MechWarriors…Mount Up!
Even if you have no idea what these are, they just look cool.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to take control of a 100-ton walking armored weapons platform (and who hasn’t?), you may want to make some summer travel plans. These simulator pods are probably the closest you can come to real BattleTech combat.
Piloting one of Virtual World’s BattleTech simulators isn’t just some video game. It really is a simulation, especially on the advanced setting. At the basic level, you have a throttle lever on your left and a joystick on your right. The joystick controls steering and has buttons for the ridiculous array of weapons you’re carrying. On the screen ahead of you is the battlefield, which can range from cities to jungles to the enormous arenas of Solaris VII.
You’re not alone out there – up to 11 other jocks are trudging around the countryside trying to unload a barrage when you’re not looking. You’ve got to check your radar screen, swing around, lock on and fire off some flaming death of your own. And never, ever stop running, or you’re toast.
A $6 mission lasts about ten minutes, and tracks points based on kills and damage done. Basic mode is relatively simple, playing out sort of like a first-person shooter. If you get fragged, you’ll respawn quickly and rejoin the fight. But if you really want to experience ‘Mech to ‘Mech combat, advanced mode is for you.
Advanced mode activates a number of additional controls. More realistic weapon cooldown times play a role, as well as overall heat build-up (which means any bodies of water always end up as choke points). You’ll use extra screens displaying advanced information, each surrounded by functional buttons needed to control your walking war machine. Pedals are used to steer, so with all four limbs in action you can run in one direction while blasting in another.
In addition to multiple map types, there are hundreds of ‘Mechs and ‘Mech variants available, along with weather conditions, team games, capture the flag, base assault, king of the hill and other modes.
Pod collections can be found scattered throughout arcades in North America. The set at Origins has only been traveling recently. They originally came from Chicago. In their original configuration, it could take two to three hours to set up each pod. They’ve now been modified for mobility, so the entire suite of 12 pods can be set up in under three hours. Under the hood is a Pentium 4, but there’s a lot of customization involved.
This isn’t an entirely new thing. These particular pods were built in 1995, and were since refurbished into what is known as the “Tesla II” configuration. Virtual BattleTech has actually been going on in various forms for 20 years.
So what’s it like? When the door to the pod slides shut, you find yourself in an incredibly immersive experience. From the hearty screech when you fire your missiles to the metallic clank when you shift the ‘Mech into reverse, you can easily imagine that you’re sitting in the head of a giant humanoid machine. There’s so much going on in that cockpit it can seem overwhelming at first (even on basic), but the staff gives everyone training before you start, and you get the hang of things quickly. It’s the kind of experience that leaves grown men babbling like excited six-year-olds afterward. “And then Billy came up behind me and shot his Hellfire missiles, but he didn’t kill me, so I fired my jump-jets and came down facing him and fired off everything, but then Roger was there on the other side and shot me too, but I got off one last shot and took out his gauss rifle, and then…”
The pods at Origins are tentatively scheduled to be at Gen Con later this summer. You can check out the offical Virtual World website for more info.
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June 27th, 2009 9:45 AM
But how much does one cost!
June 27th, 2009 10:15 AM
There was a group of these in Memphis in the late 90’s. There was also a league formed that had tournaments. They even went so far as to have their own uniforms and faction insignias made. It was so awesome.
June 27th, 2009 10:46 AM
My most memorable convention MechWarrior/BattleTech memory is winning an impromptu award at GenCon for “Most Terrain Destroyed.” I guess other people didn’t think to blow up the Ammo Depots & Clan-module Swapping Depots? I sure as hell did! & the guys running the mod had 3-d terrain, so they just built craters in the space where they used to be. Fun.
June 27th, 2009 1:43 PM
Haha! That WoBbie ggodo has failed! Ed’s HPG transmission was successful. It sounds so much fun. I would probably lose hours and hours on this if I went. It seems like the closest place to LA that runs Pods are Modesto, CA (300 miles / 5 hours away) or Colorado or New Mexico. Damn.
June 27th, 2009 8:20 PM
THE WORD OF BLAKE WILL PREVAIL!
June 28th, 2009 7:15 AM
So THAT is where these were hiding!!
OMG I miss Virtual World, I used to play down at Hazard Center in San Diego. And why all the Mechwarrior love? Red Planet was the coolest game. Martian Football was absolutely the coolest thing ever…
Two teams of hovercraft sliding around in martian mining canals, trying to smash one another into tiny bits / run laps for points…
I *really* miss the pods :\
June 29th, 2009 2:05 PM
oh man, these seem wonderful. i want one to keep forever.
July 4th, 2009 3:58 AM
I used to go to Virtual World in Pasadena all the time in the mid-90s, but they went out of business before they got the new Tesla pods that we’d been hearing about!
And here they are!
I still have my VW hat and all the nice little cloisonne pins and (I think) all my post-game printouts! (And I agree, BlackTiger: Red Planet ROCKED!)
I was always so impressed by all the detail they put into Virtual World, especially the whole backstory of the “Virtual Geographic League”. I always felt like I was at a real adventurers club! No wonder, since Roy Disney was one of the main people behind it.
July 5th, 2009 4:34 PM
If any of you are in the Lafayette, Louisianna area on July 24-26th, 2009, come to MechaCon to experience the BattleTech Cockpit Simulator Pods. Read more information at MechaCon.com