Project Ancestor: Full Info

Apologies for taking so long to get around to doing a proper write up. I've been rather busy as of late.

So what is Project Ancestor?

No, it doesn't have anything to do with your great-grandfather. It does, however, have something to do with your great-grandfather's mechs (so to speak). Project Ancestor was primarily born from the desire to improve opposition force creation. This was done by addressing some lingering issues with the vanilla game:

-elimination of non-canon designs from canon "groups" (more on this later)
-speeding up match creation for campaign missions (an important issue for many involved in the campaign)
-attempt to fix "timetraveling" designs; some designs have been given the wrong release year (most common offender: jihad/DA designs )

For those who haven't noticed, all units are seperated into 5 different tech tiers:

Tier 1 = IS Introductory Box Set -this includes all canon Succession War designs.
Tier 2 = Total War Set - this is the largest set and includes all canon non-Succession War designs such as Star League era, Clan Invasion Era (both IS and Clan), Jihad Era, etc.
(NOTE : Selecting "All TW" includes both Tier 1 and Tier 2.)
Tier 3 = Advanced - this is the most ambiguous tier. Some designs here are definitely canon, but most are very obscure designs. Other than being uncommon, it is unclear why they were not included in Tier 2 (possible clerical error?). When in doubt, assume that designs here are either non-canon or "pseudo-canon".
Tier 4 = Experimental - this is where all experimental tech or prototype designs are found (should be found). In terms of canon, assume the same here as with Tier 3.
Tier 5 = Unofficial - strictly non-canon designs. By default, this tier is where all player created designs should go. However, be aware that Tier 5 designs do NOT register for MekHQ and are therefore not available for purchase in a campaign. Because of this, Tier 5 is a good tier for "LOL" designs.

Exhibit A: Tier (Type) selector
Exhibit B: Tier Column
Exhibit C: Tier Designation on Record Sheet


Project Ancestor has tightened up the organization of these tiers; non-canon designs will be moved to Tier 3, 4, or 5 (depending on what they are). Some of the contributors to Megamek took the liberty of adding many non-canon designs and posing them as canon. THESE HAVE BEEN TERMINATED! As mentioned before, this will allow Tier 1 and Tier 2 settings to properly create random forces (using the force creator) that are fully canon. Remember how much time was wasted in the lobby while we set things up? This will significantly speed up the matchmaking process when we need to randomly generate an enemy force for a mission. Now it will simply be a matter of getting a total for player BV and then punching in the settings accordingly. Player created designs that roughly follow canon designs will be placed in Tier 3. This will allow them to not only be found easily all in the same place, but it also allows them to be properly loaded into any MekHQ campaign for purposes of giving access to your favorite designs without having to remake them for every new campaign.

The end result is hopefully faster games, better immersion, and better understanding between canon and non-canon for newer players.

P.S - While this project has mostly been successful, technically this is still a work in progress. I'm almost certain there are still some stragglers that need updating. If you see any units that are incorrect in their tier or timeline, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will be sure to add them to the list of "things to do".

 

Magnus is the