Kemco Games

[Vilkata]

Mech Platoon is an incredible game. I personally believe a sequal should be made for the Nintendo DS. DS sales have been through the roof, and its interface would be perfect for a RTS.

There are some things I would like to adress about the game though. I will be referencing two mech-oriented RTS games, Total Annihilation and Metal Fatigue. Total Annihilation is arguably the best RTS ever made, and any RTS developer can learn a lot from it. Metal Fatigue is not nearly as good - but it had incredible features that no other game ever has.

1.
The Platoon element made it so that the units I could station at the beginning of the game were the only ones I really used. I basically use 5 Zoa spear thrower robots to beat the game time and time again. If an enemy onslaught is imminent, I build one or more laser towers. I love the Platoon element, being able to customize a platoon you have at the beginning of each mission, but you should -have- to build up your base, and build heavier more advanced units in order to beat missions. Mech platoon missions are just too short and simple.

2.
Something neat would be if you could /customize/ your mechs. There are 3 different pieces to each mech! Why can't you swap em around and build custom units?

3.
Mech debris that you can salvage shouldn't dissapear. 'Slag' should remain on the ground, and if you harvest it, it should give you resources as well as possible part data.

4.
Battles should be much more epic. More units on the screen. Easier to make new units. More buildings to make. Enemy actions should not be scripted! Have them build a base, populate it, and defend or attack, depending on mission circumstances. I don't like how every replay of Mech Platoon is basically the same with hardly any deviation.

5.
Labor Units should be able to repair -anything-.

6.
Campaigns should be entirely different from eachother, to really give a reason for people to play each of them, and focus more on carnage and conquest than deactivating bombs or destroying bugs.

7.
Kills by your units should be recorded. Like in some other games, if one mech amasses a whole string of kills, it should become an Ace, and be better than the other units. It should inflict more dammage, have a better defense rate, and be faster. And, that unit should be recorded, so you could use it, with its better skill, in the next mission aswell. (Sort of similar to Metal Fatigue).

Look to the RTS games that really made a difference gameplay wise. Total Annihilation, Metal Fatigue, and more. Mech Platoon got a LOT right. But in order to become as great as it could be, many many slight improvements need to be made.

---Vil.

P.S. The missions take place on different planets in MP. Imagine if the interface was a view of a star map, with many different planets, each held possibly by a different faction - and you had to select which order to fight them in, in order to win. (i guess similar to how you have to beat Megaman games). Just a thought. Oh, and thank GOODNESS there are no superweapons in Mech Platoon. Superweapons are -lame- and do nothing to gameplay but annoy the living socks off of you.

[S4MUR41]

I agree with your statement but 1 thing I must say is that it must be made for all platforms and not just DS. People say that DS would be perfect for RTS but consider this, when using the stylis you have no control what so ever to move around the map to choose other units, for example you start off at one point but normally you would put the pointer in the corner to slide the screen around, with the stylis it would inflict conflict since it would be used to select units and to move it would just keep having the select feature also not being able to use cursor speeds you would be stuck with 1 speed, while most people have different variant speeds they use. With developement reports they were not able to make Age of Kings for DS a RTS game on the DS for it would have no functionality in game, thats why they resorted it to be a TBS and uses the D-pad to move around with the stylis having no actual in-game function.

As you see it may seem like DS would be perfect but once you think about it, it doesnt work out unless they do the same control scheme as the gba one. With that said now you cannot just pick out the DS as the dominate RTS platorm for PSP is just as good (better in most cases) so by using the analog for the cursor instead of the dpad would be easier to use and easier on the hands. Not saying that Kemco has to resort to 1 handheld because if they do make it then it has to be on both platorms, but to be honest if it HAD to be on one then PSP would be the better choice, I have explained why in another thread here somewhere.

Also they have already announced Command and Conquer for PSP, so you cant say RTS will not work on PSP like others say, because are we not talking about a GBA game...
_________________

Join the Ultimate Mech Platoon Fan Site and Forums!
Click my Signature Above and Join the Mech Platoon Fan Community!

[Vilkata]

b1wfdz33, I made that suggestion as my personal oppinion. Which platforms to make it for has been discussed at length in other threads. I posted this thread to address the actual gameplay issues Mech Platoon has and how to improve upon it.

I feel I have suggested some very good ways of improving the gameplay.

---Vil.

[S4MUR41]

oh yes i know and I agree with your improvements 100%, im just saying if they were to do it they should take those into great consideration
_________________

Join the Ultimate Mech Platoon Fan Site and Forums!
Click my Signature Above and Join the Mech Platoon Fan Community!

[Vilkata]

While I do agree that a cross-platform game would be extraordinary, and I do not wish to bring up a platform Vs. platform debate, I think that there is more to the DS than just the touch-screen. It is the Nintendo Dual Screen afterall. The two screens are what set it apart. I do agree that perhaps the touch screen would be impossible to implement effectively, although the Palm RTS game "Warfare Incorporated" seemed to make use of it fairly well. (Too bad the game was simplistic and not very fun).

Metal Fatigue had the primary area of engagement be at ground level, but at the exact same time, there was also combat in space, aswell as underground. You could change views quickly and easily. Imagine for the DS, one screen displaying the standard ground map, and the other displaying a different front. Underground dungeons perhaps. And you could enter one front from another, moving your forces as you saw fit. Could be interesting.

Oh... And I think something should be done to address the resources. In Mech Platoon, the victory between two perfectly evenly matched enemies would simply be determined by which had more resources. The extremely limited nature of the resources also means that you hardly ever have a substantial army to command. Total Annihilation and Metal Fatigue both had 2 resources, Material, and Energy. In TA you would mine metal from the ground, or collect solar or wind energy, and both would never run out - but both could be easily destroyed by an enemy force. In MF, there was solar energy, aswell as pools of magma you could mine on the surface of the planet. Magma pools could dry up, forcing you to move to another pool that was possibly in enemy territory, but given time, the pools would refill.

Perhaps Mech Platoon 2 would see one or more fairly inexhaustible resources become popular in the universe - and the war of the galaxy that was finally put to rest in MP1 is reignited in a far more devastating manner.

---Vil.

[S4MUR41]

I agree that both DS and PSP have thier strong points and yes lets leave that behind.

Like you said above, there could be some great things that can be done to MP2 if it ever were to be. I agree that parts from defeated enimies should not dissapear after a while. Also a great idea that Dawn of War has (which is an amazing game btw) they do not use resources to mine but instead use strategic points to build units, there are little sentinals around the map and when you go up to them you plant you flag, once it is planted you start to gain points to build, enimies can take down these sentinals and capture them and your points start to slow down and so on, its a great idea. Or if they were to do the mining still there should be way more resources, like starcraft for example there was huge areas that had crystals and such where in mech platoon there are little spots here and there.

Like you said about labour units, they should be able to fix anything instead of just buildings. There should be able to fix units aswell.

1 idea I had was when you destroy a unit, the unit should become part of the terrain and becomes an obstical for ground units, but that might interfear too much and might get you stuck.

Also just wanted to let everyone know that Im writing a new guide to Mech Platoon and should be up soon.
_________________

Join the Ultimate Mech Platoon Fan Site and Forums!
Click my Signature Above and Join the Mech Platoon Fan Community!

[Vilkata]

Re-thinking some of what I have said...

The main problem with MP, more than anything, is that the missions are simply too short.

You can in fact build a recycling center, and convert resources, and if you have a recycling facility, when you recover debris it will actually give you resources aswell!

Know why I forgot it? There isn't a single mission where you need to build up your base significantly. I build the Base, Warehouses, a Factory, and maybe some laser towers. Thats all, and I can beat every mission easily.

I guess what Im saying is that, the missions really need to be drawn out more. Give the enemy a base, with Labor units, have them build up their forces, etc. It could make for better gameplay maybe.

---Vil.