Development Update - April 15, 2010

[KingLeerUK]

 
Greetings from the MechWarrior: Living Legends Team!

We know it has been a while since any development news has been released so we are pleased to end the dry spell with today’s glimpse into some of our ongoing development activities.
 
After several months of public beta release and analysis of metrics and playtest observations we have undertaken an extensive rebalancing effort.  To support this, our programming team has developed a new approach to how balance is implemented in MechWarrior: Living Legends and have created new tools to allow our team to adjust balance in a logical and structured format.
 
New Balance Adjustment Script

Developed for use by internal development staff, this script allows for balance implementations to be quickly changed using multiplier values that apply to categories of weapons, sub-categories of weapons, vehicle armour values and component armour distribution.

Weapon Damage

Weapon damages have been completely refactored using CBT values as a base template.  Additionally, within the balance code, weapons have been grouped via their class and sub-class (i.e. “Lasers” and “Beam Lasers”).  Having this hierarchy in combination with the balance adjustment script allows us quickly set and playtest global changes to an entire weapon class.

Armour Values

Armour values for assets with MWLL have been refactored, again using CBT values as a base template.  In this case, we have developed a formula for distributing the total armour value for a platform across its constituent components programmatically.  As with the Weapon Damage system, each class of assets within MWLL has been categorised to allow quick changes across entire classes of vehicles for playtesting purposes.  As an example, the script could be run to increase tracked armour values by 10% and instantly distribute that increased armour allocation across all member vehicles of that class.

Please note that although we are using CBT values as a starting template we have no intention of directly replicating the entirety of CBT balance tables.  Beyond the obvious issues of trying to use a tabletop ruleset for a FPS combat game, we feel that the overall gameplay experience should be the guiding rule for the creation of a balance system.
 
We are undertaking internal testing to find a balance state for our next public beta release, but as with any complex game system we will likely need another round of feedback from the beta.  However, with our more streamlined system, it will make the turn around much faster and make the addition of new assets much simpler and easier to balance relative to existing assets.
 
Thank You Again for Your Support of MechWarrior: Living Legends!

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

very nice. good to know that the structure is in place to make quick changes to values that could fluctuate rapidly based on beta feedback.

[~SJ~ Xarg Talasko]

Hot off the press... and very impressive. Thanks KingLeer! Very good news.

[ThunderHawk819]

Indeed, though I must say that the CBT (Battletech) values should not be the basis for the game. It does however give ideas as to where to start and allow for better gaming. Those rules- please, keep this in mind - are strictly meant for tabletop play; not force first person shooters similar to MW:LL.  Still, its great to see that we have not been left out in the cold as the saying goes. I look forward to the system techniques being added to the game. I see a patch in the near future coming up soon.

[Flyingdebris]

this news gives me mech-boners

[xInVicTuSx]

Hah! The devs definitely have kept up with the forum talk me thinks!
A well timed and appropriate response to community concerns right at this point in time.
GG sirs. GG.
I look forward to the resulting tweaks.

[Galaxy613]

I am quite happen to see another dev update, I'm glad to hear they are still chugging along.

Indeed, though I must say that the CBT (Battletech) values should not be the basis for the game. It does however give ideas as to where to start and allow for better gaming. Those rules- please, keep this in mind - are strictly meant for tabletop play; not force first person shooters similar to MW:LL...

Um, you did read the whole thing right?

Please note that although we are using CBT values as a starting template we have no intention of directly replicating the entirety of CBT balance tables.  Beyond the obvious issues of trying to use a tabletop ruleset for a FPS combat game, we feel that the overall gameplay experience should be the guiding rule for the creation of a balance system.

They are aware of what you brought up before you even brought it up.

[Malen]

Looking forward to it! 

[Rakkis]

sweet I can't wait!!

[1FSAC Rad]

The devs again show their dedication to this Mod...I was already impressed...it just gets better!!

Thanks guys....good work!

Rad

[ratbuddy]

Hopefully this does something to silence the people who keep whining about stuff that's already been changed 

[HH_Burner]

Indeed, though I must say that the CBT (Battletech) values should not be the basis for the game. It does however give ideas as to where to start and allow for better gaming. Those rules- please, keep this in mind - are strictly meant for tabletop play; not force first person shooters similar to MW:LL.  Still, its great to see that we have not been left out in the cold as the saying goes. I look forward to the system techniques being added to the game. I see a patch in the near future coming up soon.

I beg to differ on this one.  The Netmech 4 mod for MW4 Mercs used CBT values and we loved it.  Combined with the logical modular placement of weapons we did not have to deal with boater games.  Some people will just whine because they cannot shove 8 UAC20's onto a Shadowcat once the mechlab is released.  I also would not consider MWLL a First Person Shooter.  You discredit the team by classifying it as an FPS it is much more than that.

Good Job Team!

<S>

[LordHack]

Please note that although we are using CBT values as a starting template we have no intention of directly replicating the entirety of CBT balance tables.  Beyond the obvious issues of trying to use a tabletop ruleset for a FPS combat game, we feel that the overall gameplay experience should be the guiding rule for the creation of a balance system.

Q F T


(good job and thank you for your efforts)

[Flyingdebris]

Action Sim would be the better term than FPS, unfortunately, the overall nichness of the action sim genre pretty much causes this game to be sorta pigeonholed.  Vehicular combat would also be an accurate term.  1st person just happens to be its pov.

I dunno how netmech did it.  but the cbt values for tabletop are all  based off the assumption that you are only ever chainfiring, aiming all over the place,  and only firing weapons once every 10 seconds, and that the map sheet/game space probably has to fit on a reasonably sized table.  Obviously this is different in a real time situation.  Which is why a lot of this balance stuff is really a pain to figure out.

[TheDrgnRbrn]

Woot for Dev Team Updates! Would be awesome if they happened on a regular basis. Bi-weekly? Weekly? I vote hourly.

I dunno how netmech did it.  but the cbt values for tabletop are all  based off the assumption that you are only ever chainfiring, aiming all over the place,  and only firing weapons once every 10 seconds, and that the map sheet/game space probably has to fit on a reasonably sized table.  Obviously this is different in a real time situation.  Which is why a lot of this balance stuff is really a pain to figure out.

As opposed to the current 'Alpha-as-soon-as-my-crosshair-turns-red-and-damn-the-consequences' mentality
But this system sounds like the best way to help nail balance to the wall. If they can adjust all the numbers in the game that easily, they will have more time to devote to new features and such. Yay for us.