February Road Map

Bryan Ekman was the cause of a veritable new explosion over on the MechWarrior Online site today.
First up.. an official look at the new MechLab UI (scheduled to go live on the 19th).

Consolidated Goodness! Plus Info!
Consolidated Goodness! Plus Info!

The “Loadout” and “Upgrade” tabs from the current MechLab, have been integrated to a single “Loadout” tab, with upgrades (Double Heat Sinks, Endo Steel, etc..) being a button off that tab, just like weapons/armor currently are.

As you can see from the screenshot, the weapons now give damage information, in addition to the weight/crit slot information that was present before.  There is also bright red text telling you why you can’t equip an item..which will come in handy when you’re trying to squeeze medium laser #1223 onto that Raven chassis!  ;)

Bryan has posted a bunch of other screenshots for the new MechLab in the announcement thread here.  So be sure to check those out.

Next, we have the announcement of a change in how paint and camo patterns are going to work.

Currently, you pay for the paint job, every time you try and use that pattern/color.  This can be pricey, and I think acts as a disincentive for customizing your chassis that way.  I know I haven’t changed any of my ‘Mechs from their default ‘skin’.  After the patch on the 5th (tomorrow!) that’s all going to change.

We will now have the option to unlock patterns and colors permanently! Since cosmetic customization is one of the ways that PGI monetizes the game, there’s been a change in the pricing scheme.

Patterns will follow this scheme:

  • Free
  • Standard – 75 MC for single use and 750 MC for unlock.
  • Premium – 125 MC for single use and 1,250 MC for unlock.

Colors will follow a similar scheme:

  • Free
  • Basic – 1,250,000 CB
  • Standard – 500 MC
  • Premium – 1,000 MC

I’ve asked, but haven’t gotten a reply yet, if there is a list of what is considered standard, or premium.  I’m hoping there will be something in tomorrow’s patch notes.

Patterns and Colors that you still need to purchase, will have a padlock icon on them in the MechLab.. ones that you own/have unlocked… won’t.

The prices are still a little bit too high, but pretty reasonable.  Granted, if I had all the C-Bills shown in the MechLab screenshot up above, it wouldn’t matter ;)

Last, but certainly not least, we got a Developer Update/Roadmap.

In it, we find that PGI will be shifting to a semi-monthly patching schedule.  Seems they’re comfortable with the stability/feature set now, and want to concentrate on quality content updates.  This… is a good thing!

February is going to bring us:

  • Mech of the Month – Trebuchet 
  • Hero Mech of the Month – Pretty Baby
  • New patterns, including the Tiger Pattern for all BattleMechs.
  • New cockpit items, including some limited time Year of the Snake (Monkey) content.
  • Alpine Peaks (new map!)
  • In-Game Screen Overhaul
  • Matchmaking Phase 3 (behind the scenes on the 5th)
  • The previously mentioned paint/pattern changes
  • More performance improvements
  • Game Balancing/Tuning!
    • Heat adjustments have been made to ER/Large Pulse Lasers and PPCs.
    • BattleMechs will start to receive quirks, starting with the Awesome. These quirks come in the form of small adjustments to rotation, movement, and other mech stats. Each variant will now feel a little different.
    • Jump jets received a slight overhaul to improve trajectories.

 

All in all, it’s definitely going to be a good month for MWO, and if things continue at this pace… it’s going to be one hell of a year!