BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Paingod
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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NickAragua wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 8:58 pmHell, you can probably just keep an eye on this thread, I'm checking the mod pages daily.
I was looking at it last night and the last update was a few days ago, when the modder said they were basically waiting on other people to polish off their new bits and it was basically out of their hands... but expected it to be very soon, like end of the day... a couple days ago.

So I suppose "Any Time Now" applies.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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I have to say, I did enjoy the missions I've done in the urban biome. Bringing down a building that a mech is standing on has the expected effects, but bringing down an adjacent building also does some damage. The electrical field after some buildings collapse is interesting, as is the cover that a debris field creates.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Looks like BT Extended 3025 just updated. So I'll be grabbing that tonight and trying it out.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Yep, it updated and works. All you need is ModTek, "Community Asset Bundle" (CAB-3025_edition-SingleFolder version), and Battletech Extended 3025, and you're good to go.

I started a Career run-through, and it gave me a Locust, a Stinger and a Spider, along with a Firestarter and an Urbanmech with a PPC. Yay.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Downloading it now, 90% done with the community single folder bundle.

EDIT: Done, and done. I'm adding a few of the minor mods, like Turbine, AIM

EDIT2: Did you get an error about BTRandomStartByDifficultyMenu?

EDIT3: It could be an incompatibility between the Extended 1.6 vs. old BT 1.5.1. I'm repatching my setup back to 1.6. *sigh*

EDIT4: Something's not right here. It's not loading my existing saves right, frame rate that was previously smooth as butter (I have a RTX2070!) is in the toilet. A turn usually takes no more than 30 seconds is now taking 3 minutes (or more), and mechs are no longer showing all the possible travel points until you click on the map.

I'm going to verify files and re-inject Modtek.

EDIT5: 15 files had to be redownloaded. *sigh* Reinjected. Wish me luck...

EDIT6: Won't load old savegames. Started a new career, it still won't draw the available paths, and AI turns takes forever compared to 1.5.1 WTF?

EDIT7: Found the problem. It was that AIM mod that I added. Removed it and it works. Must be conflicting with one of the other Extended 3025 mods. UNFORTUNATELY, this also introduced some sort of incompatibility, that the game can't save any more if I load my old campaign save. *sigh* Keeps mumbling about "out of space" even though they are gigabytes of space. Oh well. *sigh*

EDIT8: Had to start a new career, as it won't even load the mechbay if I tried to start one fo the 3025 Extended career saves. However, I apparently absolutely suck or I get lousy mechs. I don't even have a medium mech, as I apparently don't even get a Jenner, as Urbie is way too slow to be useful. ARGH.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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NickAragua wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2019 12:07 amUrbanmech with a PPC
*snort* *cough* <falls out of chair>

Just had an image of R2D2 with a giant Tesla Coil strapped to its head.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Solved the savegame problem. 3025Ex doesn't have "Flashpoint -- The Raid" FP mod installed, and that is causing a conflict in my savegame. Installing that mod fixed it.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Don't forget "Flashpoint - The Cache", too.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Are these "essential" Flashpoints?

I'm dangerously close to getting back into BattleTech and would like to know which mods are basically essential for some good, proper Mech stomping fun. By essential I mean "not overpowered" and "adds lore-friendly options" ... I don't need a mod that adds Quintuple Heat Sinks that weigh .5 tons.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by Kasey Chang »

3025 Extended is basically MOTS and lore-friendly as well as keeping with all stuff that is HBS BT.

Lots of mods, like MechEngineer / Rogue Tech, are basically total conversions, adds tons of details and changed the game completely. 3025 Extended doesn't do that. Just more mechs, more vehicles, all in limited lore-friendly manner.

And the variety is nice. I'm seeing Rifleman, Marauder, and the ultra-light scouts like Wasp and Stinger, in addition to Locusts and Commandos. On the heavy-end, just saw an Atlas-D in addition to Highlander and more. Vehicles now are also enjoying more variety, and are faction-armed properly.

FP_The Cache and FP_The Raid are flashpoints mods, not a part of the DLC.

------

Just started "The Prototype" Flashpoint, where I get to play with the Raven. My normal play style doesn't work with the Raven. I had to read a couple Reddit posts to figure out how it really works.
Spoiler:
Reserve all moves until the VERY end, then blast a SINGLE target, but stay AWAY from all enemies. ECM cloak resets each round, and if you reserved all the way back down to Initiative 1, the enemy mechs basically can't shoot at you... Unless they send a Locust or something to pierce your cloak by coming up to you personally. However, initiative 1 basically means you are sharing firing phase with turrets, so stay WELL OUT of their way. Use this mechanic to bust the LRM carriers and the Trebuchets (at least 2) without them firing back. THEN find an angle that lets you bust one turret at a time. Just cloak your way into close-assault range while out of shot of other turrets.
Okay, just finished. And I'm keeping the mech myself, which sorta kept the balance of power. :) Makes the most sense to me. :D
Spoiler:
Raven maintain ECM cloak, and stay away from enemies, to get one of them to follow us. When one's around the corner, everyone reserve until we're sure the closest enemy to us have already moved. Then all four break cloak and attack, going for the same knee. If vehicle, go for the turret side armor. With four mechs, can usually kill a vehicle in one turn, or take a knee out in one turn. Then all four make a run for it and gain some distance while the cloak resets. Rinse and repeat. Took a while, but eventually, I took out every turret, every mech, every vehicle, and was unopposed while busting the research base.
Last edited by Kasey Chang on Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Paingod wrote: Wed Jun 12, 2019 6:40 am Are these "essential" Flashpoints?

I'm dangerously close to getting back into BattleTech and would like to know which mods are basically essential for some good, proper Mech stomping fun. By essential I mean "not overpowered" and "adds lore-friendly options" ... I don't need a mod that adds Quintuple Heat Sinks that weigh .5 tons.
The two flashpoints Kasey and I were discussing are basically user-made flashpoints. I haven't played them myself yet, but I hear they are pretty much on par with the HBS-supplied flashpoints.

Currently, my mod list is Battletech Extended 3025, Flashpoint - The Raid, Flashpoint - The Cache. I'm pretty happy with it.

Technically, RogueTech is also "lore friendly" but much more invasive, basically a total conversion to tabletop rules (as close as you can get to them anyway). I may try it at some point in the future, but I'm not really in the mood for it currently.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Can someone help me get Battletech Extended 3025 up and running?

I have the base game, Flashpoint, and Urban Warfare. The only mod I'm interested in right now is BT Extended 3025 (which of course requires Modtek0.7.2 and the Community Assests Bundle.)

Before Urban Warfare, I had all these installed and it worked fine. I've deleted my old Mods folder and reinstalled the mods, but now the game exits to desktop after character creation and before the first battlefield.

I've got the latest file versions of all three mods:
ModTek0.7.2
CAB-3025_edition-SingleFolder-393-3-7-0-3025-1559682228
Battletech Extended 3025-387-1-6-0-0-1560193477
Battletech Extended 3025 Hotfix 1-387-1-6-0-1-1560339324

Can someone tell me how to correctly install them so things will run and not crash?
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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It's distinctly possible that there's some left over stuff from older mods in a cache somewhere.

This is a post on the paradox forums that tells you how to do a complete battletech install:

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/in ... y.1107452/

Basically, uninstall the game, and then there are a couple of folders and registry entries that you need to clear out as well.

Once you do that, reinstall the game, then fire up vanilla just to make sure it works.

Then apply the mods one at a time (starting with modtek), firing the game up after each mod. Eventually, you'll either get all three installed and it'll work or you'll run into the same problem and know which of the mods causes the problem.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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NickAragua wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2019 8:56 pm...Once you do that, reinstall the game, then fire up vanilla just to make sure it works.
... and then make sure the game isn't set to auto-update so it doesn't break itself and/or require you to re-download new versions of the mods and other files.

Once I get this running I plan to leave the install alone unless I find a grievous bug or the next DLC launches.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by Kasey Chang »

Holman wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:42 pm Can someone help me get Battletech Extended 3025 up and running?

I have the base game, Flashpoint, and Urban Warfare. The only mod I'm interested in right now is BT Extended 3025 (which of course requires Modtek0.7.2 and the Community Assests Bundle.)

Before Urban Warfare, I had all these installed and it worked fine. I've deleted my old Mods folder and reinstalled the mods, but now the game exits to desktop after character creation and before the first battlefield.

I've got the latest file versions of all three mods:
ModTek0.7.2
CAB-3025_edition-SingleFolder-393-3-7-0-3025-1559682228
Battletech Extended 3025-387-1-6-0-0-1560193477
Battletech Extended 3025 Hotfix 1-387-1-6-0-1-1560339324

Can someone tell me how to correctly install them so things will run and not crash?
Did you delete .modtek ?

Did you have old career and skirmish gamesaves? You may need to hide/delete them.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by Holman »

It looks like completely uninstalling (including the AppData stuff) and then reinstalling did the trick.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Still playing through the flashpoints and the occasional missions. Just did the Liao FP where I have to beat off a Steiner invasion because the SOB "Hauptman-General" just want to get his hands on his wife, who escaped to Liao space. It was a 3 mission series. Helped two militia lances deal with invaders is easy enough. Only Catapult (C4) got hit, no time to repair it.

The big doozy mission was an attack/defend battle where my medium/heavy lance (240 ton total, none heavier than 75 ton) have to fight off up to 5 Steiner lances, and I just have the militia lance to help me. GOt it done, but it was touch and go for a while. I landed with Orion (sniper-75t), Grasshopper (brawler-70t), Griffin (generalist-55t) and Blackjack (fire support-45t).

Sent the lance up the ramp, just as enemy mechs approached... Turns out, there's an attack lance, and a defense lance, plus any reinforcement lances that drops later. The attack lance were light mechs, and I let the militia handle them, and they did pretty well. But when one of the attack mechs seems to have gotten through, I decided to split my lance... The two heavies went north to attack the base, while the other two cut east and try to catch the attackers from behind.

For the most part, that worked, as the militia, with my two medium mechs, held off any attacks. And some of the militia mechs were able to exploit any knockdowns. But the attack against enemy base stalled, as my two heavy mechs are up against 3-4 mediums. While my Grasshopper is incredibly dangerous up close (max alpha strike damage is over 350 points), it needs to close the range first. I struggle to bring over my other mechs to help, and the fight toward the enemy is taking too long. First enemy reinforcement lance landed, it's multiple vehicles. I send Blackjack over with some long-range AC fire as support, while trying to get Griffin forward, just as one of the attacker lance (Valkyrie) ran past my line. I blasted it from behind, but that's another turn, and a couple more when I FINALLY killed attacking lance, and only one or two defending lance left, but by then, second reinforcement lance landed. Multiple medium mechs. I was like F***! I ordered the Grasshopper to charge, Orion to take long-range shots, and Blackjack even took a shot at max range. Griffin shot at one of the just landed mechs. I took out one building, then another. But Grasshopper can't shoot again (overheated). And third lance is about to land. I ordered Grasshopper to risk a shutdown for alpha strike. Have to take out this building ASAP. The other building was taken down by Orion. Grasshopper was successful, but lost an arm. Finally, my lance chased down the invaders from behind, even as the militia mechs engaged them from the front, and we slaughtered them, finally winning the mission and the flashpoint.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Usually I play my battles through, no matter the loss. However, recently I just had to restart this particular mission.

Dropped an assault lance to clean up enemy base in Urban biome. Enemy sent out multiple heavies and assaults. A couple play chicken but my sniper King Crab nail their legs. They run away limping.

My Highlander (Lostech) jumped onto a building to get a better view. Sees Victor in the distance. Takes a shot. It didn't go down, but didn't expect to. End turn.

Enemy turn... Victor fires... My Highlander keeled over, headshot. WTF? It was then I remembered Victor mounts a AC20 and somehow it scored a headshot on my Highlander... at max range. WTF. And I checked... Pilot's dead. I recently dismounted Cockpit++ and exchanged it for a Viewfinder ++ (extra 100m visibility) for sniping. But I doubt it would have made a difference. *sigh* Restarted the mission and finished it without incident.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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This may be a bit of spoiler for "Tournament of Champions" flashpoint.

Flashpoint: go to this planet and participate in a "tournament of champions against other mercs... Winner take all, death is expected for the losers. Prize is 1 million C-bills. (2.5 skulls)
Spoiler:
The event master is backed up by one mechwarrior, and they talk as if they are in some wrestling show.

The catch is in the first round, you have to drive Urbies, the standard model, against 5 other Urbies.

First run, someone got a centerpunch shot on Dekker and he died. Restart!

Second run, with careful rotation of mechs, and jumping on top of buildings, was able to eliminate 4 enemies, the extra enemy (who swore revenge on the event master, was taken out by the rest early on.

Between missions, was contacted by the "extra enemy", who ejected before her mech went kaboom. Turns out, she's MIIO (FedSun) undercover agent trying to bust the event master. She offered us 250K C-bills and salvage to turn on the event master. The choice is try to win the event with the rules (use their mechs, probably Urbie-C with AC20) and get a million (and since the event master is a pirate, -6 rep against ALL factions) or +6 Fedsun rep.

Given I have a full lance of assault mechs and aren't hurting for money, I chose to side with FedSun. Dropped Highlander, King Crab, Atlas, and Longbow.
Within one turn, blasted the two Urbies on the field. Then the event master landed with his lance... And I just chuckled. They are not even assault mechs. Two heavies, and 2 AC20 Urbies. I backed up and blasted the urbies first, as they are the most dangerous. Killed one, but the other one got off a shot. Fortunately, it just cratered some armor on the Atlas. Atlas replied with his own AC20 next turn and the Urbie blew up. The rest of the fight was uneventful.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Did the special Kurita flashpoint, which is not a spoiler per se... Let's just say, I went up against the Gray Death Legion (!)

(They really should have put "Unknown Opfor" instead of Gray Death Legion as my opponents. )

Any way, WTF? These guys are so ****ing good they did some SERIOUS damage to my assault mechs with mediums and heavies.

Then came the plot twists
Spoiler:
Kurita DEST commandos then dropped and wanted to kill all of us. We have to survive the mission, as it becomes a 3-way battle. We ended up allied with Grayson to help him evac the premises, then call back his own jumpship to flee the system by taking out the Kuritasn guarding an old Comstar base.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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I decided my "endgame" save is a bit too... easy for me, so I started a new career from scratch with 3025 extended active. Got a Vulcan (AC2+MG?!), an urbie (AC10), a Javalin (4xMLAS) and 2 Stingers (1MLAS+2MG).

The Vulcan kept getting damaged. It has an AC2, and MG (!) so it's armed stupidly. But I have no weapons to rearm it with yet. The Jav was a lot more sensibly armed with 4 MLAS. Did two half skull jobs, killed vehicles and mechs. The problem is time, as it's almost unavoidable to take structural damage, and that takes time to repair. Actually lost a leg off one of the Stingers, but the enemies I face seems to be half-armored and I was able to shoot down the Commandos attacking and the mech survived and actually moved around fine with jumpjets. Had to chase down the enemy vehicles as they seem a bit... scared after I took out its friends. I should have gotten enough parts to make a mech, but LootMagnet invoked "salvage dispute" and I decided to give up the mech parts. for some weapon stockpile.

In the next mission, i was finally able to piece together another Stinger, and this one was armed with 2 MLAS instead of 1MLAS and 2MG. I also captured some other stuff so I told Yang to build me another Stinger with 2 MLAS.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Did a couple missions, did okay, then this convoy mission was just killing me.

I pieced together a Firestarter, and I'm using that and retired the Urbie. So now I'm fielding Vulcan, Firestarter, Javelin, and a Stinger.

I was supposed to kill this convoy for the pirates. And I can't. Its escorts have LRM, AC5, SRM, LLAS... AND two Locusts. I tried to multiple times, and I even managed to kill the convoy once, then the reinforcements keep killing the Vulcan. I know it's a lousy mech, but really?! ARGH.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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I can't believe I was dumb enough to try a flashpoint before maxing out its deployment criteria. "Oh yeah, I'll just go in there with a couple of Firestarters, a Griffin and a Javelin".

Opfor is about three lances of mechs, including a bunch of 40-tonners. Lost the Griffin and a Firestarter. Since the flashpoint was in a 3-skull system and the nearest half-skull system was about three weeks travel away, I was counting on making some money from it.

Nope. Bankrupt!

Gonna wait a while before trying this again.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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I decided my starting lance is too lousy, and I started a new career. It's going... Not that well. WTF?

Starting lance: Centurion, Vindicator, Panther, Commando, Locust.

Now that's a proper lance. Failed two missions when I can't chase down the enemy, but that's due to I failed to cut the enemy off from escape. That's on me. Should have went for containment rather than max firepower. *sigh*

What's supposed to be a VERY simple mission put the commander in medbay for 6 weeks. It's supposed to be easy: retrieve the "artist" and his "artwork" from two adjacent bases. I split the lance, two mediums going to get the artist, two lights went for the artwork. Three mechs showed up. A Locust, a Wasp, and something else I kinda forgot (Firestarter?) . Any way, they fired on Centurion ONLY. WTF? The pilot was hit in the head TWICE in three turns and even lost the AC10. (He only has 3 HP!) I had him retreat to the nearby forest and pop LRMs while the rest of lance killed the attackers. The repairs sure ain't worth the payment (like 50K, it was a cheap mission) I was hoping for a bit more salvage, THEN they disputed salvage on me. ARGH!!!!! I can't even get a decent mech out of it. Replacing the AC10 is already 3X what the mission paid, not to mention Yang's repair bill.

Now I have FOUR pilots sitting in MedBay and I have to hire someone else just to keep the mechs occupied. Maybe I should fire the wounded ones to save money. *sigh*

-----

Decided to load an earlier save and redo that retrieve artist (and artwork) mission. This time, only one exposed limb, was able to take out all the attackers. Phew. By limiting myself to 0.5 skull missions, and careful tactics, I was able to piece together a Javelin and a Firestarter, in addition to my starting lance (Vindicator, Centurion, Panther, Commando) so now I have options.

Had a pretty tough "defense base" mission. Had a mixed lance charge at me, while a lance of Javelins try to sneak up on the opposite side. Was able to kill Commando and Wasp in front of me quickly, and left a mech there to step on the hovercrafts. Then the rest ran toward the other contact. It was a wild melee fest, as all of my mechs fired one salvo and charged in. Took a couple turns, but they all went down.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by Kasey Chang »

Looks like Battletech just patched itself to 1.6.2 (up from 1.6.1) which means I have to reinject Modtek...

(Edit: And delete "BetterAI")

----

Base defense missions are PITA, with threats coming in all directions. I did a half-skull defend base mission, killed two locusts. Then a dropship came in on other side of the base. I rushed everyone over... only to have a commando appear on the original side and whacked a building. WTF?!

-----

I realized I chose "established company" back at the random start, so I pretty much skipped the "light mech" phase of the career. I don't think I enjoy the light mech phase of the game much, as everybody's a rookie and nobody can hit anything.

The new career is going pretty good. Out of 7 pilots, 3 got their first specialization already (rating of 5 in one category)

-----

Doing pretty well. Saved up enough money so I bought 2 parts of a Griffin to make it 3, and now I can field a purely medium mech lance, and still have 2 mil in the bank. And I have a collection of the light mechs of practically every model. I've graduated to 1 skull missions (doing mostly half skull missions before). And doing pretty well. Will filter for 1.5 skull planets and see how well that works. Less than 100 days into the 1200 day campaign. Most of the crew are already up to 5 rating in everything, most even picked a second specialization.

-----

Career at about 130th day or so. Medium lance took a beating doing an attack base mission. Base has turrets and got plastered by both defenders, turrets, and reinforcements. Fortunately the mechs are sturdy enough that none really lost too much and just require repair instead of refit (my "trick" is to mount weapons in the torso, and leave the arms empty and minimally armored, so if I lose an arm, it's just "repair" instead of "refit", though I'm sure there's a downside to this). One pilot had received 3 headshots (out of 4) that I had to withdraw her from combat. She ran out of ammo for her AC10 and is down to 2 MLAS any way. Defeated both the garrison and reinforcements, but felt I'd lose a mech if I take on the remaining 2 turrets. Just evacuated, and left the planet for slightly calmer one as my primary lance needs serious repairs. over 5 mil in the bank, biding my time upgrading the argo while taking on one or two skull missions. Feels as if I need to field at least two heavy mechs before I tackle 3 skull missions. :)
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by Kasey Chang »

Went to Aurigan space for a 2-skull planet (Smithon, actually) and was supposed to intercept a Capellan convoy supplying a local rebel warlord. I was expecting trucks and light escorts, so I brought 2 50-tonners and 2 35-tonners, anticipating some sort of chase. I got 2 vedettes, 1 SRM carrier, and 1 Laser Carrier as the convoy, and full complement of medium mechs as escorts... 2 Dervishes (3025 Extended mech) 1 Wolverine, and something else. I'm like **** me. Fortunately, my Firestarter was completely refitted... It has no flamers but instead, 6 S LAS and 1 M LAS. And it does a LOT of damage if it can get close enough. Panther is normal. When I got contact, I sent the two light mechs out on the edge hoping to cut off the convoy, while my mediums engage the escorts. I should have known something's weird when the escorts just charged me. Then I realized I was outnumbered when I was facing like 4 mediums with my 2 mediums, and I ordered my light mechs to engage. One of my medium mechs was knocked down by the SRM carrier volley and only RNGesus saved it from cored in subsequent rounds. But I was able to do serious damage to 3 medium mechs, and destroyed two of the vehicles (SRM carrier and Laser carrier). And again RNGesus smiled as both Vedettes (AC2) missed the knocked over mech, allowing it to stand and withdrew into a canyon away from enemy fire. Next turn my light mechs stepped on the Vedettes, ending that threat, while the medium divided fire on the remaining Dervishes, killing one. Then the three took down the remaining Dervish, thus clearing the field. Though the pilot will be out for 4 weeks.

Need to get out of Aurigan space as most of its missions are against pirates, and my reputation with them is barely above the threshold for dislike.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Almost to 200 day point. Managed to salvage Trebuchet and Phoenix Hawk, along with Dervish earlier, so I can basically field two medium lances, but so far, no heavy mechs. I can comfortably take out twice my number.

Did "clear the map of hostiles", on the polar map here you have to run up this valley onto a plateau on top of a peak, and enemies are on the other side? Decided to let them come to me, and that proved to be the right decision, as I have boulders and whatnot to hide behind if I need a break, and enemies are funneled into limited approach routes. Ended up engaging two lances, both mixed mediums and lights. Was able to take two out and barely got hit. Then keep getting blasted by LRMs, clearly there's a Trebuchet (or similar LRM boat) in the area. But can't see it. Decided to just keep taking out the scout mechs I can see, and kept rotating the mechs for the front, thus spread out the damage. In the end, one showed red damage in 3 spots, but no lost limb on any mech.

Did a "defend base" with four mediums, and managed to save all buildings. I sent three mechs toward the vanguard location (expected attack), let's call that North, while leaving one mech, Blackjack for long range fire, on the opposite side of the base (South). The vanguard came at me with just light mechs, and with 3 mediums, three went down quickly, but one light refused to die. Then an LRM salvo from a perpendicular direction signaled the arrival of the second wave, this time from the east. Blackjack ran over and contributed, while the two mechs that are not engaged also rushed over, leaving Vindicator to deal with the light scout to north, now in melee range. (In base defense, the trick is you need to split fire on all enemies, so they go 'aggro' on you instead of the base buildings.) I split fire among the three mechs I saw, as I happened to have 3 mechs in the area (one had to use jumpjet to just get in range). Each of the attacks hit and took off a limb. Then ANOTHER LRM salvo hit the base. The second wave has a Shadowhawk hanging back. Fortunately, the damage to the building is not too extensive. Next turn, the fourth mech finally destroyed the scout mech, and turned east to engage. The three enemy mechs decided to gang up on the Centurion that was closest to them. Centurion took out one scout, but was hit multiple times and lost a leg, and has a scout that jumped behind it. My fourth mech that just took out the scout to the north jumped and took a super long-range shot to the east, and shot the scout in the back, where the armor is practically non-existent, and the PPC bolt gutted the scout. Fortunately, the Centurion was able to get back up before anyone else had a shot. The Shadowhawk earlier was engaged by multiple mechs and gutted. One last scout decided to kick the Centurion just as it got up. Centurion counterpunched and Scout went kaboom, ending the mission.

Almost 7 mil in the bank, upgrades to Argo are continuing. Will stay on 2 skull planet for now. That last mission put multiple mechs in the shop. Taking pirate missions against local government is like free pirate rep. Should probably forgo payment just to see extra rep. Can use it later for black market access discount.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Just had my first casualty. Happens to be a recent recruit that joined the company only like 30 days ago. The mission didn't sound exciting, but I basically got overwhelmed by too many enemies. I should have done a running retreat to stretch out the enemy line, and my decision to fight in place inside a forest means enemy was able to overwhelm me numerically. The recent recruit's mech was damaged and have several exposed parts, and was moved to the back, but apparently, not out of the way enough. Mediums don't have enough firepower to gut mechs until they get rear hits on light mechs. I think I have to upgun the medium mechs seriously. Maybe AC20 in my Centurion.

------

Decided to go back to my "Uber-savegame" with my endgame lance. Did 4.5/5 skull missions with them, and both were tough, but manageable.

1) Capture base. I went in with Atlas (close fighting), King Crab w/ Gauss rifles (sniper), Lostech Highlander (sniper), and LRM boat Stalker (2xLRM20 and 2xLRM15). Enemy sent up heavies and assaults, until an extended LRM barrage hit my Atlas. Enemy obviously has an LRM boat or two. I quickly used my LRM boat to kill the Thunderbolt (believe it or not, one full salvo can do it if the launchers have +50% crit) but barely scratched the surface of the enemy Longbow. Turns out they have an Archer too, plus an Ostroc. I was killing the third mech when their reinforcements landed. And it's all assault mechs... SRM Stalker, LRM Stalker, Awesome T, and Atlas D. My Stalker took some serious hits. For a moment I was worried, but turns out they all concentrated on the Atlas, whom I ordered into turtle mode (bulwark+guarded) and LRMs aren't doing too much damage to him, while the other mechs took apart the hostiles at long range. Stalker even hid behind ridgeline and contributed LRM20+LRM15 even though it had lost half of the launchers. The end if us 8, them 0. The Stalker had to spend 14 days in Yang's shop, which is like forever (as my shop was max upgraded) but it's perfectly fixable.

2) Capture Base. Almos the same scenario, different biome. I went in with Atlas, King Crab, Awesome Q, and Longbow (since Highlander is in the repair queue along with Stalker LRM). Went from on the ridge down to the base, engaged enemies, mix of heavies and assaults. This time, reinforcements didn't show up until I blasted the final enemy mech in the first wave (maybe I went too fast?) And this time, my Longbow LRM salvos knocked smaller mechs flat and my snipers took care of the rest.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Kasey Chang wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:47 am(Edit: And delete "BetterAI")
I decided to try BattleTech last night and bumped into this. The Extended 3025 mod has a new release posted 36 hours ago that removes the need to fuss over this folder.

I thought the randomized Mech start was a nifty idea - until my first lance was Firestarter/Jenner/Spider/Wasp/Wasp. I felt more than a little under-powered. Since I was fighting to try and figure out why the game wouldn't load correctly with Extended 3025 in there (because of the aforementioned Better AI folder issue), I started over a number of times. I got everything from 2 Mediums/3 Lights to 5 Lights - but those 5 Lights only happened once; my first try.

I'm looking at firing this up in Ironman at a 0.80 Difficulty (near-default, with "Rare" pilots turned on since I don't expect I'll need/care about pilots after getting 8 of them rolling).
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

Post by NickAragua »

Oof. Two Wasps is rough. Those things suck ass pretty hard, and there's really very little you can do to make a twenty-ton mech viable in the long run.

My current career settings (did a fresh restart after the latest version of 3025 extended) are very slow mechwarrior progression and center torso destruction. That gets me to 1.0 multiplier. Extended 3025 introduces so many mech variants that raising the number of mech pieces needed to assemble a mech makes it a needless grind.

A couple of nights ago, my Wasp got cored out by a Scorpion tank plinking AC/5 rounds down-range, but I was able to put together a replacement Valkyrie. So I'm good with that.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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NickAragua wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:42 amExtended 3025 introduces so many mech variants that raising the number of mech pieces needed to assemble a mech makes it a needless grind.
I remember thinking "Hey, I'm hardcore. 5 pieces of salvage is fine with me" ... 20 hours later, I had scraped together maybe four Mechs and had a mountain of unfinished ones. Needless wasted time.
NickAragua wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:42 amMy current career settings (did a fresh restart after the latest version of 3025 extended) are very slow mechwarrior progression and center torso destruction. That gets me to 1.0 multiplier.
Does Center Torso destruction hamper salvage, or just recovering your own Mechs?
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Just your mechs. Without it, there's literally no way to permanently lose a mech, which takes a bit too much of the edge off in my opinion.

It already hampers enemy mech salvage by only giving you one piece, I don't think that needed a nerf. :D
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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NickAragua wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:26 pm Just your mechs. Without it, there's literally no way to permanently lose a mech, which takes a bit too much of the edge off in my opinion.

It already hampers enemy mech salvage by only giving you one piece, I don't think that needed a nerf. :D
Oh, goodness, yes. That's fine. I assumed it meant no salvage at all from a CT'd Mech - mine or theirs. I can count on one hand how many Mechs I've lost to CT in my many hours of play, with fingers to spare; I doubt any of them were life-or-death.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Yeah, starting in light mechs is a PITA. That's why when I play 3025 Extended, I go with "established". It starts you with 2 medium mechs and 3 light mechs, and that makes the beginning bearable for rookies.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Just did a "textbook" Attack and Defend, and I was very happy.

Was supposed to attack a Marik base with a medium/heavy Capellan lance (rifleman, Assassin, Grasshopper, and Archer). I dropped my assault lance (Lostech Highlander, Atlas II, King Crab, and Stalker LRM boat). Plowed through the attacking lance in 3 turns (Banshee, Awesome, and something else), and the defending lance (Marauder, Awesome T and Awesome V, and something else) in another 4 turns. Just walked PAST the point when the first reinforcement wave landed... BEHIND us. I started laughing. All mechs turned 180 and starting shooting at exposed backs of 3 Archers and one Awesome. It was a massacre. I have 4 turns basically to kill the base before the next wave turned up. And this wave will be a LOT closer to my base, not enough time for me to get back. But I am already close enough. My Stalker LRM can take out a building all by itself, and when two other mechs contributed, the base was destroyed within 1 turn, just as the 2nd reinforcement wave was about to land. And that's the end of the mission, as we just killed off the first reinforcement wave moments ago.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Jun 24, 2019 9:09 pm Yeah, starting in light mechs is a PITA. That's why when I play 3025 Extended, I go with "established". It starts you with 2 medium mechs and 3 light mechs, and that makes the beginning bearable for rookies.
I'll have to do that. I cracked my knuckles last night and prepared to get into the game "for real" this time. I fired up a new Career mode, customized my character, and launched ... to five Lights. The heaviest was 30 tons, and I had 2 20-tonners. :doh:

It's not hugely important to me that I start with specific Mechs, but it is important that I can take more than 0.25 star difficulty missions.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Someone seriously needs to adjust those "place beacon" mission difficulties. I went in with my "endgame" lance, and I am getting SLAUGHTERED. I know it's a 5-skull mission, but I seriously didn't think it'd be this hard.

I dropped a lance composed of Highlander (Gauss sniper), King Crab (gauss sniper), Grasshopper (MLAS / SLAS melee), and Warhammer (general brawler). My plan was to have Grasshopper run and deal with one node, Highlander with the other, and the remaining two hold one node. I know I'd be facing a LOT of opposition, but I ended up facing three lances of mechs at the SAME TIME, mostly heavies and assaults! (Grasshopper, Crusader, Bombardier, Archer, Awesome, Ostroc, etc.) Not even assault mechs can withstand being shot at from all directions, esp. when you are also under a time limit (about 8 turns). if you just run up to the location, you get shot at from all sides. If you don't, you run out of time. I managed to place all three beacons, but I get slaughtered during the evac as the evac zone was BEYOND the base, which means I had to run the gauntlet of all the enemy mechs. This should seriously be considered a SIX-SKULL mission.

Quit without saving.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Kasey Chang wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:57 amQuit without saving.
As someone playing on Ironman, this is exciting news for me. :oops:
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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That's usually when you're supposed to look for that "withdraw" button and hit it real quick. If you see you're up against 3 to 1 numbers and 5 to 1 mass, plus no terrain to help manage LOS, it's time to fold that hand. There's basically no penalty for withdrawing, other than a minor reputation ding with the employer and you don't get paid. But there's always more work somewhere else.
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Re: BattleTech coming back via Kickstarter

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Just had a mission where I was able to go up against three lances with my assault lance, and it was actually survivable.

I sent in my alternate assault lance... King Crab (2 GAUSS), Banshee (AC20 / Melee), Atlas II (AC20+lots of stuff), Awesome Q (PPC boat). Should have brought Awesome V (PPC/LAS/LRM) but whatever.

It was supposed to chase down a damaged lance. And it... was. Mix of assault and heavy mechs. Grasshopper, Stalker, and something else. I blasted them. But I killed only three. Fourth one is really hiding. Must be Archer or such, as it just lobbed LRM salvos from beyond my visual range.

Then a second lance showed up. Lights and mediums. I re-aligned and hid my lance in some trees (it's "Badlands" biome), and again, engaged at range.

Then a THIRD lance showed up. Even Darius was getting nervous. Apparently, we're not getting paid to take out these extra lances. But with Bulwark and cover, I'm not taking much damage. In this biome, which is kinda like Mars, my superior heat management in my mechs will prevail, as most of the hostile mechs are energy-based, except for a Longbow and an Archer, and they soon ran out of missiles. Even my Awesome Q can fire 2 PPC per turn without overheating (the 3rd requires some cooldown in between)

The hostile mechs end up just walking around, only taking a shot at me every 3 turns, as they don't do heat management much. And my assault mechs simply shoot at them if possible, then walked up to them and punched them into submission. Then chased down the two LRM shooters as they are apparently out of ammo and can't do anything either. llllllllllllllllllllll
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