Taleworlds officially releases Mount&Blade .903

[Nedrah]

Tags: Armagan; Mount & Blade; TaleWorlds

The <a href="http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php/topic,29341.0.html">new version</a> has been out in the <a href="http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php">games forums</a> for a rather long while now. However, an official Homepage release usually means that the version is playable and mostly bug-fixed. <blockquote>Version 0.903 changelog:
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- Factions should no longer be at war with themselves.
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- Shininess back on all armors. (A million thanks to Guspav who campaigned for this and provided fixes himself for previous versions!)
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- Horse archers now dismount immediately when ordered.
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- Increased chance of declaring wars.
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- Various other fixes
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Version 0.902 changelog:
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- Pathfinding is no longer turned off when you click on an inaccessible location.
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- NPC parties no longer follow an enemy without being able to catch it.
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- Bandits now chase you normally
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- Skill descriptions updated.
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- Village improvements are now built faster.
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- Leadership now reduces troop wages as advertised.
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- Fixed bug with ordering to use blunt weapons.
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- Fixed bug which could be causing the player party size inflating.
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- Fixed bug where chargers would become invisible at long range.
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- You can now rest in a village manor if you build it.
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- Reading Persuasion book now correctly increases your persuasion skill.
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- Fixed bug where village elder would get stripped off.
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- Faction notes are now updated to reflect diplomatic changes.
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- Quest for saving a village from bandits has been improved and made easier.
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- If you decline a quest now, it won't be offered again that same day.
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- Various fixes to scenes.
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- You can now place bets in arena while watching.
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- Fixed lots of text errors (special thanks to john259) Wink
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- Up-to-date Spanish localization. (Many thanks to Ana and Spanish localization team!)
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- Miscellaneous AI bug-fixes.
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- Several other small fixes.</blockquote>
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To be honest, those changes are not what I would call revolutionary in terms of gameplay. The game seems to be quickly approaching version 1.0. Should they plan to do a "gold" release at 1.0, they still have to add some more actual gameplay on the strategic (worldmap) layer. Then again, mods like the excellent <a href="http://mbx.streetofeyes.com/index.php/board,20.0.html">"The last days"</a> did a good job at giving the game some purpose in some of the earlier versions.

 

[Oarfish]

At least they are starting to put the actual game in now after much piddling about with engine tweaks. The 'Extended gameplay' mod goes well with .903 and adds a fair number of improvements like ironman, diverse starting characters and getting pwnd with sharpened sticks.

 

[jorgamesh]

But you forgot other big additions since last major release

This version adds many new quests, a brand new map, lots of new villages and castles, books, AI improvements, gameplay changes and much more! As usual, we release this version to you, our forum community before the general public, because it no doubt has its share of bugs and glitches and with your help and feedback we hope to fix those.

I want to thank our community and our board of moderators and administrators for their continuous help and support and making the forums such a great place and the central attraction of this game project. And let me use this opportunity to say welcome and thank you to our new administrators and moderators, Merentha, Volkier, Okin, Instag0. You guys are so wonderful. I am so very happy and honored by having you on board.

All members of our team worked very hard for this version. Our art team painstakingly modeled and furnished many new and great looking environments, Cem has implemented many new features and also added some AI code at the last minute, making the AI so much more effective and fun to fight against. Tassilo keeps perfecting and polishing the sounds. And Steve not only helped this version but he will have an exciting surprise for you very soon.

 

[Nedrah]

If you actually click on the game link in this news you will see older news items for the game.

Taleworlds has updated its critically acclaimed combat simulator with roleplaying elements to version .900!

As usual, there is not a detailed changelog. However, main developer Armagan had the following to say:

This version adds many new quests, a brand new map, lots of new villages and castles, books, AI improvements, gameplay changes and much more!



Definitely sounds like a huge step forward. If you are looking for a stable game experience, history has shown that it is better not to get anything .x00, but instead to wait for a few patches.

Note that this is a forum only release, meaning you will not find the update on Taleworlds frontpage.

Patch .901 has been released in the meantime, it mostly fixes quest related bugs. Grab it while it's still hot.

...Thanks for the feedback, but check your facts first