Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[a1s]

Well since towns (unlike economic sites) can't be destroyed, it makes sense they would be created either. Otherwise by the end of the campaign your whole map would be covered in towns.

[Jaysen]

Hey there, we have been working a lot on bugs, balance and progression since the update. Now we came back around to start adding more content. Here are the latest two updates to the game including a changelog:

Worldmap Update 0.6.0.16

This update adds a reimagined version of the 'Escort Caravan' contract to the game. You're now part of the actual caravan and don't have to manually travel alongside it anymore. While the caravan travels, controls are locked from you, but time will pass faster until the destination is reached. The contract doubles as a way to fast-travel around the world and may also give you added safety with the caravan hands and guards in the beginning of the game. Be sure to take ample provisions before you start your journey!

The contract system has seen a general change. Contracts now vary in difficulty and payment as indicated by a rating of between one and three skulls. If you've taken some losses and need to rebuild your company, taking on easier contracts with a one-skull-rating might be a wise decisions. On the other hand, if you don't feel challenged enough, take on a contract with a three-skull-rating and get paid handsomely. Note that the skull ratings are rough estimations and don't necessarily mean that a contract has to always be easy or hard for you. In an open world you can always run into roaming enemies, and how you fare against certain opponents will depend heavily on your equipment, leveling and tactics.

Finally, this update also adds our first all-new combat environment: the dry and flat steppe. Here's how it looks in the game.



Changelog
Added new 'Escort Caravan' contract.
Added two new events.
Added steppe combat environment.
Added more debug output to logfile in order to help track down some remaining issues.

Changed contracts to vary in difficulty (and payment) as indicated by a rating of between one to three skulls.
Changed larger settlement factions to potentially offer more than one contract at a time.
Changed Orc Line Battle scenario to take place in the steppe.
Changed Riposte appearing as a negative factor in the hitchance breakdown only when the opponent is actually in range to execute a counter-attack.

Fixed potential crash on worldgen.
Fixed destinations for 'Armed Courier' contract not being uncovered on the map in some cases.
Fixed issue with AI of Withered Vampires that prevented them from using the Darkflight skill in some cases.
Fixed issue with AI of Orc Warriors that had them use the Line Breaker skill when they shouldn't.
Fixed armor for helmets displayed as floating point value in some cases.
Fixed wrong effectiveness vs. armor of pitchfork.
Fixed various text errors.

Worldmap Update 0.6.0.14
We close the second week after the big worldmap update with a larger update.

There are a few changes of note: We now support Steam Cloud saving, direwolves have finished their transformation from the werewolves of old to a new identity with visuals of their own, balance and progression has been smoothed out a bit to make for less rocky gameplay, and the level-up system for attributes has changed.



The change to the level-up system isn't necessarily permanent, as we'll look at leveling as a whole again together with going over all the perks later on during development, but we felt that this was a change we needed to make now. The system previously in place lacked transparency and thus led to some confusion and ultimately frustration as people misinterpreted how it worked. The new system should be easier to understand and offer a better strategic choice on levelup on how to best develop your Battle Brothers. It works like this: You can now see all levelup rolls right from the start (without going through the pick/cancel motion like most players did) and pick three values you want. Levelup values are re-rolled for each level and no longer stick until picked.

We'll continue to work on any technical or balancing issues that may pop up, but with most now out of the way we'll transition to adding new content to the game again come next week. What new content is that?

Our next major milestone is redoing all the combat environments already in the game, as well as adding new combat environments for every terrain type found on the worldmap. Here is an early preview.



While we're at it, we'll also look at some usability issues in combat (primarily with forests) and add some quality of life improvements (like an option to end combat early once all enemies are fleeing). Finally, we'll keep adding additional contracts to the game. There are 11 more already written and waiting to be implemented, and we have plans for even more.

Changelog
Added automatic synchronization of savegames on Steam Cloud.
Added a chance for Withered Vampires to carry named weapons.
Added new visuals for Direwolves.

Changed level-up system for attributes. You can now see all levelup rolls right from the start and pick the three values you want. Levelup values are re-rolled for each level and no longer stick until picked.
Changed chance to get drunk on paying for rounds in the tavern to be lower.
Changed opposition in contracts to better match player strength throughout the campaign.
Changed roaming enemies to be slightly easier to take on in the early game and scale better into the lategame.
Changed treasure items to be sold at full value, like trading goods are, and be somewhat more valuable than before in order to make exploring and looting locations on your own more worthwhile.
Changed 'Patrol' contract to have the player be more likely to face opposition on the road.
Changed 'Patrol' contract to have a time limit of ten days and show both the time remaining and the number of heads collected in the objective panel.
Changed a few perk descriptions to make things more clear.
Changed name of 'Fletcher's Hut' on the worldmap to 'Arrow Maker's Shed' to avoid confusion about its relation to the 'Fletcher' building inside settlements.

Fixed issue with payment when at negative renown.
Fixed issue with cancel/engage potentially leading to fighting the wrong enemies.
Fixed issue with entities spawning on unreachable tiles in combat.
Fixed poor relations leading to better prices when selling items than with good relations.
Fixed money counter in UI not updating properly when buying food.
Fixed provisions counter in UI not updating properly when selling food.
Fixed direwolves looting other AI parties when they shouldn't because they're animals.
Fixed several issues with location placement at worldgen. Requires starting a new campaign to take effect.
Fixed cause of the game potentially slowing down on the worldmap because of poorly placed harbors, and ships unable to reach them. Requires starting a new campaign to take effect.
Fixed goblin camps spawning orcs in rare cases.
Fixed display issue in 'Armed Courier' contract negotiations.
Fixed issue with AI burning down locations while the player is tasked to destroy them in 'Raze Location' contract.
Fixed missing information on additional fatigue use for named orc weapons in tooltip.
Fixed action point bar not updating properly after picking up or dropping items during combat.
Fixed Goblin Wolfriders potentially becoming untargetable if their mount was killed using the 'Knock Back' skill in combination with the 'Shield Bash' perk.
Fixed issue with ranged AI potentially hanging in combat.
Fixed Arbalesters not having a backup melee weapon.
Fixed mood status effect sometimes not showing on characters after loading a game.
Fixed drunk debuff duration resetting on loading a game.
Fixed issue with change of master volume in the game's audio options not immediately affecting the volume of music currently playing.
Fixed wrong inventory icon for named greataxe.
Fixed various text errors.

[Frank2368]

Thanks for another great update! The frequency of your recent updates really shows your dedication to the development game, keep it up!

Also, I really, really love the art style for the armour and weapons in this game. Despite the fantasy setting, this is one of the rare games with equipment that is based upon a specific period in actual history rather than a vague medieval-like world. Nothing really stands out as anachronistic and I appreciate the effort you guys put in.

[Jaysen]

Thanks for the kind words! We indeed put a lot of effort into having historical or at least pseudo-historical arms and armor in the game. There is too much spikey-impractical-dragonskin armor out there in other games

Regarding our weekly update: We are slowly getting there, not many environments left. This week it is the Tundra:

Worldmap Update 0.6.0.18
This week’s update adds a new combat environment: the tundra. Flat and stony plains, sparse vegetation and a unique look make it stand out among the growing collection of different environments to do battle in. Here’s how it looks in the game.



Next up is a reimagined version of the forest environment. We have a pretty good idea now on what we want to do in order to have fighting there feel unique but at the same time get rid of some of the usability issues currently haunting it. While the new forest didn’t quite make it in this week, a related quality of life improvement did. You can now find an optional ‘Always Hide Trees’ setting in the game’s option menu to always hide the top part of trees, whether they occlude a character or not.

A large chunk of the last two weeks was spent discussing where we want to take the game from here, budgeting and planning things out. You can expect the result of this, a detailed blog post about what we’re going to add to or change about the game during the remainder of Early Access, right here next week.

Have a nice weekend!

Changelog

Added tundra combat environment.
Added optional ‘Always Hide Trees’ setting.

Changed smaller trees and boulders to only have their top part translucent when a character is positioned behind them, and no longer turn translucent as a whole, in order to make things more clear.
Changed noble house contracts to be bound to a single settlement once they’ve been fully negotiated in order to avoid some potential issues if the player accepts them at a different location later on.
Changed durability of some two-handed weapons and bows to be slightly higher.
Changed ‘Wolfriders’ scenario to take place on tundra terrain.

Fixed rare crash after loading a game from the worldmap.
Fixed potentially wrong ‘Bought for’ values in the tooltip of food and trading goods after looting them or loading a game.
Fixed issue with ‘Armed Courier’ contract.
Fixed another issue of characters sometimes appearing as injured after loading when having certain character traits.
Fixed barber missing a hair style.
Fixed various text errors.

[Retropunch]

Awesome work as usual!
I was thinking about how cool it would be to have one off battles/creatures that you could get contracts for. Kinda Witcher style, in terms of that it's one (or a small group) of very powerful enemies, which may need special items/tactics to win against, but with a big reward.

So there might be a vampire lord which you need to deal with, but you'd require silver weapons to deal with it first. This would encourage different tactics as you couldn't really equip all your warriors with them, so you'd need to get those warriors in place whilst getting your others to provide cover.

   

[Jaysen]

I also like the witcher stlye monster-slaying - really good sport ; )

We have planned to implement some more large beasts so that you maybe even fight only one monster but its really big and powerful. I just hope we can find the time to get it in the game among all the other things.

[Tack]

Just discovered this on steam (on sale), had to get it.

Funny that my first post was 'wrong board' malarkey, and now that I've actually played it, it's everything I want. Damn us DF players being a niche market.

[Jaysen]

Here is another blog update from us, to read up on what you might have missed head over to our blog page at www.battlebrothersgame.com!

Dev Blog #79: Progress Update - Injury Mechanics


Battle Brothers, as you know, is a game about managing a mercenary company. This week we’re talking about a new aspect to manage both on the battlefield and when travelling the world: the upcoming injury mechanics. There’s two types of injuries - temporary and permanent ones - and they both serve a different purpose in enriching the game. Let’s delve in!

Temporary Injuries

Temporary injuries add complexity to both combat and worldmap gameplay. They are effectively status effects that represent serious injury that diminish a character’s ability to fight effectively, different from lighter wounds by loss of hitpoints only. Depending on where a character is injured, they may suffer from various disabilities; for example, an injured leg may impede movement, whereas an injured arm may lower offensive capabilities, and a swollen eye may lower vision.



In combat, injuries are inflicted if an attack surpasses a certain threshold of hitpoint damage relative to the maximum hitpoints of the character hit. The higher the maximum hitpoints of a character, the more difficult it is to inflict injury upon them, and the more damage inflicted, the more serious the potential injury may be. This applies to both your Battle Brothers and your enemies - it’s easier to inflict serious injury to fragile Goblins than sturdy Orcs, or to those of your men that have a lot of hitpoints. A select few enemies may also be immune to some or all types of injuries. The type of injury inflicted depends on the weapon used, with blunt weapons inflicting different injuries from cutting or piercing ones. With the new injury mechanics, combatants will no longer be able to fight to their fullest at even just a single hitpoint left, but will now progressively get weaker as you beat on them.

Outside of combat, temporary injuries take a certain amount of time to heal - how long exactly depends on the specific injury, with a broken leg taking quite a bit longer to recover from than a light concussion. While you can send your injured right back into combat, it’s a good idea to make use of the reserve roster so that they can recover and don’t have to limp onto the battlefield. Injured characters have icons shown right next to them in the roster view, allowing you to see at a glance who’s fit and who may need to sit out a contract. In order to make the best out of the men available to you at any given time, you’ll now have to shuffle your roster every now and then, which should help to shake up what could previously become too static a gameplay element once you had assembled a good team.



If you’ve played Battle Brothers before, you’ll be aware of certain events that may end in fists flying amongst your men, particularly with certain party compositions, or combat drills ending in accidents. Consequences were previously limited to a loss of hitpoints very quickly healed by passing time. Now, events can also come with injury as a consequence, like a broken nose as your men beat on each other, which should make for a more serious concern as you weigh your options.



Finally, the upcoming update will also have the temple building serve a function. In temples across the land, devout followers of the gods will pray for and treat the wounds of the pantheon’s children as mandated by their faith. Your men will recover faster from injuries expertly treated here, and you don’t run the risk of developing gangrene like you do in the field. The bandages shown on your characters are even visibly replaced by clean ones.

Permanent Injuries

Life expectancy can be short for mercenaries. But while permadeath is and will remain an important part of Battle Brothers, not every downed character has to be quite dead. Assuming a character isn’t decapitated, has their skull bashed in or suffered a similarly gruesome fate, there’s now a chance for them to survive with a permanent injury that will accompany them the rest of their lives.



A character may get lucky and suffer an injury that has only a minor impact on their abilities, such as missing an ear, or they may suffer a more crippling disability, such as missing a whole hand. Permanent injuries all have negative effects, but some may also include positive ones. Brain damage, for example, doesn’t make a character any more competent, but it may make them just dumb enough not to realize when it’s time to run, effectively lowering their chance to break and flee.

Depending on the injury sustained and the role of the character in your company, a permanent injury may be anything from a small reminder to be more careful next time, to a crippling disability. From a design perspective it is a tool to cushion the impact that losing important characters can have on your campaign. Whether you choose to ultimately replace that character or not, they’ll be around for a while longer to help you succeed - especially useful with the optional Ironman mode we’ll be introducing next update. Also, of course, missing noses make for distinct characters and contribute to the emergent story of your very own mercenary company.

[Elfeater]

Reminds me of the critical system from Dark Heresy

[Majestic7]

Suggestion - maybe we should a tiny chance for getting beneficial "permanent injuries" occasionally. Something like someone getting a cracked skull, healing from it but becoming unhinged resulting in fearlessness. Or wounds infected by the undead giving immunity to pain (and a promise of turning into undead somewhere in the future, but hey, sellswords don't live long anyway).

[ventuswings]

I think having positive traits associated with the detrimental injury is the bonus.

Would personally avoid having any net positive effects for "death" because it'd encourage players in the wrong way.
Besides being jarring gameplay-wise in my opinion (I did not like the buffed sanity mechanic in Darkest Dungeon as well), some players could take wrong message from it and misunderstand the intent of mechanic.

[dennislp3]

I don't see the point in worrying about that...if people don't understand the intention...then they are not paying attention. I also doubt people are going to farm a bunch of injuries by suicide...I am guessing the positive aspects are rare and don't make up for the fact that you lose people and plenty of good traits along the way.

As for the darkest dungeon sanity thing...that's explained pretty well in game too...and is meant to help prevent ALWAYS losing when something thrashes your whole parties morale in 2 turns. It takes the negative consequences and adds in a small chance for positive to help alleviate it always being bad which is far more enjoyable.

[Retropunch]

I like this a lot - could this also come with modifiers? So if one of your mercs has 'glass skull' they've got more of a chance of a head injury, whilst if they have 'strong bones' they might be less likely to get a break, but might also be less accurate. I'd imagine this might lead to some interesting situations - this guy looks great, but his glass skull might make him a liability, or that you wouldn't normally hire a lowly farmer, but as he has a strong bones and a hard head he'd be a good person to train up.

[symonthewise]

Unfortunatly a recent update broke the game for me. I have an integrated graphix chip tho so I guess as I understand. Still dissapointing

[Cthulhu]

I think having positive traits associated with the detrimental injury is the bonus.

Would personally avoid having any net positive effects for "death" because it'd encourage players in the wrong way.
Besides being jarring gameplay-wise in my opinion (I did not like the buffed sanity mechanic in Darkest Dungeon as well), some players could take wrong message from it and misunderstand the intent of mechanic.

Even if it is, who cares?  It's a single-player game.

Decided to come back to it after a while.  I remember having a lot of fun with one round but only when I played it on normal.  It kind of had an awkward difficulty curve where Normal was too easy and Difficult was pretty much "fuck you, start over"

Right now I"m mostly in the latter.  Getting myself set up only to immediately get crushed doing the same tactics I used successfully before.  Group up, shield wall, use bash and spear wall to limit their ability to get on you.  Bonk, bonk, bonk, people dying in one shot under shield wall, half my team exploding in one turn, fuck you, start over.

Two-handed axes still seem pretty useless so at least that's the same.  I guess maybe with a higher level guy they might be useful but even with elevation they miss most of the time and die instantly if someone turns on them.