Linux Beta is LIVE!
about 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 28, 2018 at 01:33:38 AM

The long-awaited, much-anticipated Linux version of BATTLETECH is now available in Beta on Steam! When it goes live, the official Linux version will release on all supported distribution platforms. If you are a Steam Linux user interested in participating in our Linux Beta, you can opt-in to the "public_beta_linux" branch on Steam.    

If you're interested, we've also published release notes along with our live Update 1.2.1 release on Win/Mac.

Please post Linux bugs in the Paradox BATTLETECH bug report forum.  

Linux Known Issues

• When customizing the name of a ‘Mech or a Lance, the characters you type are doubled. So a W would appear as WW. Some menus may be extra light or extra dark depending on your system’s screen resolution.  
• Some menus may be extra light or extra dark depending on your system’s screen resolution.
  
• Hyperlinks are not functional on SteamOS only.  
• Logging into a Paradox account always ends in a failure on the first attempt on SteamOS only.  
• Multiplayer on SteamOS has intermittent connection issues (better as host than joiner). Refreshing the save game list can sometimes hang on the main menu. Restarting the game should fix the issue.
  
• Refreshing the save game list can sometimes hang on the main menu. Restarting the game should fix the issue
  

How are the Localized versions of the game coming?  

We are still hard at work on the French, German, and Russian versions of the game and our translators have delivered a full first pass of all the text in the game. We still have a lot of testing, bug fixing, and adjustment ahead of us, but this is a big milestone! 

If you weren’t aware, this thread is the place to find the latest news on the state of localization.  

Thanks for your patience and your support!  

- HBS

LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.2.0 Release Notes, MechWarrior Abilities Re-Spec Beta, and More!
about 6 years ago – Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 01:06:47 AM

Welcome to BATTLETECH 1.2! This release contains a number of quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes, as well as some cool new features. We have also released an overhaul of MechWarrior special abilities to Beta (see details below), and have updates on Linux and Localized version of the game.

HIGHLIGHTS: Players using the Custom Campaign options introduced in 1.1 can now take advantage of a new "Prologue Skip" setting to fast-track new campaigns (this is definitely not recommended for first-time players, though!). The combat Morale system in the campaign has received a significant overhaul (and is now called Resolve - more on that below). We've added a Memorial Wall in the Argo so that you can honor Dekker's sacrifice whenever you want. We've made several improvements to our save game management systems (and you can now name Manual Saves when creating them). And lastly, we added new events for you to discover during your mercenary adventures.See further details below.

Linux update: The team is still actively working on our Linux release. We hit a snafu with playback of audio (as in, “There’s no sound in the game”) but we’ve gotten support from an external party and appear to be back on track. We expect the Linux version to be available in Beta within the next few weeks.

Localized versions of the game: Players looking for BATTLETECH in French, German, and Russian still have a wait ahead of them. Our localization testing team recently discovered a bug that was preventing our translators from seeing a large quantity of content waiting to be translated. The issue has been fixed and localization is back on track. Unfortunately, release will be delayed for another couple of months.

We apologize to our Kickstarter Backers and to others waiting to play the game in Linux or their native language and we’re doing our best to get this work done as soon as possible. More details regarding localization can be found in this BATTLETECH Community thread. 

MechWarrior Abilities Beta: We're also excited to share a big revision to MechWarrior abilities, now released in Beta form. Before putting these live, we wanted to give interested players the opportunity to try these ability revisions and share their thoughts. Thus, we are releasing this work on a separate "public_preview" beta for dedicated testing. This beta is identical to the live state of 1.2, except for the abilities revision. We'll be reviewing beta feedback on these abilities in weeks following and expect to push this revision to live in our next big release, Update 1.3. Please read BATTLETECH Lead Designer Kiva McGinn’s Dev Diary post describing the new abilities. 

Note: Players switching to the public_preview beta will have all of their MechWarriors XP refunded, since the new abilities change each skill’s progress fairly significantly. This free re-spec will also be offered to players on the live branch when it’s officially released. It is highly recommended that you make a backup of your save games folder, as you will not be able to use a save game file from the new version in the case that you roll back to the live 1.2. This is especially important if you are in the middle of an iron man play through.

Please enjoy BATTLETECH 1.2, and also consider jumping in to the "public_preview" branch to give the MechWarrior abilities revision a spin!

-- HBS

IMPORTANT: If you experience any issues after updating, or see a popup like this one when trying to run the game...

This is a known issue with Steam, where it can occasionally fail to apply the update as expected. Here's the most reliable way we've seen to get around it:

1. Remove an existing game file in your installation directory (e.g. BattleTech.exe)
2. Verify Integrity of Game Files (Right-click on BATTLETECH in your Steam Library, select Properties -> Local Files tab)
3. The update should now download and apply normally.

IMPORTANT: Additional note for players who mod various game files…Reminder that modding is not officially supported. If you have saved a game with any mod active, that saved game will not work after an update has been applied unless you replace all modded files exactly as they were when the save game file was created. Saved games require the exact same data state in order to function properly.

As always, if you experience further issues please contact Customer Support at: https://support.paradoxplaza.com

New Features & Content  

New Prologue Skip Option. Added the ability to skip the opening missions and cinematics of the campaign and skip to your first mission as a mercenary commander, helping a group of miners.

Combat Morale replaced with Resolve. Players now gain a consistent amount of Resolve every round of combat, and can use it to activate Precision Strike and Vigilance. The amount of Resolve gained each round is determined by the Morale on board your ship.

New Memorial Wall added in the Argo. Players can now access a list of fallen MechWarriors and view a variety of statistics they logged during their mercenary careers. You can only find the Memorial Wall on the Argo ship in the Barracks.

New Events. A number of new mercenary events have been added to the game.

Improvements to save game management
- Added ability to create custom names for manual saves- Permanent saves are marked with gold triangle icons and tooltips- Added percent progress to save game refresh
- Added the ability for users to disable warning when deleting saves
- Deleting a save game no longer scrolls back to the top of the list each time 

Quality-of-Life Improvement
- Added the ability to restart in any combat mission without loading a save game (excludes iron man)
- Added initiative status icon overlays for MechWarrior portraits in combat
- Added more sorting options for inventory items
- Components are now sorted logically in the Store and MechBay
- Added more color swatches for mercenary outfit color schemes
- Added new floating text for Precision Strikes
- Added popup message when ‘Mech with invalid configuration is detected- Added new popup for selling multiple items in the store
- Added ultrawide version of main menu cinematic for 21:9 aspect ratios
- ‘Mech selection weight class filters changed from individual toggles to exclusive subsets, including new "All" button added to show all weight classes. 

UI
- We now show the proper number of health boxes and Xs on the After Action Review screen when someone with low guts is incapacitated or killed
- Fixed the mechbay storage list so that we don't clear the filters when you scrap a ‘Mech part.
- The Timeline now reflects modified MechWarrior names and portraits
- Pressing ESC now closes "Delete Campaign" prompts in the Load Campaign menu - Fixed an issue with a “Discard Changes” prompt displaying in certain circumstances after exiting Video Settings with no changes made
- Fixed an issue with using square bracket characters in save game search field
- The ENTER key now works on Mission Success / Mission Failure screens
- Tooltips no longer displayed for planets behind planet summary panel in navigation - Added a default firing arc when no weapons are available (or when an Ace Pilot moves after shooting)
- Removed the Back button during heraldry creation when a new account is registered
- Fixed a warning prompt message in the MechBay
- Fixed a visual-only issue with Heat Efficiency rating after equipping Heat Exchangers
- Fixed an issue in which items purchased from the store via the Mech Lab ("Check Store" button) disappeared until a refit is reloaded after reverting changes
- The Mech Lab underweight warning now only displays if at least 0.5 tons are free
- Removed the empty month option when registering a new account
- Fixed a tooltip on incomplete Mechs in MechBay
- Fixed game options menu opening when using Esc to close the withdraw confirmation popup opened via button in upper-right corner
- Fixed Heat Exchanger icons sometimes not loading
- Fixed empty available weapons and equipment sections when customizing ‘Mechs
- Fixed several layout and fill issues in MechBay
- Fixed save game slot hitbox area so rapid deletes won't double click and load saves
- Fixed text overflow in Welcome Commander message popup Hardpoint icons are now consistent with Weapon icons
- Fixed scroll position of event descriptions persisting between events in some cases
- Fixed an issue where the ‘Mech paperdoll was mirroring the structure displayed for the rear view Fixed overheat warning not always showing for melee or DFA attacks
- Updated MechBay tutorial information Fixed some orange buttons being transparent
- Updated Game Tips to reflect new morale mechanic
- Fixed display of overheat/shutdown warnings overlapping when Called Shot is active
- Fixed bug where canceling the commander's customization without changes could still cause the confirmation popup to come up- Fixed disabled ability tooltips being displayed in tutorial under specific circumstances MechWarriors killed in action no longer display injury text in the ARR
- Disabled zoom camera during multi-target attacks 
- Fixed cases where melee camera would spin around rapidly prior to attack- Fixed camera taking too long to focus on player ‘Mech when attacked, sometimes missing the beginning of impacts- Prevent the "Follow Cam" from moving up over the top of the unit it's following

AI
- Mountain Hold map bug fix, widening a specific path to prevent inefficient AI movement.
- Fixed convoy escape zone on Escarpment Valley map to prevent units from blocking mission completion
- Escarpment Valley map bug fix to tweak the road area to remove rocks that were bottlenecking and blocking convoy units.
- Expanded play bounds on Alpine Cathedral Destroy base map to include spawners to prevent pathing issues for reinforcements.
- Bleak Ridge map update to fix broken spawns.
- Sunken Hills map bug fix. Moving some spawners and shifting the terrain slightly to improve play and stop units from being blocked.
- Fixed the possibility that the AI would take paths that would get it stranded
- Fixed a bug in jump selection state where it was looking through the wrong list of enemies, which included dead ones, and was causing DFA selection to not work sometimes
- Fixed a bad spawn location on Toxic Mire map with a movement of a spawner
- Fixed enemy vehicles spawning in Assassinate contracts on Split Range map sometimes not being able to reach the player
- Bleak Ridge map bug fix moving rocks to prevent movement blocker
- Improved patrol route pathing
- Fixed case where AI would look at player's morale instead of its own when deciding whether to use Precision Strike
- Fixed instance where an enemy ‘Mech takes no action when deciding whether to make a melee attack based on its target's unsteady state
- Fixed case where AI would brace instead of performing opportunistic DFA attacks
- Fixed multiplying support weapon damage by melee/DFA multipliers  

Accounts
- Updates and adjustments for GDPR compliance

Modding
- MetaDataDatabase switched over to using Natural Keys instead of Guids where possible

Launcher
- New "Force Focus" option in Launcher to skip the disabling of ghosting in Windows to address potential crashing issues on some system

Audio
- Footsteps VFX now differentiate between biomes

Bugfixes
- Fixed a case in the skirmish MechBay where copying a ‘Mech, then canceling, would leave that phantom copy as the active ‘Mech
- Fixed a Timeline freeze and planet arrival saves not being generated- Fix for game not progressing after loading specific auto saves
- Fixed an issue where adding illegal characters to the search filter would cause saves to not appear after text is cleaned up
- Removed old clear achievement debug hotkey
- Fix to make the negotiation sliders reset properly after backing out of the lance configuration screen
- DFA can now produce a pilot injury if you take both your own legs off with it
- On Capture Base missions, the player can no longer target the friendly dropship
- Updated portrait manager with new beard skinning
- Fixed cases where Ultra and High quality settings could be reversed after changing quality settings and restarting
- Fixed Highlander animation when transitioning from idle to brace
- Fixed some background textures in Mech Bay
- Fixed visual issue with MRB rating stars disappearing after reaching max rank
- Fixed MechWarrior training prompt for pilots with already maxed out skills
- Fixed some text that could show through the finance widget- Fixed weapon hit effects sometimes applying when weapon misses
- Fixed background shadow in Lance deployment menu
- Fixed facility decals in Sandy Mesa map
- Fixed galactic background showing during Navigation menu transition in ultrawide resolutions
- Fixed rare cases where Forest buff didn't apply on tiles with trees in some maps- Fixed missing tooltip in Mech Bay for right leg armor bar
- Fixed tooltip hit box in Mech Bay when multiple icons are present in the selected lance configuration
- Fixed building in Raw Cliffsides missing collisions
- Fixed cases where objective success sound would play unnecessarily
- Fixed display of some Rough Terrain movement pips on Hidden Lagoon
- Fixed redundant VO barks when selecting "Done" to end turn prior to contact with OpFor- Added collision to tunnel on Highway map
- Equipment/Weapons sold while in the Refit screen are removed from the refit interface to prevent work orders that include sold parts from being created
- Fixed potential soft lock if ejecting last MechWarrior and withdrawing at the same time while confirming both prompts with Enter key-
- Fixed cranes not falling when lower strut is destroyed by ‘Mech impact- Fixed parts of destroyed buildings reappearing after loading combat save
- Fixed some Assassination contracts completing early after loading combat save (not retroactive)
- Fixed case of camera clipping through pirate base
- Capturing all three silos during Itrom Attack now auto-completes the mission (no longer requires moving ‘Mechs to the Evac Zone)
- Fixed ice regions missing from map after loading a combat save
- Fixed incorrect max head armor on Commando and Spider in Mech Lab (was 30, now 45)
- Fixed possibility of sprinting ‘Mechs onto same position as OpFor Mech in specific circumstances
- Fixed some missing/incorrect movement pips in Hidden Lagoon
- Fixed case where losing silo Bravo could cause explosion of silo Charlie in Itrom Attack
- Fixed flickering shadows when ‘Mechs are idle
- Fixed some hair styles in character creation being too reflective
- Fixed incorrect shadows displaying in Barracks when switching between rooms
- Fixed potential soft-lock state after loading a combat save created by pressing Enter to confirm save dialog
- Fixed missing rain effect in Medium and High graphic settings
- Fixed lightning issue in character creation with specific hairstyles and light combinations
- Fixed scars in portraits getting more intense after each save game load (until game restarted)
- Fixed display of rings around planets on loading screen
- Fixed enemy reinforcements being unable to reach the player's ‘Mechs during simple battle contracts on The Mine map
- Fixed last applied portrait changes being applied to both Commander and hired MechWarrior
- Fixed deleted saves showing again after entering and removing text in the search field
- Fixed buff icon for destroyed buildings
- Fixed item selection not clearing in the Store when switching to an empty tab
- Fixed overheat audio alarms, VO, and VFX from not playing in certain circumstances
- Fixed several cases where enemy units could spawn in stuck positions (unable to engage player)
- Fixed a spammy warning about melee weapons that "can't technically fire" (but actually can)
- Fixed enemy contact being reported multiple times
- Fixed bug where standing in an Evac Zone area prior to its appearance as an objective could block progression in specific missions
- Fixed bug that put player in combat during Itrom Attack prior to enemy unit contact
- Removed mid-air floating rocks in Smithon
- Fixed path in BarterTown to be walkable as expected-- Fixed cases where ‘Mechs would turn in place prior to attacking a target already in melee range
- Fixed a bug with entering combat where neutral tab target buildings weren't starting combat (including some turret generators)
- Fixed Ace Pilots getting stability reduced twice if they fire and then move- Fixed Ace Pilots using "done" not getting the appropriate stability reduction applied
- When Reserving an entire lance only one pilot's VO bark is played instead of the entire team
- Fixed issue where wrong the ‘Mech shadow was cast in the MechBay
- Fixed typos in some pilot bios- Fixed Restore Defaults in video settings not impacting resolution when in fullscreen mode (PC only)
- Fixed potential item duplication issue
- Fixed incorrect lighting when loading a save game where ship is docked to JumpShip
- Fixed stuck Panther on Smithon map
- Many additional small improvements and bug fixes 

Known Issues
- If you load a save game that was in the middle of combat into the public_preview MechWarrior Re-Spec version from a previous version of the game, you will still have the old abilities even if the UI represents the new abilities. You will need to be back at the Argo before the Re-Spec process will take place.

BATTLETECH Update 1.1.0 is Live!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 12:04:33 AM

We’re happy to announce that we've just pushed BATTLETECH Update 1.1.0 on Steam and GOG!

This Update is all about giving you more ways to customize your experience, as well as reacting to common pieces of feedback that we've heard from you about the game. While we’re still working on the Tutorial Skip feature that’s been requested, many more things DID make it in beyond what we mentioned last month such as ultrawide monitor support and some additional quality-of-life improvements.

In Update 1.1.0 you’ll find improvements across all areas of BATTLETECH including new features & content, balance changes, UI and AI improvements, and a healthy dose of optimizations and general bug fixes.

Here are a few highlights:  
- MechWarrior customization
- Granular difficulty settings
- Ironman Mode
- Ability to accelerate the current combat action with SPACEBAR
- Speed-Up mode to accelerate all combat actions
- Cancel combat actions and selections with right-click
- MechLab quality-of-life improvements
- Current inventory count in Store and Salvage
- Several new events and improvements to event generation
- Ultrawide monitor support
- A new, optional BATTLETECH Launcher with compatibility & troubleshooting settings and a crash reporter -
...And Much More!

The full list of updates and changes is WAY too long to share here (they came out to an 8-page google doc!), but you can read the full release notes here - be sure to update your game soon to check it all out!

The next items on our roadmap are Linux and localized versions of the game. We’re making good progress on Linux and hope to have more specifics to share soon. Unfortunately, we hit some unexpected setbacks on localization which means German, French, and Russian will take longer than we previously thought. We're actively working through it and bringing more people onto the effort, as it’s a top priority for the studio. We’ll update you on Linux and localized version release dates as soon as we have them.

Finally, in our last update, we shared the exciting news that Harebrained Schemes has become part of the Paradox Interactive family. Here's a message for all of you BATTLETECH Backers from our friends in Sweden!

You should now find a Steam key for Stellaris in your BackerKit account - thanks, PDX! - and if you don’t see it, please email us at http://harebrained-schemes.com/contact/.

Here are the directions to recover your account if you need them:
- Go to https://battletech.backerkit.com/
- Enter the email address you used to back the game into the "Kickstarter Email" box and click on "Get My Survey"
- When you get the email from BackerKit, follow the link inside to your account Click on "Get Your Digital Rewards"
- Copy and paste your key into your gaming library of the platform

As always, the place to go for BATTLETECH Support is https://support.paradoxplaza.com and specific HBS question should go to http://harebrained-schemes.com/contact/.

If you have general BATTLETECH questions or thoughts, interest in finding ‘MechWarriors that want to play multiplayer, or modding, head over to the BATTLETECH forum where there’s a great community over that would love to welcome you! 

Important Harebrained Schemes News!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Jun 06, 2018 at 12:25:42 AM

We just announced some big news today and wanted to share it with you personally.

BATTLETECH: What's Next?
over 6 years ago – Thu, May 03, 2018 at 02:20:47 AM

First of all, to our Backers and new players alike - thank you for your incredible outpouring of love and support last week following the launch of BATTLETECH, and for sharing so many of your amazing game experiences with us. As a small developer, these stories mean the world to us. It's why we do this.

From the heartfelt reactions of our Backers, to the kind words from reviewers, to the epic marathons on YouTube, to the hysterical reactions on Twitch, to the goofy memes floating through social media, this week has been a whirlwind and we are thrilled to be on this ride with you.

We could easily fill this entire post and more just rounding up press and fan reactions to the game - but we'd rather talk about what's next. From the start of this project, we've viewed launch not as the end of the road, but as the birth of a living product. Over the course of development, you might recall that we often answered speculative questions about post-launch features or content with, "in success, all things are possible."

Well - thanks to you, this is the success we hoped for. And many things are now possible! We're working with Paradox on a roadmap for the next year of BATTLETECH development. This will include regular bugfixing, quality-of-life improvements, and free Updates adding new features to the game. Here's a look at the next few months of that roadmap.

BATTLETECH Post-Launch Roadmap

1.  Compatibility / Performance Investigations
Our launch last week wasn't perfect. A subset of players are experiencing hardware/system compatibility and performance issues that our team is working hard to investigate. Solutions for critical issues are always our top priority, and will be released as soon as they're available and tested. Typically, we will release patches to our public_beta branch on Steam for a few days for testing before we push them to the default branch.

On that note - last Friday we released our first patch to the public_beta branch for testing. Today, that 1.0.1 Patch went live - you can read the full changelog here. We expect to release more patches to public_beta in the coming days and weeks.

2. General BugFix (Late May)
We expect to release at least one general bugfix/improvements patch later in May.

3. Localization (French, German, Russian) and Linux Support
These are both Kickstarter commitments and high priorities for our post-launch roadmap. (Along with a couple other Kickstarter commitments that didn't make it in for launch.) We don't have a more precise ETA yet for these items but will update you as soon as we do.

4. Update #1: Customization & Player Options (June/July)
We're already beginning work on our first larger free Update to BATTLETECH. This Update is all about customization and reacting to common pieces of feedback that we've received from you on the game. Here's a list of items we're currently looking at for Update 1 this summer

--Accelerated Combat Options - We're working on options for players who would like to accelerate the pace of combat missions.

--MechWarrior Customization - We know that many players would like to change the appearance, callsign, name, and voice of all their MechWarriors, not just their Commander. This didn't make it in for launch but we'll be adding it in Update 1

--Granular difficulty settings - A set of discrete options for players to customize the challenge level of the game in different areas.

--MechLab / Store / Salvage Quality-of-Life Improvements - Interface additions to reduce friction when buying and salvaging new items.

--Tutorial-skip Option - Allowing players who have already played the prologue missions to skip those missions when starting a new campaign, and get right to the Leopard. 

--Addressing Difficulty Spikes - We'll be working on smoothing out some issues with unexpectedly hard (or easy) content. Not to remove all difficulty variance, but to address clear outliers.

--Live-streaming Quality-of-Life Improvements - Audio persisting when alt-tabbed, for example.

It's important to note that the exact contents of Update 1 may shift during development. Please consider these general directions and priorities. We'll post a more detailed and updated list of what's in the Update closer to its release.

5. More BATTLETECH!!
The above is just the beginning! We'll be continuing with more free Updates after Update 1, and we'd also love to release a larger paid content Expansion or two - but right now we're staying focused on bugfixes and immediate reactions to launch feedback. 

With your support, we could not be more excited to continue making BATTLETECH even bigger and better. 

Thank you.
HBS