BattleTech: scenario

_/07 March 2000 at 18:47 Artur Podtelkoff wrote All/_
_/14 March 2000 at 17:15 I replied/_ _Artur Podtelkoff_:

Fuck you! Today I received :((

*Epigraph*

Guys! How did you change my plans for the game! It was conceived as
a cool project - why castrate it THIS way???

AP> I’m warning you right away - development is still ongoing, but the main
AP> lines seem to have been defined. However, sorry in advance for possible
AP> unclear places in the text.

I insist on an almost complete change scenario!

AP> So, a brief scenario of the game will be described below. But first
AP> about its planned 4 parts (adventure, manager,
AP> strategy, action). I will say right away that the
AP> manager does not fit into the scenario in any way (why it will become clear later from the
AP> context), so I propose to leave only three parts,
AP> and the last one should be at the final cut level (also
AP> see below).

I also don’t agree! How is it that some part cannot fit into the
scenario? So it needs to be remade so that everything fits in! And according to my idea, there shouldn’t be a final cut at all! Why did everyone like the Elite? Because
everyone builds their own life! So in the strategic part the same should be created.it will turn out to be really
interesting.

AP> Moreover, you should concentrate all your efforts on the strategic
AP> part, because it turned out to be the most original (according to the
AP> scenario). Those. first of all, implement its name, and
AP> then, if there are enough resources, take on the remaining parts.

There are enough resources, because There are a lot of coders, even some of them don’t have enough work. And
everything needs to be created at the same time in order to speed up the release date of the game. Why did I kick everyone to a full discussion? Yes, in order to discuss
most of the work and start doing it. But for some reason everyone fell silent :(

AP> By the way, the plot of BattleTech is ideal only for
AP> strategy (and, perhaps, partly for action), but not
AP> for adventure - so I raise the question of its purposefulness.
AP> In any case, it is possible to implement an adventure-introduction
AP> of a relatively small volume - in this case the game will turn out
AP> original, because no one has yet I thought of making introductions
AP> in the form of adventures :)

So we will be the first! ;) Adventure is needed for the smooth “entry” of an unprepared player into the essence of the world of Battle Tech! Where else can you explain in detail what a combat robot is, how you can fight it, how people live in the 31st century, what moral values ​​they have, why there is a war, etc.?! Only in
adventure! And its volume shouldto be on average 1.5-2 times less than Star
Legacy.

AP> To top it all off, it should be noted that the main thing is the plot
AP> of the game, not the books, so in the proposed version of the script there are
AP> deviations from William Keith's trilogy. 2Eduard: contact me, pls,
AP> - we need to discuss the technical characteristics of robots and
AP> the rational embodiment of the world of BattleTech in the game.

The fact is that the plot of the game should be created according to the plot of the books, and only in
INMINOR moments deviate from the books in order to make it more interesting,
more convenient for the capabilities of the machine, with the exception of adventure and manager,
because they are very sparsely presented in books. In your version of the subject, there are
drastic deviations not only from William Keith's trilogy, but also from the entire
Battle Tech hierarchy (at least that's what I understood :)

AP> Now, in fact, the script itself (in a very brief form, because
AP> all project participants should be familiar with it; in addition,
AP> the script is the point of the game, so all its details
AP> can only be known to the authors).

Write in soap - I will send it to the others.

AP> Part 1 - adventure.
AP> A hero who has lost loved ones must survive in a hostile world
AP> to capture a combat robot and then organize a detachment
AP> of like-minded people of 5-6 (the number is conditional) robot pilots.
AP> Together theyenter the battlefield.

Plus, the adventure script (and manager) should expand the game
space and include a smooth explanation of the world of Battle Tech. Those. not
a boring explanation of what and how, but a partial one - you met someone - they explained to you,
ran away from your pursuers, hid - you remember your father, friends, how they
acted, etc.

AP> 2nd part - strategy.

3rd! ;)

AP> The player has at his disposal one squad and a captured
AP> base nearby (at the edge of the area). Now the essence. In
AP> the area where all the actions take place will be roaming around
AP> THREE CLANS, of which one (_the most numerous_) is
AP> an enemy, and _the other two are neutral_. These two
AP> neutral clans can come into contact, with the help of which
AP> you can convince them to come over to your side (the contact process in
AP> is currently being worked out - by the way, what ideas will there be?).
AP> So, in addition to strategy, you also need to show diplomatic
AP> abilities. :) These two clans can also go over to the side
AP> of the enemy, but you cannot join them to your squad - they always
AP> act independently.

Immediately about the clans. What do you mean? Clan of the Gyrfalcon, Wolf, Lynx?
If there are them, then I talked about it - clans should be the main danger for the player
(distant at the beginning), whichthey can attack the Inner Sphere, but he is not ready for this yet - as in the Elite with the Targons. There is no way they can be in the Armed Forces, much less cooperate! They hate us!!! However, just like we do them :) First
our main enemy is one of the Great Houses, an enemy of our employer, and only then
when the clans attack, include the possibility of uniting the forces of the Houses to
destroy the clans. The player, as always, will have the honor of defending the most important frontier ;) I propose replacing clans with free units. Then indeed
there will also be a political subtext. This is a good idea (which means I'm not against everything
subject ;) Poaching can be done by bribery in the form of robots, bases, equipment.
It is also necessary to include the possibility of deceiving both parties, for example, they were paid more
or we promised untold riches for the sake of _temporary_ military power,
the need for which may dry up.

AP> The main difference between this game and other strategies is the presence contact,
AP> i.e. the player must constantly think about how neutral clans will react to his
AP> actions - the one whose
AP> side they take wins (of course, at the beginning of the game the enemy can crush
AP> with his mass - but that’s why the game is called strategy,
AP> to act wisely :) ); The main tactic is
AP> sabotage, because enemy fortifications occupy about 1/3parts
AP> of the area. Neutral clans are wandering, but they can capture
AP> bases for themselves (the player already has a base at the beginning of the game).

I agree. Grayson almost always had to think a lot, because... his
forces were several times smaller than those of the enemy.

AP> The 3rd part is an action game (more precisely, the final cut).

It should not be separate, but joint with the strategy, and nothing else!!!

AP> Simulator of a combat robot, view from the cockpit. The hero, if he manages :)
AP> to defeat the clan of his main enemy, goes out to fight him
AP> one on one. Two options for the imitator: a) all actions are reduced
AP> to an elementary shootout; b) you need to find an enemy in the labyrinth (
AP> like Gyron's) and attack him. Pursuits
AP> are possible (both from the side of the enemy and from the side of the hero).

I did not conceive it as a separate and certainly not the final part, but simply
for the variety of the game - so as not to get boring. The hero can enter into battle (in many situations he will simply have to, due to the lack of robot drivers), thereby increasing his rating among his comrades, and also gets the opportunity to directly manage the operation. He can sit in cover, only
occasionally finishing off downed robots or those retreating from the battlefield, or go on the attack
together with everyone (like a real commander), but thereby risking death, which
can lead tothe death of the entire unit, because the rest do not have such
commanderial talent :) It seems to me that it is necessary to introduce a moral factor into
the quality of the actions of soldiers, such as: the death/serious illness of a loved one
(which will show the human side of the war), a long battle (fatigue), the absence
of a commander (in battle), etc.

AP> Notes.
AP>
AP> Bases mean objects that supply robots
AP> with equipment and/or produce the robots themselves.
AP>
AP> The number of robots in the game should be no more than 40-50, otherwise
AP> it will turn out to be another “Last Battle”. Better a small number of smart
AP> robots than a horde of stupid ones. The emphasis should be on the variety of
AP> robots and their capabilities.

I agree, but what's not to like about Super Last Battle? (to be honest, in the embryo
the subject was conceived this way ;)

AP> About the missions. If they are, they must be interconnected
AP> to maintain the plot line. (For example, the enemy, after completing a
AP> mission, escapes from the battlefield and in the next mission joins his
AP> allies... And so on until the list of
AP> scenarios is exhausted - then move on to the 3rd part.)

As the list of scenarios ends, we begin to generate new ones automatically,
taking into account previous battles, until we reach the main one - war with
clans. Again, if we completelybroke, then that's it, end of the game. If
we’ve only been beaten and agreed on a truce, then we continue to accumulate experience.

AP> The strategic part is only possible with the development of a high
AP> level of AI, so that each robot (not to mention the clans) can
AP> objectively assess the situation in accordance with the plot. So,
AP> conclusion: if the coders involved in the project can implement this,
AP> then a completely new kind of strategy will appear on the Spectrum. But
AP> if it is not possible to create a proper AI, then the script will be
AP> reworked according to the motto “super Last Battle”.

Well, Alex promised to make it smarter ;) If anything, we will always help...
Advice ;)))

AP> P.S. One of the
AP> project participants, Vyacheslav Kalinin/NewArt (N-Discovery), agrees with all of the above; in total, two votes have already been collected for
AP> this version of the script. :)

There is already one big and loud voice AGAINST! ;)

*Epilogue*

You know, Arthur, I got the impression that you either completely or
inattentively read our discussions about the game. I'm in no way trying to offend anyone - I just want to make the game as interesting as possible. What you and Slava are proposing, to put it mildly, castrates the game beyond belief. Eduard,
cooperate with Arthur, try to change the scenario for the better.

But we are waiting for the opinions of the other participants in ourproject.

To Moderator: Sorry for the quotation, but I simply do not have the right to cut anything off, because
I duplicate these letters to all project participants for whom Real,Speccy does not work.

AP> Sincerely, Arthur/JEDI █▓▒░ [ZX-News][Stonehenge][SOSG][COSG]
AP> e-mail: Artur_Podte...@zxnet.spb.ru (N-DISCOVERY)

*Sincerely, Max* aka _/*Darth Vader*/_ /Orion '2000 March 14, 2000

_/[Team Guitar] [Team Babylon #5] [Team Gaza Strip] [Team Hard Rock]/_

... Not drinking in Russia is more than not drink!

Then Artur: It seems that the technical characteristics threw everything into the echo, now I’m waiting for questions (you can use soap, you can
through the echo).
MD> The fact is that the plot of the game should be created according to the plot of the books, and
MD> only in SMALL moments deviate from the books in order to make it
MD> more interesting, more convenient for the possibilities cars, with the exception of
MD> adventure and manager, because they are very sparsely presented
MD> in the books.

MD> Immediately about the clans. What do you mean? Clan of the Gyrfalcon, Wolf,
MD> Lynx? If they are, then I talked about it - the clans should be the main danger for the player
MD> (distant at the beginning), that they can attack the
MD> Inner Sphere, and he is not ready for this yet - as in the Elite with the
MD> Targons. There is no way they can be in the Armed Forces, much less cooperate!
MD> They hate us!!!

More precisely, they despise us as freeborn! And they hate people like Phelan
(Kell) Ward, who was captured by the Wolf Clan, and he managed to become one of
the Khans of this clan. However, I believe that Arthur calls a clan, a free
military formation (possibly bandits) sometimes they were called that in books, which
I admit was confusing at first, but then I got used to it.

>---< Crunch! >---<

MD> try to change the scenario for the better.
Ok!

_/Always yours, EduardPuzyno./_