MechWarrior Tactics

Last updated
MechWarrior Tactics
File:MechWarrior- Tactics Logo-w-URL.jpg
Developer(s) Roadhouse Interactive
ACRONYM Games
Blue Lizard Games
Publisher(s) Infinite Game Publishing
Series MechWarrior
Platform(s) Browser
ReleaseCancelled
Genre(s) Turn-based tactics
Mode(s) Multiplayer

MechWarrior Tactics was a free-to-play turn-based tactics video game set in the BattleTech universe. It was originally under development by Roadhouse Interactive and ACRONYM Games, but was taken over by Blue Lizard Games and published by Infinite Game Publishing for the Unity Web Player platform. [1] The game remained in closed beta for two years, with Founder Packs allowing players to purchase instant access, but development has been on hold since of end of 2013 and the game's website has been unavailable since the end of August 2014.

Contents

Gameplay

The game pitted two players against each other in an online turn-based match. The turn-based combat was presented via an isometric 3D perspective, with the play area divided into a hexagonal grid. Each player had control of four individual BattleMechs, to which they issue separate movement and combat commands which are not seen by their opponent. Moving the 'Mechs into certain tiles that represent forests, hills, or bodies of water grants combat advantages and disadvantages, making the skillful maneuvering of units a major aspect of the game. Likewise, the combat itself offered several tactical options, including the targeting of specific sub-sections of an enemy unit, and balancing overheating of weapons with their cool-down period. Once both players finished inputting their movement and combat orders, the action played out on both players' screens simultaneously, showing the results of their actions for that turn. The turns continued in this fashion until one player loses all their 'Mechs.

A major inspiration for the game was the BattleTech Collectible Card Game. Most items available to the player were represented in the form of virtual cards, including the 'Mechs themselves, their individual weapons, upgrades, and pilots. These cards could be purchased with real money or acquired through gameplay progression by using in-game currency. Customization performed on a particular 'Mech was intended to carry over into future games, giving players an incentive to invest in their card collections for the long haul rather than building up an arsenal for one specific match.

The entire game was played inside a web browser window and did not require any additional downloads whilst still available to play.

Controversy and publisher bankruptcy

In late August 2014, Blue Lizard Games (cited on the game's website as its present developer) has stated the company had no involvement with MechWarrior Tactics' development since December 2013: "[...]unfortunately our development contract on MWT was cancelled in December last year. Please contact IGP for updates." [2]

Since August 28, 2014 the official website's main page was with no prior warning replaced with a customized Cloudflare HTTP 500 error page stating the website is unavailable due to a 72-hour "extended maintenance" window due to a hardware upgrade.

This led players to attempt contact with IGP in order to demand status updates on the game or request refunds on their Founder Program payments. [3]

Throughout 2013 and 2014 IGP has continued selling Founder Program packages and marketing the game as under development and scheduled for Open Beta "later this year". [4]

Due to these practices continuing in absence of development progress, accusations of scam have been directed at IGP. The discovery that a major portion of the company employees have left their employ has also prompted theories that Infinite Games Publishing may be shutting down. [5]

As of September 18, members of the game's fanbase have managed to obtain a response from Infinite Games Publishing through the company's former CEO Kelly Zmak, stating the game "will be offline for a while longer" but it is not cancelled and "IGP is seeking a new partner/developer and a new hosting location for the game", although with no definite timeline. [6] As of September 20, the message on the game's website has been updated to reflect that statement. [7]

As of early December 2014, the rights to the game were placed on sale as part of bankruptcy proceedings initiated on October 1 and were sold to an unknown buyer. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FASA</span> American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games

FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc. In 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary called FASA Games Inc. went into operation, using the name and logo under license from the parent company. FASA Games Inc. works alongside Ral Partha Europe, also a subsidiary of FASA Corporation, to bring out new editions of existing properties such as Earthdawn and Demonworld, and to develop new properties within the FASA cosmology.

BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for videogames, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.

MechWarrior is a series of video games set in the fictional universe of BattleTech.

Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.

<i>BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks Inception</i> 1988 video game

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception is a turn-based adventure/role-playing video game released in 1988 by Westwood Associates and based on the BattleTech franchise. It was one of the first commercial ports of the licence, and featured some of the franchise's worlds, institutions, political figures, and weapons, particularly the three-story tall BattleMechs. It was followed by a sequel, BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge, though that game featured significantly different gameplay, falling into the real-time tactics genre rather than adventure/role-playing.

Real-time tactics (RTT) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time, simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics.

<i>MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat</i> 1995 video game

MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat is a vehicle simulation game developed and published by Activision, released in 1995 as part of the MechWarrior series of video games in the BattleTech franchise. The game is set in 3057, and is played as a tactical simulation that incorporates aspects of real-time first-person combat and the physical simulation of the player's mech. It is a game recreation of the "Refusal War." The player can join one of the clans, Clan Jade Falcon or Clan Wolf while engaging in up to 32 missions.

<i>MechWarrior</i> (1989 video game) 1989 video game

MechWarrior is the second video game released in the BattleTech game series. MechWarrior was the first video game to offer the player a chance to pilot a BattleMech from the view of a pilot. With this game the player has a great deal of freedom when compared to many of the follow-up MechWarrior games, which include choosing missions, buying & selling mechs and parts, hiring lance-mates, and traveling throughout the Inner Sphere. Underneath the major game mechanics, the player had the option of following a role playing style story arc that would unfold over five in-game years.

<i>MechWarrior 3</i> 1999 video game

MechWarrior 3 is a vehicle simulation game, part of the MechWarrior series. It featured a new 3D accelerated graphics engine at the time of its release. The game contains over 20 missions, with access to 18 different mechs. A novelization called Trial Under Fire was written by Loren L. Coleman.

<i>BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks Revenge</i> 1990 video game

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge is a real-time tactics game based in the FASA BattleTech universe. It is a direct sequel to BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception, though the gameplay is considerably different from that of the first title, which was primarily an adventure/role-playing game. Developed by Westwood Associates for Mediagenic, and produced by Scott Berfield, the game serves as a prototype for what later became Dune II, the first real-time strategy title on the PC.

<i>Battle Isle</i> Video game series

Battle Isle is a series of turn-based strategy/tactics video games developed in the 1990s by Blue Byte and released for Amiga and MS-DOS and later for Microsoft Windows. The settings are wars on a fictional planet, Chromos.

<i>MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries</i> 1996 video game

MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries is a video game released in September 1996 as a stand-alone expansion to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat and the last BattleTech game made by Activision. In this game, the player takes control of an Inner Sphere mercenary squad, with control over finances and free choice of missions.

<i>MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bears Legacy</i> Expansion pack to MechWarrior 2

MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy is an expansion pack to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat.

<i>MechWarrior: Living Legends</i> 2009 video game

Mechwarrior: Living Legends is a free, fan-created multiplayer-only game based in the BattleTech universe - originally a total-conversion mod for Crysis, it's since become stand-alone - running on Crysis Wars, and using CryEngine 2 as its engine. It's one of the few mods based on the BattleTech universe to have been sanctioned by Microsoft—who currently owns the rights to the Mechwarrior video-game franchise—and additionally received pre-SDK support and sanctioning directly from Crytek, producers of the games' engine. On December 26, 2009, an open beta was released via BitTorrent and other distribution methods. Because the project changes the play-style and feel of the game it is originally based on so completely as to be unrecognizable in comparison, it is billed as a "full-conversion" mod, since little to no trace of the original game's art or play-style exists any longer within MW:LL. It was created by American developer Wandering Samurai Studios.

<i>MechWarrior Online</i> 2013 video game

MechWarrior Online is a free-to-play vehicle simulation video game, officially launched during September 2013 by Piranha Games for Microsoft Windows. The game takes place within the larger BattleTech universe.

<i>BioShock Infinite</i> 2013 video game

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game in the BioShock series, developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K. Infinite was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, and OS X platforms in 2013. The game is set in the year 1912 and follows its protagonist, Booker DeWitt, who is sent to the airborne city Columbia to retrieve Elizabeth, a young woman held captive there. Booker and Elizabeth become involved in a class war between the nativist Founders that rule Columbia and the rebel Vox Populi, representing the city's underclass. Elizabeth possesses the ability to manipulate "Tears" in the space-time continuum, and Booker and Elizabeth discover she is central to Columbia's dark secrets. The player controls Booker DeWitt throughout the game, fighting enemies and scavenging supplies, while the computer-controlled Elizabeth provides assistance.

Hawken is a free-to-play multiplayer mech first-person shooter video game. The game features five game modes: Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Co-op Bot Team Deathmatch, Siege, and Missile Assault. It follows the freemium model of game monetization—with in-game purchases as the main source of revenue.

Mech Mice is a strategy tactical role-playing game developed by Hyper Hippo Games and Oktober Animation. Players are able to control multiple mice soldiers, in a fictional military force known as the Mech Mice, to battle the Dark Union and other predators and protect the fictional content of Roden. Mech Mice beta was released on 9 July 2013, and was officially made available on 8 October 2013. In an effort to expand the brand, the main game was renamed to Mech Mice Tactics on 1 March 2014. An animated series co-produced by Oktober Animation, Nelvana, and Playmates Toys was announced in 2015.

<i>BattleTech</i> (video game) 2017 video game

BattleTech is a Mecha turn-based strategy video game developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on macOS and Windows on April 24, 2018, with a Linux release on November 27, 2018. The developers set aside US$1 million to create the game, and turned to Kickstarter to secure funding for additional features, including a single player campaign, an expansion of that campaign, and a player versus player multiplayer mode.

<i>MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries</i> 2019 video game

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a BattleTech mecha game developed by Piranha Games released on December 10, 2019, on Microsoft Windows. It is the first single player MechWarrior game since 2002. It was initially available as an Epic Games Store exclusive title, which, like other games with Epic Games Store exclusivity deals, was met with criticism. On May 7, 2020, it was made available through Xbox Game Pass for PC. On May 27, 2021, it was made available on additional platforms including Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Steam and GOG, in addition to the DLC pack Heroes of the Inner Sphere, Call to Arms, and Rise of Raselhague. It features ray tracing powered by Nvidia RTX as well as DLSS.

References

  1. ↑ IGN
  2. ↑ Blue Lizard Games. "Facebook reply". Facebook. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Sarna.net (18 September 2014). "MechWarrior: Tactics No More?". Sarna.net. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  4. ↑ miSs. "MechWarrior Tactics Founder's Program Announcement". MWTactics.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Tor Matthews. "The PGI Shuffle". Dyadic Paragon. Archived from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Big Damn Heroes (18 September 2014). "Statement from IGP re: MechWarrior Tactics". bigdamnheroes.org. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Infinite Games Publishing. "MechWarrior Tactics Forums". MechWarrior Tactics Forums. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Raymond Chabot. "Infinite Game Publishing inc, Sale and Liquidation of Assets in Bankruptcy". Raymond Chabot. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Canada Superior Court, Commercial Chamber. "Notice of Bankruptcy and First Meeting of Creditors". Raymond Chabot. Retrieved 8 December 2014.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.