Recent content by kultz

I like how most of the advice boils down to 'grind for money and levels until you're past the early stages.'

I can do that by importing characters, and I would even dare to say that the game is better that way.

Then I guess you're one of the select few of exceptional individuals that are good at everything forever. Congratulations.

I realize that I will come off as impatient, but can we get a ballpark progress report? I do love this mod so much, and any tidbit of report gives me a little comfort and reassurance when waiting for the next update.

I simply would like to know if the update is weeks or months away. Can I also presume that when it comes, it will break saves?

Hmm. Thanks for that info. It definitely helps the issue at hand.

My gripe lies in the Claymore, Longsword, Jeweled Sword, and so on.

None of these swords can justify their damage output on a 'realistic' perspective, but in balance and gameplay it makes perfect sense.

The problem is that axes, hammers, and spears don't have equivalents on this tier. As in, there aren't enough 50-60 damage, 120 speed, 12-15 strength axes, spears, and hammers available through shops, or troop equipment.

Of course, this isn't a huge debilitating problem, but it would be nice to use something other than swords to effectively murder.

Personally, I do consider some of the high-tier long swords comically sharp, but considering the elite troops' armor, it makes sense.
If only there's some equally comically powerful axes and spears...

I agree with the most part, but I do consider the 'brutal mode' difficulty a fine place to put all the unreasonable things. Since it's optional, players who disagree with it can simply opt out.

In fact, having the more disagreeable features shoved under an optional category to be turned on and off by the player's will is probably a good idea in general.
On the other hand, this would divide the players into two (opposing) groups, and end up with elitism among the players and whatnot.

Grains for brains.

Just a side note, the Nordic people's preference for axes partially stemmed from their inability to produce swords big enough for their murderous purposes. An axe head on a shaft is easier to make than a metal sword of equal size.

Thurak said:

Howitzer said:

With this, I would like to note the general order of popularity in melee weapons were spear and axe followed by the rare sword.

Click to expand...

But wasn't that mainly for two reasons: training needed for sword-fights and money to buy it? Historically the reason was not "Axes are better" but "axes need less training and are cheaper".

Click to expand...

To be more precise, it was "axes need less training to murder effectively and are cheaper". You answer your own questions. Axes are not exactly 'better', it's a matter of the right tool for the right job.
Spears was a good tool. It murders animals, it murders people, and it's cheap. If it didn't work, the armies wouldn't be using them.
Examples of stuff that the peasants used but didn't make it to standard army equipment: rocks, wooden clubs, pitchforks, grain threshers, other improvised tools.
Spears made it. Just sayin'.

I'm fine with a fair warning at the beginning.

Also, Mikailovitch, not every one has enough time in a day to remake characters until the cow come home. Not that NE should become 'casual', but unless you truly want a small player base of roguelike fetishists, giving players some basic instructions at the beginning is good game design.

Many things in the game is not explained, true, but that does not necessarily make the game better.

Howitzer said:

With this, I would like to note the general order of popularity in melee weapons were spear and axe followed by the rare sword.

Click to expand...

I'll assume you meant historically. Which I agree with mostly.
In gameplay, though, it's quite the opposite.

From that logic, if we were to secretly remap the controls so that blocking actually exits the game without warning, it's also a valid learning curve, as veterans will simply either map it back, or not press the button.

I'm not asking for the beginning to be easy, just a fair warning to save the player from remaking a character after wasting some valuable time.

That's the sort of trick that you would only pick up after being captured repeatedly by mercenaries.
It's not fair against new players, because there's no warning.

I will compare them. While I do that, can anyone post some numbers?

I suspect, once again, you have fixed a problem faster than I can point them out. Thank you for your diligence.

I like having more choices in the initial startup. The descriptions on some of the options can use a little work, of course, as 'escorts, ale and song' gives as much experience as massed murder. Then again, I'm just nitpicking.

As for suggestions:

Currently the Pathfinding skill is absolutely necessary for early survival. Every city has 20+ sized bandit and mercenary groups regularly travelling at 4-5 speed. These are difficult to avoid when attempting to amass a peasant force.
Suggestion: Either make pathfinder skills a given when creating character, or give the player a way to amass troops within a city. The city should have plenty of peasants to recruit as well, although I don't know if the game can actually support it. The point is, without warning, a new player won't put several points into Pathfinding. GImping a a player without warning or ways to easily fix it is not entirely fair game design. Challenging, yes, but not in a good way.


Another problem is the fiefs are almost not worth managing. In Warband, the enemy AI aggressively burns down every village on a weekly basis. Most buildings take months to build, and weeks to make a difference. Unless the player spends all his time sitting on his villages to ward off enemy lords, the villages will never get very prosperous. On one hand, this is very gritty and challenging, on the other hand, it makes the improvements nearly useless, and players can just ignore it entirely. Ignoring gameplay mechanics because it fails to make a difference is a symptom of a broken system.

Considering the Dark Knights will show up in less than a year, build times of a month, and prosperity gains measured in weeks simply don't make enough of a difference. These mechanics currently only really work if the player wants to play Simcity after taking over most of the world.
Suggestion: Either make the improvements build faster, or make them more effective. The point is to make spending money on improvements be worthwhile.

These are just my opinion, of course.