Talk:BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge

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CHR project[edit]

This is an extremely rich game. There are incredible amounts of detail that can be brought forth. I am currently working on getting this information to be presentable. This game started development just prior to the release of The Clans as an element of game play for the table-top game. FASA then approached the game designers about the topic and the Clan invasion was added in as a major element of the game. Though the game itself is apocryphal, the game itself is an important part of BattleTech history.

Anything canonical about this game (basic mechs and technology, etc) has surely been done in other articles. The elements that remain are mostly apocryphal. Some of the things that should be included here are:

1. Mechs unique to the game, and/or mechs that have been adopted or parallel created since then - including full statistics. These were referred to in-game as "enhanced mechs".

2. According to Tony Van, some of the missions in this game are direct references to at least two novels that were published near the same time as the game was published. It would be a good idea to describe these missions in some detail and provide links to the novels where appropriate.

3. "Mech Drop", a technique of ejecting mech from an orbiting dropship to land directly on the planet. I don't believe this is a canonical deployment technique. I don't believe there is much detail in the game on exactly how this was accomplished, but there was a mission where the player had to decide whether or not to take this option or to use a traditional dropship.

4. Comparisons to the table-top game. Mechs are very specifically coded to include critical locations of the weapons, heat sinks, armor, etc. The work was very detailed, and mostly correct. Most of this information was not published in the Player's Guide that came in the box, nor was it evident when playing the game. Very few discrepancies have been discovered. Due to the level of detail, it would be nice to see this detail examined and compared/contrasted with TROs 3025, 2036, and 3050. In addition to the load-outs of the mechs and vehicles, some game-play elements are very similar as well. Though Crescent Hawks' Revenge used a square grid in lieu of a hex grid (no diagonal movement allowed), many elements such as the distances allowed for walking speeds and jump jets were exactly duplicated from the TROs. I am currently about half-way though tabulating the data on all mechs in the game, which is an extensive list.

5. More biographical information on the characters in the game, and continued plot lines from the previous game, where applicable.

Some of the information that will come out of this effort may not be best suited for population of the page dedicated to this game. It may be generally agreed that mech variants and other topics should be given new pages or incorporated into existing ones. Let that discussion begin. If anyone is interested in examining the process or assisting, I have a very large spreadsheet that I can share.

EDIT: I just completed the spreadsheet of all data on MECHS, VEHICLES, and infantry.

Hiya, in response to the points you raised:
1. Can you provide a list of 'Mechs or 'Mech variants that were first shown in this game, as opposed to put into this game following their creation by FASA? I can only think of those IS 'Mechs that were refitted with Clantech and marked with "+" or "*" after the name, effectively constituting something akin to the "C" variants.
2. The initial missions where the Crescent Hawks arrive on Lyons to find the Kell Hounds under Kurita attack refer to the Kell Hounds/Kurita feud from Mike Stackpole's Warrior Trilogy novels. In particular, I think this was covered in Warrior: Coupé and perhaps the preceding Warrior: Riposte; I seem to recall though that the timeline doesn't add up properly. The Crescent Hawks are not mentioned in those novels, but much of the Crescent Hawks games was later canonized in other sources so most of this is proper canon is some form or another. Plus, of course, these games in particular are often treated as straight canon.
3. Combat-dropping 'Mechs by means of drop cocoons is a canonical and established deployment method, and has always been. Rules for this popped up quite early.
4. Another Sarna contributor has a similar project ongoing for the MechWarrior 4 computer game where he's listing the specific representation of various 'Mechs in that game. I guess the same could be done for CHR.
5. Jason Youngblood and his father Jeremiah Youngblood have since been established as a fully canonical characters. I'm not sure how relevant minor apocryphal characters from this game are as they typically never show up anywhere in BT fiction again. The only major characters from this game who might deserve their own articles in my opinion are Gideon Braver, Chiun, and Rex Pearce.
Hope this was a bit helpful. :) Frabby (talk) 23:38, 8 November 2014 (PST)

Thank you, Frabby. 1. I added some pages about mechs. Feel free to look them over for style and content. 2. Tony Van mentioned in the back of the Player's Guide: "Those of you who have read the novel 'Lethal Heritage' from FASA know about the Clan's first attack. Those of you who read the forthcoming book 'Blood Legacy' will see that last part of our game simulates some crucial battles fought in that book." 3. I'll add a link about drop pods 4. I'll check the MW4 page and see how that's going 5. I think you are correct about all you said.

Additional: The page currently states that Chiun is piloting an Archer mech (operations Liberty). Though Chiun does tell Jason that he is piloting the Archer, I think if you destroy the archer and successfully get your team to the dropship you will be told that it was a bluff. I will trying playing the scenario and looking at the text in the game file to see if this is the case.

RichLongess

I think Frabby meant MechCommander not MW4; we've started the work on that game and not so much on the MechWarrior games. See the links I put on your talk page. -BobTheZombie (talk) 06:50, 11 November 2014 (PST)
Thank you. I added some links similar to the MechCommander page. I really like the way the MechCommander page is organized, and if this is working well it would be nice to see all of the video game pages get a consistent feel to them. RichLongess

Another minor note, I'm looking in to the vehicle that Kell drives during the L/K missle loading mission. The game labels it an "ammo carrier", and I think its stats are the same as an "ordinance transport" rather than a hover truck. If anyone else confirms this before I can feel free. RichLongess

I noticed something in the description critiquing the picture during the title sequence. As stated: {...it could be argued that this was the 'Mech from the initial unit which, over the course of the storyline, could not be salvaged (whatever 'Mech the player choses on slot 4 is lost before the game truly starts, although the player may not know this at the onset of the game).} I am almost sure that the plot goes as follows: You initially select four mechs to pilot. You crash in a lake and your dropship pilot / 4th mechwarrior dies. The ship partially floods, only allowing access to two of the mechs you had selected. Later, the Kell Hounds perform a salvage operation and recover the two mechs from the submerged dropship and you use them to repel Kurita forces. I don't think it is true that the identity of the fourth mech is unknown. If there are no objections, I will update the description RichLongess

I won't object, we are all about accurate here. I really need to get into gear and have a closer look at this game myself.
I won't object to a clarification either, but I do feel you have misunderstood what I wrote there. "Although the player may not know this at the onset of the game" refers to the fact that the choice of the fourth 'Mech is inconsequential. I didn't mean to say the player wouldn't know what 'Mech he chose on slot 4. This is relevant in the context that the opening screen shows four 'Mechs, one of which actually isn't available for selection at the beginning; my argument was that perhaps this 'Mech could be considered to have been the fourth 'Mech that is never recovered from the DropShip and actually appears in the game, and that therefore, the four 'Mechs on the opening screen might be the lance composition of the Crescent Hawks at the onset of the game. Frabby (talk) 02:27, 7 December 2015 (PST)