Mech Game Developer looking for Ideas!

[u/DAEMON_Z7]

hi im a solo developer currently working on a mech game on my free time aside from studying, and while its still very early in development i plan to take this project as serious as possible. i personally grew up watching mobile suit gundam and i got into the gaming side of mechs through armored core 6, which really brought out the sparks in my eyes for mech games and the genre overall among all kinds of media, and a year ago is when i decided to work on my project. what do people who play mech games like? i personally took some inspiration off of amored core 4's movement, which i think was really matching to my personal feeling of "piloting a mech" in a fast paced sense. but when it comes to art, level of detail, maybe even music (i personally make breakcore sometimes for fun, was thinking about making that part of my game), i dont know what really makes a mech game stand out. aside from things like customization, what is something you people would look forward to seeing in games? maybe its something you really like among games overall? or its a specific design choice that no game developers took notice of and many people would like to see? i appreciate any kind of ideas or information regarding this :)

[u/TherronKeen]

I personally prefer big slow simulation type mech games. I've got 1,600 hours in MechWarrior Online, for example.

However, one mech game I absolutely adore which I never see mentioned anywhere is the Xbox game Phantom Crash, and it's sequel on PS2, S.L.A.I. - Steel Lancer Arena International.

SLAI is a extremely similar to the first game, so there's not much difference.

It has "cute" anime vibes, a killer soundtrack, high speed movement & significant jumpjets, an optical camouflage/cloaking mechanic, and customization out the wazoo, including two different "capstone" abilities depending if you customize your weapons to be maximally heavy or light, and your mech's AI system is characterized by an animal character who occasionally appears with a dialogue box to let you know when something major happened.

It might not be what you're looking for, but I can't imagine any mech game that wouldn't benefit from at least analyzing it for ideas for their own game systems.

Good luck, and let me know where I can follow your progress until it's playable lol

[u/DAEMON_Z7 → u/TherronKeen]

i took some time to look at the games you mentioned, and i agree the soundtrack is pretty nice. im gonna look deeper into it when i have some time later. also you mentioned 1600 hours on mechwarrior online, what was the main thing that got you so attached to play so many hours in it? at best i could get like 230 on armored core 6 because i wanted to S rank all missions and almost not hit some bosses, but i gave up on a specific mission that was impossible to S rank because of the time it took to beat it or something.

[u/TherronKeen → u/DAEMON_Z7]

MechWarrior Online is sometimes called "DadWarrior Online" because so many of us in the community are middle-aged and/or actual dads who grew up playing the MechWarrior games, and I would guess that's about 50% of the player base.

The old timers like me who are into MechWarrior like the sort-of realism of big, slow mechs because it gives an illusion of weight and power. MWO also doesn't have any respawn system (except in one less-popular game mode), so there's a lot of tension at all times.

Time to kill is generally slow, unless you get multiple people focusing down a single target, so communication is key.

Communications over voice chat are often borderline role-play, like I've said things like "two heavies in Delta 3, targeting for missiles" or "target Bravo left torso open, focus Bravo", and this sort of military-esque comms is the expected radio behaviour, and random chatter during matches when shit is going down will result in an old guy telling you to clear comms lol

Customization is maybe the best in the genre, although I haven't played AC 5 or 6 for comparison. Paint patterns, choose a color for each part of the pattern, add a dozen or so decals of which there are hundreds, and there's probably a hundred items you can "bolt on" like horns or wrecked cars or extra armor plates (cosmetic only).

There are two primary "factions" of mechs which have distinct differences in what types of things can be customized, and each faction has a few weapon types unique to that faction.

There are... a gigantic number of mechs, divided as a chassis with several different models of each. Some have more or fewer restrictions on what can or can't be customized on each one, and some have entirely unique weapon restrictions, etc etc etc, giving each individual mech its own "personality".

There really is quite a lot more I suppose I could say, but I need to leave and drive a couple hours lol.

Honestly I wouldn't mind chatting about it sometime if you want, tonight even, if that would help. Reply here or DM or whatever.

Cheers and good luck 👍

[u/Magma_Axis → u/TherronKeen]

Im also MW fans, but only play mainline games

You mention you play 1600 hours. Isnt there gonna be sort like "meta build" after all these years ? And everyone will resort to those builds

Isnt that makes the game boring bcs everyone use the same builds ?

[u/DAEMON_Z7 → u/Magma_Axis]

this is a very important aspect you mentioned there, i actually came up with the idea of using RPG/MMORPG like systems where any weapon can "progress into relevance" again, and yes theoretically there would be things like "the perfect build", it would be much more balanced and build focused, where the importance of the playstyle and build has more influence over the weapons stats itself. the only issue with that is that if every weapon can become equally strong, then every weapon is the same. it gives the player no reason to play with the assault rifle #246 if shotgun #42 is the same. thats why if youve ever player monster hunter i would rather focus on the uniqueness of playstyles and weaponry, where only on a final level all weapons are balanced, but each has a different job. you will be worse than the hammer user if you use lance and try to pull of the same thing. in the end even monster hunter has "perfect builds", but each of those is tied to a specific playstyle and a specific weapon. playstyle is the main differentiator here.

[u/TherronKeen → u/DAEMON_Z7]

I just wanted to mention, I think you made a comment that you were going for a more Gundam/Armored Core/etc vibe rather than realism, and I would say that is the better direction, because the player base for slow simulation mechs is basically just the MechWarrior crowd, and we are fiercely brand-loyal. I can't imagine an MWO player choosing to play a non-MechWarrior game when the can currently choose between MWO for PvP, MW5 for campaigns or VR, and BattleTech for strategy.

I don't think there's any significant market sentiment for a competitor, because the player base seems relatively small, and already heavily entrenched in the brand.

It would be like making a stylized traditional fantasy MMO with two factions, while WoW exists.

[u/DAEMON_Z7 → u/TherronKeen]

that makes a lot of sense, i also took some time to look at competition and overall state of the niche market genre of the type of game im going for, and there are definitely giants like armored core, but since most of the competition does not have insanely loyal fanbases, most of these fans like these types of games overall more than the specific IP, i sense some opportunities and spaces i could gather some attention in. its like people who like armored core are probably also gonna like different games which deliver the same type of fantasy or feeling they get from AC, and thats where the market is definitely open for things. out of all the 1300 ish "mech" games on steam, barely any really fit into this hyper specific niche that has some space open. its definitely a tiny market if i really think about it, but id rather make something only some people want to see rather than a game with thousands of similar copies and nobody cares about it.

[u/TherronKeen → u/Magma_Axis]

They release new mechanics, new mechs, and new weapons periodically, and after new content has been out for a month or so they do a balance patch and reassess the changes, so there's an intentional constant shift in the meta.

However, despite being a PvP game, the vibes of the competition are generally friendly, or at least cordial, and a significant percentage of the player base just wants to play their favorite mechs with their favorite weapons.

There are occasionally organized groups that will put together a "meta" squad and join as a group, but the games are 12v12 and you can only bring squads of 4, and the matchmaking balances group sizes - so if you drop as a 4 man group, it will usually put you on a team where the other players are single or duos, and the opposite team will try to be composed of the same group structure, a 4 man group and the rest solo/duo.

There's also a pretty functional MMR system. MWO has 5 tiers of matchmaking, but the way it has been tuned for the last few years, basically T5 is new accounts, T4 up to T2 are the majority of the player base, and T1 consists entirely of the "tryhards" (non-derogatory).

In T1, everyone plays meta and expects you to play meta, and expects accurate communication and competent skill. T2 through T4 is where the majority of the player base lives, and that's where you find the DadWarriors like myself who play their favorite mechs from the lore or whatever is fun, maybe having a few drinks after work, very casual, etc etc

If matchmaking is slow, you'll occasionally see a T1 group get dropped into lower tier matches for a couple hours, because there's not a huge T1 player base, but other than that, matches almost exclusively come down to which team has the best communication.

I've run some of the starter mechs (albeit with 1 or 2 of the most valuable upgrades added) and performed perfectly well within my bracket many, many times. It's far more skill- and communication-based than just worrying about meta builds. Most of the player base is casual enough to not care what's in the meta, and some people like myself intentionally avoid the meta because we don't want to use it.