MultiPlayer BattleTech: Solaris

MultiPlayer BattleTech: Solaris is an online-only game that was available in the mid 1990's, where up to eight players engage in mechanized combat.

Behind the game is a complex story covering the rise and fall of space empires over several centuries. What this leads to is the establishment of a gaming industry based on Solaris VII in which players representing the main Successor Houses compete in battles using heavily armed and armoured BattleMechs. There is an in-game map which represents the areas on Solaris VII where the Successor Houses have their enclaves. The player starts the game by travelling to a district and finding an arena where they select their BattleMech. There are five arenas in each district and around eighty BattleMechs to choose from. When all players have chosen their machine and the side they are fighting for, they are dropped into the arena and the battle begins.

The game area consists of a main viewing area which occupies the majority of the upper part of the screen and has a bank of controls and warning lights to both left and right. Beneath the main screen are three displays which show systems information, a radar screen, and damage indicators.

The game installation process prompts for an Internet Service Provider which is essential in order to play the game. If AOL or CompuServe are installed, they are configured automatically, but the game documentation shows that Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 could be configured manually. The game also supports player to player communication.