FAQ / Contact Information

THE
BATTLETECH
CHOP SHOP

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Frequently Asked Questions and Contact Info

Please read this page before asking questions - chances are quite good that the answers to most common questions can be found here. I won't respond to questions whose answers are located here, so it's really in your best interest to just read it first.

A: The Chop Shop is a site dedicated to 'Mech design in the Mechwarrior computer games, and in Battletech. Since I'm a big fan of both games, I'll do my best to keep things current. Check the news page for the latest information. I elected not to cover Mechwarrior (the original) for two reasons. One is that even though I have access to a copy of it, it's difficult for me to run it properly on my (newer) computers. The other reason is that Mechwarrior didn't allow you to customize your 'Mechs or design your own variants. Since that's what this site is about, it'd be kind of pointless to include it. The Battletech section is being added at the time of this writing, so it may be slightly behind.

A: The Chop Shop is not a substitute for reading the manuals of your Mechwarrior games, nor for buying Battletech books. Although my discussion of weapons and equipment starts rather fundamentally, the material assumes that you've already played around with the game(s) and know how to pilot a 'Mech or play Battletech. The Chop Shop is also not official in any capacity; almost every bit of material on here is directly from the information included with the games, combined with my own experiences. If you find it useful, great. If not, oh well. As a side note, this site also has nothing to do with the Mechwarrior tabletop RPG (Now renamed the "Classic Battletech RPG"). I regret using the term "Mechwarrior" to refer to the computer games when I know that it could cause confusion, but you can only type disclaimer-style references so many times.

A: Magic.

A: The program was notepad, the code is XSSI and CSS, and the construction time was "off and on over the course of a few years."

A: Every image (and there are fewer than you might think) on this site was taken directly from an in-game screenshot of my own or from other game material. As for the layout, I designed it myself, but since it's pretty utilitarian and basic, it wouldn't exactly shock me to find that someone else uses a similar layout that they designed from scratch. Also, everything I've written was conceived of by myself. That's not to say that others might not have talked about similar concepts (I saw a Mechwarrior 4 guide talk about thinking in terms of platforms the way I do, for example. No huge surprise - the term is a military one), but I didn't lift anyone's work. Any similarities to existing sites, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

A: Statistics show that this site should be readable (if not always perfectly rendered) for approximately 95% of the general population, based on my minimum resolution requirements (800x600) and browser usage. The site uses CSS1 and HTML 4.01 for most of the design, so if your browser makes it unreadable or unnavigable, I can say with confidence that you're operating below the standard and should switch to a better or more updated browser. If you're one of the ~3% of people still using 640x480 and unable to go to 800x600, the site should still be readable - just a bit awkward at the top.

You'll always want to have the most recent version of your browser to ensure compatibility, though - IE 5.5 or above and Netscape 6 or above should work fine. Other browsers should be acceptable, but if you're using something nonstandard, I can't guarantee anything. I know that Mozilla's color rendering is somewhat sub par, and that at least one (Mac?) version refuses to render the main table properly. older versions of Konqueror have some major inexplicable problems with links and tooltips and has only moderate CSS support. The most recent version seems to be steady though. WebTV is the one "browser" that I know won't display this site properly. All I can say to that is that you're better off using a real browser, even if it means taking a trip to the library.

At high resolutions, some of the text may be hard to read due to the font size, but it looks fine on all test systems at 1600x1200, so for the moment it shouldn't pose a problem. Also, if you manage to create a browser window larger than 1600x1200, you might find that the background doesn't take up all the space it should, but again, it won't interfere with your browsing.

The sidebars will always take up the minimum amount of space required, no matter how you resize your browser window, so extra space from running at a resolution higher than 800x600 will go entirely to the main reading panel. The reason it's designed that way is that I've been running at 'high' resolutions for about eight years now, and I really don't like looking at a site that is coded at an absolute size and which thus looks tiny in my browser window, nor do I like seeing that my extra resolution is partly wasted on the sidebars, making them wider than they have to be. CSS' minimum sizing solves that and rewards the reader for having a higher resolution. The Chop Shop should be easily navigable at a glance with images and even CSS turned off - it just won't look very good.

A: Nope - no time or inclination. I'd recommend the "In a Nutshell" reference series from O'Reilly or Webmonkey if you want to learn more about web design, though.

A: By the time the site "goes live," which means that I've sent something to the effect of "Hey, I'm open" to news sites, everything but the chassis pages for each Mechwarrior game and nonessential parts of the Battletech section should be in place, and I'll be putting those up as I go. Beyond that, the site will be a work-in-progress as I bring myself up to date with new Mechwarrior 4 material and add the information.

A: No; that's just XSSI inserting your IP and browser information into the page before it's sent to you. That particular feature is available on about 80% of the web servers on the 'net, so don't worry - that part of the topbar is just for flavoring.

A: I'm afraid not. I did it all from scratch and I've already hinted at how everything was done elsewhere, so you should be able to figure out how to do something similar on your own.

A: Potentially - if you've read this far, I hope that you've figured out that I mostly deal with information pertaining to 'Mech design and tactics/strategy for Battletech-derivative games. Therefore, that's the sort of specific content that I might be interested in hosting. More likely, though, I'd just welcome third-party articles in a new section.

A: Yes, but see the next question.

A: Unfortunately, probably not. I intend to keep the links section focused on linking readers to caches of information that will fill out their knowledge of the context (e.g., "For more on the Battletech universe, go here...") or for other sites that specifically cover 'Mech design as an alternative to the material presented here (e.g., "If you liked this sort of material and want more, or think that I'm full of it and want a second opinion, go here..."). I like having a small links section that will always be pertinent to the specific areas of information that the site covers and that is easy to maintain (mostly or all sites on stable domains that are updated at least once in a while). Still, if you're doing something that falls into the above categories, it can't hurt to ask.

A: Clan Jade Falcon, House Davion, Warhawk, Awesome.

A: Despite the common name/acronym, I believe that an FAQ should anticipate questions as well as react to them. Since I work on a high-traffic gaming website, I'm pretty familiar with what kinds of questions gaming websites draw. This document was composed before the site 'went live.'

A: My name is Ian Hamilton, and I've been playing Battletech universe games for... Longer than I can remember, that's how long. I'm also the content manager for Planet Half-Life, and I'm a Junior in college. I'm majoring in history and computer games. Well, okay; just history. I can be contacted at Jabberwocky@BattletechChopShop.com.

BattleTech and all associated terminology are registered trademarks of WizKids, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site designed and maintained by Ian 'Jabberwocky' Hamilton, ©2002-3. Site best viewed using v6.0 or higher browsers.