SP Dark Ages The Sword And The Axe

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I could swear the first version had diplomacy Did you remove it?

There are some obvious and simple bugs which you probably already know about, Ships on land desert bandits stuck in place on the large center lake etc. Some weapons and armor corrections still need to be done.

Still, it is looking a lot better. The main thing was getting rid of the Khergit/ Sarranid scenes. I would say you are working your way down now.
 
Yeah, I know of most of these bugs, simple things that most of them are fixed and will be released as a patch. As for Diplomacy, n it isn't implemented ad was not in the 1st version either. You are referring to some tweaks and small scripts of my own, which are still present. :smile:
 
I'm still tearing through the new version and thought I might mention a few more changes/ bugs that need to be addressed. Of course if you already know about these then simply ignore it but I assume you value the feedback.

1. There are still random bridges all over the map that don't span any waterway and look odd.
2. Longboats on land and "mainland bandit" parties stuck on the water.
3. Horse prices. A lame courser is way more expensive than a heavy northern horse.
4. Helmet prices. There is a nasal helmet that is fairly common in the armor shops and it is way more expensive than stronger better helmets. A rusty nasal helmet might cost more than a thick or reinforced vendel or chieftan helmet.
5. Sword lengths. The viking long swords are shorter than broadswords. The standard faction sword is really short also. Length 84 or 73. These should be changed to between 94 and 102 IMO.There are also some problems with axe length vs the way it looks when a NPC is holding it or has it slung across his back.
6. Lighting. The inventory screen wear you change weapons and armor seems dark and grainy.
7. Too many lords with the same name. If you end up with pairs of Jarl Harald etc. It makes it confusing when trying to assign fiefs or perform other interactions. You might want to consider some more nicknames like "Olad One-Eyed" the make it really easy to keep track of different lords and adds a nice personal flavor to the drone like lords.
8. The sea travel bit should be expanded upon. The player is the only one capable of sea travel. I havent seen any other lords or bandits traveling on water. It would be really nice if the inner lake were somehow accessible via the outer sea. That way you could take your ship to just about anywhere on the map. I'm not sure if this is possible but it would be awesome if you could throw in a fjord or two on some of the narrow strips of land. Viking longboats were designed to travel relatively shallow rivers as well as oceans. If you could figure out a way to get other parties going here and there on the water it would really open this game up.
9. Loot city/castle. This is a fairly common feature on other mods and can really beef up income. You have the choice of looting a castle you have just taken, share it with your other lords etc. I can't think of another mod where this feature would be more appropriate than a viking mod.
10. Soldiers getting stuck during sieges. There are quite a few castles where your men can't go forward. Or they end up trying to defeat the garrison in groups of 2 or 3. Tampere castle has this problem. I recognize some of the castles from other mods and they had the exact same choke points like a ladders the AI cant climb over. They can't follow you or charge on their own. Kampslott is another such castle. Which is a shame because I had never seen it before and when I saw all those tunnels and caverns I was really stoked about assaulting it. I'm not sure what can be done about this. If its just a path finding issue or if the design of some of these castles just doesn't work for WB AI.

Keep in mind that after playing warband for years I am only offering you some suggestions and that is because I REALLY like this mod and want to see you continue to improve on it.

You mentioned some hidden loot before the release of the mod. Did that actually make it in this version? Any hints? Even very vague ones?  :wink:.  (A few minutes after writing this I was playing and found a stash. F'n Awesome!) Is there only one?

You are doing a great job on this. Also, give my regards to the guy that added the new companions and claimants. Pretty well thought out and interesting. I look forward to more from you.
 
Wow, that's a feedback, if I ever saw one! Thank you very much and of course I value it. Now, I will try to answer all I can in the same order.
1. The random bridges problem has been dealt with, it was tedious and I don't know why I didn't do it before.
2. The ships on land bug is relevant to the map, I am still trying to fix that.
3. The horse prices have been further rebalanced. Unfortunately, some of the modifiers(like the lame/heavy etc.) are Native things I cannot do anything to.
4. Thanks for that,some helmet prices really have gotten under the radar and need fixing, I will do it asap. The same as above goes for the modifiers, I can change some of them and the base value, though.
5. About the swords, thanks for that also, you're the first to bringing my attention to that, I will see what I can do, it's a very easy thing to "fix".
6. I will "lighten up" some screens, if they are too dark.
7. Also, that's another easy thing and I have to say I had it in mind, but I am waiting to fix all other pressing issues. Still, it's an important thing.
8. As for the sea travel, the player isn't the only one who can travel on the sea. If you use the show all cheat, and wait somewhere for a couple of seconds, you will notice bandits, manhnters and the like moving through the sea. Also, if you are close to the sea and an enemy is chasing you, he will folow you through the sea(if you have a ship, of coourse). About the fjords, I don't know, seems like a good idea, but I will think it a bit.
9. This feautre seems verygood, but I don't have a clue about making it happen. I will give it some serious research and I will see what can be done. Also, it would help, if you knew of a mod that uses sth like that, so that I can ask them for assisstance.
10.Yes, the stuck soldiers problem is a real tough one. I tried many things, but nothing can be done. It is as you say it, the Native AI just reacts to some changes. But some castles(like Kampslott) have alternative entrances. Have you tried them?

As for the hidden loot, yeah, as you can see it made it to this version. I cannot tell you hints, that will ruin it, but if you guys want to help eache other, do it in PMs and spoilers, don't announce it. I hope you understand. Yes, there are more than one stashes, although only one or two are easy to find(you already found one). The other 2-3 are very, VERY difficult to find. Also, I tried to put all the set pieces of the hidden loot together.

About our scripter, he is a she, not a guy, a girl and yes, she is amazing. I also think that the new stories are veryinteresting and novel.

Finally, thank you, that's a proper comment section and it greatly helps me speed up my work, by organizing things from another point of view. If more of you have things to say, please, do so!
 
Yeah, the option to loot town/castle after a successful siege is a diplomacy feature AFAIK. After finishing a brief play through of version 1 of your mod, I was checking out Gekokujo while I waited for you to release version 2 and it was definitely in there. After you conquer a town or castle you go to screen where you sort prisoner captured or rescued then to the looting screen, then to the screen where you decide if you will keep the place for yourself or give it to a vassal. After that a screen comes up and says you can loot the place and it is wort X denars. You can keep it all to yourself, distribute it between the vassals accompanying you or to all of your vassals. I know I have seen it in other mods too. I suppose I could help you chase down the source of it if you are swamped with other things.

Also, if anyone is interested, TWEAK MB does work on this mod.

I changed my kingdom color to black so that it doesn't look similar to Danemark.

Changed the enemy lord escape rate to 50%. It just seems more realistic than the WB default of 70%.

Changed to effect of building watchtower in villages to cut down on the unrealistic forever looted status that occurs frequently in MB.

Increased the chance that you will get higher tier troops when you recruit from a village you have high relations with.

Decreased the max relation hit when assigning fiefs to another lord from -5 to -1. I don't like assigning fiefs to just anyone. If it is for example a Norland castle I will only assign it to a former Norland Lord. The father gets the castle and the son gets the village. If the lord has no male heirs I will give him castle and village together but I just can't stand for control of fiefs to be all mixed up. This makes the game a lot more challenging and offsets the relationship cheat.

I know you probably don't want someone chopping up your mod but all of the changes I made were from default native conditions anyway. I hope you don't mind.

I respect your decision to keep the surprises in tact for hidden stashes, so I won't share anything either. Here or in PM.

let me know if I can be of any assistance.
 
Thanks for providing me with info about this feature, I think that since diplomacy has it, it will be easy to contact the people there and ask for assisstance. As for the Tweaks, why would I mind? I am happy you dealt with the mod and took time to improve it from your point of view. If you want, you can upload your files here(you can send me a PM if you want t know exactly which files) and I can quote it in the first page in order to make it more obvious for people to find. I for one would be curious and happy to see the changes.
As for the hidden loot, I would appreciate it if nothing is revealed here or any other public place, but if someone wishes to ask someone for help via PM, he/she can do that, it's your privacy. But don't ask me, for I will reveal nothing. If you find anything and you wish to share it, I say again, you can with a message, not with a post, please.
 
I got in a fight Friday night which scratched my cornea and I won't be able to see out of both eyes for a few days. That means no warband til my vision returns. Pretty Viking  :wink:
 
Yeah, I'm already healed up mostly.

I was wondering if you ever played europe 1257 ad. I think that mod had the feature where any horse or weapon you grabbed on the battle field would show up in your inventory after the fight was over. You would still have your normal weapon and horse but it was a good chance to get a guaranteed piece of loot and a nice horse.

I know you mentioned that you are still learning coding so I am mostly throwing out ideas that might be as simple as borrowing from another mod.

 
Well, I have taken the version no. 2, assuming was better than no. 1.

After a short gaze , meseem that is a nice mod.

Now is later here and bed calls me, but ,in the next days I will write more, and if you like and agree, I will give some suggestion, hoping you see if this fit well into the mod.

Fare thee well
 
Ambrois LeGaillard said:
..., in the next days I will write more, and if you like and agree, I will give some suggestion, hoping you see if this fit well into the mod.

Of course I would like that! I am always interested to see what you guys have to say and what did you find.
 
some very nice things:

1) music is a very good thing, much better than "classical Calradian" I like and hope you adjoin some other metal viking song, or Led Zeppelin's "immigrant song";
2) the nice Northern medieval write, so good;
3) NICE NPC!!! Finally some new companion, not everytime horse thieves, fratricides, anti-nobles trainers, and so on! GO GO GO!!!! and if you want some good background, ask to e, I will help a lot.

to adjust a bit if you can:

the three stages (born, youth and maturity) you have put new phrases (thegn, wanderer) this ok, but you have leaved the usual descriptions...a viking don't go in "university", maybe he learn from some Asa priests in some hidden and sacred place, nor learn the "chivalric ideal", but the way of the warrior...If you want, I'm not good about modding, but Ican help to find new phrases for this stage, or for NPC's background and also...if you reach to translate to my terrible english before, hahahah.

the first quest (merchant brother) can you vary a bit the text, for fit well in a Viking way? Example: "for the hammer of Thor, these bandits have taken my brother...can you help me to find this band and take back him?"  (sorry for my terrible english...)

crossbows? in this era? Hm,maybe try to find some other thing, like slings, as these are in Brytenwalda. Much better than crossbows, also if less powerful.

Weapons and armour: see if Idibil can help you also, in Brytenwalda there are nice examples of early armour, and also in some Roman era mod you can find something useful I think.

As I stated early, is a very nice mod, and, really, don't matter if is 100% realistic, seem a very good idea, and also well realized, IMHO. I'm pleased.

Glad to be of service in any time, and if my advices fit well, hope you remember me in the mod signing as a contributor. Please Pm me freely for every doubt or advice, I will reply gladly.



 
Thanks for the feedback, it shows you took time and effort for the mod. I will answer accordingly.

I am glad you like the music, but as much as I like the Led, modern music simply doesn't have a place in the mod for me. My target was to give a dark age feeling(visual and audial) and Rock-even more Metal- canot do that. For the staring stages, yes thank you for pointing those errors, I will fix them in no time. And for the merchant starting guest, I generally discourage people from taking it, as it is more of an extension of the tutorial. There aren't any crossbows, save for the one you automatically get in the start. Historically, crossbows did exist  in that time(they were a lot older, as a matter of fact). I left it as it is, because I like to roleplay as a son of a merceary who got that weapon in a far away land. But each to their own, I suppose.

I hope I covered everything!
 
as my experience say, this quest is a bit difficult to avoid, the NPC merchant stay there, and this quest is everytime active (sigh). I agree with you, I dislike the same do this quest, and I was very pleased when starting Brytenwalda, I found a new way to do this without come here and there seeking for villagers to enlist:grin:
With some work, you can change in a more medieval viking quest, then its up to the player take or not: the quest remain the same,but with a more viking flavour.

About the wesponsand armor, you like the idea to seek something also in Roman or other early Middle age mods? I have seen some weapons very nice.
Also, i will signal some mod with nice armors and weapons if I see that fit with your mod.

Now in the mod my new name is Alfr Shrewd-mind, and please, seek on the web something called "the saga of Oddr Arrow-head"  its a very nice viking legend, I loved it hardly, and hope you will be pleased the same reading it:smile:
 
You actually can avoid the staring quest, just you say no to the merchant and you are done. About the weapons and armor, I think I already have a good variety (with over 20 new swords and helmets and dozens of armor and shields, I think we are covered). But more items(fitting of course), are good. As for the saga you mention, do you have a source I can go to. Because I cannot seem to find anything on the web. Thanks!
 
I think he is talking about Oddrunargratr (spelling? :roll:) from the Poetic Edda. The Havamal is a good place to start for Viking philosophy.

Brand kindles brand till they burn out,
Flame is quickened by flame:
One man from another is known by his speech
The simpleton by his silence.
Early shall he rise who has designs
On anothers land or life:
His prey escapes the prone wolf,
The sleeper is seldom victorious.
 
Hope you don't mind if I keep adding some of the things I would like to see in the mod.

1. Battle continuation
2. Import/ Export for companions (I think this is a Floris feature) I would really like to see it in this mod.
3. Being able to exchange fiefs
4. I have already doubled the amount of time it takes to prepare siege equipment. So even though I have a companion with lvl 5 engineering it takes about 4 days to construct a siege tower.
5. Please don't lay down any Heavy Metal, viking inspired music for the soundtrack. I have no problem with that music but it won't fit in a game like this.
6. Have you considered any unique quests?
7. It would be cool to have some type of non faction fort or castle that you could conquer and garrison.

I know you are involved in other mods but I hope this one keeps getting the love it deserves.
 
@Ambrois LeGaillard: Thanks, I will read it tomorrow and I will think on it, as it is quite late here.

@Adrale: Most of your points are valid, as usual. There are already some neutral settlements in Warband, they are just out of sight. So it should be not a big probelem to make them visible. Also, the same goes for battle continuation, I believe, it will be easy to do once I find the time. Yes, I have considered new quests, but I am new to coding. Already, I experimented with a "treasure hunt", in the form of hidden loot, with the help of the author of the Rigale mod. But that is a thing for the future.
 
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