Blue Lizard’s Pablo Espinosa (Game Designer) took over the MechWarrior Tactics twitter account this past Wednesday (sorry for the late update, it was a rough week for me last week). Â He only had about an hour to spend answering questions, before he had to jump back into that whole ‘making the game thing’, but there were some good questions answered.
I prefer a Q&A on the forums, or a Reddit style AMA to the tweet chats, just because they’re easier to follow, and without the 140 character limitation, so more thought can go into the answers.
Here’s the questions, and answers from the tweet chat. Â I like that Pablo wants to add the Black Knight in.. I love that chassis and would love to throw it in a few lances in MWT (or, pilot it in MWO – if you’re listening PGI!).
Q: Â @MWTactics What was the biggest design challenge you faced bringing a tabletop game to the digital format? #mwtchat
A: Â The biggest challenge for design is to keep the balance between the rules of the classic tabletop game. -Pablo #mwtchat
A lot of fans know and love classic tabletop. More friendly interactions with new players starting to know the game and franchise. #mwtchat
We are focusing in reaching that balance to bring a great experience for everyone. -Pablo #mwtchat
Q: Â @MWTactics #mwtchat! NDA makes questions hard :P Â What chassis that isn’t in game, would you like to see added?
A: Â I have recently discovered the Black Knight. I hope we can include the Black Knight for future expansion packs. -Pablo #mwtchat
Q: Â @MWTactics Any chance of the unseen being in the chassis pool? Â #mwtchat
A: Â Unfortunately there are some licensing considerations, so I can’t speak to the Unseen sorry. Personally I’d love to see it all! #mwtchat
Q: Â From our forums: What’s your favourite `Mech (not just in MechWarrior Tactics)? #mwtchat
A: Â I would say that the MAD CAT, I have used it in lot of previous battletech games! -Pablo #mwtchat
Q: Â Another from our forums: Would you rather fix your car yourself or bring it to a mechanic? #mwtchat
A:  Most times I prefer to do things by myself. However, there are certain things in which you will always need help from somebody else #mwtchat  Game Design is a perfect example for this, I like to create and propose ideas, but these ideas require to be implemented. -Pablo   Listen to your teammates (art & programmers) in order to improve, change or do what’s necessary to make the best game possible.
Q: Â @MWTactics any new decisions on Auction house/card trading functions? Last we heard it was a “maybe later” #mwtchat
A: Â Love the idea of an auction function, though we’re currently working on other core features of the economy. #mwtchat
Q: Â @MWTactics art style has been…controversial.. Alfredo says he likes it.. What are your thoughts on it? #mwtchat
A:  The Main idea behind the art style of MWT, is to bring players the closest to thing the classic games of BattleTech… Also to give fresh air to Mechs and characters. People will notice changes and differences in the MWT art for ´Mechs and weapons. For the Mechwarriors we are trying to give them a realistic feel… But also the appearance of gaming cards in order to maintain the tabletop feeling. -Pablo #mwtchat