Revealed live on stage in front of some of the world’s most dedicated MechWarrior fans at the fourth annual Mech_Con, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries’ release date was announced with a new gameplay trailer showing off the explosive high-stakes battles and decisions pilots will face when they take control of their own mercenary unit on launch day: https://youtu.be/vCXcFJBb6BM
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will allow pilots to build, manage and guide their own mercenary unit through a multi-year campaign during the sprawling Third and Fourth Succession Wars. Whether braving missions alone, alongside AI-controlled pilots, or with the help of up to three friends via co-op play, players will face complicated situations with no perfect solution as they choose which contracts to accept, where in the galaxy to direct their attention, and how to balance repairs or upgrades with maintaining their unit’s precious resources.
HorrorScope wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 20:08:Orogogus wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 15:41:
I agree with Primalchrome, I think the Mechwarrior IP is one of the most toxic around, and if it were me I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Man there seems to be too many franchises that have this toxicity. People and there overblown seriousness towards games.
I've asked before, what do people want out of AI in a game like this? I've always felt that the AI doesn't have to be much more complicated than running at the player's 'Mechs while firing guns.
VaranDragon wrote on Dec 3, 2018, 05:02:There is gameplay footage from the MechCon 2018. Slowly moving your heavy mech towards the enemy, a Locust runs circles around you, is hard to hit, tanks are being trampled upon, buildings crumble around you, your mechs shuts down because of over-heating, right in front of an Assault Class mech ... and in the end you saved the city by utterly destroying it in the process
The biggest problem with this trailer is not showing any FPS cockpit videos. It's all in perspective, with the 3rd person FOV of COURSE the mechs will look like toys.
So yeah the trailer could have been better produced, but I see nothing seriously wrong with the game from it, looks and plays like every other Mechwarrior so far.
jdreyer wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 22:12:bigspender wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 21:35:
Hold tight guys, my friend is working on a serious mech game - not quite sim like, but based in a realistic world (late 80s tech, so think Apache helicopter with legs) - coop with hand crafted missions. And the mechs aren't shooting at each other from 10 feet apart lol. It's all using placeholder graphics, as he's coding it still so unfortunetly there's nothing to see as such. He's even got plans for multi-seat mechs. gunner and driver etc, which I don't think has been done before.
And now that this is delayed, the early access version just might beat MW5 to the sale. I'll keep ya'll up to date.
Sounds interesting. What's his plan for Kickstarter/Early Access?
HorrorScope wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 20:08:Orogogus wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 15:41:
I agree with Primalchrome, I think the Mechwarrior IP is one of the most toxic around, and if it were me I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Man there seems to be too many franchises that have this toxicity. People and there overblown seriousness towards games.
bigspender wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 21:35:
Hold tight guys, my friend is working on a serious mech game - not quite sim like, but based in a realistic world (late 80s tech, so think Apache helicopter with legs) - coop with hand crafted missions. And the mechs aren't shooting at each other from 10 feet apart lol. It's all using placeholder graphics, as he's coding it still so unfortunetly there's nothing to see as such. He's even got plans for multi-seat mechs. gunner and driver etc, which I don't think has been done before.
And now that this is delayed, the early access version just might beat MW5 to the sale. I'll keep ya'll up to date.
SunnyD wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 21:07:
So... R.I.P, jump jets??
~Finis~
Warskull wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 21:13:I did not know this, so what you are saying is that they are not even 2nd rate devs, but 3rd rate.Overon wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 11:58:
Expectations are low since Piranha games is a 3rd rate developer
Don't forget Piranha games is all the same people from Jarhead games. They had to shutdown and open a new studio because they destroyed their reputation so badly no one would work with them.
The games they made back then weren't just 3rd rate, they were abysmal. Piranha games is a collection of 3rd rate devs who were reach the point where they were considered unhireable, propped up by the Mechwarrior license.
Overon wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 11:58:
Expectations are low since Piranha games is a 3rd rate developer
Orogogus wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 15:41:
I agree with Primalchrome, I think the Mechwarrior IP is one of the most toxic around, and if it were me I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Orogogus wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 15:41:Overon wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 14:11:
While you do make some good points and I'm sure there is merit to what you say to some degree, to blame crotchety old grognards for the Mechwarrior IP floundering and being sold to second rate studios has cause and effect backwards. Mechwarrior was not always developed by second rate studios. After it became less simulation and more arcade like, that's when the PC crotchety grognards got upset.
You can't ignore your core fans by trying to appeal to the more casual people in order to try to expand your audience. You risk alienating your core audience. It almost never works, especially if it's a niche genre to being with.
I agree with Primalchrome, I think the Mechwarrior IP is one of the most toxic around, and if it were me I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. You'd be better off making up own robots and background. The fanbase is always asking for AAA money to be spent on a game that will never, ever make back AAA profits, living a delusionary world if the right 'Mech game were made, people would be playing Mechwarrior instead of Fortnite, MOBAs, FPSes or whatever. I feel pretty often that MW developers should listen to the grognard crowd and then give serious consideration to doing the opposite of what they're saying. They're not always wrong... but it's pretty often.
Like, right in that video's comments, there are people bitching that the Locust is running around too fast and doesn't look like it's heavy enough. But no one's going to pilot them if they move any slower than that; they'll be deathtraps (especially in MWO). And then usually those same people are complaining that PGI hasn't put in the Dasher/Fire Moth or Fireball yet.
VR and co-op makes this probably a day one purchase for me. The comparable titles available now and on the horizon just don't have the same kind of money behind them. Like, Vox Machinae is pretty fun, but there's no campaign and only 5 mechs.Primalchrome wrote:
We will probably never see a two inch thick manual for Falcon 4.0 again
My understanding is that DCS sits in that space right now, although the manuals are digital nowadays.
I've asked before, what do people want out of AI in a game like this? I've always felt that the AI doesn't have to be much more complicated than running at the player's 'Mechs while firing guns. In MWO, a designer's goal is probably to have as many matches as possible be close-fought, with one team winning by the skin of its teeth instead of rolling the enemy. But that's less fun in a single player campaign, especially a mercenary one. Like, the number one tactic in this kind of game is to group up and focus fire your enemies. But how fun is that if every mission the AI is burning down at least a few of your 'Mechs, if not gunning for the PC, who's probably sitting in the most threatening 'Mech? It seems to me that you see the same thing in HBS' BattleTech, where a lot of player strategy consists of isolating and focusing down targets; if the AI were realistic, that wouldn't work every single time. Missions are interesting because of their scripting combined with AI so dumb that players can take on three or four times their tonnage.
You see the same thing in games like Wing Commander or Freespace, which use terminology and mission design to make it sound military and professional, but in actual gameplay, success depends on you, personally, being better than 15 or 20 of the enemy's pilots. Those schmuck aliens aren't constantly shifting shields full to rear, dumping their stored weapons power, afterburning the hell out of Dodge and calling all their friends to shoot you down.
Orogogus wrote on Dec 2, 2018, 15:41:
Like, right in that video's comments, there are people bitching that the Locust is running around too fast and doesn't look like it's heavy enough.