Visit the official website
SourceForge project page
Become a fan on Facebook

REMLAB Web Mech Designer is an open source, cross platform, web based tool for the designing and printing of Mech record sheets for use with the board game Battletech. REMLAB is written entirely in PHP and JavaScript as a web application accessible with any modern web browser.

How it all started

I started playing Battletech in the early nineties with some friends. Early on I liked the idea of creating my own Mechs, but was overwhelmed by the written construction process. At the time, there were a few computer programs for this purpose, such as Btech (we used this one quite extensively back in the day). But I was never that crazy about any of the programs that I tried at the time.

However, at the same time I began dabbling with Microsoft Visual Basic along with my friends. I spent the next few years starting and stopping development of a Mech designer, dubbed TechLab, on that platform several times; never actually creating a workable tool. I ultimately gave up on that prospect, and likewise, at the same time had drifted away from the game itself.

Years later, my interests shifted over to web design, and in 2005 I began working on REMLAB. With the simplicity of HTML and the arrival of Ajax on the horizon, I made another attempt at a Mech designer. This time it came in four planned stages (versions): 1.0 was a basic form input version of the application. 2.0 was basically the same as 1.0 but with Ajax functionality. 2.5 just expanded on the game’s rules. 3.0 is a complete overhaul of the entire application with the inclusion of different unit types.

The future

Because it’s still been years since I last played the actual game, my interest and involvement in with REMLAB is coming to an end. For my part, all the goals I set out to accomplish have been realized. And as for REMLAB itself, it truthfully needs to be rewritten from scratch, with a database back end for storing user created content, a more flexible and intuitive interface, and print outs with graphical armor diagrams (SVG).

Battletech links

• The official Battletech website
• Battletech on Wikipedia