Ladies and gentlemen, we now present to you the February edition of LoM2Q - Legion of Myth 20 Questions - where we interview community members regarding their outside projects.

I had the privilege of interviewing DarKOnE™ from the Battlemech Hanger (BMH) project - http://www.battlemechhanger.com. BMH is a Battlefield 2142 modification that allows players to immerse themselves in the look, feel, and battles of the BattleTech universe, using the Battlefield 2142 Northern Strike game engine. For the English majors and spelling Nazis out there, Hanger is the correct spelling of the project; it is an intentional spelling change to avoid copyright issues.

If there is one thing that I can tell you about the BattleMech hanger team, it's that each one of them has struggled through, or is struggling though, some sort of adversity. Besides the various personal struggles, the team as a whole suffered a huge setback with the passing of Grumpy (Terry Findle). This loss was not just a blow to the team because of the vast amount work Grumpy had put in to the project, but because he was a good friend to them all. Instead of letting this slow them down, or even breaking up the team, this adversity seems to make the team closer and stronger. They seem to be more focused and more driven toward their ultimate goal.

I want to thank DarKOnE™ for taking some of his valuable time away from BMH to provide Legion of Myth this interview. I also want to thank MetroofLiao, BMH Assistant Project Manager, and Legion of Myth Registered User for his support and for putting me in contact with DarKOnE™. Lastly, I want to thank PerryRaptor, he was there at every turn while we coordinated (and re-coordinated) this interview.

One final note about Battlemech Hanger, before getting to the meat of the interview: Please understand that, as of this posting, BMH is in the first Alpha phase of the project. Many of the itemized lists presented below are not exhaustive, and only represent a small portion of the potential content of the game. Remember, LoM2Q is limited to 200 words per answer. ;)

Q1: What is Battlemech Hanger (BMH)?

D1: BMH is an old school BattleTech community project that was started last April by Terry Findle, Paul Findle, and myself. Our goal is to provide the community a complete project that is playable in all aspects.

We decided to use the Battlefield 2142 Northern Strike engine because it gave us a broader aspect to bring different areas of game play to the community that have not been done before, outside of pen and paper. We were also looking for a platform on which anybody can play. One of our biggest goals is to allow people with low end PCs to play just as capably as people with the highest end quad core systems.

You can be an infantry soldier, a jump soldier, et cetera.

You can be a small vehicle driver, a tank driver, et cetera.

You can pilot transports, aerospace, and, of course, BattleMechs.

Q2: Where can people find out more about Battlemech Hanger?

D1: http://www.battlemechhanger.com/

Q3: What would you say separates your mod from other BF2142 mods that exist?

D1: The community that we are associated with is one of the best online communities on the Internet. They are a fantastic bunch of people. They are what separates us most; the people. After the loss of Grumpy, the community here helped me to pick up the pieces and continue on.

Q4: Outside of BF2142, you're adding on a galactic conquest portion of the game, correct?

D1: We're planning on using Z-Group software. Z-Group is another community project which handles the planetary capture side of the game. This is currently under development, and there is no estimated time frame for when Z-Group is going to be ready to go into testing. Like everyone else, they have jobs and real lives, and in their spare time the are working on coding this project. This is a big, big, big task; it's not little. The star map alone [with over 2,000 planets in game canon] is the biggest part of the project, and it is time consuming to code.

Q5: How are you going to handle the various game eras (3025, Clan Invasion, post-Clan, and Dark Age)?

D1: What we are going to do is offer time line settings to set a server to. When you set your server up, there will be an option there to select a time line. We're shooting for three; we'll probably end up with four time lines: 3025, 3045, 3055, and 3065. It's the only way to do it to make things fun for everyone. This will open the game up to different equipment and planetary capture opportunities. Our overall goal is to stay true-to-form within those time lines.

Our overall goal was to find the happy medium [between the eras] and time lines were the way to do it.

Q6: Are players going to be allowed to host their own servers?

D1: What we are in the process of doing is setting up what we call "BMH Smart Tools." The BF2142 software has reporting tools to track player stats. We are going to carry that reporting software over into the BMH module. We are going to host for the community reporting servers. This way, if someone wanted to be able to host a server, they will have the option to set it up as a ranked server.

Q7: How will the BMH Smart Tools interface with BMH?

D1: The BMH Smart Tools is being setup so that you basically have your own launcher, independent from EA's [Electronic Arts] launcher. It will check the game, make sure it is installed properly, and it will add the necessary patch files and map files that are needed that you are missing. This way your client is always current.

On the server side, your server will ping the BMH smart tools and install the needed files to keep your server up to date.

Q8: What about PunkBuster?

D1: We're not going to say that because you own the server that you have to run PunkBuster. BMH is a mod; it's really up to you [how you implement it]. We are including PunkBuster in the BMH Smart Tools install. If you want to keep a ranked server, PunkBuster has to be installed on the server; one of the things that will be checked is the PunkBuster log. This is still under development and still under discussion as to how we will do this aspect. But we know there has to be an anti-cheat program somewhere so that someone isn't padding stats.

One thing about BMH Smart Tools is that it will check the files and look for known hacks, cheats, and exploits.

Q9: Is the game capable of handling non-weapon equipment; if so, will you be incorporating such equipment as Beagle Active Probes, ECM, etc?

D1: We will be incorporating those modules into the game; there will be electronics. Believe it or not, 2142 has so many different things built into the game engine they just aren't using - they aren't turned on.

So yes, we are going to have extended radar rage. We are going to have BAP (Beagle Active Probes). We're going to have ECM. We're going to have the necessary components on the ‘Mechs. It's just a matter of taking the base template that we have for each ‘Mech and adding in the different things that we need.

Q10: Are there going to be any distinctive BattleTech weapons such as Needler pistols, Man-Pack Particle Guns, and GyroJet guns?

D1: Yep. Man-Pack Particle Gun is on the table. There is also the Semi-Portable Heavy Laser. Heavy troopers will be able to drag and drop the Man-Pack Particle Gun or the Semi-Portable Heavy Laser. We are also going to incorporate jump infantry.

The biggest thing we're trying to go for here is to be realistic to BattleTech form, while at the same time trying to make it fun for the people who have never played BattleTech. We are trying to find that happy medium, so that we can bring the old community, the new community, and people who have never played BattleTech together.

Q11: How will BattleMechs in BMH retain their status as 'Kings of the Battlefield' without unbalancing the game, or is this purposefully unbalanced to match BattleTech canon?

D1: This was a stress-point some people were worried about. It was actually one of my concerns.

For everything that is out there on the battlefield, there is something to counteract it, be it two or three to one odds or differing tactics and equipment. That is one of the things we are going for.

Take the Spider. It was never designed to fight other ‘Mechs. It was more of an anti-personnel deterrent. It was equipped with a couple of machine guns and a small laser. It was geared for hunting infantry; it was fast, it was agile. And yes, you will be seeing the Spider in the game.

Our ‘Mechs are going to be powerful, and we are going to stay with the books the best we can. But, I don't want to have it to the point where if we have 2 or 3 Condor Heavy tanks up against a couple of Shadowcats, the Condors can't turn around and counteract those two Shadowcats.

Q12: It sounds like you are giving a more important, or a larger role to the battlefield commander. Is the role of the Commander in BMH going to be more than that in regular BF2142?

D1: Definitely! The battlefield commander has the overall view of the battlefield. He can distribute his assets and watch the battle in real time and if he sees ‘Mechs coming in, he can position assets to go ahead and try to counteract the other commander's battle plans.

The whole object is to make people think before they play. This is going to change the overall game play in 2142 because people are going to have to work with one another. The teams that work together, that work for and with their commander are going to find they go through less vehicles, less resource points, and end up winning. While the other team loses their vehicles, gets killed, and burns up resource points.

Q13: How will BMH bridge the gap between the old-school (1980s) BattleTech player and newer (clan era and Dark Age) BattleTech player?

D1: This is a tough question. It really comes back to the love for the game. We're going to provide the community with just about every toy under the sun that we can think of to cram into the game. It's going to open up a new way to play online that nobody has ever done before.

You've seen the AI assets from the MechWarrior series where they run right up to you and wiggle back and forth while you shoot'em. Now those assets are going to be as smart as you. They are going to jump, they are going to pop-snipe, they are going to use different tactics to stay alive, they are going to make you chase them across the map instead of you standing there waiting.

I am hoping with the time lines, that aspect of the game is going to cross the bridge between the old-school table top player and the new breed of players that have come along in the last few years.

Q14: What can you tell me about the BMH team?

D1: The team started with me and a childhood friend - a friend of the family who was almost 11 years older than me - and his son. From there, many, many community members have piped in and jumped in to help with things, and it's all just come together. I mean, we were stuck with several different issues trying to replace work that was lost when Grumpy died. It all comes back to the community. Without this community I could not have done this project; it would have never gone anywhere.

Q15: Your project is currently in the Alpha Test phase, right?

D1: We have compiled enough data for the first official base test pool. We have two servers online and ready for play.

Q16: How can one become an Alpha tester?

D1: To become an alpha tester, you can click on the contact button on the main website. From there, use the pop-down menu to choose Alpha Tester, then fill out the form, then I will review the form, or Stinger will do it. Right now I think there are 113 or 117 slots still open; we're increasing to 250 testers. So, there are still plenty of slots open and plenty of time to get in on it.

Q17: Are there any famous units and/or personalities from BattleTech canon presented in the game?

D1: Of course you're going to see units represented. I'm working on custom decals. Somebody contacted me saying that he knew how to add custom decals to vehicles for Battlefield and Battlefield 2. If this does work [in Battlefield 2142], people will be able to select canned unit logos. When they are at their menu, they will be able to scroll though and select their decal - which will be shown anytime they get into a vehicle - it will be on their vehicle.

Q18: What factions are in the game?

D1: We have the five Houses [Davion, Kurita, Steiner, Marik, Liao]; we have a generic mercenary and a generic Clan. These faction graphic sets basically customize the overall BF2142 experience - login menus, backgrounds, ranks, awards - and gives it that personalized feeling. I guess the biggest thing we were going after was to pump the player up and have them wave their faction flag before they even got into the game.

Q19: Do you have any final comments?

D1: I guess the biggest thing I want to stress here is - yes, we are team members, and yes, we are community, but at the end of the day when everything is done and over with, even though we come from different sides of the game board - we've all pulled things together here and have become really good friends. I mean, people that I never even though I could be friends with have not only turned out to be great team members, but they have turned but to be great friends. This team and this community have come together to achieve the overall goal, and it's just really nice. Without this community, I could never do this project.

Q20: This is not really a question, but since I could tell that DarkOnE™ put a significant amount of appreciation out to his staff and community, I wanted to give him the opportunity to identify them here.

Project Manager and Coordinator: Louis R. Schiller - DarKOnE™
Asst Project Manager and Coordinator: Shawn Ranspot - Metro
BMH and zGROUP Project Coder: Perry Raptor
Python Coding: Craig Schellenbach - Rot
Mod Development, Mod Programming, Load outs: Steve Amold - Smagma Dactyl
Lead 3D Designer, Modeler, Textures, and Media: Rhodello Nuval - Grafix
Models, Editing, and BF2142 Editing: Frankie - DogBite20
3D Modeler: WolfCub
3D Animations/ Assault Knights Lead Developer & Designer: NightHawks
Flash Animation and Artwork: Elf
Textures: MaxEx
Lead SFX and Soundtrack Creator: Rainer - IronSaint
Lead BF 2142 Conversion Map Creator: Mega_Deaths
BF 2142 Conversion Map Creator: ColdDawg
Lead Project Web Designer and Web Admin: David Oosting - Stinger
SPECIAL THANKS TO THESE DEAR AND GREAT FRIENDS FOR GETTING BMH STARTED:
- Project Lead Designer and Modeler: Terry Findle - Grumpy (Rest In Peace great warrior)
- Assistant Project Designer and Modeler: Paul Findle - Rabid Wolf
Last, but not least:
- To everyone within the Battlemech Hanger community. Thank you for your time, efforts, and interest in the Battlemech Hanger project.

Final comments from your interviewer, MaxLiao:

Again, I have to thank DarKOnE™ for taking the time for this interview - and all the harassing I did afterwards. As far as communities go, this one has been the most helpful and supportive of any I have ever been in. They take the time to answer questions, assist you with problems, and generally make you feel like you've belonged here for ages - even as a newcomer.
As one of my favorite BattleMechs in the game, I am happy to see the Spider have a presence. :) DarKOnE™'s Spider weapon layout is that of the 3050-era Spider. The canon, stock 3025-era spider has two Medium Lasers as weaponry. (And, if you play by the Dragon Magazine optional rules, put out in the 1980s to give ‘Mechs more flair based on published canon, the Spider gives s a -1 penalty for attackers to hit the Spider when the Spider jumps.) There are other variants, eras and modifications as well. We can only imagine how much diversity they are going to incorporate in the game.
What are you waiting for? Pick up a copy of BF2142 (with the Northern Strike expansion) and apply for the BMH Alpha Test here: http://www.battlemechhanger.com/contact.php

Now that you're excited about this project, be sure to check out the following links:

Go to Battlemech Hanger: [HERE]