MechCommander Gold: review of the game and where you can play it now

In 1998, FASA Interactive, the digital division of FASA, the company that produced the original board game, made a new attempt to make a Battletech strategy game. The previous games in this genre about mech warrior battles, The Crescent Hawk saga, had come out almost ten years earlier, so FASA rightly assumed that the time had come. However, Mechcommander was very different from the Westwood Studios project.

The new game completely lacked any RPG elements, such as side contracts. Before each mission, the player recruited mechs to meet the required tonnage, and appointed pilots who gained experience from battle to battle. For completing missions, Resource Points were awarded, which were used to purchase new mechs and upgrade old ones. Looting also played a big role – only Sphere technologies were bought for Resources, and Clan mechs and components had to be taken in battle

Game description

MechCommander was the first real-time tactical strategy game for PC in the BattleTech universe.

MechCommander’s narrative begins during the Inner Sphere counterattack on Clan Smoke Jaguar in 3060. The command of the armed forces of the Federated Commonwealth, one of the states of the Inner Sphere, decides to organize offensive operations against the Smoky Jaguar clan, in order to liberate the captured planets, as part of Operation Bulldog. The first target of the Inner Sphere counterattack is the planet Port Arthur. Landing ships with the first assault battalion of the Davion Guard land on it, and you, sitting in the chair of the commander of the mech unit, begin the difficult path to liberating the planet from the Smoke Jaguars.

At the beginning of the game you can see a video that sets the whole mood and impression of the game. Of course, the resolution is terrible by modern standards, but the plot was chosen and played well. Featuring hired real-life actors and rendered mechs, this small production draws the player into the world of BattleTech.

During the game, the player sits in a ship in planetary orbit, and acts as the tactical commander of a squad of mech pilots fighting on the side of the Inner Sphere against the Smoke Jaguar Clan. Therefore, the view in the game is from above. The game action begins with the first landing and ends with the storming of the clan’s main base. At the end of the game, the player will also see a small rendered video.

Original campaign

The game has 30 missions combined into 5 campaigns. Each mission is preceded by preparation, when the player receives tasks and selects mechs, pilots and weapons. However, there is a limit on the number of mechs to participate in a mission (the maximum possible number is 12, but in most missions it is even less) and their total weight. Mechs and weapons can be bought and sold, however enemy vehicles, which often have much better characteristics, can only be captured as trophies by successfully completing the previous mission. Also, before the mission, you can hire new pilots and give away unnecessary ones, repair mechs, change their weapons. Saving in the game is only possible between missions.

Mission objectives can be: the destruction of all enemy forces in the area, the destruction or capture of enemy bases, buildings, convoys, the protection of friendly forces, etc. The game has both mandatory tasks, the failure of which leads to the failure of the entire mission, and those that do not have to be completed, but for which an additional reward is given. Some tasks have time limits

Pilots

Pilots in the game have 4 skills that determine how they are able to control the mech: shooting accuracy, maneuvering on the battlefield, ability to use radar and jump engines. Upon successful completion of a mission, the pilots participating in it improve the skills they used.

Mechs and Weapons

Mechs and weapons, as well as equipment for them, can also be bought and sold. Mechs have three types: Jump, Armor and Weapon. Weapons and equipment also have their own type of technology (Inner Sphere or Clans).

Technique

You can take a Repair Truck with you and repair your mechs right on the battlefield. In addition, there are wheeled vehicles, reconnaissance vehicles, minelayers, SRM and LRM installations (short- and long-range installations, it seems there are no mid-range MRM installations), mobile radars, etc. However, enemy equipment and weapons (of course, clan ones), often having much better characteristics, can only be captured as trophies by successfully completing the mission.

Graphics

The palette in the game is 256 colors, and the resolution is mainly 640*480. In the missions themselves, there is a vector landscape with sprite objects on top of it.

The game has an interesting graphical feature. On the battlefield, when you click the Zoom icon, you can see everything in double magnification, this is achieved not by banal scaling of the image (which is usually accompanied by an inevitable deterioration in the quality of graphics), but by completely replacing all graphics – all pictures, animation of furs, etc.d. which are present in two copies.

The sound in the game is really good. In addition to the sounds of shooting during the game, you can hear constant reports from the mech warriors under your control (accompanied by a fragment of video communication), each with their own voice, and they always introduce themselves (“This is Falcon”. Enemy Mech Destroyed." or "Lynx here. I have new contact."). Sounds of nature, crunching and explosions of destroyed objects can be heard.
And I’m generally silent about the music, it’s generally the best of the games in the BattleTech series, the music is imbued with a certain pathos, a feeling of gigantism and tension, which holds the entire task from beginning to end. Even in the menu, when planning a mission, a very correct atmosphere is created, conducive to tactical thinking. And during combat operations, this music is diluted with replicas of the pilots, who (in the English version of the game) are voiced at the highest level. They constantly talk, inform you about your fur condition, what is happening to them at one time or another. By the way, actors were invited to film the introductory video for the game, which speaks about the ambitions of the developers in 1998.

Physics

The physics in the game https://luckycharmbingocasino.co.uk/games/ is believable; when damaged, robots limp, slow down, fall and try to get up. When climbing a hill, the speed of the equipment slows down. Sprites of shots and explosions are a pleasure. If the Equipment is destroyed, a pilot climbs out of it and rushes somewhere. Fool. And after the destruction of the mechs, the pilot ejects from them and rushes into the sky. You can destroy bridges, buildings, set fire to the forest, sometimes in this way you can easily bypass the enemy and achieve victory. In the game you can and sometimes need to capture hangars with weapons, so you get access to new weapons.

Interface

When you complete a mission, you can see four tabs:
Map – A mini-map with mission target beacons flashing and the location of friendly and enemy mechs shown. Radar radius on ‘Mechs, if equipped.

Data – Data Shows damage to mechs in the front and from the rear. Available weapons and ammunition.

Briefing – Briefing Mission objectives and their implementation.

Salvage – Trophies. Captured ‘Mechs and Weapons.

There are weapon type selection icons S – short range, M – medium, L – long range, and C – fire from all available weapons. Also action selection keys Protect selected target, Run, Jump and Zoom.

Support is shown at the top if it is allowed in the mission.

At the bottom of the screen there is a line of mechs participating in the mission, divided into groups.
There is no thermal control over fur, as such, in the game.

Addition to the game

For the game in 1999. The MechCommander: Desperate Measures addon was released, the action in which takes place after the liberation of Port Arthur, on the planet Cermak, under the control of the Clan star colonel Marcus Kotare. The player finds himself back on the side of the Inner Sphere. The addition includes new mechs, weapons, new types of landscapes and building designs, as well as a mission editor.

Reviews and awards

In 1999 the game was nominated for a D.I.C.E. Awards in the “Strategy of the Year” category. The same year, the game took second place in the Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year category from Computer Games Magazine.

Mech Commander Gold

If you have a desire to play this wonderful game, then I will leave a link to it
Link to the game: https://www.moddb.com/mods/mechcommander-gold-hi-res/downloads/mcgoldiso

Multiplayer Basics

The game also has multiplayer which is not bad at all. Now I’ll tell you how you can play it. Mech Commander Online.

First you need to download Gameranger (No way without it) from Gameranger.com and install it. You need an email address, nickname and password to register in this gaming community. All core gameranger features are free, and MechCommander multiplayer can be played by up to six players without paying.

You need to install Adobe Flash Player (free) for Gameranger for it to work.

Game network school GameRanger

After successfully installing and launching gameranger, it will show you the game community server lists and friends list. In order to play MechCommander Gold, it must be launched by gameranger.

GameRanger – Options Menu

GameRanger automatically launches MCX.exe from the selected game folder.

In the list of games you will need to look for MechCommander Gold, you need to select this game. Find the MCG folder and select MCX(.exe) for Gameranger. If the path is shown as in the screenshot above, you did everything correctly.

Join the game or host it.

NOW FIND THE MECHCOMMANDER GAME ROOM OR HOST A GAME BY CLICKING THE HOST BUTTON.

Setting up to host games.

GAMERANGER MAY SEND YOU A WARNING MESSAGE FOR YOUR ROUTER – IGNORE IT AND JUST CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM SINCE. YOU HAVE NOW UNLOCKED/ENTERED MECHCOMMANDER MULTIPLAYER GAME. THE START BUTTON ON THE RIGHT SIDE LAUNCHES THE GAME FOR ALL GAMEROOM USERS WHEN THE HOST LAUNCHES THE GAME.

Your playroom. To start the game, simply use the button in the lower right corner.

YOUR SERVER IS NOW DISPLAYED IN THE GLOBAL SERVER LIST.

Your Game Room

WHEN ALL PLAYERS ARE READY, THE HOST CAN START THE GAME USING THE GAMERANGER START BUTTON. HE WILL START THE GAME WITH MULTIPLAYER FEATURES ONLY NOW. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO PLAY MECHCOMMANDER ONLINE TODAY. MSZONE NO LONGER EXISTS FOR MECHCOMMANDER PLAYERS.

GameRanger automatically opens MC game rooms

When you click the "Start" button in the game room, it will automatically launch the game. You can now select one of the players in the division and confirm this by clicking on the "Forward" button! button.