Vettie

Hello Mech Fans.

Its been a bit since Vettie has posted anything to his blog. There is a good reason for that and I will go into it in a few moments, but first I want to extend a thank you to the readers of Vettie's Views and to anyone who has made a post to any of my columns.

As I mentioned, Vettie has not posted to his blog in some time. Ol' Vettie has been tied up with a bunch of damn doctors and medical tests and related things.

Let me give you a little background info then I will bring you up to date. About 3 or 4 years ago, I somehow managed to break the S1 socket in my lower lumbar region of my back. The break was nearly a clean horizontal break. The upper portion of the socket (S1) remained intact and connected to the rest of my spinal column (thank goodness), but it slipped from its usual “place” and fell downward and slightly right roughly an inch where it came to rest on my sciatic nerve (bundle), damaging the nerve bundle and causing me temporary paralysis (not to mention a huge amount of pain). The result was a spinal fusion and some hardware on the S1, L5, L4 areas of my spine and some physical torture, I mean therapy, to learn to walk again.

It was at that time, my surgeon discovered that I have disease commonly known as de-generative disc disease. What this disease does is cause the discs to degenerate and collapse down upon one another until it is just bone munching bone and whatever set of nerves you have in there. Currently, there is no known cure for this. There are fixes along the way, which basically results in a (forgive my spelling) discectomy surgery where they remove the damaged or crushed discs and replace it with a sponge type material and drill a small hole in the spine to re-route the nerves (that are hopefully not damaged from the collapse of the discs).

Unfortunately, I have also had to have the discectomy done because 2 years after my fusion, L3 collapsed as L2 fell down on it. This surgery is not as intense as the fusion and the recovery time is much less. I had that surgery last year.

As a result of the fusion, I had to learn to walk again and because of the nature of my injury, my sciatic nerve suffered extensive damage. During the fusion, my sciatic nerve was “wrapped” to prevent any further damage. To give you a visual picture, think, if you will, of a bundle of wires wrapped in electrical tape to keep them together. Also think that the bundle of wires were NOT tagged on both ends and many of them were nicked or damaged enough that they were either severed or had a lot of copper exposed. Not knowing which wire goes where you just wrap the bundle and you reconnect some that you HOPE work.

There is not enough knowledge in the medical community (yet) to determine which nerve goes where or how to repair the ones that have suffered catastrophic damage, so the fix is to wrap the entire bunch and “hope” that the body re-connects the right ones to the right places. Having said that, the surviving nerves didnt exactly work correctly. That is afterwards I have suffered two types of motor control issues with my right leg and sometimes my left one. The first type of issue would be that while walking or sitting, my right leg would go completely numb for 5 to 15 seconds and I could not force it to move unless I used my hands or my other foot or some external object. This sensation, or lack of, would pass and the ability to freely move my leg would and does return to normal. The other failure is that my leg will have a spasm that causes my leg to shake or wobble uncontrollably for a few seconds, again passing and returning normal motor functionality. To keep from falling in the event I have one of these failures while walking, I am forced to rely on a cane. This was quite difficult for me to accept because I was an athlete in High School and in College and even after my college years. I played the big 3 in high school and I played Basketball and Rugby in College and then rugby after college. Later I played mens softball and several men's leagues for basketball. As I got older and the kids got to the age where they wanted to play, I coached kids softball and soccer as well as mens softball. So learning how to walk and walking with a cane was very difficult for me to swallow, and do.

Anyway, back in March or April of this year I started have a pain in my left side. The best way to describe the sensation was the pain you get when you have been running for too long and your side hurts, except this pain was on the left side. It would come and go, but it hurt when it came.

At the end of July, I unexpectedly was laid off from my job of the past 5 years. I was still having this pain, but it was more frequent and lasted longer and longer each time. Since I was not working, I decided to go to my doctor and let her look at it. I figured it was some serious gas from something I was eating or a bone jabbing my stomach (from a broken rib injury years ago) or maybe even my gall bladder going bad.

So I went to my doctor and she sent me to see a specialist. This guy set up some tests including an ultrasound, some MRIs, a CT Scan and some blood test. When I go to see him to discuss the results, I am a bit surprised at his answers. He tells me my spleen is roughly 1.5 times its normal size and that my blood platelet counts are low. Starting with the part I didnt understand, I asked him about the blood stuff and he says my white count is about 110k. That sounds like a lot to me, so I asked what is normal since mine was low. He tells me 150k to 500k is normal. So I ask what causes that. He says the liver is doing something wrong, but he is not a liver guy. He says he can remove the spleen which would end the pain, but that he doesnt want to until we find out what is the deal with the liver. Another specialist...

So I get the appointment and I go for more tests and XRays and pictures and blood work and a liver biopsy. Let me just say right here, if you have never had a liver biopsy you are in for quite a surprise when they do one. You are awake for the procedure which doesnt last very long. You are laying flat on a table, with some sort of IV fluid running through you and they put you under a CT Scan to get an exact location of your liver. They then mark it with a big “X” using a sharpie. They take you out from under the CT Scanner and give you a local anesthesia. They they get this rather large syringe with a big needle on the end of it and put you back under the Scanner. When they have you all lined up, they jam the entire syringe into your gut with a big push. I about jumped off the table. “sir, you have to be still” they said and I quipped back, “WTF are you doing? That hurt like hell!” Then the remove the plunger and insert a small device in the syringe that cuts small samples of you liver. They take 2 to 4 pieces of different sections and mark them accordingly as to where they came from. This is sent of to some lab and they send the results to your doctor, who then calls you in to discuss them.

So all this took place and I get the call to come speak with the Doctor. You know its bad news when they want you to come in. IF it was good, they tell you over the phone. So, I was expecting some bad news when I went for the appointment, but I was not expecting the news I received.

Seems Ol' Vettie here has cirrhosis of the liver and it is already in stage four of four. I have the non-alcoholic, non-hepatitis version, but the result is the same. Stage four basically means that the liver is failing and that the spleen is picking up the overflow and trying to “cover” for the liver. That is the reason the spleen is so enlarged, its having to do too much work. If we remove the spleen (the thing that is causing all the pain in the first place), then Ol' Vettie dies in 6 months (more or less). That option is out.

Back to the liver, the Doctor says there is no reversing the current state, but we do have the ability to slow down the failure. We can take some certain drugs, which I was already taking for blood pressure and I can watch my diet and not eat certain things, which I was already doing because I have type 2 diabetes (yay!). So I was and am already doing the things I can do to slow the spread of the cirrohsis, but it will eventually take over the entire liver and cause it to fail. I am not going to tell you my expected time left because there are still some options.

In one or two years (I have to go to the liver specialist every 6 months for blood tests to check on the status of the liver) I will become a candidate for a liver transplant. Currently, there is a 2 year waiting list for a liver, but that changes based on your condition and the availability of a compatible liver. IF I receive a transplant, and if it is successful, it will add anywhere from 5 to 10 years of expected lifetime depending on the condition of the liver and how well my body adapts. If I dont get a transplant when the time comes, well Ol' Vettie will get a good view of the daisies from the underside.

Now let me explain a couple of other things to you. I have never been a 'big drinker' and the Doctor says my liver condition is probably hereditary. Neither of my parents exhibited any issues, but both died at relatively young ages of other issues and any liver problems may not have shown up or may have been masked by the other issues. Also, as I mentioned early on in this post, I have had a couple of back surgeries. One of the off shoots of back surgery is that sometime you end up with a condition known as chronic pain.

Many of you go to the doctor and they ask you if you have pain and on a scale of 1 to 10, what is your pain level, with 1 being almost nothing and 10 feeling like your gonna die. Well chronic pain is a level 5 to 7 that you have ALL the time, and because you have it ALL the time, you get a little used to it and and feel s more like a level 2 or 3 to you, but to others it may be a 6 or 7. So I have this chronic pain in my back and legs ALL the time. Now, because of the liver / spleen issue, I also have a new area of chronic pain that is about a level 5 or 6 all the time. The condition persists and prevents me from standing or sitting for long periods at a time and I am basically uncomfortable all the time.

I am not a big fan of “pain killers”, but my regular Doctor, my back surgeon and my liver specialist have all given me prescriptions for pain killers to take every day. I dont. I try only to take them when I have days that are almost too unbearable for me.

It is hard to explain chronic pain, but it affects every aspect of your life and the people close to you. You, yourself dont notice so much, but those around you certainly do. Its like you get grumpy all the time and frustrated with little things, but you dont notice because you are now like that all the time. You friends and family do notice and either have to accept it and change the way they 'behave' around you or they can just leave you to be miserable.

I have been very fortunate. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife who is trying very hard to help in every way she can to make my existence as comfortable as possible. I thank the Lord for her every day.

I also mentioned I lost my job back in July. Because of my medical condition, I am no longer able to work. This has placed an even bigger burden on my wife. We will soon be selling our home (ironically enough, that we bought 5 years ago) and moving to something we can afford to live in based on her salary. Much of our savings have been spent on medical bills, so we dont have a big nest egg to fall back on and the housing market is not so great right now so we are hoping that we dont take a beating on the sell of the house. This all kinda sucks because I have worked for the better part of 30 years or so and to see things just slip away...well anyway.

I try to keep myself in very good spirits and I try to be happy from day to day and I also try to mask the pain as much as possible and not complain about it much. I joke and cut up as much as possible and try not to think about the unfortunate turn of events I have been dealt. I have my faith and I pray a lot and I know every thing happens for a reason and sometimes those reasons arent very clear at first, but everything will work out in the end.

Ok. Sorry about all the mushy stuff and the medical stuff, but I wanted to let my readers know where I had been and why so long between posts. On to the future? Well, I am not shutting down the site, but I will say the posts will not be as often as they have been in the past until the Doctors and I work out some way for me to sit up without so much pain, and I am sure we will, it just takes time.

I will be trying to make some time to actually get on line and play the game. I suspect I wont be on for too long, but long enough to make a good target for many of you! LOL!

Also, there are WAYYYY TOOO many people that I need to express my gratitude too, so I am not even gonna try to list them all. But I would like to take a little more time to thank some of folks that I have “met” over the years and they have influenced me in some way.

Not in any particular order
Genghis Prawn
Mini Me
WB3
Warden
Oneshot
The Black Knight Mercenaries
The White Tigers
The Midnite Cobras
The Blood Pearls
Mech Combat
MercStorm
MWL
NBT
MekTek
and many others I have met online on the battlefields or in a forum somewhere.

Let me say that The Blood Pearls have been such an inspiration to me, not only in this game we all love, but as friends we have all come to be talking over comms over the years. Each of them are really and truly special in their own way, but even as a group they are a great bunch of folks. I learned so much from each one of them, not only about the game but about life. We have all had some really great times playing this game and just chatting about nothing or serious stuff. A really great bunch. I am proud to have been and still be a member of the greatest team ever. Hats off and bows to The Pearls.

The Sunder Junkies is another group I have extremely proud to have been associated with. GP and Mini put together a web site for all the Sunder Players to have to discuss everything from housing repairs to MP4!

Mechcombat. WB and the group over there put together a league in the waning years of this game and made it come to life. They invited me to be part of it, damn, its a fine league. FFP LIVES!!!

The guys at MekTek have done a great job in keeping this game alive and allowing me (as part of the Blood Pearls) to be a beta tester for MP3 and MP4 has been absolutely a great experience. When you guys get to see MP4, it will blow your socks off. So many things, its almost like a brand new game.

The folks at NBT for having the best planetary Mercs system ever. What a ball we had there as The Black Knight Mercenaries Unit, St Ives Compact and finally The Blood Pearls. DP and team put together a damn fine system and we had a great time.

As I said, there are way too many individuals to list, way too many, but there a special few I have to extend a few thank yous too.
I already mentioned GP and Mini Me and WB, and Jeho (and team), DP (and team), MechStorm Team, but I would like to extend a special thanx to a few of the Blood Pearls who really touched me over the years
Homer – Young and brash, with more talent than I can ever write about
AC – Talented and fun, a young man that grew up with the Blood Pearls – say hi to Leslie for us!
Agent – A friend among friends, many hours we have spent discussing so many things
Cora – An honorary Blood Pearl. Possibly the best Long Tom artist in the game, not to mention a good friend.
Wilson – Crazy and carefree, and the talent this guy has! Me thinks he is currently under the Warcraft spell...
Mechnut - a lover of the game, a maker of mech models, I still have my Victor (mint condition)
Prime – always ready for a drop, I swear this guy is Mechnuts brother, but they say they are not related
Buddha – Quiet and level headed, one hell of a pilot
Ninja – altho now retired, he was a silent but deadly force of the Pearls
Lordsbaine – aka Cpt Sparrow – what a guy, he gave us the Blood Pearl Arena, our own personal map
Kodi – Kodi came to us from MCs team after years of duels. One hell of a pilot and a damn nice guy
Mongo – a huge inspiration to me. This guy suffered a terrible injury of his own and is paralyzed from the waist down yet still manages to join us for a game or two.
Vampire – a late joiner to the Pearls, but damn can this guy shoot
Zero Bragg – a defector from the amazing team known as I.Hx. These guys were awesome and Bragg was one of their best, now he is one of our best!
Force – another good friend and fellow drummer, he got caught up in the wicked ways of Warcraft, but one great guy
Hugh Manatee – Hugh and I joined the Pearls at the same time from the Black Knight Mercs Unit. Growing up together in NBT -GET SOME!!!!
D-Day – So many hours spent playing this game against and with D-Day. From the NBT days until he joined the group. Now one of our leader
Smaga – The Leader of the Blood Pearls. Smag has been there since the beginning and even before. Talented Cockmonkey that is great to listen to on comms, especially when excited. More than that, Smag has been a personal friend throughout my rough times and the good times too.
CowCrusher – What can I say? This guy knows so much about the game, the tactics, the maps, the mechs. Almost always level headed and the talent. Man o man. On a personal level, Cow has always been there and has always had good solid advice and been a friend when I needed one and the voice of reason when I was an idiot (too many times)
I cant say enough about these guys and all the previous members of the Pearls.

I have traveled many a road through Merc Land over the years and this game has been a big part of my life whether I want to admit that or not. Sure mostly it was and is the people, but it was the game that drew us together in the 1st place.

I also would to pass what little wisdom I have on to anyone reading this. If you play this game or any game on line with others, please remember that it is just a game. Sure, I want to win more than anyone else does, even more so now, but when it comes down to it, its just a game. There are so many things in life that are so much more important. Try to remember that and also try to remember that your life can change very quickly and so many things will become so unimportant to you. I wish everyone good health and lots of success.

I am not gone (yet) and I will be posting from time to time and hopefully even playing the game now and then. It just wont be as much as in the past and I wont make any promises, but I will give it a try when I can.

Enough ramblings from a tired old man. Get out there and go play the game. Get Some ! And Pressurize Them!!! w00t!

Hope that I see ya all very soon

Vettie

Mech of the Month

Some time ago, maybe even two years or so, my friend over at The Sunder Junkies, Genghis Prawn, started doing this thing he called the Mech of the Month. If you have not visited the Sunder Junkies Site, I suggest you do so and become a member. The web site is www.sunderjunkies.com. GP and crew will not send you any crap mail, nor will you be added to any mailing lists. All you will find there is stuff about MechWarrior and the many players that play in the server named Sunder.

Back to the Mech of the Month. As I mentioned, each month, Genghis selects a Heavy and an Assault Class Mech to be the Mech of the Month. He will use those two mechs for his entire online time during that month while playing in Sunder. This MOTM has created a following and you will see several people use the ‘mech’ while playing during that month.

I mentioned in a post on the forums there not too long ago that I thought that it would be cool if GP and I could synchronize the MOTM and the Vettie’s Views selections so that I ran a review of the mechs Prawnie selected for that month. That would allow players to get a bit of an inside view of the mechs chosen to be MOTM. Hopefully, it would stir a little interest so that players would not only post their configs for those mechs but also maybe post their thoughts about the mechs as well.

The problem I have run into is that I had already written reviews for many mechs and I have not written reviews for many of the others. For instance, this month Prawnie selected the Black Knight and the SuperNova. I had reviewed the Black Knight many moons ago, but I have not yet published a review on the SuperNova. The BK review can be found here, http://vettiesviews.blogspot.com/2007/11/black-knight.html .

I have only published one review for MP3 mechs. Originally, I started out to review all the mechs from the originals issued in the game to eventually cover the mechs added by our friends at MekTek. Somewhere between MP2.1 and MP3, I had the fortune to be beta tester for MekTek for MP3. This consumed quite a bit of free time and when MP3 was released there had been many changes to some of the mechs I had already reviewed. I felt like I needed to go back and give those mech another shot to bring them up to date. More so, some of the reviews I had already written, but not yet published had to be scrapped or re-done because of the MP3 changes. Again, I felt like I needed to keep to my original script as much as possible and review all the older mechs before I put out anything on the MP3 chassis.

Now I find myself in similar situation. MP4 is forthcoming from MekTek and I haven’t published reviews on older mechs and only one on an MP3 chassis. Because of the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) I signed with MekTek, I cant tell you what is in MP4, if any of the Mechs that already exist have changed nor what new chassis we will see. All I can tell you is that MP4 will be released soon.

With all of that being said, I have gone back and given some additional thought to my original script of mech reviews. I have thought about this for a week or so and every time (lately) I sit down to write another issue of Vettie’s Views this comes to mind and I find myself unable to write an article or to make enough sense of a bunch of words so that you guys find it informative, entertaining or worth your while, instead I come back to this same thing. That thing?
Will I be able to complete my goal of publishing articles on each mech in the game before more are added?

The simple answer to that is no. IF any of you have visited the MekTek Forums, then you already know there are to be new mechs added to MP4. I cant tell you which ones, but you can go there and check it out yourself. It may not be listed as MP4, it might be listed as MP3.1 which is what MekTek started to call this mod until they got very deep into it. As I mentioned, MP4 will be released soon and as soon as I get the official ‘okay’, I will publish pictures or videos of whatever MekTek says I can.

Again, MP4 is coming soon. I still have many mech reviews to publish and many yet to write if I plan to attain my original goal. GP and I have exchanged a couple of mail over the subject of matching my reviews to his Mech of the Month selections, so I have decided to publish or link mech reviews based on GP’s selections for MOTM.

As I mentioned, Prawnie selects Assault Class or Heavy Class mechs. This still leaves the Medium and Light Classes open without the love they deserve. Ol’ Vettie has given lots of thought to this and he thinks he came up with an acceptable conclusion.

When Genghis Prawn makes his selections, I will either put a link to my review on the Sunder Junkies Site if I have already reviewed the chassis or I will dual publish a review for a mech that I have not done already. By dual publish, I mean I will write the review and publish it here on my blog and put a link to it on the SJ site. Additionally, I will get with Prawnie and with his permission, I will add a medium and light class to his selections. I will then link the selections to any review I have already written or publish a new one for that chassis, sometime during the month. Again this is pending approval from GP because the Mech of the Month is his creation, I am just trying to enhance it some and increase the (traffic) flow on his site and mine too.

Updates to MW4

Greetings Mech Fans!!




Before I get started with this issue of Vettie’s Views let me send out a condolences to Clan White Tigers and Friends and Family of Jabberwock.

Jabber passed away recently while gaming due to a long time illness. Jabber was 38. For those who knew him, you already know that Jabberwock was a good guy. He loved the game and he loved his friends and family. He will most certainly be missed. Go in Peace young man.

Its tough to try to write anything after something like that so forgive me if I stray.

It’s been a long hot summer and things are once again starting to heat up in Mech Land.

The Solaris Ladders of MCL are really heating up and I have been talking to WB and we may have something lined up. We still have to mesh out the details, but I think we have a good plan in store for the members of MechCombat League. If you are not already a member, go sign up and get registered. WWW.MechCombat.Org. There are 2 parts, the forums and the league, members MUST be registered to both parts. When you register for the forums, you will see a link to the League site at the top of the forums page. Sign up today.

Also, we have news from CK Mack at MechStorm, WWW.MechStorm.com. It seems they have made some break thrus and are now able to add things to the game where they weren’t able to before. In the MechStorm Forums and MechCombat Forums, Mack has posted some pictures of items added for use with the NetMech IV modification. Here is a link to the MCL forum post
http://mechcombat.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=329 . Here is a link to the MechStorm forum,
http://www.mechstorm.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4804 . These guys are looking for helpers, so get in contact with Mack and put your skill set to good use.

On top of all that, MekTek has announced that MP4 will be coming soon. Ref this link for more info, http://www.mektek.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=121787 . We all know that with MekTek, SOON, may still be some time away, however, they HAVE posted, that means we are getting closer. I cant comment on anything I do or don’t know about MP4 or what MP4 might contain, but I can say this, most folks will be surprised at what MekTek has accomplished, not just in the mechs to be added, but the other magic they are doing. If you are wondering what Mechs MIGHT be included in MP4, check out this thread for some PICs, http://www.mektek.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=80763 . This list is not all inclusive and some of these may NOT make it in.

So, a lot of development work is going on in Mech Land. People adding new textures and items to terrain, people modding the game and adding more mechs, its gonna be some great stuff when its all out there for everyone to see.

MechStorm is concentrating on the terrain and these guys already put out some really great maps and some fun single player additions, not to mention the ‘coop’ missions. If you haven’t tried some of their work, I suggest going there, registering as a member and downloading some of their maps and single player missions. They have a few of them that will kick your butt. Their maps are first rate, Also, Starfire, a member of MechStorm, is the guy that brought us the High Definition Pack for MP302b. IF you haven’t tried this, I suggest you do so. It adds many new textures to the terrains and to the Mechs as well as some improvements in the sound effects. The best part is that you can install it on your machine and it works whether anyone else INCLUDING the server has it or not. It does not change your version of working Mercs. A little bit of a warning before you try it, as far as I know, MP4 WILL NOT be compatible with the HDP if it is installed on your MP302b installation. I suggest separate installs. Copy your MP302B install to a new folder and name it MW4HDP or something. Install the HDP into your new folder. That way your MP302b folder is preserved and ready when MP4 comes out AND you get to enjoy the HDP modified version until then.

MekTek is concentrating on Battle Mech Models and game play for multiplayer. Their intent is to bring the ‘team concept’ back to the multiplayer online version in ways you and I may not have thought possible. I don’t know how many of you played MW2, but I remember the Thermal Radar setting and the Wire Frame setting. I always thought it would be great if MW4 had the Thermal radar capability. Another thought I had was about being able to zoom in night vision, and yet another thought I had was being able to buy ½ increments of ammo. I mean, I hate ‘building’ a variant and putting everything I want on it (well not really everything) and having .60 or .40 tons left over. I would like to be able to spend .50 ton for a half ton of ammo. You know, if a Gauss Rifle costs 16 tons and extra ammo for it was 1 ton, giving you a total of 48 rounds, why not spend only .50 and get a total of 36 rounds. OF course there’s that old nasty ‘source code’ issue. Well I can still want it right?

Some of the other things I would like to see would be destructible ‘parts’ like if you take some shots to the rear of mech, AND you have jump jets, I would like to see the jump jets have the ability to get blown off. I already know from game experience in league fighting that the ECM can be destroyed (thank you Mr. Prime 24 and your pretty little Ares for jumping on my little WolfHound’s head during a match). I just think it makes sense that if something can be selected as an option, that it can be taken out by the bad guys, maybe not easily, but at least the possibility should be there (IMO).

Mentioning jump jets, I know that in MW2 and even in NetMech, when you used jumpies, you had to feather your landing or take damage to your legs. I certainly hope that MekTek figures this one out because it makes a lot of sense to me. If an 80 ton beast lifts itself into the air more than waste high to itself, its gotta put some beating onto whatever it lands on, i.e. the legs. Feather that (like retro rockets on landers) to soften or eliminate the damage. I would also like to see a ‘legged’ mech with jumpies lose the ability to jump. You are already hurting and near destruction with one leg gone, you want to lift something that heavy into the air and try to bring it down on a ‘monopod’ without inflicting more damage to the only thing it lands on? Not very likely. Again this may be source code, but somebody figured it out with NetMech so I am sure the guys at MekTek will figure it out if they are so inclined.

I have been a strong proponent against comparing what technology we currently have and are working on against what technology exists in the imaginary Battle Tech Universe. People will say well we have “X” and it can track a target for hundreds of miles and hit it within a 5 ft accuracy so why cant MW4 do “Y”? That is a logical argument, except that the BT Universe is non existent and we only know what technology exist there from the games and the books, period. We can assume anything, but until it is added in the game, the video game or the book it is only an assumption.

Having said all that, I have to step away from that stance for this next item I would like to see. I hate to do this, but I am in strong belief of it so I am willing to take my beatings where I need to. I would like to see something like GPS tracking for FRIENDLY units regardless of radar settings. That is, I think that unless the enemy is jamming signals (you would need to be in range of their jammer to be affected) that if installed as an option, each unit could have something similar to our GPS devices so that everyone on the same team could ‘see’ where everyone else on the team was unless one (or more) of the team were being jammed. I also think that this option should be capable of being destroyed in fire fights with the enemy.

If you had that, league play (oh, hell, open play too for that matter) could be enhanced by allowing teams to stay together even if passive and even on no radar maps. The GPS type device could be used to track all the team mates. If their ‘blip’ disappeared, quickly over comms, you could find out of they are taking fire, or being jammed or what ever.

It could also be very useful for scout mechs. Take a small mech like a Raven and break away from the team to go looking for the bad guys. When he finds them, he simply says contact and folks could look at their displays to determine where he is and roughly where the bad guys are. A leader can then decide if he wants to stage the battle there or have the Raven ‘lead them’ to a better terrain for the battle.

Of course I think there are a few weapons that need tweaking, like the rail gun and Inferno Rocket Launchers and the entire Auto Cannon family, but I don’t think the MekTek crew are focusing too much on weapons. From what they have posted, I think they are more concentrated on the team play aspect of the game. This might include new types of game play, new maps and maybe a better communication ability built into the game. I think it would be great to have comms built in. Don’t know if that s possible, but it would be cool. Each server would be its own IP (similar to TeamSpeak) and whatever team you joined, you would be attached to that channel.

Another thing I would like to see changed if possible is the chat window. It is somewhat opaque, but it still takes up a good sized square of the view of the battlefield (at least while using FFP). I have seen other games, including Freelancer and Halo and Battlefield 1942, where the actual chat messages show up on screen, but are not in a ‘visual box’ per se, chat just appears as text on the screen. This would be very nice in MW4.

As far as other things, I guess I would like to see the net code worked out where there was less lag, bigger maps and more players. Some weapons seem to cause lag, whether its localized because of the video card (although it should not be) or whether it is caused because of a bad connection to the server. Bigger maps would be a lot of fun for team battles so that the game didn’t end in 2 minutes after 4 or 5 minutes of searching for each other. That, and I just like new maps. The thing with more players is that I would like to see more than 24 players to a server. However, to do that effectively, you need bigger maps and NEW missions, missions made for larger numbers of players. Some of the Mission Play missions that we have already begin to show their faults with just 10 per pilots per team. They simply weren’t made to handle that many mechs and it becomes too easy to beat the objectives. IF the maps were bigger and there were larger numbers of players on each team, things would get much more interesting.

MW2 had a thing called AMS. MW4 has a thing called LAMs. AMS was an Anti Missile System that was ammo based (similar to the US Navy Aegis System). It would shoot down missiles all day as long as you had ammo for it. The current LAMs system is more or less random in how effective it is and it is Laser based. The thing with LAMs is that even tho it is Laser based, the mech never suffers an increase in heat when the LAMs are active, OR the LAMs lasers are so small the heat is negligible. I liked the old AMS and it would be cool to see it make an updated comeback. I would like AMS to be more effective than LAMs, but still ammo based. When you’re out your out. Not real sure how to update it because it was pretty good as is. Anyway, I would like to see AMS make a comeback.

I would guess that by this stage in the evolution of technologies that both the IS and Clan would now have advanced optics instead of the Clan only. Same for IFF. So yeah, let the IS have Advanced Optics and let the Clanners have IFF. Seems reasonable.

How many of you played MechCommander (or any of that series)? Remember when your mechs were walking around the map IF one of your mech had some type of ECM it showed a like a circle of the area affected? The more advanced type of ECM the bigger the circle? Well, I always thought it would be cool in MW4 if ECM on your mech did something like that. What I mean is, if your team mates are within the radius of the ECM mech, then they too were covered by the ECM blanket. OF course this would call for different levels of ECM, all at different tonnages and of course the greatest level would only be available to a certain select few mechs. This would prevent so many ECM capable mechs being used on a team. I mean, if you go into Sunder, on any given map, you will see several Cyclops in use with other ECM capable mechs such as Highlanders or Victors or Wildcats or Gladiators or Blood Asps or Warthogs and on and on. If this option was limited to a (very) few mechs and even limited to a certain number PER TEAM, I believe the quality of play would increase after the learning curve for the pilots. I think that people get used to running with BAP and ECM and they would have great difficulty running around and not getting detected or getting shot before they even saw their enemy, so yeah there would be a learning curve. Some folks already run in passive mode most of the time and do a damn fine job of it. Those peeps would be a step ahead of most of the others folks, but once everyone got used to it, I think the level of play would step up a notch or three.

I don’t know if any of that is possible, but I would like to see those things brought about. I know, I know, source code. But hey, I can want cant I?

Maps are another thing I have touched on, bigger maps that support more players and more difficult missions. Another crazy idea I had was to make the HQ and Comm Array actually DO something other than be a target. I think it would be cool if, on Mission Play missions, the Comm array was shut down or destroyed, the defending team could not use team chat in the game for the balance of that round, but regular chat would still work and if my built comms were actually in the game, that channel would be shut down for the duration of the round. Also thought it would be cool if the radar for the defenders quit working. A long with that, the HQ would actually provide INFO to the defending team. Some sort of EXTENDED radar system connected to the Comms array. So a Mech would need to stand by the HQ for 10 seconds and the HQ would upload a mini map that showed the current location of the attackers out to 3000 meters in all directions (hence the need for bigger maps). Also the HQ would have some sort of seismic detection ability for the enemy mechs that were running passive or covered by the cloak of ECM. Again, this info would need to be uploaded to a defender mech by having that mech stand by the HQ for 10 seconds (maybe longer). That actually makes the HQ and Comm array worth attacking and worth defending. OF course, both would need to be hardened so they could withstand more damage and the seismic readings could still be given even if the Comm array had been destroyed. The Radar readings could be uploaded from Comms or the HQ, but the team chat would be Comms dependant. I don’t know, I just think it would add a new dimension to the mission play missions. Again, it may be source code issues, but who knows?

OF course this is just my wish list and I have no idea what MekTek will do or can do. They did not take me on for hire as creative consultant, heh, for that matter they didn’t even take me on as creative consultant without pay.

Visit the web links above. Look at the pictures and read the threads. Come back and post your thoughts about what is happening to our game. Post your wish list if you like.

Game Play

Greetings Mech Fans. My last entry, the Pure Tech series, got a few comments and some talks or discussion stirred and I am happy for that. A person that writes anything is always happy to have someone read what they wrote, it is even better when people make comments about it. That is what my blog is for, to post my thoughts on something and to let you readers post your thoughts as well. We don’t have to agree and many times we wont agree, but it is good to get the various points across so others can see them.

In the course of my last posting, my old (on-line) pal, GP mentioned that I should make a post about the various forms of play, mission play vs team battle vs team destruction. I have been thinking about that and then last night another thought popped into my head. Stock Play. So, today, I am going to attempt to put together a discussion about the various forms of team play and the use of stock variants all in one column. Hopefully, with a bit of word smithing I can put it so that it all makes sense and is readable, who knows, it might even be enjoyable by some.

Let me start off by saying that I am going to mix League play and Open Play in some of my comparisons based on some of things I have done while playing this game over the years. Normally, I would try to separate the two, but in this context it doesn’t matter if they get mixed up (or it doesn’t matter much and where it does I will try to point that out).

MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries offers many types of play for owners of the game. There is obviously the campaign or instant play games for single player. As most of you that played the campaign know, it is set up to take you through all the mech classes, you start with lights and work your way up to the assaults. The internal Solaris competition within the campaign is set up like that as well. My thoughts are that it was done this way to introduce the player to all the classes and allow the pilot to determine what is best for his play style. That, and the fact that it gets a pilot a wide variety of mechs to use in the game.

My personal feeling is that there is no better gaming experience than playing online. In fact, I think that is what keeps MW4 Mercs on its legs today, the online community. For those of you that do venture online, MW4 Mercs again offers many types of play. There is singles competition in various Battle or Destruction servers and there are several different types of game play for teams. Today, we discuss a few of those team oriented options so sit down, strap yourself in, button up your neuro-helmet and hold on. Stay in cover where possible, shoot straight and shoot first.

I don’t plan to discuss all the online options, but let me assure you, there are plenty of them and I am sure I would leave some out if I tried to mention them all, so I wont. A few, and I mean a very few are Urbie Dodgeball, Mech Racing, Mech McRugby, Capture the Flag, King of the Hill and many others. The ones I am going to discuss are Team Mission Play, Team Battle and Team Destruction.

Let me give a brief overview of each of these types and what they are all about before going in depth about any one or all three. Team Mission Play, known as Mission Play is probably the most complex game of the three types. Mission Play has multiple options for both teams. Usually, there is an attack team and a defending team, but not always, sometimes both teams attack. In the attack v defend scenario, usually the attack team has objectives to accomplish such as destroy something on the defenders side of the map OR they can kill all the defenders. Most times there is a time limit granted for them to do this, be it 5, 10 or 15 minutes. The defenders must keep the attackers from the objectives for that time limit or kill all the attackers within that time limit. The side that accomplishes their task wins the round. If the defenders keep the objectives in tact and DO NOT kill all the attackers, they still win so the pressure is on the attack team. There are some missions in which both teams attack, meaning that both teams have objectives they must destroy or kill all the other team to win the round. Usually these missions don’t have a time limit. Lastly, there are those where the objectives change from round to round. Team A could be the attackers on the first round and defend on the second round and both teams could be the attackers in the third round or any combination of the three. That’s the quick and dirty of mission play.

Team Destruction is pretty easy to describe. Read the name, T E A M - D E S T R U C T I O N. In this game type, one team tries to destroy the other. There are no other objectives and the time limit is the only factor. Team Destruction is all about kills. The team with the most kills at the end of the game wins. Sometimes the TD Games are played in waves. This means that the game is in rounds or waves. Each round has a time limit and the team with the most kills at the end of the wave wins the wave. Most Waves won wins the match. Sometimes TD games are respawn, meaning that after you are killed, your mech regenerates at your spawn or drop zone and you go back and fight again over and over until the timer runs out. The team with the most kills wins. Very simple, very basic game type.

Team Battle is also pretty simple. Two teams battling to score the most points, whether it is by waves or by match, kills don’t really count (but they help in the points). This one is often done in respawn mode meaning that if you get killed you come back to life to go inflict damage to the other guys until you die again.

More or less, that is basics for the three types of games on the board today. Over the years of play I have noticed some differences in these types of play from league to league and I will tell you a little about what I know of each. In some leagues, Mission Play is much different from what I spelled out above. I have seen Mission Play games be very quick in that there is only one wave. The attackers are generally set up to hit the objectives quickly. Get in, kill objectives, get out, game over. The Defenders are set up to kill the attackers in one or two shots. If the attackers take out the objectives, they win. It is hard to stop a team that works well together and comes in with a good plan to hit the objectives. Even a well oiled defensive team will have trouble killing 6 to 8 fast little jumping mechs before they can take down the objectives.

I have also seen Mission Play done in league play where you had to kill 50% of the opposing team before you destroyed the objectives. So if the match was a single wave, 400 ton, Mission Play Match, the attackers could not destroy both the objectives until they had killed at least 200 tons of the defenders mechs. This makes Mission Play most interesting. You can kill the turrets and one of the objectives, but you still have to kill at least half of the defenders before wiping out their base.

Open Play Mission Play is much different. You play in waves or rounds and there basically is not a weight limit unless it is set by the server (you could have a team limit or individual mech weight limit). The attackers try to move in and pressure the objectives while simultaneously trying to kill the defenders. Meanwhile the defenders are trying to put an end to this silly attack by taking out every attack mech encountered. In Open play, you see every type of mech used, heavy Assaults with massive alphas, speedy mechs that rush the objectives with a combo of weapons that is set up specifically to take out a building quickly, to general purpose mechs that can fight, move fast or take down buildings. Some folks prefer to concentrate on taking down the objectives while others prefer fighting mechs, but either way, Mission play offers it all.

Open Play Team Destruction is also pretty simple. Whether there are weight restrictions, or weapon restrictions, both or none, there are two teams set up to kill the other team. Matches can be waves or single rounds and they are usually not respawn (but they can be). When the map launches both teams set out to find the other and take them down quickly.

The league play version is not much different, except that there is usually a team weight restriction. You can take any mech you want but your team can not exceed the team weight limit. League play is generally a little more intense than the open play version. In League Play, the pilots are all part of one team, not a mix of teams, and there is generally one guy directing the team to battle. The team will run passive except for an electronics mech and maybe a couple of others and there may even be a scout. The Drop Commander will search for the enemy and for a place to stage the battle on terms best suited for your team. The mechs are usually predetermined including what type of weapons and armour to be used. Everyone on a team in a league should be on comms. In Open Play you get a mix-match of players on teams (usually, but not always) and some folks have comms and some don’t or they use different comms programs (TeamSpeak, Ventrillo and Roger-Wilco are the top three I think). The coordination is also less in Open Play because of these other factors. That is not to say that Open Play is not fun, it is. And LOTS of it.

Team Battle is another one that I have seen used differently. One league uses it LIKE Team Destruction in that only Kills count, not the score. Other leagues use it for the scoring. Team with the highest score wins. Almost always, team battle is a respawn fight. Because of the scoring and the respawn, Team Battle is very popular in Open Play. Set the map time limit to whatever (30 minutes is the norm) and drop and shoot. Team Battle is also very popular with the NHUA (No Heat Unlimited Ammo) crowd. Again, the League Play version will almost have restrictions on weight, chassis, weapons or any combo where Open Play may or may not. Either way, this is a fun version of the game.

I guess it is time to throw the Vettie feelings in on each type of play and give you my thoughts on them. As I mentioned before, I have played some of each of these in both League and Open Play. Let me start with Team Battle. I often like an Open Play Team Battle with unlimited respawn trying to rake up points. This type of play is just enough to relax you and let you forget about life’s pressures and stresses. Jump in a favourite mech and go out there and rip arms or legs off your enemy before you kill them to rake in the points. The smaller the mech you use the more points you get when hitting those big monsters that seem to kill me with one shot every time. Its great fun. As far as League Play, I don’t care for this type of play very much, but for just plain old fun its hard to beat. Lots of people love this type of League Play action and they are good at it. That’s great, its just not my preference.

Team Destruction, or should I say the concept behind team destruction, is probably my most favourite type of game play. Its all about killing mechs. Points don’t matter. Kill or be killed. League Play gets real in depth with lots of strategy and planning and coordination. Hit the dirt, find the enemy before they find you and take them down. Open Play is very close to League Play, but probably not as intense overall. For people that love to shoot at other mechs, this is the game type for you.

I forgot to mention something and now is a good time to bring it up. Team Battle and Team Destruction offer the most maps in the game today. There are literally over 250 maps available for play in MW4 Mercs and the majority of them are set up for Team Battle and or Team Destruction. Team Destruction is set up to be about kills, Team Battle is set up to be about points, but it CAN be about kills. Knowing that, Team Battle is probably the most flexible game type.

Vettie is all about the maps. I love playing on a map that I never have played on, or have only played a few times and have never checked out all the Drops Zones. It adds to the ‘fog of war’ if you don’t know the battlefield, or it does for me.

Ok, sorry for the tangent, but Im old. Where were we? Oh yeah, I was just about to talk about Mission Play. I am not sure Mission Play in the Open Server Sunder is so much different than it is in any League Play environment. As I said above, the League Play versions of mission play are usually very short and only one wave. Get in, kill the objective and get out, game over. The other League version is where you have to kill half the mechs first then kill the objectives, but still it is only one wave. Open Play in Sunder offers multiple waves and you almost always end up killing about half the other team before the objectives are destroyed IF the attacker manages to win.

The Open Play environment of Sunder exposes you to nearly every tactic you can think of as well as nearly every weapon and mech in the game. I have seen them all from Battle Armours to Behemoths, machine guns to rail guns, small pulse lasers to large continuous beam lasers, SRMs to Arrows, you name it in the game and I have seen it used. Maybe that is the attraction?!? You don’t know what you will be facing until you find an enemy. The weapons and tactics are always evolving in this game. Here is a good time to remind folks that this essentially an 8 year old game (Vengeance came out in 2000 I think, and Mercs is more or less an upgrade/improvement to that engine). I find it amazing that we are still experimenting with weapons and stuff this late in the life of the game.

Preferences? Well, that’s a tough one to decide. I would say that personally, Ol’ Vettie prefers Team Destruction type game play whether its in the opens or in a league setting. I prefer killing mechs over blowing up buildings. I would say that I play more Mission Play in the Opens than any other type, but that is not because of the mission play, its because that is where all my online ‘buds’ are. If I could convince more people to play Team Destruction I think they would actually like it better simply because of the variety of maps available. You can play for 4 or 5 nights solid and never play the same map. Don’t get me wrong, mission play, the way its played in Sunder, is a blast and I really enjoy it, I just prefer shooting mechs and new battlefields instead of the same maps.

Another thing of interest to me is that most Leagues use daytime or default settings and clear visibility or default settings here too. I know there were hacks that allowed folks to see through fog and some of the older video cards allowed you to ‘whack’ the fog, but MekTek has patched the hacks and I seriously doubt if any of those older video cards are still in use today. Sunder, still gives you the variety of weather, fog levels and day or night drops. That adds so much to the game and tactics. All this makes a better experience and I think it should be used in league play and open play.

I mentioned earlier something about stock play. Many people dislike stock play. I guess I simply don’t understand stock at all. I mean, I like it when the occasional stock mechs comes up in Sunder, but I don’t understand stock. What is stock? Almost every TRO I have seen offers multiple configurations, or variants. So which one is stock? And why is there ONE default stock config when the TROs offer more than one so-called stock variant? Why is there even A ‘stock variant’? Why not just a mech with empty slots? Maybe someone at MekTek is reading this and a ding will go off in their head. The fun of the game is in creating your own variant, so why even bother with stock? And if you do bother with stock, why not have ALL the TRO Variants (similar to what MW2 offered in the mech lab before you built your own, there would be 2 or three or four pre-builts available). Is there an answer to this or am I just beating a dead bush?

I have never read many of the battletech novels and I never played the tabletop game so I don’t know much about what is in there for the offering. I suspect that the game allowed you to create your own weapons load out within reason (slots or criticals available in a mech chassis) and I know I have read in the few books I did read that the mechs used were not always ‘stock’. So again, I ask, for the video game, why even have stock? Why not just an empty chassis?

Either way, I do enjoy the occasional stock match. I adds a ‘new’ dimension to the game. Not all the mechs have BAP and ECM, very few can jump and weapons load outs are set up for a ‘do-all’ situation with a combination of long and short range weapons and missiles. Pilots become dependant on their BAP and ECM AND their choice of weapons. Take that away and watch their kill numbers change. Stock keeps ‘em honest.

I like the occasional stock match, but I would not like it all the time. The ability to customize the chassis is real big in this game. It allows each player to make the mech ‘theirs’. I also think that if you could not customize the mechs, this game would have long ago bit the dust, even with the possibly the best online game play going.

Gather up your mechs and head for a server. There are Missions to Play and Destruction to inflict and points to score. Whatever your choice is, MechWarrior 4 Mercs offers it. Tell me about your favourite game type and why you like it. You can also tell me what you don’t like about the others I mentioned. I love reading the posts and I love discussion.

Pure Tech Part 2

Continuing the Pure Tech theme, I would like to talk about my “perfect” league for playing puretech. Indulge me if you will.

Currently, there are three major leagues out there for our beloved game. MWL, NBT and MCL. I am not sure if ISW is still operational, if so, ISW would make a forth league. I do not know that much about ISW so I wont make comments either way. My understanding is that ISW requires either NetMech IV mod or NBT-HC mod, but again, I am not sure. You can check for yourself by going to their website and poking around. www.iswars.com is the last address I had for them.

MWL is mostly a 3PV mixed tech ladder league. They have ladders for nearly every type play you can think of and if they don’t have it, if you get enough teams to sign up for it, they will create it. For awhile, they even had some FFP puretech ladders. I know at one time they had a planetary league too.

I am an admin for MCL. www.mechcombat.org. This league is also a ladder league but it caters to FFP play only. They have Mixed Tech Ladders and Pure Tech Ladders and are in the process of creating a Mission Play Ladder.

NBT is a planetary league. www.netbattletech.com. This league is probably the most in depth league if you are looking for planetary play. NBT is FFP, pure tech style play, however they use their own mod, NBT Hardcore.

I spent some time in each of these leagues and I am still a member of MCL. Before NBT went to the Hardcore mod, I was a member / co-leader of a team in that league. I have enjoyed each of the leagues that I have been a part of, and each offers some fantastic play for its members. All three are still active and have teams that are looking for players and are even accepting new teams if you have enough pilots to form a roster. If you are looking for competitive play in an organized league, I suggest that you look at each one and find one that fits your style. Join up and be a member, it’s a lot of fun. MCL and MWL both have Solaris type leagues so individual players can play and fight without actually committing to a team.

If I were going to create my idea of a “perfect” league, what would I do? Well, to start with I would take the NBT Planetary Model and change it somewhat. What? Why? The NBT system, throughout my playing time offers the best play as far as really getting in to what your team is about. My understanding is that ISW is/was this way too, and possibly even more in depth for the individual pilot, so maybe I would borrow some for each type of play.

NBT, as I have mentioned is a planetary system with Clans, Inner Sphere Major Houses, IS Minor Houses, IS Periphery Houses, Mercenary Units and even Pirates. All the major units from the BT Universe are or can be represented. They each have a little slice of the universal pie and each one is trying to get more of that pie. The Clans are trying to get to Terra as well as their own battles for supremacy and ranking within the Clan Worlds.

So how does this all fit in with puretech theme? As I said, I would start with the NBT model and take it a bit further. You see, when I played in NBT, you were either a Clan unit or and IS Unit. When you first signed on and started up your new unit, or took over and existing unit, you were given certain assets based on the type of unit you were. If you were an IS unit (this includes ALL units, Houses, Periphery, Mercs or Pirates, except Clan units) the majority of your assets were IS technology including your factories, jump and drop ships and battle mechs. I do not know for certain, but I am assuming it was the same in the Clan Side of things (I was never a part of a Clan Unit). You were given SOME assets that were opposite tech, but that was only a small percentage of your assets.

How would I further that? I would take it back to the BT Books and TROs. If House Marik built certain types of battle mechs, then that is ALL they would have to start with. Another way of putting is like this, if Steiner specialized in building the Thanatos and the Uziel, for example, then that is what they would start off having in their assets as well as having their factories being able to build. If House Davion built the Victor and the Wolfhound, then they would start with those mechs and the ability to build them.

As teams built their forces, and as the factories started to produce mechs and income, then the Houses could take their ‘goods’ to market and sale them to other Houses (either via auction (my personal fav) or public orders). After a House bought a certain number of another Houses goods, say the Steiners bought a 100 WolfHounds, then Steiner could buy the rights to build that model but still have to pay a percentage to the original House as royalties. Of course, if a unit captured or stole a certain number of a chassis, then they could reverse engineer it enough to produce their own. These captured tech could be manufactured and eventually sold, but ONLY on the Black Market. Some chassis would be shared by multiple (or possibly ALL Inner Sphere units). That is to say that ALL IS factories COULD produce an Argus (as an example) with no royalties to be paid to anyone.

IS Houses may also agree to share technologies and designs. This would mean that Steiner and Davion could become partners on battle mechs that were exclusive to them, like in the examples above, the Uziel and the Victor. Sharing would mean that both Houses give up exclusive rights on a design to another House in exchange for exclusive rights of another design. Each would then be the owners of that mech design and would be free to produce and sell the mech as they so desired. The royalties from these mechs would then be shared by both Houses going forward. This pattern could be repeated until all IS units are partners and then the unit becomes open technology among the Inner Sphere (like the Argus in the above examples).

Similar situations could be set up for the Clans. One Clan could have exclusive rights (as deemed by historical info from TROs or as set up by the Clan General Council) to build certain chassis such as the Mad Cat being built by Jade Falcon and the Kodiak being built by Ghost Bears. Now the Clans are so interested in monies or C-Bills like the IS folks are, so you would need to work out something on technology sharing amongst the Clans (even if they are warring among themselves). I suggest an allotment factor for each Clan.

Huh? How would that work? Simple. The General Council is made up of a Kahn from each Clan, major or minor. Among this group of Kahns, they elect a Leader of the GC and three member agreement board. Individual Kahns would submit their requirement ‘bids’ to the Allotment Board. The agreement board looks over the requirements for each Clan for each month and decides what new assets are delivered to what Clan. This would then be submitted to the Leader of the GC for approval. The Leader either agrees or makes adjustments and then each Clan gets what ever was submitted as their allotment for the month.

Also, if a Clan wins a ‘bid’ to attack an IS House, their allotment may be adjusted in increase their supplies as needed depending on their submitted bid, or as the GC sees fit to sustain, increase or decrease the flow of equipment. If a Clan is attacked by an IS house, they may also need more mechs than their allotment or even more than there ‘monthly bid’.

Why would you want to do this? In the beginning of a cycle (or whatever you want to call it), battles would be limited to only the mechs you have access to. How you trade and the agreements you make determine how technology spreads across the Inner Sphere and among the Clans. A team may spend months fighting a rival ‘house’ and never see an Atlas. Then one day they launch a assault on a neighboring planet in hopes of taking that planet for themselves and boom, there is an Atlas, or a few of them or many of them. Imagine capturing a planet from a rival only to discover some chassis being built there that you have not had access to, or only been able to buy through Black Market (extreme) pricing? Now imagine trying to work the logistics of deploying this new piece of technology to all your forces without losing it back, or having it stolen by pirates. Or, if you decided you weren’t happy with this new found toy, imagine the profits of selling through the Black Market o hiring Mercs to trade them off for something else or using ‘privateers’ to dispose of them for you on the Black Market if you don’t want to ‘dirty’ your hands.

Battle Mechs that were built by Houses or Clans that are not ‘filled’ while forming the league, could be bid on by other units. If Clan Ghost Bear did not have team filling that slot at the time of the league start up, or cycle, then any mechs built exclusively by Ghost Bear could be bid on by all the other ‘active’ Clans. Same for the IS. This would still allow for possibly all the chassis currently in the game to be used while the original ‘makers’ are not being used.

NBT has a very good system that allows for jump ship movements and record keeping as to what is in storage, on drop ships and jumps ships and what is on garrison as well as the size and type of factories on each planet. It also allows you to add factories if you have the C-Bills and it calculates income and maintenance fees. There is an overall universal map that can be drilled into down to individual planets. In the K-Cluster, planets may be sub-divided into territories owned by different Clans. It really is an impressive system and one that is fun to operate. Players can simply be pilots and fight using a multitude of chassis in a variety of different battle types, or they can have more assignments such as planetary garrisons or jump ship movements or financial operations or diplomatic relations officers or whatever.

More or less that is what my ‘ideal’ pure tech league would be like, chassis exclusive to certain Houses or Clans, Planetary Universe for warring and lots of diplomacy for agreements. This would make the pure tech aspect even more crucial.

How? As I stated in my previous post, the Clans had (have) an advantage in the 700 to 950 meter range and with lower tonnage weapons. The biggest thing in all the books and stories between the Clans and the IS was that the Clans would ‘bid’ on an attack. That is, the leader, or Kahn, would state tonnage or numbers of mechs or even which specific mechs they would use to capture a certain objective. A rival Clan would try to ‘bid’ lower by using less tonnage or smaller numbers and so on until one side passed and agreed to allow the other the right to be the aggressor for the battle that they were bidding for. This meant that the Clans would have smaller numbers of equipment available to them than there is counter parts, but the weapons technology was superior often weighing less (allowing for more firepower to be packed on) or having better range or both.

It wasn’t until the MekTek additions that things like the mini-gauss or Hyper Auto Cannons actually reduced that Clan advantage by taking away the range. Prior to MekTek MekPaks, the IS only had the Light Gauss Rifle and missiles (yes there were other weapons like the Long Tom and Arrow Missile System, but over all the Clans had an advantage). The IS had to rely more on tactics, stealth and shear numbers to overcome the Clan superiorities. In a video game, you cant very well ask one team to use only 5 or 6 chassis while the other gets to use 6 to 8 because overall it just doesn’t work out. Eventually the numbers game will catch up to the team using the lower numbers of chassis, especially in a planetary environment where it’s a one kill and you are out of the battle type of fight (meaning that there is no respawn, you either live or die in the battle).

In this suggestion of mine, you could recreate the Clan Invasion as well as the struggles between major houses. The Clans would still have their advantage of lighter / longer ranged weapons and the IS would slowly begin to realize that they need each other to survive the Clans (or at least they need some of their other IS chassis). Temporary alliances could be made, secret deals could be made, sales and trades could happen and Clans could fight each other as well as mount that drive on Terra…

Well that is my ‘perfect’ pure tech setting. The fun of facing mechs you don’t have access to or at least not yet. Realizing the strengths and weaknesses of the mechs you do have and the fun of going after what you want.

Pure Tech

Start a war? A debate? Maybe so.

We all know the radical differences between 3^rd Person View and 1^st Person view. We all know that there are many people on both sides of that razor edged fence. I prefer 1^st Person view and that is my choice. I don’t care if you prefer 3^rd person view because that is your choice. As long as you play the game, that is what matters.

The debate, the war, the topic for this rendition of Vettie’s Views isn’t about what view you use. No, instead I hope to spark some interest in one of the other oldest debates about this game, pure tech vs mixed tech.

Yes, my view will be slanted to the pure tech side because that is my preferred way of playing. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, its my blog, so I can put whatever I want in it. I do hope that this issue will spark some comments on both sides of this fence.

OK. Wow, where to start with this topic? Oh yeah, for those of you that may have stumbled upon my blog by accident, of for those of you that are new to MechWarrior, let me explain the differences and then I will state my case for pure tech. Pure tech simply means using Clan Technology Weaponry on Clan Technology Chassis and Inner Sphere Technology Weapons on Inner Sphere Chassis. Pretty simple. Mixed Tech is even more simple. Mixed tech means you can use any weapon on any chassis. Any questions? Ok maybe if you are new to the game you don’t know what is what. Simple enough. When you go into the mech lab and select a chassis or create a variant the chassis is there spinning around inside the lab. There is a brief description that tells you some key info like whether the chassis is Clan or Inner Sphere. On the left side is a list of weaponry. If it is Clan Technology, it will have a little “C” in the upper left hand corner of the weapon Icon. If it has and “X”, it can be used by either Clan or Inner Sphere and if it has nothing in the corner, it is an Inner Sphere weapon. If I figure out how, I will try to post pics of the different weapons and a chassis of each technology.

Well, I hope that my explanation was simple enough and I hope that I didn’t confuse anyone. Now on to my favourite, Pure Tech. Let me state this, I have never played the table top version of “Battletech” but I have a pretty good idea of how it works. I am a gamer and I play several table top games. My favourite is ASL or Advanced Squad Leader. Let me also state that I have read a few of the BT novels but not very many, so my dedication and love for this game actually stems from the game itself. I started playing way back in the MW2 days and I even played some online version back then. Vengeance and Mercs really got me interested and I have played for years.

My pure tech roots are not seated in the board game or the novel, its actually seated in the game itself. Vengeance and Mercs are very similar and I consider Mercs to simply be an improved add on to Vengeance even tho they are separate games. Way back in Vengeance (and in Mercs too) when you created a stock mech or a variant of a mech, it came pre-loaded with weapons based on the technology class of the chassis used. That is, if I created a Thor, it came with Clan Tech ER Medium Lasers, Clan LRM missiles and Clan Ultra Auto Cannons. If I created an Uziel (Carl’s favourite, “the ‘work horse’ of the Inner Sphere” if you remember the guy that ran the mech lab for Ian) it came with IS PPCs and IS Machine Guns and IS SRM missiles. This carried over into Mercs. I am not talking about the campaign game where salvage in Mercs nets you ‘the empty chassis and the weapons that would normally be installed on a stock mech’, I am simply talking about going directly to the mech lab and creating a mech (variant) for you to (possibly) use on line.

These ‘pre-existing’ stock models or variants have their roots from either the novels or the board game, I believe. I think they are called “TROs”. This is basically a listing of the mech, its variants (if any), the standard armament, the type of armour, the type of engine, the speed range and any electronics installed. Obviously, these “TROs” are more complex than what we get in the video game version, so our armour has been changed to three types, our engines are listed as speed upgrades or downgrades and the various electronics have been compressed into ECM, BAP, LAMs, Jump Jets and IFF and all the weaponry installed is same technology as the chassis.

If you ever read any of the books, then you know that early on the Clan Tech Mechs had a distinct advantage over the Inner Sphere mechs. The Clan Weapons had long ranges and the mechs had dual heat sinks to contain heat better. I also am under the belief that ‘early on’ the Clan Mechs were generally faster. This fact is brought about in the game we play. Inner Sphere Large Lasers are heavier (in tonnage) and have a shorter range than the Clan counter part. The same goes for all weapons that are shared by both technologies, like the PPCs, the standard Gauss Rifles, the Medium Lasers, the Pulse Lasers, the Ultra Auto Cannons and LBX Auto Cannons. All the Clan versions either weigh less (in tonnage) or have a longer effective range or both. For game balance, Microsoft and Mektek made the Clan versions of certain weapons run a bit hotter so it forces the player to either not shoot as much or use more heat sinks.

When I first started playing Mercs on line, I would play in a server called NBT-Thor (I think). Its now called NBT-Sunder, but it was a mission play requiring people to play FFP Pure Tech. I had no idea what all those acronyms were, but they played the same style that I played. I liked it. Before too long, I had joined a team in the NBT League. Here was a whole league that played 1^st Person View and Pure Tech Chassis loads. Wow!

It did not take long to learn the ranges of the weapons and when you were in range or out of range depending on the enemy you saw or picked up on radar. This became part of the strategy of how to play the game. You knew your limitations and you exploited your advantages. Clan Tech was nasty at 700 to 900 meter range while IS tech was great inside 600 meters or outside 900. Being an Inner Sphere Pirate team, MOST of our technology was IS but we did manage to have some Clan Tech.

Here’s the thing. If you saw a Gladiator or Mad Cat MKII, you new not to get within the 800 meter mark (or the 900 meter mark for the Glad) or you would get ripped to shreads UNLESS you could avoid being shot and close to the 600 meter mark where your (IS) weapons were as good as theirs. It just doesn’t seem right to see a jumping Glad Bag firing ‘red’ Gauss slugs at 1000 meters. Something is wrong with that picture. I hate to see a MKII firing what looks like regular Gauss slugs, but registering a hit at 1000 to 1100 meters.

You see, playing pure tech gives each chassis its own bit of character. There are many chassis in each weight class that can carry the same weapons load outs. The difference is the chassis itself. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some mechs can not carry some weapons or some combo of weapons because of slot size or weight (of the weapons) without altering some other part of mech (like losing jump jets or speed or armour).

Let me put it another way. Mixed tech allows you to build some uber configs that you could not do in pure tech. I will show you an example using my favourite mech, the Victor. Using a mixed tech config, I can load two Clan Gauss Rifles and three ER Large Lasers with ECM, LAMs and Jump Jets with no adjustments to speed or armour. In a pure tech setting, I can load two standard Gauss Rifles and only one Large Laser and I would have one ton left over to add to the armour or as a heat sink. Now you may not think the twin gauss, triple ER Large Victor is uber, but for a Victor it IS. What it shows is that by allowing any tech on a chassis, you can build some pretty mean configs that you would not see in a pure tech environment or in a TRO or in any of the books.

Another way of looking at it is like this. If you went to buy a new Ford, when you opened the hood you would expect to see a Ford motor, not a GM motor. You would think that not only is there some performance differences between IS and Clan weapons, but you would think that there may actually be some technical differences, like size variations (English vs metric) or connection issues or wiring issues or who knows what. What was the chance that during WWII that if any Allied Unit captured a gun or tank that they could take that and put it own ‘technology’ without some sort of retrofit to make it work? I mean come on, you capture a German Tiger and ‘our’ ammo fits and works flawlessly when the ammo it had runs out? What about modern weapons? Can the U.S. Army take parts of an AK47 and use them on an M16 without modifying something first?

Yes, I do think that scientists and engineers would be able to come up with ‘retrofit kits’ to allow you to use a Clan weapon on an IS Mech, but I also think that such a kit would have to have some tonnage to it that would need to be calculated in addition to the weight of the weapon. I would also think that the reliability of ‘wrong tech’ weaponry would be decreased somewhat, you know, more prone to malfunction.

I just find it very hard to believe that Clan engineers and Inner Sphere engineers came up with the exact same idea at roughly the same time. No, I think more like the Clan came up with these things and the IS captured or recovered (more likely) one of these gigantic monsters and reverse engineered it as closely as they could. Then again, I guess these mechs were already around before Kerensky and his followers headed off to form the Clans, so the basic design may have already been there and the Clans ‘improved’ upon existing technology.

Now a quick bit about mixed tech. Yes I play mixed tech some times. I don’t care for it, but the first few times through the solo campaign I did use mixed tech based on whatever I salvaged. By the way, its much more of a challenge to play the campaign using only pure tech configs.

As I mentioned above, mixed tech allows you to build some killer configs. What it really comes down to using mixed tech is ‘what is your mission objective?’ IF you playing to get the most kills, then mixed tech is great, just pick a tough chassis and load it up with whatever weapon you need to kill a lot of other mechs.

I see that as a down fall. Seems to me, and again, I don’t play mixed tech very often, but it seems to me that mixed tech would put a lot of weapons and especially mechs on the shelf. I mentioned above how there are multiple mechs in every weight class that can carry the same weapons load. For mixed tech, in my opinion, it would seem that you would almost ALWAYS use the toughest chassis mech that would allow the load out needed.

I could be wrong. I would love to hear from the mix tech readers (if any) about your thoughts on this.

Well that’s all for now folks.

Traffic Rant

Well, its been a very long time since I posted anything on Vettie’s Views. Some of the reasons are obvious if you have read my Blog. I lost my sister in a horrible car accident followed by having to take a couple of business trips. I really didn’t get time to grieve and I am still not sure if it has sunk in. I guess on of these days I will just sit down and have a massive cry.

The past three years have been pretty rough on Ol Vettie, I lost my mom to a very unexpected illness. I broke my lower back and had to have a fairly extensive surgery. The damage to my nerve bundle (the sciatic nerve) was bad, so bad that I had to learn to walk again, and even now I have trouble with my legs not always wanting to go where I want them to go. Then I had to have yet another back surgery because one of discs collapsed on top of another and caused the lower one to explode (yes, it really exploded, little pieces of bone fragments went as much as two inches away from the disc). Then my sister’s untimely death, not to mention my teenage daughter totaling a car in a head on collision with a SUV.

Yeah, I have had more fun in my life, but I guess it is all part of life, good times and bad. I am still alive and still kicking (and cursing and being generally a pain in the butt). I would like to say thanx to those of you who took the time to make a post about my sister and to those of you that just thought about me or even prayed for me, even if it was just a brief thought or prayer. Friends and family really help out in times like these and it means a lot, even if we forget to say thanx.

So, before I forget, thanx. Thanx to all of you.

Its been awhile since I had a good rant and now is as good a time as any. My rant is something that has most likely happened to you or you may have even done it yourself. As you can see from what I said above, my nerves are really pushed to the edge and it doesn’t really take a lot to set me off. When I was younger (and could move quicker), I was known to have a short fuse. Now, my fuse is MUCH longer, but once it is lit, well you will see.

Here’s the layout. Recently, my youngest step-daughter is on the colour guard for the high school band. She is a senior this year and she made ‘front line’. Front line, as they call it, is the line of ‘flaggers, or sabers, or rifles’ that is closest to the audience in a half-time show. She is very proud of herself and she works hard at the colour guard routines.

The Colour Guard have been having practices earlier in the mornings before it gets so hot. So typically, they start at 6.00a and practice until about 8.00a, except on Sundays. Sundays, they go from 7.00a until 8.30a, then they are excused for church and start up again about 6.00p.

The car that her mother and I have so graciously provided for her was in the shop having new tires installed and getting a general servicing. We had taken it on Saturday, but the shop said they were having a problem getting the tires and would not be done until Sunday afternoon. No big deal. Except that I forgot she had practice on Sunday morning. That meant that someone would actually have to get up and take her to school and pick her up. Well, you probably have a pretty good idea who ‘someone’ is, right? I didn’t really mind, because I normally get up between 6 and 6.30 anyway so I figured I would be awake.

Sunday rolls around and I wake her up so she can ‘get ready’ to go. I take her and drop her off at the school and I told her to call us when it was time to pick her up.

Its roughly 7.00a on a beautiful Sunday morning and I am awake and hungry. I decide to go to Hardees and pick up some breakfast to take home to the wife. She likes that and scoring some goody points with the wife never hurts, right?

Anyway, I head to the local Hardees. IT is located across a main road artery from where I live and this roadway is under heavy construction. The highway department is building and overpass over this particular intersection. At this east to west intersection, going west there are five lanes. Two lanes are for turning south (left) onto this major highway, two lanes are for going west (straight) into the parking lot of a shopping mall and two lanes are for turning north (right) onto the major highway.

No it is NOT a math error, five lanes, six options. The two northern most lanes (right hand lanes) are set up so that the farthest right lane is a right turn only lane. The lane adjacent to it is for going straight OR turning right.

I am going straight and after the intersection, I will be exiting into the parking lot of the Hardees. I can smell that sausage cooking from across the highway, hmmmm, sausage…

Anyway, as I mentioned, it is only 7.00a on a Sunday morning. I pull up to the intersection and stop because the traffic light is Red. This intersection is pretty busy during the week and the light cycle is roughly 3 minutes.

As I am sitting there, a couple of cars line up behind me and 2 cars enter the right hand turn lane. Alabama law allows a right hand turn on Red if the lane is clear, so those cars managed to turn right away. The light goes through its normal cycle and a green right turn arrow lights up for the right turn lane and my lane. I am going straight (one of the two options for this lane) so I don’t move. The guy in the car behind me sits down on his horn and (apparently) is screaming at me to go. I double check the light and it is only an arrow, so I put my car in park.

I grab my (titanium) cane and get out of the car to see if I could assist this gentleman with whatever problem he is having with his horn. Now, Ol’ Vettie is not huge by any means, but he isn’t a small guy either. Ol’ Vettie is about 6’1” tall and weighs about 240lbs.

Early on Sunday morning, before I have had time grooming, I guess I can have the look of a deranged killer or something like a mad scientist, with lots of hair going in every direction and a pair of grey eyes (my eyes are hazel and they change with my moods) that are non-blinking and staring a burning hole into whatever I am able to focus on. I get out of my SUV with cane in hand and proceed to the vehicle behind me that has now apparently been able to ‘fix’ his horn because it is no longer honking or blaring.

The dude in the mini van proceeded to roll his window up nice and tight. I walked right to the drivers window (he was alone in the mini van) and I began to use my cane to rap on his window requesting that he roll his window down. He obliged and I asked him, in a nice calm voice, what the issue was. The conversation went something like this..

“WTF is your damn problem? Roll that damn window down or I will break the damn thing!”

He rolled the window down.

Again, in nice calm voice I screamed “Is there a freaking problem with your horn? Or did you want something?”

He mumbled something like “I think I made a mistake.”

Once more, in soft, calm demeanor, I spoke, “look dude, this as a go straight OR turn right lane. I am going straight and the light is red for straight. If you need to turn right you can get your light happy mini-van or in the right lane and turn whenever you wish. I suggest you get that horn of yours checked right away because others may not be as calm as me or may have even taken your horning blowing and gesturing as a threat of some kind. I don’t pack a gun, but others do. Also, Dude, if you are in that big of a hurry, why didn’t you leave a few minutes sooner? Nobody wants to hear that crap at 7.00a on a Sunday morning, so knock it off, Clear? One more thing dude, I know that when you turn and you get a ways down the road and I am out of your sight, you are gonna have thoughts about what you should have done. Well, I am here none so I suggest that you do whatever you think you should have done and do it quickly, but I must remind you that not only do I use this cane to walk with, I am pretty good at using for other purposes. I played college baseball (jr. college) and I had a very high batting average. I still play golf and my bat or club speed is still very fast if you care to find out. And just so you know, titanium does not bend when it meets bone. Or at least, it hasn’t yet.”

With that I turned and headed back to my car. I felt a lot better about helping a neighbor with his horn problem. Just as I got my seat belt buckled, the light for my lane turned green. I slowly started out into the intersection, in fact, I went so slow that the light turned yellow before I got past the ‘stop line’. That poor fellow with the malfunctioning horn was again stuck at the intersection. Damn…

My rant is this. People do not need to be so impatient with their fellow humans in traffic. You are driving or riding in a (roughly) 3000+ bullet. Those thing hurt when the hit you, so pay attention to what you are doing, especially when you are behind the wheel and for God’s sake, stay off your damn cell phone while driving.

It wasn’t too long ago, that we didn’t have cell phones. You know what we did back then? We actually spoke to one another face to face or we used a real telephone. We either waited until we got where we were going, or we stopped and used a pay phone. If you need to use the phone so badly, get off the road and so it so you can concentrate on the call and you don’t have to worry about that bullet you are driving.

Also, just a few short years ago, this country under went a terrible attack from terrorist that killed many innocent people. Shortly after that terrible day that we now know as 9-11, everyone (at least in my area) was overly nice to each other, opening doors for one another, waving other cars on even tho the waver had the right of way, people slowed down and appreciated what they had and each other. It seems now that all of that has been put once again on a back burner and its every man for himself, again. Maybe we should step back a little and look at what we have and once again be thankful we are alive and that by the Grace of God (whoever or whatever you God is) you have what you have. Take a minute and be nice to somebody that you don’t know. You might just make their day, and it damn sure wont hurt you.

Before you get in line in traffic and decide to see how well your stupid horn works, remember that there maybe someone in front of you that is a bigger a$$h013 that you. Remember that jerk just might get out of his vehicle and come to your window and see if he can help you with your damn horn. Also remember that if he has a cane that as of yet, not one bone has ever bent that cane and that stupid jerk just might not be afraid to use that cane.

You never know the pressures or pains or incidents that someone else is going through. Just because you are having a bad moment, doesnt mean the guy you are blowing your horn at hasn’t had a worse one. You don’t know what you don’t know. Yeah, I was wrong to get out of may car and go bang on this guys window and give him crap. But I opened his eyes a little and at least before he does that again, he will at least hesitate for a moment and remembers that big ol’ dumb@ss that beat on his window. People, it’s a small world and at least for now, we all have to live in it. Have a little respect for others.

Ok that is my rant. Vettie tells the readers he is an idiot. He tells the folks that early on a Sunday, Vettie does not appreciate the sound of a car horn blaring at him from behind. Vettie also tell the readers that the one finger salute with rapid waving is not something he completely understands at 7.00a on an otherwise quite and peaceful Sunday morning. He also mentions that he might have mistaken those gestures as a call from that driver for help as his horn was obviously stuck in the “BLOW LOUDLY NOW” position. After a brief discussion with his friendly neighbor, Vettie apparently helped the guy fix the horn by rapping on the car window with a walking cane. I don’t know if this works for every vehicle, but it does seem to work well on Dodge Caravans, I am guessing the horn has a direct link to the window up/down button, but I am not a mechanic so I don’t know for sure. You also learn that Vettie is adept a giving directions in the heat of traffic, help the distressed traveler find the correct EMPTY lane for turning and finally, you learn that Vettie offers sound advice in that if you need to get some where in a hurry that maybe you should leave sooner….

Oh yeah, watch the video

http://www.trunkmonkey.com/content/view/28/1/