BattleTech:
The Crescent Hawk's Inception 
Released for PC in November 1988 by Infocom
Written by Westwood Associates - Distributed by Mediagenic
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Comments
Helpful Hints
Major Screenshots
In-game Screen Art
Downloads
Links
Where to find
Crescent Hawk's Inception
A fascinating game of many possibilities, this was BattleTech's first foray into the computer world. Its tactical gameplay was simplistic, but it offered control of individual mechs and soldiers and allowed preselected 'Mech modifications and a range of increaseable personal stats and skills, plus selections of weapons and armor. The plot revolved around young Jason Youngblood's attempts to locate his missing father while gathering the scattered agents of Katrina Steiner's elite Crescent Hawks during a Kurita raid on the planet Pacifica. Mechs tended toward to be fairly light, but overall, BattleTech gameplay was fairly represented (heat, movement, terrain effects, 'Mech facing, and more). No, you couldn't pilot the Phoenix Hawk LAM, but Infocom originally offered a free Phoenix Hawk LAM miniature to the first few who found it in the game (it's hidden beyond a seemingly dead-end corridor at the western edge of the Star League base, past terminal Y21). The game sported "more than 4 million individual locations" and boasted proudly of its "emotive outtakes in the Japanese comics style", which I assume referred to anime, before the term was widely known. The box included a Technical Readout-style Weapon and Mech Recognition Guide (Infocom was widely known for cool box inserts) and a now-much-prized poster featuring the cover art. I played the game to completion many times, though I never managed to assemble the 12-man team shown on the box's screenshots (neither did anyone else). Trivia note: all Level 1 BattleTech weapons are in the game's database, though few of them are used; with a hex editor, luck, and patience, you can have AC20s, LRM15s, and all the other goodies mounted on your mechs, plus you can have all 12 members and tons of cash. But, with these handy hints, you shouldn't need to...
Helpful
Hints
Complete Walkthrough with Maps, Copy
Codes, and Planets
Map of Pacifica (64k)
Map Room Planets (14k)
Map of the Star League Cache (30k)
Copy Protection Code Image (14k)
Guide to hacking CHI with a hex editor
Major Screenshots
Title Screen (90k)
Pacifica Training School Entrance Test
(67k)
Jeremiah Youngblood's Phoenix Hawk LAM
(54k)
Box Image (46k)
Powerhits: BattleTech Box Image
(137k)
In-game Screen
Art (5 to 10k each)
The Arena
Critical Hit!
You're Blasted
Pacifica Citadel
Good Shot!
Kuritan Inaugural Hall
Mechit-Lube
"Emotive outtake in the Japanese
comics style"
SRM Infantry
Weapon and Armor Shop
Downloads
CHI Theme Song (C64 version; 328k .WAV
file)
Picture suitable for use as wallpaper
Win95/98
CHI Desktop Theme (requires MicroSoft Plus! 95 or Plus! 98)
(475k)
Icon (.ICO) Files (4k ZIP file)
Animated (.ANI) Icons (8k ZIP file)
Links
Justin's Old
Games Page - Interesting commentary on CHI and MW1, with many
screenshots.
Where to find Crescent Hawk's Inception
Looking for CHI, CHR, or MW1? You can do it the legal way by searching for Powerhits: BattleTech - good luck! Or, you can follow one of these links to find them. These will take you to several Abandonware sites, where you can begin your search. NOTE: I do not condone software piracy. Abandonware, however, is a special case. Abandonware must meet all of the following criteria: 1. The program is no longer commerically available for purchase. 2. The program must be over 5 years old (some say 4). 3. The manufacturer no longer supports the program in question. Some sites differ in their versions of these guidelines, and some are more or less scrupulous than others, but all adhere to some form of these rules. I say again for the timid: Abandonware is still technically piracy, and therefore illegal, but I have to repeat the Abandonware credo: "Better spread than dead!" If nobody stands to profit by it, then it can only serve to help spread the influence and good press of those involved - in this case, FASA and BattleTech, and Activision and Westwood (since Infocom and MediaGenic are kaput). Here's where the letter of the law and the spirit of the law part ways. NOTE: I am not responsible for what appears on these websites, nor am I responsible for what you download off of them - if you find illegal software, viruses, corrupt ZIP files, etc., please contact THAT SITE'S webmaster, not me. That being said, rarely will you encounter problems with any of these.
No Nonsense - CHI available under "other games".
http://come.to/me_me - added
on 3/31/99
Onkel's
Abandonware - CHI available, listed as
BattleTech.
http://www.freealways.com/onkels/ - added
on 3/31/99
Retro Gamin Domain
- CHI available, listed as BattleTech under
Action Games.
http://www.freealways.com/retro/action.htm - added
on 3/31/99
Televar's Cool
Stuff - MechWarrior 1 and both Crescent
Hawk games are available here, plus PowerHits: BT (CHs under B
for BattleTech, MW1 under M, and PowerHits: BT under
"BattleTech Compilation").
http://come.to/televar - added
on 3/31/99
Abandonware
Requiem - MechWarrior 1 and both Crescent
Hawk games are available here (CHI/CHR under "BattleTech 1
and 2").
http://requiem.qis.ca - added
on 3/26/99
The Depot - Crescent Hawk's Inception is available, listed under
"BattleTech: Crescent Hawk's Inception"
http://surfsolutions.com/abandonware/B.htm - added
on 3/26/99
Tox's Warez Site - Crescent Hawk's Inception is available, listed as
"Battletech" under "Adventure Games".
http://www.web4you.dk/~wpa02914/warez.htm
Portal Downloads - MechWarrior 1 and both Crescent Hawk games are
available here.
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Ring/2213/page3.html
Twisted Rat's
Abandonware - MechWarrior 1 and Crescent
Hawk's Inception are available here.
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/raytrace/376/abandon.htm
Abandonware Ring - The place to go for tons of old software; search here
only if the links above die.
http://abandonwarer.cjb.net
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