First off this is a guide to building your first mech and some of the things to watch out for. It's not a guide on how to win or excel at being a Mech commander. That's for someone else to write. This guide is for those that take look at the mech subject and go 'Errrrrr what?'
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
First things first, Mech Commander Level! You start at level one, that's a lowly Mech Commander grunt. Assembling Mechs and placing them in combat requires Mech Commander levels. At Level one you can only place ONE mech in combat at a time and can only own a certain number of mechs.
So I would suggest your first mech to build would be a 'Raptor Mech' These are entry level and will give you a grounding in how to build one and how to use one and try keep his butt on one piece.
To build our mech we will need the following Module Schematics :
AI Fire Linkage System 1
AI Neural Net V1
Bio Damage Sensor Type A
Chassis Frame Ver1
Mech Control System Ver1
Mech Energy Regulator V1
Targeting System Rev 1
With those built (one of each) we can move on to crafting the FOUR primary parts of our mech. You can craft these elements where ever you wish, but the final 'Assembly' must take place at Grelia. (Mech Assembly Plant).
So the next schematics would be:
Raptor Mech Chassis Rev 1
Mech AI - Generation 1 - Basic
Mech Armour Ablative Rev 1
Mech Starter Weapon Pack 1 [KIN]
Above I've used a Basic AI (sensible to start with, if somewhat a sandwich short of a picnic) The Armour and Weapon pack are up to you BUT be aware they all have HP / Mass affects on the finished mech. Hence why I've chosen some basic starter parts.
OK so craft those last four items. (What you don't have the resources? Well this is a guide on Mechs not mining, go speak to a miner or resource collector).
OK - So you've crafted the end four components and should have a Mech Chasis, Mech AI, Armour and Weapon pack. These will all be sat in your MISC ship store. Next run over to Grelia and the 'Mech assembly Plant'.
All being well you should see the Mech Chassis listed. If not you have built one ABOVE either your Captain or Commander Level. (I did warn you).
Now 'Assemble your Mech' As you do this note that on the top of the assembly screen (the one that has the three green blocks) there is a Mass value. The one in Brackets is the Maximum Mass that can be added to this chassis. (As I said earlier items you add to the mech will affect its outcome).
If you find that you run out of Mass you can simply return to the initial Assembly screen or remove one item and fit another, but no matter what you do you cant add more mass to the mech than the limit shown in brackets.
One thing to bear in mind is that items we add to the mech also create its END HP (hit points) you will learn this by trial and error and is not for me to teach you how everything works
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
OK so you have added an AI data Pad, An Armour Pack and a Weapon Pack. Now hit the 'Assemble Mech' button.
Next it will ask you to NAME your mech. Bear in mind this is instantly seen by the population of the server in the top green header text. It will automatically filter for non alpha numeric characters. Enter a rude or offensive name and you run the risk of having your mech deleted without warning so I suggest something fun yet friendly
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
OK so we Assembled our First Mech now what?
Top right drop down, View Mechs. From here we can pretty much do everything we need for our Mechs, be that one mech or a dozen mechs.
OK some nitty gritty stuff :
Each of the Sectors in the town have requirements and limits. When we go to enter a mech into a Sector we can mouse over the sector and gain invaluable information on that sector.
As a New Commander you can only place One Mech in to combat as a time. When you have 20 kills you will level to Mech Commander Level 2. This will allow you to Assemble and place more mechs in combat and so on.
The starter (newbie) mech sector is Alpha. You will note later that you can only add two mechs at once and that it has a total mech limit as well. These are in place to ensure the playability of the Mech side of things and to ensure we don't upset the server
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
OK so place your mech in combat - (Choose sector Alpha)
He will be dropped in at a random location, this varies depending on the type of AI you have used and there is no guarantee he wont end up dropping in on a fellow mech
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
Once landed, your mech will begin scanning the sector he's in and then dependant on AI start to move off looking for other mechs to kill, maim, shred (you get the idea).
Recalling your Mech - this can be done from the Mech view but bear in mind he must not be in battle and also there is a cool down period after dropping a mech in and after a successful battle.
Repair, if you manage to pull a mech that is damaged you can repair him. This takes REAL time and also has a fixed cost per unit of damage. the more damage the longer the repair time.
Refuel, if you create a Mech that has a Jump engine AND fitted a Jump AI you can refuel the jump engine. (each Jump engine has a limited amount of times it can be activated before it must be refuelled.) The jump drive MUST be empty before it can be refuelled. This is a fairly instant process BUT it uses your ships fuel at a rate of 10:1.
Recycle? Well if you have built a mech that you cant use (for various reasons) or just simply don't want him any more you can recycle the mech back to its component Four main parts. These will be placed back in your ships misc store. Please note the mech must be fully repaired prior to recycling.
OK, so the mechs in Alpha sector wandering around. If you used the Basic AI he will randomly plod around the town blocks looking for a mech to attack. (or be attacked).
Other AI's enable better routines for searching but they also have a higher Mass rating so mean you have to give up extra armour or choose a different weapon pack. (they are all slightly different but you will need to work that out for yourself).
We have released the mechs with a BASIC set of AI, Armour and Weapon packs. We will of course be releasing more varied sets later but we didn't want to confuse the hell out of you
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
Combat - So your mech finds a target and combat ensues. There's going to be a winner and a looser and either way you will be emailed (in game). Attached will be credits, the amount will vary based again on win or loose.
As you win battles you will gain KILL's these are cumulative and no matter what happens you wont loose them. These go towards levelling your Mech Commander Level.
Also you will gain MECH POINTS. Each kill will gain you 10 Mech points and a % of the targets Mech points. So killing a Veteran will win you far more MP than a newb like yourself.
IMPORTANT: Mech Points are transient and can be lost! These points are totalled from all your surviving
mechs and this value is used to determine entry to the Bravo and Charlie sectors.
This means not only do you need to Win Battles but you need to keep your Mechs alive!
There is a lot more to mechs than meets the eye at first and you will need to look at all the stats and in some cases figure out things like armour, weapon packs HP /Mass affects as these wont always be shown for you.
Town View - Should you want to see what the fuss is about before committing the resources or perhaps just want to see mechs smashing each other up simply visit Grelia and the Mech Combat Town. From there you can view the status of the sectors and also the combat and mechs within each sector. (These views use ajax and are light on kb requirements).
I hope this helps somewhat for those of you out there that might have wanted to 'have a go' but didn't know where to start.
Coops
A Walk in the Woods helps me relax and release the tension from a hard day at the code.
The fact that I'm dragging a body behind me should be irrelevant!