MechWarrior: Living Legends

Name: Wyatt Willson aka ChaosWolf (and many others :) )

OK hello. I have a very... odd position to request, and most likely be denied. My, name is Wyatt Willson, and i know LITERALLY everything about mechwarrior that there can be. From history of Old-earth, to the Dark-ages. I know everything there is about how Mechs should operate, look, fight, walk, every design, and every schematic i have either at my fingertips or locked in with my brain. Detailed infroamtion o every can and House, every sub-faction and mercenary unit. I have more knowledge than you will find in most places because i am connected with the authors of the Battletech/Mechwarrior novel line, hell i have assisted them in making a few. You name it, i know it, it's capabilities, and performances. Basically i am a bank of knowledge that can be tapped. I just wish to be involved in this because it is the closest thing to continuing the mech warrior line that there is. When Microsoft killed the Mechwarrior Genre I was very angry and disappointed. I have been around long enough to have played every game (PC or otherwise), and have read every book there is about the subject. I am versed in Maya, but only at an amateurish rating, and massively desire to help in any way shape or regard. If that means bowing out and not occupying anyones time, I shale do so happily and sit back and watch this kick ass game come to life. I'm here to be of help if i can be.

It is very noticeable that this mod has a good fan base - even those who actively worked on making BT what it is now :D

Very cool to see your post here Wyatt. Always wanted to meet someone that has been involved in making these excellent novels!

Hello,

welcome to the forums and thank you very much for your offer.
However, at this time, we do not have any positions open for general BT and MW advisors.
If you want to contribute, feel invited to stay around, participate in discussions and apply for a spot as beta tester once that phase begins.

How tall is the Atlas expressed in meters?

How tall is the Kodiak expressed in meters?

Definately hang around. While there is no such position available on the team, we do get alot of our info from this forum. Either actively asking or just by reading the treads. We're all BT fans here which is why I think this is gonna be such an excelent game, because it's for fans by fans. The idea is also to get new people interestred in BT as well, mabey we can convince someone to bring back the series in new and interesting forms. As such, we do try to follow CBT as much as possible, but we will need to violate a few rules to make it a trully fun game.

But yes, definately hang out, have fun participating in the forum, and belive me, you are contributing in a very real way.

Yeah stick around with us! You gonna love the fruitless discussions about how a laser is supposed to sound like and if a mech should be able to headbutt another ;) Just kidding ... enjoy your stay!

"pew pew..."

Ah well, I thought i'd be taking a back seat... non to worry, i'm going to be sticking my head around everywhere and trying to keep it with Mech lore, I realize that some laws are going to have to be broken, but im going to try them to make them few and far between :)


an Atlas is 15 meters in height
A Kodiak is 13 meters in height, but is more rotund.

Chaoswolf ... please cite your references into the Battletech literature where ever you state facts.

Where did you find the height of the Atlas and the Kodiak?

LOL  "pew pew" 

Sorry for my ignorance .. but "pew pew" means what? :D

"Pew pew" I shoot you!

 ;D

Come on...

(http://www.onionwars.net/Panzer/42/panzer-mech-avatar96-pew.gif)

*Gratuitously stolen image slightly modified for my use

LASERZ, NUBBINS! PEW PEW PEW!

Yeah got it now :D I still had that "Kzapoooooow" sound in my head .... :P

Right o! shoulda done that in the first place... you name by the  way im guessing is a reference to Aidan Pryde of the Falcon Guard?

Kodiak: Mechwarrior 2 Mercs (Loadout pages), Battle Tech Technical read out 3055 (reference book for Btech game), "Operation Audacity" by Blain Lee Pardoe... The Kodiak was a rare beast that was not mentioned much in novels or table top games so its info is hard to come across.

Atlas: Do i really need to site all of them? Im just going to sight a few. "Warrior Riposte" By Michael A Stackpole, 'Battletech Record Sheets 3025&3026", "Prince of Havoc - Twilight of the calns VII" by Michael A. Stackpole, "Storms of Fate" by Loren L. Coleman

Out of pure curiosity, I'm not familiar with habits or rules in the universe: do novels work as "fact givers", are authors permitted to make up certain facts or is everything given by TROs and "official" documents?

Its a gray line. Authors ABSOLUTLY have sway in everything that happens in the way of new lore and old lore. TROs and "Official documents are broad swath ... generalizations? about the universe designed to make it playable and more streamline. Authors have the right to "create" new facts but they do so rarely with consulting the others among them and potentially the fan base.

an example is Snord's Irregualrs. A crack A rated Merc unit. Original named Cranston Snord's Irregulars it was modified to match up with the storyline and a TOE was created. This allowed other authors to use them, but they would ov course talk to the origional designer (Ross Babcock III). It originally started off as a pack for BTech, but evolved over the novels becoming better.

The atlas is 17 meters in the mechcommander book. And that's horribly inaccurate.

It also comes down to how controlling the licensing company is.  Take Games Workshop for instance.  They are very involved in the creation of books using their universe.


Platform shoes?  ;D

im going to be defending my position alot... i can see that now. Mech commander was a bad idea, it shattered ALOT of rules. to be PERFECTLY honest, there is no "Set" height for an Atlas. Depending on its make and manufacturer ( Starcorp Industries, Hpyerion III, etc...) the height changes. there are some reports of "Over exaggerated" field reports, and this series is over 20 years old so there is BOUND to be contradicting information.

I know the mechcommander version is incorrect. I'm just saying you shouldn't take the info from the games, they're all different.

Point taken :) , Theyre are a good source however and i cant truly disregard everything in them, they do contain a wealth of storyline and chassis info.

Wonderful post, I have a small bit of advice not added yet.  Since you said you know a bit of Maya, and you are going to stick around and watch the project evolve, why not do a bit of training with Maya or Max and grow your skills.  Who knows how big this project will get, so why not train your skills up and maybe in the future there could be a role.  Just a thought.

You'll seriously get better if you take the time and do assignments for the team, I speak from experience.

well i'd be willing to give it a shot, im not skilled but i do learn fast. Right now im more of a write than I am an artist

Wow, you really know your battletech :D

There has been interest in a single player from the devs once the first version is finished (assuming the AI gets figured out how to work in mechs), so perhaps you could be a storyline-writer or consultant in the future :)

Or come up with some mulitplayer map scenarios/ideas between Clan and Inner Sphere on the Ideas and Suggestions forum

hey guys gimi some feedback on what you want you maps to look like... i have an overhead photo of the map im working on right now. despite appearances its not flat... lots of hills.. is this something similar to what u guys need (once i have it finished), or am i totally off base.

It'd be hard to say from a high overhead shot of just terrain. Where are the bases going? what's the flow gonna be like?

OK... your going to have to excuse the realy crappy markings i made....

RED: Clan Start
Blue: IS start
Gray Box: Cities (skyscraper in mid, rural in the smaller)
Green Dots: Fortified locations (dono what exactly that means but oh well)
Yellow X's: Expected hotspots.
Black lines: major roads

Flow is very simple, fast and furious out in the open, and nasty short ranges in the cities. Most forces are expected to go for the city (objective or something), but some (light mechs/fast hovers) can rush north from IS base and try to go across the shallow sand bar to attack the clan base directly. Most of the terrain is relatively open, rolling hills and such, but the clan base has got a serious high ground position, but no direct routes to cities or the sand bar.

Areospace assets will mostly be used to harass units in the open, and secure the sand bar (both teams). Inf are going to hafta hitch a ride because of the vast open areas with little tree cover (trees are scattered across map). Mechs and tanks are going to need to be on air watch out side of cities, and on defensive inside of cities due to harassing inf.

that is at least my intention of how i want things to go... maps never survive contact with players however.

Looks pretty good. I might suggest putting forward bases somewhere.

yeah well... buildings come latter.... ima still butchering the terrain tool

I like the idea you are going with. I'm also impressed with your description of flow. We are very much looking for talented level designers please submit this when you have the time ;)

http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,36/topic,1839.0/

hehehehe... im afraid its going to take me months to get up to speed in SB2, as im used to working inside of Maya. Im a good idea man, but pumping through the goods is the hard part... hell i cant even get my damn texture image to overlay on the damned terrain right now....

1) Background - Cianos, or simply known as the "Blue Blood" planet, has gathered much in the way of fame in the recent years. As home to the Blue star Irregulars, it is almost a popular place as Outreach (the Wolfs dragoons planet). The planet gains its nickname from a dark blue star that tinges the planet in blue. Due to their recent success against the Clans, the Jade falcons have decided to land and make an example of them. Upon spotting the incoming dropships the local militia prepares to mount a defense at their out post long enough for the Irregulars to come out in force.


2) 2D Layout
LAYOUT http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd214/lordchaoswolf/woldemo.jpg

Topdown view
Redsquare:Clan base
RedPenta: Clan outpost
Bluepenta: Militia outpost
Bluesquare: Irregular outpost

3)
ENVIRONMENT
Concept Images (uh.... im not good at that....)

The Blue star homeworld didn't get the "blue blood" nickname without reason. A low hanging Blue star drapes the map in eire shadows. It is even so intense that the red of blood is replaced with an evil blue. The map is centered on the edge of water, and consists of mostly rolling, grassy hills. Trees scattered about provide a minimal of cover in route to the major cities. In all regards if you are caught in the open on the field, your an aerojocks dream target. However the shading of blue cast by the sun provides camouflage from high flyers, and forces them to fly near the ground to identify targets. A large city sits near the militia outpost and is expected to be the larges concentration of combat, until one side or the other pushes the enemy out of it. Two other smaller cities are located to the north of the IS base and south of the Clan base. A dangerous route over the water can be taken, as it has a sand bar leading from one end to the other, but if your caught, you have no cover.


4) Map Creation in SandBox 2 -
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd214/lordchaoswolf/wil2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd214/lordchaoswolf/wil3.jpg



obviously im still nubish, and my ideas are better than my content, but im willing to help out in any way shape or form that i can....

Nice map layout. I suggest moving the clan forward base farther away from the clan base, since higher position + near forward base will result in an easy defendable position for the clans, while the IS will be having a really tough time conquering it, since the clan can move quickly between their two bases, being able to shift forces as needed for defence.

I would also suggest moving the the big city a little bit up to provide some cover between the two bases and so it will become more of a center of the map. Make it a coastal city, would make sense anyway since many cities are rather built at the coast instead of just at the proximity of it. It could even contain a harbor and some ships! :)

the clan base is designed to be easly defended, as they have high ground and the initiative on the attack. (although i dont know exactly how this would play out) Since i dont know how to do buildings yet shifting to a coastal city is easy.... so.... done!

But how are you going to balance out the defense advantage of the clans? After all, this isn't reality where unfair battles happen quite a lot, but a game which should be fun to play, on both sides.
And further more, why does the attacker gain the defense advantage? Usually the attacker is the one struggling to gain control of the area controlled by the enemy, whilst the attacked one has an easy time defending his already fortified positions with lot's of knowledge of his surroundings.

Just some thoughts to consider.

clans have defensive advantage of the hill... thats it... all they have is high ground, and a semi close outpost. The closeness is negated by the rough terrain (in walking its about the same distance unless you like cliff diving). The attacker isnt the only one that would receive a strong defensive position. The out post will basically have total control of the city by the time augmented forces arrive from the clans, making it hell to pay. Clans chose the high gound (and the IS didn't) because its drop ship acessable, and no ambush points in their LZ. IS ain't up there because its too far isolated from the cities to provide adequate defense to the civilians. and IF the clans were to have an advantage simply augment the "ticket" count (total respawns) for them :) .... eh....

good design.

I like you descriptions always as well as your concept. I guess its more a matter now of turning that great idea into something that we can see and is semi-functional. For now i wouldnt stress to much about the tiny cosmetic pieces, just get your terrain and basic textures down and get some placeholders in for you bases and lets have a look :D

The blue is too much!!  Its like one of my RGB inputs failed in my monitor!  But I love the idea.   :)

GRANDE PEW PEW

p.s. on the overwiev map idea above, could you not just use the operations overwiev made in MW3, the best that has come in a MW game ever. And furthermore do we (the commanders in general) get to be able to use a/our tablets/digitizers when on the overall map ???

I'll have to agree with defender on this, as making the lighting TOO unnatural in some ways is more annoying than cool, and may actually take away from your map in the long run. While the alien and very non-earth atmosphere is good, don't get me wrong, making it THAT much of a color wash just looks more cheesy than cool. As soon as I get to my other computer, I'm going to send you a ToD file (time of day). I was playing around one day and may have accidentally made my noon setting perfect for what your trying to make in your map. Maybe that'll help you concentrate on getting the basics done (ToD is pretty complicated, and unfortunatly due to considerations of lighting and viewing distance, is an important enough art aspect that it still needs to be done properly before you can REALLY start getting into making your map sometimes).

longest Join the Team thread... ever?

atch... its jsut because im VERY slow at getting things done because im very distracted right now.

*Holds shiny ball on string and waves it around.*

*Perks up and stares at the ball*

And it may be the longest join team thread, but I don't think anyone here minds trying to give helpful suggestions to anyone trying to learn. (Trying to learn being the key part. Wanting others to guide them step by step...well that we don't really have time for  :D )

Mwuahahahhahaha ill make the thread longer!


Like some people we know........coughcoughkeepcoughercough

:(

(http://forum.roleplaytalk.net/wcf/images/smilies/flower4u.gif)

Four pages of DEVS doing nothing but making JOKES ... what a show-case for the Team!

Mabey I missed something but I counted a total of 5 posts in which jokes are being made, all of which are friendly banter. The other 3 pages were praise, recomendations, and constructive criticism. I'm all for hearing input from everyone as suggestions, ideas, even criticism for my work, it's one of the reasons I spend as much time on the forums as I do, but please don't suggest that I, or any of the devs, don't take either this project or anyone applying to join the team seriously.

I would like to remind you that we don't get any compensation for the long hours of skilled work we're putting into this project, nor would we ask for any (ok, so we wouldn't turn it down either, but it's still a labor of love), so is it really asking too much to let us enjoy ourselves with our friends while we're at it? While most of us have never met in real life, we do work as tight teams and, as a result, form friendships, which includes the exchange of jokes.

As is the reason I do ...


ToeBall in my eyes one joke in another persons application is one to many ... imagine that you sat infront of your-boos-to-be and he, oh yeah praises your work to-an-extent, but for the rest of the time is just joking! How would you feel, ??? plainly dumb returning, again and again ???


ToeBall thanks for the respons, and I can follow you mostly thou. But I´m not talking explicitely from my own view of the site and neihter how only I see the Devs way of behaving. Anybody I know personally has dissed me for spending to much time on this site alone, and said, time and again, that you all would rather joke around, than take it seriously, please dont take such things too personal (then again you would be a rock if you didnt). But looking at the site, overall, I can surely understand that you´ll have to blow-off some steam in your off-time, but it actually drags the projects ability to "look-sharp-and-profesionally-made" drastically downwards! Especially when joking around in an application, as it is!
Yes I know that I sometimes can be a sarcastic baststard, but one thing you should know (by now) ToeBAll, is that I am sensire and honest in my words! And honoured and praised your work I have done since June 2007! why do you think I started in 3D modelling in the first place, I looked at this site, over and over again, saying to myself, they´re  too good to be true, I want to be as good as they, but hey I dont have any schooling at all, so Ill just drag along behind for now...

Thanks again for the respond ToeBall

*crys* stop revving my dead app!... already given up on it in favor of resurrecting the Battletech TCG into a virtual form... and another super secret project for TLL

Yeah super duper uber secret! So pssshhhh :D

sssshhh CW i wasnt reviving your App, I merely just expressed my oppinion, shortly!

and CW how secret is a super duper special secret project when you bafoon it openly, i can understand that you bable about the TCG, but the other shhhh (censoreship is applied)

Again, if there are specific complaints or suggestions, I'm always willing to listen, but to expect pure professionalism from people who are doing this after comming home from school or their full time job is unreasonable and unrealistic. Some friendly banter will happen, and it should. There are areas where it's fair to expect profesionalistic behavior and areas where it isn't. I agree that doing so in a join the team thread is less than ideal, but what is it you'd expect? Do I need to chew out Defender and Keeper for it despite the fact that they are some of the hardest working members on the team?

I haven't taken anything you said personally. A personal attack uses something the person is ashamed of or uncomfortable with and I don't have any such feelings in regards to this project. I do find it distastefull to have to explain that, yes, we do want skilled people to join the team, but right now we're so busy with the mod and the news letter that we don't have as much time as we'd like to reply to every application immediately. Belive me, we review the apps very quickly but it's not always easy to be able to provide constructive criticism when the answer is no. As we get closer to the alpha, our time gets tighter and we don't have as much time to bring along new team members (lets face it, if you were good enough to be a professional you'd probably be a professional at it, as it's something you enjoy doing) and while we don't mind doing it in general, there are times when we can't do that without sacrificing the quality of the product. As a result our standards for accepting team members goes up. Someone that would have been accepted back in March may not be in June because we simply don't have as much time to teach them what they need to know as we'd like.

Still holding CW´s app thread hostage...


none atm, will return in PM, nice to have your attention thou!


Then the bread laid out surely shows a nother side of what your actually telling! someone wants this to look-feel-and-be a pros job, but I surely know that I cannot expect that, when its all done in the spirit of pro bono, and a very high amount of self sacrifice of personal investment! That I can only honour deeply and have the most of respect for!
But TB dont say it is neither an unreasonable or unrealistic request, that the leading personel above all, showed both respect and a decent behaviour in an open forum as this, I might have committed suicide with this, but I must say that I have been more than patient, regarding my own application.


noted! I would expect a decent, respectful and an adult way if handling the applicant, regardless of his age, motivs, or skills.


please keep them inside, I have crosse Defender a few times, but he might have something to add too!


As said Kamikaze the weeks before I appleid.


I actually only wanted to lend a little help if you needed it, I did not directly expect to be nurtured all along, a little guidance would be appropriate, but knowing the stress your undergoing I would have do with less, as in "texture that by two days from now" or "make a concept of this ´till tomorrow"! I would ask nothing more than so.

/closing thread.