Mech Commander Review

[@FlightSimHistorian]

This game deserves a remaster. Been playing it for well over 20 years.

[@DSFARGEG00]

Unfortunately, the license is in lawyer hell, last I heard. I want all the old Mechcommander games back again, and a new one to boot. No, the HBS Battletech does not count.

[@incurae8967]

That wonderfully reactive and immersive soundtrack was composed by Duane Decker, who more famously (although only so famously) did the Rise of Nations soundtrack - a less dynamic but more memorable accomplishment in my opinion. I've always been obsessed with the sound design and music in MechCommander - I hope to one day use a smattering of sounds from the game in my own music.

[@kurplesteve]

Yeah, he's pretty good. He's talented in music that sounds like a country's national anthem.

[@ObiwanNekody]

The lawsuit was finally settled, Battletech didn't engage in copyright infringement. They had properly licensed the IP.

[@Xeno426]

9:44 Actually hits one of my few issues with the game; it uses "shroud", but not "fog of war". Basically, shroud is the blackness that obscures everything, including terrain. However, once an area has been explored, you always know what's happening there at all times. Fog of war would be the faded darkness used in games like AoE2; you can see the terrain, but without a unit nearby you cannot see the movement or placement of enemy units. This style was actually pretty common for old RTS games, particularly prior to AoE2. The original Command and Conquer and Red Alert functioned this way, along with the original Warcraft.

[@Pulmonox]

Warcraft 2 had it as a toggle option. Fog of war existed as we know it today, but you could actually turn it off so that it was simply the 'shroud' variant and once you explored the map, you could see it. I almost laughed when he said 'I don't know any other game that uses this system' and came here to point out exactly what you pointed out. Lots of early RTS used the 'shroud' system.

[@Xeno426]

@@Pulmonox To be fair, once Fog became a thing it became ubiquitous, and I wouldn't be surprised if MechCommander was one of the last RTS games to use 'shroud'.

[@ObiwanNekody]

AoE1 had the same fog and shroud options of AoE2

[@boxtank5288]

To be fair, consider that the view is from Aerospace Assets and various folk working the map and radar so once an area is sighted and something crosses it, you'll know right away.

[@Xeno426]

@@boxtank5288 I do not consider that fair. I'm talking about gameplay. And if it were truly "aerospace assets", then there shouldn't be *any* shroud at all. I also feel you may be misunderstanding what "shroud" and "fog of war" are. Shroud is the blackness that blocks *all* information about a location, including the terrain. Fog of War blocks sight only of units, but leaves terrain info intact. FoW is often simulated by the area "dimming".

[@RoniN21249]

Brother im 15 and i still play this game, i used to play it when i was 4 in a xp pc

[@notani3533]

I think that type fog of war happens in Tiberian Suns and Red Alert 2.

[@kurplesteve]

Yeah good point. I think most early command and conquerer games had the same fog of war. It's like rts games from that era did it.

[@notani3533]

@@kurplesteve that fog of war mechanic was op since any player that has explored the enemy base could just drop it when ready.

[@ObiwanNekody]

​@@kurplesteveDune II set the stage for the system, like pretty much every RTS.

[@jonnyrbgomes]

one of the memories of this game, is me save scuming to get that early madcat.

[@ssyn6626]

Remember getting this at Toys r us one night looking at the maunels on the way home. That 3rd mission had me right at the end, MAD CAT! Thing was a freaking boss fight, probably why it's my favorite mech. Always wanted it so I just close in where its weak.

[@kurplesteve]

Exactly why it was so memorable.

[@revolrz22]

Would be nice if this got an HD remaster ala Age of Empires II: DE. Raise the resolution of all sprites and textures, add frames of animation, maybe add environmental animations like trees swaying in the wind. Better particle effects, remastered sound effects, maybe options for immersion settings like the dog of war issue you brought up. Updated to operate on new operating systems with an in-game server browser for multiplayer. Maybe an all new multiplayer campaign where up to three players control a lance each on missions with increased difficulty.

[@kurplesteve]

So basically a new game.

[@revolrz22]

@@kurplesteve In the same way Age of Empires 2: DE is a whole new game, I suppose.

[@dannyhartwig7595]

MC 1 and 2 need remasters to run on modern maschines badly.

[@Traumatree]

We need MC3 "à la" Battletech carreer mode and with DLCs that will include the Clan Invasion, the whole shanang! Then we would need a MMO "à la WoW" with characters and skills we develop, mission to go with our Mechs, etc. Then I will be glad! ;)

[@silmarillion1780]

If you like Mech Commander. I definitely recommend checking out battletech as a tabletop. It's one of the greatest games ever made. Not to mention, the lore is pretty good, too.

[@aquarius5719]

Tabletop delivers a slower but richer set of rules.

[@CM4wsler]

I just started playing, only done two matches, but its some of the most fun I've had in tabletop

[@kurplesteve]

I've been curious about the tabletop game. I might try it out someday. Some of my friends play Warhammer. I assume it's like that.

[@silmarillion1780]

@@kurplesteve yeah absolutely! You'll have to ignore parts of the community, but there are a lot of amazing people and things to do within the setting. Not to mention the lore is just absolutely incredible.

[@Circumnavigate]

This game was amazing

[@meldroxnolife2299]

Hey Bro! Big thanks for bringing up the MechCommander. I remember playin in it when I was like 10 on my first pc. The amount of information, content and tips you've provided are like full kit for starting again this game, especially that I've faced some problems with launching it, and also showed the whole new image of this game with high resolution mods, also - I never known about A + Left click to preserve ammo or a way to shut down a mech. Big thank you for this one, fully deserved like and appriciation. PS. For some reason aiming in specific mech parts doesn't work for me, It would be great to learn about it ;)

[@kurplesteve]

Glad you liked it. I believe to aim specific body parts like legs or head you need to press and hold the Numb Pad of the body. For example if want to aim for the head press 8 and left click.

[@meldroxnolife2299]

@@kurplesteve numpad, that may be the issue - Im playin on laptop and using numbers + click makes nothing (except 1-4 that makes airstrikes)

[@kurplesteve]

There are programs and apps out there that can mimic a keypress. For example I think autoclicker has a way to bind like Alt+Shift+8 as a "Numpad" input.

[@Drakuba]

10:00 thats literally how FogOfWar works in C&C Tiberian sun. Once you discover that bit, you se everything in real time

[@JS-gg3kh]

Bless this video digital gods

[@kurplesteve]

Thanks

[@StigDesign]

2:47 lol nice editing :D

[@kurplesteve]

Thanks

[@ImaginaryTerrie3]

I remember redoing several missions because my favorite pilot died.

[@pastgamingspielt]

Realy cool Review. I hope to see more from you in the future.

[@kurplesteve]

Thank you, sorry I got busy lately.

[@bon2yan88]

i miss this game so much 1998

[@kurplesteve]

Yeah, I miss Mech Commander. It's due a modern remaster.

[@ObiwanNekody]

You can greatly improve chances of salving a mech by using the called shot option (num pad) to target the head or legs

[@kurplesteve]

That's something I forgot to mention in the video. Thanks

[@JohnHirsch88]

Don't think Mechwarrior, find out!

[@ObiwanNekody]

One of my favorite all time lines!

[@William971]

Anytime I ask my wife what the weather is and she says I think it's going to rain, I tell her you think? Find out mech commander. She's always wtf.

[@deleonfrancis60]

What do you mean not Canon? It’s taking place in operation bulldog and serpent. It’s the offensive against clan smoke jaguar.

[@MilitaryStyx]

The events of any of the video games are considered apocryphal to the greater Canon of the battletech lore. Canon events are found in the novels, short stories, and source books

[@ObiwanNekody]

Don't think, MechWarrior, find out!

[@evgeniydragondog]

FMV makes old games look more realistic

[@kurplesteve]

Because they were real movie sets sometimes.

[@HideBuz]

How did you get it to work so flawlessly on Windows 10? I have been stucked on a small screen resolution and can't scroll. Edit: I just read your video description. Thanks, I will check them out.

[@kurplesteve]

No problem 22:00 should go over how to set it up so you don't crash.

[@HideBuz]

@@kurplesteve Found it and it worked! Thanks so much! I also found out that when you use a ultra high resolution monitor like 4k, you need to go into "Change high DPI Settings" -> "Use this setting to fix scaling problems: Enabled" and then "Override high DPI scaling behavior:" -> "Application", this allows Mech Commander to run without the Mouse scrolling issue.

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

Battletech infringed nothing. Studio Nue designed the mechs. Big West used them in Macross. Tatsunoko had distribution rights they sold as "all rights" to Harmony Gold so they felt entitled to sue everyone. But the owners of the mechs was Studio Nue, not Harmony Gold. Harmony Gold only has distribution rights.

[@svensebastian2712]

great rev

[@kurplesteve]

Thanks

[@marekkos3513]

To bad I just cant make this game running with camera movement fixed.The camera just cant work

[@kurplesteve]

What's the issue with it? I think if you right click on the Mechwarrior portrait you fix your camera on the mech.

[@Timberjac]

A great game, even better than the second one, unfortunately, is part of that generation of games owned by Microsoft when they had an interest in games (in the same way they did with devices dedicated to gaming), before losing interest again (both in video games and in gaming hardware). I'd like nothing more than to see the third part, and even more so now that it seems that Microsoft is already made up of a seemingly permanent decision in the world of video games.

[@kurplesteve]

I have mixed feelings about the second. It has its pros and cons. MS is definitely in the gaming business, but I doubt that Mechcommander will be getting a revival anytime soon. It'd take a miracle.

[@Timberjac]

@@kurplesteve The good thing about the second one is that it didn't have the flaw of the first one, that all the weaponry was put by default on one of the sides of the mech. Also in the use of the graphic engine I have opposite feelings, because for some reason the first one seems more endearing to me but the second one began to move with a 3D that could give a lot of itself. And in terms of missions, I have to admit that I liked the first one a lot better, I think it had a better construction of missions and objectives. But nevertheless, I loved Katherine Davion-Steiner's appearances.

[@zjbx]

That intro joke was so dated dawg

[@brentcowell5776]

would be nice to make a more modern version so it can play on newer pcs!!! ive got 2 versions of this game n neither works on a new computer!!! would even love a newer version of mechcommander 2!!!!

[@kurplesteve]

It plays on win10, I'm not sure about win11. What's the part that's not working? Have you tried the widescreen mod I recommended?

[@ssyn6626]

Holy crap you need to be a freaking software expert to get this download to work, is there anything simpler than dosbox or something geez?

[@kurplesteve]

Yeah installation sucked. Recording it is even worse.