Scenarios

I started wargaming a bit over 20 years ago, playing micro armor at Wheeler AFB in Hawaii.  The post had some vacant buildings, and let us use one.  We had tons of space, and played mostly WW2 microarmor, but at some point or another played all forms of games.  There initially was a lot of roleplayers, but they started taking over, so one day they kicked them all out, as well as all children under 18.  I was allowed to hide under the table, as I was the only minor there who never played RPGs, and preferred the wargames.

A year or so later I played cititech during lunch at high school, and fell in love.  Soon after I played Ogre, and a few other miniature based games and even SFB.  I have always been military oriented, served 7 years in the infantry before my body gave up, but still cherish everything military (except the actual killing, which I think is the absolute failure of intelligence/brainpower).

So that is my background, and may help people understand where I'm comming from.

I love the BT universe, its vast but not *too* vast (traveller).  The military units are manageable, the amount of units comprehendable, and the rules have grown to scale from a lowly grunt on the field to planetary invasions (and beyond, once IO comes out).  So basically to me, it is just a scalable wargame in a fictional universe (historical can get boring after years).  Apparently very few people see it that way.  To me a 5K vs 5K battle is just stupid, as equal fights so rarely happen in warfare, ESPECIALLY when there is no clear objective.  It just goes against the reason for fighting, unless your in an arena.  I also know in the universe that mechs aren't ubiquitous, and in fact are outnumbered at least 4:1 by tanks, and probably well over 10:1 in infantry, yet somehow, mechs are the predominant units in every battle I've seen lately.

So I've come to the following conclusion.  

There are 3 kinds of BT players.  One kind, which probably represents the largest portion of players, are IMO the "Games Workshop Clones".  These folk love the game, probably can tell you the name of *every* mech and what it has on it, are *very* defensive when somebody questions the way they play, yet always want to play quick one-off equal force games.  They almost always choose only mechs, and tend to avoid anything realistically representing the universe.  They love optional engine explosions and gauss rifles, and avoid rules like forced withdrawl or moral.  These people think BT is only a "beer and pretzels" game, in complete denial of the thousands of pages printed that counter that.  These folk hate any detail in the universe at all, except more mech sheets.

The second kind are the opposite, much like me, where the only fun games are ones where balanced forces don't exist.  Ones where you *need* to worry about having only 5 shots for an AC20.  Ones where they would rather have something *more* behind their missions than simply "kill thy enemy".  Often they love lots of detail, and want to track various logistics.  They embrace combined arms and play the game like a simulation, not like 40K (which is fun for what it is).  

And the last kind are the 2nd most popular, the ones inbetween, usually moving more towards the first kind, but liking some detail.  The warchest system is more than sufficient for them campaign wise, but they are happy playing equal arena battles.  They would probably enjoy a campaign, if they could find the time, but are just as happy with a pickup game.

I am totally ok with any kind of players, but I hate the argument that details in the universe prevent *anything* from happening.  For example, if only a single AS7-D Atlas was ever built, there is nothing stopping those folks from taking 4 into battle, yet they argue against seeing hard numbers.  My biggest beef is they are so loud spoken when it comes to "NO DETAILS!", but having a billion details wouldn't change the way they play at all, as those folk don't even play the game as the BT universe presents it.

If TPTB published the numbers of every mech that existed, in every year, and the salvage status of each of those every year, it wouldn't stop me or anybody or that matter, from taking any design they wanted in any salvage state in one of the silly 5k vs 5k arena games.  Yet if that detail existed, the more data oriented of us could produce vast amount of cool things like random unit generators or force generators with ease.

I love detail, and adding detail to a universe can't do anything but improve it.

And as for missions, people please, have a freaking goal, don't always have 1:1 forces, and use combined arms!  If your not, your ignoring thousands, if not tens of thousands, of pages of text that writers have been spitting out for 27 years.

/end rant | / off soapboax

I actually played for a change!

Been a while, sorry about that.  Had some real life stuff come up.  We were going to buy this nice big new house here in Dallas, but once I started looking over the contract I noticed this thing called "Binding Mandatory Arbitration".  This basically means if you buy a house in Texas, and many other states, you give up the right to sue.  This sucks, it means when I blow $400K on a house, and in 3 years the foundation breaks in half from shoddy workmanship, I have to use an arbitrator and can't get a lawyer to sue the builder.  This is *very* bad, and basically you give up your 7th amendment rights.  Its unethical in *every* way, and until everybody realizes that and demands the home builders change, the companies will continue to screw us :(

On to better news.  Actually played a few small 1:1 BT games today, enjoyed it.  The event was a little intro game celebrating the release of the boxed set and Charlie Tango ran it.  We ended up having quite a bit of good discussions after the gaming ended, and a few things were mentioned about the history of CGL/FASA/etc that I didn't know, and helped me understand a few things about CGL now.  I kind of doubt I'll ever be "cool" enough for TPTB to accept me as one of their lieutenants, but I'm going to continue with my projects anyway, and just hope that Interstellar Operations blows me away :)

As for what I've been up to lately.... its been all over, but here is a breakdown:

• I have been entering in all the planets and who owns them from all the maps in all the new handbooks.  The maps are great, but we don't have a list of planets/owners/coordinates to make our own maps.  So I'm doing this.  Give me a short time after the Kurita book comes out to parse all the data and such, but I'll have *all* the planets on all those maps, and their coordinates.
• I blew $1K of my own money hiring a contractor to help me out with planet generation (accurate to 10km/pixel) and regional terrain generators (10km chunks, accurate to 10m) so I can map out planets of all types, at all scales, with relatively small amounts of drive space (64mb or so per world, uncompressed).  This will help me with what I have wanted to do since I started playing so many years ago.  That is the ability to conquer the inner sphere, one soldier at a time, on my computer, hopefully against other humans somewhere else or at least decent AI.
• Played Crysis 2, installed it and it was in the background running for a week until I finished it.  Not a bad game, not a great game, kinda boring to me but there were a few neat parts.
• Spent a bit of extra time at work creating a central server database, that has a list of all our servers, various attributes and properties, and will soon become the core of all of our monitoring and system information.  There are simply no applications on the market, at any price, that have the versatility that Match.com needs.
• Had a bunch of conversations on the forums about infantry being broken.  The overall consensus seems to be just to have Hard and Soft attack values, which requires recalculating all the weapon stats.  Good news is I have entered in all the weapons in a worksheet so I'll have that list soon.  While I still think infantry needs to be at the squad level, if one could accept the platoon actually is across all adjacent hexes, and never allow any 2 platoons within 2 hexes of each other I think I can accept it.

I'm off to finish inputting system data for the maps, hopefully I can finish tonight with what has been published, can go onto the infantry thing (which I may write up and create a PDF out of), and then on to learn some orbital mechanics.

I figured it out!

After thinking about how to make a strategic battletech game for years, and seeing the horrible trend with new products when it comes to "leaving out all the details", I figured out how I'll make my strategic battletech game!

It won't be battletech!

Well the history will pretty much mirror battletech.  There will be a massive plague at some late point after space exploration (I need to do the math) at which many planets had entire populations die out and were forgotten (places to find neato old stuff!) and the populations of worlds are at most, tens of millions.  This fixes "fasanomics".

Another change is the houses.  I loathe how the houses are all just the same now.  They have the same mechs, the same formations, same tactics, same *everything*.  The only difference is, well, the unit names.  So, to heck with that.

Instead, I'll create factions based on modern nations/continents.  For example, the Terran Hegemony area would be mostly NATO nations.  China, India, Asia, Mideast+Africa, and South America+Mexico would be "major houses". Pirate nations would be Russia (the most powerful), Israel, maybe Australia+New Zealand, not 100% sure on those yet.  Each spread out in an arc from Terra with a chunk about equal to their populations today (each of those major factions is about a billion folk today).

All the planets will have new names, and be random each game.  This way lets say you go towards the Chinese faction, the systems will have names of Chinese rivers, mountains, lakes, personalities, cities, and regions.  This way there is a "feel" for the uniqueness of each "nation", though there will be some crossover, especially around the borders.

Units will also follow this.  The units of the NATO region will be named after US, British, Canadian, and various European nations.

Each "house" will have a way in which they fight.  China would use lots of less effective and cheaper units with horrible morale, the Mideast+Africa would use guerilla tactics, India Tribal tactics (think FWL), etc.  Again these aren't 100% absolutes, just preferred ways to fight.

There will still be jumpships, though now called "starships", dropships would be "systemships", and small craft "planetships".  I may keep the original names, but this would help differentiate it from CBT.

I'm sure I just lost 2 of the 3 people reading this site as I'm planning on straying from canon, but it is just the only way to not have to go through 5000 pages of printed text ensuring there are no contradictions, and filling in the blanks with a HUGE amount of non-canon data anyway, as its simply missing.

Since the game will be 100% "moddable", if you want to change some strings and turn it into CBT you easily can, I just won't touch it as I have some weird issue with accuracy.

Good news is this makes *everything* easier.  Especially units and combat, as I can do my own system without regards to things like "clan tech".  I should have something playable MUCH faster (like months instead of years... assuming I have no help).

Oh, the clans are "America".  I picked them not because I'm American, but because America now has a serious ego and thinks they are just better than everybody.  Take this mentality, give them the best military, and let them go live somewhere alone for a hundred years or so, and imagine the ego they'll have when they come back!

If you want to be a part of this, I could REALLY use some help.  I need the following:

- Somebody to create lists of random system names to use for each faction (I created India/China in just a few hours, but they need to be looked over).

 - Somebody to find the names/nicknames of every single military unit throughout history for the factions.  Even extinct nations like Persia or Rome would have units represented.

 - Though 100% optional, somebody to write the storyline with these changes.  I can't write (obviously!) worth a crap, and could use somebody to help flesh out the universe.

 - Somebody to give me a hand with some planetary engineering algorithms.  Help when plotting planet coordinates in 3D space based on their aphelion/periphelion/date, transfer orbits, proximity/la-grange points, etc just seem to elude me and my community college level math skills.

 - Somebody to draw the interfaces.  No code, they can be drawn in paintbrush, photoshop, or even excel.  Just a way to interface with the game.  This wouldn't be necessary till more code is done.

 - Somebody to draw 2D graphics.  Small icons for dropships, unit types (like nato symbols), etc, would be very helpful.  What would be better is also somebody to draw 2D world textures and unit crests.

 - 100% optional, but nice, would be somebody to write out unit/faction histories once the story was written.

If this turns into a great application I may charge a couple bucks for it, and if I get multiplayer working it may be a few bucks each month, but would be have hundreds or thousands of players possible.  Multiplayer like that would be WAY after a single player release though :)

Comments?

Minor Update

First of all I apologize for the lack of updates, and wanted to let everybody know I'm still alive :)


I haven't had much focus recently, for a few reasons.  Here is what I've worked on, and of course nothing is done:


#1.  A full OB for CCAF right before the 4th Succession War.  I was going to get down to each platoon, ensuring that nowhere do I conflict anything published.  For example, I may know a unit has a medium battalion from text, but it was never broken down beyond that.  So I'll randomly determine the company types, from there the lance types, and from there the mechs, all without conflicting with anything published.  I kept getting off track as I was thinking along the lines of doing it all dynamically.  Not sure if I'll finish this up :(


#2.  Windows 7 died on me when I installed SP1.  It was annoying, but I *really* wanted to install 2008 instead, as IMO Windows 7 just blows.  Nothing was lost, just a couple days time.  I have 2k8 now and am VERY happy.  Performance is far superior and the annoying issues I had no longer exist.


#3.  Played lots of Dawn of War II Retribution.  The game isn't much different, but I just really love warhammer games on the PC.  I don't think its as good as the 1st Dawn of War, and especially not considering the mods for DOW1.  I'm nearly done with the full campaign for each race, at which point I'll be bored and move on.


#4.  Spent time looking for a house, and decided against it.  I *hate* the commute, and in Dallas if you don't want a commute, you either buy a 50 year old house, or come up with *millions*, not much inbetween. The 60s-70s homes are usually completely remodeled, and around $150-$250 for 1500-3000sf.  We are just accepting apartment life for a while, even though it sucks in lots of other ways.


#5.  Brainstorming about just dropping the BTU, and making myself a strategic game that would play very similar like, but not be very canon, if at all.  I have the whole game engine part worked out, its just a matter of putting all the units together and either doing a map+counters, or on the computer.  I could use some 2D art support for it, else my graphics will bite.


#6.  While playing DOW2, I came to the conclusion RTS games are completely unoriginal anymore, and they lack some of the greatest things that previous RTS games had.  I loved Warlords Battlecry 3 as you got to keep your unit between missions, I loved the Lord of the Rings RTS games for the same reason, and so few games seem to do that anymore.  DOW tries, but since your enemies are the same level regardless of your level, it plays pretty much the same.  If I become elite I want to *feel* elite, not just facing more powerful enemies (but definately more of them!).  I want games where the scenarios feel more linked, not just different maps.  I don't want all these set paths I have to take to accomplish something.  I want lots more detail on my units, if I so desire to see it.  I want complete modability without needing wacky 3D plugins and special tools (XML data/DirectX models with LUA scripts).  I could so make a *great* warhammer, battletech, or heavy gear RTS if only I had somebody doing the models for me, and somebody to help me with issues when writing the 3D engine (it isn't as hard as it sounds for a medicore engine).


#7.  I'm now 60% disabled through the VA, woohoo!  Well sorta, my life sucks in some ways, but at least I get some fair compensation.  Now I can easily get a government job and retire in 18 years, if only I could find a place I want to live that pays about the same.


#8.  Bought the strike legion series, from http://www.legionnairegames.com/, which ended up being pretty darned good.  I need to look into the rules a bit more, but they are very versatile.  Anything from archiac to sci-fi, from a 1 vehicle = 1 vehicle to a 1 vehicle = 1 battalion scale.  They have mechs, floating ww1 type battleships, and lots of rules.  The unit data is a bit detailed as well too, which I like.  I need to read it some more, its like 400+ pages of rules!  But it looks great so far.


#9.  I'm not moving very fast on battletech until IO comes out (new strategic game), or both the missing handbooks (so I can make maps/input star data).  If IO sucks, and the strategic game stupid IMO, I'll probably decide to stop obsessing with BT.  I don't think a computer based mech designer is a viable option.  There are just too many special rules and considerations, it is a *massive* and daunting task.  I'm betting if a new HMP comes out it'll be filled full of bugs and missing features, just as SSW is.  I hate to say it, but I don't think its possible without a dedicated team working on it to ensure all situations are handeled.  Heck, just look at the complexity when creating a frankenmech combining primitive/industrial/mech with both IS/Clan with multiple armor/structure types.  Daunting I tell you.


#10.  I stripped the paint from the last of my Wolf's Dragoons Zeta battalion (3025) miniatures, now I just need to glue them together and paint them, and I'll have it all!  Course, I also have about a thousand other mechs that need assembled/painted (not to mention a 25 gallon tub of MWDA), I'm starting to wonder if I should just ebay them instead and buy a new car :)  I haven't played BT in like a year, and very rarely before that.  I want to play it like a wargame, and everybody else wants to play it like warhammer (5K point meeting action with > regular pilots).  I like the logistics, the strategic movement, ammunition, fatigue, morale, etc.  I want to play CBT like a wargame, not a beer-n-pretzels game, and apparently I am very rare in that, and unique in the DFW metroplex.

Counters!

I've spent the last couple days I've had available playing with the idea of a board and counter game.  I've wanted to do this before, but it always gets out of hand, mostly because I won't stand for less than 7.5 LY per hex as I want each system represented, and at that scale the map is easily 8' x 7' in size!

I love counter games, and probably have well over 100,000 counters in my house, most likely over 20,000 just for Federation and Empire!  I also *love* maps, and have lots of those as well!

So instead of trying to model the entire 1st Succession War, I've started smaller, with the Reunification war.  For those of you not familiar it was from 2575 to 2596, so pretty early and nearly 200 years before Amaris!  In this war the SLDF, which was 270 regiments and 500 warships, took on the 4 major periphery powers in a war that lasted all of 20 years!  With this scale and the way the war was divided, I can split up the map into just the periphery nations, making them much smaller.  I can also have far less counters, which helps.  This would help make the game a reality and get a lot of playtesting accomplished before I started tackling a larger war.

This is also the prototype for the computer version, which I'll do after Interstellar Operations comes out, and it will be far more detailed including unique planet maps for all planets as well as realistic system transit!

Here is a snippet of the CBT thread here:

The map is about 40 hexes wide by 20 hexes tall.  The SLDF went in with about 324 battalions and 200 warships (plus perhaps 50 FS battalions and 50 Warships), the Taurians had about 12 mech battalions and maybe 150 warships, plus another 50 or so infantry battalions, so were outnumbered on the ground by about 6:1.  The Taurians had fortifications on every world, essentially multiplying their defensive abilities by 2 to 6, plus with the guerilla ability of mechs and infantry they can draw out true conquering of planets for many months or perhaps even years.  The SLDF has some reinforcements from the 1st and 2nd Reserve Corps on Terra, and eventually can get the entire elite Star Guard Corps to help out, this would be probably about 40 replacement battalions of green quality and 80 new elite Star Guard battalions that really make the difference.  Flannagan's Nebula also has serious defenses against space attacks, helping keep the SLDF at bay for a few years as they penetrate the defenses.  Probably a total of around 1000 counters.  Historically the game would last about 1000 turns (woah!), but many of those turns could last all of a minute as only 1-2 die rolls may be required.

Trolls

I post on the classicbattletech forums a lot, and I'm kind of getting sick of all the trolls on there.  Just making a comment in a thread like "I am not posting anymore" is just childish, then to follow it up later with "I'm still not posting here" without any intervening messages is, well, pathetic and the very definition of troll.  Heck, some are even moderators!

I have actually seen a lot of very childish postings on there, which is weird as I thought most CBT players were in their late 20s to mid 40s (I'm 38 myself).  It is really starting to make me wonder why I give a crap about the community at all when so many are such babies and so few good communicators without an ego.  

It is like people don't understand if a thread goes where you don't want to follow, you STOP reading the thread, its simple, couldn't be any easier, yet somehow they just can't do that, and these people with well over 1000 posts since the forum has been back up, well, get out more, sheesh.

I wish I was a bit more creative so I could just write up my own game universe and system that was similar in many ways to BT :(

/end rant

As for other news, the answers to my infantry questions finally got answered on the forums, thanks Joel!  Now I gotta go back into the infantry builder and fix it all.  I may end up rewriting the interface too, I'm extremely unhappy with it, but interfaces are not my strong suite :(

Player Finder!

It took me a few hours, but I think I made the ugliest web page in existence.

http://www.cooltexan.com/PlayerFinder 

Basically a place to go to find opponents, zero frills, probably filled full of errors, but its all the time I wanted to dedicate to it at this point.