Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[Gondolin]

Pirate dlc?

Sounds more like a separate game.

 

[rapsdjff]

I'm not entirely sold on the idea of various locations surrounding villages and towns in an artistic sense although I do like the idea of them as a gameplay aspect. In simple terms, they do seem to look a little bit off to me. Not really appearing as a whole. Then again, medieval villages did have outlying mills, farms, quarry's and so on.

I know what you mean, looking at that screenshot, but the small settlement on that tiny island probably isn't the best example of how settlements spread out and feel as a coherent whole. Below is an example of a larger settlement - keep in mind that the assets used are still work-in-progress. You have the townhall surrounded by houses at the center, followed by some crafts. If we had a harbor asset done, you'd see that also And then there's some locations that are generally more outlying for one reason or another - the watchtower in this case, guarding a road that leads into town, but also farms, mines and such.

Will you guys be introducing 'camp followers' together with the new map and contract system?

No, they won't be included with this update.

Regarding islands and sea travel. The island with the settlement you show is tiny. Can't really imagine a lot of valid quests regarding threats there. Unless you got sea raiders they will probably be never bothered by roving bandits or clans of orcs. Will the available quests there represent this?

Not sure if there'll actually be settlements on islands as tiny as this in the final game, for the reason you pointed out, but yes, contracts available do take into account geography. Even if that small isolated settlement may not offer you much in terms of contracts by itself, it may still become objective of another contract handed out somewhere else.

Do wonder though, with early next year do you mean really early or more of a 'perhaps the first quarter' kind of thing? I got a real bad itch for this.

Definitely within the first quarter.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Have you any plans to offer advanced options for world generation?
For example a choice between old (mainland) and upcoming (islands) map generation.
Perhaps some other variables to tweak; like settlement density, initial enemy faction strength and/or others.

 

[Trash]

Thanks for the detailed answers. All sound very good. Just wanted to say that the screenshot (even being a work in progress) looks miles better than the earlier one. Love the houses. Really makes it look like a small bustling town.

 

[Modron]

rapsdjff
If pirate background for recruits isn't in, I will be very upset!

Followup question: if pirates are implemented will pirated copies be able to recruit them in addition to thieves?

 

[Zdzisiu]

rapsdjff
If pirate background for recruits isn't in, I will be very upset!

Followup question: if pirates are implemented will pirated copies be able to recruit them in addition to thieves?

They will be forced to fight nothing but pirate hordes!

 

[sser]

Spoiler

There is at least one unreleased character that comes from a pirate-ish background.

 

[SmartCheetah]

Have you any plans to offer advanced options for world generation?
For example a choice between old (mainland) and upcoming (islands) map generation.
Perhaps some other variables to tweak; like settlement density, initial enemy faction strength and/or others.

Yeah, I would love that. Abillity to scale your world, set number of settlements/monster camps et cetera(so people with monster PC's could handle a lot bigger worlds)

And another question: How about more neutral monsters, like trolls, ogres and all the other different fuckers?

 

[sser]

Have you any plans to offer advanced options for world generation?
For example a choice between old (mainland) and upcoming (islands) map generation.
Perhaps some other variables to tweak; like settlement density, initial enemy faction strength and/or others.

And another question: How about more neutral monsters, like trolls, ogres and all the other different fuckers?

Planned.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

And I'm certain that we will hear about possible implementation later.
Yes? (really looking forward to additions to ´Beasts` faction)

 

[Reinhardt]

Orcish battleships.

 

[Helly]

You wouldn't believe how psyched I am about that game

 

[ERYFKRAD]

You wouldn't believe how psyched I am about that game

You ain't the only one, brother.

 

[Berekän]

So how long am I going to have to wait for this game to release? I usually try to avoid playing early access games, don't want to get burnt out before it's feature complete.

 

[Jimmious]

So how long am I going to have to wait for this game to release? I usually try to avoid playing early access games, don't want to get burnt out before it's feature complete.

I'm there with ya brother, but it seems we'll have to wait like a year more or something :'(

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

rapsdjff I see on your forums questions about animation speed. An instant movement option was mentioned. Can you offer any insight on animation/battle speed options that are in the works?

 

[rapsdjff]

Have you any plans to offer advanced options for world generation?
For example a choice between old (mainland) and upcoming (islands) map generation.
Perhaps some other variables to tweak; like settlement density, initial enemy faction strength and/or others.

Yes, it's something we're considering but haven't decided on yet. Depends on what sensible options we end up with. Feel free to suggest anything you'd like to see.

rapsdjff I see on your forums questions about animation speed. An instant movement option was mentioned. Can you offer any insight on animation/battle speed options that are in the works?

There is nothing in the works for this update, but we want to have an instantaneous movement option eventually.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Have you any plans to offer advanced options for world generation?
For example a choice between old (mainland) and upcoming (islands) map generation.
Perhaps some other variables to tweak; like settlement density, initial enemy faction strength and/or others.

Yes, it's something we're considering but haven't decided on yet. Depends on what sensible options we end up with. Feel free to suggest anything you'd like to see.

rapsdjff I see on your forums questions about animation speed. An instant movement option was mentioned. Can you offer any insight on animation/battle speed options that are in the works?

There is nothing in the works for this update, but we want to have an instantaneous movement option eventually.

Can you comment on percentage of time between the moment our piece stops to the moment their piece stops is attributable to animation versus AI?

 

[Nostaljaded]

Suggestion after looking at LP videos.

Unknown allies, neutrals and enemies in sequential turn order could be consolidated as 1 icon in the turn order UI. Aren't they unsighted and unaccounted?
It would add tactical variety (risk-reward decisions) with player's guess work from the battle sounds and time taken for AI.
Especially so when there's other factions present, e.g. saving helpless villagers from orc's incoming pillage.
Should not be difficult to code since it's just a change of UI presentation.

Also, is 'unknown non-player battle volume' a function of the distance to the nearest PC? E.g. softer battle sound played for clashes further away from party
Rushing in to save the sheep turns out to be a hyena rape party.

 

[rapsdjff]

Can you comment on percentage of time between the moment our piece stops to the moment their piece stops is attributable to animation versus AI?

It's mostly animation/sound, waiting a second or two for the player to catch up with what's happening or about to happen, and moving the camera at a speed that isn't confusing to most people. You'll notice that the AI completes its turns faster when in the fog of war. To be clear, when I'm speaking of instantaneous movement, I really mean just the movement animation part. I don't think combat (as in attacking, using skills) can be sped up much more.

Also, is 'unknown non-player battle volume' a function of the distance to the nearest PC? E.g. softer battle sound played for clashes further away from party

The volume is relative to the current position of the camera.

 

[rapsdjff]

Speaking of sound...

Dev Blog #65: Progress Update – Provisions & Sound
Food connoisseurs rejoice! Provisions received a rework this week and are more diverse than ever. Also, we implemented a system to dynamically mix ambience sounds in the game for a richer atmosphere. Let’s read about it!

Provisions
Handling provisions is one of those mechanics that are kind of underwhelming. You get why it’s there – the logistics of running a mercenary company should be part of the game – but it doesn’t really add that much. What usually happens is that you’re just every now and then refilling the tanks, if you don’t happen to loot enough provisions anyway, and don’t spend much thought on it otherwise.

We want to try something different with provisions. We want it to be a bit more engaging, requiring a bit more thought put into it, without making it more complex than it should be.

Battle Brothers now has different kinds of provisions – bread, dried fish, smoked ham, mushrooms, and more. All of these come as stacks worth (currently) 25 provisions with different prices and durability. There is no limit to the amount of provisions you can carry anymore, but because individual stacks of food will eventually go bad, you probably shouldn’t buy more than your men can actually eat before it rots away. Don’t worry, though, your men are smart enough to eat first whatever food is about to turn bad next.

The different kinds of food are available at places that fit thematically, so we can further reinforce that a settlement is, for example, a fishing village. You may find the odd overpriced fish inland, but it’s fishing villages and coastal cities where you can get fish cheap and in large quantities. That village with the pig farm will probably sell you some smoked ham, and that small hamlet in the swamp won’t have much to offer other than mushrooms. As a mercenary, you have to adjust your diet a bit to what’s available during your travels.

Sound & Ambience
Since the Early Access launch on April 27th, the game was plagued by some sound compatibility issues because of the 3rd party sound library we used. Some problems have since been solved, some remained. We’ve wanted to replace this library with a different one for some time now, and this week we finally got around to doing it. What does that mean for you?

If you encountered any sound problems or oddities in the past, chances are that those are now resolved. There’s also been an issue of the game stuttering occasionally as music tracks changed on the worldmap, and this should now be a thing of the past as well.

What other cool things can we do now? We created a small system to dynamically mix ambient sounds depending on your surroundings on the worldmap. No longer is music the only thing you hear; if you’re near the coast, you’ll hear seagulls and waves crashing. In the swamps, you’ll hear insects and frogs, and icy winds blow around you in the snowy wastes of the north. At night, you can hear wolves howling in the forest, and crickets in the steppe. We really want you to feel that you’re in that forest that your figurine is standing on on the worldmap. Settlements have their own ambience as well, of course. Not only are there people, dogs, cats, chicken and more running about – if a settlement got a smithy, you’ll hear hammering, if it’s got a temple you can hear sermons, and there’s laughter and singing coming from the tavern even at night.

These ambience sounds really add a lot to the atmosphere of the whole world, make the different terrain feel distinct and settlements much more lively. Of course, reading about this is one thing, actually hearing it is another. That’s why we’ll try to have a preview video of the new worldmap ready for you to watch next week!

 

[Dim]

Adding a ?mechanic? just for ambiance and to clutter up inventory more is stupid. Limits on party carry weight could turn into a mechanic of planning for long expeditions like in Thea. Ok so it was other mechanics in Thea that caused that effect. By the way, showing only the head and top part of the torso in combat is genius. How much can the game be modded?


Why is this and Starsector not in Strategy? How many more good strategy games am I missing out on? BB may properly belong in RPG since unlike real Strategy it does not have an overarching time limit or opponent or optimization pressure.

 

[rapsdjff]

Here's the promised preview video.

Update Preview Video
Happy holidays, everyone!

As a special treat we have a preview video showing many of the new features and changes on the worldmap of Battle Brothers in action. Just keep in mind that all of this is still work-in-progress and will receive more polish as we go.



The worldmap update is a rework of the entire strategic part of the game. This means a lot of changes that are all interconnected and can’t really be separately released from one another. The big update containing all of these changes will be released in February 2016. Following this, we’ll go back to smaller updates again with less time in between.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Absolutely beautiful.
Now, put in some dungeons.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Very nice.