Can't get through the first mission w/o crashes to desktop or freezes.

1080Ti 16Gb Ram i7

latest drivers

EDIT:
Ok... running as admin didn't help. But, disconnecting from the internet DID help. Was able to finish first mission.
Still getting graphics glitches though (texture spikes)

I also uninstalled GOG Galaxy.

Check for chipset drivers an bios. I haven't encountered a single issue (internet connected, GOGGalaxy installed).
(amd cpu+gpu)

Quite surprising how much GPU or CPU it's using considering that it's a turn based strategy game...

Thanks for coming back and letting folks know that the issue was your rig and not the game.

More importantly, good luck and have have fun in your game!

The game is extremely unoptimised. It`s not using processes efficiently. I have a fast system with an excellent SSD and it`s horrible considering that I have better programs which use more graphics and much more intensive on the cpu.

It`s not the hardware at fault primarily, it`s the coding. Of course, the Publishing\house and Devs won`t admit it, they never do. This, sadly, is not uncommon with many games released today. They tend to release too early and fix later. Hopefully, the patches on the way will fix this. You should see a big boost in performance once they get it done.

well, I agree that it's probably not optimized. Loading is very slow. Switching from Buying to Selling is a good example. That said,

I really really enjoy this game. Almost done with the campaign and I'm also pleased they support modding.

I hope they continue to work on it and if there's DLC, I plan on buying

It`s a little better now with the patch.

I assume you never played any of the Shadowrun games (also by HBS)? SR Hong Kong had ridiculous loading times, especially for the main hub (which you visited between almost every mission), plus UI that seemed much less responsive at times than it should have been, and it chugged in places too - and none of that game was actually 3D!

So, since for me Battletech loads missions faster than the HK hub, it doesn't seem that bad to me.

The thing that drives me nuts are all UI-related, especially when buying stuff or outfitting a mech. Bad UI decisions combined with really slow response makes everything in this game take far longer than it should. Add to that the stupid pauses they purposely put in (firing, movement) - but at least those can be easily fixed with some editing.