tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post5578366380715140083..comments2024-03-28T12:11:15.628-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: BattleTech: Final RatingCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1861052434430259792023-11-17T02:00:47.027-05:002023-11-17T02:00:47.027-05:00Got this game as a kid, and, you're right. It ...Got this game as a kid, and, you're right. It does appeal to kids. It appealed to me at the time. But, I had recently moved from a town where my friends and I (starting middle school) were playing Battletech on the weekends with all kinds of mechs, to a town where I knew nobody. So, this game filled a void. But, when I played it, even young me felt like the game devs were sort of playing lip-service to Battletech fans. The game is limited to light mechs (save for the Jenner). Ugh. It has a map that's WAY too big, and randomly generated. So, stuck slogging around looking for the outlying towns. And (what really boggles the mind) there's no roads connecting the towns. You should be able to exit the starport and follow a road to a town. But, no. Apparently the towns don't trade with each other, and nobody travels between them. Weird. On first play through, you're compelled to explore the whole map in case you missed something. But, you realize it's just 90% nothingness. Ugh. You realize you can flee the start of the game with the training mech, so that's cool. And, you get a Commando and Jenner. But, you get a traitor in your team. God forbid it's the 3rd mech pilot. On one play-through it was. They were in a mech, and promptly murdered all folks outside mechs then blew up one of my mechs while we tried taking them down. I learned my lesson to keep the mech guy on-foot until the traitor finally showed up. If it was the mech pilot, I could just stomp on them. If it wasn't, then I knew I was safe to put them in a mech and get 3 mechs fielded. But, the combat itself didn't feel quite like Battletech. Felt more like what an RPG dev thought Battletech would be like if it was an RPG. The mechs just felt like really large "elite" characters compared to humans. I lost all my mechs one time. Thought I could come across a mech, and kill it with my rocket launcher dudes to salvage. Nope. As humans, I rarely came across mechs. If I did, they'd just run over and stomp everyone. Wasn't until much later in life reading up on the game that I learned I could have stolen the UrbanMech you can lease to use in arena combat by blowing out a wall in the arena. How was someone supposed to know that? The game basically boiled down to starting, investing money, using a weight to hold down the "wait" key (or movement key to force him to walk into a wall continuously), come back hours later with enough money to buy the universe, try to flee with the training mech intact, get the team together while slogging the overly-massive map, then slogging the last area. It was a slog for the most part. Another annoying aspect was if a mech got a crit hit, that couldn't get repaired; you were stuck with it. A crit on the engine would reduce movement. I think you could get crits on heat sinks and such that reduced heat reduction. It was awful to be able to put together the 3 best mechs in the game, but get stuck with 1 or 2 that had unfixable crit damage. Game felt like they were trying to use it as a tool to get kids into Battletech. Which is odd, b/c their core fans were teen/adult. A game that felt like it should have been on an console, and restricted to light mechs? Makes no sense.blahblahblacksheepnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-74223911138751655732021-11-22T03:00:00.701-05:002021-11-22T03:00:00.701-05:00I acquired this game soon after release and it was...I acquired this game soon after release and it was one of my first CRPGs, if you permit it the term, alongside Pool of Radiance & Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday.<br /><br />I remember loving it, feeling absolutely immersed within it, and I cannot remember much perception of the horrendous flaws within it. It did make me very hungry for much more of the same, same meaning a CRPG involving mech combat and a big world, albeit one with preferably a lot more in it. So I was bitterly disappointed by the follow up Crescent' Hawks: Revenge, and could not understand at all why what I thought of as a successor would completely change the genre.<br /><br />Somehow, I figured out, no help, that it was possible to escape the training area with the Commando Mech, which gave me an easy run through the game. <br /><br />I did once leave my Amiga on overnight with the game running, thinking that the drip-feed of credits whilst in the starting area would continue and I would wake up rich. Was radical to me at the time to leave a computer on overnight, and wow, was my bedroom dry the next morning. No riches though, the credit feed stopped after a few deposits. Tough learning :-PLykurgoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15687147724309113356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-34337464117652047762021-02-14T21:13:49.804-05:002021-02-14T21:13:49.804-05:00Love me some Suikoden!Love me some Suikoden!Zack Macomberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18077050078436768492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77512964870062318392020-12-19T00:40:14.920-05:002020-12-19T00:40:14.920-05:00No, that's it all right. The reason you're...No, that's it all right. The reason you're seeing such a disparate sense of if the game's good is that the mechanics *do* capture Battletech pretty well and in a fun way.<br /><br />So if you're just looking to stomp around in a Mech through a game world for a while before looking for the ending it's not nearly as bad a game. Plus it's fairly unique for that until Mechwarrior (barring a single, shareware RPG on the Amiga that I could never find again).<br /><br />The ending is pretty horrible game-play wise, though. It does feel like the engine was polished and the rest of the game was never added in.Inhibithttps://pcburn.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-4134304067322452492020-01-21T10:34:18.161-05:002020-01-21T10:34:18.161-05:00I liked the Atari st version a lot. That version w...I liked the Atari st version a lot. That version was different from the dos version. To solve it you had to raise the skill of your character. That meant you had to fight a lot. In addition escaping wasnt easy.<br />Probably a better version of the game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-86073495005293598222019-02-06T17:10:37.996-05:002019-02-06T17:10:37.996-05:00That is an interesting parallel. It's like nei...That is an interesting parallel. It's like neither designer had faith in the core theme of their games.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-43517919459153417092019-02-06T08:28:32.288-05:002019-02-06T08:28:32.288-05:00The 1989 MechWarrior game for DOS (by another deve...The 1989 MechWarrior game for DOS (by another developer) has a similar odd choice in its (non-existent) relationship between the adventuring/roleplaying, the stats and the plot progression.<br /><br />MW is a first-person mech battle game, like later MW games, with mech sim weapons, Lance members, tactics and so on, but in between sorties you have a room-by-room adventuring system that comes somewhere between a menu town and B.A.T.<br /><br />The oddity is that, of the two systems, the combat system is entirely optional, like in Crescent Hawk's. The player's task is to track down an item that will prove their clan's claim over a moon. All of the progression towards this goal takes place in text windows that appear when the player chooses to visit certain planets. You don't get any party members, mechs or money during the course of navigating the plot, nor do you need any, as the adventure proceeds totally independently of any of your stats, or any of the randomly generated sorties you choose to undertake for money. There are some choices to make in the text windows, but they're very similar to the ones in Buck Rogers (if I read that right) in that the wrong choice either leads to a loop, a walking dead scenario, or instant death.<br /><br />When you finally track down the item, you find that it's in an enemy base. One of your loyal contacts says 'Oh, you're HERO, have this money' and gives you a wad of cash to help you out. It isn't impossible to make the amount up yourself with sorties, but as you found, ammo and armour are very expensive. Once you've reached the end of the narrative trail, you're free to goof around as much as you like, equipping your group with this windfall, until you attempt this one compulsory combat you have to win in order to complete the game.<br /> <br />I mention it as it's a strange parallel, despite the games not being from the same developer. (MW 1989 and the sequel to Crescent Hawk's Inception even refer to one another in the story if I'm not mistaken! Which also means that MW 1989 is set in the period of BT-universe history where Mechs can't be upgraded so you're stuck with a series of presets, which is a disappointment.)<br /><br />I can only assume that the designers of both wanted to make games with Story Bits and Combat Bits, and decided that the way to expose this universal appeal is to allow players to play as much of their favourite Bits as they liked without feeling left out or getting stuck.mecha-nekohttp://www.twitter.com/mecha-nekonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-42673487245663965512019-01-15T00:19:11.385-05:002019-01-15T00:19:11.385-05:00You know, rereading this I realized that the title...You know, rereading this I realized that the title of this game actually makes sense if Jason is the titular "Crescent Hawk". That is, it's the "Inception" of a "Crescent Hawk". That explains why it's not a story about the inception of the Crescent Hawk<i>s</i>.stepped pyramidsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-79749942142811686432017-02-20T01:10:47.574-05:002017-02-20T01:10:47.574-05:00It feels like Mechwarrior (1989) should meet the R...It feels like Mechwarrior (1989) should meet the RPG criteria, but it's unclear if your pilot's skills affect the outcome of combat (or if it is just your agility which would disqualify it).Bluerazorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417137714916057380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-49797046889500526632014-08-15T18:58:22.917-04:002014-08-15T18:58:22.917-04:00I stand corrected, and wonder where my knowledge c...I stand corrected, and wonder where my knowledge comes from hmm, but for others here is a good link I found. It is a good read.<br /> http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aams/hd_aams.htmBrent Plantenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-88412197655056549242014-08-15T15:55:45.767-04:002014-08-15T15:55:45.767-04:00Actually, the bit about plate armour is very wrong...Actually, the bit about plate armour is very wrong; that is a common myth, but knights got knocked down all the time on the battlefield, and could indeed get back up on their horses. There was one specific type of armour that was like that, but it was only used for tournaments, and was a lot heavier since a) you could use a stepladder to get on your horse, and b) you only had to protect against one type of attack. <br /><br />Knights fought dismounted all the time, when their horses were killed, for example, and they were very, very good at it. Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-45476264942916655162014-08-15T14:54:23.526-04:002014-08-15T14:54:23.526-04:00There was a bit of non-metal armor going around. N...There was a bit of non-metal armor going around. Not leather breastplates ala D&D but rather hardened leather pieces sewn together. The style is known as Lamellar.<br /><br />Perhaps D&D leather came into being because Gygax envisioned protective clothing you could do stealthy wall climby things in.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44051697676901953212014-08-15T13:17:15.261-04:002014-08-15T13:17:15.261-04:00ah Battletech fond but short memories of youth. I ...ah Battletech fond but short memories of youth. I enjoyed the game back than, but completely agree with the review, that end game was crap and the rest of the game had much promise. The article of the arena and the person escaping with the rented mech, can be about you. You just have to do it before some stranger does it. you fight in the arena and blast the spectator back wall stand (killing a lot of civilians incidently ;p ) and escape with the mech.Brent Plantenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-52523884175066869282014-08-15T13:11:23.741-04:002014-08-15T13:11:23.741-04:00I know this is old, but I thought to make the comm...I know this is old, but I thought to make the comment that leather armor has essentially never existed. In fantasy studded leather, leather armor etc. are not historical. Of course full plate armor existed but a person never "walked" they had a crane lift them up and place them on a warhorse, and if unseated was the same as a turtle on its back. Brent Plantenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26504309500868908752014-06-04T09:36:53.654-04:002014-06-04T09:36:53.654-04:00Having played this game when it came out, I can at...Having played this game when it came out, I can attest that it really is that short a game. Either this is another case where the reviewer is guilty of gross exaggeration, or this is another case of a reviewer who didn't finish the game and writes based on a false assumption that there are multiple planets to explore.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03023510621095565685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44884666484727982642013-12-29T07:06:53.594-05:002013-12-29T07:06:53.594-05:00Wow, what a letdown. I guess it's only natural...Wow, what a letdown. I guess it's only natural that even a developer like Westwood had room for improvement in the beginning. BTW, did you, Chet, ever got to play Lands of Lore in the past? I think it's one of the best Dungeon Master clones out there.fireballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01094871771537115267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-66294989637082782622013-02-07T12:02:35.969-05:002013-02-07T12:02:35.969-05:00It's a shame this one ended up being so dissap...It's a shame this one ended up being so dissapointing. It started of very promising from your initial posts but it looks like it fell apart hard by the end. I'm a huge Battletech fan, so this one held some interest for me. I guess I'll be passing up on it now. It looks like they lost sight of their goals halfway through, or maybe they were just rushed to finish it. I guess we'll never know at this point. If it had continued on like the beginning stages I probably would have picked this one up.<br /><br />As for the lore, I find the Battletech universe very interesting. I think if this game presented it better you would come to the same conclusion. Maybe not. <br /><br />There was an era of Battletech lore I particular dislike, however. The early stages were very interesting with ComStar providing a sort of underlying Illuminati-like manipulator with plenty of political intrigue. The real-world parallel factions also held a lot of interest to me. I ran a few Mechwarrior/Battletech hybrid campaigns and we had a lot of fun for them. Unfortunately, with the introductions of the lost tribes, the writing took a sophmoric tone and sort of replaced the political, sci-fi intrigue with almost high fantasy nonsense. Though I never got into the Mechwarrior minis (which were distinctly different from Battletech and closer to Heroclix or Horrorclix) the lore was interesting and took a rather post-apocalyptic turn.<br /><br />Within the universe, mechs being the end-all of combat does make sense. I'll spare you the details, but they go to some length to make the mechs believable. At least we still had the Mechwarrior simulator games to properly present the universe. I still hope we see another in that series one day.Tanuveinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397078211341079561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-19133246030270227942012-08-15T17:29:20.806-04:002012-08-15T17:29:20.806-04:00Hmm I haven't heard of crystal dragon, will ha...Hmm I haven't heard of crystal dragon, will have to look that one up. Black crypt was rather fun though, it's one I think would be a shame for cprgaddict to missBorothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-59741788682736742062012-04-01T11:37:49.839-04:002012-04-01T11:37:49.839-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.ronaldsfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15221297712822999741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-7030321988865209922012-03-31T06:36:07.072-04:002012-03-31T06:36:07.072-04:00Using bodyarmor is also cultural thing.
There wer...Using bodyarmor is also cultural thing.<br /><br />There were Celts wearing bodypaint but what you really should look is outside european history, whole lot of African continent cultures from different era fought without bodyarmor (from Egyptians and Thracians sans their chiefs to Zulu warriors of Rorke's Drift fame), native american cultures and south-east asian cultures fought mostly without bodyarmor and I don't believe them having been any less peaceful or wars less bloody. <br /><br />What my point originally could be told as story (based on real conversation): There was a couple driving from city to city, when they noticed H&M had launched another underwear ad campaign. Man looked at one depicting Bar Rafaeli. "You know", said woman. "Most of women don't look like that. She has had nose job, boob job, botox and photoshop" "Yes, of course", said man and continued driving. Came another ad depicting David Beckham which attracted woman's attention. "You know", said man. "Most of men don't look like that." "No", said woman. "But they should."<br /><br />Told this way just amusing, but if I changed order it would suddenly be offending. <br /><br />But otherwise I agree with you. Even Twilight would've been better if also Bella had been topless :)Llainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22272741021872833802012-03-30T22:05:29.562-04:002012-03-30T22:05:29.562-04:00I'm still looking at all the historical armour...I'm still looking at all the historical armour that only protected the torso: Viking, Roman, Greek, many forms of breastplate. Remember that the armour you are pointing two is gladiator armour for one on one duels, not the open battlefeild. <br /><br />Also: If that was true we should see the men wearing the same types of armour. I really don't care if the women are running around in next to nothing, as long as Conan and Fabio are there in loincloths. However, if the men are wearing fullplate then so should the women be.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85882161131683872352012-03-30T15:36:59.189-04:002012-03-30T15:36:59.189-04:00Apparently you missed the words "Nah, just ki...Apparently you missed the words "Nah, just kidding", but whatever...<br /><br />I never wrote that there weren't armor around torso, but compared her fighting style like thracian gladiator's (See the painting "Pollice Verso") as the thin chainmail doesn't protect from any hits but slices and cuts and blunt trauma would go through without absorption. <br /><br />But... Let's take another look at Alias. It should be apparent that she does not face the enemy at that stance (nor in that makeup). Check how boxers or martial artists move and model it after that - slightly sideways shield on left hand towards enemy and covering most of her upper torso. For anyone to get through to torso would need to pass both shield and sword she wields on right hand. Therefore her upper torso is not as defenseless as would be at first look and cleavage doesn't matter that much.<br /><br />I also didn't say that tendons at arms were the only target to strike, but compared to previously mentioned thracian Alias' swordarm is quite bare regardless bracer. And in her case I say tendons at arms would be first to go - she strikes lunging forward and opponent could parry or block with shield and could, instead using force to strike, just slice arm with blade of sword. Less force used, less tired, but the effect being that Alias drops the weapon and can't even get a hold of dagger she is wielding at her hip. Opponent could do that safely without risking getting his body to Alias' sword's range which would happen if he went striking to legs or head. <br /><br />About female armour I didn't say a word. Only that solar plexus (and ribcage) protects heart and lungs better than abs for kidneys, liver etc. so her having the kidney belt's good thing.Llainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44774880695979318322012-03-30T14:12:32.972-04:002012-03-30T14:12:32.972-04:00I'm doing a Let's Play of CSB right now if...I'm doing a Let's Play of CSB right now if you're interested. I'm also looking forward to seeing CRPG Addict play this one. *evil laughter* ;)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/AmethystLunitari" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/user/AmethystLunitari</a>Amy K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10892876651484617812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73803660443256577652012-03-29T21:21:41.228-04:002012-03-29T21:21:41.228-04:00Having fun is only one of my goals. I'm actual...Having fun is only one of my goals. I'm actually more motivated to quit a game when I can't think of anything more to write about it than when I'm not having fun.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40275322729147932622012-03-29T20:50:27.851-04:002012-03-29T20:50:27.851-04:00I...do I really need to cite a bunch of examples o...I...do I really need to cite a bunch of examples of historical armour based around the torso? For most of history (Including the non-historical CRPG period) weapons are heavy enough that you are basically bashing them into people full force, not flicking them around trying to cut the tendons in the arm. Therefore armouring the torso was very, very important. <br /><br />I'd cite examples of the problems with female armour, but my thesis is due next week, so I'm writing this on break while still in my lab, so viewing such things would probably be a bad idea.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.com