CAMPAIGN INFO & SIGNUP

(funny enough, the picture is actually quite appropriate.)

what zechs said. check the bottom of the first post.

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should be mostly done with the move by weds. i should be on more often then. with a little luck we should be ready by Saturday for our first missions. If we get enough people, we will probably do one for ~gmt players and one for american time zones. probably something like ~3pm EST and ~8pm EST (subject to change). plan accordingly.

 

minor update:

APPROACHING COMBAT ZONE! CONTACT IMMINENT! (Sorry Bronsk)

Mission and meeting times: we are tracking for at least two missions on saturday. looks like 3pm EST for GMTeamers and 8pm EST for Americans will stick. If anyone can't make either of these times on Weds or Sats, please let me know. We will try to work around everyone's schedule.

Character Creation: If you haven't done it yet, please look at the first post on this thread and start thinking what you want to do. I will be available most of Thurs and Fri to help people. During the downtime between 3 and 8 pm I might also help too, but please don't wait until the last minute. We can't have everyone trying to finalize their character at the same time.

Starting funds: Players with characters will each start with 4 mill to purchase their starting mech/fighter/whatever. There is the possibility we may allow player donations of excess funds if some want to start with a bit larger mech. Keep in mind, if you have your eyes on a heavy/assault. It may be better to start with a cheap mech and save for something bigger later.

Players playing with NPCs/Support characters: In most cases, players without created characters will be filling in wherever we need you (thank you in advance). This will most likely be as friendly NPCs. Units these players control could vary from mission to mission. If you like a lot of variety, this may be the way to go, but don't get mad if you get some cannonfodder roles (it will happen on occasions). Sometimes you may also play as oppositional forces (especially if the friendly side is full or if the mission requires a more challenging foe than a bot). On very rare occasions you may also play as special NPCs (will be very subject to change on a weekly basis). If you get attached to roleplaying as a particular friendly NPC that is within the unit, we may allow you to control them permanently.

Unit composition: Looks like we will easily field at least a company of mechs (12) to start with, plus some reserve or support forces of various types. In terms of role classes, I think (almost) everyone is going mechwarrior. I am tempted to go aerospace, but still leaning mechwarrior. Orc expressed an interest in going aero as well. No tankers/helo-pilots yet. Anyone who likes playing the underdog would enjoy these roles(and costs are waaay cheap... can get a Demolisher Assault Tank REALLY early). And don't worry; I will be implementing Megamek rules that make vehicles a bit tougher to kill. Also seriously considering giving tankers/helo-pilots command of a lance rather than an individual unit. So there is that going for those classes too.

Unit name: We haven't really talked about it. Do people just want to start the ~3038 test campaign as an early SoR? Remember, the test campaign is just to polish game mechanics and will be relatively short. It doesn't really matter who we play as until we make the jump to ~3048. We could play the test campiagn as the "Mischief Makers" (or whatever) for example. If we do start the test campaign as the SoR, I will need help from someone familiar with SoR lore when creating campaigns (more work, but not a huge deal if I have help)

Edit: Starting funds of 4 mill is quite high and for now we will not be allowing starting funds to be transferred to other players. However, we will be giving incentives for players who spend less Cbills (such as preference in upgrading to a larger mech later).

 

minor update:

I can now confirm the starting timeline. We will begin in the timeline on January 17, 3036; just after the Ronin Wars and the ceasing of all Draconis Combine occupation. We will be playing as a younger SoR. I actually wanted to do the Ronin Wars, but a variety of factors have prevented me from making a worthy campaign ready in a reasonable amount of time. So rather than delay us starting any longer, we are skipping the Ronin Wars. We might come back to it as a special "pre-quel" event.

You all should also know that by 3036, the Free Rasalhague Republic has settled into a cautious peace with the Draconis Combine. In fact, DC's own Theodore Kurita made a substantial effort in supporting the FRR's efforts to destroy rogue elements of former DC forces that had refused the declaration of an independent Rasalhague. This puts the SoR in a very difficult position. The Ronin Wars saw them being forced to accept once bitterly hated enemies as allies. While praised as heroes by the Rasalhague people, their still simmering hatred of the DC has put FRR leadership in an awkward position. Not wanting to risk any more conflict with a marginally friendly DC, the SoR has been "encouraged" to seek contracts that lie on the Lyran Commonwealth and periphery border (or really anywhere but the FRR-Combine border). FRR leadership hopes that the SoR's historically friendly ties with the Lyrans will reduce the risk of open conflict with House Steiner. If nothing else, officials hope the SoR will turn their frustration towards any pirates unlucky enough to cross their path.

At the beginning of 3036, the SoR has been resting and repairing on Rasalhague. While not much more than a reinforced company, they are well equipped and skilled in rapid response roles. The SoR has therefore been contracted to patrol near Csesztreg in hopes of discouraging a recent surge in pirate raids that are suspected to be originating from Star's End. The unit owns one heavily modified Seeker Class Dropship that is ideal for these sorts of patrol missions and is being ferried to points of interest by an FRR Merchant Class Jumpship.

Csesztreg link: (pronounced Sess-tregg I believe)
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Csesztreg

Star's End link:
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Star's_End

 

No worries. On the positive side, you didn't miss much. Technical issues prevented us from ever even getting the game going.

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Apologies to everyone who showed up. While I am disappointed we didn't get a mission rolling, I can honestly say that I did everything I could to have us prepared for tonight. Sorry if I disappointed anyone. With that said, I have some very good news:

I've relearned how to import/export our characters from MekHQ. It will require a little effort from your parts and a rudimentary understanding of MekHQ, but at least now our characters will be imported correctly.

Less of big deal, but a personal victory; I fixed the "Invisible Javelin" issue. After exhausting all other options, simply changing the model number from JVN-10R to JVN-10L did the trick. Still no idea why it worked, but at least it shows up correctly now. If any of you downloaded my Megamek pack, I suggest you fix the JVN-10R like above or reinstall my files (the latter will require a vanilla mekhq version if you don't want any redundant files). I will have a new (better organized) version available later tonight. The file to fix can be found here:
...\mekhq-0.1.15\data\mechfiles\mechs
-open the Javelin JVN-10R file
-at the top, locate:
Version:1.1
Javelin
JVN-10R
-change "JVN-10R" to "JVN-10L"
-save changes
-you can rename the file to "Javelin JVN-10L" as well but I don't *think* it is required

If the above fix is too much effort, simply unistall-reinstall Megamek/MekHQ and then reinstall my (soon to be posted) updated version.

I also looked into what I'm calling the "Hatchetman Boot" issue. The bug doesn't appear to be affecting me so it must be something wrong with your files, Flessar.

As a gesture of appreciation for all who showed up today, I will be awarding 4 XP to all your characters (roughly 1 mission's worth of XP). Thank you for your patience. I am confident we will get this working properly.

 

thanks xander

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thread updated

check first post for new download links and an updated version of my MegaMek Pack

Still need to work out final bugs on getting the .mul files to convert properly (necessary to upload our custom units between MekHQ and MegaMek), but will have to work on that when I get back into town (hopefully late tomorrow).

Edit: just had a brainstorm as i was packing my stuff (my brain is weird like that). I think I've solved our mekHQ/Megamek upload problems (has to do with a need for multiple "scenarios"). Will explain when I get back.

 

SUCCESS!!!

We managed to upload characters from MekHQ to Megamek and back without a hitch. However, I have some (minor) bad news:

It has become apparent that everyone wishing to partake in the campaign MUST download the newest version of MekHQ (ver 0.1.16). The reasons for this is that everyone needs it to upload their .mul file (force list) into Megamek and only MekHQ can create the necessary .mul file. It will be easiest to explain how to navigate MekHQ over coms, but for now, everyone who is participating please download MekHQ ver 0.1.16

I have also checked for compatibility issues with my Megamek Pack ver2.2 and have found no issues. The MMP should work fine with both MekHQ 0.1.16 and Megamek 0.35.30 (that is included in the MekHQ folder).

This is important because if you are getting an error saying "The campaign file could not be loaded" when loading a campaign file, you MUST install my MMP. If a custom mech exists in the saved campaign file but is not included in your mechfiles folder, you will not be able to load the campaign. The only solution is to REQUIRE everyone taking part in the campaign to install my MMP... sorry guys. Think of it this way, at least you get an improved Megamek out of it. A link to the MMP can be found in the first post of this thread.

(or here for lazy people: https://rapidshare.com/files/1871363089/MegaMek_Pack_by_MagnusEffect_2.2.rar )

If people can be ready with the above tools, I see no reason why we cant launch the campaign (for realsies) this Saturday. Hope to see you there!

 

Stayed up till almost 5am crushing bugs with my mental powers... (damn you 0.1.16!)

I found a particular game breaking one that caused MekHQ only 0.1.16 saves to crash when loading a unit equipped with the RAT vehicle (did not happen with 0.1.15). Good news I fixed it as well as resolved some "invalid" issues I somehow missed before. I also added some "cool" new maps (pun definitely intended).

Unfortunately, the bug requires us to update to MMP 2.3. I have provided a link to the new version on the first post but for the lazy people:

https://rapidshare.com/files/1120679821/MegaMek_Pack_by_MagnusEffect_2.3.rar

You will need to install it to a fresh install of 0.1.16 to ensure there are no artifacts of the old buggy files.

As far as I can tell, things are looking very polished now. I'm very optimistic we will begin the campaign this Sat (mission times: 3pm, 8pm, and 1am EST). Hope you all can make it!

 

Thanks guys for the moral support. I needed it.

In celebration of starting this up, here are the files so you can see the "finished" roster for yourselves!
https://rapidshare.com/files/2644798221/The_Skjaldborg_-_Shieldwall_of_Rasalhague-3036.cpnx

Dump it in your "campaigns" folder in MekHQ and load it from the main screen
(remember, you will need MMP2.3 to load the campaign)

And a seperate list of our current weapon/parts inventory (we will be tracking basic stuff for now):
https://rapidshare.com/files/4045331122/SoR-Inventory.xls

If you feel I need more of some supplies, let me know. We have a *little* room to spare. I tried to have everyone in mind.

Also, if you have an avatar pic for your character in mind, please send it to me so i can add it or i can use one included in the MMP if you would prefer (assuming it is not already taken):
-avatar pics need to be in .jpeg format
-pics will be small so crop to face as much as possible (no full body pics)
-please crop the pic yourself if you know how (save me the work)
-keep the pics on the smallish size, ~700x700 or smaller is good
-look at the data\images\portraits\ folder in my MMP for ideas if you need help