xREL.v3

Update 1.2.0

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 versions 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: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/in-depth-localization-update.1116568/

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: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/developer-diaries-1-mechwarrior-ability-revision.1116566/

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 playthrough.

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: 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: http://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.

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 Improvements.
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 systems

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.