New to Game - questions - Oct 18/2005

[Swerve]

Hi everyone,

Seems like a pretty quiet forum these days, understandable given the age of the game in question. In any case, I just picked up the game last week and have spent a few hours doing some random missions, and I have some questions.

A little history of my experiences so far:
I played the tutorial, and I pretty much breezed through it, was a good way to learn the basics. I since created a 4 person squad and played some random missions.. the first mission I had 4x 40 ton titans, and ended up against a 70 ton titan and a couple 40 tonners.. I managed to win, but 2 of my squad died in the process including the leader. I had too little funds to recover from that, so I scrapped the squad and restarted. Second squad, I made sure to pick the option that gave the opponents 4 titans instead of a random combination that added to nearly 160. I got completely smoked this time around, gave up after having 3 titans down and no hope of survival... remade my squad again, and went in with similar random options. I managed to win this time but sadly lost my leader in the process. So after my leader died, I decided I had enough salvage and such to try and continue with my squad, but I found I was not able to recruit a new Jock, since my second in command did not have the required leadership. So once again, I guess it is time to restart.

So here are some question before I restart.

1) I can't seem to find the campaign mode described in the manual. I go to single player game, and my options are New Game or load game. I select new game, but this leads me to a screen which only seems to allow for random maps. Am I missing something?

2) What happens if your leader dies? Do you keep playing with your left over jocks and put points in leadership to build a new leader? Or can I break up the squad and split out the Jocks, and then create a new squad with a new leader and recruit my somewhat experienced jocks from the previous squad (assuming they are still rookies). IF so, How can I do this? Can't seem to find the option.

3) For the life of me, I can't seem to find the area in the UI which allows me to repair my damaged Titans. I find the option that allows me to sell them , but not repair. I don't remember reading specifics in the manual as to where the repair option was, I simply recall reading that you could repair between battles.

4) I am finding the game very hard at the moment, I like a challenge, but is there a suggested skill set I should train and weapon types/titans I should start with? I have experimented with various Titans, and the "To hit %" of some weapons seems horrible, even at very close range. For instance, I tried a Hammer Titan which has an AC 20, my Jock had max skill possible in Cannons (57/57), and despite trying various ranges, positions, and different opponents, best percentage I ever go on a shot was 24%... that's pretty horrible. I can't figure out why my percentages were so low, I wasn't standing on any kind of special terrain and neither were most of my opponents.

Anyway, any tips would be appreciated, I was hoping to read some older posts and tips on the game, but it seems that the forum was reset, or that old messages have expired.

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.

PS: 15 years ago I was hooked on Mech Force, I was delighted to find this game accidentally online last week

[tarendelcymir]

Hey Swerve, since no one else seems to be around anymore, I'll try to give you the answers you need.

1) The campaign mode is found in the solitary game menu. When you choose solitary game, at the bottom of the list on the right is a load map option. If you choose that one, you should see the list of campaigns, and what general level you should be to play them. It'll show you a '1' after the name of the campaign, signifying that you haven't completed any levels in the campaigns yet.

2) It is possible to break up the squad using the Jock Transfer option. If you have one squad, and the leader dies, you can either take one the other players and work up his/her leadership skill, or you can create a second squad, recruit a new leader, and then transfer in your old players. Be warned, though, that transfering jocks costs money, and the amount of money is based on the level of the jock to be transferred - it goes up fast, too. So you might need to play several games with the new squad before you can afford some of your old guys. Further, the jock's titans don't come with them, so there's an additional cost to watch for.

3)Repairing your titans is done in the factory section, rather than the HQ section. After a battle, if you go to the factory and choose 'squad', then pick your squad, you'll see an option at the bottom left to team repair, which repairs the whole team, or, if you can't afford to repair the whole team, you can choose individual titans and repair them one at a time.

4)There are a lot of factors to take into account when you're looking for reasons for a low percentage to hit. If you're firing while moving, it'll lower the chance, likewise if the opponent is moving the chance will also be lowered. Cover will also greatly influence your chance of miss, so make sure you check the opponent's hex for cover. Range is important, too, the further away the opponent (in general) the harder to hit him. Your level of scan on the enemy, too, is important, since it will increase your chance to hit. Try to get a green scan on him before firing. If he's running or dodging, you can set your attack to 'Wait on - enemy' and it will give you the chance to fire as soon as he finishes his current move, and hopefully before he begins a new one. As far as jock skill goes, when you're creating a new jock, it's best to concentrate on only one or two weapon skills, and raise the stats required for them enough to get 60-70 or so in the skills. If you pick too many skills, you'll be spread too thin to be effective. I usually start my jocks with skill in close combat and energy weapons; CC because when you're in the lighter weight titans, your enemies close fast, and energy weapons because the ammo is unlimited -- very helpful when your skill isn't the best.

Hope this helps you, and if I missed anything, I apologize.

ORIGINAL: Swerve

Hi everyone,

Seems like a pretty quiet forum these days, understandable given the age of the game in question. In any case, I just picked up the game last week and have spent a few hours doing some random missions, and I have some questions.

A little history of my experiences so far:
I played the tutorial, and I pretty much breezed through it, was a good way to learn the basics. I since created a 4 person squad and played some random missions.. the first mission I had 4x 40 ton titans, and ended up against a 70 ton titan and a couple 40 tonners.. I managed to win, but 2 of my squad died in the process including the leader. I had too little funds to recover from that, so I scrapped the squad and restarted. Second squad, I made sure to pick the option that gave the opponents 4 titans instead of a random combination that added to nearly 160. I got completely smoked this time around, gave up after having 3 titans down and no hope of survival... remade my squad again, and went in with similar random options. I managed to win this time but sadly lost my leader in the process. So after my leader died, I decided I had enough salvage and such to try and continue with my squad, but I found I was not able to recruit a new Jock, since my second in command did not have the required leadership. So once again, I guess it is time to restart.

So here are some question before I restart.

1) I can't seem to find the campaign mode described in the manual. I go to single player game, and my options are New Game or load game. I select new game, but this leads me to a screen which only seems to allow for random maps. Am I missing something?

2) What happens if your leader dies? Do you keep playing with your left over jocks and put points in leadership to build a new leader? Or can I break up the squad and split out the Jocks, and then create a new squad with a new leader and recruit my somewhat experienced jocks from the previous squad (assuming they are still rookies). IF so, How can I do this? Can't seem to find the option.

3) For the life of me, I can't seem to find the area in the UI which allows me to repair my damaged Titans. I find the option that allows me to sell them , but not repair. I don't remember reading specifics in the manual as to where the repair option was, I simply recall reading that you could repair between battles.

4) I am finding the game very hard at the moment, I like a challenge, but is there a suggested skill set I should train and weapon types/titans I should start with? I have experimented with various Titans, and the "To hit %" of some weapons seems horrible, even at very close range. For instance, I tried a Hammer Titan which has an AC 20, my Jock had max skill possible in Cannons (57/57), and despite trying various ranges, positions, and different opponents, best percentage I ever go on a shot was 24%... that's pretty horrible. I can't figure out why my percentages were so low, I wasn't standing on any kind of special terrain and neither were most of my opponents.

Anyway, any tips would be appreciated, I was hoping to read some older posts and tips on the game, but it seems that the forum was reset, or that old messages have expired.

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.

PS: 15 years ago I was hooked on Mech Force, I was delighted to find this game accidentally online last week

[Swerve]

Miles,

Thank you kindly for the quick answers, I suspected I was going to have to wait a few days to hear anything back. Your answered all my questions, one more question.. do you think it is better to level up with campaigns or random maps?

[Burzmali]

It should make too much of a difference. But you will need to level up using random maps before attempting some of the final Campaigns.

[LarkinVB]

Note that you can reduce the enemies total weight with the 'set balance' option for random maps.

Have fun.

[Swerve]

Ok, thanks for the tips guys.

[Thorgrim]

Couple of remarks.

You don't have to start with 4 units. If you start with 3, you'll keep some funds for a battle that doesn't go your way.
To Hit %s are also affected by the weapon's To Hit modifier, which is described in the factory. The AC20 has a negative mod.
In the early stages of a squad, you'll most likely be fighting CC a lot like Michael already said. Drive them to the ground (charge, DfA), they'll be much easier to hit when down.

Have fun!

[Burzmali]

And people have the nerve to say no one is around anymore [;)]

[tarendelcymir]

Found it kind of funny myself. No one's said anything for a week or more, then suddenly...

[Thorgrim]

Less than a week and you assume no one's around?! [&:]
I still check the forum almost daily, but I don't see the point in posting about the weather or stuff that doesn't belong here. [;)]
Welcome back, BTW.

[tarendelcymir]

Nice to see you, too, Iceman. [:)]

[Swerve]

Ok, tried a bunch of suggestions generated from this thread last night, and I must say I am doing much better now. So thanks to everyone who helped.

One thing I noticed, and maybe this is just the way the AI operates, but I find that the enemy will never come to me until I make the initial contact. I tried setting up my Titans in good locations, and then set the timer for move/attack to wait on Enemy.. well the clock just kept on rolling, they never came and found me. I find I always have to go find them.

Is this the norm? Does the AI behave differently as the skill of the enemy increases? Not a big deal either way, just curious.

[Thorgrim]

The AI will sometimes set up his own ambushes, yes. Henrik taught it to do this because there were complains that it would always rush into the player's ambushes. [:)]
The AI does behave differently according to level. 4+ will act much more intelligently.

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: tarendelcymir

Nice to see you, too, Iceman. [:)]

It's good to have the oldtimers back.
Did you get to go to France?

[Swerve]

Ok thanks, sounds promising

And I keep thinking of questions, here is another. I had no problems using the Scan feature when I was playing the tutorial, but I am having trouble getting it to work outside the tutorial. I have to confess I glanced at the manual briefly in some sections, and may have just missed it. There are two buttons, Toggle Scan and Active scan. Right now, the way I try to use it is.. lock in target Titan, and thne use the Toggle Scan button. I find that nothing usually happens after I do that.. or maybe it is failing and that is why nothing happens? If this is in fact what is happening, then do I need to keep clicking the Toggle scan button to try again, or should I be using the active scan button? I am a bit confused here.

On the scanning issue, I often find that the Toggle Scan is blue instead of green.. I can't figure out what that means. And finally the link scan button or whatever it is called, tried it once, and it asked me who I wanted to link too... but I am not sure what this does.

I guess I should probably spend a bit more time reading the manual on this. As they say.. RTFM

[Burzmali]

Yes, RTFM [;)]

Your scanners are on by default, toggling at that point means that you are just turning them on and off. Unless you are playing an impressive game of hide and seek or really need to lower your power usage, you can usually stay away from the toggle scan button. Just lock on and then click active scan to attempt a scan. Range in a factor though, so you might have to wait for the opponent to close before you start succeeding in scanning.

[tarendelcymir]

Sadly, we never did. The prospect of taking such a long flight with two young kids is more than we could handle.

[Swerve]

Thanks for the explanation on the scanners

[Thorgrim]

ORIGINAL: Swerve

On the scanning issue, I often find that the Toggle Scan is blue instead of green.. I can't figure out what that means. And finally the link scan button or whatever it is called, tried it once, and it asked me who I wanted to link too... but I am not sure what this does.

The Link Scan button allows one jock to link his scanner to a squad member's scanner (provided there's LoS between them) thus allowing him to expand his view of the battlefield to see what the linked jock can see. You can also get better modifiers when firing missiles if you link to a spotter unit closer to the target.
You can get more info in a doc called the Guide, which is attached somewhere in this forum, in one of the sticky threads.


Edit: here it is:
tm.asp?m=675492

[LarkinVB]

Ahhhh ! Oldschool discussions about the art of TOS. How I missed that [:)]