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Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Gregz

Arcane
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
8,511
Location
The Desert Wasteland
They're sending closed beta invites now: https://steamcommunity.com/games/261550/announcements/detail/1594753310271836369

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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Earlier in the year, we told you about our intention to hold a multiplayer beta for Bannerlord. This is something we have some experience with from our previous title, Mount & Blade: Warband, so we are fully aware of the value of including our community at this stage of development. Our preparations have been proceeding quite nicely and we thought it would be a good idea to share what we have been up to in this period.

The first stage of the beta preparation process was to set up things so that we as the developers could experience the game as players, downloading and playing it from our homes. This was quite exciting for us and many team members commented that playing the game felt very different when played from home, although of course, it was very much identical to the version in the office!

After making sure everything was working, we went on and invited some of our friends and family members. By inviting people close to us, we were able to ensure that both our game and servers were working as intended - without having to worry about providing a perfectly polished gameplay experience quite yet. Still, our intention with this was to lay the groundwork for inviting members of our community to play the game.

While doing all of this, we kept on polishing the game as well as developing the necessary infrastructure for a smooth multiplayer experience. We created a matchmaking system, as well as systems for deploying servers and monitoring their performance. We also started working on systems that would collect data from played matches so that we could analyze this information and make more informed decisions for future development. In addition to collecting data, we thought about the best ways to receive feedback from players and put it into use, creating questionnaires and special forum sections for this purpose.

And that leads us to where we are right now! This week, we started inviting members of our community to participate in a closed beta. We think that at this stage, this is the most productive route to take, as it allows us to draw from their collective knowledge, understanding, and experience of our previous games, as well as, allowing us to show some appreciation for the continued passion and support that they have shown for our games over the years.

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Our friends from the clan Unity posing for a photo during a closed beta playtest

With this being the early stages of testing, we have decided to keep the player count rather small and manageable, allowing us to more directly engage testers and make better use of the feedback provided to refine Bannerlord’s multiplayer and make it the best that it can be. The game is far from feature and content complete, and these early tests are very much focused on testing the game’s systems and mechanics, as well as, stability before it’s ready for a more general audience.

After this stage of closed beta tests, our plan is to transition to an open beta, meaning a large number of players will be able to access the game and be involved in the testing process. When that time comes, we will make an announcement detailing how you can apply to take part. Until then, we hope you take heart from knowing that we have taken the first steps towards releasing the game and that after such a long wait, it’s finally almost harvesting season!

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Skirmish - A 6vs6 Team-Based PvP Game Mode

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Joined
Nov 21, 2014
Messages
410
Dev Blog 04/07/19
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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Picture the scene. You find yourself deep in enemy territory. After seizing an enemy stronghold, you pause for a respite. The campaign has been long and costly, and supplies are running low... And then, on the horizon, you see your worst fears realised. At first, a low rumble and a blur of colour, but then, slowly, the standards and banners of the enemy army come into focus. Your army is ill-prepared for a field battle, and so, you dig in.

The situation seems hopeless. You are vastly outnumbered and time is not a commodity that you possess. Morale is wavering and your troops look to you to make a decisive decision. Do you hold your position and pray that reinforcements arrive before the walls are breached, or worse, you starve to death? Do you sally out to meet the attackers head-on in a brave, but ultimately, suicidal final charge?

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While we have already talked about certain siege mechanics in previous blogs, we didn’t discuss the different ways and trade-offs that are involved in any amount of detail. So, in this week’s blog, we’ll try to present players’ options related to sieges in a more comprehensive manner.

Sieges in Bannerlord are dangerous affairs for both the besieged and the besiegers. If you are defending, you already may be facing bleak odds. The enemy may be bombarding your walls with trebuchets with the hope of creating a breach to exploit, or may be preparing an assault with siege towers and battering rams. You may be running out of food and losing your soldiers to starvation. But even in the direst situations, you have a number of options. You can keep waiting behind your walls, hoping that you will be able to beat off the assault or that a relief force will arrive soon and drive away the besiegers. Or alternatively, you may use your tactics skill to break out of the siege with relatively little loss and save yourself and the majority of your army from annihilation. Lastly, you may try to parley with the besiegers in the hope that they will allow you to pass through the siege lines unmolested in return for handing over the walls.

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If you are outside and have come to the aid of a besieged castle, you again have options. You can attack the besiegers right away, and in general, the forces in the town will sally out to join the fight, and together, you may hopefully overwhelm the attackers. Another option is to stay mobile outside of the siege camp, harassing the enemy, attacking foragers and reinforcements in the hope that the enemy will run out of provisions before they can take the castle. If neither of those options has a good chance of success, you can also make use of your tactics skill and force your way through the siege, this time going into the castle rather than out, bringing much-needed supplies and troops as part of the relief effort!

All in all, understanding the available options in dealing with sieges is hugely important and may mean the difference between successfully defending and enlarging your domain, or sitting out the rest of the war in a cold and damp dungeon.

Discuss this blog post HERE

I hope there will be some options for skulduggery, like sending your men to infiltrate the castle, poisoning their supplies or taking over the gatehouse.
 

Butter

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,523
Sounds like Tactics has a noticeable effect on gameplay this time around. :incline:
 

Space Satan

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
6,216
Location
Space Hell
Never ever I managed to starve defenders out. For me it it is always the same - wait until siege towers and rams are ready and assault. Because if you wait then either supplies will run out ot enemy will bring reinforcements.
Then grab large shield and two handed sword or Berdiche and charge the ladders\tower. Yet even then owning a castle is not that fun - constant raid on your villages, extremely long build times etc. A life of raiding, rape and pillage is a lot more fun. And it is sad that upon ccastle capture you automaticly own it. No way to just get in, grab all you can and escape with the loot.

Sounds like Tactics has a noticeable effect on gameplay this time around. :incline:
Tactics were always decent. Engeneering sucked.
 
Last edited:

vota DC

Augur
Joined
Aug 23, 2016
Messages
2,258
Never ever I managed to starve defenders out. For me it it is always the same - wait until siege towers and rams are ready and assault. Because if you wait then either supplies will run out ot enemy will bring reinforcements.
Then grab large shield and two handed sword or Berdiche and charge the ladders\tower. Yet even then owning a castle is not that fun - constant raid on your villages, extremely long build times etc. A life of raiding, rape and pillage is a lot more fun. And it is sad that upon ccastle capture you automaticly own it. No way to just get in, grab all you can and escape with the loot.

Sounds like Tactics has a noticeable effect on gameplay this time around. :incline:
Tactics were always decent. Engeneering sucked.

This time you need to take the Castle to raid the Village I think since the Village Is attached to it. Castle take place of hobo garrison. Village will starve without commerce....but a wool producer Village should be easier to starve than a butter producer Village.
 

PulsatingBrain

Huge and Ever-Growing
Patron
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Messages
6,163
Location
The Centre of the Ultraworld
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Dev Blog 11/07/19
11 Jul @ 8:21pm - Callum
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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

With the closed beta underway, we thought it would be a good time to discuss some elements of the multiplayer side of the game in some more detail. In this week’s blog, we will take a look at the multiplayer class system.

So, what is the class system? To put it simply, the class system is a selection of predefined loadouts that you can choose from before spawning. In Bannerlord, these classes are divided into three distinct categories: infantry, ranged, and cavalry.

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Our aim is to ensure that each class is a viable choice, allowing players to choose their preferred unit type while playing. Each of the classes has its own strengths and weaknesses, meaning no single class is particularly effective in every scenario. Some classes are clearly stronger and better equipped than others, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they will perform at a higher level in all instances, and of course, they also come at a much higher cost which limits your options when it comes to respawning. We feel that this approach puts a stronger emphasis on coordination, communication, and synergy in our team-based game modes, and encourages players to experiment and react to the events that unfold during a match.

Bannerlord also features a perk system that allows players to slightly change their loadout if they so desire, tailoring their class choice to their own particular playstyle or perhaps to counter the class selection of the opposing team. This change allows players to jump straight into the action, safe in the knowledge that they aren’t at a major disadvantage to their opponents in terms of equipment.

One connected system that has carried over from Warband’s multiplayer, but has been slightly reworked, is the money system. In Bannerlord, we refer to money as points. Instead of using points to purchase gear for your character, you spend these points on selecting a class. Some of our game modes feature a respawn system, so how you manage those points throughout the course of a round will determine which classes you have access to, and the number of respawns that you have available.

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With these changes, the entire focus of the gameplay is put onto player skill and teamwork, rather than whoever has the superior equipment or loadout. We think these changes will go a long way in preventing a snowball effect, in which the winning team just gets stronger with each consecutive round win. In Bannerlord, every round starts on a somewhat level playing field, which should provide for a more exciting back and forth between the two teams throughout the course of a match.

While creating the class system, we decided that it was important that each class should reflect the faction they are from, not just in terms of their appearance, but also with the equipment they use and the roles they perform. And, as such, the strengths and weaknesses of the classes take into account the strengths and weaknesses of the faction as a whole. This design approach for our factions influences the kind of strategies and tactics that are effective, both for and against, each individual faction, leading to a more dynamic multiplayer experience where no two matches feel the same.

Overall, we think these changes to the multiplayer class system will make for a fairer, more accessible multiplayer experience that promotes teamwork and communication, and centres the gameplay on the skill-based directional combat system that is at the very core of Mount & Blade games. It ensures that, at a glance, you can see exactly who your opponent is, and what their abilities and limitations are while eliminating the possibility of obscure meta builds from becoming prominent and ensuring that the game remains somewhat balanced.

Discuss this blog post HERE



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Joined
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Messages
862
Location
Ali Ghaylān
Jesus, do they work 2 hour days then head to the pub? The first game I think was only a couple people so I get it took years but they have a big ass team now and after a 10 year Dev cycle it's far from feature/content complete?
Considering they have gone full autism and keep on adding features before fixing the old ones, yet alone finishing them. Everything they've put out this far has had a mistake somewhere (i.e. major clipping, fucked up animations, fucked LOD, filter issues etc) it is starting to seem like it's a game project led by ADD turks trying to gather projects to fix for a Turkish version of The Apprentice.
 

vota DC

Augur
Joined
Aug 23, 2016
Messages
2,258
The game is far from feature and content complete

:negative:

Jesus, do they work 2 hour days then head to the pub? The first game I think was only a couple people so I get it took years but they have a big ass team now and after a 10 year Dev cycle it's far from feature/content complete?
They are fully aware of what they are doing. Can't you see? Devs committed a sin....disturbing the Dev cycle of nature!
To protec the Dev cycle....this Is the final game...show yourself...our new ruler the Sultan!
 

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,158
The game is far from feature and content complete

:negative:

Jesus, do they work 2 hour days then head to the pub? The first game I think was only a couple people so I get it took years but they have a big ass team now and after a 10 year Dev cycle it's far from feature/content complete?
No in those countries you dont go to the pub, you smoke haschish with the the men while watching your women plowing the field.
 

thesheeep

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The game is far from feature and content complete

:negative:

Jesus, do they work 2 hour days then head to the pub? The first game I think was only a couple people so I get it took years but they have a big ass team now and after a 10 year Dev cycle it's far from feature/content complete?
No in those countries you dont go to the pub, you smoke haschish with the the men while watching your women plowing the field.
Even that would be productive enough to have a finished game by now...
 

Merlkir

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
1,216
I like how the number of years increases with every week of whining. Is it 10 now? I guess it'll be 12 next week.

(in boring reality it's been like 7 years)
 

Saxon1974

Prophet
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,104
Location
The Desert Wasteland

Saxon1974

Prophet
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,104
Location
The Desert Wasteland
I like how the number of years increases with every week of whining. Is it 10 now? I guess it'll be 12 next week.

(in boring reality it's been like 7 years)

I get it now, obviously to be feature complete you need at least 10 years! Back to adding new features comrades. Today we show you the camel speech translator of bagadush.
 

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