Battletech, the turn-based strategy game based in the same world as the MechWarrior series, has received an update, with new features as well as bug fixes. Chief among them is the ability to customise and add more difficulty to your campaign.
The initial game has only a standard difficulty setting. But now you can start a new campaign with custom difficulty settings. Here are some additions to the custom campaign option:
- Ironman Mode. Your campaign is limited to a single save game slot that automatically updates as you progress. Run out of funds or fail a Priority Mission and it’s game over!
- Unequipped ‘Mechs – enable this to make ‘Mechs completed out of ‘Mech parts start empty instead of with a stock loadout.
- Parts for ‘Mech Assembly – increase the number of ‘Mech parts that must be salvaged to assemble a new ‘Mech. This setting is intended for veterans and those seeking a significant challenge.
There are also a few more difficulty tweaks that can be adjusted any time even on existing campaigns by the settings menu. Here’s the list:
- Lethality – when enabled, MechWarriors that are disabled in combat will always be killed.
- ‘Mech Destruction – when enabled, ‘Mechs disabled from Center Torso destruction are permanently lost. This setting is intended for veterans and those seeking a significant challenge.
- No Rare Salvage – when enabled, + and ++ items are no longer generated as salvage results (but remain purchasable in stores).
- MechWarrior Progression – adjust the amount of experience that MechWarriors gain after each mission.
- Advanced MechWarriors – increase or decrease the frequency of more powerful MechWarriors appearing in Hiring Halls in later parts of the game.
- Enemy Force Strength – increase or decrease the baseline strength of the enemy forces you’ll face in procedural contracts.
- Contract Payment – increase or decrease the amount of C-Bills paid by procedural contracts across the game.
- Salvage – increase or decrease the amount of salvage you may obtain from negotiation on procedural contracts.
There are a a few quality of life changes as well. You can accelerate actions by pressing spacebar, or speed up gameplay in general with a settings menu. Right click now cancels an action in combat, something we love seeing being adopted in more strategy games.
There are tons of other changes, including UI changes in the mech bay, ultrawide monitor support and performance improvements. The full patch notes can be found here.
Battletech is out now for the PC.