Why create QuickMech?
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I'm a software engineer who was first introduced to BT through MechForce on my friend's Amiga 500. I've played a variety of other BT based computer games over the last 20 years (Mechwars, MegaMek, ToS [I know that's not actually BT], MechCommander, and of course the MechWarrior series) but I've never actually had the oppurtunity to play on a tabletop.
Even more than playing Mechforce, I loved designing mechs with Mechforce's built-in Mech Factory.
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I honestly have nothing but respect and admiration for the authors of existing mech design programs, and for the programs themselves, but their GUIs are all dated and, ahem, below par (to put it nicely, and to avoid realeasing the rant running around in my head).
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So the other day when I noticed the latest version of MegaMek has included isometric views, I thought I would sit down and do my best to write a compatible designer with a slightly more modern, "open", "flowing", graphically-orientated interface.  I was actually going to put all the GUI components from the centre column onto the record sheet itself, but didn't for two reasons: they didn't fit very well, and although it might have looked better I think it would have been a little less usable.
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QuickMech doesn't have the depth of SSW or MML, and certainly not the vastness of HMP, it just handles the essentials; but I hope it makes designing mechs simpler or faster or more enjoyable for some people, whether they be veterans or BT newbs.
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Credits
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The icons for the weapons tree are from gettyicon.com, under a "Free For Non-Commercial Use" licence.









