MWT AMA

Last night James R held the first MechWarrior Tactics Reddit Ask Me Anything!  It was fun, he answered a lot of questions, and followed up on a couple of them too.

I’m going to highlight a couple of my favorite Qs, and their A…  Then, I’m actually going to copy/paste the whole AMA in after the jump.  Normally, this wouldn’t be necessary..but, for some reason James’ post wasn’t showing up on the AMA (or IAMA) subreddits last night, and couldn’t be found by searching… so I want to try and make it as easy as possible for people to find the information from last night.

First up, James’ answer to the ‘unseen’.. Hopefully, this will stem the tide of people asking about it:

Q: Will we get to see the MWT Art Team’s take on the Unseen, and get those chassis in the game?

A: Eck. The Unseen. That’s something we don’t really want to mess with, legal mire that it is.
Maybe in the future. Maybe. Probably not.

James goes on to indicate that the ReSeen “may” be a possibility, but they haven’t discussed those much internally at this point.  I’m a little sad about this answer.. not just because it means we won’t get some of the iconic ‘Mechs from the 3025 era (Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, Crusader, BattleMaster, etc..), but, because I really like what the MWT Art team has done with all the chassis so far (ok, some a little less then others).  I think they’d be able to crank out some really amazing looking versions of the Unseen… guess I’ll have to hope for the ReSeen down the road.

 

Q: You’ve mentioned before you’re hands-off any sort of campaign mode for MWT for now. Is there a possibility of that changing somewhere (maybe far) down the line?

 

A: Yes, there is the possibility of having more narrative driven game play. The MechWarrior universe is chock-full of awesome history, why waste that? It’s an opportunity that needs to be exploited!

I really like this answer, not because it gives us any super secret information.. but, because it means that we might have a chance at a good single player campaign via MWT, based on BT lore!  Just think of the possibilities!  You could take part in the battle of Misery, The invasion of The Capellan Confederation by House Davion, Defend the NAIS from ComStar’s secret attack.. etc..etc.. there are so many encounters in the novels/sourcebooks/etc.. that a campaign would have tons of stuff to work with.

I strongly encourage everyone to go read the whole AMA.. there really is a lot of good information in there.  The link is here.   Like I mentioned, since it was difficult to find the AMA last night, I’m going to put all the whole thing here as well.  Look for it after the jump.

Here is the full AMA, the only editing I’ve done, is cleaning it up.. direct copy/pasting from Reddit looked really funky.  Again, the link to the AMA on Reddit is here, if you’d rather read it there.  I tried to break the questions up, so it was obvious which comments went to which question.

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 3 points 14 hours ago
What’s an average day at the studio like for you?

[–]Chukenator[S] 4 points 14 hours ago
We totally need a dev diary for this.
We spend Monday skirmishing with Nerf weapons; Tuesdays we all like to larp at the park down the street; Wednesday is a half day so most of us don’t even come to work; Thursdays we like to jump on beer Friday early so the afternoon’s usually a wash and we end up playing LoL; Friday we take it easy and figure way to troll our community.
…wonder why we’re still in closed beta?

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
No.. I’m wondering why you don’t have a line of applicants several kilometers long. ;)

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 3 points 14 hours ago
While Chris is out honeymooning, are you guys wrapping his cube in packing tape, filling it with Styrofoam, or any other time honored traditions like that for messing with him?

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 14 hours ago
We, uh, actually don’t have cubicles. We’re in a literal warehouse with concrete floors and no rooms.
Our work area looks like a shanty town of gathered desks and computers. I wouldn’t think twice if someone started a barrel fire in the winter.
So no, no packing tape and no Styrofoam. We’ve just pilfered all of Chris’s desk stuff: mouse, monitors, pens and stool.

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
Thanks for doing this James!
Once the game leaves beta status, and becomes ‘released’, what kind of timetable are you hoping to hit for updates/new content?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Well, once we’re out and running with MWT we’d like to see monthly releases of content.
All the content’s going to be themed to explore the time period MWT is currently playing out. Events, characters, lore and technology are all going to be potential parts of monthly releases.

 

[–]Sathman 2 points 14 hours ago
When will the open beta begin?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Hard to say.
I know. I KNOW. Lame answer. Sorry. We’re still inviting people to the closed beta, so that’s growing. Open beta is going to be determined when we see MWT at a place where we’re happy with our product and would like to have the community at large enjoy MWT rather than full out test MWT.
Quality of life question, really. For you guys.

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 14 hours ago
In the interview with RTSGuru, Chris indicated you guys wanted to be in Open Beta by end of year, is that still a realistic goal?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Indeed it is.

 

[–]YQG 2 points 14 hours ago
By ‘monthly releases’ do you mean just new cards or are there other things in the works? :)

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Basic answer: new cards. It’ll accompany new lore, too.
…other things more than likely won’t be a monthly thing.

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
Will we get to see the MWT Art Team’s take on the Unseen, and get those chassis in the game?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Eck. The Unseen. That’s something we don’t really want to mess with, legal mire that it is.
Maybe in the future. Maybe. Probably not.

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 14 hours ago
Thanks for the answer, at least we can stop asking for them. ;)

[–]YQG 2 points 14 hours ago
You’d think, but the fact it’s 3025 hasn’t stopped people from asking for Clam stuff. ;)

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 14 hours ago
It’s important to have clams, they go good with..well.. I don’t know what clams go good with..but I’m sure they go good with something… ;)

[–]GreyTemplar 1 point 14 hours ago
If not unseen, what about the Reseen?

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 14 hours ago
Don’t really know. We haven’t had any serious discussion about Reseen stuff.

[–]deltamike34 1 point 13 hours ago
I really hope you do some of the Reseen. Marauder and Wahammer were my favorite mechs! Either way I cant wait to get my hands on this game. You guys are awesome for undertaking this!

[–]GreyTemplar 1 point 13 hours ago
scribbles down Reseen Griffin, Reseen Battlemaster, Reseen Rifleman, Wolfhound onto the scrum board ;)

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
For Shuyung on the MWT Forums:
Have the devs considered making the Targeting & Tracking systems a discrete component (i.e. card), and keying weapons loadouts to those systems? For instance, a Spar 3C Tightband would support a different weapons configuration than a Sloane 220 Lockover System. BattleTechnology: The Lost Issues had an interesting optional rules article based around the Targeting & Tracking systems, and it would seem to flavorfully solve the problem of how to restrict the potentially-too-numerous-to-count per ‘Mech weapon configurations.

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 14 hours ago
What we’re looking to push out first is a basic set of rules for MWT’s gameplay. Everything from tracking systems to modified heat scales to game modes to sensor gameplay are all on the table after we officially launch Tactics.
It’s all rad and all these types of ideas are going to add to the life of MWT so we have to seriously consider these ideas. When we’d get around to them or how we prioritize development is a whole ‘nother type of black magic.

 

[–]YQG 1 point 14 hours ago
Will engines on chassis be swappable?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Erm, kinda. Upgrade-able only for right now.

[–]YQG 1 point 14 hours ago
Heh, you know, with that answer and thinking about it, I can imagine why you’re leery of downgrading. 1/2MP Atlases absolutely loaded down with LRMs and light AC is probably not what you’re aiming for. =)

 

[–]ithilkir 1 point 14 hours ago
Are you and the MWO developers sharing any resources or are you simply seperate developers just doing Mech games under the publishing banner of IGP?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
No sharing. We’re totally separate developers.

[–]gendouk 1 point 14 hours ago
While the developers likely won’t share resources (maps, art, audio, etc.), is there a possibility of sharing promotions through your publisher? For example: buy a package on MWO, get a unique decal on MWT? (similar to how buying a CE of one Blizzard game gives you cosmetic items in the others)
(and yes, I’m completely aware that the answer will be “that has to go through marketing,” and you can’t tell me one way or the other – but I have to ask anyway ;)

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
Kinda sounds like you answered your won question.
Cross-promotion ideas are pretty cool and would benefit both teams. I know people who’d like to see this happen, myself included.

 

[–]jackopm 2 points 14 hours ago
Thanks for doing this, my friends and I are SUPER pumped about MWT!
After saying that, I’m only keeping up through general press and major Twitter/email announcements, so I may be asking a question you’ve answered elsewhere, but have you decided anything about the specific pricing of STACs? Also, I’ve heard it mentioned that some cosmetic things, like painting your squadron uniformly, may be purchasable; will that be along the lines of buying finite supplies of paints, or paying to unlock the paint scheme for editing, or what? Thanks for your answers (and please let me into the beta)!

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Paint, decals and the like: We’re going to be seeding STACs with all these cosmetics. Being able to purchase cosmetic items directly is in the plans but if you’re in any of the betas you’re not going to be seeing them.

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
What’s the most exciting thing about being a part of the revitalization of a great franchise like BattleTech?

[–]Chukenator[S] 3 points 14 hours ago
Being constantly out-nerded at every event. It’s crazy to know there are fanatics on a whole other plane of existence for something I thought I was pretty heavily invested in. Well done, guys. Hats off and all that jazz.
That and the absolutely cordial disagreements: even the folk who disagree with some of our decisions are super fraking nice about it. Awesome!

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
What’s been the biggest obstacle to the adaptation of the tabletop rules to the MWT system so far?

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 14 hours ago
Oh, man, there are a lot of “biggest obstacles” and it’s hard to pick just one.
One of the biggest was the limited number of assets. There are only so many weapons, there are only so many chassis and variants, there are only so many pilots, blah, blah, blah. We have a handle on that now.
Game speed was a big hurdle. Still figuring that out. Trying to make a classic board game into an asymmetric experience with as little grief as possible is tiny bit difficult.
Big question. I could go on. Start a forum thread on this on MWT!

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 14 hours ago
Will do.. thanks!

 

[–]gendouk 2 points 14 hours ago
Thanks for doing this AMA. Two part question!
First, will MWT follow the established Battletech timeline, or can we expect to see some divergences along the way with regards to canon?
Second, if there will be divergences, will that timeline be one that is shared with MWO thanks to your mutual IP and publisher?
[–]Sathman 2 points 14 hours ago
2 questions… 1. When the game goes open beta will everything be reset?
What year of b-tech lore this game begin with?

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 14 hours ago
Not James, but the answer to the second #1.. is 3025.

[–]Sathman 1 point 14 hours ago
sorry about the 2 #1 but it is the pirate day stuff that caused it….

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Yeah, 3025 and we’ll be resetting people’s stuff into open beta.

 

[–]YQG 2 points 14 hours ago
You’ve mentioned before you’re hands-off any sort of campaign mode for MWT for now. Is there a possibility of that changing somewhere (maybe far) down the line?

[–]Chukenator[S] 3 points 14 hours ago
Yes, there is the possibility of having more narrative driven game play. The MechWarrior universe is chock-full of awesome history, why waste that? It’s an opportunity that needs to be exploited!

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
What advice can you give for someone wanting to get into the games industry? Is there a particular ‘part’ of the industry that’s easier to get into (with no experience), like Community, QA, GameMasters?

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 14 hours ago
QA is always looking for whipping boys. Hah.
The industry of games is huge. From journalism to marketing to development, it’s hard for me to answer. I know only a portion of what you’re asking. That being said the industry is getting past the point where no experience is perfectly fine–most people come into games with appropriate schooling or a relevant background.
Some still weasel their way in through other means though and I’d include myself in that.
Best advice? Go to school. Get a CompSci degree, be a programmer. Get a journalism degree. Start a blog and write your own stuff, don’t just relink and copy’n paste. Or keep applying for community positions, for QA and the like, too.

 

[–]GreyTemplar 2 points 14 hours ago*
A few questions.
1) What was the going through the teams minds when designing the models for the mechs? Why do they diverge so drastically in some cases, from the normal models and art we are used to? (I’m sorry but the Catapult looks nothing like a Cat should. This saddens me)
2) Do you ever plan to make matches larger than lance v lance? Such as maybe upwards to a company (3-4 lances) in size?
3) Do you plan to ever make objective based maps and missions?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
Ah. Art and design questions. Good, good.
1: http://www.rtsguru.com/game/469/article/3704/MechWarrior-Tactics-Art-Design.html
2: Yeah, we’re planning on increasing battle sizes.
3: Objectives other than pure death match is a definite yes.

[–]GreyTemplar 1 point 13 hours ago
Great! Thanks for the answers. Glad to hear about 2 and 3.
I loved battles larger than just an entire lance. And objectives make me feel more inclined to bring more dedicated role mechs in.
Still not entirely won over on the Art, but I won’t let that get in the way of a great game.

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
Absolutely! Role-based gameplay is what I’m really looking forward to.

 

[–]Ilves7 1 point 14 hours ago
Hi guys I’m Tuonela on the tactics forum.
Are you guys doing any partial or glancing hits or will damage always be full if hit?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 14 hours ago
No partials, no glancing right now. As we increase our rules library we’ll be adding more interesting and complex rules.
[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 14 hours ago
What is one ‘Mech that you’d like to see included… that hasn’t been announced yet?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
Someone reminded me of the UrbanMech a few weeks ago. I think that’s the one for me.

 

[–]Confuseled 2 points 14 hours ago
Hi James. Thanks for the AMA. Having grown up on the Battletech tabeltop game I was shocked to discover that the movement and firing phases have been reversed, at least as far as I understand. Now, I know that MWTactics is not Battletech tabletop, but the change has confused me a slight bit.
With the traditional movement phase before resolving the firing phase, a player has the ability to use the movement phase to gain what he feels is a tactical advantage before firing within the same turn. With the firing phase first, that tactical movement is relegated to the next firing phase. Ultimately it’s just a phase shift half of one step forward, but when I tried playing the tabletop game this way it just felt a bit off.
I realize that this is purely a semantic question since the game mechanics work exactly the same way, no matter which phase is first. I also realize that this system will work even better with simultaneous firing phase resolution. But I am still curious about the reason behind the change from the tried and true game mechanic meta.
One way or another, I look forward to this game more than almost anything in recent memory, and I appreciate the work y’all are doing. Thanks!

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
Right, so this answer is, like, part b to the question about biggest challenges.
MWT being an asymmetric game one thing you want players to have is an awesome bombastic payoff each time they log in and take a turn, right?
By shifting the played turn order to the middle of a typical BT turn progression we’re presenting player with explosions each time they log in.
You still move and fire, but now, if you think about it, you’re firing then planning half of your next turn. Your opponent logs in, sees the results of the turn with ‘Mechs exploding and LRMs blacking out the sky and Spiders annoying landing behind your Atlas and that’s exciting and worth logging into MWT and taking a turn.
Your opponent essentially finishes their typical BT turn with firing orders and plans the first half of their next turn.
You log in and see explosions.
Imagine logging into MWT only to move one ‘Mech. Then your opponent logs in to move their one ‘Mech. Then you move another ‘Mech. And you two go through that 8 times in total, one more time to issue firing orders… that’s classic BT rules.
We needed sometime more in-line for an online asymmetric game.

[–]Confuseled 1 point 13 hours ago
Thank you for the reply sir! I anxiously await the day that I can smash my friend’s faces with giant robots.

 

[–]Ilves7 2 points 14 hours ago
Are there base mechs you can start with without paying or will your first mech draw be stac based and random?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
People will be creating and account and playing with a standard set of ‘Mechs. Otherwise you’re going to get the people who create hundreds of accounts to maximize their STAC’s drop potential.

 

[–]KaalVeiten 2 points 14 hours ago
Hi James, to begin RTS like Starcraft, Warcraft, Dawn of War and Command & Conquer owe a lot of their longevity to maps developed by their community for competitive play, will we eventually see a Map Editor for MWT?
Second, F2P games like Atlantica Online are supported by their daily/weekly/monthly/yearly tournaments that players can get certain unique gear or cosmetic items from, will we see that in MWT?
Third, will we see a ladder for different ladders of BV for ranked play?

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
Yeah, I hear you. I’m big into community driven content. Making non-dev tools is really hard and time consuming so while we don’t have plans for this in the near future it’ll be a discussion.
MWT is perfect for tournaments. We’re trying to set MWT up for this type of community involvement and competition. You’ll eventually see those types of events.
Related to your second question, we haven’t nailed down our ranking system and how we’re going to be splitting the ladders. We have ideas but nothing concrete enough to commit.

 

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 13 hours ago
A long time ago, in a galaxy…. err.. wait.. wrong universe..
At one point the MWT team emailed folks on the old forums about the chance to get MWT T-Shirts (not the epic hand drawn ones you and Chris have worn to Cons)… any chance of getting our hands on some MWT logo’d goodies like that?

[–]YQG 1 point 13 hours ago
I know I’d be 90% likely to buy an MWT mug. 99% if it was a big one. I run on lots of coffee.

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 13 hours ago
MWT Logo’d IV drip bag for my caffeine fix? Sign me up!

[–]Chukenator[S] 3 points 13 hours ago
This is not in my hands. Publisher thing. Totally throwing IGP under the bus here but from what I understand it’s a licensing issue.
There were plans for shirts and I’ve seen them but I’m not sure where this has landed.
‘Mech bobbleheads! ‘Mech plushes!

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 13 hours ago
I’d Alpha strike someone’s mother for an Atlas Plushy…

[–]gendouk 1 point 13 hours ago
… you would alpha-strike orphans maybe?

[–]YQG 1 point 12 hours ago
iclorox has the monopoly on that maneuver.

[–]Hunter04 1 point 13 hours ago
Urbanmech T shirt. It will be a Hit. I swear.
[–]Hunter04 1 point 13 hours ago
I always hear about some sort of legal issues regarding the MechWarrior series and copyright infringements form the Macross series, but does that ever have any impact on the production and/or continuation of the series? Ps: Your picture has a striking resemblance to Hunter, one of the starting MechWarriors from Mechcommander. (Ironically, my username)

[–]Chukenator[S] 3 points 13 hours ago
Not for MechWarrior Tactics! We haven’t run into any legal issues furing development. The folks at IGP and Piranha have done a good job at squaring those legalities away and allowing us to focus on development.
I don’t really have specific insights into other MW projects. Anything I know is probably public knowledge on a wiki somewhere.
[–]BigDamn_Heroes 2 points 13 hours ago
Early Supporter packages are very popular for F2P games right now (Firefall and MechWarrior Online both have Founder’s packs, for example). When I spoke to you at Nvidia’s MechWarrior Community day, you indicated you had some cool stuff planned that you wanted to do for a MWT Founder’s Pack.. any more information on Founder’s Packs yet?

[–]Chukenator[S] 3 points 13 hours ago
Early supporter packs are definitely the way to go. I don’t have specifics but if any type of MWT Founder’s package similar to what the MWO guys did happens then you’ll be hearing about it later.
We’re still in closed beta! Too soon!
[–]gendouk 1 point 13 hours ago
How much Chuk does a Chukenator Chuk if a Chukenator does Chuk Chuk?

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 13 hours ago
7?
42?
Huh?

 

[–]Chukenator[S] 2 points 13 hours ago
Ah, dammit. I think it’s that time. Time to sign off.

[–]BigDamn_Heroes 1 point 13 hours ago
Thanks again for doing this James. Load of fun, and lots of good information!

[–]Chukenator[S] 1 point 13 hours ago
And I APOLOGIZE for posting to AMA and not IAMA! Dub-Tee-Eff, man! I thought this was a AMA but then was told we had, like, millions of people expecting this to show up in the IAMA subreddit.
Boo. Shame. Sorry.