Taking questions and sharing knowledge with the Mechwarrior historian that runs the Art of Battletech archive!
Hi Localditch, I’m so happy to see you are back up and running again. This is by far the best site on the internet regarding knowledge and research on mech games, especially Mechwarrior. My name is Emil and I’m the guy who’s running the Art of Battletech and Mechwarrior archive and doing all of the modding for Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries (and soon this week Clans). I have a very deep interest in the history of the games and your resources have been an absolute godsend over the many years. I also work as an academic and I’m looking to detail the history of mech sim games a bit more. I actually have a research paper being presented in September about the history of the mech sim genre and I will definitely make more use of your work. I can also reveal that I’m embarking on doing a remake of Mechwarrior 2 in MW5 Clans. I already have Silent Thunder up and running (and previously I did Pyre Light as a demo / prototype in MW5 Mercs in case you haven’t seen it). I really want to establish some sort of contact with you and hear more from you or even ask some questions, because you clearly know a whole lot about many things 🙂 I’d love to know more about your background and how you got to know so many things about the games, and if there’s anything I can provide you with – e.g. some of my archived work on the Mechwarrior games that I’ve gathered over the years, including original MW2 and MW3 renders by Scott Goffman and Eric Chadwick that they sent over.
Hey, great to hear from you and thanks for reaching out! The Art of Battletechis frikkin’ awesome. I’m so glad you’re archiving this stuff. I may have nicked an image or two here or there for the site, haha. It’s really cool to hear you’ve got a presentation on mech sims. Feel free to use any info you need off of the Local Ditch. I unfortunately started the site a long time ago, so things are not quite cited as well as they could’ve been, though I try to do better on more recent info and updates. I did see a video of your Mechwarrior 2 level in MW5. Looking forward to the MW5: Clans versions. All us old timers will love it!
As far as my background goes, I’m just a fan running a hobbyist website that’s basically just outlived a lot of others. I started playing MW2 as a kid and would periodically revisit it, usually having to figure out how to get the the thing running again. Some of the old info was common knowledge of the time. Some of it (well, probably a lot) was copying it from sites of people that knew more than me. Some of it was reading a ton of video game magazines and sites, then trying to make a coherent story on all of it (especially the MW2: The Clans info).
Feel free to ask about anything. If you have anything cool that you feel should be on the Local Ditch, send it my way and I’ll put it up!
Also, image courtesy of the Art of Battletech, of course.
The Heavy Gear II section of Local Ditch Gaming has been completely revised, with an install guide, completed walkthrough, downloads, weapons stats, gear details, and more.
Here’s one to add to the list of things I didn’t anticipate for 2025: I replayed Heavy Gear II, got inspired, then decided to rework the Heavy Gear II site.
Every time I replay this game, there’s a huge adjustment period for me. Especially, I think, jumping into it right after Mechwarrior II was a mistake. Gears are not slow and tank-like. Instead, they rely on speed, maneuverability, stealth, and most importantly of all: not getting hit. My first re-playthrough was rough. So, I did it again and it was much more enjoyable the second time around. And with that, I’ve shared all my new and relearned knowledge of Heavy Gear II on the site.
There are tons of updates on the Heavy Gear II section of Local Ditch Gaming; basically every page has been reworked, redone, updated, and filled with new, relevant info.
The install guide, walkthrough, and weapons table are some highlights. Update Specifics
It only took a decade, but the Deus Ex section has been updated to match the rest of the site, plus more info on the Deus Ex literature pages.
Finally, after talking about doing it for 10+(!) years, the Deus Exportion of the site has been updated to match the site’s current formatting. Mostly, the content is the same, but I’ve added a bit more context to the literature pages of Deus Ex, explaining the stories and theories of the original writings.
Similarly, the long-forgotten System Shock section has been updated, too, as it used the same format as the Deus Ex page. System Shock & Heavy Gear
Updates continue, particular to the Mechwarrior section of Local Ditch Gaming.
As always, I’ve been tweaking the layout of the site a bit. The homepage itself has mostly incremental changes. But, the Mechwarrior and I ’76 sections, a lot of Javascript has been removed and the navigation has been simplified. Hopefully it all translates to a nicer feel. Not to mention, the Mechwarrior 2 mission guide, 3dfx conversion info, music pages, and more are now active.
Hit the jump to see the specifics
Moral has improved. Local Ditch Gaming is out of maintenance mode.
The Local Ditch is back in action. We’re on a new host, faster server, and everything on the back end is upgraded. The site theme has been tweaked for the year 2024 (should look a little cleaner on tables and mobile now) and all of the old content should be up and running. With all that taken care of, now the focus turns to the most important thing: new content!
That being said, if you find anything missing, broken, not working, etc., then contact me and I’ll get it fixed. Hey, I’m only human and mostly building this site in Notepad++, so I’m sure there’s something that’s slipped past me.
Updates:
I ’76 – Poems – updated with writer Zach Normans commentary (WIP)
I ’76 – Has its own Q&A Page
I ’76 – Pre-release pictures – captions in image box for easy viewing
I ’76 – Articles – Gamasutra article archived
I ’76 – Links – All the dead sites are linked via Archive.org
I ’76 – Trivia – source for Krager’s writing credentials
Mechwarrior – The Clans – New info and images
Mechwarrior – History – Updated with more screenshots and up to MW5:The Clans (WIP)
Mechwarrior – Mercenaries Walkthrough – Started to reimage the mission flow charts (WIP)
There’s a slew of items on the to do list, including finally updating the Deus Ex and Heavy Gear pages to match the current formatting. The Battlezone pages are cooked, but I’d like to get the latest blog posts to show up on them if relevant.
While the world plays Mechwarrior 5: The Clans, I’m revisiting Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. So, expect some Mechwarrior 2 updates and info popping up.
Also, thanks to Art of Battletech for archiving years of awesome Battletech imagery. The featured image comes from them!
Site maintenance will continue until moral improves.
Hey, everyone. I’m doing some much needed maintenance on the Local Ditch at the moment. I’m not sure how long things will be in maintenance mode, so in the meantime, here’s a direct link to nearly all of the pages on the site. These update issues should really only affect the front end, like the news, Q&A,and contact sections, so everything else should be alright. (I hope!)
Hit the jump for the site map.
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Mechwarrior Online introduces the Tourmaline Desert map, consumables, missile issues, and grants a double-XP weekend, where the Local Ditch decides to check out Spiders and Ravens.
Every time a patch rolls around, I feel a bit like I’m playing “Let’s Make a Deal.” You might win big or you may get zonked. Which will it be? No one knows. And of course, there are usually some other zany things to happen along the way.
Update #13 saw the introduction of a new map: Tourmaline Desert. I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a big map, littered with jaggering scenery that provides ample areas to both hide and ascend. The map is bright; there’s a lot of light bouncing around in it, which gives the mechs a nice sheen. (more…)