Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

[Alienman]

Yeah, but you get a lot of skills just melting down old weapons. Gonna try to reach 40 so I can build myself a little sword.

Sound very Skyrim.

Real men get their weapons from the still-warm corpses of their enemies.

There is a limit though. I could only melt 2-3 weapons before I had to rest. So you can't do it in all in one go.

 

[Alienman]

Some screens I have taken:

Spoiler

Think the graphical engine looks really good. I could see myself play a normal RPG with it.

 

[conan_edw]

Had about 5 crashes last hours, guess I will get back to it tomorrow.

 

[Alienman]

Found this config file in Bannerlord / Modules / Native / GUI / Brushes

Spoiler

<Brush Name="Crosshair.HitMarker">
<Layers>
<BrushLayer Name="Default" Sprite="Crosshair\crosshair_hitmarker" Color="#FFFFFFAA" />
</Layers>
<Styles>
<Style Name="Default">
<BrushLayer Name="Default" AlphaFactor="0.0" />
</Style>
<Style Name="Show" AnimationToPlayOnBegin="ShowAnimation">
<BrushLayer Name="Default" Color="#FFFFFFAA" AlphaFactor="0.0" />
</Style>
<Style Name="ShowDeath" AnimationToPlayOnBegin="ShowDeathAnimation">
<BrushLayer Name="Default" Color="#FF1111AA" AlphaFactor="0.0" />
</Style>
</Styles>
<Animations>
<Animation Name="ShowAnimation" Duration="0.75" Loop="false">
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="AlphaFactor">
<KeyFrame Time="0.0" Value="0.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.01" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.5" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.75" Value="0.0" />
</AnimationProperty>
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="Color">
<KeyFrame Time="0" Value="#FFFFFFAA" />
</AnimationProperty>
</Animation>
<Animation Name="ShowDeathAnimation" Duration="0.75" Loop="false">
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="AlphaFactor">
<KeyFrame Time="0.0" Value="0.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.01" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.5" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.75" Value="0.0" />
</AnimationProperty>
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="Color">
<KeyFrame Time="0" Value="#FF1111AA" />
</AnimationProperty>
</Animation>
</Animations>
</Brush>

<Brush Name="Crosshair.HeadshotMarker">
<Layers>
<BrushLayer Name="Default" Sprite="MapMenuUnread@2x" Color="#FF0000AA" />
</Layers>
<Styles>
<Style Name="Default">
<BrushLayer Name="Default" AlphaFactor="0.0" />
</Style>
<Style Name="Show" AnimationToPlayOnBegin="ShowAnimation">
<BrushLayer Name="Default" Color="#FF0000AA" AlphaFactor="0.0" />
</Style>
</Styles>
<Animations>
<Animation Name="ShowAnimation" Duration="0.75" Loop="false">
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="AlphaFactor">
<KeyFrame Time="0.0" Value="0.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.01" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.5" Value="1.0" />
<KeyFrame Time="0.75" Value="0.0" />
</AnimationProperty>
<AnimationProperty LayerName="Default" PropertyName="Color">
<KeyFrame Time="0" Value="#FF0000AA" />
</AnimationProperty>
</Animation>
</Animations>
</Brush>

</Brushes>

Anyone know what to change to get rid of the hit-marker? Maybe make it transparent or something?

Edit:

Okay, my bro Jonathan "Zee Cat figured it out.

Just replace the color code with #ffffff00 and it will be transparent. Just tried it in the arena and it works!

 

[AgentFransis]

Change all the colors (#XXXXXXXX) to #00000000. It's RGBA and the last two digits are alpha (opacity) and 00 is transparent.

 

[Jimmious]

Got also a crash. Game's fine but a bit too much like Warband imo, I'd have liked a bit more "new stuff".
Also the funniest part is that I can't send the crash report because the logging app is throwing an exception

 

[Tacgnol]

I'll be interested to see what modders can do with this. Taleworlds claim that much less of the game is hardcoded compared to Warband (and that already had some very impressive mods that pushed the limits).

 

[Utgard-Loki]

little protip: don't bother with forest bandit hideouts. even if all your troops have shields it is a PITA and not worth it.

 

[Lemming42]

Whenever I open my inventory on the world map, the discard pile has a copy of what appears to be every item in the game, including test items and placeholders. Every horse, weapon, piece of armour.

Bug or feature?

EDIT: I did enable cheat mode to dick around with teleporting myself all over the place, that could be it.

 

[IDtenT]

Third character I'm playing is the first one that actually feels powerful. Horse archery ftw.

Melee is an excuse to get killed.

 

[Alienman]

The mercs are getting younger and younger!

Veteran warrior versus kid with over-sized sword, where would you put your gold?

R.I.P Bolo the Kid.

 

[Tiger]

The mercs are getting younger and younger!

Veteran warrior versus kid with over-sized sword, where would you put your gold?

R.I.P Bolo the Kid.

Poor bastard never stood a chance with his sword stuck in his own shield.

 

[Hellion]

Protip that isn't really mentioned anywhere afaik: double-clicking anyplace on the world map enables you to travel at twice the speed, instead of just slugging there in slo-mo.

 

[IDtenT]

Protip that isn't really mentioned anywhere afaik: double-clicking anyplace on the world map enables you to travel at twice the speed, instead of just slugging there in slo-mo.

There's a speed button at the bottom as well.

 

[Lemming42]

Melee does seem way harder than it did in Warband, especially because the classic moonwalking away from everyone while spamming attacks strategy that won every battle in Warband doesn't seem to work here. Gonna make a new archery character.

 

[Jimmious]

Archery is for the weak! Die gloriously on the hands of 6-7 mountain raiders like men!

*Second crash, still can't send the report

 

[Lithium Flower]

I know everyone is busy eating out this game's asshole but turns out I was completely right in my worst expectations regarding this game's unit behavior. In terms of how formations work, look, and play, it really seems like Bannerlord is to Mount and Blade what TW: Rome 2 is to Rome.

Specifically, they relaxed the unit collision such that units can now squish past each other and the result is this fucking mess:

This isn't just an aesthetic consideration. This affects movement, combat, and maneuvering - soldiers hug each other when they run, blob up in formations, and compress themselves into a single ungodly line when charging because there is no weight behind the ranks. As such engagements are clusterfucks where flanking is trivial (since there is no depth to the units and way more men than should be possible is able to squeeze itself into the front line) and second-rank weapons like polearms, spears, anything don't have a place because there is very rarely, if ever, a second rank.

Bonus meme: the above screenshot is from a single custom battle, my first engagement in the game. I spawned in 100 Sturgian spearmen against 100 Imperial Legionaries. Both units - including the fucking *spearmen* - fought exclusively with their arming sword sidearms. Nice to see spears not only being useless in the hands of NPCs but blatantly disregarded by them - we have reached peak Mount & Blade, lads.

Eight years for a step back.

(To be fair to the game, the new recruitment, politicking, and Influence systems directly address some of the concerns I personally had with the strategic layer of M&B, so perhaps I will find it a step forward in those areas - but if the battles are worse, what does that matter?)

 

[Zariusz]

What about towns? Do they look more alive than in Warband. And how big they are?

 

[Alienman]

Here is Bolo the Kid taking on the arena!



It's funny, the small stature actually helps. At times the swing right above your head

 

[janior]

so whats up with hit detection in combat?

 

[Catacombs]

What about towns? Do they look more alive than in Warband. And how big they are?

They look way better than Warband. It feels a little more alive, with towns people willing to talk to you and mention rumors in passing.

The towns look really pretty but it seems almost pointless to actually walk around in them, except for roleplaying (larping).

Agreed. I love that you can click on a portrait and be taken directly to that person to speed things up.

 

[Jimmious]

Let's just say that if I didn't know that this is a sequel in development for 15 years I would be impressed. Now I'm a bit underwhelmed because of the sheer amount of bugs and crashes... It's EA I get it, but come on now, you develop it for so long... And when I press the cavalry button my guy screams "Infantryyy"?

 

[Jinn]

Now I'm a bit underwhelmed because of the sheer amount of bugs and crashes...

Make sure to give them feedback about this with your PC specs. I've been playing for about 4 hours without any crashes and very little in the way of noticeable bugs.

Same goes for anyone with problems in this thread. It really is an opportunity to help make this game we've been waiting so long for become the best it can be. Particularly stuff like what you mentioned Lithium Flower. Those are exactly the kind of things the developers need to hear.

 

[Lithium Flower]

sleep deprived sperging time, here we go.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm feeling pretty shocked and dismayed as to how much of a step backwards mass infantry combat in this game is and I have always been pretty reserved with my expectations for this game - I can only imagine how the people who were on the hype train for years must feel (although everyone seems to be praising the pretty graphics and looking forward to doing the same grind they have been doing for years in warband so maybe my interests don't align with those held by the majority of the fan base.)

Here are more findings from just a few more minutes of custom battles:

1. Infantry uses spears exclusively against cav now. They will always switch to their sidearms when approached by other infantry. This means that features of classic modded formations from M&B (as seen in Viking Conquest), such as shield walls putting shield-bearers to the front and polearm or twohander-wielding soldiers to the backlines, are gone - but it doesn't really matter because of the below finding.

2. Even if the AI used spears against infantry, you wouldn't want them to, because the spastic collision (or lack thereof) means every engagement is in the raping distance where spears lose their one advantage. There is no need for backline weapons such as long spears, two-handers, and polearms because there is often no back line at all, but a single line compromised of a screaming, churning mass of chimeric men.

3. Because there is little to no space between individual characters in a melee, the (enabled by default) option to show your banner above friendly troops ends up covering half of your screen in glowing shit. Disabling this option, you will find that you still can't distinguish friend from foe, because once two infantry lines are engaged in melee they look like a mass of swarming termites. Your choices are to see fuck all or to see fuck all else.

4. Characters don't know how to fight in formations. Taleworlds supposedly released a beta patch in February specifically to address this! I can put my guys in a shield wall or a square and the individual soldiers will only fight back against enemies attacking them directly. The whole point of a formation is that its individual soldiers should be able to cover each other, such that a single foe faces multiple weapons at once. As it stands now they are incredibly conservative and get swarmed easily.

5. As a combination of all of the above, cavalry is even more OP in this game than in warband. Historically realistic? Sure. But historically, the counter to heavy cav (besides other heavy cav) was of course a tightly packed infantry formation armed with long spears and polearms. Because of all of the above findings, however, infantry has an icecube's chance in hell of holding up against significantly fewer numbers of cavalry. In custom battles I tested empire vs empire match ups of an increasingly smaller number of heavy cav (from 150 to 50) against 250 infantry, in ideal conditions for infantry (tight formation, spears, holding their position, etc) and every single time the cavalry completely trounced my infantry. Out of the initial charge a handful of horses may be stopped in their tracks by the wall of men, but when half of them aren't interested in attack, the mass advantage ends up not mattering at all.

The sad thing is that Viking Conquest did all of this not simply better but very competently indeed and it wasn't even developed by the core Taleworlds team. The sadder thing is that original warband - and, fuck, the legacy M&B versions - did some of these aspects, such as unit cohesion etc, noticeably better.

Eight fucking year, lads. Oh well - carry on discussing how its cool that there are children in the game and how pretty the towns look now (because both of those things are indeed nice additions, though they only feel me with greater resentment, and a yearning for a game that has all that in addition to an improved core combat experienced).

 

[Jimmious]

Make sure to give them feedback about this with your PC specs. I've been playing for about 4 hours without any crashes and very little in the way of noticeable bugs.

I tried to use their own fcking tool to send the logs but it doesn't work...