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Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
- Thread starter Turisas
- Start date
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 8,363
Even so, horses won't charge straight into a dense shield wall. They'll think it's an actual wall and stop in front of it.
FreeKaner
Prophet of the Dumpsterfire
Well-trained horses will charge into people just fine. They aren't suicidal it's true but if they build up momentum only real obstacles will stop them.
Dev Blog 21/02/19
21 Feb @ 7:00pm - Callum
Greetings warriors of Calradia!
Mount & Blade games have always primarily focused on the core gameplay mechanics over the visual appeal of the game world. And while this is something which remains true for Bannerlord, we have worked extensively on improving the overall visual quality of the game with the aim of making the experience more immersive and enjoyable for players. In this week’s blog, we would like to talk about one of the improvements we are currently working on, which will help to bring battles to life and will give players a real sense of the gritty and brutal nature of warfare.
Particle effects are one of the core components of our battle visuals and a technique we have employed to help to add to the overall immersion in battles. A cloud of dust kicking up behind a cavalry charge or a splash of blood from a successfully landed blow really helps to make players feel that they are in the thick of the action.
Our combat particle effects fall into two separate categories: movement and attacks. In each instance, the particle type is determined by two factors. For movement, they are the speed at which a unit is moving and the terrain which they are moving across. Whereas, for attacks, the particle type is determined by the type of weapon used and the surface the weapon hits. For modularity and for the ability to easily make changes during development, we use a collision info .xml which defines the particle that is generated from the combination of actors and surfaces. Modders will be able to add new materials and collision particles, as well as change the values of already defined collisions.
To give an example of how this all works in the game, once an agent is hit by a cutting weapon, we spawn three different particles. First, a line-shaped particle is spawned in the direction of the cut. Secondly, a continuous emitter is attached to the hit position of the agent, which spawns blood particles for a short time as the weapon passes through the agent. Finally, the third particle is spawned as the weapon exits the agent. With these effects, players are given clear visual indicators for successful attacks.
In addition to this, particle instances can stick to environments and agents, leaving decals in their place. We also add mud decals to the legs of agents and mounts which are moving through muddy terrain. As with the particle effects, these splash effects can easily be added and used in the game by modders through the collision_info.xml
We use a large texture atlas for different splash effects on agents. With this, we can assign the index for an atlas position to a particle effect. Later on, we project the splash decals onto the agents with a dedicated shader. This way, we can render up to 32 decals on a single agent in an optimised way.
With these features, once the battle is over, it is easy to distinguish the troops which fought in the heat of the battle and survived.
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21 Feb @ 7:00pm - Callum
Greetings warriors of Calradia!
Mount & Blade games have always primarily focused on the core gameplay mechanics over the visual appeal of the game world. And while this is something which remains true for Bannerlord, we have worked extensively on improving the overall visual quality of the game with the aim of making the experience more immersive and enjoyable for players. In this week’s blog, we would like to talk about one of the improvements we are currently working on, which will help to bring battles to life and will give players a real sense of the gritty and brutal nature of warfare.
Particle effects are one of the core components of our battle visuals and a technique we have employed to help to add to the overall immersion in battles. A cloud of dust kicking up behind a cavalry charge or a splash of blood from a successfully landed blow really helps to make players feel that they are in the thick of the action.
Our combat particle effects fall into two separate categories: movement and attacks. In each instance, the particle type is determined by two factors. For movement, they are the speed at which a unit is moving and the terrain which they are moving across. Whereas, for attacks, the particle type is determined by the type of weapon used and the surface the weapon hits. For modularity and for the ability to easily make changes during development, we use a collision info .xml which defines the particle that is generated from the combination of actors and surfaces. Modders will be able to add new materials and collision particles, as well as change the values of already defined collisions.
To give an example of how this all works in the game, once an agent is hit by a cutting weapon, we spawn three different particles. First, a line-shaped particle is spawned in the direction of the cut. Secondly, a continuous emitter is attached to the hit position of the agent, which spawns blood particles for a short time as the weapon passes through the agent. Finally, the third particle is spawned as the weapon exits the agent. With these effects, players are given clear visual indicators for successful attacks.
In addition to this, particle instances can stick to environments and agents, leaving decals in their place. We also add mud decals to the legs of agents and mounts which are moving through muddy terrain. As with the particle effects, these splash effects can easily be added and used in the game by modders through the collision_info.xml
We use a large texture atlas for different splash effects on agents. With this, we can assign the index for an atlas position to a particle effect. Later on, we project the splash decals onto the agents with a dedicated shader. This way, we can render up to 32 decals on a single agent in an optimised way.
With these features, once the battle is over, it is easy to distinguish the troops which fought in the heat of the battle and survived.
Dev Blog 28/02/19
28 Feb @ 7:25pm - Callum
Greetings warriors of Calradia!
Bannerlord has many dynamic systems for maintaining most gameplay mechanisms. Horses are a case in point. They are produced in certain villages so there is a steady supply being created each day. These are then purchased (or sometimes looted) by passing armies or carried to town markets to change hands. Horses are also regularly removed from the game when cavalry troops eventually die or desperate parties slaughter them for food.
However, this dynamism brings its own unique challenges. How do we make sure that all these systems stay more or less balanced and working as intended, even after the elapse of many in-game years? In order to help designers with this, our engine team added a nice little utility for creating heat maps.
So, what are heat maps? Heat maps are a visual representation of the paths and active areas that parties traverse, as well as, the flow of goods around the campaign map.
It may seem limited at first glance, however, this is actually quite a powerful tool that allows us to identify issues with AI behaviour, in addition to, map design and balance. Every journey that armies, parties and caravans take can give us a valuable insight into what is happening in the game, highlighting any potential issues or confirming that our design is working as intended. With this data, we are able to make the necessary adjustments and changes to rectify issues, saving time, effort and resources in the process!
But, rather than trying to explain how we process and evaluate the information, it would probably be best if we gave you a couple of examples directly from the game:
Trade
Flax is a raw resource that is produced in the villages of northern Calradia. As the map below shows, there is a large concentration of flax in those areas, with little spread to other regions. This is because flax is a low-profit item and there is little sense for traders to invest in it. However, linen, a good that is produced using flax, is widely dispersed throughout Calradia. This is because linen has a much higher value than its unrefined flax form and, additionally, because it is in high demand throughout the continent.
Parties
We have a number of different types of bandit parties that roam the various regions of the map, but the Steppe Bandits were one that particularly stood out for us.
When we mapped their movements, we saw that they were unable to penetrate into the interior of the Khuzait territory. As we checked their paths and the areas that they concentrated in, we started to get some clues as to what was happening. One of the reasons was the placement of Khuzait castles. Bandits tend to prey on the weak, as is their nature. The placement of settlements in the region was giving the bandits few options when it came to plotting a route to undefended villagers. The bandit parties were actively trying to avoid the hostile Khuzait lords, which is exactly what we want to happen, however, this often resulted in long journeys around mountain ranges to reach their destination. This issue was compounded by the fact that Khuzait lords tend to have smaller, more mobile parties, which are quite adept at chasing down bandits. In the end, this resulted in a strange loop, quite literally, with the bandits running around in circles without actually achieving anything. In this instance, slightly changing the placement of settlements and hideouts resolved the issue.
As you can see from the given examples, the tool is really quite valuable to us in ensuring that our systems are working as intended. This is exactly why we will be expanding this tool to work with scenes too. And not only for singleplayer, but also to help us refine the design and balance of our multiplayer maps!
In next week’s blog, we talk to 3D Artist, Gökhan Şahin. If you have any questions you would like to ask him, please leave a reply in the comments and we will pick one out for him to answer!
Discuss this blog post HERE
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28 Feb @ 7:25pm - Callum
Greetings warriors of Calradia!
Bannerlord has many dynamic systems for maintaining most gameplay mechanisms. Horses are a case in point. They are produced in certain villages so there is a steady supply being created each day. These are then purchased (or sometimes looted) by passing armies or carried to town markets to change hands. Horses are also regularly removed from the game when cavalry troops eventually die or desperate parties slaughter them for food.
However, this dynamism brings its own unique challenges. How do we make sure that all these systems stay more or less balanced and working as intended, even after the elapse of many in-game years? In order to help designers with this, our engine team added a nice little utility for creating heat maps.
So, what are heat maps? Heat maps are a visual representation of the paths and active areas that parties traverse, as well as, the flow of goods around the campaign map.
It may seem limited at first glance, however, this is actually quite a powerful tool that allows us to identify issues with AI behaviour, in addition to, map design and balance. Every journey that armies, parties and caravans take can give us a valuable insight into what is happening in the game, highlighting any potential issues or confirming that our design is working as intended. With this data, we are able to make the necessary adjustments and changes to rectify issues, saving time, effort and resources in the process!
But, rather than trying to explain how we process and evaluate the information, it would probably be best if we gave you a couple of examples directly from the game:
Trade
Flax is a raw resource that is produced in the villages of northern Calradia. As the map below shows, there is a large concentration of flax in those areas, with little spread to other regions. This is because flax is a low-profit item and there is little sense for traders to invest in it. However, linen, a good that is produced using flax, is widely dispersed throughout Calradia. This is because linen has a much higher value than its unrefined flax form and, additionally, because it is in high demand throughout the continent.
Parties
We have a number of different types of bandit parties that roam the various regions of the map, but the Steppe Bandits were one that particularly stood out for us.
When we mapped their movements, we saw that they were unable to penetrate into the interior of the Khuzait territory. As we checked their paths and the areas that they concentrated in, we started to get some clues as to what was happening. One of the reasons was the placement of Khuzait castles. Bandits tend to prey on the weak, as is their nature. The placement of settlements in the region was giving the bandits few options when it came to plotting a route to undefended villagers. The bandit parties were actively trying to avoid the hostile Khuzait lords, which is exactly what we want to happen, however, this often resulted in long journeys around mountain ranges to reach their destination. This issue was compounded by the fact that Khuzait lords tend to have smaller, more mobile parties, which are quite adept at chasing down bandits. In the end, this resulted in a strange loop, quite literally, with the bandits running around in circles without actually achieving anything. In this instance, slightly changing the placement of settlements and hideouts resolved the issue.
As you can see from the given examples, the tool is really quite valuable to us in ensuring that our systems are working as intended. This is exactly why we will be expanding this tool to work with scenes too. And not only for singleplayer, but also to help us refine the design and balance of our multiplayer maps!
In next week’s blog, we talk to 3D Artist, Gökhan Şahin. If you have any questions you would like to ask him, please leave a reply in the comments and we will pick one out for him to answer!
Discuss this blog post HERE
These guys are insane.
Just release the fucking shit.
Games have been released half-finished for a decade now. It's part of the new dev cycle that continuously uses feedback and support. For love of all that is good just release it already.
Just release the fucking shit.
Games have been released half-finished for a decade now. It's part of the new dev cycle that continuously uses feedback and support. For love of all that is good just release it already.
- Joined
- May 25, 2006
- Messages
- 8,363
Even Grimoire was eventually released. Do not lose hope, brother.
deuxhero
Arcane
Is this the first time we've seen the whole world map?
vota DC
Augur
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2016
- Messages
- 2,321
Blog number 100
https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/100
Callum said release date is quite near, probably before gamescom.
Also the game is already in a VERY closed beta
https://www.merlininkazani.com/images/games/9602/Mount-Blade-II-Bannerlord_32.jpg
First the sultan, then the sanjaks and in the end the people will play.
https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/100
Callum said release date is quite near, probably before gamescom.
Also the game is already in a VERY closed beta
https://www.merlininkazani.com/images/games/9602/Mount-Blade-II-Bannerlord_32.jpg
First the sultan, then the sanjaks and in the end the people will play.
Aemar
Arcane
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2018
- Messages
- 6,327
Merlkir
Arcane
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2008
- Messages
- 1,216
Source?
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
Obsequious Approbation
Augur
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2014
- Messages
- 410
Dev Blog 14/03/19
Greetings warriors of Calradia!
As you know, riding and mounted combat is one of the focal points of our games and we strive to make that aspect as fun and visually appealing as possible. With Bannerlord we have added the ability for players to equip their beloved horses with different kinds of saddles and equine armour. However there was a key piece of equipment that didn’t look as well as it could: reins were left to hang over the horse’s neck in a static, lifeless manner, instead of being held in your character’s calloused hands as they should. This, of course, would not do. We had to take the development process by the reins and fix this glaring inaccuracy! (Excuse the terrible pun.)
Well, attaching the reins to the rider's hand sounded simple enough. We already have a cloth physics system implemented in Bannerlord that we use for everything from horse manes to, well, clothes. So we figured we could apply this system to reins as well. Unfortunately, there was just one teensy problem. Unlike ordinary use cases for cloth physics, where the cloth can usually flap and waggle freely on one end while being firmly attached to a pole or something on the other, reins need to be attached on both ends (one end to the bridle and the other to the rider’s hand, for those of you who may not be up-to-date on how reins work...). Moreover, in our case, those two ends tend to operate more or less independently. Your ever-hungry loyal steed drops its head and starts grazing any time you stop by a nice patch of grass, and your character’s hands move all over the place while you turn around on your horse or give orders to your troops, etc... This meant that the reins would stretch abruptly and look completely unconvincing.
Now, in Taleworlds, whenever we run into a problem, we do one of two things: We either lock ourselves into the meeting room with a jug of coffee and brainstorm until we find a solution, or we skip that step and go and use inverse kinematics. In this case, we employed the second approach. Using inverse kinematics we made sure that the rider’s hand would stay more or less in a position close to the horse’s neck. Combined with some small fixes to animations, this worked great and we were able to get the look and feel we were aiming for.
Of course, you may be worried about how all this will affect gameplay, but please, have no worries. We were pretty insistent before setting out to make this change that it shouldn’t impact gameplay in any way, and so, when the rider takes any sort of action, such as attacking or defending, the character drops the reins to perform the action without any sort of interruption. Once the attack or defend animation is complete, the character picks up the reins again. Of course, you can still steer the horse as normal during the time you dropped the reins. And before you ask, yes that is completely historically accurate. Medieval warriors dropped their reins and steered their horses by shifting their weight on the saddle and projecting thought waves all the time!
The system is still a little bit rough around the edges and we plan to refine and polish it over the upcoming weeks. But overall, we think it’s a great feature that adds to the overall aesthetics of the game.
That’s all for this week. If you have any comments or suggestions or just want to point out to the fact that there is no release date yet and that we made up that bit about thought waves, go ahead and join in the discussion below. We look forward to reading your feedback!
Discuss this blog post HERE
As you know, riding and mounted combat is one of the focal points of our games and we strive to make that aspect as fun and visually appealing as possible. With Bannerlord we have added the ability for players to equip their beloved horses with different kinds of saddles and equine armour. However there was a key piece of equipment that didn’t look as well as it could: reins were left to hang over the horse’s neck in a static, lifeless manner, instead of being held in your character’s calloused hands as they should. This, of course, would not do. We had to take the development process by the reins and fix this glaring inaccuracy! (Excuse the terrible pun.)
Well, attaching the reins to the rider's hand sounded simple enough. We already have a cloth physics system implemented in Bannerlord that we use for everything from horse manes to, well, clothes. So we figured we could apply this system to reins as well. Unfortunately, there was just one teensy problem. Unlike ordinary use cases for cloth physics, where the cloth can usually flap and waggle freely on one end while being firmly attached to a pole or something on the other, reins need to be attached on both ends (one end to the bridle and the other to the rider’s hand, for those of you who may not be up-to-date on how reins work...). Moreover, in our case, those two ends tend to operate more or less independently. Your ever-hungry loyal steed drops its head and starts grazing any time you stop by a nice patch of grass, and your character’s hands move all over the place while you turn around on your horse or give orders to your troops, etc... This meant that the reins would stretch abruptly and look completely unconvincing.
Now, in Taleworlds, whenever we run into a problem, we do one of two things: We either lock ourselves into the meeting room with a jug of coffee and brainstorm until we find a solution, or we skip that step and go and use inverse kinematics. In this case, we employed the second approach. Using inverse kinematics we made sure that the rider’s hand would stay more or less in a position close to the horse’s neck. Combined with some small fixes to animations, this worked great and we were able to get the look and feel we were aiming for.
Of course, you may be worried about how all this will affect gameplay, but please, have no worries. We were pretty insistent before setting out to make this change that it shouldn’t impact gameplay in any way, and so, when the rider takes any sort of action, such as attacking or defending, the character drops the reins to perform the action without any sort of interruption. Once the attack or defend animation is complete, the character picks up the reins again. Of course, you can still steer the horse as normal during the time you dropped the reins. And before you ask, yes that is completely historically accurate. Medieval warriors dropped their reins and steered their horses by shifting their weight on the saddle and projecting thought waves all the time!
The system is still a little bit rough around the edges and we plan to refine and polish it over the upcoming weeks. But overall, we think it’s a great feature that adds to the overall aesthetics of the game.
That’s all for this week. If you have any comments or suggestions or just want to point out to the fact that there is no release date yet and that we made up that bit about thought waves, go ahead and join in the discussion below. We look forward to reading your feedback!
Discuss this blog post HERE
Such a juicy update! You know what would be even more tasty? Horses.Tried horse meat once years ago and crave it since then. In times of dire need, under siege or lost in endless desert we should be able to sacrifice horse life so that human would live on. Or vice versa, in Gulliver's Conquests mod
You know who else should be shish-kebabed and served to Sultan Erdogan? Every TaleWorld's dev that rubs in our face fact that the've been playing this game for years and they're so low on excuses for not sharing it with the rest of world that they dedicated entire dev diary to reins. Truly they saddled their community but no reins can be put on this game's hype!
You know who else should be shish-kebabed and served to Sultan Erdogan? Every TaleWorld's dev that rubs in our face fact that the've been playing this game for years and they're so low on excuses for not sharing it with the rest of world that they dedicated entire dev diary to reins. Truly they saddled their community but no reins can be put on this game's hype!
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
- Messages
- 29,913
Good one.
Tse Tse Fly
Savant
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2017
- Messages
- 712
I do hope camels will make it into release too.
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