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[Retropunch]

I totally get your drift here, we had planned at some point that you have sort of a "trophy room" that you can put trophies in and trick out through the game like in the old civ games if you remember those.

This is an awesome idea. For games with a lot of replayability, it's nice if there's some sort of holdover across games.

I'd say an absolute must buy DLC for me would be if you managed to get some sort of generational capacity into the game. A family mansion with trophies, and possibly some sort of small generational buffs for the next play through if you beat some quests/requirements (2% off hiring fees if you collected over xyz gold) in the previous one would be great.

[Ludorum Rex]

I am so very torn about the coming release. On one hand, I want the release to come already, so I can play with all these amazing new features and improvements. On the other hand, I don't want the release to happen because it will be a massive source of temptation and distraction from my work and chores.

I am so baffled that Battle Brothers hasn't gotten more attention from the gaming media/blogosphere, and I really hope the release goes well. Really happy to hear about the map improvements - that's probably my main issue with the game at the moment. Getting an annoying map makes the game a lot less fun.

[Knave]

One of the weird disconnects for me is that you play a faceless/nameless captain, but do not contribute on the battlefield, or have any chances to level yourself.

There is so much flavour in this game where you get to name your companions, and equip them, and help shape and guide who they become. And these warriors will drink with you and ask for your input on important decisions, but you are never really present in the world.

You don't have a name.
You can't pick up a weapon and fight.
You don't level up.
You don't grow.

Personally I think it would make much more sense to start you off as one of the three survivors. Perhaps have some basic character creation to help guide what sort of soldier you want to be. The rest can remain the same.

By default if your character died, the game would be over, or you could select an easy-mode where your character can only be heavily injured instead.

Does anyone else feel similarly?

[Wiles]

Personally I am fine with being a nameless and faceless commander who isn't one of the warriors on the field. I especially would not like it if I had one character that if they died the game was over.

I am happy with the way things are now in that regard. I'm much more interested in greater depth of the band as a whole like the trophy room and memorials that were mentioned by Jaysen in previous posts.

[ThtblovesDF]

I figured I was the company, which makes sense. The Captain is whoever I think is the captain (or highest resolve), so you can name a guy the Captain if you'd like - but they die, the company continues and so does its story.

It's like the ship that sailed the world and in the end not a single part of it, including crew remained the same - yet it was still the same ship.

[Jaysen]

There always was a big discussion about the whole topic of having a player character. However, for us it never was an issue because our main inspiration for the game was the original Xcom and in the xcom series the player has no name, no character, does not appear at all on screen but he gets directly addressed all the time. It seemed okay for everybody first so we did not expect this to come up for our game. This was a very early and basic game design decision that also can not be changed easily.

There are a couple of issues with having a player character in a world where permadeath is a big thing. So two options: Either, the player is unkillable. This was out of the question as all characters in the game are killable (most die quite quickly as well ) so having one character that can not die would completely break immersion. On top of that, players could exploit this by just sending him constantly into suicide charges without fear of losing him and we do not want that kind of gameplay in BB.
Second option: The player character can die like all others. Now we have a game of babysitting one character as it would be game over once he is killed. Players would keep the captain in the back line and have to keep him out of combat because it could be a very quick game over if he was actually fighting. With the leader in the back not fighting there would be a pretty similar situation to a non-present "meta" leader.

So having a player character would have been a good option as well, don't get me wrong, but it would have been a different kind of game in the end.

[Knave]

You raise great points Jaysen, and as always I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to threads like these! Hadn't considered the X-Com approach.

Maybe something to consider down the line is having the captain level up slowly as well and unlock company wide benefits, like world map speed buffs, morale boosts, or tools getting more repair points. I know resources/time is limited though

[Tack]

Don't know if you want to have the "captain" level up, I honestly prefer Jayson's way;
However, company experience sounds like an awesome idea, and would also be a leap in the right direction re: the "Getting back on your feet" issue.

Of course, what on earth would go in there and why they'd want to extend the budget and timeline accordingly are different questions.

But I'll add my thanks for continuing to reply even though your community base has gotten much wider than us now.

[Ludorum Rex]

I think the current "faceless" captain works just fine. If it was to work differently, I'd prefer one of the brothers being the captain and leadership being passed in case of death, and there being minimal mechanical impact from the position.

[Anvilfolk]

I am so baffled that Battle Brothers hasn't gotten more attention from the gaming media/blogosphere, and I really hope the release goes well. Really happy to hear about the map improvements - that's probably my main issue with the game at the moment. Getting an annoying map makes the game a lot less fun.

They actually recently got featured on Rock, Paper, Shotgun!

I'm sure that'll up sales for a bit

[Tack]

"It's really very hard"

A glowing recommendation.

[Jaysen]

I am so baffled that Battle Brothers hasn't gotten more attention from the gaming media/blogosphere, and I really hope the release goes well. Really happy to hear about the map improvements - that's probably my main issue with the game at the moment. Getting an annoying map makes the game a lot less fun.

They actually recently got featured on Rock, Paper, Shotgun!

I'm sure that'll up sales for a bit

hehe yeah, came as a complete surprise to us! I would have whished for some more info on how Brendan actually liked the game (or not liked the game) and less description of what has happened in the game

[Anvilfolk]

Yeah, some folks in the comments said exactly that, and he did answer!

This is also just a quick look at Early Access games, not really a review yet. I'm sure that'll come in time! I do agree though, but after a little bit of thought, it's clear he had all of these stories to tell about the game, and that's a really good sign.

And the end quote really does it for me:

There’s a precise crowd who will love this, and I suspect you’ll already know if that’s you.

[Jaysen]

As promised here is the last blog of the year on the endgame and the "late game crises" as we call them. They are designed to give a real goal to the game and create a climactic challenge at the end:

Dev Blog #92: Late Game Crises
Here we go with a dev blog many of you have been waiting for. After ambitions and retirement, late game crises, also known as the ‘Greater Evil’, are the third aspect of adding more purpose and challenge to the game that we’re going to introduce with the upcoming update. Let’s find out what it’s all about!

The Greater Evil

Older players may remember that when Battle Brothers first entered Early Access, enemy factions would keep on growing and eventually overpower the world of man, if not kept in check by the player. For all the many balancing issues this raised, it certainly had a cool thing about it: the world was changing around you, and what you did had a tangible impact on the world. As we’re nearing the point now where all of the game mechanics are done, we’re going to re-introduce the ability of enemy factions to start an invasion and overrun the world. Only this time, it will be part of one of three different late game crises, and it will be supported by unique contracts, events and gameplay mechanics.

So, where to start? A late game crisis happening is not optional, but you do have some options on customizing them for your campaign. As you start a new campaign, you’ll be able to choose between a random late game crisis (the default), a war between noble houses, a greenskin invasion or the undead arising. A random crisis is probably slightly harder, because you can’t prepare for a specific enemy right from the start, but if you prefer fighting any particular enemy, or just want to see them in action, you can determine the flavor of your future challenge here.



As the name implies, a late game crisis only really kicks in until after some time into your campaign, allowing you to build up your company to a respectable level first. Once the crisis starts, it occurs in two phases.

The first phase is the buildup where you’ll encounter warning signs - like events about more greenskin sightings, greenskin camps creeping up closer to settlements, and more contracts that deal with their presence - and can choose to prepare accordingly. Not that long after the first phase, the second phase will start, and this is where the crisis really begins. What happens exactly depends on the type of crisis;

In the event of a greenskin invasion, orcs and goblins will combine forces and no longer fight each other, even sometimes attack in mixed units, which will challenge even experienced companies. They will aggressively expand into human territory with new camps, send raiding parties to pillage any attached locations (e.g. wheat farms, mines, watchtowers) and ultimately burn settlements to the ground. Attached locations act as hitpoints for settlements - only after every single such location has been destroyed, can the settlement itself be destroyed. Burned-down locations will eventually be rebuilt, if you defend a settlement for long enough, but settlements destroyed entirely will remain so permanently. Contracts against greenskins will be more frequent, and there’ll be several new contracts in the game specifically for the greenskin invasion, as well as around a dozen new events.



In the event of the undead arising, the ancient dead will combine forces with necromancers and wiedergängers, which otherwise are independent factions. The air will be filled with dark magic, and there’s a chance that anyone, no matter how they died, will return as a wiedergänger. Like with the greenskin invasion, there’s several new contracts in the game specifically for dealing with the undead, as well as around a dozen new events that focus on them. The undead, too, seek to destroy the world of man and will burn down locations attached to settlements. Unlike greenskins, however, they won’t destroy settlements entirely but rather turn them into an undead necropolis - a heavily fortified base from which the walking dead pour down to sow dread and despair.



In the event of a war between noble houses, regiments will be sent forth from fortifications not to destroy settlements, but to capture them in the name of their lords. Contracts and events will allow you to partake in the assault on fortifications and large battles, but siding with one of the warring factions will make enemies of the other. You’ll more frequently have to face other mercenary companies on the battlefield, and bandits and deserters, too, will thrive. All three late game crises will introduce new mechanics and objectives with their contracts - such as the greenskin siege engine shown below.



The late game crises tie into both ambitions and retirement; you’ll be able to choose the ambition to repel a greenskin invasion, for example, and doing so will make sure that the name of your mercenary company will live on for a long time, unlocking a new step on the retirement ladder. Ending one of the crises is a ‘soft end’ to the game - you’ve basically won and will be asked if you want to retire from the company at this point, but you can also choose to keep on playing if you want. If you do choose to keep on playing with your company, a new and different late game crisis will eventually start, and you’ll be tested in a different way, and so on.

There’s a lot of work going into these late game crises, so we’ll be working for several weeks exclusively on those.

See You Next Year!

With the Christmas holidays rapidly approaching, this has been this year’s last dev blog. We’ll resume our schedule of weekly dev blogs starting with a new one on January 6th, 2017. Take care and see you next year!

[Tack]

Enjoy your Christmas! You deserve the break!

Questions re: existing features
Does war between noble houses become more or less likely based on their relations to eachother (such as the "changing hands" style quests)?
How do factions work re: raising regiments? Would a noble house made stronger via a war be more able to resist a greenskin invasion later?
Do Nachzehrer join up with an undead uprising?

Questions re: possible and future features
Any plans to reintroduce werewolves (or Weriuuolfen) or has that ship sailed with the introduction of direwolves? Beasts as a "faction" seem underdeveloped and kind of "early-game only." Any discussion been had about ghoul-ing them?

Will the kingdoms of man also "scale up" for the onset of a major crisis? New barracks, raising regiments, building watchtowers and the like?

It's a long shot, but are we likely to get siege battles? Something about dealing with large waves of disadvantaged enemies appearing on the lip of a wall appeals to the "fatigue management" gremlin in me.


Once again you've made an awesome game here and I'm in cold anticipation for the full release.