Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[AMG]

Yeah, there needs to be a Götterdämmerung mode with all three happening at the same time.

 

[Andnjord]

Great stuff rapsdjff this makes all the more difficult to continue my current campaign knowing this is coming up (but every time I think that I still end up doing just 'one more' fight)

When you mention attacking fortifications, does it mean we'll get new maps with actual forts in them?

 

[Jack Dandy]

No.

Isn't that kind of strange, though? What will stop players from just playing until they're an unstoppable warmachine?
Will there be a constant gradual scaling of enemies, which will eventually overwhelm you?

I mean, this kind of thing kinda worked in Dwarf Fortress, but this is a different sort of game.

Will there be anything that .. I dunno, "pressures" players into retirement?

 

[ᚱᚨᚷᛖᚠᚢᛈ]

So I looked at how much the "+10% headhit chance after bodyhit" 2nd level perk is worth, cause its another of those unreadable perks...

NO PERK at CTH 50%
0.50 * 0.75 * 0.50 * 0.25 = 0.046875
hit1 * body * hit2 * head

PERK at CTH 50%
0.50 * 0.75 * 0.50 * 0.35 = 0,065625
hit1 * body * hit2 * head

A whooping 0,01875 or 1.875 percent! CTH bonus over replacement without the perk. A relative improvment of 40%! That doesnt matter here because the other swings do damage as well.
And you have to consider that this bonus is not free, extra on top because it just shifts damage from body to head so its even less worthy.

It gets a little better when you start getting decent CTH overall, like 80%.

NO PERK at CTH 80%
0.80 * 0.75 * 0.80 * 0.25 = 0.12
hit1 * body * hit2 * head

PERK at CTH 80%
0.80 * 0.75 * 0.80 * 0.35 = 0.168
hit1 * body * hit2 * head

4.8% extra to headblows. Overall damage improvement is much less though.

Honest Verdict: its shit.

 

[AMG]

No.

Isn't that kind of strange, though? What will stop players from just playing until they're an unstoppable warmachine?
Will there be a constant gradual scaling of enemies, which will eventually overwhelm you?

I mean, this kind of thing kinda worked in Dwarf Fortress, but this is a different sort of game.

Will there be anything that .. I dunno, "pressures" players into retirement?

I don't see how is that a problem. I never once bothered painting the whole map in Total War, because once you get the ball rolling you know that you will win anyway.
Once you beat the crisis, you have overcome all the game can throw at you and can move on to another playthrough or shelve the game. If anyone wants to play past that, why stop him?
Although, according to the descripion destroyed settlements never recover, so the campaign will end naturally once you go through so many crises that all but one settlement gets destroyed and you can't buy supplies anymore .

 

[Agesilaus]

So I got jumped by 6 vampires and had a total party wipe (all were around 4th level in 100-point armour). Ended with 1 beat up merc fighting 1 beat up vampire, could have gone either way.

I hate vampires so much. The 9 lives perk is so infuriating.

 

[agris]

rapsdjff fucking awesome.

do you guys still plan to support adding our own custom banners? even if you don't have UI assets to let us mix and match stuff, being able to drop our own .pngs in would be nice.

also, have you considered having some NPCs, events or actions crossing over from one game to the next when you retire? when you retire a company, it would be interesting to see some of the members of that company appear - as you've leveled them - as expensive veteran hires in another game. kind of like a new game+ mode. or for unslain bro's who've been turned into ghouls / werewolves to appear in another game as well. some sort of cross pollination across different games.

 

[Infinitron]

GameBanshee learns of Battle Brothers' existence: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/118...y-2017-release-currently-in-early-access.html

 

[Helly]

So, what about lairs, cavern and dungeons? Fighting in cramped quarters could be a nice change occasionnaly.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

So, what about lairs, cavern and dungeons? Fighting in cramped quarters could be a nice change occasionnaly.

I think they said earlier that those won't be included into the game.

 

[Alienman]

Hopefully the game will be a great success so we get those locations in an expansion.

 

[Ninjerk]

GameBanshee learns of Battle Brothers' existence: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/118...y-2017-release-currently-in-early-access.html

 

[Fry]

Infinitroll.

 

[Beowulf]

Doing Yahweh's work.

 

[Eyestabber]

I loved the undead scenario. I'm hoping it leads to seeing our friend Hoggart the Weasel again. Also: undead orcs? xD

I mean, why only humans become undead anyway?

 

[ntonystinson]

Dev Blog #92: Late Game Crises
Here we go with a dev blog many of you have been waiting for. After ambitions and retirement, late game crises, also known as the ‘Greater Evil’, are the third aspect of adding more purpose and challenge to the game that we’re going to introduce with the upcoming update. Let’s find out what it’s all about!

The Greater Evil
Older players may remember that when Battle Brothers first entered Early Access, enemy factions would keep on growing and eventually overpower the world of man, if not kept in check by the player. For all the many balancing issues this raised, it certainly had a cool thing about it: the world was changing around you, and what you did had a tangible impact on the world. As we’re nearing the point now where all of the game mechanics are done, we’re going to re-introduce the ability of enemy factions to start an invasion and overrun the world. Only this time, it will be part of one of three different late game crises, and it will be supported by unique contracts, events and gameplay mechanics.

So, where to start? A late game crisis happening is not optional, but you do have some options on customizing them for your campaign. As you start a new campaign, you’ll be able to choose between a random late game crisis (the default), a war between noble houses, a greenskin invasion or the undead arising. A random crisis is probably slightly harder, because you can’t prepare for a specific enemy right from the start, but if you prefer fighting any particular enemy, or just want to see them in action, you can determine the flavor of your future challenge here.

As the name implies, a late game crisis only really kicks in until after some time into your campaign, allowing you to build up your company to a respectable level first. Once the crisis starts, it occurs in two phases.

The first phase is the buildup where you’ll encounter warning signs – like events about more greenskin sightings, greenskin camps creeping up closer to settlements, and more contracts that deal with their presence – and can choose to prepare accordingly. Not that long after the first phase, the second phase will start, and this is where the crisis really begins. What happens exactly depends on the type of crisis;

In the event of a greenskin invasion, orcs and goblins will combine forces and no longer fight each other, even sometimes attack in mixed units, which will challenge even experienced companies. They will aggressively expand into human territory with new camps, send raiding parties to pillage any attached locations (e.g. wheat farms, mines, watchtowers) and ultimately burn settlements to the ground. Attached locations act as hitpoints for settlements – only after every single such location has been destroyed, can the settlement itself be destroyed. Burned-down locations will eventually be rebuilt, if you defend a settlement for long enough, but settlements destroyed entirely will remain so permanently. Contracts against greenskins will be more frequent, and there’ll be several new contracts in the game specifically for the greenskin invasion, as well as around a dozen new events.



In the event of the undead arising, the ancient dead will combine forces with necromancers and wiedergängers, which otherwise are independent factions. The air will be filled with dark magic, and there’s a chance that anyone, no matter how they died, will return as a wiedergänger. Like with the greenskin invasion, there’s several new contracts in the game specifically for dealing with the undead, as well as around a dozen new events that focus on them. The undead, too, seek to destroy the world of man and will burn down locations attached to settlements. Unlike greenskins, however, they won’t destroy settlements entirely but rather turn them into an undead necropolis – a heavily fortified base from which the walking dead pour down to sow dread and despair.



In the event of a war between noble houses, regiments will be sent forth from fortifications not to destroy settlements, but to capture them in the name of their lords. Contracts and events will allow you to partake in the assault on fortifications and large battles, but siding with one of the warring factions will make enemies of the other. You’ll more frequently have to face other mercenary companies on the battlefield, and bandits and deserters, too, will thrive. All three late game crises will introduce new mechanics and objectives with their contracts – such as the greenskin siege engine shown below.



The late game crises tie into both ambitions and retirement; you’ll be able to choose the ambition to repel a greenskin invasion, for example, and doing so will make sure that the name of your mercenary company will live on for a long time, unlocking a new step on the retirement ladder. Ending one of the crises is a ‘soft end’ to the game – you’ve basically won and will be asked if you want to retire from the company at this point, but you can also choose to keep on playing if you want. If you do choose to keep on playing with your company, a new and different late game crisis will eventually start, and you’ll be tested in a different way, and so on.

There’s a lot of work going into these late game crises, so we’ll be working for several weeks exclusively on those.

See You Next Year!
With the Christmas holidays rapidly approaching, this has been this year’s last dev blog. We’ll resume our schedule of weekly dev blogs starting with a new one on January 6th, 2017. Take care and see you next year!

What about all 3 happening simultaneously. Kind of like game of thrones, humans fighting each other while the world comes to an end around them

 

[agris]

The option to have 2 or all 3 events happen simultaneously would be pretty amazing. I'd love to see roving bands of undead stumble upon a large contingent of knights sent to fuck up another noble house, or goblinoid hordes fighting the undead.. only to create a mass of undead goblins.

 

[Reinhardt]

Plague, war and mongol hordes. Looks like Europe to me.

 

[Eyestabber]

Just ragequitted my game. Here is what happened.

Contract against an undead den + a necro. Found the fuckers in a forest. I hate forest fights, especially against necros. Anyway, I thought to myself "Murderbro (greatsword) has pathfinder, so I'll probably be able to rush the asshole and chop his head off before he raises a single skeleton back".

Well, the battle begins and folks hold the line pretty fine. Murderbro found an opening, dodged an attack of opportunity and got on the necro's face. I start thinking about how I'm gonna spend those 1000+ crowns. Next turn begins, Murderbro has 75% thc and...he misses. Skeleton guards converge to defend the necro, but I'm confident I can kill him on the next turn and fall back towards the other bros. Except one of the guard fuckers acts before murderbro aaaand...

Uses his billhook to hook him away from the necro and towards a 3 skeleton rape squad, two of which were on high ground. Well...

I'm impressed with the game's AI, their ability to defend their "general" in a well thought out counter attack took me completely by surprise . On the other hand...



FUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!

 

[ntonystinson]

The option to have 2 or all 3 events happen simultaneously would be pretty amazing. I'd love to see roving bands of undead stumble upon a large contingent of knights sent to fuck up another noble house, or goblinoid hordes fighting the undead.. only to create a mass of undead goblins.

Totally makes the war between the noble houses less predictable

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=136754.750

It's a long shot, but are we likely to get siege battles? Something about dealing with large waves of disadvantaged enemies appearing on the lip of a wall appeals to the "fatigue management" gremlin in me.

There will be a "last stand" contract where you are fighting off waves of enemies but we will most likely not having combat obstacles like walls in the initial release.

edit. I'm adding rest of the questions and answers.

Does war between noble houses become more or less likely based on their relations to eachother (such as the "changing hands" style quests)?

Right now it is an all out civil war between the noble houses about dominance with two houses fighting and the third seeing its chance for seizing more lands in the turmoil. The War basically turns the "cold war" state the houses are normally in into a full out war.

How do factions work re: raising regiments? Would a noble house made stronger via a war be more able to resist a greenskin invasion later?

The houses will all together fight a greenskin invasion so it does not exactly matter which settlement is controlled by which settlement in that case.

Do Nachzehrer join up with an undead uprising?

Yes, they will already appear together with normal "wiederganger" troops even without the late game crisis.

Any plans to reintroduce werewolves (or Weriuuolfen) or has that ship sailed with the introduction of direwolves? Beasts as a "faction" seem underdeveloped and kind of "early-game only." Any discussion been had about ghoul-ing them?

We did not like the very cheesy werewolves that much and replaced them with direwolves so they won't come back in a similar way. The beast faction can surely use a lot more beasts but with our limited resources this will not be possible for the initial release. However, they definitely offer a great opportunity for later additions.

Will the kingdoms of man also "scale up" for the onset of a major crisis? New barracks, raising regiments, building watchtowers and the like?

Right now attached locations can only be repaired, not completely newly build. That is a bit out of our scope for now unfortunately.

 

[Trash]

No walls or sieges. They showed art of battles in villages, dungeons and at a bridge and wanted to implement that. Guess it fell through as they later said these wouldn't be in the release version. Also showed lots of art of graveyards and ruins that they haven't shown since. They also had more enemy factions (demons) planned and talked about more monsters in the wild faction. At one point they simply had to make some choices to push this thing towards release. Hope the game sells like crazy so we can still get stuff like that in expansions or dlc later on.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

What about this "Veterans Hall" building in some towns? I was hoping one could recruit a very experienced Bros there.
I.e.: making a Bro from scratch would be awesome. It should only be available later in the game and cost a good fortune, but i would love to create a lvl 8-11 Bro directly.

I am searching for very good, expensive recruits lately, but it's not that easy, it seems - shit talents and traits are common.

 

[rapsdjff]

When will this game release?

Early 2017.

Heh, I recently got a QUADRAKILL with my greatsword dude, Murderbro. I hope there are multikill achievements once the game is released!

There's in fact a triple-kill achievement. We'll probably have a dev blog on achievements, trading cards and that kind of stuff next year.

When you mention attacking fortifications, does it mean we'll get new maps with actual forts in them?

So, what about lairs, cavern and dungeons? Fighting in cramped quarters could be a nice change occasionnaly.

Definitely on our longterm wishlist, but will not make it into the game at release.

do you guys still plan to support adding our own custom banners? even if you don't have UI assets to let us mix and match stuff, being able to drop our own .pngs in would be nice.

It'd be nice for sure, it's just not that simple as dropping in a texture or two would be for a 3d game. The game would require changes at quite a few places to support loading in custom assets like this, and we'd probably have to provide some kind of templates for creating the banners, as there's a whole bunch of hand-crafted assets at different angles and cutouts based on any single banner, such as for the new battle standard items. This may or may not happen eventually, but with so much to do, it's honestly pretty far down on our list.

also, have you considered having some NPCs, events or actions crossing over from one game to the next when you retire? when you retire a company, it would be interesting to see some of the members of that company appear - as you've leveled them - as expensive veteran hires in another game. kind of like a new game+ mode. or for unslain bro's who've been turned into ghouls / werewolves to appear in another game as well. some sort of cross pollination across different games.

We've been looking into things to unlock for successive play-throughs as a reward on retirement, but having characters cross over between campaigns isn't something that's planned for now.

I loved the undead scenario. I'm hoping it leads to seeing our friend Hoggart the Weasel again. Also: undead orcs? xD

I mean, why only humans become undead anyway?

You just might see him again. The undead are limited to humans because the game is from a human perspective (the player is human and operating largely in human lands) and having undead greenskins wouldn't really add any new element to combat (they'd just be variants of an already existing enemy), yet require a bunch of work which we want to invest elsewhere.

The option to have 2 or all 3 events happen simultaneously would be pretty amazing. I'd love to see roving bands of undead stumble upon a large contingent of knights sent to fuck up another noble house, or goblinoid hordes fighting the undead.. only to create a mass of undead goblins.

It's not like other factions go to sleep once a war between noble houses breaks out - orcs will keep raiding the lands and may well end up fighting knights headed elsewhere. They may even have an easier time doing their raiding, with the nobles distracted. Only one late game crisis can be active at a time, however, as otherwise it'd be a complete clusterfuck to play and a nightmare for us to manage. Any one crisis will keep you plenty busy and give you ample opportunity to lose your campaign.

 

[anvi]

When will this game release?

Early 2017.

Thanks.