A short time ago, at a computer terminal far, far, away, Darin Sunley wrote: >Andrew Spencer <aspenc51@maine.maine.edu> wrote in article >[Good suggestions for salvage snipped] >If this is request time, here's one that's (probbaly/hopefully) easy.Remove >or render optional the forced retirement. I haven't run in to this yet but >I have been playinjg the game and in terms of campaig/random middions it's >great! But forced retirement renders it al sorta moot. Even if after the >campaign all it gives you is those random instant-action type missions, >that's great. As long as you can use those to continue building up your >company.
I'd like to express my support for both of these as well.
If the salvage is indeed pre-determined, then the idea of using carefully placed shots in order to make more money is now invalid, and half the premise of the game is just shot.
This, in addition to the fact that contracts are not negotiable, and that you can't travel around the Inner Sphere looking for better prices on mechs and equipment, or for contracts with better terms, not to mention the fact that you're forced to retire (if it's true), makes the premise that you're a mercenary, logically, false. You're not a mercenary - you're just a joe following orders, only these orders come from the game's programmers rather than fictional Colonels.
If your salvage doesn't depend at all on your targeting ability,
At this point, it's not even a game - it's just another scripted story with stellar graphics. It's effectively no better than Rebel Assault, or the old video-disk game Dragon's Lair. You just have to figure out what you're "supposed" to do, in order to bring about the "known" outcome.
If your actions have little effect on the outcome - if what you do doesn't matter - why do anything? Why bother going through the motions if you already know the outcome? This is what makes some people commit suicide - they feel they have no control over their lives. I don't know why I'd want to play a game that does the same thing.
This is what made Mechwarrior I such a great game. You had _freedom_ to do what you wanted. You had _choices_. You had _control_ of what you did. The actions you took _mattered_.
I still think Mechwarrior1 is a better game than any of its supposed successors. I would still play it, except that it's unplayably fast on a Pentium, and it doesn't support a joystick. If we could just get Mercenaries' engine grafted to Mechwarrior I, we'd have the perfect game.
It's really sad that a game like Mechwarrior I should be unavailable to today's gamers just because it's old. The premise is good, the design is great, and the implementation is close to perfect. All that really needs to be updated is the graphics - the underlying game itself is still perfectly viable in today's market. Even more so, since it actually gives you _control_ in the game environment.
You may think I'm coming across very harsh in this post, but I'm just so tired of the prevalence of "scripted" games. You play them once, and then what - they're no fun anymore.
I played Mechwarrior I for _years_. THAT's how you know you have a great game.
===
Will Day