Battle Brothers Pre-Release Thread

[Agesilaus]

Fantastic.

 

[Jimmious]

I can't wait to sink endless amounts of hours into this game...some time

 

[Helly]

 

[Markman]

Got it, finally. Was thinking of this or Darkest Dungeon, but watched the LP on their youtube channel and said fuck it, lets support the incline.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Got it, finally. Was thinking of this or Darkest Dungeon, but watched the LP on their youtube channel and said fuck it, lets support the incline.

Good choice - this is much better than DD.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Damn, I would've been perfectly happy with the game if you just added dungeons and endgame to the current style map. Sea travel, factions, raiding... so much stuff I might miss the simpler times of the land-locked map with never-ending orc camps.

 

[Sranchammer]

I really hope this isnt a textbook case of Mission Creep

 

[Helly]

This game makes me so

 

[rapsdjff]

In that case, here's another progress update for you, Helly.

Dev Blog #66: Progress Update – Putting the Pieces Together
The holidays are over and it’s back to work! This week we started putting all the pieces we have been creating over the past months together so that we can start playtesting and balancing all the new additions for the update in February.

Populating the world
Reworking the worldmap feels a bit like taking a machine apart and putting it back together. We started again at the beginning, improving the layout and terrain of the world, adding more interesting and unique settlements, and creating a more complex web of different factions. Now is the time to populate the world again and let the inhabitants roam the world.

Speaking of population, the world now has more clearly defined regions than before. There’s the densely populated areas between settlements that belong to noble houses – you’ll find bandits there every now and then, and the odd beast may find its way there, but it’s a lot safer than the regions bordering on the wild. The wild is largely covered in fog at the beginning of the game and for you to explore. It’s home to Orcs, Goblins and worse, and not somewhere you should venture out to before you got some experience under your belt.



Hostile locations on the worldmap received a graphical overhaul, and some, like the large camps of Goblins and Orcs, got redone. This is because we want to give both Orcs and Goblins more identity in accordance with their lore in the world of Battle Brothers. Orcs, for example, are now actually the nomads they’re supposed to be; they live in tents because they may at any time pack their things, migrate as a large horde to somewhere else (hopefully not near human settlements!) and put down their tents there to raid anything in the vicinity.

Another change is that there is no real distinction anymore between inactive and active hostile locations, as was the case in previous versions. Every location now can send out parties for hunting, raiding and similar, although smaller locations do so less and in fewer numbers, and some factions may be more passive than others. You may find Ghouls hovering around old battlefields and graveyards, or Vampires taking a stroll at night, but the undead are generally content sitting in their crypts and guarding their treasures.



While parties roaming the world will feel familiar if you’ve played previous versions of the game, there have been some improvements and additions. Caravans, for example, now actually carry the produce of the settlements that send them, it can get taken by raiders (from which you in turn can take it) or unloaded at marketplaces of the settlements that caravans reach, for you to buy there. Noble houses patrol their roads and shuffle troops between their outposts, and they’re generally more formidable than the generic Landsknechts of old. Ships now also sail between coastal settlements, transporting goods and passengers.

Loot & Treasure Locations
Because looting golden chalices, ornate tomes and gemstones feels more satisfying than mundane money every time, we’ve added a number of loot items for you to plunder. Those are largely cosmetic, but they also serve another feature we’re introducing: treasure locations. You may find treasure at all kinds of locations, of course, but there’s now a few locations well-hidden and littered around the world that contain vast amounts of treasure, including pieces of unique equipment.



You may stumble upon these locations by yourself, or you may follow rumors and leads you pick up around the world. We’ll talk more about treasure locations and rumors in a future update together with the introduction of taverns.

 

[Helly]

Can't wait for next real update!
I just hope all those new items (food, loot...) won't clutter the inventory too much. I didn't mind the same system in Mount&Blade, but still.

 

[SmartCheetah]

Personally, I love the variety. Keep up the good work guys!

 

[Polanski]

This is going to be a great game! Mount & blade seems to be the closest comparison, but this also has turn-based combat. This is going to be a great game!

There is an early access version, yes? Would people playing that recommend buying into it, or is it too far from done?

 

[SmartCheetah]

This is going to be a great game! Mount & blade seems to be the closest comparison, but this also has turn-based combat. This is going to be a great game!

There is an early access version, yes? Would people playing that recommend buying into it, or is it too far from done?

It's worth every dime tbh. Latest version we have is pretty different from what you can see in those previews (Last big content patch was like...3-4 months ago?) but it's still a damn good game. You could wait, or just try it right away to get used to combat and (which won't be changed, except balance issues et cetera) other stuff. Big patch is coming in February so you won't have to wait that long.

It took them so long because they've made a major overhaui to the whole world map, factions and many other things. I just hope we won't have to wait that long for another big update.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Loot & Treasure Locations
Because looting golden chalices, ornate tomes and gemstones feels more satisfying than mundane money every time, we’ve added a number of loot items for you to plunder. Those are largely cosmetic, but they also serve another feature we’re introducing: treasure locations. You may find treasure at all kinds of locations, of course, but there’s now a few locations well-hidden and littered around the world that contain vast amounts of treasure, including pieces of unique equipment.



You may stumble upon these locations by yourself, or you may follow rumors and leads you pick up around the world. We’ll talk more about treasure locations and rumors in a future update together with the introduction of taverns.

Now I want an option to outfit my mercenaries with kitsch jewelry they loot for -2 max fatigue and +5 morale.

 

[Gondolin]

Now I want an option to outfit my mercenaries with kitsch jewelry they loot for -2 max fatigue and +5 morale.

And +5 morale for enemy bandits.

 

[SirSingAlot]

this is meant in a positive way:

when is this game gonna get finished approx?
like i dig all the awesome updates, but i have to convince myself to wait and not pullt the trigger on it because i only play finished games.

so stop tempting me.

 

[Reinhardt]

Don't play it. Be a wise old man, like me. And wait.

 

[Niektory]

I'm looking at the screenshots from the last update and there's something that irks me about the color palette. There's just highly desaturated greenish browns and brownish greens everywhere. I get that you're going for a realistic, down-to-earth atmosphere and that's fine and good. But I think you went slightly too far and instead of looking realistic it looks like a world covered in smog where the sun never shines. OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but still I don't think a little more contrast and color would hurt. I think it actually looked better in some earlier screenshots.

 

[Epsilon]

Here's hoping for a Linux version. I noticed they say on their webpage it's coming later, but this would not be the first project to change their stance on that, if that were to happen. The lack of a Linux version is really the only reason I'm not on the hypetrain yet.

 

[torpid]

I've been playing Underrail, and now I notice this game and this thread, and I'm like a kid at Halloween who realizes there was a second bag of candy all along! I'm looking forward to this.

 

[rapsdjff]

this is meant in a positive way:

when is this game gonna get finished approx?
like i dig all the awesome updates, but i have to convince myself to wait and not pullt the trigger on it because i only play finished games.

so stop tempting me.

Finished as in leaving Early Access? Later this year. I can't be more specific at this time because we have basically two scenarios depending on how well the game sells after the worldmap update is out. If it does well enough, we'd like to put some extra months into it and add some more nice-to-have features and additional content. Otherwise, we'd have to cut some of the non-essential things. In terms of having done everything that could be done with a game like this, it'll probably never be finished. We'd love to build upon the game further with meaty expansions given the chance.

 

[rapsdjff]

Dev Blog #67: Progress Update – Specialized Shops
A centerpiece of how individual settlements will feel distinct on the new worldmap of Battle Brothers is different buildings with a unique gameplay function. This week we’ll be taking a closer look at some specialized shops that are coming with the update in February.

Specialized Shops
If you’ve watched our Update Preview Video you’ll already know that every settlement now comes with a marketplace. The marketplace works as an amalgamation of what a variety of smaller traders peddle throughout the settlement. That is, all kinds of different goods and equipment that are regionally available. Apart from supplies, such as different kinds of food, this may also include weapons, armor and shields. However, the selection on the marketplace is limited to what those traders bought themselves and are now reselling, the quality is limited to what is commonly available to and affordable by the people living there, and the equipment may have been used before and look the part. You may even find the occasional great deal here, but to outfit your growing mercenary company you’ll eventually want to look elsewhere.



For those who have the crowns, there are specialized traders available for weapons and armor which have a much larger selection of quality equipment, brand-new but also quite a bit more expensive. These traders are the weaponsmith, the armorsmith and the fletcher. You are more likely to find these in the settlements surrounding fortifications than small fishing villages, and while the smithies are more likely to be found in settlements with good access to metal, you’ll find the fletcher in settlements with good access to wood.



Whereas the weaponsmith will have a large variety of melee weapons on offer, with a few throwing weapons thrown in, the fletcher specializes in ranged weaponry. The selection of ranged weapons in the game is still limited at this time, of course, but we’ll eventually add more of them that will then make their way to the fletcher as well. To make browsing specialized shops more interesting and also worth it later in the game, you’ll now be able to sometimes find unique named weapons on offer – for kingly prices, of course.



An even more specialized shop than those three is the kennel. You can pick up a wardog or two all over the land, but if your tactics happen to rely heavily on man’s best friend, you’ll want to head out to go to the source: one of only a few kennels across the land where the best dogs of war are bred and sold in large numbers. Kennels are usually part of smaller fortifications, so they’re worth visiting for reasons different than large castles. Dogs and their handler are yet to be added to the image you see above.

There’s a bunch more buildings coming, including one that will allow you to customize the appearance of your Battle Brothers to your liking. Return here, as we’ll be revealing them in future progress updates!

 

[Jimmious]

To be honest this is why I don't like Early Access.
Instead of it being treated as a payed alpha-testing period, developers consider it as a released product with frequent updates.
In this particular case, increased sales of said alpha will delay the actual release of the game. This shouldn't happen, features and a goal date should be set for the final release regardless of early access sales.

No offense to BB and you rapsdjff since I like what I'm seeing from your updates but this is a situation that keeps happening more and more these days..

 

[Invictus]

Couldnt agree more, that is why I think the system used by Divinity Original Sin was the best example; they had that to test systems and tweak gameplay and balance but always following their vision of the game instead of trying to please everyone and ending up satifying no one like Darkest Dungeon

 

[rapsdjff]

I can only speak for ourselves on this, obviously. We made it clear from the beginning that we're going the Early Access route in order to finance development of the game. We could have gone with Kickstarter instead, but we prefer Early Access because this way players get immediate access to a playable game, a known quantity that others have played and reviewed, instead of buying into only the promise of a game in the future.

While what you point out would perhaps be the ideal situation, the reality is that we started into Early Access with no budget at all, no investor or publisher, just working in our spare time. We want to make the best game we can given our resources, and that means adjusting our goals to what can realistically be achieved based on how our budget develops with continuing sales all the time. Said budget evolved in a way that eventually allowed us to work full-time on the game, which in turn allowed us to do more ambitious things (like the current worldmap rework), but it's not something that we could have planned for in anything but one of several possible scenarios. Setting a definite feature list in the beginning based only on wishful thinking and a budget we didn't have yet isn't a responsible way to go about this, and not having the ambition to make this a better game if resources develop in way that allow us to do so, or fear of taking longer because of this, isn't the right way to go about creating a game that isn't just solid but good.