Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I don’t know exactly what Mechwarrior Tactics is, but it has a countdown on the webpage that ends on Monday. Two things happen at the end of countdowns: either a thing will be revealed, or a ex-cop will snip the wire on a bomb, saving the orphanage. I’m presuming that it’s choice number one, because its from the same people currently making the free-to-play reboot of the original game, MechWarrior Online. You can go to the site and sign-up, ensuring you protect your commander name from the rabble, while I ponder what it could be.
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Still no in-game images yet, but we’ve just learned that Mechwarrior Online will use CryEngine 3. “It is definitely the best choice for us,” said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games. “Both the character animation pipeline with the procedurally and physics based animations and the destruction system fit our goals perfectly and allow us to develop a truly unique AAA experience based on the award-winning BattleTech Universe.” Perhaps not too much of a surprise choice, either, given that Crysis mod. I also rather like the description of the “four pillars” of the game: “Mech Warfare, the embodiment of Mech to Mech combat. Role Warfare, the ability for player’s to customize their experience to suit their own style of gameplay. Community Warfare, the ability to let the players take part in epic combat for territorial control. Information Warfare, an element on the battlefield that incorporates information technology to help control the fight.” If they can nail all of those then it could be a fine, fine mech game.

Mechwarrior Online never actually happened as planned (about a decade ago) but now it is a planned again: for 2012. We knew this was in the pipeline, but things seem to be shaping up, because the website that hails this fresh announcement is here, and it allows you to sign up and register your pilot name. I did that. You are not having my name. The FAQ is almost comedic in the range of things it addresses, failing to really address what the game is actually going to be like, but explain that long-ranged missiles will be “semi-guided”, and the status of melee combat is undecided. It will, however, be a team-based multiplayer game. Also, bafflingly, it states: “MechWarrior® Online™ is running an offset timeline of the BattleTech® Universe. As of this writing it is 2011 and the year is 3048 within the game. In 2012, when the game is launched, it will be 3049.” Okay then!

More details on PCG.