KickStarter BATTLETECH - turn-based mech combat from Harebrained Schemes

[Mustawd]

EDIT: Wait, is this smilie supposed to be a mexican guy? Cuz his hat looks like a sombrero. Ima assume mescan.

 

[Jenkem]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

This is especially sad given that Harebrained have suffered from anti-DRM backlash before. Remember when they weren't allowed to release Shadowrun on GOG because their license with Microsoft didn't allow it?

I think backlash is completely deserved in this case because apparently pre-order page didn't inform customers about Paradox account thing.

 

[Mustawd]

I don't care about THEY or that most of the characters are asian, but wtf isn't blonde hair in the game? I want my pilot to look like Dolph Lundgren..

Someone asked this on the Steam forums. Thread is now locked.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/637090/discussions/0/3211505894148789301/

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I don't care about THEY or that most of the characters are asian, but wtf isn't blonde hair in the game? I want my pilot to look like Dolph Lundgren..

Someone asked this on the Steam forums. Thread is now locked.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/637090/discussions/0/3211505894148789301/

http://archive.is/wKAUK

 

[Alienman]

Awww, I had hope for that thread. Just left a minor shit-post in there.

Edit:

Ah, death on tranny hill. Is this our times Hamburger Hill?

Edit 2:

Wow, they are straight up deleting stuff now. No locked or anything, threads just go poof.

 

[Black]

A game racist against aryans.
https://twitter.com/HBS_thratchen

 

[KoolNoodles]

Ya'll are acting like a bunch of cucked snowflakes(did I get that right?). Who gives a fuck about that shit.

If the game isn't the reincarnation of Mech Commander in turn-based tabletop style then it is shit and a disappointment. How long has it been since a good Mech strategy game? Forever?

Nothing else matters and that's all I care about. Even if it has a lot of issues like the first Shadowrun, that are then fixed somewhat subsequently, well....I guess that's OK too. Unfortunate, but ok. At least there are Battletech games again.



Edit: And this was the best argument I've seen anyways.

It's because blondes are too stupid to operate mechs *ba dum tssh*

Idiots.

 

[agris]

I'm still very early on, but the game is fun and my mech pilot looks like the Unabomber, so what could go wrong?

 

[Dayyālu]

Ya'll are acting like a bunch of cucked snowflakes(did I get that right?). Who gives a fuck about that shit.

Comrade!

Do you have a passing knowledge of the levels of derp the BT "fandom" is in? Add typical Codex peculiarities and we're golden.

That said, how long I'll have to wait before this gets playable? How long until we get Clantech and people can stop bothering about MUH SJWs because we'll have furry test tube babies that don't give jack shit about your sexual orientation if they can crush you and then enslave you?

Sometimes I feel I'm the only man around that likes Clans, WoB or non-traditional factions. Clans may be retarded, but they are fun.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

The problem with Clans is Clan Wolf, specifically that Clan Wolf wasn't 100% irrevocably eradicated offscreen in an unceremonious and expedient fashion between deployment of Wolf's Dragoons and Clan Invasion.

 

[fantadomat]

Hahahhahaha,so is the game shit or is this just melodrama? From what i read it is going toward shit.

 

[Alienman]

Hahahhahaha,so is the game shit or is this just melodrama? From what i read it is going toward shit.

Just played little of the tutorial missions so far, I like the combat. Game runs relativity smooth, but with some serious dips in FPS when lots of stuff explode and when the map zooms out. I'm not a heavy Battletech lore guy, so the stuff that surrounds all that isn't bothering me personally. Story so far is really jumpy though. At the start it felt like it would be the classic, start out as a rookie work your way up- shebang, but then the game keep jumping several years ahead while I haven't learned anything more than the basics. Apparently I have worked for a mercenary group for several years, which would make me a veteran, but in real life I still feel like a noob since my combat knowledge is at a minimum. Big disconnect there, for me at least.

 

[Agesilaus]

I played up until the recovery of the dropship/opening up of the map. Game is a lot of fun. Starting lance could be lighter, and starting missions could be harder, but things are slowly ramping up. Combat is satisfying, weapons have impact.

 

[Silva]

Nothing else matters and that's all I care about. Even if it has a lot of issues like the first Shadowrun, that are then fixed somewhat subsequently, well....

 

[Agesilaus]

Hahahhahaha,so is the game shit or is this just melodrama? From what i read it is going toward shit.

Just played little of the tutorial missions so far, I like the combat. Game runs relativity smooth, but with some serious dips in FPS when lots of stuff explode and when the map zooms out. I'm not a heavy Battletech lore guy, so the stuff that surrounds all that isn't bothering me personally. Story so far is really jumpy though. At the start it felt like it would be the classic, start out as a rookie work your way up- shebang, but then the game keep jumping several years ahead while I haven't learned anything more than the basics. Apparently I have worked for a mercenary group for several years, which would make me a veteran, but in real life I still feel like a noob since my combat knowledge is at a minimum. Big disconnect there, for me at least.

It is pretty hamfisted, at least at first. Essentially, the story doesn't seem to have any purpose until you recover the dropship. Then the world opens up, you have plot missions, and the difficulty increases.

 

[fantadomat]

Hahahhahaha,so is the game shit or is this just melodrama? From what i read it is going toward shit.

Just played little of the tutorial missions so far, I like the combat. Game runs relativity smooth, but with some serious dips in FPS when lots of stuff explode and when the map zooms out. I'm not a heavy Battletech lore guy, so the stuff that surrounds all that isn't bothering me personally. Story so far is really jumpy though. At the start it felt like it would be the classic, start out as a rookie work your way up- shebang, but then the game keep jumping several years ahead while I haven't learned anything more than the basics. Apparently I have worked for a mercenary group for several years, which would make me a veteran, but in real life I still feel like a noob since my combat knowledge is at a minimum. Big disconnect there, for me at least.

Until a few days i didn't even knew that this shit have lore. It doesn't sound impressive. How are the missions? Are they just 5 radiant mission that you have to grind? Like in the old space sims,kill pirates,escort x,protect x,destroy convoy x,destroy building x. Does it have multi faction battles with a lot of action that makes it feel like an actual battle?

 

[Alienman]

No idea yet, Agesilaus probably have more info about that.

 

[fantadomat]

Decided to poke it and see what it comes out.....and this came out.

I was fiddling with the portrait until i saw that they are supposed to be females. 10/10 for the fugliest creatures out there,it is even worst than andromeda. The whole appearance is terrible,you can't even have blue hair. What the fuck?! It looks like something from 10 ears ago. Dragon age origins does have far better face creation options that this shit. Also the game looks kind of ugly. I am on the first mission and now will try it out. Hope that it doesn't continue to disappoint. I can't wait for the option to ditch the whiny princes and side with her uncle.

 

[Kalarion]

I've played maybe 2 hours so far, initial impressions:

TLDR; I'm having fun, some stuff is annoying the shit out of me, some stuff is completely retarded (not necessarily the same stuff).

GOOD
- combat generally satisfying so far, I still enjoy watching missiles and laz0rs hit mech and leg (this could change after a dozen more hours, who knows). Character barks are generally not annoying.
- most of the needed information is available either on the UI or just by hovering the mouse over relevant stuff. For instance you can see the absolutely worthless "total armor/total structure remaining" number by clicking on a given 'mech. But you can also see exact armor/structure remaining by hovering over a section. So that's nice.
- different skills synergise well so far. Multi-target is awesome. I imagine sensor lock will be sweet too (I haven't gotten it on a pilot yet). The other Specialisations look gud too.
- character progression seems easy to follow and varied. I'm thinking up different progression paths for my warriors already.
- I really enjoyed the intro video. I realize I may be in the minority here :D. I felt it did a good job setting up the milieu for the game.

BAD
- the UI has a lot of information, but sometimes it is difficult to figure out how to bring it up. In one case it actually cost me a 'mech and its pilot, due to not fully understanding how spotting works in the game. Only the once though, mostly it's just annoying. I hate fighting with a badly designed UI.
- certain aspects that were brought over from TT rules are still here, but it's never explained in the tutorial (or anywhere else that I've found so far). In one instance I forgot that TT combat moves through phases in linear order (generally, movement > actions > action resolution) and lost a spider because I didn't realize I couldn't move after firing. I admit this is mostly my fault (I know the rule from TT, it's just been so long I'd forgotten). Given how much time they spent on the tutorial and "the first two hours" you'd think this would be highlighted somewhere though.

UGLY
- this game is an unoptimized sack of dogshit when it comes to system performance. I have an ~3 yr old rig, built at the time for decent performance. But given this game's graphics, I shouldn't have any problems whatsoever running it. Instead I stare at 3 minute long loading screens, and 85%-96% RAM hogging. Un-fucking-believable. I went in and tweaked the graphics settings and it helped... a little. I was still at over 80% RAM utilization with most settings on low or medium, though. Infuriating.
- the story is laughably childish... especially since, given the choice, I would have sided with the so-called villains in a heartbeat. I don't give a shit about any of these people, and certainly not for the dumb bitch I got shoehorned into working for. Newsflash HBS: saying "Authoritarian REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" does not make me automatically recoil in horror. For fuck's sake put some effort into your plots. I can happily play along rails if I feel the story is well-realized. This game doesn't even come close to hitting that mark.
- the script is even worse. I am not looking forward to spending the next 30+ hours reading italics every two to three words, because like we have to show emphasis because this is literally art people! AND THROW IN SOME CAPS FOR GOD'S SAKE! Even without that the lines are just terrible. I feel like I'm watching a hack trying to imitate Shakespeare. No one is talking or relating to each other, certainly not believably; they are (pardon the pun) reading the script for a bad politician's speech.

More to follow as I dig into the game.

 

[Jason Liang]

Female mechwarriors aren't supposed to be beauty pageant contestants. Not many people can qualify in the first place.

Especially in the lore, there's hardly any renowned Inner Sphere mechwarriors (I know there's a few, like the chick with the Highlander and Kai's sister Cassandra, but mostly men). The famous women mechwarriors from the pre-Dark Age novels (Natasha Kerensky, Marthe Pryde, Joanna, Ranna, Red Corsair) are all Clanners. Even Maeve Wolf is not a freebirth.

 

[Cael]

Not Recommended
0.9 hrs on record
POSTED: 24 APRIL
My nu-transsensual ZETA-8 genderfluid heteromollusc Timber Wolf did not agree with the bad graphics, stale hyper simplified gameplay, lack of costumization and obvious paradox tier DLC to come.

Not Recommended
2.1 hrs on record
POSTED: 24 APRIL
Got instantly banned from the BATTLETECH forums by the devs for criticising the neutral gender pronouns.

Given reason: 3 Warnings.

Reality: No warnings.

Game's alright but shame about the tyrannical censorship.

Not Recommended
1.7 hrs on record
POSTED: 24 APRIL
I would advise avoiding HBS until someone on their dev team remembers they are a business that took money to develop a licensed product, not some activist group funded to pound on a platform. I backed this fairly heavily years ago, and am now embarassed to be associated with it. Aside from the ethical issues of making political statements on someone else's dollar, in the game and social media, there is the larger issue that the game simply doesn't work for many people.

Including me.

I'm fairly familiar with getting things to work that don't want to. Playing with software and system settings to make things work that don't want to. I'm still getting regular crashes. This is a poorly tested product, and it shows. Do not buy this right now; keep an eye on the patch schedule and forums for the next week or so.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Waste them dollars, you sad, sad sjw supporters. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Cael]

EDIT: Wait, is this smilie supposed to be a mexican guy? Cuz his hat looks like a sombrero. Ima assume mescan.

Monkey Island. Heard of it?

 

[Cael]

I feel like I'm watching a hack trying to imitate Shakespeare.

Surely you should know by now that all the precious snowflakes think they are not only Shakespeare but also Julius Caesar and Winston Churchill rolled into one.

 

[almondblight]

Remember when they weren't allowed to release Shadowrun on GOG because their license with Microsoft didn't allow it?

I remember when they claimed that was the case. They seemed to have no problem releasing it on GOG when they actually wanted to.