Oooh, thanks for clearing that up. *goes and checks out blues news* :D

A former Kesmai employee/BT3025 developer sent me the link in an instant message.

oooh.... :D

Originally posted by Peter
It was an OpEd piece at Blues News.

I emailed it to Blue (I'm a regular on the forums over there under another nick).

This is SKYNETRP..........I am a level 21 Mech Warior for House Kurita, Draconis Combine. It has been a very long time since I went looking for contact with my brothers in battle, I was just so heart broken the day 3025 was killed. This was not just a game, it was a way of life. I played with Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, you name it. I have never seen a game that was so addicting as BattleTech 3025 was. I am in fact still addicted.

One day there will be some group of people that will bring back BT3025 to us, and I will gladly pay any amount to play it again. I was one of those wariors who played 36 hour shifts and even then wasn't ready to get any rest.....it was pitiful!

I remember one day a judge that I played with often called out my name and said......."Hey SKY, look at me in my new Mech!".........I looked over to see this full grown man posing in his new Mech on a mountain side as if he was actually inside it! I just laughed and said........"You DO know that you are not REALLY inside that Mech....right?" He paused, and then said timidly........."Are you sure?"

THAT was just how powerful this game was to a lot of us. BT3025 was the ONLY game that felt so real you could feel yourself trotting across the terrain and climbing a mountain. The maps were so accurate you could run 10 miles and climb a mountain in the far distance and when you got there .......the trees all had individual detailed leaves and branches.........UNBELIEVABLE REALISM.

The Mechs handled like no others, they werre a part of you. And I loved the fact that you could re-program the keys on your keyboard to do whatever you wanted them to do.......you could customize the movements to your own hands abilities, along with the mouse or joystick. I used a Kensington Expert TrackBall, the best and fastest thing on the market even now.

Many times I was acused of wichcraft because I could do a 180 in mid-air during a jump and hit any Mech that was close accurately and extrtemely fast due to the fact that software was not what enabled movement (like in a Joystick)......it was your own hand that enabled super fast movement.......actually as fast as you could move your hand across the trackball (which is the size of a cue ball) you could move your Mech that fast. This trackball has software that enabled you to customize and memorize certain Mech moves and perform them automatically, which was a HUGE advantage. While it was performing one move, you were already setting up the next shot against your enemy......awesome.

The details of these Mechs was nothing short of beautifully detailed in every way. They actually "felt" great in your hands. I made a lot of friends in BT3025,and I miss them a lot. Are any of you that remember me in here? I used "SKYNETRP" as my name then, and was always a Kuritan Warior.

Anyway....as you can see, I STILL love this game, and I am in search of someone......ANYONE......who has maybe stolen the engine that ran this wonderful experience. Is there anyone like that out there? HELP!!! Surely SOMEONE has managed to get the game back up and running. Has anyone tried asking Micro$oft to consider bringing it back?

ugh, it just makes me sick all over again that EA couldn't come to terms with MS over this. Supposedly it was the management of EA.com who didn't want to have to run everything by the BT IP holder (MS). That was back when both companies had bad blood between them. It sure wasnt a lack of players, they had thousands and the official website which didn't even officially open got 15,000 unique hits in its first few days. Then there was the financial meltdown at EA.com which was bascially the fault of bad management and that ridiculous game "Majestic" that never got off the ground.

The biggest tragedy is that this wonderful engine and back-end is just sitting and rotting away while MS focuses on its Mechassault property leaving PC BT fans stroking themselves.

It's funny that you mention that....I was a Majestic Player before I became a Beta Tester for EA Games and started playing BT3025. It was an OK game, but it was very SLOW in plot and theory (Majestic). There must be SOME way to bring MPBT 3025 back, enough time has passed and it must be obvious that the TRUE 3025 Wariors will NOT play the other Mech Warior inferior game engines. I tried to play Mech Warior 4 for a while, but each time I played I was so unsatisfied, so disgusted, that tears came to my eyes and I just quit playing, and I have most of the upgrades that I never even tried more than ONCE..............YUK.

I love MA and I'm sure I'll enjoy MA2 but its just not the same playing on a TV. 3025 had veterans playing who knew their stuff about BT, MA has like spoiled 12 year olds who think its high comedy to leave and shut down the game just before they lose. I won't even get into the downside of the voice-chat experience.

Anyhow, Thanks for all the pics SuperAl.


You got that right, it's just not the same. I believe that BT3025 had more adults than anything else, and they were truly dedicated to winning the game and playing as a team. Like I said before, I played 36 hour shifts a lot and still never tired of the game. I was one of those dedicated Wariors that got VERY good at playing the game ahnd controlling the Mechs. I had over 15 Mechs and was highly skilled on all of them. I used a Mech until I mastered it before I went to the next one. MAN, I miss this game.

Many many thanks to SuperAL, everyone who contributed to the article, and everyone who posted here. As one of the developers of 3025 It really feels good to see so many people remember the game so long after its demise.

One clarification, though. Please refer to Kesmai Studios as the developer of 3025, not EA. We were well into production when EA purchased us. Kesmai should get credit for all of the hard work that went into 3025.

The original goals for the game were pretty high-reaching. We wanted to create, in a 16MB download, a game with box-product production values, 25 animated 'Mechs, 512x512 texture and multiple animations for each 'Mech, a particle system, sound FX, a strategic gameplay layer, 4 distinct terrain types, and unlimited landscape generation options. I think the last beta client weighed in at 16.2MBs. It was an amazing piece of work.

We created a new 3D engine, particle effects engine, animation system, and audio system for 3025. At the same time creating all of those new art assets, UI elements, particle effects, and audio clips.

After EA shut Kesmai down (after a long time of bloodletting) about 8 or 9 of us started a small game company called Lodestone Games (www.lodestonegames.com (http://www.lodestonegames.com)). We managed to keep that going for a little over two years. Our biggest accomplishment at Lodestone was to help SOE get Planetside finished and deployed. After Lodestone five or so of us ended up at Mythic Entertainment, where we've been for about the past year or so.

Thanks for posting all of the screen shots! I'd forgotten about some of the official ones and it was great to see the 'Mech's I'd forgotten.


Jeff "Quarters" Hanna

So, are you going to help us get the game back OR WHAT?????

Nope. I've never spoken to anyone from Day One Studios.




I think I was playing for either Davion or Kurita during the beta.

You were playing for Davion...I was in Housre Kurita and I played with you in practice games on Solaris many, many times right at the end of things........you know......when Solaris was about all there was left....only a few players were online anymore.......hanging on to whatever was left, like a junkie, LOL.

Hey Skynet, welcome to the forums. :)

You know, the name does vaguely ring a bell. It's just been so long. I was also in House Kurita, but I'd usually only play for a couple hours a night when my internet connection wasn't screwing me over. It was always funny to see an Inner Sphere covered in Red with Liao and Davion takin it up the ass most of the time. It was also neat seeing how the Steiner-Davions would actually team up on Kurita too.

I pretty much agree with you on all points. I forget what level I was, but I had only just gotten a couple Hunchbacks when news got out of cancellation. I think it was around the beginning of December when I just quit.

If they made the game today, we'd probably see battalion vs battalion sized matches all the time. :D It's really too bad EA decided to give up on it. :(

Day 1 sort of had the multiplayer idea going in MechAssault 2, but the game took such a different turn in mech weapons and handling that it couldn't hold a candle to mech simulation.

Hey Skynet, welcome to the forums. :)

You know, the name does vaguely ring a bell. It's just been so long. I was also in House Kurita, but I'd usually only play for a couple hours a night when my internet connection wasn't screwing me over. It was always funny to see an Inner Sphere covered in Red with Liao and Davion takin it up the ass most of the time. It was also neat seeing how the Steiner-Davions would actually team up on Kurita too.

I pretty much agree with you on all points. I forget what level I was, but I had only just gotten a couple Hunchbacks when news got out of cancellation. I think it was around the beginning of December when I just quit.

If they made the game today, we'd probably see battalion vs battalion sized matches all the time. :D It's really too bad EA decided to give up on it. :(

Day 1 sort of had the multiplayer idea going in MechAssault 2, but the game took such a different turn in mech weapons and handling that it couldn't hold a candle to mech simulation.


Speaking of EA GAmes..........they have done it AGAIN........they took what I was told was a great game that thousands of players dedicated their gaming lives to playing for over TWO WHOLE YEARS, and decided to CANCEL IT, just like that. It made no difference that it was a hit, and people loved it and are definitely addicted to it. They are saying that they are making more room to make more money on NEW projects.

WHO the F**K do they think they are? Why would you purposely destroy a game that everyone loves? the game is called "Earth and Beyond", and I have been told that House Davion and House Steiner had infiltrated this game after MPBT 3025 was cancelled, and became a formidable force to recon with, and now they are getting screwed AGAIN??

I say that everyone needs to BOYCOTT E. A. GAMES ........PERMENANTLY. This is what they are going to do every time they get greedy and want more money??? This means that no matter HOW successful an online game is, and no matter how much you dedicate your time to becoming good at it and making hundreds if not thousands of friends..........EA GAMES will cancell it and hurt us ALL.

WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF? Do you know that I am still very hurt about the fact that they cancelled MPBT...the best Mech Game ever made, and I still am searching for a bootleg version being played somewhere online.............and it has been several years since it was cancelled?? I made a LOT of friends on MPBT 3025, and I miss them all..........Doctors, Lawyers, even Judges played MPBT....so it wasn't just a fluke being played by a few kids.......it was a GREAT GAME being played by dedicated ADULTS that were willing to pay ANYTHING to keep it up and going. Can you tell that I am REALLY PISSED NOW??? GRRRRRRRRRRRR.......

I just found out about Earth and Beyond last night while I was looking for a bootleg copy of MPBT....AGAIN.......

Hey Skynet, welcome to the forums. :)

You know, the name does vaguely ring a bell. It's just been so long. I was also in House Kurita, but I'd usually only play for a couple hours a night when my internet connection wasn't screwing me over. It was always funny to see an Inner Sphere covered in Red with Liao and Davion takin it up the ass most of the time. It was also neat seeing how the Steiner-Davions would actually team up on Kurita too.

I pretty much agree with you on all points. I forget what level I was, but I had only just gotten a couple Hunchbacks when news got out of cancellation. I think it was around the beginning of December when I just quit.

If they made the game today, we'd probably see battalion vs battalion sized matches all the time. :D It's really too bad EA decided to give up on it. :(

Day 1 sort of had the multiplayer idea going in MechAssault 2, but the game took such a different turn in mech weapons and handling that it couldn't hold a candle to mech simulation.

OH MAN, I loved my Hunchbacks, they were awesome! I pretty much stuck with just one of them though, the better one with better fire power. If you had a Hunchie, you were at least level 15. I had just hit level 21 and bought myself an absolutely brutal Mech......the Catapult. I had so many long range misiles, it was incredible. I would sit behind a hill and pop up and send a barage of missiles to destroy a Trebuche', or vaporize a mid sized Mech like a Jager in seconds. I spent as much time as I could piloting that Cat, and I got really good really quickly, since I had a lot of practice on a little Raven, and my sniper skills were very current. I also bought a Jager, it was extremely deadly, but had very little armor, so you had to get your kills in quickly before they got to you.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...........someone bring back 3025!! I have heard that Mech Commander 2 is supposed to be using the same engine as MPBT?? Is that possible? I looked at a few screen shots and it looks VERY similar to MPBT as far as the backgrounds trees and mountains and fixed stations and weapon fire looks, but the Mechs look a lot different. I will settle for ANY Mech that handles like the MPBT Mechs did.....that engine literally MADE that game what it was. I would like more info on Mech Commander 2 if poossible.

:D Wish I could have played around longer. The catapult would have been great for me because I like playing the fire-support. I think that hunchback had 4 med lasers, LRMs, and the autocannon and a slaser. I sort of remember "classifying" it as the successor to the Javelin (w/4 mlasers). There were three hunchback variants I think. There was a really sucky one with the AC20 making it mostly useless with people sniping the shoulder. The third one had a boatload of lasers.

Did you check out the gallery? http://www.futurelooks.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=633

One thing I always found funny was the Centurion. Thinking back to Yen Lo Wang (Justin Allard-Liao's mech), I find it somewhat unbelievable he could have won so many battles. :lol:

The Panther was a pretty good choice too, mostly fire support though. The Jenner was more or less an armoured-down Javelin. And those 40t mechs were mostly useless (IMO).

I remember playing with some of the house leaders around. Seeing the Atlas roaming around was pretty crazy, there's such a scale to the mechs, I think the Commando was roughly half the height of the Atlas.

Blackjacks seemed to be the universal 45t mech to get. The AC2s + the med lasers were pretty killer, but I guess the chest weak spot instantly made it into a sniping match. :lol:


Btw, Microsoft has released MechCommander 2 as a free download, but I think you might have to compile it in VS2005. It has the assets and everything, so it is actually fully functional. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6d790cde-c3e5-46be-b3a5-729581269a9c&DisplayLang=en

Bump.

For those still interested in viable replacements for 3025. There are several player ran projects that are showing promise.


www.is3025.com (http://www.is3025.com)

www.iswars.com (http://www.iswars.com)

http://www.virtualcommander.com/


ISW so far is the leader of the pack with a working interface that uses MW4 Vengence as a combat engine. IS3025's interface is still in development, I do not know the current status of it, only that it is still actively worked on. IS3025 plans to you the BTS game from http://www.virtualcommander.com/ as its combat engine. You can currently download a full demo from that website that offers online play, though still in beta.

Currently the ISW playerbase are having debates on whether to use BTS as its combat engine, or the MW4 Mercs NetMech IV addon (basically makes the MW4 engine conform to classic CBT rules, very promising).

Neither can really compare to anything Kesmai MPBT related, but I figured I'd throw anyone who still reads this thread a bone, theres still some hope left in community ran projects.

Hi Draagun! Thanks for the info. I hope they have the opportunity to make a "complete" version :)

Bump.

For those still interested in viable replacements for 3025. There are several player ran projects that are showing promise.


www.is3025.com (http://www.is3025.com)

www.iswars.com (http://www.iswars.com)

http://www.virtualcommander.com/


ISW so far is the leader of the pack with a working interface that uses MW4 Vengence as a combat engine. IS3025's interface is still in development, I do not know the current status of it, only that it is still actively worked on. IS3025 plans to you the BTS game from http://www.virtualcommander.com/ as its combat engine. You can currently download a full demo from that website that offers online play, though still in beta.

Currently the ISW playerbase are having debates on whether to use BTS as its combat engine, or the MW4 Mercs NetMech IV addon (basically makes the MW4 engine conform to classic CBT rules, very promising).

Neither can really compare to anything Kesmai MPBT related, but I figured I'd throw anyone who still reads this thread a bone, theres still some hope left in community ran projects.

But don't these new games use the MW4 engine? I Believe that they do and that's what makes the MW4 games so terrible........the movement of the Mechs is terrible on that game.

Only ISW currently uses MW4. I will say, using the NetMech IV addon from Mechstorm.net, makes MW4 feel much more like a "Batttletech Sim" than the regular stock MW4 mercs install. Currently there is a debate on whether to continue using MW4, or moving to BTS explained below.

www.virtualcommander.com (http://www.virtualcommander.com) is the home of BTS, Battletech Simulator. So its an entirely new game on itself. You can download the latest demo (very playable stand alone version) on that site. IS3025 is attempting to make a Planetary Capture interface to work in conjunction with BTS.

so... will it be more like BT3025 'feeling' ?

so... will it be more like BT3025 'feeling' ?



I certainly hope so, the feeling of the Mech's movements was so personal, customized feeling, and realistic that I couldn't keep my hands off of the controls. Especially since you could re-assign the keyboard letters to anything that you wanted, thus, making the control of the cockpit TOTALLY customized to your own hands abilities. This made it possible for you to be MUCH faster in your responses and it was litterally effortless to make your Mech do what you wanted it to do.

BTW.........4 man teams was a wonderful idea, and it made your skills MUCH more important to winning the game than it would with 8 or 10 man teams. You had to work as a team and make seamless moves to be able to beat even better players with stronger and more powerful Mechs.

WOW, I just got through playing Dark Horizons-Lore.............what a GREAT game!! This is absolutely the closest engine I have played to MPBT 3025. The scenery is the same, the Mechs move pretty much the same.........really really close. And the weapons are just about the same too. I only have the DEMO version, I can't wait to see the entire game. This really does satisfy my Mech needs..............almost as much as 3025!

Guys, I am not kidding. It has a way to go, but it is already very very good. The Mechs are decent too. I used a tank-like mech with a fantastic long range Laser and LRM's. You have to "paint" the Mech that you want to destroy while the missile is on it's way........pretty darned kewl. And that long range Laser.....WOW...........the aiming systems are a little off at times, but you can use (I recommend it) the zoom function while aiming. These Mechs are so far away that I HAVE to use the ZOOM in order to even see them.....LOL, and the laser reaches out that far. Try this game out if you want to feel like you are back in MPBT 3025......you won't regret it.

If you want to download the Demo version, go to http://www.garagegames.com

I certainly hope so, the feeling of the Mech's movements was so personal, customized feeling, and realistic that I couldn't keep my hands off of the controls. Especially since you could re-assign the keyboard letters to anything that you wanted, thus, making the control of the cockpit TOTALLY customized to your own hands abilities. This made it possible for you to be MUCH faster in your responses and it was litterally effortless to make your Mech do what you wanted it to do.


I completely agree. It was the ultimate Mech Sim for me. The way the speeds ramped up or down really gave a sense of weight to the mechs. Especially when going uphill or downhill. The jumpjets were also very good.


BTW.........4 man teams was a wonderful idea, and it made your skills MUCH more important to winning the game than it would with 8 or 10 man teams. You had to work as a team and make seamless moves to be able to beat even better players with stronger and more powerful Mechs.

I also completely agree with you on this one. When I recall the best parts I've experienced, I always default to the times when the other three lance members were using BlackJacks and I would circle around in my javelin for the garbage kills. :D It worked everytime since I'd hit the weakspot in the center torso of the enemy BJs which were pretty much softened up by then.

I wonder how the game would be circa 3050. Lances versus Stars.... it'd take some sort of gargantuan skill just to beat the clans like that though. they could make it 8v5. The tactics involved would be interesting to see.

Hey Al, you have GOT to go and play Dark Horizons-Lore.......it is so close to 3025 that it's scary. I am actually satisfied when I play...........something I haven't been since they shut down MPBT 3025. I would be just as happy when they finish DH-Lore as I would have been with MPBT 3025 if it had stayed around......almost!!

Damn, I can't believe that they have found the engine used in 3025 and made a new game that will be just as good, especially if they go into great detail of the Mechs like 3025 did. And this game also has ground assault vehicles and I think troops too in the full version, whiuch would make it even more realistic.............as long as the troops had very little effect on the Mechs.

EVERYBODY.........go and try out Dark Horizons-Lore....and try out the Battle Tech Similator because it also has the old 3025 engie too, and I can see great things happening with that game too. It is FINALLY happening...............we are going to get our beloved 3025 back...........with a face lift!!

OR you can buy it the FULL VERSION right now for a fraction of the retail price (only $9.99) at:
http://www.rpgnow.com. Just put Dark Horizons in the search engine there and be SURE to get the single copy of DH-Lure, not the $19.99 Bundle. The bundle has a bunch of unnessesary software.

ooo............when I get time!

OK, here's the deal........supposedly you are not actually inside a MECH, you are underground controling it from there, but the heads up display looks exactly like you are inside the MECH just like MPBT 3025, so no problems there. I have been playing the full version for 3 days now and it is REALLY GOOD. The MECHS move just like MPBT 3025 (almost) and I am satisfied when I am done................ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! The weapons are fantastic, but the aiming is a little tricky.......you have to "lead" your target a little. The servers are built into the software so you don't have to go elsewhere to log on. The chat is similar to MPBT, but you have to click the chat button each time you use it.....kind of a hassle, but it cuts down the chatter which is a good thing. The scenery is excellent, and the realism is great. Well, that's it for now. I am going to start playing the Battle Tech Simulator now and compare them.

i know it's been a damn long time, but i've got installer if anybody cares. i have the combat tune!! (it will spark some memories)

and i've played dark horizons...it's ok but it's really buggy. it looks like battletech, but just doesn't feel like it...maybe because there are only 2 weapons (that don't aim properly) and you can JUMP.

Hello and welcome! :)

Do you hve the music as mp3s? :D Man... that would be awesome.

here ya go!
http://media.putfile.com/Battletech-3025-combat-track

i don't think it even had a soundtrack during the fighting did it? it never came with that one :(

Just wanted to say this brought back some great memories! I wish EA would get off their duffs and make this game return. The MMO market is ripe for something like this!