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[Elfeater]

I don't have a problem with them adding them in, my problem is with people forcing their hand to add them in.

[Jaysen]

We are very aware that this is a very delicate issue where one quick posting or statement can cause a lot of harm to the project.

We will keep the ratio of female mercenaries rather low because we still want to stay close to medieval europe (despite all the fantasy elements) where female fighters were a rather rare sight. But for now just take this much from us: There will be some female mercs implemented into the game at some point in the future - thats all we can say for now : )

[Retropunch]

We are very aware that this is a very delicate issue where one quick posting or statement can cause a lot of harm to the project.

We will keep the ratio of female mercenaries rather low because we still want to stay close to medieval europe (despite all the fantasy elements) where female fighters were a rather rare sight. But for now just take this much from us: There will be some female mercs implemented into the game at some point in the future - thats all we can say for now : )

Very wise, and I think that historical reasons are always a good card to call. No one can fault you for trying to be realistic about setting

[Jaysen]

To keep you guys updated here is our weekly dev blog, this time we have some new body armor, a helmet rework and custom banners for you. Let me know what you think!

Dev Blog #34: Progress Update - New Armor, Helmet Rework, Banners

As every week, we have some sweet new stuff for you. We went back to take a look at all the armor in the game and reworked all helmet appearances and armor values. What is more, we added some missing body armors to get a nice progression of armor values into the game. To round things up, a banner generator is in the works that will allow you to create your very own custom banner when starting a new game of Battle Brothers.

Lets explore this in more detail.

New Body Armors

We want to have a smooth progression of both the protection that armor offers, as well as their price and how rare they are in the game. Until recently, there were some big jumps in armor values - for example there was little inbetween a simple mail shirt and the heavy coat of plates. With some new armor added, we filled these gaps and now have a great and steady progression.

The heavier armors are quite expensive and hard to come by, so you’ll likely only be able to afford them later in the game. They’re also quite rare so that you’ll never find them on offer in great quantities and only in rich cities and strongholds to begin with.



The protection from armor is crucial though, as a Battle Brother with little or no armor may be struck down with a single lucky hit. Before you know it you’ll see heads flying about left and right if you don’t get your guys some protection. Just take a look at our last gameplay video showcasing a tough and gory fight against orcs: Orc Line Battle Video.



The new armors from top left to top right are

Heraldic Coat of Plates: Two layers of leather with heavy metal plates rivetted inbetween on top of a full mail shirt.
Coat of Scales: A heavy armor made of overlapping metal scales covering most of the body.
Scale Armor: A body vest with overlapping scales.
Heavy Lamellar Harness: A lamellar armor that covers most parts of the body with thick, overlapping metal plates for maximum protection.
Mail Shirt: A mail shirt with shoulder guards providing excellent protection against most weapons.
On the bottom row we have a variety of linen tunics to get some more flavor into that early game when you’re hiring farmhands, lumberjacks and fishermen that don’t own any armor of their own.

Reworked Helmets

Until now all helmet variations within the same category were just visual flavor. This led to the odd situation where a helmet with a complete mail coif underneath gave the same amount of armor points as a helmet with just a piece of cloth underneath.

To remedy this we split all visual variations into items of their own and gave them individual levels of armor points, malus to maximum fatigue and to sight range. This way we now have a ton of unique helmets and you’ll be able to instantly recognize which helmet will grant more or less protection or inhibit your Battle Brothers’ field of view. What you see is what you get, basically.



We’re happy now with the variety of armors and helmets in the game and feel that they’re ready for our upcoming Early Access release. For the final game there’ll also be unique legendary items that come with their very own visuals, name, background story and sometimes even magical properties. They’ll be very hard to get and we’ll do a dedicated article on them in time.

Custom Banner Creation

When starting out with your brand new mercenary company you’ll get the opportunity not just to name it, but also to create a custom banner for it. Just like the player, all locations - villages, watchtowers or orc camps - will have their own banner, as will the parties that originate from there. This way you can quickly identify a party’s affilliance and know where they come from.

The banners will be composed of a banner shape, a pattern, a main emblem and additional secondary emblem. You’ll also be able to choose from a variety of colors, of course. These are just some possible color combinations:



There will be a variety of banner shapes to choose from.



Here are some examples we created to show the possibilities of the banner generator with included main emblem and secondary emblem. Note that these are still in development and not implemented in the game yet.



 

[Jaysen]

Ever wondered what features are already in the game and what to expect for the Early Access? We just published three feature lists that explain all the features. Also, we are doing a complete rework of the worldmap:

Dev Blog #35: Worldmap Progress and Feature Lists

Finishing all core mechanics is our top priority right now and a lot of work is getting done on the underlying mechanics of the strategic worldmap. Unfortunately, this also means that we don’t have anything flashy to show you this week.

In the meantime we gathered all the most important information of previous blog posts into 3 detailed feature lists. Each feature comes with a status so that you can see at a glance if it has already been implemented or is yet to come, which should give you a good idea of where we are at with the game.

Worldmap Progress

The worldmap is in the center of our attention right now as we implement all the core mechanics. Most of the work is already done and we now focus on the strategic AI that guides individual factions and the mercenary contracts that will be offered to the player on various occasions.



At the same time, we’re doing a rework of the worldmap visuals. The look we had for the worldmap wasn’t entirely satisfying to us, and neither was it flexible enough for our more ambitious goals. We’re still experimenting with a new style, but it will look something like in the image above. Instead of trees and similar being painted directly onto tiles, those tiles now only cover the ground while objects are independently placed on another layer ontop. This allows for more natural and less repetitive looking landscapes and transitions between different terrain types. More importantly, it also gives us more flexibility for dynamically changing the world, such as forests slowly becoming corrupted or fields being burned as the nearby village is raided. We should be able to share the final look with you in the next few weeks.

Detailed Feature Lists

With no less than 34 blog posts to read so far, gathering information about the game can be quite a bit of work. Since our Early Access release is also coming closer we think this is an opportune time to get all the most important information in one place.

We’ve therefore extended the “Features” category on our website with three additional feature lists containing more detailed information about aspects of the strategic worldmap, the tactical combat and the factions in the game. Even more importantly, you’re also able to see what feature has been implemented so far and what is still to come. The feature lists will always be updated when a new feature is implemented so that you can follow the progress we make. Every feature that is marked as “implemented” will be in the Early Access release guaranteed, so the list can also help you to decide whether to get the Early Access version or not.

Head over to the three feature pages to learn about where the game is at and what is still to come:

Worldmap Feature List

Tactical Combat Feature List

Factions in Battle Brothers

If you have any questions or ideas we are always looking for feedback

[debvon]

I think this is the most anticipation I've felt for a game in.. two years. I see a lot of hype for a lot of stuff and I'm never surprised when those games all fall short. Most of my experiences with new games are underwhelming and seeing practically everything being given early access (especially paid early access) is truly awful, and I feel like it's a negative development in general. But I want nothing more than to see a game like this put out early access builds. Hell, even if it gets abandoned it'll still be a game I'd pay for. What you guys have going is just all good in all ways. Fuck yeah keep it up.

[Jaysen]

Thanks man!
Posts like that really keep you going! The most challenging part when making your own game out of thin air is to keep yourself and the team motivated over several years. We know that we do not have any reputation in the gaming industry and hardly any marketing budget so the Early Access has to be really good to convince players just by the quality of the game itself. Anyways, we are really excited for the EA and how the game will be received.

[Retropunch]

I really like the look of the world map!! Especially the idea of a changing world map - too many games (RPGs in particular) have really static worlds, and I think that causes such a disjunction between your ever evolving character and a world which never changes.
 
My only suggestion would be to have darkened (or black) lines at the borders of the road. To me it looks too much like a smudge at the moment and cuts through the background too sharply, and I think that would be easily fixed by adding darkened edges.

[Robosaur]

We are very aware that this is a very delicate issue where one quick posting or statement can cause a lot of harm to the project.

We will keep the ratio of female mercenaries rather low because we still want to stay close to medieval europe (despite all the fantasy elements) where female fighters were a rather rare sight. But for now just take this much from us: There will be some female mercs implemented into the game at some point in the future - thats all we can say for now : )

Question: Will the ratio of men -> women mercenaries be modifiable? I mean, it would have no effect on gameplay (it better not) so you could easily make a config file that lets you switch on a 50/50 gender split... or an entire mercenary crew of women. I mean, I don't fault XCom for doing the same thing, i just wish there was something I could toggle without having to use mods.

[Retropunch]

We are very aware that this is a very delicate issue where one quick posting or statement can cause a lot of harm to the project.

We will keep the ratio of female mercenaries rather low because we still want to stay close to medieval europe (despite all the fantasy elements) where female fighters were a rather rare sight. But for now just take this much from us: There will be some female mercs implemented into the game at some point in the future - thats all we can say for now : )

Question: Will the ratio of men -> women mercenaries be modifiable? I mean, it would have no effect on gameplay (it better not) so you could easily make a config file that lets you switch on a 50/50 gender split... or an entire mercenary crew of women. I mean, I don't fault XCom for doing the same thing, i just wish there was something I could toggle without having to use mods.

Not to sound belligerent, but this just seems unnecessary. I mean, if it's a quick thing to bounce into a config file then why not (the more options the better!), but I'd hate to have the devs working on such a minor thing, especially as this could go against the setting/atmosphere they're trying to create.

[Jaysen]

The roads are actually just mockups to be honest, they are only placeholders and will be completely redone shortly.

Regarding female Mercs: We intend on having them appear less often than their male counterparts in the default mode. However, it would be awesome to not only make this setting but every other setting available for the player to tamper with. The next step would be mod support and we are convinced that our game would benefit greatly from modding. Still, our resources are very limited so we are looking at the full release for mod support or even at a point in time after launch. Thats unfortunate, but we have to keep our expectations realistic.

[Elfeater]

You mentioned the stats of the mercs being based off their history, will this also pertain to their perks? Will a weathered merc start with some perks while the young guy fresh off a farm not start with any?

[Jaysen]

Yes, partly but we do it the other way round.

Each brother starts out with 0-2 random traits BUT each background has a list of traits that can not occur with this background. For example a retired soldier will never be "fainthearted" or "clumsy", a fisherman will never be a "sharpshooter"(but a hunter could be) and so on. These restrictions are rather soft because we want the characters to be diverse as possible without having traits that absolutely not fit their backgrounds.

[Elfeater]

Okay, so traits are character specific while the perks are purely level bases?

[Jaysen]

Yes The perks can be freely chosen for each brother on level up so there are no restrictions coming from the backgrounds here.

But we are not really satisfied with how the perks are right now. They are not "crisp" enough yet, so some more tweaking is needed here. We want the player to make some really tough choices here with a lot of viable options and we are not 100% there yet.