Mod Proposal: BattleTech

As interesting as this sounds I wonder how you would do it. I mean Elemental is on one planet, battletech covered many planets. You would need to re work the combat system to handle damage to specific areas of the mechs as well.

Still might be possible, but I think you are looking at alot of programming work, not to mention the art assets you would need to generate.

Could be interesting and I would play it!

It would be a compromise. I doubt targeting specific areas will be possible and I'm doubtful of being able to perform very detailed customization of mechs. But, we will see once Python becomes available and if I can get an artist.

The mod will be the battle for a single planet as it would be impossible to recreate the entire BattleTech universe due to its largeness. Primarily, I want to replicate the look and feel of BattleTech.

Love battletech, not sure how it would work with elementals magic system though. Sub spells for armaments maybe? Missle barrage, strafing run etc? Plus the model work and the world/tile/random npc/monster reskin would be an enormous job. Good luck though, Mech warrior 5 or Mech Commander 3 arnt coming out anytime soon so I need a mech fix.

P.s the guys that done the Awsome Battletech Conversion for C&C Generals might loan you their models and sound effects if you ask politley, hell they might even help you out. Not sure if the modals would be compatable though...

Have you checked out the work that is being done on the Crysis engine?

MechWarrior: Living Legends
http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/

MechWarrior: Living Legends - Walking With Giants Trailer 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGmmI4QGDA

I'd like to see mecha function as mounts, with tiny-sized humans (barely visible unless you zoom in).  Playing with scale is a lot of fun.

Scavenging destroyed mecha would also be a cool game mechanic.  A battlemech garage would make for a cool unit designer interface, too.  (Human units--pilots, doctors, mechanics, armored infantry--would be made available through research, their equipment through shops.)

There was a Japanese tokusatsu show--can't remember the title--that had giant robots from an ancient civilization as the concept.  The creators of the robots had destroyed their world, but there were several mecha kept in storage and still functional, awakened when aliens came to Earth.  That came to mind when I saw your mention of similarities between Battletech and Elemental.  Maybe work up an original concept based around that, so the Battletech IP won't be directly involved.

Given the compromises that would have to made (or the heavy scripting involved), I don't really see it ending up much like Battletech. However, I could see it being a good mech game in general if one was willing to work with the system.

Heavy scripting isn't a problem I'm a good programmer and I know 3D math.

Seems skepticism is running high and rightfully so. Without more knowledge of what modding tools are coming our way I can't make any certain statements about the future of this mod, but I will (as much as XML and Python permit) try to recreate the look and feel of BattleTech; the table top game not the MechWarrior video game series. I don't mind if this ends up being a general mech mod rather then BattleTech, but for the sake of expedience reusing the BattleTech mechs is a must as it would take much longer for an artist to come up with all original designs.

Thanks for the good feedback, seems I'll have to prove this is even partially possible before I win anyone over. I'll check with the C&C modders and see I can use their models, thanks for that excellent suggestion Thizzbaby.

Firing at different locations could be simulated with a range of Aiming abilities the results of which would add modifiers depending on the location you were aiming at. Making the hit locations occur at random would be allot harder however.

You could even add stats on each mech that determine how hard each area is to hit for that particular mech. Then use those stats in determining the magnitude of the effects applied (or something similar).

i love battletech and i absolutely hope that its possible.  i would definitely play it.

I think the Map opening a Map is coming 
so the MAIN map can be the Star Map, then each system can be a Dungeon, and each Planet a lower level.

Seems doable once that is in. Perhaps not easy but doable.

Lee

More on the unit designer as battlemech garage:  It shouldn't be too difficult to break each mesh into component parts that can be interchanged as armor, so you could have a basic mech with possible upgrades like a radar or communications dish on the shoulder, jump jets, missile launcher, and so on.  The equipment categories would have to be renamed.

I'm seeing brushed metal, cyberpunk, style windows with loose wires hanging out, category names as green LCD displays.

EDIT:  Some models.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=battletech&styp=m&btnG=Search

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=mecha&styp=m&btnG=Search&reps=1

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=gundam&styp=m&btnG=Search&reps=2

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=transformer&styp=m&btnG=Search&reps=3

Any kind of giant robot would do, I think.  Just retexture them and make enough minor changes that they won't be immediately recognizable.  If you can find the whole catalog of Battletech mechs, that would be great because you could use their stats and equipment; but I don't think it's necessary.

Also, you might have to change the meshes to make them fit the Elemental skeletons and animations.  At least until someone figures out how to make our own skeletons and animations.  Even then, Battletech body types are quite different and may require a dozen or more unique skeletons.  I'd look into all the available skeletons and animations to find some that might work for mecha and focus on those first.

Thanks otakucore2, I didn't even know that existed. Now that I have a few models to play around with I might be able to get started with 1.08, but I think I'll probably have to wait for 1.1 in order to have enough modding power.

Edit: Just read Brad's post about global mana in 1.1 so I'll definitely wait.

Just mod all the weapons as abilities - basic attacks would be punches (which were in the Btech rules set)

Even if you just fought on one land mass with different squads it would still be fun - limited battle map would be the most limiting factor.  Is tactical map size mod-able?

yeah i read that you can change the size of the tactical maps.