in-game cash. So you would actually have to play the game to upgrade your pilot. Anything that would affect or give your a tactical advantage, you can’t purchase with real cash. You have to earn that by playing the game.

So we have a pilot tree, a skill tree. As you level up you can unlock new features and new abilities. So if you want to be a scout, you would get skills related to information technology, or being able to move faster, hide, things like that. If you wanted to be more of an assault person, it would be more related to weapon control and such.

What variety of environments can players look forward to? Will different climates pose challenges?

BE: Absolutely. Because heat is a huge part of this game, we have selected a range of maps, from very cold worlds to very hot worlds, to everything in between. And scenarios that take advantage, and force the player to think about heat in different ways. As for the specific differences between maps, one of the things we can do these days that previous games weren’t able to do well is urban combat. And it’s a cornerstone of MWO, this ability to actually fight in detailed urban settings. So we have a smattering of urban maps, and some open terrain maps, and all require different tactics, and different roles, and different Mechs. So on a big open field, with huge open ranges, the Assault Mech might have an advantage. But in the city, the scout mech with its maneuverability might have the advantage.

Is there any chance of, say, cooperative missions? Where you’re playing through a story mission, or a fun challenge mission with scripted events?

BE: We have considered co-op. We’ve discussed single-player. We’re looking at how those will play out. But right now, as part of the initial launch, those will not be included.

PC Gamer - Mechwarrior Online

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:29:19 +0000

Ekman and Bullock are serious Mech fans, and knew exactly where PC Gamer's questions were coming from. They were also crystal clear about one thing: this is the MechWarrior that PC gamers know and love. This is about taking the gameplay of MechWarrior 2 through MechWarrior 4 in directions those earlier games couldn’t even contemplate.

http://www.pcgamer.c...ves-the-series/

Final Pieces Completed

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:34:19 +0000

Final Pieces of the Puzzle have been reviled. Happy Halloween!

PC GAMER interview with Russ Bullock of Piranha...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:47:49 +0000

http://www.pcgamer.c...ng-mechwarrior/

here ya have it folks....more news coming in a few, but here is the latest.

http://www.pcgamer.c...ws-coming-soon/

MECHWARRIOR ONLINE !!! FREE TO PLAY...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:34:58 +0000

After two years of near-total silence about the fate of the MechWarrior reboot, Piranha Games have announced MechWarrior Online, a free-to-play, team-based multiplayer BattleMech sim. It’s also going to tell the story of the Battletech universe in real-time, starting from just before the Clan Invasion of 3050. Each day, players will do battle on behalf of the universe’s major factions, and each day in the game will represent a single day’s action in the fictional Inner Sphere. It will go live in the second half of 2012.

Mechwarrior Online (MWO) might be free-to-play, but MWO Creative Director Bryan Ekman and Piranha President Russ Bullock insist this is going to be a proper Mechwarrior game in the tradition of Mechwarrior 2 through 4, not a successor to the Xbox action game Mech Assault. Ekman says joystick support is a strong probability, and both call this a Mech sim.

“I think it’s really the Mechwarrior you know,” Bullock says. “It’s fully first-person. It’s not a new interpretation. We’re modernizing things a little bit, I think we’ll get to those questions, but certainly it’s Mechwarrior.”

Another major part of the game is customization and organizing into mercenary units, Ekman explains.

“Players will be able to band together in the format of a lance, which is four, and they’ll be able to band together as a mercenary corporation for hire. That’s not unlike a guild. We have a whole editor and mercenary HQ for players to explore that allows them to customize the look and feel of their corporation, their membership, the structure of how they enter battle, the lances, their names, ranks, and all kinds of things.”However, in some very real ways, this is not the Mechwarrior you remember. And it’s a good thing, too, because Ekman and Piranha games have some very exciting ideas for how to make Mechwarrior more of a tactical sim and less of a shooter.

“One of our core pillars is what we call ‘information warfare,’” Ekman explains. “Which basically boils down to controlling the flow of information on the battlefield. Whether it be your own information, or the information of your enemies. We want to make gameplay be less about an arms race, where you start in a light Mech but you really want to get into an assault Mech, because it’s the best thing there is.”

The matches themselves will support multiple teams and multiple four-person squads (“lances” in Mechwarrior parlance). The primary focus will be Conquest mode, which will allow for more tactics and teamwork, but there will also be a variety of deathmatch modes available.

Ekman also promises that while players will be able to buy items with real money, nobody can buy anything that will confer a tactical advantage. “Anything that would affect or give your a tactical advantage, you can’t purchase with real cash. You have to earn that by playing the game,” he says.

Mechwarrior online features multiple upgrade paths, both for Mechs and pilots, but it should not be too complicated. As Bullock says, “If someone has played a combination of Mechwarrior, Call of Duty, and Diablo in their gaming life, they’re going to have seen everything that we’re offering for the most part.”

Mechwarrior online, in keeping with the original games, will feature a variety of maps set across different environments and climates. In a universe where heat plays such a major role, with Mechs overheating from weapons fire and local temperature, that means different weather will make for very different tactics.

But big difference from previous games will be urban combat. “One of the things we can do these days that previous games weren’t able to do well is urban combat,” Ekman says. “And it’s a cornerstone of MWO, this ability to actually fight in detailed urban settings.”

You can find out more info from the official website: mwomercs.com. You should also stick around PC Gamer today for exclusive interviews with Ekman and Bullock, as they explain what happened these past two years, and go into detail about what Mechwarrior Online will be.

Get over to the new MECHWARRIOR website and register your pilot name!

its official ! GAME IS coming!

http://mwomercs.com/

Construction

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:43:04 +0000

Please Excuse the mess as we update the House Liao Website Layout.

MechWarrior Rebirth

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:34:19 +0000

For those that have been keeping faithful watch on the Mech Warrior Twitters, another fragment was released last night..

Enought of the Teaser twitters...show us the Mech Battles so that we can get into the cockpit!

MechWarrior: Living Legends 0.5.2 Release

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:07:40 +0000

MechWarrior: Living Legends 0.5.2 public open beta. This patch incorporates a number of performance updates, bug fixes and new features as follows:

New Features
-added sv_leaguemode_commentator to disable the commentator in SA/LMS leaguemode
-Crash reporter now sends sv_servername as the player name if it is a server no profile name is set or the profile name is “default”
-Added a server messages system
-Added server-side ban system
-Added high-ping-kick system
-added server side command to list connected players and their gamespyid
-toggleIntCvar command to ease keybindings
-added Server option to log chat (sv_logChat).