Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

[thesheeep]

Chances that they get arrested for being or talking to foreign spies increases with each passing day.

 

[Zanzoken]

 

[deama]

I was hoping they'd do something like what "rise and fall civilizations at war" did, wherein you can control units like in an RTS but have an option to control a hero by zooming into them (3rd person).

 

[LESS T_T]

E3 Interview, "Taleworlds repeated their ambitions to launch this year": https://www.pcgamesn.com/mount-blad...ade-2-bannerlord-battles-hands-on-gameplay-e3

How Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord simulates its huge medieval battles

Almost ten years after their first release in 2008, the Mount & Blade games still offer something unique in gaming: large-scale medieval battles in which you are both a participant and a commander, nestled within a strategy sandbox. Though refined with 2010’s Mount & Blade: Warband, developers Taleworlds concede there’s a certain lack of polish in the series so far.

“Warband was a very successful game, but kind of a rough gem,” says Taleworlds' community manager and PR man, Frank Elliott, in a presentation at E3 this year. “So we’ve looked at every aspect of the game, made it more polished and more complete, right across the board.”

That said, battles are the focus of the demo I’m about to play. Taleworlds reckon they can fit up to 600 soldiers on the field at once now, and possibly more if they can further optimise the game ahead of release. You’ll still fight directly and command troops, but a new wrinkle is that you, too, have a boss, who will give you orders to follow – screen our archers from their cavalry, charge their flanks, that sort of thing. You can ignore them, but there may be repercussions on the strategic map if you do.

Rather than command the whole army, you’ll command one division – the front, for example, or perhaps the cavalry. Thanks to clever nesting of commands, you can issue surprisingly complicated orders with just two or three button presses, and it’s clear there’s a great deal of depth to explore here. The role of AI has also been hugely expanded as Elliott explains:

“We have AI that controls the skirmish, the subtle reformations, essentially formulate interesting battle strategy. A lot of these are also based on authentic medieval strategies, and they work in the game just as they’d work in real life. It’s a real simulation of what’s happening here. Nothing is fake. Nothing is scripted. If the cavalry is charging towards the archers and mows them down but the archers do something to the horses, it happens that way because our game is physical simulation.”

There’s even AI dedicated to controlling what individual soldiers are doing, from their behaviour when skirmishing to which attack they’ll choose next. The implications of this weren’t apparent in the battles I fought, but Taleworlds say it’ll mean a lot more depth, and perhaps a few “dramatic moments” that will catch you by surprise, and have profound implications on the strategy layer.

I had the chance to play a couple of battles, and to speak with Korneel Guns, gameplay programmer at developers TaleWorlds Entertainment.


PCGamesN: So, how has the game progressed since Warband?

Korneel Guns: It’s completely Mount & Blade at the core. We didn’t only take the original and expand it; we took what was in Mount & Blade, went through every single feature, and just made everything better. The combat is more refined, the politics, the intrigue, the trading – when you get a request to kill some bandits, that’s not a random request. It’s much more dynamic. Trade happens when traders are looking for a profit, and fights happen because different parties are trying to gain land and trying to make themselves more powerful, not just their faction. All these things happen for real reasons now.

Let’s dig into all of that, starting with the combat. We hear that, due to individual physics, a tactic that worked in real life would work in the game, not because it’s been specifically coded but because it just emerges. How does that work?

We do lots of physical calculations for many things, not just the combat. But if someone is trying to hit you and someone else is standing in the way, then he might get hit by the strike that was meant for you. And for cavalry riding across the fields, everything they hit can just get bumped away, so it matters how fast they’re going, it matters how heavy the horses are – if you have heavy cavalry charging downhill, that’s an unstoppable force. They might try to stop you with their infantry, but at the bottom of the hill, [the cavalry] will just crush them and keep going. If you are going uphill, it’s a completely different story. They can stop you, and you are stuck, and they may just kill you. So it’s not ‘I have cavalry, they have infantry. I charge them, they die’. You have to use them correctly.

And how deep does this go? Does it extend to weaponry, too?

All of our weapons have statistics. We have balance, we have how sharp they are, so it matters if you slash or pierce. We also have how heavy they are. All those things give different results, and it depends on what armour you have. We don’t have anything as in-depth as chain or plate, just have heavy armour or light armour, but it definitely makes a difference.

How much of this is new compared to earlier games?

The first one had similar things like armour value, which is localised to chest, legs, or arms. What’s new is that it’s more physically calculated. It’s not just ‘swing and return damage’. What matters is that the sword is this heavy, this sharp, it does this much damage. But, if you hit someone too soon, it won’t do its full potential of damage. If he’s standing just too far away and you get him with the tip of your weapon, it also doesn’t do much damage. You want to hit him with your entire blade at the [right moment].

Have their been any changes to the morale system?

It’s not just a formation that can break morale. [Soldiers] can individually break. So, if they are holding formation, and you charge them from behind, that’s going to give them a big shock. They will try to fight a bit first, and then they see that it’s just overwhelming, so they can rout while the rest of your army is still fighting. It’s very individual.

And how about the setting – we’re still in the continent of Calradia, yes?

Yes. It’s the same continent, but it’s set before Warband. It’s also, I believe, four times bigger than what it was in Warband. We also have more mountain ranges, and more rivers going through. It’s the same setting in the lore, but players will find a lot more detail.

Is there a reputation system or relationship system in the politics side of things?

You have the relationship that you have with your own faction. Everyone in their factions is trying to make their faction more powerful, so you have a relationship with your team. But you’re not just trying to make your faction more powerful. You’re also trying to make yourself more powerful. You’re a selfish person – you want more lands, you want more armies, you want more gold. So you have a relationship with the Lords. You have relationships with NPCs which you can use to get more recruits, for example. If you have a better relationship with the NPCs, you get more troops for a better price and you can build an army faster. You also have relationships with Lords from other factions as well. You can be at war with a faction and be on good terms with a Lord within that faction, so it’s a lot more grey and nuanced.

Is there a narrative element to it, or is it still a sandbox?

It is mostly sandbox. There’s a bit of narrative at the start, just a tutorial to get you on your feet first. Then it will take more and more of a back seat, because at the core, Mount & Blade is a sandbox. We want people to make their own path and their own narrative.


An exact release date for Mount & Blade II hasn’t been given – which is starting to ruffle feathers among the community – but at E3, Taleworlds repeated their ambitions to launch this year. You can learn more on its Steam page, or pick up Warband here.

 

[Zanzoken]

The game should've been in Early Access years ago, even if it was buggy and not feature complete. M&B is perfect for EA because you don't spoil the experience by playing an unfinished version.

 

[DramaticPopcorn]

Whoa, what a bunch of nonsensical meaningless questions and answers, that sure cleared up a whole lot!

 

[deama]

I wonder if this is gonna turn out like Duke Nukem forever did.
It can't though right? They got gameplay vids and stuff, but nukem had that too...

For all we know they could end up scraping the engine (again?) and tell us that: "It's not modern anymore! We have to restart otherwise you guys can't have those sexy 200v200 battles! Don't worry! We promise it'll be released by end of 2018!"

 

[Codexlurker]

You are comparing a game that has been in development for 5 years to a game that switched developers and was in development for 14 years. Are you one of those new bloods on the Taleworlds Forums?

 

[deama]

You are comparing a game that has been in development for 5 years to a game that switched developers and was in development for 14 years. Are you one of those new bloods on the Taleworlds Forums?

Last time I checked, bannerlord isn't released yet, which means the development cycle for it isn't over, like I said, it could take just as long.

With nukem, they kept saying the same shit as bannerlord "it'll come out when it's ready". I think they might have also made claims that they would try to release it at certain dates or so, but that didn't happen.

 

[Codexlurker]

You are comparing a game that has been in development for 5 years to a game that switched developers and was in development for 14 years. Are you one of those new bloods on the Taleworlds Forums?

Last time I checked, bannerlord isn't released yet, which means the development cycle for it isn't over, like I said, it could take just as long.

With nukem, they kept saying the same shit as bannerlord "it'll come out when it's ready". I think they might have also made claims that they would try to release it at certain dates or so, but that didn't happen.

Well if it happens it happens. It's not like there isn't other games to play. Who said it was released?

 

[deama]

Well if it happens it happens. It's not like there isn't other games to play. Who said it was released?

What I'm saying is that nukem was originaly not meant to have taken 14 years to develop; I'm sure you can say that most people didn't think that bannerlord would be in development for over 5 years. I'm trying to make a connection between history and what is happening right now, bannerlord could take just as long as nukem because the scenarios are similiar. Nukem devs had a lot of money to make nukem forever when they first started, so they took their time, M&B made a lot of money for an indie studio, which means they have a lot to throw at bannerlord, which means they could get into the same situation as the nukem devs got into.

I'm obviously not saying that it's gonna take 14 years to make bannerlord, but it could take a long ass time, a similiar amount of time as with nukem.

 

[Codexlurker]

Well if it happens it happens. It's not like there isn't other games to play. Who said it was released?

What I'm saying is that nukem was originaly not meant to have taken 14 years to develop; I'm sure you can say that most people didn't think that bannerlord would be in development for over 5 years. I'm trying to make a connection between history and what is happening right now, bannerlord could take just as long as nukem because the scenarios are similiar. Nukem devs had a lot of money to make nukem forever when they first started, so they took their time, M&B made a lot of money for an indie studio, which means they have a lot to throw at bannerlord, which means they could get into the same situation as the nukem devs got into.

I'm obviously not saying that it's gonna take 14 years to make bannerlord, but it could take a long ass time, a similiar amount of time as with nukem.

Ok. What happened with Duke Nukem Forever is basically legendary and I think the chances of that happening again are pretty low. And a ton of companies make bank off of their games and take their time with it. It's just annoying to hear all this hearsay when you can just chill and let the developers do their thing.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

It's never coming out, is it?

 

[Zanzoken]

I have a feeling once this thing finally releases the reaction will be "it took 5 years just for THIS?" for a lot of people.

Not saying it will be a bad game but I don't think it will be radically different from Warband. At the end of the day popular opinion will be that a more competent studio could've achieved the same results in half the time.

 

[Mark Richard]

It's never coming out, is it?

One thing I spare an idle thought for now and then is that some people have literally died waiting for games like Bannerlord and Cyberpunk 2077. Not many, since gaming hasn't been available for a full generation, but it's only going to happen more frequently. Eventually when TaleWords announces a Mount & Blade game we'll have to ask ourselves 'am I going to be alive in half a decade?'

 

[Codexlurker]

It's never coming out, is it?

One thing I spare an idle thought for now and then is that some people have literally died waiting for games like Bannerlord and Cyberpunk 2077. Not many, since gaming hasn't been available for a full generation, but it's only going to happen more frequently. Eventually when TaleWords announces a Mount & Blade game we'll have to ask ourselves 'am I going to be alive in half a decade?'

*Rolls eyes* So? I was a fucking kid when Nioh was in development. Both my grandpas,aunt and my cousin died in the meanwhile lol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nioh

I have a feeling once this thing finally releases the reaction will be "it took 5 years just for THIS?" for a lot of people.

Not saying it will be a bad game but I don't think it will be radically different from Warband. At the end of the day popular opinion will be that a more competent studio could've achieved the same results in half the time.

I think so. It'll be worth it if the C# and graphics engine is halfway decent.

 

[Metro]

This is getting fucking ridiculous.

 

[kris]

Well if it happens it happens. It's not like there isn't other games to play. Who said it was released?

What I'm saying is that nukem was originaly not meant to have taken 14 years to develop; I'm sure you can say that most people didn't think that bannerlord would be in development for over 5 years. I'm trying to make a connection between history and what is happening right now, bannerlord could take just as long as nukem because the scenarios are similiar. Nukem devs had a lot of money to make nukem forever when they first started, so they took their time, M&B made a lot of money for an indie studio, which means they have a lot to throw at bannerlord, which means they could get into the same situation as the nukem devs got into.

I'm obviously not saying that it's gonna take 14 years to make bannerlord, but it could take a long ass time, a similiar amount of time as with nukem.

Have you preordered Grimoire?

 

[ColonelTeacup]

It's never coming out, is it?

One thing I spare an idle thought for now and then is that some people have literally died waiting for games like Bannerlord and Cyberpunk 2077. Not many, since gaming hasn't been available for a full generation, but it's only going to happen more frequently. Eventually when TaleWords announces a Mount & Blade game we'll have to ask ourselves 'am I going to be alive in half a decade?'

Suicide, disease or old age?

It's never coming out, is it?

One thing I spare an idle thought for now and then is that some people have literally died waiting for games like Bannerlord and Cyberpunk 2077. Not many, since gaming hasn't been available for a full generation, but it's only going to happen more frequently. Eventually when TaleWords announces a Mount & Blade game we'll have to ask ourselves 'am I going to be alive in half a decade?'

*Rolls eyes* So? I was a fucking kid when Nioh was in development. Both my grandpas,aunt and my cousin died in the meanwhile lol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nioh

I have a feeling once this thing finally releases the reaction will be "it took 5 years just for THIS?" for a lot of people.

Not saying it will be a bad game but I don't think it will be radically different from Warband. At the end of the day popular opinion will be that a more competent studio could've achieved the same results in half the time.

I think so. It'll be worth it if the C# and graphics engine is halfway decent.

Howd your cousin die?

 

[LESS T_T]

They want to improve communication, so weekly dev blog is coming: https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/19

Is it coming?

Dev Blog 03/08/17

Greetings warriors of Calradia! It is an exciting summer for TaleWorlds Entertainment: our community & communications team recently showcased Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord at E3 in Los Angeles, and next month they will visit Gamescom, Europe’s biggest games industry show, to give hands-on demos to quite a number of journalists.

In the meantime, there’s something that we want to talk with you about. We realise that we haven’t communicated with you as frequently and as openly as we should have. We failed at connecting with our community, and sometimes it might appear as if we are not paying you as much attention as you deserve. We are incredibly grateful for having such fantastic support and we were unsuccessful in letting you know just how much we appreciate you being there for us over the years.

We want to improve our relationship and communication with you – starting right now. We know that you can’t wait to get your hands on Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, and we understand that after all these years you have a lot of questions. Moving forward, we think that the best way to engage with you is by being transparent, by opening our doors to introduce you to our daily work, as well as by having clear channels to communicate with you about everything related to TaleWorlds Entertainment and Mount & Blade that we can – or cannot – talk about at this moment in time. We are striving to create the best game that we can deliver, which is a tough task that has taken us many years, and it is your support that motivates us to work harder!

That is why we are starting a new weekly blog! Every Thursday, you will get to know who is behind Mount & Blade, the diverse and talented team of designers, artists, programmers and others that make the game possible; you will glimpse our struggles and hopes, our daily work, and our favourite parts of the game… We hope that you enjoy the read – and also that it makes the waiting easier! This blog will be available in several languages, because we value all of our different communities and their languages, there are no “first class” or “second class” players for us. At the same time, as we will explain later on, we currently cannot confirm that any particular language will be supported by the game at the day of its release. So please keep it in mind that if this blog is available in, say, Catalan, it does not automatically mean that the game will release in full Catalan.

In the coming weeks we will start a series of short interviews with different members of the development team… and who could be better to start with than TaleWorlds’ founder and CEO, Armagan Yavuz! Armagan founded the company back in 2005 and he is still the driving force behind it. If you would like to know something in particular about him or his work, then leave a question in the comment section and we will pick one to add to our Q&A.

We are also working to improve our social media channels so that you know exactly where to reach us – but we will tell you more about that later this summer. In the meantime, if you want to talk with us and keep up to date with everything relating to TaleWorlds Entertainment and the Mount & Blade franchise, you can find us on our existing channels on Twitter and Facebook – as well as on our official forums, where we just opened a new Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord section where you can talk about the upcoming game.

 

[Valky]

Did Taleworld contract Cleve for Butterlord?

 

[LESS T_T]

https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/20

Meet the TaleWorlds Team



Greetings warriors of Calradia! Today we want to introduce you to the development team that is working hard to make Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord possible. We are proud to have a very diverse and international team, with people from different countries and backgrounds working together every day to develop the game. We came together to take a photo at the TaleWorlds Entertainment office (say cheese!) which we hope you all enjoy.

There are currently 60 people working directly on Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, plus 19 more people in different administration and support tasks – but let’s break these numbers down a little bit so that you can get to know us better. We have a design team which consists of 5 people, 2 of which are narrative designers.

We have a large team of artists, with 25 people working in a variety of different roles: environment, characters, concept artists, technical artists, modellers, navigation mesh, campaign map, user interface, particles, sound, atmosphere and motion capture.

Then we have three different departments formed by programmers. The biggest one is responsible for the gameplay, and it’s comprised of 12 people; they develop the back-end, AI, physics, combat, multiplayer and animations. Then we have 8 people who develop the engine: editor, post FX and render performance, particles and cloth physics, build engineering, console porting and the replay system. The campaign department is formed by 5 people who work on the sandbox mechanics, missions and the user interface. And finally, we have a QA team which is made up of 5 people who test everything and make sure that the game is as polished as possible.

All of these departments are supported by our administration team: 19 people in a really varied assortment of roles, from those who oversee the entire project to the business development people, the PR and communication team, and the incredibly nice office assistants who make sure that the daily life of the studio goes smoothly and that we don’t run out of coffee!

Our studio is in Ankara, Turkey, but our team comes from every corner of the world. Apart from Turkey, there are people from Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, UK, India, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, USA, Mongolia and even New Zealand! We have people from a range of different age groups – from 20 year old juniors to veterans who have worked in this industry for decades. Together, all of these people make TaleWorlds Entertainment an incredible place to work at. We are like a big family, and we are all working as hard as we can to develop the great game that our loyal and supportive fanbase deserve!

 

[trimethylsilyl]

Those blogs aren't giving any indication that they're actually finishing the game. Why can't they give us some new info?

 

[Alienman]

Probably because the release is still really far away.

 

[Incantatar]

Have you preordered Grimoire?

Did Taleworld contract Cleve for Butterlord?

Cleve 1 Taleworlds 0