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My final version of my 1A project which I created a design document on an already created game which in this case was Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries
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Games Design 1A
Design Document for MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries
Andrew Clark (CV003707)
Page 1
Game Concept________________________________________________________6Introduction________________________________________________________6Genre_____________________________________________________________6Platform___________________________________________________________6
Game mechanics_______________________________________________________6Core gameplay______________________________________________________6
Rules____________________________________________________________6Actors_____________________________________________________________7
Avatars__________________________________________________________7Weapons________________________________________________________23Armour_________________________________________________________27Non-Mech Enemies_______________________________________________28
Actions:___________________________________________________________29Behaviour_________________________________________________________30Progression________________________________________________________30
Game flow:______________________________________________________30Moves____________________________________________________________31
Modes of Play____________________________________________________38Scoring_________________________________________________________39
Points________________________________________________________39Collectables___________________________________________________39
Pilots_______________________________________________________39Weapons:___________________________________________________40Mechs:_____________________________________________________40
Life Management_______________________________________________42Navigation______________________________________________________43Balance_________________________________________________________43
Interface____________________________________________________________44Flow chart_________________________________________________________44Interface by screen__________________________________________________45
Main Menu______________________________________________________45Instant Action Deployment__________________________________________46MechLab (Generic)_______________________________________________47Campaign command Centre_________________________________________47Star Systems_____________________________________________________48Orbital View_____________________________________________________49Mission Deployment Screen_________________________________________49MechLab (Campaign)______________________________________________50Free Market_____________________________________________________51Load___________________________________________________________51Options_________________________________________________________52Multiplayer connection setup________________________________________53Select sever______________________________________________________53Host setup_______________________________________________________54Edit restrictions___________________________________________________55Roster__________________________________________________________55Credits__________________________________________________________56
Style_______________________________________________________________56Story synopsis______________________________________________________57Script_____________________________________________________________57
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Levels______________________________________________________________59Mission 1: Eaton – Merc Alley________________________________________59
Concept:________________________________________________________59Primary Objectives:_______________________________________________59Secondary Objectives:_____________________________________________59Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed_____________________________59Pay:____________________________________________________________59Enemies (Red Dots)_______________________________________________59
Group 1:______________________________________________________59Group 2:______________________________________________________59Group 3:______________________________________________________60Mission specific entities. (Green Dots)______________________________60
Walkthrough_____________________________________________________60Mission 2: Halloran V – Checkpoint____________________________________60
Concept:________________________________________________________60Primary Objectives:_______________________________________________60Secondary Objectives:_____________________________________________61Maximum number of teammates allowed______________________________61Pay____________________________________________________________61Enemies (Red Dots)_______________________________________________61
Group 1:______________________________________________________61Group 2:______________________________________________________61Group 3:______________________________________________________61Group 4:______________________________________________________61Group 5:______________________________________________________61Group 6:______________________________________________________61
Walkthrough_____________________________________________________61Mission 3: Halloran V – Offshore______________________________________63
Concept:________________________________________________________63Primary Objectives:_______________________________________________63Secondary Objectives:_____________________________________________63Maximum Number of Teammates allowed_____________________________63Pay:____________________________________________________________63Enemies________________________________________________________63
Group 1:______________________________________________________63Group 2:______________________________________________________63Group 3:______________________________________________________64Group 4:______________________________________________________64
Mission Specific Entities___________________________________________64Walkthrough_____________________________________________________64
Mission 4: Eaton Merc Alley A________________________________________64Concept:________________________________________________________64Primary Objective:________________________________________________65Secondary Objective:______________________________________________65Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed_____________________________65Pay____________________________________________________________65Enemies________________________________________________________65
Group 1:______________________________________________________65Group 2:______________________________________________________65Mission specific Entities:_________________________________________65
Walkthrough_____________________________________________________66
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Mission 5: Halloran V – Industry Raid__________________________________66Mission Concept:_________________________________________________66Primary Objective:________________________________________________66Secondary Objectives______________________________________________66Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed_____________________________66Pay:____________________________________________________________66Enemies:________________________________________________________67
Group 1:______________________________________________________67Group 2:______________________________________________________67Group 3: (Black Cobra Unit)______________________________________67Mission specific entities:_________________________________________67
Walkthrough_____________________________________________________67Options_____________________________________________________________67
Difficulty level:____________________________________________________67Multiplayer options:_________________________________________________68Video/sound options_________________________________________________68
Video options:___________________________________________________68Sound options____________________________________________________69
Support_____________________________________________________________69MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries – Cyberlore Studios, Inc._____________________69Project Team_______________________________________________________69
Project Lead and Lead Designer:_____________________________________69Lead Programmer:________________________________________________69Lead Artist:______________________________________________________69Producer:________________________________________________________69Executive Producer:_______________________________________________70Programmers:____________________________________________________70Artists:_________________________________________________________70Additional Artists_________________________________________________70Designers:_______________________________________________________70Sound Design and Engineering:______________________________________70Content Manager:_________________________________________________70Additional Content Manager:________________________________________70Marketing:______________________________________________________70Playtesting:______________________________________________________70Additional Playtesting:_____________________________________________70MIS Support_____________________________________________________70Voice Talent:____________________________________________________71Human Resources and Office Manager:________________________________71Art Department Director:___________________________________________71Programming Department Director:___________________________________71Design Department Director:________________________________________71
FASA Studio, Microsoft Corporation___________________________________71Studio Manager:__________________________________________________71Executive Producer, BattleTech® Line_________________________________71Program Manager:________________________________________________71Art Director:_____________________________________________________71Development Manager:____________________________________________71Development:____________________________________________________72Design:_________________________________________________________72
Competitive analysis__________________________________________________72
Page 4
Comparing MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries to MechWarrior 3._________________72Graphics:________________________________________________________72Music__________________________________________________________72Interface________________________________________________________72Gameplay:_______________________________________________________73Story:__________________________________________________________73Gems___________________________________________________________74Main tradeoffs in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries__________________________74
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Game Concept
Introduction
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Is a 3d based team game in which players move around a large terrain in a multitude of Mechs with the objective of destroying all of the enemy units consisting of tanks, aircraft, boats and Mechs using a variety of weapons.
Genre
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries is 3d shooter that can be played in 1st or 3rd person depending on your preference examples of this type of interface can be seen in the previous MechWarrior games. MechWarrior 4 is a mission based game where the player can lead a team of up to 8 Mechs into over 50 different missions with objectives ranging from protecting a convoy to assaulting a dropship.
Platform
MechWarrior 4 was developed for use on windows 98 and requires the use of at least a 16mb graphics card and 700 MHz of processing power
Game mechanics
Core gameplayForemost the main aim of MechWarrior 4 is to eliminate all enemy units on the map, this aim can then be condensed down into 4 different mission types: Defending, Attacking, Recon and Stealth. Normally any one mission falls under one of these categories, although several missions can fall under several due to changes in the primary objective or the addition of a secondary objective.Defending missions normally consist of defending several key structures or escorting a convoy from point A to point B while destroying any enemy Mechs or vehicles you come across. Attacking missions will have attacking a base to take out key structures, clearing a large force of Mechs stationed in an area or even taking out a dropship. Recon missions consist of going progressively through several navpoints clearing enemies as you find them. Lastly Stealth Missions involves getting to key structures to upload data while often avoiding patrols (if you so wish).
RulesIn MechWarrior the only way to destroy enemy vehicles and Mechs is to attack them with the weapons mounted on your Mech, as such there is no close combat attacks Page 6
that your Mech can do, the exception of this is that you can step on small vehicles but you take damage for doing so.Also although friendly fire is on, the moment you destroy one of your teammates your current mission is immediately aborted.
Actors
Avatars
Mech DescriptionLight Mechs
Cougar Although the Cougar is not able to go as fast as the Raven or Osiris, it is one of the most powerful scout Mechs in existence and outguns both its Inner Sphere counterparts.
Flea Made popular by Wolf’s Dragoons, the Flea is a versatile 20-ton mech. Speed makes it good at reconnaissance, and it has enough firepower to excel in antipersonnel and antivehicle capabilities.
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Osiris Unmatched speed and manoeuvrability of the Osiris makes it one of the premier scout Mechs.
Owens The Owens is primarily a scout Mech. Combined with its speed it carries an unusual amount of electronics gear. Its design integrates Clan Omni-technology, allowing it to pack more punch than other light Mechs.
Puma Unlike most light Mechs, the Puma is not for scouting. It has an exceptional amount of firepower and is used for fire support. It is a match for many Inner Sphere medium Mechs.
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Raven Not quite as fast as the Osiris, the raven carries an electronics package that makes it a very effective scout.
Uller Even more manoeuvrable and faster than the Osiris, the Uller is one of the best scout Mechs available. It also packs a considerable punch for its weight.
Wolfhound Although slow for it weight, the wolfhound has excellent armour and can carry many beam weapons. It has more stamina in a firefight than other light Mechs.
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Medium MechsBushwacker With its low
profile, the Bushwacker is hard to notice on the battlefield, this serves it well, because the Bushwacker favourite tactic is to snipe from range with its LRM’s and Autocannon
Chimera A new design based on general purpose, the chimera is capable in any role without being a standoff in one specific area.
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Hellhound The hellhound is a Clan Jade Falcon medium Mech. It can outrun practically anything it can’t outgun. This ability adds to its reputation as one of the most effective medium Mechs in operations.
Hellspawn At 45 Tons, the Hellspawn is a bit heavy for a scout design, but it does fine in a scout command role. Mostly a missile Mech, it has enough beam and ballistic hardpoints to give it a well rounded stature.
Ryoken Fast, adaptable, with a large weapon payload, this Mech gained the respect of the Inner Sphere on the field of battle.
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Shadow Cat With a wide array of weapons, good armour, jump jets, and decent speed, the Shadow Cat is one of the most flexible Mechs in its class.
Uziel Manoeuvrable with food firepower and decent armour, the Uziel is the epitome of the medium class Mech capable of filling any job in a pinch.
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Heavy MechsArgus Capable of
carrying missiles, ballistic, and beam weapons in good number, the Argus has been called the smallest assault Mech in existence. It works well in a frontal assault role.
Black Knight
A new chassis integrating clan technology, the Black Knight is competitive with other Clan heavy Mechs. A mix of beam and Omni hardpoints make it versatile and deadly.
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Catapult One of the best missile Mechs in the Inner Sphere arsenal, the Catapult excels in a fire support role. Its ability to mount jump jets helps it escape dangerous situations.
Loki With a large number of ballistic and beam hardpoints, the Loki is an excellent toe-to-toe combatant. It is especially effective when teamed with a fire support Mech such as the Vulture
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Mad Cat A bland of firepower, armour, speed and manoeuvrability, no Mech portrays the can idea of military superiority as the Mad Cat does, its only weakness is that you can’t install jump jets.
Nova Cat Based on beam weapons and not ammunition based systems, the Nova Cat excels at extended performance. Unfortunately, all of those beam weapons means it has a serious problem with overheating.
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Thanatos The Thanatos mounts a pair of LRM racks, but heavy Mech also thrives up close. Its LAMS lets it get in close where its firepower is most effective and it can devastate an enemy Mech in seconds.
Thor An offset cockpit and rounded missile tube makes the Thor look unique. With a large number of hardpoints for its weight it can be outfitted in a variety of ways to keep the enemy guessing.
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Vulture The Vultures high missile capacity to tonnage ratio makes it an excellent choice in the fire support role for its size.
Assault MechsAtlas Slow,
ponderous, and 100 tons, the atlas isn’t hard to spot. It has more armour than any other Mech and it carry’s LAMS, lending it battle longevity. Its vast firepower makes it the centre of a battle.
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Awesome With three PPC’s the awesome is capable of taking out most Mechs with a few well-placed shots. Thick armour helps it survive battle but heat problems and low top speed limit its usefulness.
Daishi Even with low manoeuvrability, slow speed, and 100 tons, no other Mech, Clan or Inner Sphere, can outgun a Daishi. Evan an Atlas can’t carry equal firepower. In battle it is the focus of combat.
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Fafnir The Fafnir is Defiance Industries showcase Mech. Capable of mounting twin Heavy Gauss Rifles, this assault Mech can hold the line in any battlefield.
Gladiator The Gladiator seemed unstoppable during the Clan invasion, an assault Mech with jump jets, it is also fast and manoeuvrable. Some say that in one-on-one fights it is the king of the battlefield.
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Hauptman
The Hauptman is one of the Lyran alliances first Mechs to integrate Clan OmniMech-Technology. It has both deadly power and adaptability, making it a dangerous addition to Steiner Forces.
Longbow The Longbow is an assault Mech designed to be a missile platform. Capable of mounting a dizzying number of LRM’s, the Longbow is a prime candidate for support roles in large engagements.
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Mad Cat Mark II
The Mad Cat Mark II is like the Mad Cat, but larger and more powerful. Added jump jets eliminate one of its weaknesses but has decreased its speed and manoeuvrability.
Mauler At 90 tons, the Mauler lives up to its name. With a good blend of firepower and armour thicker than any except the Atlas, the Mauler is more than powerful enough to tip the scale of battle.
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Sunder A streamlined design based on Clan tech, the sunder carries a heavier arsenal than many assault Mechs. An impressive torso twist range makes it manoeuvre like a lighter Mech in close combat.
Templar The Templar is the result of Kallon industries effort to introduce Omni-Technology to Davion assault Mechs. A phenomenal success, the Templar is a lethal addition to Prince Victor Davion’s Forces.
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Victor Named after Prince Victor Davion, the Victor has a wide variety of armaments. It is one of the premier assault Mechs in Davion forces.
Al the above Avatars you can choose all have exactly the same actions; the only difference between them is in their stats as shown in the collectables section.Also each Mechs colour scheme is customisableHow accurate and efficient the Mechs are in general are determined by which pilot they have been equipped with, the list of pilots and their ability scores can also be found in the collectables section.
Weapons
Name Clan Weight Cost Range Damage Heat Recharge PictureLasers
Large Laser No 5 650 7.5 6 6
Medium Laser
No 1 300 2 1.5 3
Small Laser No 0.5 150 1.25 0.85 2
ER Large Laser
Yes 4 800 7.5 9 5
ER Medium Laser
Yes 1 400 2.45 2.5 3
ER Small Laser
Yes .05 200 1.6 1.15 2
Large Pulse Laser
No 7 650 4 5 0.75
Medium Pulse Laser
No 2 300 1.1 1.25 0.5
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Small Pulse Laser
No 1 150 0.45 0.4 0.25
Large X-Pulse Laser
No 5 700 5.75 7 1.75
Medium X-Pulse Laser
No 3 400 2.25 2.6 0.75
Small X-Pulse Laser
No 1.5 200 0.8 0.85 0.3
ER Large Pulse Laser
Yes 6 800 4.5 5.6 0.75
ER Medium Pulse Laser
Yes 2 400 1.2 1.35 0.5
ER Small Pulse Laser
Yes 1.5 200 0.55 0.6 0.25
PPC No 7 850 12 11 6
ER PPC Yes 6 1000 16 16 8
Flamer No 1 150 1 4 4
Flamer Yes 0.5 150 1 4 4
MissilesLRM5 No 3 1000 4 0.8 4
LRM10 No 6 1000 8 1.6 4
LRM15 No 8 1000 12 2 4
LRM20 No 11 1000 16 2.4 4
LRM5 Yes 2 1000 4 1.2 6
LRM10 Yes 3.5 1000 8 2.4 6
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LRM15 Yes 4.5 1000 12 3 6
LRM20 Yes 6 1000 16 3.6 6
MRM10 No 5 400 9 2.4 5
MRM20 No 8 400 18 4.8 5
MRM30 No 11 400 27 6 5
MRM40 No 13 400 36 7.2 5
SMRM10 Yes 5 400 7 2.4 7
SMRM20 Yes 8 400 14 4.8 7
SMRM30 Yes 11 400 21 6 7
SMRM40 Yes 13 400 28 7.2 7
SRM2 No 2 250 3 0.4 2
SRM4 No 3 250 6 0.6 2
SRM6 No 4 250 9 0.8 2
STRK2 Yes 2 250 3 0.6 3
STRK4 Yes 3 250 6 0.9 3
STRK6 Yes 4 250 9 1.2 3
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Arrow IV Cluster
No 18 1200 32 7 10
Arrow IV Thunderbolt
No 14 1200 28 7 6.5
Ballistic WeaponsAC5 No 8 750 2 0.2 1
AC10 No 13 600 9 0.6 3
AC20 No 16 400 18 1.8 5
LBX AC10 No 12 450 14 1 4
LBX AC20 No 15 350 28 2 6
LBX AC10 Yes 10 450 14 1 4
LBX AC20 Yes 12 350 28 2 6
Rotary Autocannon 2
No 8 900 1.85 0.15 0.25
Rotary Autocannon 5
No 10 550 22.35 0.2 0.3
Ultra AC2 No 8 1000 2.5 0.1 1
Ultra AC5 No 10 600 4 0.15 1.5
Ultra AC10 No 16 500 18 0.75 4
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Ultra AC20 No 20 350 36 1.5 6
Ultra AC2 Yes 6 1000 2.5 0.11 1
Ultra AC5 Yes 8 600 4 0.15 1.5
Ultra AC10 Yes 13 500 18 0.75 4
Ultra AC20 Yes 18 350 36 1.5 6
Light Gauss Rifle
No 13 1200 12 0.8 6
Gauss Rifle No 16 800 17 1 8
Heavy Gauss Rifle
No 18 600 27 2 8
Gauss Rifle Yes 13 800 17 1 8
Machine Gun Array
No 2 150 0.35 0 0.3
Machine Gun Array
Yes 2 200 0.4 0 0.3
Long Tom Artillery
No 20 1000 35 20 7
Armour – see life management
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Non-Mech EnemiesVehicle Weapon Amoun
tPicture
GroundVedettes Ultra AC5
1 Machine Gun Array11
Bulldog Large LaserMachine Gun ArraySRM2
111
LRM Carrier LRM10 3
SRM Carrier SRM6 3
Myrmidons PPCSRM6
11
Mobile turret Ultra AC5 1
Demolisher 2 AC20LBX AC20Machine Gun Array
111
Quad Panzer Large Pulse Laser 4
AirPeregrine SRM4
Machine Gun Array11
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Nightwind Large Pulse LaserLRM10
12
Night Shades SRM2 1
NavyHarasser SRM4 3
Condor Medium LaserAC5Machine Gun Array
211
Patrol Boat Ultra AC5 1
Barge N/A
Destroyer LRM20Long Tom Artillery
24
Actions:Each Mech in MechWarrior 4 is able to do the following actions:
Run Walk Twist torso left Twist torso right Pitch torso up Pitch torso down Shutdown/start-up Fire Weapon Get up (when knocked down) Fire jump jets
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BehaviourTeammatesPrimary goal: follow player and attack any enemies that come into range.Teammate command goals:Attack my target: changes attacking target to the same as the player at the time the command is given.Defend my target: follows the targeted friendly unit and attacks any enemies that come into range.Form on me: moves to players position attacking any targets in range on the way.Hold fire: will not shoot at anything until ordered to do so or until command is cancelled.Go to my navpoints: moves to targeted navpoints attacking any enemies that come into range on the way.Stop: stops whatever teammate was doing but will still fire on enemies in range.Shutdown: Stops whatever teammates was doing and immediately shuts downAttack nearest threat: changes attacking target to the closest enemy unitRepair at nearest repair bay: moves towards the nearest repair bay (if any) and enters for repair while attacking enemies which come into range on the way. If there is no repair bay present on the map teammate will ignore command
Progression
Game flow:After picking the next mission that I want to undertake I’m presented with usual deployment screen. After picking which of my teammates I want to take with me on this mission and which Mechs they’ll be using, I decided to modify my Mech by going into the MechLab and swapping out the 2 large lasers installed for another ER PPC and used the spare tonnage left to install more heat sinks.Exiting the MechLab screen I was brought back to the deployment screen. After replaying the objectives of the mission which was to head to 3 navpoints in turn eliminating any enemies found while at the same time looking for a clan dropship in the area.The mission starts off at the southern most part of the map on a beach. I tell both lances (teams) of Mechs to follow and I then proceeded to head north towards navpoints alpha. 400m or so away from the first navpoints radar picks up a lone Thor Mech approaching. Using the nearby trees as minor cover I move to the side and flank the Thor. Once behind I then proceeded to fire all 3 ER PPC’s fitted on my Mech at once at the back of the Thor, the shots were a second to late and missed the chest completely and instead hit the Thor’s right arm doing enough damage to destroy the arm along with whatever weapons were fitted on it. Chasing the moving Mech several missile salvos hit the Thor, fired from one of ma teammates Mechs still coming up from beach area where we started. I see the recharge bar in the weapon box on the HUD finish its progress, signifying that the 3 ER PPC’s were finished recharging and were ready to fire again. With the use of the zoom I once again aimed for the chest armour and fired all 3 ER PPC’s at once, this time the shot hit and had enough force to knock the Thor over. The HUD starts to flicker and several shutdown warnings play showing that my Mechs heat level is reaching a critical level, in
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response to this I activate the water coolant using up half of the onboard water to fully cool the Mech down. With the Thor on the floor it started to get back up but with its mobility momentarily gone it was hit by several laser shots from several of my teammates destroying the chest section causing the Thor to fall back over and blow up. After reaching navpoints alpha we then proceeded to head towards navpoints beta. About 600m from navpoints beta radar picks up a Puma Mech at close range, the mission coordinator then warns me that there a full team of Clan Mechs approaching, all of which are using passive sensors. This causes the radar to only pick them up within 600m. While attempting to get a clear shot on the Puma, radar picks up the rest of the team of Clan Mechs consisting of 2 Shadow Cats, a Ryoken, a Cougar and an Uller.
Moves
Ref Number
Key Move
1 NUM4 turn left2 NUM6 turn right3 NUM2 pitch torso up4 NUM8 pitch torso down
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5 NUM7 torso twist left6 NUM9 torso twist right7 = accelerate8 - decelerate9 Backspace toggle forwards/reverse10 J fire jump jets11 1 set throttle to 0%12 2 set throttle to 20%13 3 set throttle to 30%14 4 set throttle to 40%15 5 set throttle to 50%16 6 set throttle to 60%17 7 set throttle to 70%18 8 set throttle to 80%19 9 set throttle to 90%20 0 set throttle to 100%21 Space centre torso to legs
Shift + Space centre legs to torso22 Enter fire selected weapon23 \ change firing mode24 P select next weapon25 [ select previous weapon group26 ] select next weapon group27 Insert fire group 128 Home fire group 229 page up fire group 330 Delete fire group 431 End fire group 532 page down fire group 633 E target next enemy
Shift + E target nearest enemyCTRL + E target previous enemy
34 Q Target object under reticule.35 W target next friendly
Shift + W target nearest friendlyCTRL + W target previous friendly
36 NUM1 look left37 NUM3 look right38 NUM0 Toggle Zoom Window39 V toggle 1st/3rd person view40 R toggle radar range
CTRL + R toggle radar active/passive41 M Look Down42 O Show Mission objectives
Shift + O override auto shutdown43 S shutdown/start-up Mech44 X shutdown Mech45 B Start-up Mech46 F Flush coolant
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47 N Select Next NavpointCTRL + N select previous Navpoint
48 Y general chat49 U team chat50 C Crouch51 G Get up52 A Toggle Light Amplification53 L Toggle Searchlight54 CTRL + Z Eject55 I Look Back56 Alt + H Toggle HUD modes57 TAB show multiplayer scores58 F1 select lancemate one
F1 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: attack my target
59 F2 select lancemate twoF2 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: defend my target
60 F3 select lancemate threeF3 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Form on me
61 F4 select all primary lancematesF4 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Hold Fire
62 F5 select secondary lance commander
F5 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Go to my selected Navpoint
63 F6 select secondary lancemate one
F6 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Stop Moving
64 F7 select secondary lancemate two
F7 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Shut Down
65 F8 select secondary lancemate three
F8 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: attack nearest target
66 F9 select all secondary lancemates
F9 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: repair at nearest repair bay
67 F10 select all lancematesF10 when at least one lancemate is selected
lancemate order: Capture Flag (Multiplayer only)
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Ref number Move1 Fire selected weapon2 Toggle mouse yaw3 Unbound4 Select next weapon group5 Select previous weapon
group
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Turn left
Turn right
Twist torso left
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Twist torso right
pitch torso up
Pitch torso down
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Fire jump jets (if fitted)
Fire Weapon
Shutdown off/on
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Crouch
Toggle Zoom
Toggle Night vision
Modes of PlayThere are 4 different modes of play available in MechWarrior 4, these are as follows: Waves, Mission Play, Campaign and Multiplayer.Waves, is only accessible in instant action mode and involves you and up to 2 teams of allied Mechs facing off against waver after wave of enemy units with the numbers Page 38
and quality of enemies increasing each wave. The main objective of this mode is to survive as many waves as possible before your Mech is destroyed.Campaign mode puts you in charge of a Mercenary unit with the objective being to complete missions to gain money to upgrade your Mechs with and increase your Units rating unlocking more missions.Mission Play allows you to play any of the missions from the Campaign mode without the constraint of money or Mech/Weapon/Pilot availability.Multiplayer Mode pits you against other players across the internet with the main type of game being a simple death match but also attacking and defending games are possible
Scoring
Points – N/A
Collectables
PilotsName Picture Cost Commander
*2
Gunnery Piloting Sensors Blind Fighting
Rufus 321,200 No 50 40 50 30
Angel 289,300 No 48 35 50 30
Shredder 445,225 No 68 50 60 37
Rubius 460,900 Yes 72 51 50 35
Mags 437,800 No 78 40 50 35
Hannibal 596,200 Yes 80 62 70 45
Bull Dog 443,300 Yes 62 55 50 35
Mustang 693,000 Yes 95 80 80 50
Claymore 488,400 No 84 60 60 40
Spirit 282,700 No 51 35 80 30
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Goof 237,600 No 55 30 50 30
Bullseye 583,000 No 95 70 80 50
Gator 552,200 No 85 82 70 45
Beowulf 629,200 Yes 88 80 70 45
Goat 464,200 Yes 75 62 60 40
Goblin 222,200 No 62 32 50 25
Blackjack 405,900 Yes 65 45 50 30
Scooter 226,600 No 58 42 50 30
Scrapper 490,325 No 95 65 60 37
Blaze 535,425 Yes 90 82 60 37
Buzz 435,600 No 85 52 50 35
Falcon *1 0 Yes 100 100 70 42
*1: Falcon is only available after the completion of the mission “Beach Attack”*2: Commander Status means that that pilot is able to lead the secondary lance you can send into battle with you on some missions
Weapons:See Actors
Mechs:Name Cost Tonnage Top Speed Tech Per Cycle Cost
LightCougar 5,035,032 35 132 Clan 67,199Flea 1,663,006 20 150 Inner 23,599
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SphereOsiris 3,378,283 30 140 Inner
Sphere43,199
Owens 3,906,223 35 102 Inner Sphere
55,999
Puma 5,171,832 35 83 Clan 67,899Raven 3,026,619 35 125 Inner
Sphere43,049
Uller 3,785,300 30 141 Clan 46,499Wolfhound 3,223,987 35 120 Inner
Sphere40,249
MediumBushwacker 5,996,343 55 106 Inner
Sphere91,299
Chimera 4,120,404 40 117 Inner Sphere
59,199
Hellhound 7,347,613 50 98 Clan 94,999Hellspawn 5,525,611 45 118 Inner
Sphere78,299
Ryoken 9,248,305 55 105 Clan 125,399Shadow Cat 7,044,716 45 117 Clan 98,999Uziel 6,331,634 50 113 Inner
Sphere92,999
HeavyArgus 6,174,159 60 97 Inner
Sphere97,799
Black Knight 12,804,404 75 99 Inner Sphere
198,749
Catapult 8,096,913 65 104 Inner Sphere
122,199
Loki 4,120,404 65 118 Clan 156,649Mad Cat 13,817,595 75 100 Clan 196,499Nova Cat 11,493,053 103 103 Clan 153,299Thanatos 9,972,535 75 93 Inner
Sphere148,499
Thor 9,487,759 70 109 Clan 144,199Vulture 8,971,798 60 105 Clan 122,399
AssaultAtlas 15,337,890 100 81 Inner
Sphere245,999
Awesome 8,159,059 80 95 Inner Sphere
119,199
Daishi 17,860,770 100 76 Clan 265,999Fafnir 16,433,758 100 53 Inner
Sphere247,999
Gladiator 17,621,628 95 67 Clan 270,749Hauptman 16,225,254 95 58 Inner
Sphere245,099
Longbow 11,453,066 85 69 Inner 179,349
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SphereMad Cat Mark II 15,981,170 90 93 Clan 247,499Mauler 10,755,457 90 90 Inner
Sphere172,799
Sunder 16,915,266 90 89 Inner Sphere
249,699
Templar 13,393,589 85 74 Inner Sphere
206,549
Victor 11,424,694 80 72 Inner Sphere
175,199
For more information see Actors
Life Management
There are no pickups whatsoever in MechWarrior 4, as such if you are badly damaged that damage will stay with you for the rest of that particular missionWhen customising your Mech you can use up available tonnage to give your Mech more armour to different parts on the Mech, allowing them to take more damage before that part is destroyed. The maximum armour values available to the different Mechs are as follows
Mech Head Right Arm
Left Arm
Right Torso
Centre Torso
Left Torso
Rear Torso
Right Leg
Left Leg
LightCougar 9 18 18 24 36 24 12 36 36Flea 9 12 12 18 27 18 9 30 30Osiris 9 12 12 18 36 18 12 30 30Owens 9 18 18 24 33 24 15 36 36Puma 9 18 18 24 36 24 12 36 36Raven 9 18 18 24 33 24 15 36 36Uller 9 12 12 18 42 18 12 30 30Wolfhound 8 18 18 24 48 24 14 36 36
MediumBushwacker 9 30 30 42 51 42 21 54 54Chimera 8 18 18 30 38 30 14 42 42Hellhound 9 30 30 36 51 36 15 54 54Hellspawn 9 24 24 30 42 30 18 48 48Ryoken 9 30 30 42 51 42 21 54 54Shadow Cat 9 24 24 30 42 30 18 48 48Uziel 9 30 30 36 45 36 21 48 48
HeavyArgus 18 36 36 48 54 48 24 54 54Black Knight
18 42 42 54 63 54 27 66 66
Catapult 19 36 36 48 60 48 24 60 60Loki 18 36 36 48 60 48 24 60 60Mad Cat 18 42 42 54 63 54 27 66 66Nova Cat 18 42 42 54 62 54 26 60 60
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Thanatos 18 42 42 54 63 54 27 66 66Thor 18 42 42 54 63 54 27 60 60Vulture 18 36 36 48 56 48 20 54 54
AssaultAtlas 27 66 66 72 78 72 30 90 90Awesome 27 48 48 60 66 60 30 72 72Daishi 27 66 66 72 75 72 33 90 90Fafnir 27 66 66 72 78 72 30 90 90Gladiator 27 60 60 66 75 66 27 90 90Hauptman 27 60 60 66 75 66 27 90 90Longbow 27 54 54 60 72 60 24 78 78Mad Cat Mark II
27 54 54 66 72 66 30 78 78
Mauler 26 54 54 66 72 66 30 78 78Sunder 27 54 54 66 72 66 30 78 78Templar 27 54 54 60 69 60 27 75 75Victor 27 48 48 60 69 60 27 72 72
For damage values from weapons see actors
NavigationPre-mission map: before each mission you are shown a large map of the mission, on this map the different navpoints (objectives) and the location of the drop zone (mission start) are shownRadar: the radar shows the location of any enemies within 900m unless the enemy is using passive sensors in which it can’t pick them up until 600m, your radar can be switched to passive mode where enemies can’t pick it up till 600m but you can’t pick up enemies until they are within 600m as well. Any navpoints in range of the radar is also shown on the screen.Compass: at the top of the screen a compass is show which states which way you are facing in compass terms, also the direction to the next navpoints is show on the compass along with the distance to it.In mission map: by pressing Shift+M you can bring up the minimap, while this is open it covers the radar, heat gauge and speed gauge. The minimap quite literally shows the pre-mission map only scaled down to fit on your HUD, and it also shows your LOS (Line of Sight) and the position of enemies. It won’t pick up Navpoints though.
BalanceOne of the driving points behind MechWarrior 4 is the balance of the different weapons against armour and speed in the customisation of your Mech. There are many choices you are faced with when customising your Mechs: How you balance your firepower against your armour, so whether you want to be
able to take lots of damage and take out your opponent slowly with a few weapons, or put lots of weapons on your Mech and try to take them out quickly before they can hit you much.
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How fast you want your Mech to be able to run at or whether you’ll sacrifice your Mechs speed for more armour/weapons
What types of weapons you’ll mount onto your Mech: whether you’ll go for laser weapons which have no ammo but generate a lot of heat from each shot, missile weapons which have a low damage rating but have homing capabilities, or ballistic weapons which in general have a higher damage rating than the other two groups but will run out of ammo.
What range you want to be fighting at, do you want to be sniping the enemy Mech from a great distance, moving into a medium range to attack or moving point blank to deal a large amount of damage, or even do a mix of these 3
Whether you’ll add some of the Mech options such as LAMS or IFF blocker onto your Mech or sacrifice these for more weapons/armour
How efficiently you want your Mech to be able to cool down, so by increasing the amount of heat sinks the rate at which your Mech can naturally cool down is increased
Whether you’ll go for normal armour or specialised armour which half the damage received from one type of damage but is heavier
All of these choices are left up to the player while he’s customising his Mech. Customising a Mech uses a system based on weight, each Mech has a certain amount of weight points it can carry, these points can then be spent to add weapons, options, armour, or engine size (top speed). Each of the options and weapons has a weight value which takes away that amount of weight points off the Mech. When the number of available weight points reaches zero, it has reached its maximum load and therefore more weapons/armour/options/etc. cannot be added unless things are taken off to free up weight points.
Interface
Flow chart
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Interface by screen
Main Menu
This is the main menu screen for MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. From here you have several options: You can access the general training mission by clicking on training; this takes you
straight to the tutorial mission, in which you are taught the basics of the controls for MechWarrior.
By clicking instant action you are taken to the instant action deployment screen On the selection of Campaign you can resume your current campaign from when
you last exited it taking you to the Campaign command centre screen. Clicking Multiplayer will take you to the Multiplayer connection screen By clicking MechLab you are taken to the MechLab (generic) screen The roster button takes you to the roster screen Options takes you to the options screen To view the credits you press the credits button
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Instant Action Deployment
From the Instant action deployment screen you can play any mission from the Campaign with no restrictions on the cost or availability of your Mechs and you can freely customise how strong the AI of your teammates is. You can also fight against an endless amount of waves of enemies and try to see how many waves you can survive. From this screen you can go back to the main menu, or go to the MechLab (generic).
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MechLab (Generic)
From the MechLab (Generic) Screen you can customise any Mech of your choice available in the game without constraints on how available that weapon is on the free market or how much they cost. You get access to an unlimited amount of all the weapons which appear in the Campaign and several which don’t appear.From this screen you can go back to the previous screen with the use of the close button.
Campaign command Centre
This is the command centre for the Campaign; from here you can access your stats and see the latest sector news. From here you can also see your current amount of credits (money) and how much the upkeep of your Mechs is per month. Your MRBC
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rating is also shown; this increases in ranks as you complete missions allowing access to later and harder missions which give more money on completion than earlier missions. From this screen you can go the star system, orbital view, free market, MechLab (Campaign) and Load Screens.
Star Systems
At the star systems screen you can change the star system you are currently located in, this allows you to move to other star systems with more missions when you complete all the missions from your current star system, making a jump costs money which is displayed along with how many weeks the jump will take, both of these are displayed on the left hand side of the screen along with a summary of the different missions available in that star system at the time.From this screen you can go to the orbital view screen of your current star system, go back to command centre screen or return to the main menu.
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Orbital View
From the Orbital View screen you can select mission that you want to undertake, in the system. When you highlight one of the available missions a summary of the mission is shown at the bottom of the screen. Recent news can also be seen on the left hand side of the screen. Greyed out missions are missions which have already been completed, the only way to replay these missions is to either load to a save point before you completed that mission or through the mission play option in instant action. From this screen you can go to the star system screen, to the command centre screen or back to the main menu
Mission Deployment Screen
This is the Campaign Mission Deployment screen; from here you choose which Mechs you want to take into the mission with you and which pilots will control them
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(can only take Mechs and pilots you own in Campaign). On several missions its possible to deploy a second lance of Mechs along with your primary lance, the secondary lance on the above screenshot isn’t available on this particular mission so it’s greyed out. Also the pre-mission map in the centre shows important information about the mission as stated above in navigation. In each mission depending on how heavy your lance of Mechs is, you will have to pay a drop fee to start the mission.Also changing the mission time between day and night can be done with the dropdown menu in the lower centre of the screen.From this screen you can go to the MechLab to edit your Mechs quickly pre-mission, go back to the command centre or return to the main menu.
MechLab (Campaign)
This is the MechLab for campaign mode. Its slightly different from the generic version as you are only able to edit Mechs you own and can only put in weapons which you own, for example if you only own 2 large lasers, you cant then put 3 on your Mech as you only own 2. There are 2 ways that you can acquire new Mechs/Weapons and they are to either get them from salvage from the completion of a mission, or to buy them from the free market.A few other differences between this and the generic version of the MechLab are that your account balance and Mech value for the Mech you’ve selected is shown along with a status. When one of your Mechs is damaged a lot during a mission you have to repair them in the MechLab before you can use them again, these will take 1 cycle if its lightly damaged or 2 cycles if its crippled.From this screen you can return back to the previous screen with close or go the free market to buy or sell Mechs/Weapons/Pilots
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Free Market
The free market is where you can buy new Mechs, weapons or pilots, or sell any excess Mechs/Weapons/Pilots. The inventory on the left hand side of the screen is your inventory and shows what Mechs, weapons and pilots you currently own, and vice versa the right hand side shows what you can buy from the market. By dragging items from the right hand side into the middle you can buy items just like how if you drag items from your inventory to the middle you can sell them for credits.By pressing the close button you are taken to the previous screen you were on.
Load
In campaign the game autosaves every time you start a new mission and when you complete a mission, you can also save at any time outside of a mission. From this screen you can load any of these saves by clicking on the relevant save file and
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pressing load. You can also return to the previous screen by pressing the cancel button.
Options
This is the options screen; from here you can change several of the features of the game: From the game tab you can increase or decrease the overall strength of the enemy
AI with the difficulty option, you can also toggle some of the built-in cheats such as turning heat off, being invincible or having unlimited ammo. From the game tab you can also toggle the default view in-game between 1st and 3rd person
From the video tab you can change the video quality of the game such as increasing/decreasing the screen resolution and/or texture detail, etc.
In the audio tab you can change how loud the music or sound effects are. In the controls tab you can change the different controls. The multiplayer tab allows you to set up your avatar and banner for online play
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Multiplayer connection setup
In this screen you select what type of connection you are going to use to play multiplayer, whether it be LAN or dial-up. Once you’ve set up how you want to connect you can click connect to go to the select server screen or press host to get to the host setup screen. From this screen you can go to the options screen or back to the main menu.
Select sever
From this screen you can see game servers online which you can join. From this screen you can join a selected game, go to the options screen by pressing the options button or go back to the multiplayer connection screen by clicking back.
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Host setup
This screen allows you to set up your game how you want it with options such as force respawn and turning friendly fire on/off. From this screen you can go to the edit restrictions screen or when your done setting up your game you can press start to go to the game lobby screen. You can also return to the multiplayer connection screen by clicking back.Game lobby
This is the game lobby, this is where you wait for people to join your game, you can still change the map, weather, visibility, battle type, time limits and Mech weight restrictions, but you can’t change any of the options you chose in the host setup screen. Once you have all your players you can press launch to start the game. You can add bots if need be to balance out any teams if needed. You can still reach the
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MechLab (generic) from this screen to modify your Mech if need be. By clicking disconnect you are returned to the multiplayer connection screen.
Edit restrictions
This is the restriction screen for the host setup; here you can ban the use of certain Mechs or weapons to help customise your game more. By clicking ok any changes you’ve made to the restrictions is saved and you are returned to the host setup screen. If you click the cancel then your changes aren’t saved and you’re returned to the host setup screen.
Roster
The roster screen is used for when you want to make, remove or edit a profile. Profiles consist of a pilot name, a company name and a sponsor. The pilot name is
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used in instant action and multiplayer as your avatar name. The company name is mainly used in campaign as what your mercenary company is called and the sponsor defines what you start off with in a new campaign. There are 4 sponsors you can pick from each gives you a different starting bonus, other than that which sponsor you pick holds no significance except that their insignia appears on all your Mechs.The starting bonuses the sponsors give are as follows:Kell Hounds: Start off with better than average armaments Early access to Clan Technology
Grey Death Legion: More than average starting money Early access to powerful Lostech Weapons (X-Pulse Lasers)
Northwind Highlanders: Higher Rate of pay on all missions
Wolfs Dragoons: Start with Clan Technology Greater access in purchasing Clan Technology
Credits
The credits screen is accessible from the main menu and shows the credits of the game, you can return to the main menu by pressing any button.
StyleThe main style of MechWarrior 4 is mainly of a realistic battlefield, as such in all of missions there is literally almost no music, also while there is some radio chatter there isn’t much of it in mission, most of the speech in the missions are from the mission co-coordinator informing of any changes in the mission objectives and warning of any enemy squads heading towards you.
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There isn’t any particular back story behind any of the pilots which give more of a people can come and go feel behind the missions, it’s also very hard to get attached to any of the pilots you can buy as the most you’ll probably ever hear them say is “affirmative” to your commands.As there is hardly any music it lacks the intense atmosphere some games have in battles, although during some missions there are sections where you enter into a challenging fight such as when you’ve just been ambushed or you’re attacking a heavily defended base. At times like this some atmospheric rock type music will start playing giving the atmosphere of challenge.Outside of missions there is a high tech type of music with radio chatter over it for menu music giving it more of a military operation feel.
Story synopsisThe year is 3063, and the political backdrop is the civil war between the Federated Commonwealth and the Lyran Alliance. The strife begins with Victor Davion’s call to arms against his sister, Lyran Archon Katrina Steiner, following the murder of their brother Arthur.In this struggle, talented MechWarrior’s like yourself are in hot demand. The MRBC has just authorized your new company for mercenary work. After securing the required sponsorship from a full-fledged mercenary company—Wolf’s Dragoons, Northwind Highlanders, Kell Hounds, or Gray Death Legion—your company has ample opportunity to make a name for itself.
Script Script from the mission “Beach Attack”
Pre Mission Briefing:Castle (Mission Co-ordinator): Ok sir, if your serious about going through with this trial of possession, I’ll broadcast your intent to the Clanners. I suggest outfitting both of our Lances with the best tech available. Meeting the Clanners on their own terms won’t be easy
Mission Start:
Aisa: attention this is Star Colonel Aisa Thastus of the Jade Falcons. I claim these islands in the name of Khan Martha Pride. I bring to this trial of possession a full binary of Mechs.
Spectre: This is Spectre 1, Commander of this Dragoons Company. I refute you claim to this territory, I bring two lances of warriors to end this struggle.
Aisa: two Lances against two Stars of Jade Falcons, you underestimate us.
Spectre: Do you wish to rebid your position Star Colonel.
Aisa: Nay, you will suffer for your insolence.
Spectre: Well bargained and done. Come and get me.
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<Battle begins>
Castle: If I didn’t know you better, id say you were enjoying this a little too much sir.
Spectre: Facing down the Clans, outnumbered in the field of Honour, I was born for this fight.
Castle: Just make sure you live to finish it.
Spectre: Roger I’m planning on it.
<When half of the Jade Falcon Mechs are destroyed and you have above half of your Mechs left>
Castle: I mark their forces at 50% strength, we’re doing slightly better.
<When half of the Jade Falcon Mechs are destroyed and you have less than half of your Mechs left>
Castle: I mark their forces at 50% strength, we’re doing slightly worse.
<On the destruction of all but 3 Jade Falcon Mechs>
Castle: Three Falcons remain, finish them off commander.
Spectre: I’m on it.
<On destruction of all Jade Falcon Mechs>
Aisa: Curse you Freamer.
Spectre: Star Colonel Thastus, I hereby claim you as my bondsman, you now serve Wolfs Dragoons under my Direct Command.
Castle: Sir I object, you can’t be serious, Clanners cannot be trusted.
Spectre: At ease Lieutenant, I’m in command here, she might be a vicious Clan marauder, but now she’s our vicious Clan marauder.
Castle: I don’t like it at all Sir.
Spectre: I don’t need you to like it Castle, Spectre out.
At mission completion screen:
Castle: well I hope it was everything you wanted sir. The Clanners have been beaten on their own terms and Merc Net is abuzz with our achievement. Whenever a Merc unit takes down Clanners it can’t help but be good for business.
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Levels
Mission 1: Eaton – Merc Alley
Concept:This is an early ambush mission which could be interpreted as a mission to let the player get used to the controls of the Mech due to there being no enemy Mechs present in this map. This map is mainly a large desert with dunes and a single large ridge. There is minor cover from dunes in some parts of the desert and none in others.
Primary Objectives:Capture the Lyran Convoy by destroying its escortsEliminate all Lyran military forces
Secondary Objectives:None
Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed: 3Pay: 1,250,000
Enemies (Red Dots)
Group 1:
Vedettes x1Bulldog x2Harasser x1LRM Carrier x2
Group 2:
Myrmidon x5
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Navpoint Gamma
Navpoint Beta
Navpoint Alpha
Drop Off Point
Group 3:
Nightwind x5
Mission specific entities. (Green Dots)
1: Convoy Truck x6
WalkthroughFrom the drop-off point the player proceeds towards Navpoint alpha where he is met with group 1 followed by the convoy both travelling north. After the destruction of group 1, the first primary objective is completed and the convoy stops moving.The player is then informed of group 2 near Navpoint beta and that group 3 is approaching directly from near Navpoint gamma. With the destruction of both of these groups the second primary objective is achieved and the mission is complete.
Mission 2: Halloran V – Checkpoint
Concept:This is one of the first missions available where you fight enemy Mechs, as such you only fight a few light Mechs so the difficulty of this mission is still quite easy. The main focal point of this map is the large valley which snakes its way throughout the map, the steep sides to the valley can only be traversed at a few points on the map, otherwise its too steep to climb out, this potentially makes it very easy for the player to be ambushed, and with little cover in the valley the player would be at a significant disadvantage if such were to happen.
Primary Objectives:Destroy Hostiles at Navpoint AlphaDestroy Hostiles at Navpoint BetaPage 60
Drop Off Point
Navpoint Alpha
Navpoint Beta
Navpoint Gamma
Destroy Hostiles at Navpoint Gamma
Secondary Objectives: None
Maximum number of teammates allowed: 3Pay: 2,115,000
Enemies (Red Dots)
Group 1:
Bulldog x1SRM Carrier x1Owens x1
Group 2:
Bulldog x2SRM Carrier x1Mobile Turret x2
Group 3:
Owens x1Mobile Turret x2Bulldog x1
Group 4:
Peregrine x5
Group 5:
Owens x1
Group 6:
Puma x1LRM Carrier x1Bulldog x2
WalkthroughThe player starts at the entrance to the valley at the drop-off point. Heading towards Navpoint alpha the player picks up group 1 of enemies, who then charges at the player. While fighting group 1, group 2 will move in to attack the player aswell. With the destruction of group 1 + 2 Navpoint alpha will b clear, completing the first primary objective.The player then follows the valley towards Navpoint beta, half way to the Navpoint the Owens and Bulldog from group 3 breaks away from their group and run onto the
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ridge above you where they attack you. Shortly after they attack the player group 4 appears on radar and attacks the player.After the destruction of the enemies here the player proceeds along the valley to Navpoint beta where the remainder of group 3 is located. With the destruction of group 3 Navpoint beta is clear and the second primary objective is completed.Carrying along the valley towards gamma a lone Owens ambushes the player from the northern ridge. After dispatching this Mech, further along the path near Navpoint gamma is the last group of enemies.On annihilation of this last group the last primary objective is achieved completing the mission
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Mission 3: Halloran V – Offshore
Concept:This is the first defend mission available to the player so as such it’s hardly going to be extremely challenging. This mission is set at a costal region so half of the map is in water which slows down the players Mech quite a bit; this can hinder the player in trying to get to defend certain points quickly as they wouldn’t reach the area as fast as normal.
Primary Objectives:Defend offshore oil rig at Navpoint alphaDefend offshore oil rig at Navpoint beta
Secondary Objectives:Defend Fuel Industry Buildings and Vehicles (500,000 Credit Bonus)
Maximum Number of Teammates allowed: 3Pay: 1,750,000
Enemies
Group 1:
Barge x1Patrol Boat x6
Group 2:
Condor x6
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Drop Off Point
Navpoint Beta
Navpoint Gamma
Navpoint alpha
Navpoint Delta
Group 3:
Nightshades x4
Group 4:
Destroyer x1
Mission Specific Entities1: Oil Rig Beta2: Oil Rig Gamma3: Fuel Cells (Secondary Objective)
WalkthroughThe player drop-off point is at Navpoint Alpha; from here the player is warned of group 1 moving on Oil Rig Beta. Moving to Beta the player then engages group 1 before they can destroy the Oil Rig there. After destroying group 1, the player is then warned about group 2 moving on Oil Rig Gamma. The player then starts to head over to gamma but due to water slowing will at best arrive when half of group 2 has split off towards Navpoint Alpha and the Fuel Cells. Destroying the 3 Condor’s moving on Alpha pretty much completes the secondary objective as no other enemy groups try to attack alpha. After dispatching the rest of group 2 before they can take Oil Rig Gamma, the player is informed about the Destroyer appearing and group 3 approaching. Group 3 will keep making bombing runs at the player until they are destroyed. The player is given the new objective of dispatching the Destroyer, as the destroyer mostly has very long ranged weapons by staying close to the destroyer its easy to dodge its attacks while hitting it with your own, after a several shots the destroyer should blow up completing the mission.
Mission 4: Eaton Merc Alley A
Concept:Same map as mission map and objectives as mission 1 but only this convoy is much more heavily guarded than the previous convoy, with more vehicles, a heavy and a medium Mech among the escorts this is going to be a much tougher mission than the previous ones.
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Primary Objective:Capture the Lyran Convoy by destroying its escortsEliminate all Lyran military forces
Secondary Objective:None
Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed: 5Pay: 1,350,000
Enemies
Group 1:
Demolisher 2 x2Vedettes x1Myrmidon x3Bulldog x4LRM Carriers x5Harasser x1Argus x1Chimera x1
Group 2:
Nightwind x3
Mission specific Entities:
1: Convoy Truck x6
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Drop Off Point
Navpoint Alpha
Navpoint Beta
Drop Off Point
WalkthroughFrom the player drop-off point the player heads towards Navpoint Beta, then heading towards alpha the player meets a very large group 1, acting as the convoy escort this time. When the player engages group 1, group 2 appears and joins in the fray. If the player is able to destroy both of these groups of enemies before the convoy can exit the mission area at the top of the map then both primary objectives are achieved, which ends this simple yet challenging mission
Mission 5: Halloran V – Industry Raid
Mission Concept:This will be the player’s first stealth mission, the focus on this map being sneaking through a blind spot in a bases turret grid to disable their power grid taking the base defence’s offline. This map is set in a half mountainous half plains setting with the mountainous region being the place where the player sneaks round the back of the base, this mission also has your first morale choice in that you can choose to engage and destroy another mercenary group stationed at the base in the mission or avoid them and complete the primary objectives without engaging them.
Primary Objective:Destroy the Generator at Navpoint BetaDestroy the Large Factory at Navpoint BetaDestroy the Factory at Navpoint GammaFind and Destroy Fuel Supply
Secondary ObjectivesDestroy all Black Cobra Mechs (Discretionary)
Maximum Number of Teammates Allowed: 3Pay: 2,455,000
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Drop Off Point
Navpoint Alpha
Navpoint Beta
Navpoint Gamma
Enemies:Group 1: Large Amount of Base Turrets
Group 2:
Myrmidon x5Quad panzer x4
Group 3: (Black Cobra Unit)
Chimera x2Bushwacker x2
Mission specific entities:
1: Generator2: Large Factory Beta3: Factory Gamma4: Fuel Cells
WalkthroughThe mission starts with the player at the drop-off point at the top left of the map; from here the player has a choice. He could either head straight to the base taking out turrets on the way to gain access to the base, or he could head to Navpoint Alpha and bypass the defence turrets. If the player chooses to storm the base then he would head straight to gamma through group 1 and 2 to get to the buildings before meeting group 3 (black cobras). Alternatively the player can use the stealthier route of heading to Navpoint alpha; this takes him around the defence turrets and brings the player into shooting distance of the bases generator. After a few hits on the generator it explodes taking the base defence’s offline and completing the first primary objective. From here the player can head into the base. Once again there are two methods to complete the rest of the mission. The first is to run in and destroy the objective buildings; this causes the black cobras to retreat when all 3 remaining buildings are destroyed. Otherwise by destroying all the units around the buildings including the black cobra unit, then destroying the objective buildings you will also complete the mission, which choice you pick can affect you later in the game.
Options
Difficulty level:The difficulty of MechWarrior 4 can be changed in the options screen, from that screen (as can be seen in the interface chapter) you can toggle the difficulty between novice, regular, veteran and expert. The only difference between these different modes is the strength of the enemy AI, so the enemies will be hitting more accurately more often the harder the difficulty becomes.
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Multiplayer options:Also found in the options screen is the options for multiplayer. In this screen you can customise your online options such as changing your multiplayer name, changing what your player insignia is and also what your faction is called along with having the option of adding in your own custom insignias that you could show off online.
Video/sound options
Video options:In the video options you are able to change the game resolution between 600x480, 800x600, 1024x768 or 1280x1024You can also adjust the gamma to make the picture brighter if need be
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Sound optionsIn the way of sound options you can toggle how loud you want the music when it plays and the sound effects. You can also toggle whether your Mech says warnings to you, such as when you’re out of ammo or when you’re about to shutdown due to overheating.
Support
MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries – Cyberlore Studios, Inc.
Project Team
Project Lead and Lead Designer:David Fifield
Lead Programmer:Chris Tohline
Lead Artist:Seth Spaulding
Producer:Jon Clark
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Executive Producer:Joe Minton
Programmers:Adam Saunders, Aaron Horne
Artists:Bryant Johnson, David Silverman, David White, Michael RichardSean Wang
Additional ArtistsMark Champigny
Designers:Corey NavageFerret Baudoin
Sound Design and Engineering:Jack Cameron
Content Manager:Charles Lane
Additional Content Manager:Cara McCormick
Marketing:Jay Adan
Playtesting:Erik Hawley
Additional Playtesting:Alex Michaud, Eric Marcoullier, Mark Champigny, Michael Pohoreski
MIS SupportJonathan Wonson
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Voice Talent: Alan Maynard, Brian J. Wozniak, Daniel J. Rossi, David Dellecese, Devon A. Mason McArdle, Frank Aronson, George Ledoux, Gilbert Mcauly, Hanna Rechtschaffen, Heather Crocker, Jarice Hanson, Jessican Kirgy, John Haag, John Saulman, Joseph Loftus, Lisa Abend, Mike Duignan, Peter Carlson, Rob Murphy, Stephan Eldridge, Steve Henderson
Cyberlore Management Team
Human Resources and Office Manager:Clarinda Merripen
Art Department Director:Seth Spaulding
Programming Department Director: Matt Kimmei
Design Department Director:Tom Henderson
FASA Studio, Microsoft Corporation
Studio Manager:Dave Luehmann
Executive Producer, BattleTech® LineTj Wagner
Program Manager: Andrew Brown
Art Director: Heinz Schuller
Development Manager: John Yovin
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Development: Jacky Chan, Jerry Edsall
Design: David Abzug, Derek Carroll, Pete Mayberry, Sage Merrill
Competitive analysis
Comparing MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries to MechWarrior 3.
Graphics: There’s a visible improvement overall in the graphics for MechWarrior 4. Both games are played in 3d but the texture detail is at a much higher quality in
MechWarrior 4 although the graphics still lacking when compared to other shooter games which were out around the same time.
The splash screens on MechWarrior 4 look much more colourful and less confusing to use.
In-game the Mechs more and turn much more smoothly than they did in MechWarrior 3.
Ballistic/lasers/missiles looks more realistic than in MechWarrior 3.
Music Almost nonexistent in-mission in MechWarrior 4, loses atmosphere MechWarrior
3 had but makes it feel slightly more realistic. A lot more sound effects in MechWarrior 4 than MechWarrior 3 had. In MechWarrior 4 the main character talks as opposed to MechWarrior 3 which
has a silent protagonist. MechWarrior 4 some spot effects whereas MechWarrior 3 had none present.
Interface Coolant is more sparing in MechWarrior 4 and will decrease the heat at an
increased rate to the usual rate, whereas in MechWarrior 3 it cools down fully the instant you activate the coolant. This makes MechWarrior 4 more realistic.
The MechLab is much easier to use in MechWarrior 4 than in MechWarrior 3 mainly due to all the weapons are colour coded along with the hardpoints they can go in. in MechWarrior 3 the MechLab is much more complex, this allows the Mechs to be customised more than they can be in MechWarrior 4.
MechWarrior 4 has a tutorial level which tells the player the basis of all the controls whereas in MechWarrior 3 you are catapulted straight into the action, this makes MechWarrior 4 a more “newbie” friendly.
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MechWarrior 4 has much less game controls than MechWarrior 3 has, this makes MechWarrior 4 much simpler and to play well but limits what your Mech can do, in MechWarrior 3 you have less of a limit on what you can get your Mech to do.
In MechWarrior 4 there are more teammate commands you can give, this gives you more freedom in ordering around your teammates than you had in MechWarrior 3.
Gameplay: The AI in MechWarrior 4 is much stronger than that of MechWarrior 3, this
means their not as idiotic in trying to destroy the enemies so they won’t often sit there trying to shoot through a hill at the enemy on the other side and wondering why the enemy isn’t taking damage. Though saying that the AI still isn’t perfect as sometimes they stop and wont move from that position and other times they’ll stop listening to you if you’re a certain distance away.
MechWarrior 4 is much more fun in my opinion as there’s something extremely satisfying about running up to an enemy Mech then unloading several PPC’s into one section of the enemy and watch them fall over from the force of the hit. This is slightly harder to do in MechWarrior 3 as the heat system is much more sensitive so several small lasers can send you into overheating.
In MechWarrior 4 its harder to hit the enemys, this can be both a good and a bad thing depending on who you are, in MechWarrior 3 the aiming system was quite literally a point and click firing system so made a lot of the light Mechs obsolete online as their extra speed didn’t help avoid shots, this was changed in MechWarrior 4 as to aim you have to move the Mech torso which moves at a much slower speed than the guns did in MechWarrior 3. This balanced out different Mech types greatly making the game a lot more realistic.
Also in MechWarrior 4 when hit it will make the crosshairs momentarily from the force of the blast, makes it harder to aim under fire and therefore add more realism.
Making better Mech builds can become slightly addicting as you can customise your Mech to run in and hit things up close, but these are then weak against long range types, so you can then customise it around a bit more so its not as weak against that long range types but still be good at what it was originally made to do.
In MechWarrior 4 the weapons and Mechs are much more balanced making the larger Mechs not as powerful as they were in MechWarrior 3 but the overall gameplay of MechWarrior 4 much more fun and tactical
Story: The story in MechWarrior 4 is almost nonexistent, there’s a rough story going on
as you play through campaign but for the most part of the game you’re not involved with it. Every now and again you may get mentioned for certain events caused by the completion of a mission but you only really become a part of the story in the last few missions when you choose a side in the conflict, and even then you don’t play a big part in it. This in itself adds to the realism that your character isn’t some big time hero who goes around saving babies from crocodiles or something like that, but just a commander who’s in charge of a mercenary group so you do what mercenaries do, take missions from people
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hiring. In MechWarrior 3 you are set on a linear storyline in which you complete each mission given to you to further the storyline.
All the characters who you hire don’t have a back story or any sort of story related to them on that matter, this is the same in MechWarrior 3 only your teammates talk more.
You also never see the characters in-game the most you see of them is their picture when you equip them to a Mech, it’s the same in MechWarrior 3 only you don’t see a picture either.
In both MechWarrior 3 and 4 the main character doesn’t go on any sort of journey in a way of personality as in MechWarrior 3 he never speaks and in MechWarrior 4 he doesn’t get involved with the story for the most part.
There isn’t much in the way of script both MechWarrior 3 and 4, in MechWarrior 3 most of the talking comes from mission briefings and from your teammates, in 4 it mainly comes from the mission co-ordinator aswell as from the main character giving out orders and occasionally talking to the mission co-ordinator
Gems As I stated earlier there’s something very satisfying about firing several weapons
into one point on an enemy Mech and watch as it falls over from the force at which when it gets back up you knock it over again often destroying maybe one of its arms or legs in the process
Its also surprisingly fun to sadistically destroy an enemy Mechs limbs and weapons one by one then watch it limp around unable to attack you
Main tradeoffs in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
The story pretty much taken out in exchange for greatly increasing the quality of the gameplay making MechWarrior 4 much more fun
The interface has been made much simpler than it was in MechWarrior 3 to make it easier to play which makes MechWarrior 4 much easier to get into.
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