V  W  E     S  O  F  T  W  A  R E     V E R S I O N     5.04

Tesla II System Software Version 5.04
BattleTech Firestorm Release 4.0

The accompanying BattleTech software release incorporates several new features and options. This document addresses the latest enhancements in terms of how they affect the console, BattleMechs and maps.  

New Weapons

•	Clan Ultra AC 20: An auto-cannon is a rapid-firing, auto-loading weapon that fires high-speed streams of high-explosive, armor-piercing shells.

New Mechs

•	Uller
			Class:	Light
			ArmorType:	Ferro
			StructureType:	Endo
			HeatSinks:	8
			Speed:		161 kph
SubSystem:
				Light Amplification
				ECM
				AMS
			Weapons:
				1 – Clan ER Small
				1 – Clan ER Medium
				1 – Clan Ultra AC 5 (20)
				1 – Clan SRM 6 (15)

•	Ryoken
			Class:	Medium
			ArmorType:	Ferro
			StructureType:	Endo
			HeatSinks:	10
			Speed:		126 kph
SubSystem:
				Light Amplification
				Beagle Probe
				Jump Jets
			Weapons:
				4 – Clan Medium Pulse
				2 – Clan Streak 6 (15)

•	Dragon
			Class:	Heavy
			ArmorType:	Standard
			StructureType:	Standard
			HeatSinks:	13
			Speed:		115 kph
SubSystem:
				Light Amplification
			Weapons:
				3 – Medium Laser
				1 – PPC
				2 – LRM 10 (24)

•	Templar
			Class:	Assault
			ArmorType:	Standard
			StructureType:  Endo
			HeatSinks:	25
			Speed:		89 kph
SubSystem:
				Light Amplification
	AMS
			Weapons:
				4 – Medium Pulse
				2 – Medium Pulse (Rear Firing)
				1 – PPC
				2 – Machine Gun (200)
				1 – AC 20 (15)
				1 – SRM 4 (25)
	NOTE:  On the Weapon MFD, the bottom two listed Medium Pulse are the designated rear firing weapons.

•	Hauptmann
			Class:	Assault
			ArmorType:	Standard
			StructureType:	Standard
			HeatSinks:	20
			Speed:		64 kph
SubSystem:
				Light Amplification
				ECM
			Weapons:
				1 – Clan ER Small
				2 – Clan Medium Pulse
				2 – Clan Large Pulse
				1 – Clan Ultra AC 20 (16)
				2 – Clan Streak 2 (50)

New Map Features

New Maps
•	Nazca:  Located on a salt flat, the map is covered with watch towers that can be used for cover.
o	Attrition, Team Attrition (4 teams)
o	Destruction, Team Destruction (4 teams)
o	Capture The Flag (4 teams)
o	King of the Hill, Team King of the Hill (4 teams)
o	Capture The Flag (4 teams)
o	Master Trial (2 teams)
•	Cantina:  A wasteland of meteor craters and crystal rock formations.
o	Attrition, Team Attrition (4 teams)
o	Destruction, Team Destruction (4 teams)
o	Capture The Flag (2 teams)
•	CantinaSiega:  A wasteland of meteor craters and crystal rock formations.
o	Siege Assault (2 Teams)
•	See New Game Feature notes below for more details
•	StormCanyon: Player-submitted map.
o	Attrition, Team Attrition (4 teams)
o	Destruction, Team Destruction (4 teams)
o	Capture The Flag (2 Teams)
•	StormCanyonSiege: Player-submitted map (heavily modified).
o	Siege Assault (2 Teams)
•	See New Game Feature notes below for more details

Map Changes
•	HotPlate:
o	Capture The Flag (CTF) flag locations and drop-zones have been moved.  There is now further separation between drop-zones and flag return locations.
o	Drop-zones 3 and 4 have been relocated.  This new location will provide a path between the zones that is mostly free of lava pits.
•	Collisium:
o	Contents (Arches, Trees, etc.) rearranged for more even game-play.
•	Peaks:
o	Moved drop-zones for all teams (4).
o	Moved Capture The Flag (CTF) flag locations and return locations.

New Game Features

•	Siege Assault Game-type:  This game-type is being introduced to promote the attack/defense scenario.  Two maps have been set up with this game-type, but they both work a little differently.  Once the scenario has been won, the mission will continue, but no further points will be awarded for destroying buildings or objectives.  Only standard destruction points (points awarded upon Mech destruction) will be awarded from that point on.

•	
CantinaSiege – One team attacks (Red) while the other team (Blue) defends the base.
o	Team 1 (Blue) defends 3 buildings in the base.
•	Bonus points won’t be awarded until 90s into the mission.
•	Bonus points of 50/building that survives every 30s.
•	As long as the comm. building is up, Team 1 (Blue) will get building attack warnings.
o	Team 2 (Red) attacks and destroys 3 buildings.
•	Bonus points of 350/building that is destroyed.
•	Wins scenario if all objective buildings are destroyed.
o	Tournament Winning Conditions
•	Team 1 (Blue) wins if all buildings remain standing.
•	Team 2 (Red) wins if all buildings are destroyed.
•	Winner determined by score if at least one (1) but not all objective buildings are destroyed.
•	StormCanyonSiege – Blue ATK Research Buildings
o	Team 1 (Blue) must attack the other team’s base to win.
•	Bonus points of 350/building that is destroyed.
•	Wins scenario if all objective buildings are destroyed.
o	Team 2 (Red) defends 3 research buildings on base.
•	Bonus points won’t be awarded until 90s into the mission.
•	Bonus points of 25/building that survives every 30s.
o	Tournament Winning Conditions
•	Blue Team (1) wins if all objective buildings are destroyed
•	Red Team (2) wins if no objective buildings are destroyed
•	Winner determined by score if at least one (1) but not all objective buildings are destroyed.
•	StormCanyonSiege – Red ATK Mech Hangers
o	Team 2 (Red) must attack the other team’s base to win.
•	Bonus points of 350/building that is destroyed.
•	Wins scenario if all objective buildings are destroyed.
o	Team 1 (Blue) defends 3 Mech Hangers on base.
•	Bonus points won’t be awarded until 90s into the mission.
•	Bonus points of 25/building that survives every 30s.
o	Tournament Winning Conditions
•	Red Team (2) wins if all objective buildings are destroyed
•	Blue Team (1) wins if no objective buildings  are destroyed
•	Winner determined by score if at least one (1) but not all objective buildings are destroyed.
•	Rear Firing Weapons:  Rear firing weapons can now be mounted on a ‘Mech.  These weapon systems will only be able to fire to the rear, and not to the front or sides.  Currently only the new Templar is outfitted with this kind of weapon.
•	LRM Missiles Fire to side(s):  Non-arm mounted LRM Missile Systems can now lock on and fire when looking right or left.  Missiles will leave the launcher in the normal fashion (forward) and then turn to attempt to hit the indicated target.  SRM and Streak Missiles do not have this feature.
•	Torso Movement now follows Rear view:  When looking in rearview mode, the ‘Mechs torso will now reflect where the pilot is looking by moving vertically in sync with the pilots angle of view.  If the pilot is looking at the ground in rear view, and snaps back to front view, the pilot will be looking up at the sky (180 degrees from rear view angle).
•	Missile Target Lock:  You will now get a Missile Lock indicator only if the target is within range of the missile.  If the ‘Mech has multiple launch systems (example SRM, LRM), the lock will indicate (rotating orange circles) when any of the missile systems are within range.
•	Missile Lock Indicators:  In the upper right corner of the HUD, there will now be indicators for missile systems that have a lock on the current target.  If the LRM has a missile lock, a “LRM” will appear on the HUD.  If multiple missile systems have a lock, you will have HUD indicators for each system that has attained a lock.  “LRM”, “SRM”, “STK”
•	ECM/Beagle Affect Missile Range Lock:  Missile lock is now tied into the radar system.  You will only get a lock on a target if that target appears on your radar.  This means that having Beagle, ECM, or running in Passive radar mode will now have an impact on missile lock performance.  This feature will be disabled for “Novice” radar setting games.

Feature Changes

•	Special Armor:  The penalty for this armor has been reduced.  The armor now has an effectiveness of 66% reduction of damage to the ‘Mech based on weapon type hitting, and a penalty of only 33% increase of damage to the ‘Mech based on weapon type hitting.
o	Ballistic Weapons: AC, MG, and Missiles.
o	Beam Weapons: Pulse, Laser, and PPC.
o	Standard Armor: No changes
o	Ferro Fiberous Armor: No changes
o	Reactive Armor:
•	Ballistic Weapons do 66% less damage.
•	Beam Weapons do 33% more damage.
o	Reflective Armor:
•	Beam Weapons do 66% less damage.
•	Ballistic Weapons do 33% more damage.
•	Building Damage:  To facilitate the new game-type (SiegeAssault) the building damage system has been modified.  Buildings are now no longer an instant death upon Mech’ collision.  Buildings will take damage but a much slower rate.  This feature will be disabled for “Novice” radar setting games.  In “Novice” radar settings, the buildings (that aren’t set to indestructible) will go down upon Mech’ collision.
•	Missile Lock Color:  Color changed from red to orange.
•	HUD crosshair Indicator for buildings:  In the past versions, the targeting HUD would indicate between destructible buildings and indestructible buildings with a red or green crosshair.  This is no longer the case.  Buildings will now have green crosshair indicator (destructible or indestructible).  Only objective buildings (SiegeAssault) will have a red crosshair indicator.
•	HUD Range Indicator Font Size:  Font size increased for better visibility and to match the rest of the HUD font size.
•	CTF Scoring:  Scoring for ‘Mech kills have been increased from 25 pts. to 250 pts.  This was done to reduce “Gimp’em and Leave’em” tactics.  This was also to give the teams a reason for having “Defenders”, and not going all or mostly “Runners” in the team mix.  Suicide penalty is still set to 25.
•	Eject with Gimp:  A pilot will now be able to eject if their mech has been gimped (leg destroyed).  Doing this will still incur a pilot suicide score penalty.
•	Friendly Fire Warning:  Pilots will now get an audio queue when you shoot a friendly.  You will get this warning if you shoot a teammate pilot or bot.
•	Lava:  Heat scale increment for being in lava has been adjusted.  This means that you will have a decent chance of getting out of the larger pools of lava if you still have a flush available.
•	Missile Damage vs. Buildings:  Missiles will now do full damage vs. buildings.  In previous versions, only the direct fire percentage of the damage was being applied and the splash percentage was being wasted.  So a LRM5 will now do 5 pts of damage to a building vs. the previous version of about 2 pts of damage.
•	
Radar Detection Ranges:
o	Beagle Radar
•	Detect Normal at 1200m.
•	Detect ECM at 600m.
•	Detect Passive at 600m.
•	Detect Shutdown at 100m.
o	Normal Radar
•	Detect Normal at 1000m.
•	Detect ECM at 500m.
•	Detect Passive at 500m.
•	Detect Shutdown at 50m.
o	Passive Radar
•	Detect Normal at 250m.
•	Detect ECM at 100m.
•	Detect Passive at 0m.
•	Detect Shutdown at 0m.

BOT Changes

•	Bot Friendly Fire:  Bots will no longer agro (turn against) a pilot that shoots them more than 3 times.  This is to prevent the bot from not responding or helping the team that it is assigned to for the rest of the mission.
•	Lava Navigation:  Bots will no longer transverse lava pools.  Bots will stop and go around lava pools.  This will prevent the bots from continuously entering pools of lava, shutting down and killing themselves.

Bug Fixes

•	Print Outs: “Committed Suicide”:  No longer double up if you punch out of a ‘Mech.  It will also prevent a pilot being penalized twice for punching out.

Known BattleTech Bugs

Tesla II System BattleTech, version 5.04 is known to contain the following bugs. 

•	Spinning Mech on Secondary:  Occasionally on the first pod of a game loaded, but before launch, the secondary screen will not show an image of the player’s Mech.
•	Console Drop List:  The map list can get confused by using the thumbslide feature if the map-list is long enough.  It will then start to show maps with gametypes different than the one currently selected.  However, it won’t let you select an invalid selection, so you’re safe in this regard.  To get around this, use the up/down arrow keys to move the list back up to its proper display, and it will auto correct itself.

If new bugs are discovered, please report them to VWE as soon as possible.  Bug reports need to be as detailed as possible so bugs can be reproduced.