BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception

The MS-DOS version is the one this page covers: the information, review and main screenshots are from this platform.

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception for Atari ST follows Jason Youngblood across Pacifica. The intro credits Infocom and Westwood Associates. The adventure combines exploring its facilities, conversations, character preparation and the combat of the BattleTech universe. This copy is in English.

Booting the Atari ST disk

Wait for the disk to finish loading. The first question is Do you wish to use two drives?: answer N to use one drive. Then the Infocom and Westwood Associates intro appears. Press Space to continue to the opening questions.

If you want to start a new game, answer N to Is this your first time playing BattleTech? and N to Do you want to load an old game? Wait a few seconds for Jason to appear on the scene. The direction log starts empty; its first entries will be the moves you make with the keyboard.

Walking, inspecting and entering

The arrow keys move the character across the map and write the directions into the log. Space opens Main Menu. Go through its options with Up and Down and confirm with Enter. Inspect Character lets you check Jason's weapon, armor, status and skills. At the start he carries a Cudgel, has no armor and his skills are listed as Unskilled.

When you approach a building, read the entry prompt. Will you enter the Citadel? lets you accept with Y or decline with N. Wait for the interior to load. The Citadel menu offers requesting an audience with Katrina, visiting the Hall of Legends, enrolling in a combat class, talking or leaving. The arrow keys and Enter also work for choosing among those possibilities.

The conversation option may tell you that nobody is interested in talking to you. Read the response before continuing: the text windows are part of the journey and of Jason's decisions.

The player and the download

ClaBa Player lets you pause, mute, enlarge the screen, take a screenshot and restart. Restart reloads the disk from the beginning. This edition does not offer persistent save states in the browser.

The download keeps the original ZIP and its ST disk. To open it outside the site you need a compatible Atari ST emulator and your own TOS. The box identifies the Atari ST platform; the screenshots of the intro and the Citadel come from a game run on that version. The video on the game page shows a walk through the opening scene.

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk’s Inception for Amiga puts Jason Youngblood at the center of a role-playing adventure set on Pacifica. Infocom and Westwood Associates appear in the presentation of this copy, identified as version 2.3. The scenes, the conversations, and the character sheet accompany the journey before the BattleMech battles.

Starting a new game

Wait for the AmigaDOS startup to finish and the presentation artwork to appear. Press N to continue to the initial questions. Answer N to Is this your first time playing BattleTech? and N to Do you want to load an old game? Let the scenario finish loading before moving Jason.

The log starts out empty. The arrow keys let you walk and add the directions you have traveled to the log. East means east and South means south. Space opens Main Menu; the Up and Down arrow keys move through its options and Enter confirms. You can return to the game, change the settings, inspect the character, heal him, load, save, or check the general map.

Equipment and facilities on Pacifica

Inspect Character shows Jason’s status, skills, and equipment. At the start he carries a Cudgel and has no armor. His condition is listed as healthy and his skills appear as Unskilled. The sheet also reports on the medical kit, the map device, and the field surgery kit. Enter closes the screen.

Building entrances can open Yes/No questions. At Will you enter the Citadel?, press Y to go in or N to stay outside. Wait for the interior menu: there you can request an audience with Katrina, visit the Hall of Legends, sign up for a combat class, talk to the people present, or leave. Move through those options with the arrow keys and confirm with Enter.

A conversation may reply that nobody is interested in talking to you. Read the message before continuing. The text scenes are part of the journey and present the activities available in each place.

Playing and downloading the Amiga edition

Click inside the game to give it keyboard focus. The ClaBa Player bar lets you pause, mute, enlarge the screen, take a screenshot, restart, and close. Restarting returns to the startup and the initial questions.

The original download keeps the ZIP with the IPF disk. You can also download an ADF copy, compatible with more Amiga emulators. Both come from the same disk in the collection. To use them outside the site you need a compatible emulator and your own Kickstart; the IPF format requires specific support in the emulator.

The featured image is the original Amiga title screen. The gallery shows that presentation, the menu after Jason’s first steps, and the entrance to the Citadel. All the screenshots come from this version of the game.