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[Sharp]

Ah very excited for the update

It will be interesting to see what the next big idea will be

[Jaysen]

We are almost there! Just 10 days until the worldmap update so here is a final progress update:

Dev Blog #72: Progress Update - Tutorial, Music, Experienced Mercs

With the finishing line in sight, this will be our last regular progress update before the big update on the 29th. Today we’ll cover some more changes to the game and our reasoning behind them: A new introduction and tutorial, new music and the ability to hire experienced mercenaries.

Over the course of next week, our very own Jaysen will start a new Let’s Play series to showcase and explain all the new features, additions and changes made to the game. But for now, read on!

Introduction and Tutorial

What's the first thing you're greeted with when starting a new campaign right now? A big wall of text. And then an even bigger one as you pick up the tutorial contract. Being dropped into an open world with little idea of what to do and what the game even allows you to do can be daunting. In fact, the tutorial contract was actually missed by quite a few people in the beginning as they attacked the nearby bandits without hiring a single man, only to get slaughtered. That makes for an odd first impression. What the game needed was a proper introduction that gradually helps the player get into the game and gives context to their role in the world, without being overbearing.



The above is the new very first thing you see when starting a new campaign. This leads into a first battle and a short story about how you end up being the commander of a mercenary company, sets a suitably grim but not hopeless mood, and gives you a tour through the core gameplay loop. It’s presented as a short contract involving several steps and a series of events and dialogs with manageable bits of text and pretty pictures. And it also gives some explanation as to why you aren’t fighting on the battlefield yourself.

During the tutorial the player is introduced to basic combat mechanics without the danger of being instantly slaughtered, learns about hiring new men and buying equipment, camping and repairing, as well as other important aspects. It’s presented as individual characters explaining things and giving their opinions, and it’s all things specific to this game and doesn’t tax your patience with basic stuff like moving the camera. Although we recommend playing through the introduction at least once, it can be skipped after the first few minutes and you’re free to go anywhere in the world you want.

Raid Battle Track

While working on all the new features you’ve read about these past months, our talented musicians from Breakdown Epiphanies haven’t been lazy, either. We’re happy to say that several new music tracks will come with the update, among them one you can listen to right now.

RAID BATTLE TRACK YOUTUBE

This one is titled the ‘Farm Raiding Battle Track’ and is intended to play when slaughtering peasants and burning down their farmsteads, which is a new thing you may be asked to do with contracts now. It sets a dark and somber mood fitting a scenario like this, and it’s a great track in its own right that will play on various occasions throughout the game - including the very introduction you’ve just learned about.

Hiring Experienced Mercs

Here’s a dilemma: Battles are supposed to be deadly and you’re supposed to be losing men every now and then, yet losing men can hurt a lot in the late game because of the difference in power between fresh recruits and veterans, and because it takes a long time to train up again starting from level 1. We’ve talked about an extended roster as a way to cushion the impact of this in the future, but there’s another thing we’re introducing with the upcoming update: Hiring people that come with a few levels already.



Depending on their background, recruits may now come with higher starting levels. Finding a fisherman or farmhand with combat experience is pretty much out of the question. Not so with a raider, a retired soldier or a sellsword. These backgrounds can be found with some or even a lot of combat experience under their belt, but they’ll ask to be paid handsomely for it. It’s generally cheaper to build up people on your own than to hire ready-made veterans, and you won’t be able to afford any higher level hedge knights in the beginning. In order to not take away too much from the progression of characters, the maximum level at which recruits may come is currently at 5, and that’s already only for a select few backgrounds.

You’ll be able to distribute the attribute points and pick perks yourself upon hiring one of the more experienced recruits. By alleviating the severeness of losing an experienced man and having to start with a new one, we’re hopeful that players are more open to living with the consequences of their men dying in battle.



[lordcooper]

All good stuff, bring on patch day

[Jaysen]

Here is something to shorten the wait:

Let’s Play - Worldmap Update, Episode 1
Here we go again! In anticipation of the big update hitting next Monday, the 29th, our very own Jaysen starts a brand new Let’s Play series with developer commentary to explain all the new additions and changes to the game. You can expect the second episode to hit later this week. Also, spoiler warning.

Let's Play Battle Brothers Worldmap Update, Episode 1


We’ll have a written summary of all the new things together with the update itself.

Preview Twitch Stream with ZiggyD

Youtuber and Streamer ZiggyD will do an exclusive preview live stream of the update this Saturday, the 27th, around 8:30pm GMT / 7:30am AUS / 12:30pm PDT - exact time will follow!

At least one of us developers will be hanging around in the Twitch chat as well, so if you want to talk to us or ask us anything about the game, this is a great opportunity. You can find ZiggyD’s Twitch channel here: http://www.twitch.tv/ziggydlive

Important Reminder

The upcoming update will break savegames! If you want to keep playing your current campaign you should disable automatic updates on Steam for Battle Brothers!

[Anvilfolk]

See, this just makes me jealous I don't get to play it right now It's not helping!

[Jaysen]

Finally it's out! The Worldmap Update:

Worldmap Update Released

Finally, the big worldmap update has arrived!

Battle Brothers has made a huge step towards completion and to how the finished game will play. Below you’ll find a list of all the major changes and additions to the game.

And we're not done yet! Once the dust from the update has settled, we'll return to smaller and more regular updates again so that you're likely to find something new in the game every week. There are several more features (yes, including formations!) and loads of more content we'll be adding until the game leaves Early Access later this year.

As a very small team we depend on your feedback to make this game as good as possible. Please leave us your thoughts and feedback on balancing, progression and gameplay in the forums!

With so many changes, introducing new issues is also pretty much inevitable. If you encounter any bugs, problems or crashes, please let us know in the forum following the instructions there.

Have fun with the update!

New Worldmap

A bigger and all-new procedurally generated worldmap comes with new terrain, oceans and shores, and wild and unexplored parts covered in fog. It’s teeming with life as peasants, caravans, ships, hunters, beasts and many more pursue their goals.

New Settlements

Settlements differ vastly in appearance, size, services they offer, men to hire and goods to buy. Fish is cheapest at fishing villages, more metal-based products can be found at mining settlements and you’ll find men with combat experience at castles.

New Contract Mechanics

Contracts are completely redone. You can now negotiate the terms of payment, and every contract comes with twists to spice things up and keep you on your toes. There’s 9 contracts in the game right now, double the amount of before, and we aim to have several times that for the finished game.

Factions & Relations

Noble houses vie for power and cities are ruled by corrupt councils. Meet the leaders of factions on and off the battlefield, make powerful allies or betray them and feel their wrath. All this in contracts we’ll be adding over the coming months now that the system is in place.

Tracking

All parties travelling the world now leave tracks for you to follow or avoid. Different factions use their own footprints so that you can see at a glance whether it’s humans, orcs or beasts who moved though.

Camping

Make camp to have your men recover from their wounds, repair their equipment and have time pass faster. But be careful, the camp fire will be seen from afar and may attract unwanted attention.

A Proper Introduction

The game now comes with a proper introduction and story to set up the mood and ease you into the open world gameplay with useful advice from other characters.

Additional Music & Sound Effects

Five new music tracks join the already hour-long orchestral soundtrack. Orcs got all of their sounds redone, and the game now has a rich ambient soundscape, from birds, to the wind howling, to people in the streets as you visit one of the many cities of the world.

[Majestic7]

Awesome, can't wait to try this out later.

[Anvilfolk]

Those direwolves though.................

Interface is incredibly responsive, which didn't use to be the case! Makes things flow so much smoother!

[Majestic7]

Well, the update is great otherwise, but making money is very hard. Most settlements don't have any contracts available, so a lot of time is spent wandering on the map looking for work. There should definitely be more basic contracts available, now even covering upkeep costs of the new band is hard.

[Anvilfolk]

Yeah, agreed. It also had to restart twice because I was hunted down by direwolves, once as part of a mission (I had to hunt them). Right now it seems as though I'll have to take any contract that shows up, and then restart the game if it's outside my band's abilities. So maybe there's a bit of balancing to be done.

I'm also getting quite a few crashes, usually before entering locations or starting fights. Some UI problems too (it becomes unresponsive), but after several patches today they seem to have disappeared?

[rumpel]

Great update! A bit unstable, still. Also I can agree on scarce contracts available. I was half landlocked. :S

[Crazy Horse]

Great stuff, guys!

I wonder if there is a way to skip the tutorial intro quest lines? It's a great intro to the game but after a few restarts I miss jumping right in with fully random founders.

As an aside I reccomend using the Dwarf Fortress military screen to name your companies. Hard to resist such gems as:

The Copper Virtues
The Perplexing Beards
The Baited Onions
The Portentous Whiskers
The Confidence of Pumpkins
The Bronze Elbows
The Mutinous Bowels
The Treaties of Shooting

[cider]

Ugh, got my seven men strong company brutally butchered by four direwolves in my first battle after the tutorial.

So this is a warning; direwolves are strong AF, do not engage those furry bastards until you've got a properly equipped company. 

[gimli]

Heh, it's day 2 and Meinhard (archer) managed to kill 2 bros already. 

[Sharp]

Some of the town generation can seem a bit extreme as well.

I accepted the tutorial contract but I should have checked the map first as the nearest "town" was 2 days away so it turns into a 4 day hike to get there and back to the quest village.

Scarce contracts is also something I agree with, chasing random bandits doesn't pay too well for the risk but there is nothing else to do.