2024/8/30 - Patch v18.0

v18.0 (aka the "BattleTech Advanced Universe" patch) has been released to the installer. This patch is tremendously large and has a *lot* happening, please read these patch notes carefully.

IMPORTANT, READ THIS FIRST: BTA v18.0 is a save-breaking patch, your saves are incompatible. Additionally, you *must* download a new installer for this patch due to substantial back-end changes that took place for this patch's development. The installer can be found on the front page of the wiki, or at this specific link if you prefer: https://www.bta3062.com/files/BTAdvancedLauncher.php

ALSO SUPER IMPORTANT, READ THIS SECOND: BTA v18.0 requires a specific action from you during installation. *Before installing*, navigate to your Mods folder where BTA is installed (in the root directory of your HBS BATTLETECH installation) and manually clear the entire folder, just delete everything out of Mods, keep nothing. Once the folder is empty, proceed with your installation of BTA as normal. This is absolutely critical that you do so that you do not get messed up content.

FINAL BIG IMPORTANT THING: This patch brings with it a major change to BTA, in that it is no longer called BattleTech Advanced 3062. Instead, the mod is now called BattleTech Advanced Universe, or BTAU. It will be referred to this going forward. This will be explained in depth elsewhere, likely a blog post on the wiki, if you're curious as to the intent behind the change.

LESS IMPORTANT BUT STILL USEFUL NOTE: Because of the extreme level of changes that this BTAU patch presents, the wiki is unlikely to be updated anytime soon. Expect inconsistencies. We'll get the wiki updated as we can, we're working on automated tooling for it that will do much of the updating for us but that tooling is still being produced. Please be patient with us.

• • Now, onto the patch notes proper!**

NEW TIMELINE: BTAU's core conceit is that in BTAU, the timeline diverges from canon BattleTech's timeline starting during the Amaris Civil War. In BTAU's timeline, the Rim Worlds Republic never fell (though it was purged of House Amaris and their supporters). Additionally, House Cameron actually survived albeit in hiding in the Deep Periphery. ComStar set out to establish a new realm for the Cameron survivors and so in the late 3030s, the Terran Hegemony was reborn in the heart of the Inner Sphere. With the addition of the RWR and the Terran Hegemony, the balance of power in the Inner Sphere has shifted dramatically. Both the RWR and the TH are able to be allied, have their own shops, faction stores, and faction spawn lists. Additionally, BTAU now starts in 30*61*, not 3062, giving you a full year of gameplay and story events on the map before things like the Sanctuary Alliance invasion kick off. Finally, the timeline events have all been adjusted to account for the new factions and to give them things to do. There are new lore popups, new stories in the events, new characters to learn about, new wars to fight in, and more besides. Oh, and as a fun adjoinder, there's another new clan that comes to the Inner Sphere in 3061, Clan Fire Mandrill (and yes you can work for them and even ally with them).

NEW MAP: To account for all this, the map has been changed dramatically. The Hegemony sits in the heart of the map, surrounded on all sides by foes. ComStar is their close ally and can be worked for on Hegemony worlds (and you can ally both of them on one playthrough without issue). The RWR holds its ancestral realm in the Coreward Periphery adjacent to the Lyran Commonwealth, though it has shrunk from the Star League days. Additionally, the Rim Collection and the Chainelane Isles no longer exist, instead having been incorporated into the RWR all along. Once Clan Fire Mandrill arrives, they will take up positions near the Lyran/Circinus border in a small cluster of worlds out that way. Oh, and now if there's a pirate presence on a planet there's a good chance there's pirate missions there. Also, Clan Diamond Shark is a different color now, to better stand out on the map. The Word of Blake now has a protectorate deep in Marik space centered on the world of Gibson.

NEW FACTIONS: Of course, the RWR and TH are both major players in galactic politics but they also come along with their own battery of mercenary units and military subcommands. Each of them have three subcommands, same as the other Great Houses and Periphery realms. They have their own OpFor affinities your pilots can specialize in and have a roster of unique tech and mechs for their use. Clan Fire Mandrill almost never appears as its own faction, instead using one of three kindraa (the subfactions the Clan is divided into) to fight the player. All three of these new factions engage in unique map events and wars with their neighbors throughout BTAU's time period and can be interacted with as you might expect from any other faction.

MAJOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT: Thanks to a modder named 0x1d7, we have a new performance upgrade. This mod manually clears BATTLETECH's memory between missions, helping to keep memory load down. We should substantial performance improvements on most systems (not a guarantee, but nothing is).

NEW BACKGROUNDS AND STARTER OPTIONS: The RWR and TH both have their own options in the commander background choices, including unique Ancestral Mech and This Man's Tank options. You can also start in their space with the Cameron and RWR start location options. Additionally, all faction-related starts also give you some positive reputation with that faction to represent that you're already friends with them, helping take the edge off the early grind a bit. Also, all starts (other than BA) have had Battle Armor and APCs removed from them (see next entry for details).

EVENT CHANGES AND NEW EVENTS: Many events have been changed to account for the new factions and there is an entire year of new timeline events to enjoy. Additionally, there are a few new events such as an event in early 3061 that allows players to choose to opt-in to having BA/APCs (if you aren't interested, just say no and you'll never get them or need to deal with them). Wulf's storyline always kicks off in 3061, guaranteed, and the christmas events should all fire on the appropriate date (unless the game fires them early which happens sometimes :\ ).

NEW FACTORIES: Because the RWR and TH changed the map heavily, they needed changed factories. The TH has all the factories of any world they now occupy but they produce different stuff now. The RWR has a number of new factories in their territory on Anywhere, Apollo, Kwangjong'ni, Winter, Wotan, and more besides. The Word of Blake Protectorate has several factories as well, on Gibson and Molokai. All factory worlds are properly marked and indicated, as you might expect.

NEW MERCENARY FACTIONS: In addition to the RWR and TH's pet mercs (of which they each have 3-4 merc units), there is also a unique merc unit called Mack's Mercs that you might find running around the universe. If you do, watch out, they field a lot of Community Content units (only if you have CC installed of course). They might be fun to encounter, keep an eye out for them!

DEPLOYMENT SCREEN CHANGES: Lance 3 is now tank only instead of being BA only. With the advent of the new-ish BA bonus slots on carriers, Lance 3 needed to do something special so it now does tanks!

EQUIPMENT CHANGES:Lots of gear was adjusted in this patch, including: TAGs had range increased; LRM FCS was adjusted to be more competitive with ArtIV instead of just outclassing it; the Sanctuary Heat Controller and Negator were heavily buffed; the RWR's unique weapons were balance adjusted and had their fluff altered to represent that they're RWR and not Amaris weapons; CLPS/NSS cost more to install now; a lot of Sanctuary tech has been repriced to have more sane buy/sell costs; Ultra-Ferro was weakened somewhat (it provides CASE 1, not CASE 2, and takes slightly more space now); C3/C3i/Drone/Stealth Techs are all now incompatible. Can't be a CLPS + NSS + C3i mech anymore, sorry; stealth armor is now toggled on at start of missions; Leaguenet works properly now; cMortars look correct on models now; Protoype IJJs now explode properly and make much more heat than they used to on jumps; RLs were made more inaccurate; the RL Ammo Feed reduces damage even further; Howitzers can actually use FCS properly.

PHYSICAL WEAPONS FIXED??: Hopefully, the physical weapon issue is fixed now. No guarantees but we think it might be licked once and for all.

BA CARRIER CHANGES: The Dakota and Unnsvin no longer have Firing Ports (i.e. BA can't shoot out the windows anymore). However, BA no longer slow down their carriers, meaning APCs are much more viable now (and APCs retained the firing ports). If you want to go fast with BA, you use the VTOLs. If you want to shoot as you go, you use the APCs.

NEW VARIANTS: There's a scattering of new mech variants, including: about 20 new high-tech Terran Hegemony variants across classic chassis; a few new light industrials such as Dig Kings and Gulons; there's a new Hatamoto hero mech, the Samurai-Chi with some swords; a new Phoenix Hawk hero, the Roc; a new Archangel herom, the Broadsword, to go along with the Archangel's new model (see below);

NEW EQUIPMENT: The RWR and Hegemony introduced some new gear to the game, including the 'Death Ray', Atom Smasher/10, Mercy, and Shredder MG (all RWR guns, repurposed from the Amaris Fools event from April) and the HISC Hyper Laser, HISC Viral Jammer, and HISC Radical Heat Sink System (all Hegemony gear, brand new for this release).

ROYAL HIGHLANDER UPDATE: Due to ongoing issues with the design and heavy BTA team frustration with it, the Royal Highlander has been made completely unavailable through normal gameplay. It has been completely replaced in all reward lists, stores, contracts, etc. If we can find a way to fix its myriad issues, we'll bring it back, but for now, it has been removed as much as it could be.

MECHBAY VISUAL UPDATE: Now, if your mech is capable of carrying BA, there's a little icon on your mech's portrait to indicate that it can carry BA (much like how C3/C3i have little icons too).

UNIT TAGGING CHANGES: A number of units had their faction tagging change to accomodate for the new factions. Examples (this list is not exhaustive) include the Sidewinder becoming a Clan general unit instead of Jade Falcon exclusive and the advanced-tech Mackies becoming unique to the Terran Hegemony (and sometimes ComStar). If you see a mech crop up somewhere unexpected or pointedly *don't* see something you're used to, this is probably what happened.

IMPORTANT REMOVALS: BA Handholds were removed. They allowed anything to carry BA which was arguably too powerful, this should make Omnis more valuable now. The Emperor Crab was removed, it was a relic of a much, much older time in BTA's history and didn't serve much purpose anymore.

THIRD SET OF MECH BAYS: We added a new upgrade that added a third set of Mech Bays for you. Lots of new mechs this patch, gotta have a place to put them all! <3

MAJOR MECH CHANGES: Inner Sphere OmniMechs now have fixed armor and heat sink types in all cases. This was an inconsistency that needed to be addressed and though it harms more of the omnis than it really helps, it is good to fix inconsistent behaviors. Also, a ton of chassis gained support hardpoints as we've been doing for awhile now, should be most of what's left.

'NEW MECH:' The Bowman, a Clan artillery mech, has arrived. It can be found with all the clans in their second-line forces.

NEW MECH: The Duan Gung, a Capellan 25 ton support design, has arrived. The Capellans, Taurians, and Canopians all field it but you can also find it in the Liao starter list if you want to use one.

NEW MECH: The Sling, a Star League-era 25 ton dedicated LRM mech, has come to battle. This SLDF mech is fielded by ComStar, the Word of Blake, the Terran Hegemony, and the Clan second-line forces. It is also a part of the Blakist starter list, if you want one early.

NEW MECH: The Shogun, an 85-ton SLDF fire support design, has jumped into combat. This old SLDF design is quite rare but is fielded by the Blakist factions, the Terran Hegemony, and the second-line Clan designs (as well as the Wolf's Dragoons).

NEW MECH: The Striker, an 80 ton SLDF combat brick, has lumbered into play. This tanky boi can be found with the Capellans, Steiners, and Camerons and also bought in the store at Quentin or in the Cameron faction store.

NEW MECH: The Prince Crab, a 75 ton non-canon Crab family design, has scuttled into view. This heavy-weight Crab family member comes with widely varied loadouts and can be found in the hands of the Terran Hegemony and occasionally ComStar. It can also be bought at Terra or in the Cameron faction store.

NEW MECH: The Kyudo, an Age of War and Star League 45 ton fire support design, has come to the show. This mech can be found with the Davions, Mariks, Camerons, ComStar, and in the factory at Emris.

NEW MECH: The Lament, a 65 ton heavy cavalry design, has combat slid into the conflict. This design can be found exclusively with House Cameron and the Terran Hegemony and serves as one of their premier heavy cavalry designs.

NEW MECH: The Knight, a 65 ton Sanctuary twist on the Crusader, has bounded into battle. This design can be acquired from the Sanctuary powers (all four field it) and can be bought in the Mallard Republic faction store.

NEW MECH: The Coehorn, a 75 ton Sanctuary heavy support design, has shelled the field. The Coehorn, named for a classic artillery weapon of yesteryear, can be found in all four Sanctuary arsenals and can be bought from the Jacobson Haven faction store.

NEW MECH: The Jinggau, a 65 ton Capellan heavy cavalry mech, has arrived on the field of honor. This sleek looking mech can be found fielded by House Liao, as well as the Canopians and Taurians. It is also for sale at Victoria.

NEW MECH: The Scorpion LAM (you read that correctly), a 55 ton QuadLAM, has hovered into combat. Yes, it's goofy. Yes, it's kind of bad. No, I don't care, I love it so much. You can get one from a new factory world at Tongatapu.

NEW MECH: The Mackie II, a 105-ton Terran Hegemony behemoth, has stomped the enemies flat. You can get it from, shocker, the Terran Hegemony. You can also buy it from their faction store, if you're so inclined. This Mackie II has a unique model, distinct from the other two Mackie models.

NEW MODEL: About half the Mackie variants (all the "modern" ones) now use a new Mackie model made by our very own Shade. Looks great, buddy!

NEW MODEL: The Wasp LAM and Stinger LAM had their AirMech mode models change dramatically. They look much nicer now!

NEW MODEL: The BattleMaster, on some variants (those with production dates before the 3040s/3050s), now use a new model designed after the classic BattleMaster look from TRO 3025, colloquially called the Bigfoot model.

NEW MODEL: The Warhammer, on some variants (those with production dates before the 3040s/3050s), now use a new model designed after the classic Warhammer look from TRO 3025, colloquially called the Tomahawk model.

NEW MODEL: The BattleHammer from Community Content uses a combination model that combines the above two into one design (BattleMaster body and legs, Warhammer arms).

COMMUNITY CONTENT: Lots of stuff, including a new Hyperion, a new King Crab (SnibSnab II), a new pilot (Firebird), a Koschei with the Heavy Plasma Rifle, a new pilot (Anomaly), a new Banshee, a new Warhammer and Sorcerer, a new weapon (the Rotary HVAC/2) for sale at Mack's Dustball, the shop list at Port Rime shifted a little.

• Fixed the M-Pod.
• Updated Clan Nova Cat faction store with slightly better stuff.
• Fixed Huntsman armor values
• Fixed SubCapital Laser/3 cooldown on the Rattler.
• Sirocco Auroch has the hero quirk, whoops!
• The Hammerhands Maul has been changed the Mallet, to avoid a naming issue with the Warhammer IIC Maul.
• Prosthetic event description has been updated for clarity.
• Fast Fire was buffed.
• All Autocannon ammo boxes have had their quantities standardized as per community request.
• Narc (both IS and Clan) had their descriptions lightly updated.
• The Gyrojet Ammo Feed is now actually available in stores.
• The Goblin Medium Tank is now playable, I guess.
• The Raven on the Blackbeard had a description update
• A few weapons had their called prefabs swap (LB-10X, UAC/5).
• Osiris OSR-4C was swapped to the OSR-5C to avoid a naming conflict with an Ostroc variant.
• Several abilities had descriptions updated for clarity
• Fixed the MVSPL's medium range mode.
• Hell of a Deal now gives a mech guaranteed on the good result but the mechs are all 20-25 tons. Enjoy.
• Sturmfeur is a little faster.
• There are a ton of new company emblems to choose from, hurrah!

IMPORTANT: v18.0 is a major update, requiring a bit more work to update to. *MANUALLY CLEAR YOUR MODS FOLDER BEFORE INSTALLATION* and be sure you have the appropriate BTA Installer downloaded (v1.2.3-20240818). See instructions above for more details.

IMPORTANT: v18.0 **is** a save breaking update, your saves are not compatible and cannot be used with v18.0, you will need to start a new career.

REMINDER: This update, and others like it, are made possible by my Patreon and Ko-Fi supporters. Without their support, updates would come slower and be less impactful. If you feel like being a part of the support for BTA, you can find me on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/bloodydoves) and on Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/bloodydoves)

REMINDER: Custom mod commissions are still available if you're interested. If you'd like to get your own community content added to BTA DM me, bloodydoves, and we can work something out.

BTA Light

BTA Light has been updated to version v18.0.lite and has received very minor adjustments, namely fixing a couple of typos, a few missing icons, and fixed the Excaliburs which had an issue. It has also received the same performance enhancement as BTAU Classic. BTA Light has received no other changes.