IDtenT
Menace to sobriety!
They should add this and make everything lootable from enemies.Anyway in M&B you do not have to equip common soldier in your band
They should add this and make everything lootable from enemies.Anyway in M&B you do not have to equip common soldier in your band
Why? That just seems like excessive micromanagement.They should add this.Anyway in M&B you do not have to equip common soldier in your band
Why? That just seems like excessive micromanagement.They should add this.Anyway in M&B you do not have to equip common soldier in your band
Happy New Year to those operating on the Gregorian Calender and a round, warm hello to all. “Blog!”, they cried and it was written. 2013 has been a year of growth for us at TaleWorlds and with each passing month, work intensifies on Bannerlord. The new year has already started with the achievement of 100,000 likes on our official Facebook page. It feels like a great milestone and we'd like to thank everyone for all the support. Now let us tell you a little bit more about making Bannerlord.
For this week, focus will be drawn on the other half of “Team 1” (see Blog 3 for an explanation), developers of the combat and physics aspects of the engine, as well as web development. The room is calm and quiet, closest to the main door of all the development teams. Mount&Blade is arguably most well known for the originality of its combat system, so in developing the next full installment in the series, it is naturally an area which receives a lot of attention during design discussions and testing. A constant work of refinement. Visits to and from the engine team are a norm and work is done closely with the animators, whose role in the combat system is a vital one.
The team's efforts have shifted lately to improving the playability of the game, edging towards a point where testing can be done in a more constructive manner, with targets of “mini-releases” at the end of two week sprint work periods.
Right now the team is working on one of the most requested improvements for the new game: an expansion of the siege battles. “Request” covers everything from detailed 3 page detailed design documents, to messages saying “makE BetTer SIEges!1”, to people simply angrily complaining about the state of sieges in the previous games. Rest assured, in whichever form you express it, we hear it and it is something we're spending a lot of time on right now.
The goal is to add complexity to the relatively basic system in Warband. At the same time, it is important to avoid breaking something that already works. The benefits of the Warband sieges are that the attackers is pretty much always at a disadvantage, varying from castle to castle, but can overcome it with a superior force. By adding flexibility to the attackers with multiple points of entry, there will be potential for the player to use more tactics and not just brute force, for a more successful engagement.
Level design is key to the gameplay of sieges in Mount&Blade and with the artists doing the bulk of the scening work, communication between those making the scenes and those programming the mechanics is fundamentally important. As a company which has seen expansion, extra meetings and an active effort from those working on the game can sometimes be required to keep everybody up to speed. Ultimately, sieges should be something challenging but rewarding, dramatic. A part of the game where players have some unforgettable moments that separate good games from great ones.
In the screenshots, you get a little taste of how sieges might feel and while a screenshot will never truly do justice to the chaos and terror of a Warband siege (let alone one in Bannerlord), you'll have to wait a little longer for a video to come out.Needless to say everything seen in the shots is a work in progress but there are a few bits and nibs to be sucked from them, hidden away like nectar in an orchid. Even bees don't eat for free.
The story ends here for now. Given the nature of Team 1's work, they will likely be the centre of some attention for many of the future blog topics. Hopefully it has been interesting to learn a little bit about what's going on.
Exactly. It would be awesome, but unlikely to happen. No the core focus of the game in any case, as you don't actually build anything.Well in that one screenie there's a ladder and a siege tower, so that's something at least. It never made sense to have a 1000-man army that uses a single ladder to invade an enemy town. Optimally they'd do away with those pre-set choke points entirely and let the siege commander decide on the methods used (this could also be a good money sink, quality battering rams must've been expensive), but then they'd have to give the defenders more active ways to defend (pour boiling tar on the besiegers, now who wouldn't want that).
As of January 31st at 00:00 (UTC -08:00) Paradox Interactive will be handing over the reins for Mount and Blade back to the developer, TaleWorlds. It’s been five and a half years since Mount and Blade was released, five and a half years of sieges, tournaments and pitched open-field battles, and of course, the odd expansion or two!
We feel honoured to have fought beside you and at our final parting of ways would bid our farewells with a gift which has automatically been added to your Steam library.
What is your gift? One of our internal studios, Paradox North, is currently hard at work on a spell-casting action PVP game by the name of Magicka: Wizard Wars. As we know that you are all fans of fast-paced tactical combat we feel that you would be equally as adept with a robe and staff as you are with sword and shield, as such our gift to you is an invitation to our Early Access alpha of Magicka: Wizard Wars.
If you would like to know more about the game please do check www.wizardwars.com or our official forum at http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...ka-Wizard-Wars.
Again, thank you for an exciting five and a half years!
/Paradox Interactive
The ties were cut quite some time ago. I think the deal soured on Taleword's side.
It seems to me like they've been waiting for an entire year in silence for a reason. They're no longer associated with Paradox, which is interesting. Paradox pulled a massive dick move last year, when they pretty much said: "We're having another studio make Warband again, but prettier. Deal with it." and announced War of the Roses. That also didn't do great. I think TW was contractually obligated to wait with Bannerlord stuff a whole year after the announcement, not to hurt the sales of WotR or something of the sort.
Now there's also going to be War of the Vikings, which looks even dumber than WotR, so in theory that's direct MP competition to Bannerlord. Good, if it's anything like WotR, Taleworlds have nothing to worry about. Plus their game will have the singleplayer campaign.
Paradox have just made an announcement about the Mount&Blade franchise. Since some of you might we wondering what this means or why it's happening, we'd like to make a short announcement ourselves.
Simply put, the nature of our partnership with our friends at Paradox has changed slightly so that TaleWorlds Entertainment will have more control over the handling of the Mount&Blade franchise from now on, putting us firmly in the saddle. This is something we think will benefit us and Mount&Blade players.
In reality, we have always been an independent studio and have been managing all the technical aspects and maintenance of our titles. We are now in a position to manage the marketing and distribution side of things too. So we're just becoming a little more independent than before.
Some answers to questions you might have (we'll add things to here if we get a lot of the same question!):
*Q: Do I have to buy the game again?*
A: No of course not! This will not affect your current games or your experience with the games at all.
*Q: How will this affect Bannerlord?*
A: Not at all. Bannerlord has been developed exclusively by Taleworlds right from the start.
*Q: Oh, so everything's good?*
A: Yes! Just keep having fun with our games and stay tuned for news on the new one.