TRO 3063 - New RS File! (02 SEP)

Since apparently some of ya'll are downloading slowly from lordsofthebattlefield (I can't even log in that site its so slow!), I put the files on my free mediafire account.

Enjoy, it took a lot of work from a lot of us, and a lot of money from Steve Satak, to get it all done.

EDIT:  There were a few bugs in the release that are being fixed now.  There should be a new RS file out tonight, and Steve is updating the TRO with better graphics.  Original RS was the Mk26 version.

30 AUG 2012 16:14 CST Update:  I updated the RS file to make it more usable.  The BV's still have some bugs, but at least all the armor circles are there and nothing has too many slots.  It is at the same download link, and is called mk27 now.  This was the Mk27 version.

31 AUG 2012 09:16 CST Update:  Lots of BV changes, a new variant (PV-2K), the fixing of the BJ2-OG G2 Blackjack, and the MUL at the back of the RS doesn't hide the first entry on the page anymore.  Quite a few little issues were fixed that were brought up over on BattleTechReader comments. This is the Mk28 version.

01 SEP 2012 17:50 CST Update:  Mk 29 out, lots more updates, should be the final one but we'll see!

02 SEP 2012 03:23 CST Update:  TRO 3063 Update Released, all files (including my "debug" files on weight, cost, bv, ratings, etc) available on that mediafire link.  Enjoy!

Mechwarrior Online

So I paid for the MWO closed beta, and its a regret.

Today I get an email stating they are re-introducing the economy system.  Finish a battle, pay for repairs.  Know what this does?

Totally makes MWO suck the big one.

Why?

Because, the good players will have the best equipment, best mechs, most money.

Those that aren't good, will be dead broke, having to go into battle with broken equipment, no ammo, etc... heck, in fact, if you aren't good, you simply won't be able to afford anything but energy weapons.

I knew F2P would suck, but had high hopes.

They could fix this easily... if you are on a winning team, you all get the same percentage of income leaving it.  However this can be abused by "elite teams" out there just wiping the floor with "automatically matched teams".

The game has no imagination, no strategy, pathetic design, no "character".  It is simply a poor FPS, with decent graphics, and giant robots.  But at least the sensor model is *completely* broken, so a mech standing 30m behind you can shoot you all day long and you'll never see a blip on your radar.  Or a light mech will literally run circles around your assault, killing you easily if your without support, or better yet, the heat engine is so freaking bad that you need 50 heat sinks to continually fire your 5 medium lasers... oh wait, they doubled all armor, so it'll take you for freaking every to kill stuff like that.  At least the maps are... dang, those suck too.... but the mech models... well, nevermind, they aren't all that impressive either.

Some of you will still love the game, but I suspect it'll die pretty quickly as your first game will play the same as your last.

I'll give it a 3.5/10.  I'd give Tribes Ascend an 8.5/10 now (they mitigated many balance issues, and the F2P nickel and diming players drops 1 point).  

I'm already extremely bored with it, and was after I played each map a couple times... they get new maps, but the game hasn't changed much.  *ANY* previous mechwarrior game is still, in this day and age, more fun.  Graphics are nice, but after a few minutes all you notice is the gameplay, not the mediocre graphics.  If they had a bit more resources over at MWLL it'd make for a FAR better game IMO.

None of that surprised me, in fact, as negative as I was based on screenshots and F2P, the game *still* let me down.  When I mentioned it during beta, I got the whole "its just a beta!!!!!", but obviously those folks have no idea what "beta" means.  Beta is bug testing and playing with numbers, not game design, and I could easily accept some numbers being off, but the game itself is designed poorly.

I hope Mechwarrior Tactics is more fun, though I'm betting it can't get a rating over 5 by me, hopefully I'm wrong on that one in the positive way I was wrong on MWO in the negative.

Look what I wrote today at work:

Its real time with 100 pixels per "hex" and 10 seconds per "turn", and since I have so much data already, it'd be pretty easy for me within an hour, to let you move around and rotate the turret of 5000 canon BT units.  I'm going to add a bit of code to use a mouse instead of a keyboard to aim your turret and move, any level zooming, then some code to target other units, then some terrain, then some weapons... maybe I'll focus on this over labor day weekend :)

TRO 3063 is done, and almost me too!

Well after a lot more work than I ever anticipated, it appears that Steven Satak's TRO 3063 project is finally done.  Since I had devoted a LOT of time to helping that out recently, it sucked time away from me finishing up the encyclopedia here on the site, updating my blog, and working on other projects.

But, now that its done (it'll be released to the "public" Tuesday) I can move on to some other projects.

Here is what is in my queue, in order:

#1.  Strike Legion unit builder.  This is already about 30% complete.  It is a pretty simple unit designer for that series of games.  If I can stay focused, and have no more computer issues, I should be able to knock it out really quickly.

#2.  Update my Encyclopedia site.  Do things like make record sheets for warships and dropships (most everything else is already done!) and basically clean up the site and hopefully "finalize" it.  I'll do some of this concurrently with #1, depending on my "coding moods".

#3.  A system to play Federation and Empire online easier than Cyberboard.  This will be an ongoing project that I do concurrently with #2.

#4.  A new search engine site (not a replacement for google, just a different way of 'googling'), and a new file sharing site (just for your friends, not public), both purely because I see a need and really hope I could make enough from either to not have to work anymore :)

#5.  A top down real time multiplayer game using megamek unit graphics, on a REALLY REALLY big map (like a continent).  It'll be based on BT for sure (at least initially), but will probably be different enough I could sell the game independently.  

#6.  The 2 projects that made me learn to program.  #1 is a Starfleet Command sort of game, and the other a simulation of the BattleTech universe that would be kind of like playing most of the 4X games out there in reverse.  You start with a HUGE group of planets, and have to *keep* it, instead of leapfrogging through a newly discovered galaxy of planets gaining tech and new units.  Basically, you struggle to keep what you have, which is kind of original in the computer world.  I still have a couple things I need to learn for the 4X game, but I think I'll get it by the time the time comes to focus on it exclusively.

Interesting thing happened to me today.  See, we had a hailstorm here in Texas in June and I had to replace my roof.  So they came out and replaced it, and even put on new gutters.  However those gutters aren't quite level, so the rain floods my porch instead of coming out the downspouts.  Anyway, while figuring this out while it was raining I held my hand up to feel the depth of the water in the gutters, just my fingers over the edge.  Then I see a flash of lightning and the bolt of energy shoot from my fingers down to my toes.  It sucked.  I don't think the lightning hit anywhere nearby, just the electricity in the air or something went through my body.  I really had to find the issue tho, and went and got a ladder to look... but somehow, couldn't gain the courage to win a Darwin award by climbing up on it to look in my gutter to see it.  I was barefooted, surely my flip-flops would have prevented the electricity from using my body as a wire, but in hindsight it was probably pretty stupid, but the newly regained respect for electricity I now have prevents me from, well, probably going outside and sitting on my porch during the next rainstorm (which I often DID).

Stupid Computers

This is a bit off topic, but since it created a delay I'll spit it out anyway.

Computers suck.  There.  I said it.  It is how I make my living however, so I have to accept it.

I always buy the best I can get when it comes to new computers.  I buy the latest video cards, best phones, fastest processors, etc.  I don't continually upgrade, I just get the best, and replace it all when it gets old.  This has suited me well, especially since I haven't had to upgrade anything but my video card in about 4 years now.

But speaking of video card... I have 2 in my machine, a Geforce GTX480 and a Geforce GTX280.  I run 4 monitors, cuz, well, if you ran 4 monitors you'd know why ;).  Anyway, the 480 actually replaced a 460 that I had go bad about 2.5 years ago, it was under warranty, and I had it replaced.  Actually, at this moment, I realized it was at work in a server there.... gotta get it tomorrow.

To my point... today my 480 went bad, about 2.5 years old.  It sucked, as now I'm down to 2 monitors and don't think games will play too well on a 280, but at least I think it is under warranty and can get a new one.  Otherwise I'll be out about $600 for a new video card.... oh well, life sucks.

Anyway, now for the good news.  I did have another card, so I can still work (2 monitors tho <whimper>) and I am, tonight, HOPEFULLY creating the very last record sheet file for TRO3063!!!  I then have a couple week project to knock out for Strike Legion by LegionnaireGames.com (great system, I recommend buying it!) and then I'll be doing 70% of my time to updating my site, 20% to a Federation and Empire project, and 10% to a combination of a new search site and file sharing site, hopefully one of those last 2 will make me not have to work anymore in the near future.

I also now work for an MSP, meaning I have access to *thousands* of domains, hundreds of new IPs, etc, so I may go create a new account on the forums and just *really really* watch what I say and never really say its me.  If they looked close they could probably figure it out, but perhaps if I ensure I never break any of their rules perhaps they won't mind too much.  I'd rather their perma-ban just be a few months or something, as I have a  *lot* to contribute, but oh well.

If one of you readers want to do me a favor (well a forum user a favor), there is a posting here asking for a 3025 hex map.  I have had one on my site for years google would have brought up (its the 3rd image, BattleTechNewMAP.png)

Battleforce

First of all I apologize for the lack of updates, been busy with TRO3063, which is almost finished!

Today I'm going to rant about Battleforce.  After doing a massive amount of calculations, and having a computer now coded to do them for me, I am going to change a few things from canon.  I hate doing this, as everything else in my MUL is canon, but the BF values are just so broken in some cases that they are just broken.

Take a light vehicle, put a small laser in the hull, and another in the turret.  That vehicle can then do a full 2 points of attack in battleforce each turn!  Yeap, 2 full points, even though it should really only have 0.6 (6 points of damage / 10 damage divisor).  Basically, the unit is 3x as powerful offensively as it is in battletech.  Mechs with turrets suffer the same problems.

Now, lets take a vehicle with hull and turret attacks, with enough SRMs and LRMs in both locations to have 10+ attack. Then add a NARC, TAG, an AC10 to the turret, and a small laser in the hull.  This unit would have 2 SRM attacks, 2 LRM attacks, 1 NARC attack, 1 TAG attack, an AC attack, and a regular attack.  Yep, that one unit could roll 8 different 2d6 in a turn for attacks.  A bit extreme sure, but still a likely design.  

Rounding damage UP is another annoyance.  A single machine gun, doing 2/10 or 0.2 BF damage, does 1 full damage in the game.  This was done so the unit had *some* attack, but it can make some pretty drastic changes in some units capabilities.  

And an old example I use.  Take a mech with 30 heat sinks, 2xERPPC, and 10xMedium Lasers.  Strategic Operations says this unit generates 60 heat, so is 50% heat efficiency.  Its attack factor before division would be 35/35/10, or in BF it'd be 4/4/1.  However that doesn't feel right does it?  Instead, I do heat efficiency in each range band, meaning this unit becomes 5/5/2, which makes the unit feel much more accurate.

So, here are my final proposals to "fix" battleforce values, which I will be using for all my conversions.  They aren't quite final yet, so feel free to call me out if I'm screwing something up somehow.

1. All values are rounded normally, not up.  In the case of attacks that are under 5, simply multiply the attack strength by 6, subtract that value from 6, and then roll that number or better on 1d6 to do a single attack.  So, a single machine gun is 0.2 attack, multiplied by 6 is 1.2, rounding normally to 1.  6 - 1 is 5, so that unit must roll (if it hits) a 5+ on 1d6 to get a single damage point.
2. Attacks and heat efficiency are calculated per range band, instead of once.  
3. I ignore PPC capacitors.  I may add an ability of PPCC which would give a +1 attack the first attack of any game, but that may be too much tracking (it could just be crossed out once used).
4. I do not add 4 heat in heat efficiency calculations.  4 heat in each of 3 battletech turns is 12 heat, meaning canon calculations the unit is always at OV 1, and can't ever shoot over 3 turns without shutting down!
5. Rocket launchers no longer do 10% of their damage every single turn with no ill heat effects. Instead, sum ALL the rocket launchers attack just as you would an AC or SRM attack, add in weapons that could be fired with the remaining heat (or multiply the attack by the heat efficiency) and that factor becomes a single RL #/# (the #/# is SR/MR) attack.  The values are averaged over 3 battletech turns however, as the rockets can only fire once.  As an example lets take a MAD-4H Marauder II.  This unit has 21 heat sinks, 2xERPPC, 2xERML, 4xRL20, 6xRL15, and 1xRL10.  In 3 battletech turns this unit can dissipate 63 heat, but would generate up to 9 with its movement, reducing that to 54 available heat over 3 battletech turns.  All of the rockets, if fire at once, do 47 heat, leaving just enough heat to fire a single ERML once.  As for damage the RL20's do 4x12, the RL15s 6x9, and the RL10 1x6, for a total of 108 damage.  The RL10's can shoot out to long range, and do 6 damage at that range.  The ERML's damage of 5 is added to both short and medium range, meaning this unit can do 113/113/6 damage, in battletech terms.  We then divide that by 3, as this is damage spread out over 3 battletech turns, and further divide it by 10 as that is the damage divider.  The final is 113/3/10 = 3.7667 damage.  Thus, this unit has a rocket attack of "RL 4/4".  It'd be stupid to waste the rocket attack at long range, so we'll just drop any RL attacks that end up being LESS than the regular attack at this range.  This attack can be used a single time, and as it includes everything possible that can be fired it replaces ALL other damage producing attacks (NARC, TAG, etc are still ok).  The canon calculations give this mech a 3/3/2 attack, while I would give it a 2/2/2 with that single 4/4 rocket attack.  The good news is I'll do these calculations for you :)
6. Nothing has turret attack values, instead, if over 50% of the attack value is from turret mounted weapons, it simply gains a "TUR" ability meaning it can fire 360 degrees.  I did this so vehicles didn't end up with lots of attacks per turn, but still makes a turret an important item.  It also prevents units from being double strength from rounding.  Mechs with turrets are under the same umbrella.
7. Most battletech units have 10-15 rounds of ammunition.  In battleforce this is 3-5 turns!  Ballistic heavy ammo short units tend to be seriously OP in Battleforce, and there is simply no reason not to take them.  That isn't the case in the game however, especially if you have ever played a battletech mission, not been allowed repairs or rearming, and then had to play another mission.  So, all units will now have 2 attack factors.  The standard attack which uses ammunition, and an energy attack which uses no ammunition.  The energy attack is an ability, like "ENE 1/2/3", or, if the unit has only energy weapons the ability is just "ENE" as the regular attack represents energy only weapons.  Ammunition consuming units now gain a new ability, something like "LA #/%".  The # represents the number of battleforce turns this unit can use its ammunition consuming attack.  The % represents the number of tons (rounded down) of ammunition required for a resupply.  An ARC-4R Archer with 4 tons of LRM20 ammo has, on average, 12 shots per weapon, or 4 ammo in battleforce (12/3 rounded up to 4).  The ammunition rating would be LA 4/4, as it would take 4 tons of ammunition to resupply after 4 rounds of sustained combat.  The unit also has ENE 1/1, for the 2 forward facing medium lasers.  Side effects of this are that the ENE attack can be used for any attacks underwater and replace the normal attack there.  Another one is that weapons with <10 shots aren't reduced in firepower, as they have ammo limitations.
8. Units gain a rear attack if they have rear facing weapons.  These are always considered to be ENE weapons (as they nearly always are) and are a special ability like "REAR 1/1" for 2 medium lasers to the rear.  This attack replaces all other attacks.  This attack DOES include any weapons on arms that can flip as well, making some units have a very tough rear arc.  Rear attacks help fighters a lot.
9. Units with C3 equipment may have an additional (+#) value after their PV, this is an additional cost if the unit is part of a C3 network.
10. Special ability FP#.  This is for "fuel points".  Aerospace units get 1 factor of these per 3 fuel points they carry.  1 fuel point is expended per hex moved (minimum of 1 per turn).  An average fighter with 5 tons of fuel (400 points) in battletech, has FP133.  Its a big number, and rarely used, but required on campaign maps to see the combat radius of the fighter.  If the fighter is ferrying between 2 bases and doesn't need to "return", it can double this number for range calculations.  External fuel tanks add 13 fuel points each.  Dropships, Jumpships, Warships, and Space Stations have a similar factor of "BW#", where BW stands for "Burn Weeks", and the # represents the weeks of fuel, traveling at 1G or station keeping, and is again used for strategic purposes.
11. Units with clan XL or inner sphere Light engines are destroyed on engine critical hits.  Units with clan XXL or inner sphere XL engines are destroyed on MP critical hits.  Units with Inner sphere XXL engines are destroyed on MP OR engine critical hits.  These abilities are denoted as "X", "XX", or "XXX".  This ability doesn't apply to non-mech units.  
12. "CE" ability for compact engines (ignore first engine crit), "CG" for compact gyro (ignore first mp crit), "TC" for torso cockpit, allowing the unit to survive (but not fight) head blown off results.
13. AMS now has a number after it for the number of AMS systems as well as a slash and number of uses, like AMS1/4 (or just AMS/4 if only 1).  The 2 indicates that for the first 2 incoming SRM/LRM/IF attacks, EACH are reduced by 1, not just a single attack.  2 AMS factors cannot be used together to reduce a single incoming attack by 2.  The 4 represents the number of times the AMS can be used before the ammo is expended.  When resupplying clan AMS ammo weighs 1 ton per 8 shots, inner sphere 1 ton per 4.
14. Infantry calculate their armor based on each squad, not the total platoon size, and there is no longer any infantry structure.  This tends to make infantry just a little bit tougher.
15. I am thinking of breaking range down into 6/12/18/24/30 instead of what it is now, just to make it make more sense and be more granular.
16. Reflective/Reactive armor are no longer 75% of normal, instead "REFL" or "REAC" are now abilities.  REFL takes half damage from ENE attacks, and REAC takes half damage from ammunition consuming attacks.
17. And finally, a HUGE change.  It is completely stupid IMO to think that over 3 turns, a single mech can either hit with EVERYTHING, or NOTHING, a single 2d6 roll dictates how that unit performed over 3 entire turns, with all weapons, and it just doesn't end up being very faithful to Battletech.  Sooo, my proposal is still rolling a single 2d6 for combat resolution, but instead of an all-or-nothing approach, simply use the cluster hit table to determine the damage done.  You do almost all the same things.  You total all modifiers but treat them to a negative modifier to the 2d6 roll.  However, instead of adding skill to the modifiers, you add it to the 2d6 roll.  So the roll becomes 2d6-modifiers+skill.  If the number is <2, simply move 1 column left on the cluster column per number below 2.  If the modifier roll is >12, move it 1 column to the right per number above 12. This makes it possible for poor units to do very little damage, while the elites with good rolls constantly blow their opponents away.  
1. If you track tactical skills of any leaders, those should be positive modifiers to the skill ratings of all in the unit.  
2. I would also recommend a you-go-I-go system, where instead of an entire side moving, the winner selects a single unit and moves/shoots/resolves damage with it, then the lose does that with a unit.  If one side is out of units, the other side moves everything left
18. I am thinking of dividing armor into 3 areas, and structure 2.  The division will just be a small line between circles.  For armor it'll be broken down into front/rear/any and structure between front+rear/any.  The reasoning is that flank attacks would do damage to the rear, and front attacks to the front, but neither of those attacks would do damage to the opposite side.  Once the front or rear armor is gone, the "any" area takes all the damage.  The first damage point sustained is always on the front/rear, each other damage point goes to any.  I *think* this will make flank attacks make more sense, and be more faithful to the game, but I need to test it out further.  It may mean dead units on the battlefield with a few points of armor left.
19. Fighters have an STR# special ability, meaning "Strafe".  This is their attack value in any strafing attack.
20. I haven't really looked at dropship and larger yet.  I'm thinking of mixing capital missiles, capital weapons, and sub-capital weapons into a single weapon type.  If I don't do that, its possible to have a warship with 8 attacks for capital weapons, 8 attacks for sub-capital weapons, 8 attacks for capital missiles, and 8 attacks for standard attacks.  32 attack types for a single unit, PLUS things like PNT and SCR!!.  Insane!  Also, combining all their armor seems to make them VERY durable as well, their whole conversion needs analyzed IMO.

Let me know what you think!

Of course, instead of spending time on these conversions, my time would probably be better suited to a real time battletech game that just tracked individual systems instead of abstracting them at all.  The only hold-up on this is, well, time, else I would have knocked it out over the last month between TRO3063 updates :)

And because you are still reading, here is a PDF with all 20 of the Warhammer models, with my new PDF format for record sheets.  Tell me what you think!

Warhammers.pdf (ignore the fan-made TRO3063 icon, I'll remove it once I finish actively working on TRO3063, which also has a faction logo above that same icon you don't see here).

The First AC/20

There is a thread over on the forums asking what mech was the first with an AC/20.

I would have chimed in with the actual answer, but I'm banned, maybe one of my readers will do some copying and pasting ;)

I have a database with every single canon unit ever, and every single detail about them, 100% canon.  

So, I can run a quick SQL query (<1 minute creation time) to determine that there are:
41 BattleMechs that have 1 or more AC/20's (and 40 with UAC/20s).

Sure enough, the VTR-9A Victor, coming out in 2508, was the first mech to mount an AC/20.  The VTR-9A1 also came out that year, and has one.

HOWEVER, the AC20 came out in 2500, which seems unlikely that the first mech to mount such a weapon came out 8 years after the weapon itself.  

The next chassis that had an AC20, was the HBK-4G in 2572, so apparently this weapon wasn't very popular.

We do know the Lyran Commonwealth created the AC20, so the first mech to have one, is probably one of their assault mechs around that time.  So let us look at mechs that came out in or before 2500 that could handle an AC/20 (lets say >55 tons).


Archer
Banshee
Battleaxe
Crossbow
Guillotine
Hammerhands
Hector
Helepolis
Longbow
Mackie
Ostwar
Von Rohrs (Hebi)
Ymir


Tell me, which one of those stick out to you?  The Banshee huh?  Well, the Mackie as well.  Both of which have AC10s.  The Mackie has variants (8B and 9S) with AC20s.  The Banshee the 3Q but it comes out in 2915.

So, we probably have a Mackie variant with an AC20, that the Lyrans fielded in 2500.  It could be a field refit I guess, but I'm betting that is the chassis that had the first one.  

Well, we all assumed it was a mech <evil grin>

The first unit to have an AC20 was the Hammerhead HMR-HC fighter, which came out in <gasp> 2407, 93 years before the first AC20.  I guess that'll be errata'd soon.  The MUL doesn't have that unit, it was described in the fluff for the Hammerhead as the early variant that just didn't have ferro-fibrous armor.  I'm guessing it should be changed to 2500.  So lets ignore it and see that....

The first unit to mount the AC20 was actually the Engineering Vehicle from TRO3026 which used it as a demolition cannon (which I'm sure surprised a few attackers).  

Funny eh?

A little present for you

I was screwing around, validating my code, and ended up with a single PDF with all the mechs from TRO3039 (and I think all their variants as well).  Anyway, since I've been so slow with updates recently, I created a single big, indexed, 237 record sheet PDF for you to download.

Get it here (21mb Mediafire.com link)

This will be my "new" method of record sheets to replace the PNGs.  It is completely redone and doesn't reuse much of the old code.  Peruse it, see if you see any issues, and LET ME KNOW.  Any bugs that popup I'll jump on asap.

If I get some decent feedback, I'll create a vehicle only TRO from another product in a few days ;)

Also, any feedback, positive or negative, on the recordsheets themselves is appreciated.  I did a few things slightly differently than CGL.  There are some other features ya'll don't see currently, like armored components, hardened armor, faction availability, tech ratings, etc, but these are nearly complete.

And of course I could just have some typos in there :)

Heavy Gear!

SWEET!!!  Somebody finally picked up the excellent heavy gear computer game license:

http://www.stompybot.com/

For those of you who never played Heavy Gear 2, you really missed out.  It was, in my opinion, FAR better than any Mechwarrior game.  It had strategy, tactics, sensors, and all sorts of cool stuff.  Multiplayer was a blast too, wish it still ran on my machine :(  There is a linux version, but linux, meh, whats the point?

I sure hope they do it right, don't go free to play, and make it easy to mod.  I'm 90% sure MWO will flop, and 80% sure MWT will, so this may be a savior of the mecha genre.

If you don't know what Heavy Gear is, I think of it as the anime version of Battletech.  Units can die in 1 shot, better pilots live longer and kill faster, tanks rule, but since Blitz came out I've lost a lot of interest as they are making it more like 40K.  Oh, the minis are good too, but pricey.

Not yet!

So I ran my code that determines years/availability/costs/etc against about 4400 of the 5200 canon units.  Basically all the mechs, fighters, and combat vehicles.  It appears that at least 4% of those units, are introduced before their equipment became available.  I say at least 4%, as quite a few had   various little issues I haven't looked into yet, and didn't have their information checked.


I know TPTB hate details, like years, but unfortunately that is simply one of the responsibilities they have in development of a game such as this.  In a game like 40K, the year simply isn't important.  The universe doesn't really move through time like BT always has.  In SFB it is important, as they have events in years, and all those units have years.  BT simply needs the introductory years and such to be consistent to keep the quality that has kept the game going 25 years, to loose that quality, is the beginning of the end IMO.


I won't post the whole list of issues, as its just a boring read, but I will publish a list of all the canon units I checked that are introduced before their years of introduction (according to the canon MUL 19 June data).  But, here is the list of units that don't match up:



Ahab AHB-643
Ahab AHB-MD
Annihilator C 2
Aquagladius AQS-3
Aquagladius AQS-4
Archer C
Argus AGS-4D
Assassin ASN-30
Atlas AS7-S2
Atlas C
Awesome AWS-10KM
Axman AXM-3S
Barghest BGS-2T
BattleMech Recovery Vehicle
Batu [Z]
Beowulf BEO-X-7A
Black Hawk (Nova) [E]
Black Knight (Royal) BL-6b-KNT
Black Knight BL-10-KNT "Ross"
Black Knight BL-6-RR
Blackjack BJ-4
Bombard BMB-013
Buster XXI
Carbine CON-1
Carbine CON-1 (RL)
Carrier, Light, Thunderbolt
Carrier, LRM
Carrier, SRM
Cataphract CTF-5MOC (Naomi)
Celerity CLR-02-X-D
Cestus CTS-6X
Champion (Royal) CHP-1Nb
Champion CHP-3P
Commando COM-4H
Commando COM-7S
Copperhead CPR-HD-003
Copperhead CPR-HD-004
Crab CRB-30
Crosscutt ED-X2 (RL)
Cyclops CP-11-C
Daedalus (Militarized) GTX2
Dagger DAR4-XP
Daimyo DMO-1K2 "Al-Shahab"
Daishi (Dire Wolf) [D]
Daishi (Dire Wolf) [X]
Defiance DFN-3C
Demolisher II
Deva C-DVA-O [Achillius]
Dragon Fire DGR-6FC2 "Gregory"
Dragonfly (Viper) [F]
Dragonfly (Viper) [Z]
Eagle EGL-1M
Eagle EGL-2M
Enforcer ENF-5D "Daniel"
Engineering Vehicle Flamer
Exterminator EXT-5E
Eyleuka EYL-35A
Eyleuka EYL-4A
Falcon FLC-4Nb
Fire Scorpion 1
Firestarter FS9-C
Flashman FLS-9C
Flatbed Truck RL
Gabriel TDF
Galleon GAL-200 (RL)
Gladiator (Executioner) [E]
Gotha GTHA-600
Great Turtle GTR-1
Griffin GRF-2N
Grigori C-GRG-O [Rufus]
Hachiwara HCA-3T
Hachiwara HCA-4T
Hachiwara HCA-4U
Hammerhead HMR-HC
Hatamoto-Chi HTM-27T "Daniel II"
Hatchetman HCT-5S "Austin"
Hellfire 1
Hermes (Royal) HER-1Sb
Hermes HER-4M
Highlander HGN-732 "Colleen"
Highlander HGN-736
Hover APC LRM
Hover APC SRM
Hunchback HBK-4G "Hohiro"
Hunchback HBK-5S
Hunter (Sea Hunter)
Hussar HSR-500-D
Hussar HSR-900-D
Icestorm 1
Jinggau JN-G7L
Juggernaut JG-R9T3
Katya C-904
Katya C-905
Katya C-906
Kintaro KTO-21
Kiso K-3N-KR4
Kiso K-3N-KR5
Korvin KRV-2
Korvin KRV-3
Koshi (Mist Lynx) [G]
Koshi (Mist Lynx) [Z]
Koto KTO-2A
Lancelot LNC25-04
Locust LCT-1L
Longbow LGB-13NAIS
LTV-4
Lumberjack LM4/P
Malak (Angel) C-MK-O [Mi]
Man O` War (Gargoyle) [E]
Marco MR-8C
Marco MR-8D
Marco MR-8E
Marksman AC
Marshal MHL-X1
Maultier
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea LRM
Mauna Kea LRT
Merkava Mk VIII
Nightstar NSR-9J "Brubaker"
Onslaught SA-OS2
Orion ON1-K "Kerensky"
Orion ON1-MC
Ostsol OTL-8D
Ostwar OWR-2Mb
Owens OW-1B [B]
Pariah (Septicemia) [A-Z]
Pariah (Septicemia) [B-Z]
Pariah (Septicemia) [C-Z]
Pariah (Septicemia) [Z]
Phoenix Hawk IIC 5
Phoenix Hawk Mk I PHX-HK1R
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1c (Special) (Royal)
Planetlifter
Pouncer [F]
Preta (Ghost) C-PRT-O [Kendali]
Prowler PWR-1X1
Puma (Adder) [E]
Puma PAT-005b (Royal)
Puma PMA-007
Puma PMA-008
Quasit QUA-51T
Raven RVN-1X
Raven RVN-3X
Raven RVN-4L
Raven RVN-4LC
Rifleman C
Rifleman IIC 5
Ripper Infantry
Rotunda RL
Rusalka B [Infernus]
Sabutai [Z]
Samurai SL-25
Savage Coyote [Z]
Schiltron [F]
Seraph C-SRP-O [Havalah]
Shadow Hawk C
Shadow Hawk IIC 5
Silver Fox SVR-5X
Silver Fox SVR-5Y
Stiletto STO-4A
Stinger STG-6S
Stuka STU-K5b
T-12 Tiger
Talon TLN-5Z
Temax Cat Ninjabolt TMC-NB
Tessen TSN-1C
Thanatos TNS-4S "Felix"
Thor (Summoner) [E]
Thor AC
Thorn THE-Nb
Thunder Stallion 3
Thunder THR-2L
Thunderbolt C
Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb
Thunderbolt TDR-9Nr
Tomahawk C
Tomahawk THK-63b (Royal)
Tracked APC LRM
Tracked APC SRM
Tsunami TS-P1D
Turkina [Z]
Typhoon (Typhoon-A) TFN-3A
Typhoon TFN-2A
Valkyrie VLK-QA
Valkyrie VLK-QF
Victor VTR-9B (C)
Vulcan VT-5S
Vulture (Mad Dog) [D]
Warhammer C
Werewolf WER-LF-005
Wheeled APC LRM
Wheeled APC SRM
Whitworth WTH-3
Wight WGT-1LAW/SC
Wolf Trap (Tora) WFT-1 "Daitama"
Wolfhound IIC (Grinner)
Zhukov WoB

Stay tuned!

BV and Deep Thoughts

Real quick update!


So I wrote the code today to calculate aerospace and conventional fighter BV (and it should work the same for small craft and dropships), and there are some major differences.


HeavyMetalPro has completely different formulas than the Tech Manual.  I ended up going with the Tech Manual rules, hopefully that was a correct assumption.  Some differences:

• TM multiplies SI for DBV by 2, not 1.5
• TM multiplies armor by 2 by default, not 2.5 (or the actual armor type modifier, which varies)
• TM has no DBV reductions for explosive ammunition 
• TM has no DBV for Fuel
• TM has no OBV modifiers for bomb load

So basically, I completely understand why there is no BV2 for aerospace forces around, as there is no utility to do it.... well, there wasn't yesterday, but I have one today :)  I do think the bottom 2 items have a place in BV2, so who knows.

I also wrote the code to determine the rules level, tech rating, all 3 availabilities, the earliest possible year a unit can be created, the latest possible year a unit can be created (before being extinct), the earliest year the unit can be created with recovered technology, and the year the unit goes extinct.  That ended up throwing quite a wrench into TRO3063, but it'll get fixed quick.  Basically, lots of equipment in the TRO was actually created a year or two AFTER the unit was.  Oopsie!  Glad I caught that!  I can't wait to run this code against all 5200 or so units in my database, see how many need an MUL update :)

Thoughts of the day:

I think engines should burn fuel based on their rating, not their weight.  For example, an XL engine weighs 50% as much as a regular fusion engine.  For a fighter this unit would use double the fuel in any maneuvers.  For non-fuel using units, they'd have half the time between required maintenance. XXL engines would be 3x, light 1.5x, and so forth.

Along the same lines, I think things like MASC or Superchargers should also increase maintenance considerably.

I'm still thinking of knocking out a top down, real time, multiplayer, battletech game in the near future.  Think megamek but without turns.  It'll be a 100% conversion, and probably have vehicles or fighters first.  I'll use megamek unit graphics, turns will be 10 seconds of real time, weapons will fire every 10 seconds, damage is the same, etc.  I have some ideas that may allow a *lot* of people in a game, more than 64, and the maps will always probably be effectively unlimited in size.  Anyway, still thinking about it, I'd need people to show major interest I think before pursuing it, but it is within my skill set.

My new job sucks up a lot more of my time :(

The Texas unemployment system is completely stupid, I gotta find a lawyer tomorrow :(

Over 11,000 hits already, that is like 75 unique visits per day.  Not sure how many humans that is, hopefully a lot that apparently don't comment very often, google analytics isn't a lot of help.

Stay tuned.