From news@bluebird.uchicago.edu Sat Jan 21 07:30:17 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx4.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA06879; Sat, 21 Jan 95 07:30:17 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx4.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA20998; Sat, 21 Jan 95 07:30:16 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA25141; Sat, 21 Jan 1995 07:26:24 -0800 Received: from midway.uchicago.edu by ncar.ucar.EDU (NCAR-local/ NCAR Central Post Office 03/11/93) id IAA12882; Sat, 21 Jan 1995 08:30:13 -0700 Received: from bluebird.uchicago.edu by midway.uchicago.edu for sci-virtual-worlds@ncar.ucar.edu Sat, 21 Jan 95 09:30:11 CST Received: by bluebird.uchicago.edu (4.1/UofC3.2) id AA22099; Sat, 21 Jan 95 09:29:13 CST Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha,rec.arts.anime,sci.virtual-worlds Path: quads!nwc1 From: nwc1@midway.uchicago.edu (Beaver-1) Subject: [VR][FAQ] BattleTech VR FAQ 2.2.1 Message-Id: <1995Jan21.152908.22042@midway.uchicago.edu> Summary: Updated for new software, better info from Japan Sender: news@bluebird.uchicago.edu (News System) Reply-To: nwc1@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: Beaver Consulting Co. Distribution: Inner Sphere Date: Sat, 21 Jan 1995 15:29:08 GMT Apparently-To: sci-virtual-worlds@ncar.ucar.edu Status: OR BattleTech VR FAQ by Norman "Beaver-1" Choe and Charlotte "Freya" Henkle Version 2.2.1 as of 1.21.95. Comments to n-choe@uchicago.edu, c-henkle@uchicago.edu NOTE: Neither Norman Choe nor Charlotte Henkle are official spokes-people for the firms FASA, Inc., Virtual World Entertainment, Inc., nor for the University of Chicago. Or anyone else you can name. This work is freely distributable as long as it is kept intact. However, it is NOT in the public domain. Copyright 1995 Norman Choe and Charlotte Henkle. All rights reserved. Virtual World, Virtual Geographic League, Red Planet are trademarks of Virtual World Entertainment, Inc. BattleTech is a registered trademark of the FASA Corporation. Table of Contents: Disclaimer Glossary Basic Information Strategy and Tactics Contacting others Appendices: A. Mech list B. More tips, and heat setups C. FAQ Version History Glossary of Terms: aka "also known as" BattleTech May refer to either the RPG or to the VR game. aka btech BattleMech refers to the vehicles used. aka mech BTC BattleTech Center RPG Role Playing Game; uses dice and such to simulate combat. Virtual Reality a simulated environment in which a persons actions may affect the environment around him. aka VR Macintosh A kind of computer from Apple Computer Inc. aka mac FASA makers of the BattleTech RPG VWC, VWS Virtual World Center, Virtual World Site VWE Virtual World Entertainment, Inc. Basics 1. What is BattleTech? (RPG) BattleTech is a RPG system put forth by FASA Corp. of Chicago. Its storyline involves futuristic battles fought in giant walking tanks referred to as "BattleMechs", or "mechs" for short. BattleTech is really too complicated to discuss fully here, but it is the basis for the btech vr game. 2. What is BattleTech (VR) At a number of sites around the US and Japan at present, there are places where you can sit in a cockpit and experience a virtual-reality simulation based on the BattleTech board game against other players. There are never any computer-generated opponents- for this reason, each battle has its own flavor, and no two games are ever the same. 3. Who started BattleTech VR? FASA opened the first BattleTech Center in Chicago near its corporate headquarters in 1990. Since then, a new company, Virtual World Entertainment, Inc. has been running the centers, including the original BattleTech Center. The two big names behind VWE are Jordan Weisman and Ross Babcock. 4. Where can I play BattleTech? From here on, all mention of BattleTech is the VR game. In addition to the original Chicago site there are (or soon will be) centers in the US, Japan and Australia. * indicates planned, not open yet (n) number of pods at site Thanks to "kim.exe" for the Japanese info. Chicago, IL (16) Tokyo, JP Dallas, TX (24) Dr. Jeekhan's (16) Houston, TX (8) Rongo Rongo (16) San Diego, CA (24) Nishi-OgiKugo (8) Walnut Creek, CA (24) Akihabara (8) Las Vegas, NV (32) Montreal, CN* Atlanta, GA* London, GB* Philadelphia, PA* Sydney, AU* Costa Mesa, CA* Kyoto, JP* Denver, CO* Yokohama, JP (32) Pasadena, CA (24) Osaka (8) Miyazaki (8) Notes: 1.There was a Boston-area site slated for May 95 but it has been postponed indefinitely at this time. 2. Houston's status as a BattleTech Outpost is unclear at this time. There was rumor that it was no longer run by VWE, but this is only hearsay. 3. As with all computer-related projects, things may be behind schedule, or may be delayed. Deal with it. :) 5. How much does it cost and how long does it last? At US sites except for Houston, the costs are structured as follows: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm$7 Monday-Thursday 5pm-11pm$8 Fri 5pm-1am, Sat 11am-1am, Sunday 11am-11pm$9 One-time membership processing fee$1 This is for a ten-minute training session including watching a videotape, ten-minute game, and a five-minute mission review. Again, in Houston, game length and cost may differ. See Notes, above. 6. What does a pod look like? How does it work? The pods are roughly eight feet long and five feet tall. They contain a swivel seat with a sliding adjuster. A throttle control is on the left arm rest of the seat and a joystick is on the right hand arm rest. There are two screens, mounted one above the other. The top screen is about 19" and is the main display screen, which displays the "world" as seen right out the front of the BattleMech. The bottom screen is 13" and is referred to as the secondary display screen, showing a radar screen and damage indicators. The cockpit also has around 100 buttons and switches of various kinds. In two banks on either side of the cockpit are the weapon controls. There are 24 weapon controls, which determine which of the three joystick mounted triggers fires which weapons. Each LED weapon display indicates the ready state of each weapon, and, in the case of expendable weapons, how many rounds remain. The joystick controls the direction of the mech as well as the elevation of the crosshairs. The throttle controls the forward speed of the mech, and has a toggle for reverse. 7. What happens when I first go to a BattleTech Center? You step right up to the front counter, and tell them you want to play either BattleTech or Red Planet. They'll ask for a couple pieces of information and give you a plastic card so that you may identify yourself the next time you go. You'll pay (see above) and be given a mission number. When your mission is called, go to the "Ready Area". 8. What's Red Planet? Red Planet is a Martian Death Race in VTV's (vectored thrust vehicles) aka hovercraft through the mining canals of Mars. The story is that the Colossal Mining Corporation has virtually enslaved the workers there, who entertain themselves with these illegal races. We [Charlotte and Norman] like Red Planet, but it is quite different from BattleTech. We suggest you try it sometime. The same pods are used, though the controls act differently, of course. 9. Won't I get slaughtered? I've only played xx times! Games are booked and divided by how much experience players have. Training games are for those with five games and under. Standard are for those with between six and twenty-five games. Veteran games are for those with over twenty five games. There are also Master level games in which heat is mandatory. Vets may book their games as "master" level instead, and we recommend it. Note that if you have 26 games, you may play someone with 260 or even 2600 games. 10. What's heat? As in the BattleTech RPG, to inject reality into the game, the heat given off by weapons may have an effect on the workings of your mech. Mechs have a certain number of heat sinks, which dissipate a certain amount of heat. Note that this is only polled every ten seconds or perhaps five. If you cause the mech to heat up more than it can dissipate, excess heat points are indicated on a bar graph to one side of the cockpit. [The side depends on which version of the pods you have. left for 2.0 and so far right for all others]. Too much excess heat leads to top speed of the mech being reduced, as well as the electronics being affected. Your radar and crosshairs may stop working if you run too hot. In addition, expendable munitions may explode. The mech may even shut down. Heat is an option for all games except for Master-level and for special events such as leagues, master trials and free-for-alls. During those it is mandatory. 11. How do I avoid heat problems? What do I do? Well, certain mechs are easier to run cool than others. These may or may not fit your playing style though. Once you start heating up, you should consciously temper your firing weapons which will build up heat. Machine Guns, for example, do not cause any heat to build up, so use those instead if you have them. If you heat up to the point where munitions may explode, you will hear a rhythmic beeping sound. Look at your weapons controls. Press the three flashing buttons all at once to dump your ammunition. If you hear a screeching noise, that is the shutdown warning. You turn to the side opposite from the heat-scale and punch in the code shown there to avoid shutting down your mech. If you shut down, you're a pretty good target. If you fail to dump ammunition, you will most likely explode. 12. What happens when I die? In most games, you will see the view from your pod as it ejects from the pile of burning slag you left behind. The doors will close and open again, and you'll be back where you started, translocated into a fresh mech ready to avenge yourself. In most special events, "no-return" is set. Once you die, you wait until the mission is over. 13. How do I KILL others? Use the joystick control to move the crosshairs over your intended target. You do not need to "lead" the target. Pull the trigger only when the enemy's name appears below the crosshairs. When you start out, all your weapons will be on the main trigger, operated by your index finger. If you aim for the dark spots on the mech, you will get faster kills, since dark areas indicate damage. Keeping a steady hand is a big help. 14. What if I don't want to fire all my weapons at once? If you look at the joystick, you will notice that there are three triggers. One for the index finger and two top-mounted ones. There are three corresponding buttons under each weapons display. When you start, the red buttons are all lit, indicating that the red trigger (index finger) will fire all weapons. The other two buttons correspond to the two thumb triggers. You would want to conserve weapons for a couple of reasons. First, each weapon has a maximum range beyond which firing is not useful. Second, you might want to save the expendable weapons until you have a sure shot. Third, each weapon has a reload time, and if you fire all your weapons at once, you may miss an even better opportunity just seconds later while your weapon recharges. And of course, when you play with heat, you want to watch out for that as well. 15. What's the best mech? Opinions vary on this one. The software revision recently has not been completed, so it's hard to say which are the "best" mechs until the changes in 'mechs are stabilized. 16. Can I play teams? Beginning games are free-for-alls since most beginners do not have enough of the concepts of simply moving and firing down well enough to warrant further complications. As you get better, though, you may play team games. Tell the operator, "technician" on duty that you would like to play a team game. If you play a team game, you will notice that some mechs will appear green and some will be brown on the main screen. Also, each team will have a different color on the radar screen. Shoot enemies, not friends. Team games are probably the most fun games to play. 17. What are the pedals for? You may activate the pedals by flipping the left-most rocker switch above your head. This frees the crosshairs from steering the mech, and allows the crosshairs to float freely. You may run one direction and shoot at anything on the screen. However, you are still constrained by the screen and basically shoot what's in front of you. If you switch on the left-most and then the 2nd from the left, "torso-twist" mode is activated. In this mode, the crosshairs remain centered on your main screen. The top half of your mech is controlled by the joystick while the bottom half is controlled by the pedals. 18. What are the different conditions? In BattleTech, there are three variables lumped together and called "playing conditions". These are map, visibility, and time. In reverse order: Time is a choice of three: daytime, twilight and nighttime. Visibility may vary from Clear (1000m visibility), Light Fog (850m), Heavy Fog (500m) to Peasoup (100m). Map is the various arrangements of buildings and natural features into which your mech is placed. My personal favorite is Badlands. 19. How do I see at night or in fog? If you switch the THIRD rocker from the left (above your head), Infra-Red viewing mode is activated. Then everything around you is in shades of green. Damaged areas of mechs appear whiter "glowing" with heat from exposed armor. In the new software revision, when your weapons fire your mech may lose vision for a few seconds. This tends to discourage IR use, it seems. 20. OK, so what are all the OTHER buttons on the panel for? Too numerous to detail here, but they are mostly for adjusting radar range and instrument display. You may buy an Operations Manual at your local BattleTech Center (aka "Virtual World Center") for specifics. 21. What kind of computer does VWE use? The reservations systems and information touch screens are Apple Macintoshes. The boards actually inside the pods are custom built for VWE at VWE, though somewhere deep inside there is a descendant of an Amiga. However, it's most accurate to say that it is a custom board inside. To be precise, it's supposed to be perhaps two and a half computers inside each pod. 22. What versions of pods do I have at my site? Most sites have either 2.5 or 3.0 version pods. Chicago and Yokohama have the older 2.0's. The software generally runs the same on all pod versions. As a playtester bound by a non-disclosure I cannot say more :). 2.5's and 3.0's are a Dark Grey color, and can only be entered from the left of the pilot. 2.0's are white and can be entered from either side. Tactics and Suggestions 1.How can I get better? Practice, practice, practice. But don't just take the same old mechs time and time again. Challenge yourself. And don't just beat on the same old people. Play people who are better than you. Employees in general are pretty good. And if you can't, make challenges for yourself-- take different mechs in different conditions. Talk to the vets at the centers, to the employees; read the Journals of the VGL, join the mailing list (see below), and in general, talk to other pilots. 2.What's the difference between the mechs? Lokis, Thors, Sunders and Avatars are the humanoid-shaped mechs. Vultures and Madcats are more, well, buglike or birdlike. Each of the six main body types has a number of variants with differing speeds, armaments, armor and heat sinks. 3.I've heard people talk about spinning. What is that? First, let's go over the weapons. There are three sorts. Beam weapons, also called "energy weapons", missiles (both long and short range) and projectile-weapons. Beam and Projectile are both classified as "direct fire", whereas missile damage used to be called "splash damage". With the new software revision, missile damage does hit the particular part of the mech. 1/4 of the damage is still spread away from the actual part hit, though. Direct-fire weapons especially target specific portions of the enemy mech. Spinning a mech means that a certain amount of damage is applied to the appropriate body part. If you apply 25 points of damage to a leg, outer torso or arm, the mech will spin. Because there is less leverage in hitting the inner torso, 35 points of direct-fire damage is required to spin a mech. Hitting the center of a mech will not cause it to spin. And the more damage you do, the further it will spin. Splash from explosions may also cause you to spin. 4.What is splash damage? In standard games and above (5 or more) "splash" is turned on. What this means is that mechs are affected by explosions near them. If you kill a mech which is right in front of you, the resulting explosion will cause you damage as well. This also applies to the damage done by an exploding missile. So don't step right up to a building or rock and whale away at it with missiles. Note that you do not get points for killing buildings, either. 5.How do I set up the.... There is a sheet available from the mailing list which tells you our recommendations for setting up weapons on various mechs. Your mileage may vary. Thanks to Bob "Nishlia" Tosic of the Chicago site for this one. Note: This is being re-considered with the new software upgrades. Contacts 1. Wow this is cool, how do I start my own? VWE does NOT franchise within the United States. It's also expensive to start. If you are a legitimate foreign potential licensee, however, contact the company directly at the address below. Taken from "Virtual Reality Special Report, Summer 1994": Virtual World. A fully themed, retail VR entertainment center. Virtual World uses pod-based simulators networked in groups of eight. Two software packages are available: BattleTech, a futuristic military game wherein players pilot their robot-like tank and battle each other in an environment with variable terrain, and Red Planet, which puts players in futuristic hovercraft races through the mining canals of Mars. Both packages offer completing freedom and interaction to all players. Price: contact vendor. Virtual World Entertainment 4444 Lakeside Dr., #320 Burbank, CA 91505 USA 818.973.4200 (voice) 818.557.8372 (fax) 2. How do I contact VWE online? VWE is now connected to the Internet. They have a web site (see below) and contacts: Dave "Pawn" Gilison is the Editor of the newsletter, known as the Journals of the VGL. daveg@virtualworld.com, vwedave@earthlink.net and vwedave@aol.com. K.T. Wiegman is the online services administrator. ktw@virtualworld.com, vwekt@aol.com and 75213.3125@compuserve.com (75213,3125 from within CompuServe) 3. How do I contact FASA? Although FASA is not directly related, they may still deserve some mention. Without FASA there'd be no BattleTech, maybe. FASATOM@AOL.COM (Tom Dowd) FASAMIKE@AOL.COM (Mike Mulvihill) FASA.SUPPORT@GENIE.GEIS.COM (Tom Dowd) FASA@GENIE.GEIS.COM (Mike Mulvihill) FASA Corporation 1100 West Cermak, Suite B305 Chicago, IL 60608 4.Are there any World Wide Web sites? Virtual World Entertainment-- http://www.virtualworld.com/ webmaster@virtualworld.com (the official site) The Company Store-- http://e4tech1.ece.drexel.edu/TCS/TCS.html flynnmj@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu (lots of btech info) The BattleTech World Wide Web Node-- http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~morrisa/btech.cgi morrisa@cs.ualberta.ca (lots of btech info) The Gotham Globe-- http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~grace/btech/btech.html rmohns@black.clarku.edu (has the VR FAQ) Rec.games.mecha archives-- http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~taylorjb/rgma/rgma.htm taylorjb@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (archives for the Usenet newsgroup) An Australian site-- http://www.st.nepean.uws.edu.au/~rocky/btech.html rocky@arthur.st.nepean.uws.edu.au (Rocqueforte OLeary) (Many pictures, Mech/Vehicle lists, MechWarrior RPG) 5.Is there an online-service with info? Compuserve has a VWE forum in the Virtual Reality section. Try there. I'm not a regular CIS user myself, but that's the official forum. Type "GO VIDGAME" and select forum 17, "Virtual World". 6. What about a mailing list? Charlotte Henkle (c-henkle@uchicago.edu) and Norman Choe (n-choe@uchicago.edu) maintain the list. For information, send email to btech-request@world.std.com, and an automated-reply will be sent to you. If you feel the need to speak to a human, "btech-approval@world.std.com" will contact the list-owner. This FAQ is available by sending email to "majordomo@world.std.com" with the words "info btech" in the BODY of the message. 7. What about an FTP site? Try ftp.csua.berkeley.edu . It's supposed to be the BattleTech ftp site. There's lots of stuff there. You may find people referring to it as "soda.berkeley.edu" which was its old name, I believe. There's a couple of things available from Norman and Charlotte, in the URL: . This FAQ should be in there, for a start :). Appendix A: Mech specifics and heat setups Appendix B: Optimum Heat Setups Note: These Appendices have been removed from this version of the FAQ while VWE finalizes the values for the newest software revision. Appendix C: FAQ Version History 2.2.1 updated info on Japanese sites from KIM.EXE 2.2. changes from VWE make it necessary to remove appendices until they figure out what the final stats for the new mechs are. Added a couple of references to the new mechs (Sunder and Avatar), ftp sites, info on cockpit versions, faq history. Updated the sites listing (no Boston, waaah!). Formatting things here and there. 2.x various changes for World-Wide Web sites, email addresses, etc. 2.0 marked the first version of the FAQ as a list of questions and answers vs. a single long blurb. 1.x initial version, taken from a long email i sent to some of my friends. if you got the original, congratulations! End of the FAQ. To subscribe to the BattleTech VR Mailing List, send the words "subscribe btech" in the body of a message to majordomo@world.std.com; for the most recent version of this file, send the words "info btech" as above. No quotation marks! -- N.W. Choe n-choe@uchicago.edu BattleTech VR Mailing List Co-Admin. try "btech-request@world.std.com" Not an official spokesman for VWE or the U of Chicago, among others. "All you can do right now is think about the stars!"