It isn’t surprising then that after a successful Kickstarter, Harebrained Schemes was able to make more than enough money to bring the tabletop game to the comfort of your very own PC.
While the game didn’t win any awards, it was nominated for quite a few. And if you enjoy games along the lines of XCOM and Mutant Year Zero, then yeah you probably know about BattleTech by now.
But if you’ve already spent so much time playing that you just want the game to feel new again, mods are here to help.
They’re basically unofficial DLC without the price tag. Sweet deal, right?
Here’s my ranking of some of the best mods worth snagging for the game.
BattleTech has a specific grittiness to how everything looks. And that’s due to some of the post-processing effects added by the game.
While most modern games include configurable options for each of these effects, including anti-aliasing, ambient occlusions, motion blur, and grain, this unfortunately isn’t the case with BattleTech.
Yet all hope isn’t lost. As modder gnivler has made them available with his CrystalClear mod.
You’ll now be able to modify each of the options to make things appear much clearer if you prefer.
Some users have reported boosted performance with the effects removed as well.
Another great quality of life mod you’re going to want to get for yourself is Sheepy’s Turbine 2.0.
The mod is simple enough, as it modifies the way your game loads resources to make everything move a bit faster.
All you have to do is download and install it. The faster gameplay will start to feel pretty normal over time (and you’ll never want to play without it!)
Having visibility of movement across the battlefield can mean the difference between life or death, especially in tactics games.
Similar to playing a game of chess, where your enemies move to will oftentimes determine your best options for a counterattack – and this simple mod can help a lot with that.
As the title suggests, Configurable Camera Settings gives you complete control of the in-game camera, making it much easier for you to stay on top of the action.
Forced camera movements are removed, and you’ll have access to increased zoom in and zoom out options, title angles, and much more.
But this will prove to make a huge difference is BattleTech’s combat.
With Pilot Health Popup installed, you’ll now have visible health bars for injured pilots – both allied and enemy.
There’s really nothing more to it, but this should be very helpful. Especially when you’re really zoned in on killing a pilot instead of damaging the mech.
As modder mpstark puts it, “Information is ammunition.”
As you move further along your BattleTech journey, you’ll discover the many things you have to manage.
Being a leader to a successful mercenary mech group isn’t just about commanding your fleet in battle.
No, you’ll soon be faced with tasks to allocate resources, upgrades, and even payroll.
This whole other side of BattleTech gives the game much of its depth. But it can get quite challenging to stick with all the decisions you’ve made.
BattleTech Save Editor can help, as it allows you to change a number of things within save files, including company funds, inventory items, and even pilot skills and ability assignments.
MerDeployments changes things up a bit as well, specifically in terms of how you take on jobs throughout your playthrough.
Instead of the typical travel contracts which have you frequently jumping between planets, this mod takes a more realistic approach to how deployments work in the game.
You’ll now find that deployments keep you grounded in a specific place for months at a time, with each new day offering a chance to spawn a new mission.
Pay has been moved from a per-job to a monthly basis as well, drastically changing the way to earn those dolla dolla bills.
The next couple titles are two mods by the same modder – which are both great either on their own, or used together, as they both add realism to the game’s core gameplay.
Morphyum’s AdjustedMechSalvage mod is first, which changes the way salvaging works in vanilla.
With the mod installed, your own mechs can now get destroyed, leaving you with salvageable parts.
Salvage is also determined by the amount of damage a mech takes, so you get less if more parts are destroyed.
This next one makes things even more realistic by changing how mech maintenance is dealt with.
Instead of having a flat maintenance rate for all mech types across the board, maintenance costs now scale depending on a mech’s value.
With managing finances being such a huge part of running your merc group, this seemingly small change will have a huge impact in how you play the game.
You’ll soon find that the balance is completely altered, making cheaper mechs more appealing in certain scenarios.
If you’re still trying to find ways to keep the game more interesting, Injuries Hurt is a great way to add to BattleTech’s realism, while of course making things a bit more challenging as well.
As expected, piloting combat mechs isn’t the safest job in the world.
With that, your pilots can attain some pretty gruesome injuries on the field. Which technically should keep them out of combat for a while.
That isn’t the case in BattleTech. The base game does not have any negative side effects for injuries. Kinda neat, yeah?
Well this mod changes that, giving pilots temporary stat nerfs while healing up.
As with any form of machinery, managing heat levels can mean the difference between efficiency and malfunction.
BattleTech mechs are no different. Parts can start to get damaged or completely shut off if it gets too toasty.
Ammo Cookoff makes this even more complicated, as you now have to be mindful of the possibility that an overheat just might cause your ammo supply to explode.
JK Variants by JustinKaseToo is another great mod for adding tons of customization to your BattleTech session.
This one in particular is a huge pack, adding over 80 different mech variants to the campaign, along with 11 additional variants to be used in Skirmish mode.
You’ll find completely new versions of existing mechs like the Atlas, Awesome, Kintaro, and Marauder among many others.
Not only that, but the pack includes over 70 new vehicles for you to explore as well. So yeah, it’s a lot.
Just because we can’t get enough of new battlemechs and I’m pretty sure you can’t either… we’re throwing in another mech pack to further expand your collection.
Hangar of the Dispossessed gives you another set of fresh new mechs to head into battle with. Each complete with custom textures and animations as well.
The pack currently includes updated models for the Phoenix Hawk, Stinger, Wasp, and Warhammer among others.
Now if you’re looking for a more expansive update for your next BattleTech playthrough, you’re going to want to start looking into some of the overhauls.
XLRP is a great place to start.
You’ll be getting the best of both worlds with this one: extensive rebalances for a fresh gameplay experience alongside a wide variety of new content to explore.
This mod aims to bring the added complexity of the table-top experience through a host of different balance tweaks, along with over 150 new weapons, two dozen upgrades, over 200 new mech variants, and over 100 new vehicle types.
Now this next mod should be a treat for long-time fans of the BattleTech universe.
The Battletech Extended 3025 – Commander’s Edition timeline starts off in 3025, which is exactly the same as vanilla… except it extends the timeline all the way to year 3057.
Meant to be an extension of the base game’s campaign, this mod adds tons of content from mechs, variants, and vehicles, all being completely lore-friendly.
It also includes new quirks and systems, along with a full Inner Sphere map with new factions as well.
Think of this as a campaign expansion made for fans, by fans.
Just another awesome timeline mod, this one taking us to a much more advanced era in the BattleTech timeline.
We’re taken to year 3062, and the FedCom Civil War is just about to take place.
With the fast-forwarded timeline comes era-appropriate gear and technology. Which means that almost everything in the base game has been replaced to reflect the advancements.
While the mod does offer new mechs and variants like the others, the new stuff in BTA3062 will be completely new to reflect the time period. It’s definitely worth a try.
This shouldn’t be surprising, as RogueTech is easily the most popular mod for BattleTech by far – and for good reason.
This mod pretty much covers everything we’ve already mentioned, including quality of life improvements, a more challenging campaign experience, and fresh new content as well. Everything rolled into one.
RogueTech starts us off with the 4th Succession and the War of 3039, but contains lore-friendly content to extend the timeline all the way to 3130 – over 60 years further than BTA3062.
Just imagine how much new content you’re getting, considering that everything is still according to BattleTech lore.
The mod team is pretty upfront about the mod’s difficulty level as well, so this should be a good challenge for those with more experience who want to keep busy for a few weeks (or months).
