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[Knave]

Really liking where this is going, guys!

I know in the past you've said the focus is to stay as a wandering band of mercs, but have you put any thought into having late game land/title holding?

Probably far out of scope from what is feasible for this game release, but the idea of having a base to operate from and perhaps ordering a few parties around the map could be very intriguing as an expansion

[Anvilfolk]

This update makes me very, very excited.

That is all.

[Jaysen]

Really liking where this is going, guys!

I know in the past you've said the focus is to stay as a wandering band of mercs, but have you put any thought into having late game land/title holding?

Probably far out of scope from what is feasible for this game release, but the idea of having a base to operate from and perhaps ordering a few parties around the map could be very intriguing as an expansion

Having your own land and titles will not happen in the base game. As you already mentioned the focus is a wandering band of mercenaries. Having land and a fiefdom is reserved for lords knights and other nobility - which you are not. Owning land was a pribilege of the nobility. Another thing would be sort of a mercenary hideout or headquarters but we wont be able to get that into the base game.

[Jaysen]

It has already been a week since the last post so here is part two on factions:

Dev Blog #58: Progress Update - Factions, Part 2

Last week we’ve talked about the introduction of different human factions to the world of Battle Brothers, another important feature that will change how the game is played. We’ll continue this now and talk some more about noble houses, settlements and relations, as well as what place Orcs and Goblins now have. Let’s get started!

Settlements

We’ve already talked previously about how settlements on the new worldmap are quite a bit more numerous and diverse. What you probably don’t know is that those settlements are also small factions of their own. Whether independent or controlled by a noble house, these factions are represented by a mayor, elder or ruling council and have their own agenda - mainly revolving around protecting their people and trade opportunities. Consequently, they’ll offer different kinds of contracts to the player than noble houses might do. Less concerned with global politics, and more about what is going on in their immediate area.

Noble houses each start with a small region consisting of several settlements under their control. For most, that isn’t enough, however, so they’ll seek to gain control over more settlements, whether they’re neutral or need to be wrestled from the hands of other house. Depending on a noble house’s traits they have a variety of measures to bring a settlement in their sphere of influence. This can be precious bribes, intimidating village elders or helping settlements against threats like orc raids. The conflict between noble houses while competing over settlements will be one of the core drives behind the game by creating lots of various contracts for the player to pick up.



Noble houses don’t rely entirely on mercenaries of course, but can also muster troops of their own. The above image shows a selection of shields and armor bearing their banner for a nicely consistent look on the battlefield.

Relations

In order for the world to feel reactive to the player’s behavior and to introduce more consequences to your actions, we’re introducing a relations mechanic. The player will have a relation value to each and every faction, including independent settlements, and this value determines how positive or negative the player is viewed by them. For example, relations will drop if the player attacks a village's trade caravan or does anything else detrimental to that village. On the other hand, relations will improve when the player helps out a faction by completing contracts for them.

Relations can have consequences all the way from lower prices, better contract conditions and more potential recruits, down to merchants refusing to sell anything to the player out of spite or even people attacking the player on sight. Because completing contracts for one faction may often be to the detriment of another, it’s up to the player to navigate in a way that they don’t make more enemies than they need to.

Other Factions

The enemies will also see some changes in order to fit into the new order of things. Much like the different human noble houses, Orcs and Goblins, too, now consist of several individual factions. Different Orc clans will act independently from another, and will for the most part also attack each other. The same holds true for different Goblin city states.



For the new worldmap, we want the different kinds of enemies to feel much more distinct, both by where they appear and by what kinds of actions they can perform. To be more in line with our Orc lore, they'll now truly be nomadic in nature; individual clans are massive hordes that never stay in one place for long and leave a wake of destruction wherever they happen to travel. Goblins, as per their lore, will now live in large underground cities in mountains.



What about the greater evil? As we explained in last week’s progress update, we want to shift the game’s focus away from the notion of a single great threat every game that also determines the winning condition of a playthrough. This concept just doesn’t fit well the open world approach we decided to go for. Not all is lost, however, as Orcs, Goblins and Undead can now experience special events causing a surge in power. As individual orc clans unite for a time and sweep across the world, or the undead rise from their graves, new challenges arise for the player. Repelling an invasion such as this will no longer end the game or be a winning condition, but will bring variety to the game and change the playing field without constricting you to follow a linear story.

[gimli]

Nice, the game is shaping up very nicely! 

[Sharp]

Sploosh

[Greenbane]

I recently got the game, and so far I'm very pleased with it. Would all this stuff about the new map, settlement extras and factions make it into the next update, or are you covering what will be gradually implemented throughout several patches? It looks amazing.

And an unrelated question: will the AI battle behaviour change depending on the faction you're fighting? I ask because I recently watched a LP featuring combat versus goblins, and they seemed pretty disciplined and defensive. Sure, they were up against a heavily armoured mercenary band, but I'd have thought goblins would be more aggressive and even reckless at times. So that got me thinking about faction-based battle AI:

• Humans could tend to be cautious and defensive, professional forces more so than random bandits.
• Undead could behave similarly to humans, keeping discipline but being more aggressive and relentless (basically never retreating). Zombies in particular would essentially beeline towards enemies, without any regard for tactics or self-preservation.
• Orcs could be aggressive but not necessarily reckless, save for berserkers and the like.
• Goblins could be very aggressive and reckless for the most part, seeking to overwhelm single opponents.

I've only just begun to play the game, so please forgive me if this is already part of it or in future plans.

At any rate, keep up the excellent work! :D

[Majestic7]

Do we get some sort of endgame, though?

I think an option to retire would be something fitting to the spirit of the game. Then you would get a short blurb about the fates of your surviving BB's after the band is disbanded and the wealth divided among them. Mayhaps with options to acquire stuff even to the point of becoming feudal lords yourself or the like.

[Jaysen]

And an unrelated question: will the AI battle behaviour change depending on the faction you're fighting? I ask because I recently watched a LP featuring combat versus goblins, and they seemed pretty disciplined and defensive. Sure, they were up against a heavily armoured mercenary band, but I'd have thought goblins would be more aggressive and even reckless at times.

The enemy factions all have different AI behaviours pretty much like you mentioned. Zombies will indeed mindlessly run into your spearwalls while other enemies will try to avoid spearwalls and so on. Orcs do also tend to rush towards you but Goblins are meant to be pretty defensive. Given their small size and low hitpoints they can not afford any recklessness in combat. Also, according to their lore they are a rather disciplined enemy with overseers directing the tropps in combat.

[Jaysen]

Do we get some sort of endgame, though?

I think an option to retire would be something fitting to the spirit of the game. Then you would get a short blurb about the fates of your surviving BB's after the band is disbanded and the wealth divided among them. Mayhaps with options to acquire stuff even to the point of becoming feudal lords yourself or the like.

Defining an end to Battle Brothers is a bit like for Civilization - it is really tricky

Right now we are thinking about certain win conditions but have no conclusion yet. We are thinking about accumulating a certain amount of fame or money. Whatever we decide to go with we will definitely let the player chose to continue is game endlessley even when reaching the win conditions.

[Jaysen]

aaand time again for our weekly update. This time we can show you the standard bearers and knights of the noble houses:

Dev Blog #59: Progress Update - Standard Bearers & Knights

Work on factions in the world of Battle Brothers continues and ties into the tactical combat part of the game this week, as noble houses get lots of nifty stuff to wear and get their own identity  on the battlefield. Also, work on new contract mechanics has started. Let’s take a closer look!

What’s been happening?

Like with all opponents in the game (and in this case, allies as well) we want noble houses to have an identity of their own and pose a unique challenge on the battlefield, to require different tactics from beating, say, orcs or bandits. To this end, noble houses will have access to equipment not otherwise available and make use of skills and tactics that differentiate them especially from other human opponents. We’ll cover all the units available to them in detail with their lore at a later point, but for now, here is a preview of what is to come.



Noble houses make use of standard bearers with any full company. Not only do they look impressive and give a sense of organized and regimental warfare lacking with other opponents, they passively raise the morale and will to fight of nearby troops. In addition, they can make use of the ‘Rally’ skill, just like the player can - blowing a horn to push their comrades to go the extra mile.

The single most dangerous individual unit employed by noble houses is the knight. A man of noble birth, trained from youth in the use of weapons and warfare, steeled in experience by combat and attending tourneys across the land. Their station affords them the best equipment available, and their helms may be adorned with ridiculously intricate decoration that picks up themes of the noble house they serve. This decoration is in fact based on what knights have historically worn - although, while in reality this was usually limited to parades and tourneys, we took the artistic license of making it a custom for knights to display their station and grandeur in this way in the world of Battle Brothers in all situations. It makes for a nice contrast to have knights care so much for their presentation, to stage themselves as untouchable warriors and connoisseurs of the fine arts, only to end up all muddy and bloody on the battlefield like any soldier of common birth. Speaking of battlefields, knights come with partially randomized perks to reflect that each knight has his very own experiences, strengths and weaknesses in combat.

At the same time, work on the new and completely redone contract mechanics has started. We’re currently prototyping to make sure that everything works out as planned and will have a dedicated update or two to let you know all about them within the next few weeks.

[DoomOnion]

Can we expect to see mounted sergeants / knights from noble houses?

Will the game support cavalry?

[Jaysen]

The issue of horses has been raised quite some times but we wont be able to put it into the game at the moment.
Mounts would change the focus of small infantry fights to more large scale and big scope battles. Also having horses would change a lot of the mechanics of the game essentially changing what the game is about so we went with no horses for now.

[Majestic7]

It is a fantasy world so maybe there simply aren't any horses. After all, Americas didn't have any either. It might even be an interesting subversion of the fantasy tropes, though it would affect the world logistics somewhat. Like the fact that the fastest speed for a courier would be jogging instead of riding hard, pony express -style.

[DoomOnion]

It is a fantasy world so maybe there simply aren't any horses. After all, Americas didn't have any either. It might even be an interesting subversion of the fantasy tropes, though it would affect the world logistics somewhat. Like the fact that the fastest speed for a courier would be jogging instead of riding hard, pony express -style.

That's actually very clever. Horses don't exist!

I just asked because we already have goblin wolf riders, and I figured a fully armored mounted knight would ramp up the challenge significantly, and give the players to actually use a pike as opposed to a greatsword