Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[tindrli]

Bros are receiving a makeover this week to bring them in line with the goblins in terms of detail. While we're at it, we're also adding a few more faces, hair and beard styles.

Dem nipplez.

ehem.. and where are FEMALES????

 

[Ninjerk]

Bros are receiving a makeover this week to bring them in line with the goblins in terms of detail. While we're at it, we're also adding a few more faces, hair and beard styles.

Dem nipplez.

ehem.. and where are FEMALES????

In town, minding the home.

 

[rapsdjff]

More progress!

Dev Blog #47: Progress Update – Wardogs, Armor Mechanics, Visual Makeover
Work continues on implementing Goblins. While that’s going on, we’re also doing some things that have been on our todo list for some time – adding wardogs and changing the armor mechanics. In addition, Paul is doing a makeover of many of the older assets in the game, especially the Battle Brothers themselves.

Wardogs
That’s right, wardogs have made their way into the game and you can soon have them in your mercenary company. These dogs are of a large and aggressive breed and they come with their own name and one of several different looks. But what is their purpose?

Goblins will rely heavily on ranged combat and kiting their opponents, so Battle Brothers need a new trick up their sleeves as well. And while the recently introduced feature of retreating enemies does alleviate the issue of having to catch the last remaining enemies, we want to go further. Wardogs are a tool for the player to chase down any enemy and hold them in place until Battle Brothers arrive, as well as to find any enemies hidden in the fog of war. It’s a tool that makes a lot of sense in a medieval fantasy world, and at the same time is something to have fun with and get invested in. Afterall, who doesn’t like dogs?

Wardogs are not individual characters in your party but are treated like an item – at least outside of combat. They can be bought in settlements and then assigned to a character before combat. Ever noticed that empty slot in the top left of your characters’ paper doll? That’s the accessory slot, and that’s where wardogs go, among other things.



In combat the character handling a dog has a unique skill called ‘Unleash Wardog’. The unleashed dog will spawn on an adjacent free tile and will act immediately after the handler has finished his turn. The dog is not controlled by the player but by the AI following a distinct behavior – it will straight up charge for the next free opponent and engage him in melee all while doing a lot of barking. Wardogs don’t actually do that much damage, at least not against armored opponents, but they are very useful in pinning down archers or other elusive targets in the opponent’s backline for your Battle Brothers to follow up. What’s more, they can track down hidden enemies. If you don’t know where the last few enemies are hiding on the map, unleash a dog and he will find them for you.



Wardogs bring a lot of utility to the table, but they also require a bit of careful thinking of when to best be unleashed. They’re not humans and so will run happily into enemy spears only to kill themselves. Just like for your Battle Brothers that spells perma-death for them.

Armor Mechanics
First, the punchline: We’ve changed how weapons and armor interact. While we believe that the armor system as it was worked decently well, there were a couple of issues we want to address with this change.

Because armor effectively acts as additional hitpoints, the game as it were encourages stacking a lot of armor. In fact, it encourages doing so over increasing hitpoints because raising maximum fatigue in order to wear more armor yields more effective hitpoints than raising actual hitpoints on levelup. In addition, getting hit with any kind of weapon and just shrugging off the damage as long as your armor is intact is a simplistic approach. In reality you often suffer at least some small bruise or blunt trauma, even if your armor is not penetrated. Finally, we have no way of correctly modelling weapons that penetrate armor very well without doing much damage to the armor itself. A good example is the crossbow which has a very high armor efficiency causing it to do a lot of damage against armor because we had no other good way of modelling penetrating attacks.

To remedy the above points we’re introducing the concept of ‘Direct Damage’ as an addition to the armor mechanics that are already in place. Direct damage is a new characteristic of every attack skill (e.g. Slash, Thrust, etc) that determines what amount of damage done is not absorbed by armor immediately but may directly affect hitpoints, whether by actually piercing through armor or by blunt force trauma that is felt through armor. Let’s go step by step to see how damage is applied:

Firstly, armor damage is applied to armor (if any) based on the ‘Armor Effectiveness’ of the skill and weapon used. Secondly, and this is new, ‘Direct Damage’ is applied to hitpoints based on the skill used but reduced by 10% of the current armor value. This means that the better the armor, the less direct damage gets through, and the more damaged an armor gets, the more direct damage will get through. Finally, if there is no armor left, the remaining damage is applied directly to hitpoints.

So how does that address the issues above? With direct damage, both armor and hitpoints matter. A character getting attacked by weapons that can inflict a lot of direct damage – such as crossbows or maces – can now get killed even while he has armor points left. On the other hand, a character can never get killed with any hitpoints left. Because hitpoints heal a lot slower than armor is repaired or replaced, Battle Brothers may also take attritional damage now by way of cuts and bruises that add up over several battles, further emphasizing the need for a larger hitpoint pool for longer campaigns. With the introduction of direct damage we can now correctly model weapons like crossbows that were built to penetrate armor, not to destroy it. This also gives us a more freedom for introducing different skills and weapons in the future. Finally, modeling most attacks as inflicting at least some damage to the target in the form of blunt trauma, concussion or bruises is arguably more realistic than assuming that armor would prevent all damage.

While unfortunately this added mechanic does take away a bit from the clear and simple way it worked previously we’re confident that this is well worth the trade-off. We want to strike a good balance between having realism in our combat system and keeping the mechanics easy to pick up, and we feel that the concept of direct damage makes a lot of sense intuitively.

Visual Makeover
As you may know, we started out doing this game in our free time, in the few hours we had each evening after our day jobs. With very limited time we had to make some tough calls and couldn’t give everything the attention we wanted to.

This changed since we moved to working fulltime on the game about a month ago, and this also shows in the game’s visuals. The newer assets – such as for the upcoming Goblins – are a lot more detailed, making the older assets look a bit dated by comparison. To remedy this, Paul will be revamping many of the older assets and giving them a makeover so that they’re on par with the new stuff for a consistently detailed look.



First up are the Battle Brothers themselves – and while we’re at it, we’re also adding a few more faces, hair and beard styles as well!

 

[Overboard]

MASTER OF PUPPETSPUPPIES!

I'm very interested in this game, will purchase once it's available DRM-free.

 

[hoverdog]

More progress!

I love you and I want to have your children.

 

[Agesilaus]

I finally found and salvaged a unique item! It was an old shield I got from a big undead battle; it's called "the cover" and basically it has the advantages of both the heater and the kite shields. Are these randomly generated?

I saw a bandit leader in another fight with a suit of armour with a wolf's pelt draped around it. What is that, and how do I salvage armour? Do I have to take out daggers or cleavers and bypass the armour with piercing/head shots?

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Update looks great. I wanted to start a new game, but I'm going to wait now.

I saw a bandit leader in another fight with a suit of armour with a wolf's pelt draped around it. What is that, and how do I salvage armour? Do I have to take out daggers or cleavers and bypass the armour with piercing/head shots?

I had that too, but the armor was destroyed. I think you can craft it through an even too. I usually don't bother with it, but daggers are your best option for salvaging armor, either that or counting on head shots, but that destroys headgear.

 

[Agesilaus]

I equip all my guys with a backup dagger, so it's not too difficult to just kill him that way, I guess.

How do you craft items? I don't think that's in the game yet.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

It's a random event that might happen if you have a werewolf pelt and brothers with specific background (tailor I guess?). Didn't happen to me, but it's already in the game as far as I know.

 

[Agesilaus]

Ah, okay, that's pretty cool. I'm going keep the special items on hand, then (pelts, teeth, dust)

 

[Agesilaus]

I successfully stabbed a raider leader to death and salvaged his armour... only to absentmindedly hit leave and miss out on all the loot. There definitely needs to be a menu that says "Are you sure you want to leave without the loot?" or better yet just auto-loot. There's never a situation where you won't want the loot.

 

[hoverdog]

I successfully stabbed a raider leader to death and salvaged his armour... only to absentmindedly hit leave and miss out on all the loot. There definitely needs to be a menu that says "Are you sure you want to leave without the loot?" or better yet just auto-loot. There's never a situation where you won't want the loot.

Yes, the same should apply to quitting the game. There should be a pop-up that asks if you want to save the game before you quit. I lost some progress with my BB LP due to a misclick and thus exiting the game.

One thing I'd like to see when it comes to loot and stash is total weight of items in the stash. This way having a fuckton of phat lewt could mean a much slower speed. You won't be able to run away from raiders this way (yes, I like being punished )

 

[Ulminati]

Better yet - if you see raiders in a village, wait for them to finish looting so they will be easier to chase down

 

[Crabcakes]

By the way I am reworking all BB armors, giving them a grittier and used look:

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Why not have both? Or have the old versions as master crafted/high quality armor?

 

[rapsdjff]

Here is this week's progress.

Dev Blog #48: Progress Update – Throwing Weapons, Visual Makeover Continued
The first Goblins have made their way into the game and are now being playtested. While that’s going on, as always, we’ve implemented a bunch of smaller things from our todo. The most important one this week: Throwing Weapons and a bit of love for ranged combat in general. Also, Paul has been busy as ever continuing his visual rework. Wiedergangers and all armors in the game got a makeover!

Throwing Weapons
Let’s talk about ranged combat in general for a moment. There’s some things that work well already, such as the difference between bows and crossbows, line of fire and friendly fire. But then there is the issue of ranged combat, generally speaking, not having quite enough of an impact on how the game is played. Players seldom invest into the Ranged Defense attribute, as ranged opponents usually don’t pose enough of a threat, and using ranged weapons themselves is usually reserved for a token archer or two.

To address this, we’ve taken several steps. First, view range for all units has been increased by one, and the range of bows and crossbows has been increased by one as well. This way we’re emphasizing the strength of ranged weapons and make for more situations where they can be of use, while at the same time making it easier to find enemies running. Second, we’re rethinking the place of throwing weapons in the game and introducing a bunch more. Here we go.

Whereas bows and crossbows are best for long-distance ranged combat by ranged specialists, throwing weapons are supposed to be secondary weapons that can be used at least somewhat effectively by everyone over short to medium distances. That’s why throwing weapons get an accuracy bonus to start off but have their accuracy drop much more sharply than for bows and crossbows the more distant the target is. New throwing weapons are Throwing Axes, Javelins and – spoiler – two devilish Goblin throwing weapons. Crude Javelins, previously already in the game, are now an orc weapon again, as originally intended.



Those throwing weapons are being handed out to some melee opponents as we speak. Not to everyone, of course, but Goblins are very fond of them as they synergize well with their other tools, and Bandit Raiders may also throw an axe your way every now and then. Even a few Young Orcs may now carry javelins to throw before a charge. If the only alternative is charging into your spearwall, your opponents may now opt to just pelt you from afar and punish your static defense line.

With ranged weapons now more common, Ranged Defense should also become a more important choice on level-up and in choice of shield for keeping your Battle Brothers safe. It’s still not a must-have, but it makes a difference – and very specialized builds, such as the famed Nimble Swordmaster, now come with a clear weakness that can actually be exploited by the AI.

Visual Makeover Continued
Continuing with the visual makeover we announced last week, Paul has given the Wiedergangers some attention. Not only have they received some polishing, they now also sport their very own hair and beard styles fit for half-rotting corpses.



Those of you who follow Paul’s Art Thread, our Facebook or Twitter will already know – most of the visual makeover this week has been armor. We tried to give all the armor are more realistic and detailed appearance, but also a bit more of a used and less fresh look. Pieces of armor were extremely expensive in the middle ages and used for a long time, sometimes over several generations.



At the same time we’re looking to make the progression in armor value something to be more visually recognizable. Heavy armor should look the part, which is why Heraldic Mail no longer has the highest armor value in the game but is now situated more closely by the other mail armors. We’ve also filled quite a few gaps in progression with entirely new armor and will shuffle values around a bit for everything.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Nice.

Though at first glance I thought the net is rather something from sexbad? 's video reviews.

 

[Jaesun]

Holy shit, those undead guys are fucking creepy! D:

 

[rapsdjff]

The weeks really fly by...

Dev Blog #49: Progress Update – Character Backgrounds, Goblin Preview, Visual Makeover Continued
All the different Goblins have made it into the game now and are being tested and balanced. All their sounds are done as well – the most extensive work for any creature yet. You’ll find a new preview in this update. In the meantime, we also changed how character backgrounds work and gave all helmet visuals a makeover.

Character Backgrounds
Hiring new mercenaries is a core part of the gameplay of Battle Brothers and we put a lot of effort into making characters feel as unique and memorable as possible. That’s why we keep adding new faces, hairstyles, items and background stories all the time. The background of a character, essentially what they did before joining up with you to become a mercenary, is an especially defining factor of who they are today. It determines their starting stats, their traits and factors into events involving the character.

However, there are two issues with how character backgrounds work currently. The first issue is that because characters have randomized stats within a certain range to reflect different talents and dispositions, it’s sometimes hard to predict their stats based on their background. A hunter is someone you’d want to hire when looking for a ranged specialist – yet with an unlucky roll you can end up with a guy quite bad with ranged weapons, despite the Hunter background adding a flat amount of ranged skill. This is understandably frustrating for players that are explicitly looking for a ranged character and have invested quite a bit of crowns.

The second issue is that because backgrounds change a character’s stats by a fixed amount, it makes things too predictable on other occasions. A Hedge Knight is always better than a Farmhand overall. There is no single Farmhand that can match a Hedge Knight in strength, anywhere. This is a problem because it quickly divides backgrounds into those considered must-have, and those considered bad and only to be hired at the start of the game, outside of roleplaying reasons. We want to have some diversity in the player’s rosters and not just two or three different backgrounds with the rest essentially skipped.



To address these points, we’ve changed how character stats are determined. Instead of rolling stats in the same range for all characters and then having the background add a flat amount on top, backgrounds now have their very own min and max values when rolling for each stat. What does that mean? Well, you can find characters skilled in ranged combat with all kinds of backgrounds, some even more skilled than the Hunter you’ve just hired – but the Hunter is guaranteed to know how to use a bow and will always come with a good level of ranged skill now. And while with a Hedge Knight you know you’ll be getting a beast of man, there’s always the chance that you’ll find that random exceptional Farmhand that is even stronger and more physically fit – the Hedge Knight is just guaranteed to be at a good level.

Founding Members
When starting a new campaign you enter the world with 3 founding members in your mercenary company. Those founding members previously came with a background chosen at random, with only the very weakest and the strongest backgrounds excluded, which made for some interesting scenarios at times but also contributed to the very uneven difficulty in the early game.

You may have noticed before that the introductory screen explains you starting a mercenary company with three companions who worked as sellswords before and fought alongside you personally in the shieldwall. It never made much sense that you’d then end up with a fisherman and a tailor who didn’t know the first thing about fighting, so we’ve changed that. The three Battle Brothers you start with now come with a unique Companion background that can’t be found anywhere else. They have some respectable fighting experience and some fighting gear that has already seen battle, as well as background stories that tell of your exploits and how you originally met. They’re competent fighters and should make the early game a bit less bumpy, but they’re not necessarily on the level of some of the other characters you can hire later on in the game. Where to take it from here, and whom to hire next, is your decision to make.

Goblins
And here we are with another preview of the upcoming Goblins. This time we’re showing the Goblin Skirmisher, their melee infantry, with a couple of different deadly tools available to them.



We’re currently busy testing them in the game, balancing their difficulty and adjusting their behavior to make for some unique challenges very different from other opponents already in the game. All their sounds have been done this week as well – with an actual sound budget now we’re able to give Goblins voices that really underline their mischievous character.

Visual Makeover Continued
Continuing with our visual makeover, Paul has had his crosshairs on helmets this week. Those are now in line with the new body armors and also boat a grittier and more detailed look.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I love it. I love it. I am loving this. This is good.

By the way, a guy on the Steam forums made me think- having dogs as an item might be a bit silly.. I mean, it's not like you keep them in pokeballs or something. Wouldn't it be more realistic if until you released them into the battlefield, the guy "owning" a dog would suffer some penalties?

 

[Ulminati]

The second issue is that because backgrounds change a character’s stats by a fixed amount, it makes things too predictable on other occasions. A Hedge Knight is always better than a Farmhand overall. There is no single Farmhand that can match a Hedge Knight in strength, anywhere. This is a problem because it quickly divides backgrounds into those considered must-have, and those considered bad and only to be hired at the start of the game, outside of roleplaying reasons. We want to have some diversity in the player’s rosters and not just two or three different backgrounds with the rest essentially skipped.

A good idea, but I don't think the fixed ranges will change this. Even if a farmhand has a 1 in 10 or whatever chance of matching the hedge knight, I'd still be buying the hedge knight rather than gambling on getting lucky with the farmhand stats. This goes double for "ha ha not on your life" professions like miner. Anything with a penalty to fatigue is a no-go as far as I'm concerned. Short of savescumming to see peoples stats, there's no reason for someone to gamble on a cheap class if they have enough cash to consider a more expensive one. It's nice that you're assured a minimum level of competence though. Even if I've had more than once case of a swordmaster with good base rolls getting screwed over by negative traits.

 

[Agesilaus]

But wow, what cash it takes. By the end game, I have about one hedge knight, a few other premium classes (adventurous noble, raiders, merc, etc), and then the rest are budget priced (farmhands, historians, hunters, butcher, etc).

By the time I have the sort of cash it would take to hire 12, or even 6, hedge knights and equip them, it's already basically end game and I have a fully equipped death squad.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Maybe it would be nice if you could "hint" at a chance for a budget merc to end up great, via some flavor text.

Could add in a nice "betting" element.

 

[Ulminati]

On the whole, adding subtle hints on possible traits in the flavour text would be a good way to entice people to read it. It's quirte good flavour text, but most of the time the only thing I bother looking at when hiring is starting profession.

 

[LizardWizard]

But wow, what cash it takes. By the end game, I have about one hedge knight, a few other premium classes (adventurous noble, raiders, merc, etc), and then the rest are budget priced (farmhands, historians, hunters, butcher, etc).

By the time I have the sort of cash it would take to hire 12, or even 6, hedge knights and equip them, it's already basically end game and I have a fully equipped death squad.

What is the end game currently? I'm at day 50 sitting nearly 20k crowns with mostly sellswords/hedgeknights/raiders in top tier equip and some named items. What am I supposed to be doing other than these bland as fuck fetch quests?

Also rally/perfect focus is stupidly broken.