BATTLETECH

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Jonathan
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BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

Into the Breach sounds like a better game, but I bought this because they have a working Linux version. Also, my one friend bought it.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/0 ... review-pc/

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

Partial mech salvage has a monetary value, but can't be sold until you get three of a kind.

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

They didn't have the budget for FMV, which is fine. I play lots of games without FMV. They elected to have lots and lots of cutscenes using animatics instead, which isn't the right choice.

Long tutorial is long, but doesn't really teach you everything you ought to know. Fortunately, I've known Battletech almost as long as I've known D&D; I think my friend got Battletech sourcebooks when we were 14 and played the shit out of Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries at launch. Anybody who isn't familiar with this IP will probably be pretty lost.

Still, I have as soft a spot in my heart for PPCs as I do light sabers. Seems fun.

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

I overpaid for the DLC, but hey, it's quarantine time!

I really like the systems (it's BattleTech) but kind of dislike the campaign design. The campaign is very heavy on forced upgrades, so your power level just basically comes from the deck stacking they do. They set up all these systems & economy in the game, and then subvert it in the campaign before you ever need to really engage with them.

There's a career mode they patched in, which was kind of barren at launch, which jettisons the plot. Then they added three DLCs with custom missions. Reading about them, it's sounding like about enough content to make a ironman career mode an attractive option. Probably gonna start this weekend. I'm 40 hours into the campaign, so it's probably over pretty soon.

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

The verbose story mode has its moments, but especially second (or more) time around it can be a drag – particularly because your supposedly freelance mercenary troupe is locked into doing the bidding of unelected royalty, rather than truly going their own way.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/1 ... nt-review/

This guy gets it. Though, then again, maybe not.

I started a career mode game with all the DLC.
Parts for Mech Assembly: 5
Checked:
  • Ironman
  • Randomize starting mechs
  • Mech destruction
  • Lethality
Unchecked:
  • Unequipped mechs
  • Reduced Argo Cost upgrade
  • No rare salvage
All other settings: Normal

No particular reason for these settings except one random forum post said you ought to play with mech destruction, and I was like, yeah you should. And, it feels like cheating to get a mech from 3 parts. Other than that, I just started checking stuff until the score multiplier went past 1.0, then I backed it down a bit.

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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

Crossposting from a Discord pinned post (2020-05-05) so the info isn't hidden to Google on the deep web:
Installing BTA on Linux
For purposes of this guide, I'm going to assume you have Battletech installed in the default path for the Linux GOG installer (~/GOG Games/BATTLETECH). GOG installs many files in a sub-directory. If you're using Steam, your base path will be different, and remove /game/ from any of the paths that have it.

0) Install Wine. You'll need at 64-bit Wine, at least 5.0 - you can check the version with wine --version. Installing / updating wine is beyond the scope of this guide.
1) Download the BTA installer, and unzip it. (https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/452?tab=files)
2) Create an empty mods folder. mkdir ~/GOG\ Games/BATTLETECH/game/Mods
3) Run the BTA installer with Wine, in a 64bit prefix. If you don't know what that means, run WINEPREFIX=~/.wine64 WINEARCH=win64 wine BTAdvancedLauncher.exe
4) Change the installer to Advanced mode, and set your paths.
4a) Select the Mods folder you created as the Install Target. Navigate from "/" - absolute paths are safer and less likely to cause issues. For me, this ends up like Z:/home/bluewinds/GOG Games/BATTLETECH/game/Mods.
4b) Select a cache path, again starting with "/". I chose Z:/home/bluewinds/GOG Games/BATTLETECH/BtalCache. Do not put this in the Mods directory.
5) Click "Install and Update BTA". Follow the instructions on screen.
5a) When it says it cannot find Battletech.exe, move to the game directory (/home/bluewinds/GOG Games/BATTLETECH/game/) and type "Battletech" in the filename box. (NOTE: This may not be necessary! Updates are expected soon which will let you select the Battletech binary with less confusion)
6) There is no step 6.
7) Start the game normally, you do not need BTAdvancedLauncher.exe in order to do so (and clicking Launch BTA from the launcher won't work).

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

Crossposting troubleshooting from my own debug:
Use these instructions for installing mono in my wine prefix: https://askubuntu.com/questions/841847/ ... -installed (i.e. WINEPREFIX=~/.wine64 WINEARCH=win64 wine64 uninstaller). This fixed the ModTek installation error I had (shows up as 0040:err:mscoree:CLRRuntimeInfo_GetRuntimeHost Wine Mono is not installed).
Use this script for getting the Linux symlinks correct:
https://gist.github.com/b2cc/c312bec251 ... 4d4bda512e (i.e. bash pathfinder.sh -c)
Confirmed by checking that ModTek was installed correctly (i.e. the splashscreen has the W/ MODTEK in the lower left, which I didn't have before, as in the attached screenshot).
You have to ignore the built-in mod support (in particular, avoid installing mods to ~/My Games/Battletech/mods/ even though it seems like it works). Not all the Battletech Advanced 3062 mods work with the built-in mod support, and if any one mod in the suite doesn't get installed, you don't have a working system.

Jonathan
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Re: BATTLETECH

Post by Jonathan »

Ok, I played through a good bit of career, and it was starting to feel same-y. So I decided to look for what mods are available, and I found Battletech Advanced 3062.

https://www.nexusmods.com/battletech/mods/452

This mod is one of two major mods that look to seriously change the Battletech gameplay. The other is RogueTech. I gather some of the same devs have contributed to both projects.
The dream was to provide an experience halfway between the lighter overhaul mods like BattleTech Extended 3025 and XLRP and the full-power experience that is RogueTech.
Lots of new mechs, equipment, and full support for all the DLC were all things that drew me in, but the clincher was the recent addition of Clan gear + Clan star systems so I can get my Ghost Bear on.

Took a minute to get properly installed on Linux, but now that it is I'm good to go.

Ironman Mode is off, by recommendation of the devs. Mods may crash. I have no intention of save scumming.
Reduced Argo Costs is off.
Friendly Fire: ALL
Starting Mech and Planet: Kurita. I wanted to start near Clan Space, but the Clan mech starting lineups are very light. I want to mix lighter and heavier mechs, so I'll have to loot some Clan mechs later. My plan is to take missions against Draconis Combine where I can.

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