One of the longest running MekWars campaign servers, MegaMekNET, has begun a new cycle. MekWars is a java-based program that enables players to play ongoing campaigns online against other people as part of a large server-based system. The latest campaign ended just a few days ago, and the next one has recently begun.
After a flurry of development releases over the last few weeks, and a variety of attempts to quell various bugs and issues with the program, the latest stable release of MegaMek was announced on October 24. 
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The Dominion Begins
The Beta testing for a new MekWars server has concluded, and the latest server has announced its open launch for October 8, 2013. Set in 2780 when war embroils the Inner Sphere as the Star League era comes to a close.
In late August, MekWars: Legends launched their eighth campaign. This is a great time to grab the client, and play the game. Everyone is at the same level of development; that helps to keep things even early on. Whether you are a new MekWars player or a long time veteran, this is a good opportunity to get in on the action.
The New Campaign Begins!
On September 3, the latest development version of MegaMek was announced and made available for download. The release came with a lovely surprise. This release could be the next stable release of the software!
As freeware is worked on, it tends so have both stable and development releases. As a program to play BattleTech against players or a Bot, MegaMek is a great tool that enables play outside of chucking dice and pushing metal Saturday afternoon in someone’s basement.
(Image courtesy of Starocotes)
A new development release of MekHQ was released on September 5. More than 120 changes were announced to the freeware utility.
(Image courtesy of MekHQ)
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f you are interested in a free program to design BattleMechs or vehicles, then you might want to try out Solaris Skunk Werks. Although initially designed to use the then-new Total Warfare rules, it has been fleshed out over the years and can be used by anyone to design your favorite ‘Mech!
This tool is currently in development, and has been worked on for years. The latest version was released this past June. Solaris Skunk Werks (SSW) is designed to work with other games, such as MegaMek, so a unit saved here can be used elsewhere. SSW supports rules based on the TechManual going forward, and not older books.
The Main Screen (Image Courtesy of Solaris Skunk Werks)
While MegaMekNET and MekWars: Legends are the two most commonly played MekWars servers out there, one of the most unique is MekWars: Forever. We created an account, loaded it up and played around with the interface a bit to see it up close.
The MekWars clients allow you to play BattleTech online in a ongoing campaign against other people. You are typically assigned to a faction, like Word of Blake or Free Worlds League and from there you ally with others in your faction against the universe, planning your conquering, assembling your army, and playing against foes using the MegaMek engine. In order to play, all you have to do is download the total file from the MekWars host and load it up.
MekWars: Forever has a different spin than the other servers. Set in the late 3050’s, instead of you being a part of a large faction, you are a faction of one. You create your own faction and then are in sole control of it. With this unique take on MekWars, we had to check out exactly how it worked, so we grabbed the file and loaded it up.
Solaris is for Newbs
After playing with the MegaMek/MekWars client on MegaMekNET for several weeks, let’s look at how the metagame is shaping up. If you head over to play, what missions are available, and what can you expect to face?
Previously we looked at a walkthrough of the early stages of MMNET. That was geared towards how to begin a campaign there, fighting against other people online and joining a new house. Today we will be looking at some common attack types, building a force, and considering what sort of enemies you might typically face. Continue reading
On Tuesday, June 18, a new development version of the software, MegaMek was released. The java-based software program can be used to host games of BattleTech over the internet, solo against the AI, or hot-seat.
The latest development version is 0.35.39 and it can be found here, along with a list of changes and bugs fixed.
More than 70 bugs were handled, as well as several minor changes for the game are given. Several alternations of note include the introduction of new tech levels from the Technical Readout: Prototypes. Another new feature is a game option that will allow you to set the year the battle is occurring. If you do, then units not available then are automatically filtered out.