Modders' Interviews | Get inspired by Greats and Legends!

[Pumpkin Lord]

Winter​

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One of the first modders - Author​

1.) Hello, Winter. As one of the First modders ever, your attempts go way back to 2005, which led you to become also one of the First modders to get hired by Armagan to be the First guy to make tutorials aka in-depth documentations of module system to teach the first generation of modders. Well - you are the history of modding. So, lets start with an introduction of yourself for those who don’t know you.

Answer: My name's Ryan Span, 34, and I'm an indie game dev. RPGs, visual novels, platformers, strategy games, I've pretty much done it all. Writing is my particular speciality.

As well as working for other studios, I run an outfit of my own called Illuminated Games. A few of our releases include Euclidean, The Next World, and Golem Creation Kit.

Back in the day I made StoryMod and CraftMod, helped out with the early module system documentation, and eventually contributed some work on the original Mount&Blade.

2.) How did you get started on modding this sequel for the first time? Did you have any past experiences? Why did you want to mod this game?

Answer: What I really wanted to do when I first learned about M&B (0.632) was to join the team. The game had huge potential to become the kind of story-driven PC RPG I love, and we weren't seeing a lot of good ones back in the mid-2000s. Kind of a lost era between Knights of the Old Republic 1 and Mass Effect/Dragon Age.

I ended up emailing Armagan to see if he was interested in hiring any help. He replied, we got to talking, and he ended up showing me a prototype of the first module system. So I set about making myself familiar with it.

At the time I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I had absolutely no past experience in scripting or programming, so I spent a lot of time just figuring things out through trial and error, since there was no real documentation at all.

Writing, on the other hand, was something I did a lot of even back then. As time passed, a project gradually began to take shape. This would eventually turn into StoryMod.

3.) So - you are the history of warband modding. It all starts in 2005. Was there a crowded player-base? What kind of a modding community there was back then? Did you help to dev-team of M&B actively? How did you start working for TaleWorlds?

Answer: I think that's giving me quite a bit too much credit!

There was already a bit of a community when I joined the TaleWorlds forum. At least a few dozen regulars, probably hundreds of players. A few people were already modding M&B by directly editing the text files that contained the game's compiled code, which was pure madness. (A kind of madness deserving of respect, mind you.) Then the module system finally came out.

I had a slight head start on others, since I'd seen the prototype. I made it my mission to become the best around at using it. (I wasn't, but I put in a lot of effort.)

Eventually, since I had a combination of modding experience, writing skills, and free time, Armagan contacted me about doing a series of tutorials for the module system.

4.) Through our conversations, you revealed that the idea of “Character Backgrounds” belonged you and executed by you during your time as a developer of this game. What was your role, exactly? How was it like working alongside Armagan? Was there others back then?

Answer: I officially joined the team in 2008, to do original dialogue as well as polishing up some existing material. Since I knew the menu system, I figured it would be a fun way to handle character creation, and give people a chance to connect with their character from the start. I pitched the idea, and it was accepted.

As I understand it, there was a big hiring push after the publishing agreement with Paradox, and I was one of the last to come on board. There were already a number of people working on the game in order to get things polished to a proper standard. Deadlines were looming.

All in all, it was a pretty intense time.

5.) Your main task was to document module system, and all thanks to your efforts - there is a community to talk about in a way, even so it was your job. What was the aim of creating the documentations? Did Armagan encourage modding even back then?

Answer: Definitely too much credit.

I don't think modding was part of the original plan, but in 2005 it became obvious that a real community was rallying around the game. So Armagan went out of his way to get the first versions of the module system done and into creative people's hands.

My work on the docs was all part of encouraging the community. Not many games can boast about having such a dedicated fanbase, it would've been stupid to ignore it! More mods equals more people engaged and interested. It was a no-brainer, really.

6.) What was MBX streetofeyes like at the time? Why it was created? Why did you, alongside with many IRC modders, move off from TW forums to that forums?

Answer: MBX was a project largely in response to tightening of the rules around intellectual property on TaleWorlds, which I think was largely in response to The Last Days. TLD had become the #1 most popular mod at the time -- I probably don't need to explain why -- and it was taking a lot of visual cues from the Lord of the Rings films. Star Wars Conquest and a couple of others at the time were also using third-party IP. So TW decided to expel all mods using third-party IP from the official forums, to head off any legal action.

I thought that was a bit of a **** move. So since I had the resources, I decided to set up a new, unofficial forum for everyone to use, with a primary focus on modding.

I also wanted to use MBX as a launchpad for a special mod that Janus, Yoshiboy and I were planning together. Unfortunately everyone's personal lives got in the way and that never ended up happening.

7.) How would you describe Armagan and his vision with a sentence? If it is too cliche, a paragraph is also good! Do you think that he predicted modding would be this big of a thing?

Answer: I think the saying about 'riding a tiger' is appropriate. I don't believe he ever expected M&B to take off like it did, let alone the modding community, and was a little overwhelmed by it. Like any of us probably would be. To his credit, he held on, and here we are now, 10 years later.

Who knows, maybe even Bannerlord will get released someday?

8.) Moddding, working in TaleWorlds. Did these experiences influence you in any way? Your studies, carreer?

Answer: Having Mount&Blade as a credit certainly hasn't done my career any harm. It was also my first time working with any kind of code, and the little bit of scripting skill I gained from using the module system gave me a lot more flexibility in taking writing/design jobs afterwards.

It even got me started scripting full games a few years ago, rather than always relying on outside programmers. That turned into The Next World and Golem Creation Kit, for which I'm still releasing occasional updates and DLC to this day.

Life takes you in unexpected directions!

9.) Do you have any plans to do modding work for Bannerlord?

Answer: Original M&B is the only game I've ever modded, and will probably stay that way. I'm a professional game dev -- if I'm going to work on a video game, I can't afford to do it for free anymore.

10.) What is your favourite M&B mod? Why do you like it?

Answer: Ooh, tough question. I think the one I played most was Holy War Mod by Raz. Also Yoshi's RPGMod. They were clever, and really pushed the envelope of what was possible at the time.

That always appealed to my game-making philosophy: If it hasn't been done, do it. If it can't be done, do it even more.

11.) What is your overall impression of the modding community of this game?

Answer: Ridiculously dedicated, motivated, and creative. I've never seen another one like it.

12.) And - lastly. Would you like to say anything to creative people who’re reading this interview at the moment?

Answer: I think one of the most important things I've learned in this line of work is to not just ask yourself what you want or what you're doing, but why. It's very easy to fool yourself into doing the wrong thing, or the right thing for the wrong reasons.

Always ask yourself: Am I feeling good about this, and why? If the answer is no, then why not, and why am I doing it in the first place?

It's good life advice in general. Regular sanity checks will save your skin in many a tough spot.

Also, you should back my upcoming Kickstarter campaign for a brand new game.   Details will be forthcoming.

 

[NPC99]

Thanks, Winter, your module system documentation was the gateway to modding for most of us. 

 

[ArnulfFloyd]

I hope as with Bannerlord we will have save compatible mods and mod manager as modern games

 

[JabdiMelborn]

...Did you plan an interview with mtarini, the maker of OpenBRF and one of the first TLD team modders...?

ciauz^^,
Jab

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

...Did you plan an interview with mtarini, the maker of OpenBRF and one of the first TLD team modders...?

ciauz^^,
Jab

Yes, It has been weeks since I sent him an invitation and got no reply so far.

 

[Winter]

Thanks for the kind words, lads. This was a fun trip down memory lane.

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

Mandible​

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3D Artist​

1.) Hello, Mandible. You have been around for a long time, considered as one of the great artists with many mod projects under your belt. Vikingr, The Last Days and your own project, Redwall. So, let’s start with an introduction of yourself for those who don’t know you.

Answer: First off, I would just want to say that “one of the great artists” is a bit stretch, and I’m not sure I belong here, seeing as I’ve never successfully completed a mod. I’m happy to have a chat though!

My name is Philip Siemens. I live in Canada but was born in Norway. Since I began modding in 2010, I’ve completed university degrees in History and Education, began work as a high school and then elementary substitute teacher, got married and had four kids. Now I’m patiently waiting for the school board to hire me on full time while experimenting with getting paid real money-dollars for 3D work.

2.) How did you get started on modding this game for the first time? Did you have any past experiences? Why did you want to mod this game?

Answer: Before I discovered Mount and Blade, I put in time working on custom scenarios for Age of Empires II. That game is just great, and there are some phenomenal custom campaigns that have come about, but I like having the freedom to create much more tailored custom content, and I loved the fighting style, gameplay, moddability and community of M&B. I’ve always been a pretty active 2D artist, but this was my first foray into doing 3D.

3.) I think the project that stands out most in your modding career was Redwall. What was it like bringing mice to warband? How was the team atmosphere like?

Answer: I joined the Redwall mod team in 2010 and before very long, Lord Ares stepped away and it became my baby. I find it really exciting to bring new creatures to the game that haven’t been seen before. Having animals instead of humans immediately makes this mod stand out from all of the others, and gives the characters so much more “character” just by existing as a mouse, rat, monitor lizard, etc.

It was tough going, to be honest. I’m a 3D modeler at heart, and that’s where I did most of my work, but I also more or less did most of everything else as well. There wasn’t much done by the original team and what they did got scrapped when the project was overhauled. I’ve seen probably a dozen people join the project, try to make a model or two and then quit. I tried helping new guys out by making some tutorials on weapon modeling and creating a wish list of simple items that people could make for the mod that would be actually useful. The models were very rarely up to the quality required to be used in-game and most people got bored or moved on before building the skills required to actually contribute.

I had some great help with coding from Jezze for a long time, and he made some great stuff that I would have loved to really use like the crafting system. We had some great voicework from several contributors that never saw the light of day, as well as some really nice 2D art from various artists, and some nice weapons as well, but in the end, what we probably needed was more coding knowledge.


4.) In the end, you sadly had to abandon the project. What happened? Do you ever regret abandoning or did you consider finishing it all by yourself?

Answer: For this mod, I made armor models for mice, rats, lizards, hares, hedgehogs, badgers, weasels and foxes, with many more planned for the future. I made scene props for an abbey, an abandoned church ruin, a mountain fortress, an island palace, underground caverns, forest dwellings, ships, and many more. I made a map matching the world of Redwall as seen in the books, spending countless hours poring over the source material to get the position of various locations in relation to one another.

I coded in all of the different skeletons, added items, created some nifty little code snippets for this and that and drew 2D art to serve as loading screens, character selection screens and such. And then I ran out of whatever it was that kept me going. It was too much for one or two people and it became clear that even at this rate, I would never finish without significant outside help that never came. My twin daughters had just been born, and having my family suddenly double in size required some serious priority shifts. I do not regret abandoning it, because I believe that it was the right choice, but I sure wish that I could have gotten it done. Even today, part of me wants to think that I can revive the project and get it done, but it’s just not realistic (probably).


5.) How do you feel about contributing other mod projects as part-time artist? Do you think that is something every artist should do? What would be the cons and pros of being a part-time contributor?

Answer: I’m very glad that I did contribute to other projects, as otherwise, nothing I ever made would be used. It was a great way to give myself a little break from my own mod and give back to other projects that I enjoy. I made Warhammer-themed buildings for the Grim Age mod, I reworked the Beorning faction for TLD, modeled some hoods that were used in Vikingr, made White Walkers and weirwood trees for AWOIAF and released a couple of small osp packages that have been used by a few different mods.

Being a part-time contributor can be great, as you can help out for a short period of time, but of course part-time contributors were one of my own gripes about MY mod, so there is definitely value in picking one project and sticking to it.


6.) What kind of a challenge is it to turn a novel into a mod project? How did you go about the process?

Answer: The Redwall: Vermin Resurgence mod is based on the world created by Brian Jacques, but I decided to set it AFTER the events of the books (there are actually a ton of books). That way, we had more freedom to create our own stories without feeling tied down by the existing story or characters. This actually worked very well with this particular book series, because they are fairly formulaic and provided a good baseline of expectation that we could have built on to make a story that felt like it fit in the Redwall world. We looked at events that happen frequently in the books and tried to come up with gameplay events that reflected that.

Many of the books deal with great hordes of vermin coming from far away and attacking the mice (and various other creatures) who live in Redwall Abbey. We determined to have the chance of large invasion forces spawning in the world of the mod. The books also put a heavy emphasis on quests to find legendary weapons and long lost secrets. We had a storyline that would have seen the player following clues to find special weapons as well, possibly becoming the legendary Hero of Redwall and wielder of the famous blade. All of these stories gave us opportunities to give them our own twist in a way that still fit with the spirit of the original. Or… would have… if we had gotten it finished...


7.) Do you think your modding experience influenced you in any way? Maybe, your professional career or your studies? Was it purely a hobby for you?

Answer: Oh, for sure. I started off knowing nothing about 3D modeling, and ended up with skills that have won contests with some serious prizes and work that people are actually willing to pay for. I haven’t quite quit the day job yet, but I am now at a place where I could realistically look at becoming a 3D artist for a career.

I think it’s important to start as a hobby and not try to monetize 3D work until it’s really good enough. This stuff takes years to get good at, especially if you’re 100% self-taught, like I am.

Here are a few models showing my progress as an artist, if you’re interested.

Spoiler: Early Mod Work

Spoiler: Later Mod Work

Spoiler: Recent work

8.) What do you think of the future? Any bannerlord projects?

Answer: I am looking forward to bannerlord of course, and will probably make some contributions to mod projects that I like, but I don’t think that I’ll be starting my own mod any time soon. Skilled modders are too rare to spread out over too many mods, and I now think that it is much wiser to join something you like than to create something of your own and hope that people will join you. And I’ve got my family to worry about.

9.) What is your favourite warband mod? Why do you like it? Also, is there any project that caught your attention lately?

Answer: I love TLD, and one thing that sets it apart from many other mods is the way its vision feels cohesive, and how it does its very best to do Tolkien’s world justice within the game engine. I really enjoyed working with Merlkir on hammering down the style for the Beornings and was glad that I could have a small part in it. I am also a big fan of Prophesy of Pendor, for similar reasons. For multiplayer, I really got into Vikingr for a while, and loved the big battles that brought together hundreds of players at a time. Recently, I’ve got my eye on Kingdoms of Arda and always enjoy seeing the visual style that they’ve got there. That one will definitely be on my playlist once it sees a Bannerlord release.

10.) What is your overall impression of the modding community of this game?

Answer: I have always enjoyed the enthusiasm (short-lived though it sometimes is) that modders have and how encouraging people can be. So many people have provided encouragement for me to work on my own mod, and I usually found someone willing to walk through a bit of coding with me if I ran into trouble. There’s a reason I still hang around the forums sometimes even though I’ve mostly moved on from modding.

11.) And - lastly. Would you like to say anything to creative people who’re reading this interview at the moment?

Answer: I would want to say that I don’t see my time working on Vermin Resurgence as a waste of time. Not at all. The mod was never released, but the journey was fun and I’ve become a much better modeler than I was before and will be able to move on to future projects with some skills and abilities that I didn’t have before. My advice to creative people is to look at a project that inspires you and join that project to help it succeed. There are enough “idea guys” out there already, what we need as a community is people who will pool their skills together and dedicate themselves to completing singular visions. I look forward to seeing what comes out of the rumored improved moddability of Bannerlord!

 

[NPC99]

Great interview, Mandible. Modding alone takes forever and real life always comes first. 

 

[mat2rivs]

Thanks for the interview Mandible!

Redwall was one of my favorite literary worlds growing up.  I remember following your mod, hoping for a release, but I understand the time commitment involved with trying to complete a project with limited outside help.  Also, my hat is off to you and all the other modders with great artistic abilities.  (A skill I mostly lack.)  If you ever seriously consider bringing your mod back to life, let me know.

Regards,
-mat

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

Lumos​

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Coder - Game Developer​

1.) Hello, Lumos. Forum moderator, developer of one of the first proper total-conversion Game of Thrones projects, developer of Forodren Auth where you made a flying eagle, creator of Blue Stone which brought countless unique features, maker of many modding softwares and released popular OSP kits like Outposts! And Beer drinking!. So, let’s start with an introduction of yourself for those who don’t know you.

Answer: Hello and thanks for having me. Well, I’m Lumos, originally from Bulgaria, currently 23 years old and living in the UK, and I’ve got a habit of biting off more than I can chew.

I’ve always been one of those people who like to tinker with things, and I also distinctly remember being seven years old and drawing up tech trees for an RTS game I wanted to make (which naturally never happened). I also made several custom-built tabletop games (RPGs, turn-based grand strategies, and a couple of dungeon crawlers) for my friends starting at age 11, that we played in class.
I think this tells you all you need to know in order to form a good picture about me… More recently, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in computer science, and am now pursuing a Master’s at the University of Edinburgh. My research focuses on procedural generation, which I’ve always found fascinating.

2.) How did you get started on modding this sequel for the first time? Did you have any past experiences? Why did you want to mod this game?

Answer: I actually started out on Mount&Blade, not Warband, back in 2008, when I was 13. One of my good friends sent me the trailer for the game, only saying “You’ll like this”. Oh my God, was he right. I played the demo, then the full game feverishly, and very soon I discovered the forums, or the Forge in particular. One of the very first things I saw there was Mirathei’s formations kit, which required the Module System, and so down the rabbit hole I went, into what would become one of the most important things I ever did…

A few of my friends were initially keen on modding as well, and we had ideas for big projects. We had no experience, however, and I was the only one who actually stuck to the modding idea in any way.

In terms of past experience, I’d made a “mod” for Age of Mythology: The Titans (a simple unit “rebalance” that probably wasn’t very balanced) beforehand, and I’d had hundreds of hours in the map editors for Age of Empires and Age of Empires II. In other words, I was familiar with the concept of creating something for a game, but I didn’t have much relevant experience at all.

As for why I wanted to mod the game… To get more out of it, of course! As I said previously, I like tinkering with things. The bigger the better, and so on.

3.) I almost forgot you worked on a Game of Thrones project. 2008 is quite early times as well, how was the atmosphere like working on that project? Team looked quite strong, was there issues regarding leaders? Why did you never make a release?

Answer: I actually joined the “A Game of Thrones” team in late 2013, and was soon promoted to the leadership position. The team was strong, talented, and competent, and working with them to bring Westeros to life was a pleasure. Unfortunately, most of the team members had other duties and responsibilities at the time, and our progress slowed down dramatically. I personally found it best to step down from the leading position circa April 2014, as I was finishing high school and had to focus on my studies and incoming assessments.

As for why a release never happened… well, I guess that sometimes ambitious projects come into fruition, and sometimes real life simply gets in the way. I certainly seem to have a penchant for ending up in the latter type of situations...

4.) I know you worked with Beobart on the famous LOTR project once, Forodren Auth - which as a result, gave birth to a flying eagle in warband engine! Then the project also never came out, what happened there? It looked sick.

Answer: “Forodren Auth” was, without a doubt, the most fun I’ve had working on a modding project. Beobart had an interesting vision about what he wanted his mod to be, and his ambitious plans for flying characters in multiplayer, playing as a bear (we did have a Beorning faction, after all!), or functional cave trolls (film-style) were right up my alley.

Unfortunately, both me and Beobart went to university, and found no time to continue our work on the mod. However, we still keep in contact, and he’s lending a hand for a (secret, unrelated) project that I’m working on.

5.) Blue Stone was something I was personally dying to play. It just looked so stable and feature-filled, and you worked on it for such a long time, you made an Alpha release and left it at there as well. Why didn’t you continue developing it? Not enough community interest? Lack of time? Real-life responsibilities?

Answer: Ah, “The Blue Stone”, my unwritten magnum opus. Yep. Well, I simply felt that mods at the time – this was in 2010 – weren’t very ambitious. Or, put more accurately, they were ambitious, but they weren’t large enough. And so I “went [to the market] with the big basket”, as the Bulgarian idiom, denoting grand and unfounded expectations, goes. I had a very long list of features I wanted to add, and the amount of work a completion would have required was, in all honesty, quite ridiculous; probably impossible for a one-man team to complete in any reasonable timespan.

As for why I had to stop… Again, real life took precedence. Whereas I could previously spend hours on end wrangling the Module System into complying with whatever respective oddity I’d had in mind, my responsibilities grew as I grew older. With high school in full swing, and later on university, I drifted away from being able to just work on mods.

6.) The reason I counted all these projects one-by-one was not to DISGRACE you, at all. On the contrary, I think you are a modder with great amount of experience and bravery, thanks to all these attempts of making HUGE projects. Did you treat these experiences as lessons to be learnt?

Answer: Oh, you flatter me. In general, people seem to give me more credit than I deserve. I had some fun but failed repeatedly, and that gave me a great opportunity to rethink the way I approach situations in general.

Of course there was a lot to be learned from all of this, especially for me. Given that I’d just become a teenager when I started, and that I quite literally grew as I modded, there were plenty of lessons to be had. Scripting, learning the intricacies of the Module System (which paved the way for my acquisition of multiple other programming languages – I’d only dabbled in Visual Basic.NET before I started modding), properly being able to assess how long something takes and how reasonable it is, the purpose and benefits of deadlines, and ultimately, knowing when (and how!) to not bite off more than you can chew.

7.) What is it like working alongside a development team of a mod for you? Is it always fun or is it a very very serious atmosphere for you? Did you learn anything in regards to teamwork, while working on mods?

Answer: Although I’ve generally been more of a solo-worker, the teams I’ve had the pleasure of being in have been wonderful. I’ve never been in a “very very serious atmosphere” in a modding team, and I consider that to be most fortunate.

Teamwork has indeed proven to be quite useful. I’ve long had this perfectionist streak – that I’m still working on exterminating – but working in a team teaches you valuable skills that prove very useful in real life: how to delegate tasks to others, how to trust your teammates, and how to make sure that work is being done on all fronts. I would thoroughly recommend participating in a dedicated modding team.

8.) Outposts! Kit. How did you come up with this idea? Did it take long time to develop at the time?

Answer: The Outposts kit was one of the very first actual things that I made, and working on it taught me a lot about the Module System. You could say that it was my first proper implementation of anything.

“At fault” for the conception of the Outposts kit is cdvader, one of the modders who was active in the Forge at the time. After some discussion about “watchtowers”, he made a rudimentary version of what I’d later expand into the Outposts kit. As for development time, well, I don’t remember it being exceptionally quick to create, but it also didn’t take that long.

I’d recommend that new modders start off with something of a similar caliber: don’t jump into the deep end from the get-go, instead examine other people’s code and build something simple to begin with. After you get some experience about how things work, you can improve it or move on to larger projects.

9.) Did your modding experience influence you in any way? Studies, careers?

Answer: Most definitely. I seem to have always had an affinity for working on games in particular, and I’ve never had much doubt that I’d go on to study computer science at university, but modding has definitely propelled me into being more interested in game development.

10.) What do you think of the future? Any bannerlord projects?

Answer: As I said earlier, I’ve learned the very important skill of not making any promises I don’t intend to keep… but who knows? Maybe I’ve got some plans.

I certainly salivate at the modding prospects Bannerlord seems to be bringing to the table. Allowing us to use an industry-standard language (that I happen to have a very strong affinity towards) should allow modders to achieve truly remarkable results.

11.) What is your favourite warband mod? Why do you like it? Also, is there any project that caught your attention lately?

Answer: I have to confess that I’ve not really played that many mods since Warband came out. Used to play many mods back in the days of M&B 1.011, but I’ve only played a few of the more famous ones after Warband came out…

The one mod I’ve liked the most, however, has got to be “Bear Force II”. I was there when Highlander made the original thread, so I kept my eye on BFII for the longest time. And what can I say, BFII multiplayer has been some of the greatest fun I’ve ever had in Warband. Another embarrassing confession: I never really learned how to manual block (in fact, I hadn’t paid much attention to that option before Warband came out), and I’ve always been quite terrible at vanilla Warband multiplayer, and that has led to some vitriolic memories I’d rather not recall… BFII, on the other hand, has always been pure fun for me, and I’ll always remember it fondly.

As for recent projects, I’m afraid I’ve not really been paying attention to newer mods for years, which means I’ve probably missed out on a lot of good ones. I don’t think I’ll get back to playing Warband at any point soon, but I’m sure that once Bannerlord is out, I’ll lose hundreds or thousands of hours to it. I can’t wait!

12.) What is your overall impression of the modding community of this game?

Answer: My overall impression is that the community is fantastic, and has been fantastic for years. We’ve still got a number of the proverbial “Old Guard” of modders active at the Forge, and we’ve also got many newer people who’re keen to learn about modding. It continues to amaze me that the community is still as active after all these years, but I’m certainly not complaining; in fact, I’m very happy. With the expected influx of “fresh blood”, once the Bannerlord arrives, I’m sure that we’ll have more modders and mods (and players!) than ever, and that will be a sight to behold.

13.) And - lastly. Would you like to say anything to creative people who’re reading this interview at the moment?

Answer: Yes! Namely, the most important lesson I learned: always listen to more experienced people when they tell you to start off small! If you’re like me (i.e. a little too stubborn for your own good) you might feel you’re being disparaged, but trying to create something massive with no prior experience is bound to result in disappointment in the long run. Start off small, get the feel of things, then you can move on to larger things once you establish what’s reasonable and what isn’t.

In addition, the other bit of advice I can give is to always give something a shot. Maybe it’s going to work out, maybe it won’t, but at least you’ll have tried. Common sense, really, but I’ve found that this particular tip is surprisingly easy to forget.

 

[NPC99]

Despite being surprised by your youth, Lumos, I'm encouraged that we might get an Ultimate Introduction to Modding Bannerlord. 

 

[Ettenrocal]

Many of the interwieved were very young when they started modding, this is the high speed internet generation when you can learn many things with internet.

 

[DanyEle]

Nice interview! Istarted learning coding on the Module System via Lumos' Ultimate Introduction to Modding, so I definitely owe him my modding skills! 

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

rejenorst​

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Musician / Composer​

1.) Hello, rejenorst. You are one of the few composers we got in the community. In the past, you released OSP texture packs and great amount of free music for modders to use in their projects! By the way, since you are a composer, when I mean modding, I mostly mean your music efforts, more-so over your texture packs but you are very welcome to talk about both. It is just, I know you more for your awesome pieces! So, lets start with an introduction of yourself for those who don’t know you.

Answer: Hello, I am Rejenorst. I am originally from Germany but have lived most of my life in Australia and have travelled around a bit in the last 16 years. Most of my modding tends to be music or voice acting in nature. Most of my stuff is experimental and just attempts at working with audio in general. In my spare time I also collect microphone and preamps and have built up a nice collection already.

I mainly use Fruityloops for my music and Soundforge pro for my audio editing as well as other sound softwares such as audacity and a few lesser known programs. I originally did the male voices for M&B which you can hear in the vanilla game as well as the Austrian/Prussian male voices for NW. At the time I did these with some very basic second hand equipment. My music is available to modders here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAz9YEjnRUXzGuiNRCHdhnw/videos?view=0&shelf_id=0&sort=dd

I originally read about M&B the game in a gaming magazine and had always been interested in Medieval warfare as a theme for games. At the time I was advertising amateur voice acting as a means of making some money on the side especially for projects I took an interest in. I offered to do some voices for Mount & Blade which is how M&B ended up with its corny voice acted lines and its shouts/yells/death sounds. I started modding to try and test out newly recorded sounds and was involved in a number of other projects that started drawing me into music creation as well.

2) How did you get started on modding this sequel for the first time? Did you have any past experiences? Why did you want to mod this game?

Answer:  Initially I was making music for another mod called Pirates Knights And Vikings 2 (PVKII for Half-Life Source) and just had a lot of fun exploring my own melodies or taking inspiration from musical pieces I had previously heard from movie soundtracks. One such piece is the end fight music from 13th Warrior. Music for modding and game mission projects such as for ARMA would continue until I ended up with a larger collection of musical pieces to share that weren’t really being used for much. The M&B game music is pretty functional and fits the theme, I have always liked catchy melodies/beats and an aggressive theme for combat music. Some of which is reflected in the aim of my music. 

3.) What did you think of the music in this game, when you first heard? Why did you want to create your own alternatives? Did you feel inspired by anything, specificly?

Answer: I am a complete amateur at music and my tracks tend to be primitive in composition and quite repetitive. I either start with a staccato beat and weave my melodies around it or I create a melody and weave a staccato beat in that I can follow. Depends on my mood though Sometimes I just feel inspired to make a track that falls in line with my current mood. I can’t say I’ve done anything overly special but “Jamaican Rum” seems to be a popular one which was initially created with PVKII in mind and was later used for Mods like Prophesy of Pendor. I shared these for free as I didn’t really think they were of commercial value. Like I mentioned before; my music is technically pretty primitive and I am amateur at it.

4.) How do you start making a piece? Do you start making pieces only when you feel inspired or is it a daily disciplined task? Did you do any special piece for a mod? Why share them for free?

Answer: I think it’s more of a hobby that has helped me in doing some commercial work for indie devs but it’s not something that would be my bread and butter as a profession. Its something I enjoy doing for a creative outlet but my studies are a far cry from Voice Acting/Music and Sound editing/creation. It has however assisted me indirectly in my current job.

5.) Do you think your modding experience influenced you in any way? Maybe, your professional career or your studies? Was it purely a hobby for you?

Answer: Well. I am not working directly with any mod teams at this point. Currently released projects that I work on are Holdfast while I am working on 2 other commercial projects. I will be quite interested to see what modding opportunities there will be for Bannerlord as I may do my own mod for it but no plans as of yet. I don’t think I will have the time or resources to set up my own studio at this point nor would I be willing to rely soley on my own talent as I am an amateur but I do have a lot of audio equipment I could put to use in a studio if it ever came down to it

For Mount And Blade I did play a fair bit of 1257AD mod which I enjoyed since it gave me the opportunity to raise levies quite quickly and raid and pillage Europe to my heart's content. It also featured a lot of creative assets for armor and weapons from some very talented modders in the community. I haven’t been very active in the M&B modding scene as of late as I have a lot less free time so haven’t had anything catch my eye as of late, which doesn’t mean there aren’t some great projects out there.

7.) What is your favourite warband mod? Why do you like it? Also, is there any project that caught your attention lately?

Answer: I think it has been one of the most active I have ever seen and has kept people coming back to M&B time and time again. I hope that when Bannerlord is released that the modding community will continue and grow.

8.) What is your overall impression of the modding community of this game?

Answer: Keep working on the things you love doing and take negative feedback constructively as a marker for where you or your project could improve something. Even if your project doesn’t work out you may still find a use for what you’ve learned from the experience and/or the practice.   

 

[JabdiMelborn]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAz9YEjnRUXzGuiNRCHdhnw/videos?view=0&shelf_id=0&sort=dd

...Wow, thanks to show us this...!

ciauz^^,
Jab

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

Thanks to Gaxleep and Jabdi, we now have mtarini covered as well! This interview has not been conducted by me, thought I would share this treasure yet. Big thanks to these two guys!

mtarini​

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

Magician​

1- TLD is a job that has generated a bang in the community, going to seriously undermine everything that happened in M&B, what do you think of this?

Answer: Well, TLD brings together some unique elements: first of all it's hard to think of a more popular setting suited to this kind of gameplay than Tolkien's. Then, let's finish it, when its author was the only AncientWanker (I just play it), it was simply one of the best and most compelling ways --- though not the only one, of course. Since then everything has changed; in 5 years, in the world, the bar of quality is raised, and a lot, for everything: for the game in general, for the indie scene, and with her for M&B/WB, including her Mod. I hope that, even with the changed modern standards, the present of TLD lives up to its past of excellence.

I believe that the M & B community has been very changed by this way, and not only because the vanilla game has now acquired some features that develop a TLD. It is above all the moddabilità of M&B/WB to be exploded. In part because Armagan, with his far-sighted attention to the modding community, has repeatedly defined the way in which we have referred him to TLD (eg, a time variable in shaders). However, like my OpenBRF, as I believe it is the reference tool of the community (for TLD I have also made other, minor, which for now has been taken aside: for example, one for editing the map, one for each writing , one for each encoding ... after the final release could be released in whole or in part).

With all this, however, TLD has always been a little understated by TW, and perhaps with good reason. TLD so popular: the setting: too many copyrights, and too "hot" and dangerous. In this regard, AncientWanker (the historical author of the mod), called TLD the "horrible stepson" of M&B (traduz: the "ugly stepson", to hide in the cellar to be clear). It is for this reason, for example, that the official TLD forum is not on TW. And to say that it is easy for TW to leverage TLD to increase the impact of M&B/WB in the (semi) independent (and sales) scene. But it is understandable that TW does not want to bind too much M&B/WB on such a compromising copyright setting. From their point of view, I suppose, it would be a bad deal: M&B/WB is still a very innovative game with a small but fierce and affectionate fan community, and this popularity boost.

2- What can you tell us about the work done in the team?

Answer: A historical digression is necessary to describe the work of the team as a whole.

The story of the Dev Team is unfortunately torn by an unbridgeable black hole. The head of Mod, a great modder, great human qualities and full of imagination, and with a very self-ironic nickname, AncientWanker (literally "the ancient wanker"), had been able to produce, practically by himself, a version of game that made everyone passionate, from players; then to surround himself with talents of all kinds, from modellers to animators to musicians and programmers to 2D artists, who are a coordinated synergistic about agreed goals, despite the differences of all. This is how his strength: everyone was confident of his vision of the game, because he was the author of the Mod we fell in love with, and everyone could be sure that any contribution, even if squeezed with talent and effort (provided it is valid ), would have been put to use.

Then, one day, AncientWanker disappeared without a trace.

We, who thought we knew him well, had to realize that he was not in fact able to reconstruct my real name. Every attempt to get in touch with him, or at least with his family or his work colleagues, has failed. Few elements are scattered, but not enough to go back to working addresses, phone numbers, email, facebook account or anything like that. He would know, for example, age (1975, I think), marital status (married, children), US state of residence, something at work (IT field), and other small things. Surely we knew, after years of collaboration on the game, that it would never have simply disappeared, if ever it could be avoided. So it's hard not to think that something sudden and serious happened. After a stop of perhaps a year, the team timidly came to the decision that TLD would be continuous. Even the most tales of the hypothesis of waiting for the return have been surrendered: if it ever came back, the progress will surely be seen with pleasure.

But there was also a technical problem. It was AW that kept track of everyone's contributions; so, with its mysterious (and worrying) disappearance much has been lost, including, but not limited to, all the original source (the TLD code has been completely rewritten!). But the worst thing is that the team has been lost, irrevocably, its true glue. Each of us devs has different ideas on how to be the Mod. Nobody doubted the judgment of AncientWanker, but without him, a continuous, painful compromise was necessary. The ideal aim is always always all agree, but sometimes the differences are hard to shrink. There have been resounding abandonments (incredible as one ends up a courage of imporatanza as his own vision of the game is respected by the contributions made by each other). It was very difficult.

AncientWanker has also missed us humanly. How good it would have been with him every progress in TLD (and how many there were, even counting only the crucial ones)!

2a- What can you tell us about the work done in the team?

Answer: Do you mean my part of the job? They all do everything, but I am mainly one of the "technicians". I built OpenBRF alone to help me with this part. It is mine the fight of trolls and wargs, the engulfing of uruk and orcs, the size of dwarfs, ogres, hobbit, trolls and olipers, the attack of nazgul, the regionalization of the map in geographical area, the writings on map, the division of gondor in sub-operations, the calendar, the treatment of prisoners ... this kind of thing. And the shaders (the eyes of the orcs, the wind between the leaves and the banners, the snow on the mountains, etc.). I also had a good part of the system, recruiting, and starting menus, etc. And some missions, and Fangorn ... a lot of the code in short, but excluding the whole system of war, of which I have dealt very little (including the sieges). Even a little bit of dialogue. Although as a 3D artist I'm not worth much, I've also done some things in this field: many of the TLD supplementary animations, a lot of riggings, and some modeling, especially on the map (for all the animated icons, and much of the modeling of the map). (eheh, I did some models of wargs but luckily they did not get to the version you saw - we have better models than me: in fact TLD has been in the cellar for so long without release, that whole array of models and characteristics were performed and then replaced completely without anyone

In these tasks, my modus operandi and often what he called "automated": rather than doing a job, especially if large and repetitive, I prefer to make an effort or a process for me, perhaps en bloc. From the principle of game play (which, I reveal, mechanically reproposes all levels 1 of the factions in play), to the map, to the rigor, to the coloring of the models, to the written on the map, and many parts of the scripting, etc. Even some icons are made in a completely procedural way, often with ad-hoc algorithms. It is true that they are not as good as those obtained when every little thing is patiently done "by hand", and retouching is often necessary; but I do not think it would have been possible to make data otherwise the amount of work that would have been necessary otherwise. A striking example, among the many, is the automatic construction of a passable human-dwarf-orchestra-urukese version of every piece of wearable equipment, or the adaptation of all the animations to the awkward "orchestral" version.

I believe this "automated" modus operandi is necessary, but not sufficient.
I believe that a strong point of the body is, that alongside, people come, who master this modus operandi (solve the bulk of things in bulk but not perfectly), and talented people more artistic production masterpieces, but one at a time). They are complementary skills.

3- Do you think that there will be other patches after 3.1? What goals have you set for yourself?

Answer: I hope so, yes. As I said, each of us has goals to some extent different. Some consider the Mod substantially finished, only to suffer from bigger problems (above all the balancing of the stats). I am among those who see the potential of the Mod currently only partially realized (see subsequent answers).

4- This question is inevitable, is the TLD team thinking of a port on WB? Are you discussing it?

Answer: We are obviously thinking about it. I can not say if it will be done. I'm afraid not.

5- What do you think of some choices in the creation of TLD, such as not allowing the player to command sieges?

Answer: I think all the choices can be reviewed to create a better game.

What it means to say 'best' depends on the points of view (here lies, in the end, the origin of all the divergences among us dev of which I said above).

My personal list of priorities is made up of four things:

1- Lore: loyalty to the scenario (tolkien in this case)

2- Gameplay: that the game is fun, in short (*)

3- Quality: that there are no falls in quality, eg graphics (**).

4- Diversity: that the game is profoundly different from the vanilla.
    But this is not really a goal.

(*) Note: fun gameplay does not necessarily mean balanced.
For example, I do not care if making an ogre is more difficult than an elf.
Especially since it is not multiplayer. Funny means that it has to "work": for example, the optimal win strategies are not too obvious, too repetitive, or too boring. When you want to do some fun to do something, but to win you have to do a much more boring: this is the kind of bad design I want to avoid. End of the note.

If a given mechanism is necessary for the Lore but collides with the Gameplay (as in the case of the question), I am to follow the Lore, first of all, and then strive to invent other, new mechanisms (which follow the Lore) to adjust the Gameplay. Diversity also usually gains. Many are instead to sacrifice the Lore for the benefit of Gameplay.

If a given mechanism would follow the Lore (and the Gameplay) but collides too much with the criterion Quality, I am about to tear it: better a "simulation of Middle Earth" incomplete than a bad one. This case happens continuously: in a Mod there are many things that simply can not be done, or at least you can not do well. This is undoubtedly the worst aspect of doing TLD as a MOD instead of a stand alone game. The modcability of M & B can be great, but direct programming obviously offers many more degrees of freedom.

Finally, for me the Diversity factor is just a lucky side effect. It should not be actively pursued, but if one does things rightly emerges on its own: if the scenario is different, and the scenario is respected, the game can only be different.

(**) Note2: by quality I mean the "absolute" quality of the resulting product, judged as if it were a game in itself, not a MOD. Many good Modders also do little about quality in these terms. See, for example, the battleship battles of the old pirate Mod of the talented YoshiBoy: as Mod is unbelievable, but as an absolute game he would be considered below the level of quality guard. Better than that, it could not be done, because M & B is not meant for battles of that kind, and already at that point has required, on the part of YoshiBoy, the profusion of an enormous amount of talent and effort; but it remains that, seen as a game of pirates (not as MOD of M&B), no one would consider it acceptable: too much glitches, too many things that come back only half (especially graphically). Here, I in TLD are about to compile everything that gets results like this. In this category, for example, at least at the current state of things, most of the cut scenes fall into this category.

6- Will the Moria mines be completed?

Answer: I hope so! They are one of the small masterpieces of Triglav.


7- We know that TLD is full of easter eggs, can you give us the clue to see one?

Answer: Would not it be irreverent to jump in front of a lord of a faction?

Or: Minas Tirith's lobby has more doors than would be strictly necessary.

I know, I know, they're just the obvious ones.


8 - How much did the film series affect Tolkien's books in creating the mod?

Answer: Jackson's trilogy is done tremendously well and is a great source of inspiration. There is no doubt that the amount of work and talent lavished on creating at TLD is rudely miniscule compared to those that made the creation of the film possible. However, in TLD we have always been clear that our point of reference is the book, NOT the movies. The greatest discrepancies (TLD versus Jackson):

Saruman is a potential opponent of Mordor, not his servile ally; the physiognomy of the trolls (deformed, thin and nasutus), of the orcs (which are small!), of the wargs (big, spotted-lupi speudo-lupi, not pesudo-hyenas); the dwarves are not comic relief; the technological level recalls that of the late Middle Ages, not the late, for there are no plate armors (for example, if tolkien had understood their existence, the Nazgul would have certainly had them). Moreover, unlike films, we differentiate a lot between the orcs of Mordor and those of Isengard: the first are more wild hordes and the second most mass-produced (industrial?). Two deliberately different ways of saying: equipment of poor quality but big numbers.

Clearly, the main difference between TLD and books is that the accent is removed completely from the company and placed on the war itself.

9 - What would you change or add to TLD?

Answer: (premise: since TLD 3.0 came out, and after the first two or three patches - January 2012, I'm taking very little part in its developement)

Honestly, I think that in his path (the one that leads him to diversify from the M&B to adapt to the Tolkien setting) TLD has reached 50% yes or no. Digression: the decision to release a release anyway was necessary: ​​in fact a stress factor in the Dev Team was the very long incubation period, and the prolonged lack of release was often close to being fatal. This is why we decided to make one in the end, convincing even those (like me) who thought that the Mod was still far from how we wanted it. In the end it was better this way, and I must acknowledge those who pushed in this direction, MadVader and Triglav in the first place. As a bonus, in the months prior to the release, the work has intensified, even if the price is since then, vice versa, they are very slow.


In the team I'm always one of those that pushes towards the most radical changes from the point of view of gameplay (it's my conception of the recruiting mode, or of the economic system, for example - even if I know that many have not liked) . They are also among the "sober", the "censors" in short, those who tend to overturn ideas also appealing but less orthodox from the point of view of the Tolkenian lore, and that support ideas conforming to Lore (even when they seem at first to bring to gameplay problems - see question 4). Do I have to give an example? I would have wanted the orcs even lower (it was a compromise), and had completely removed the ability on their part to parry the blows of humans (except for the PC orcs) - after all, in the book they die at least 5 to 1 against humans. It is just an example. To do another (and this perhaps will be implemented later): I would like to remove or replace all missions that give the idea of ​​excessive cooperation between factions, because I would like to see them more clearly divided by mutual distrust.

There are also some big and necessary changes to the Gameplay, in my opinion. In particular, a serious problem is how it is too easy and tedious on the map to draw the enemy into disgraceful fights.

Also, the mod could really do another nice jump or two if we started making use of the changes in Script Enhancer by cmpxchg8b and partners (here the version for M&B, of Thaess, which should be used, unless ported to WarBand). It is a mine of possibilities to explore.

Finally, transition to Warband (or lost to stand-alone), but not for multiplayer: I see TLD as a single player and that's it.

Then, when TLD was really finished, OpenSource releases to allow users to modify it in turn. TLD should only be a huge, working background, a basic ring war simulation, perhaps to be used as a background for specific sub-scenarios.

Of course every change is work, and life is not just about modding...

10 - If you could think of a WB of the future, how would you like it?

Answer: More moddable: more powerful scripting, less hard-wired functionality.
Some parts more cleaned up: for example, the skeleton-animation part.
Finally, OpenSource! This would really be the dream. Be able to adapt it to taste.


11 - How old are you? What studies did you do or are you doing?

Answer: A lot of years and studies
Born in 1975. PhD in computer science. I work as a researcher and university professor (my field of research is Computer Graphics, but I also teach courses such as programming and algorithms ...).

12 - What are your hobbies?

Answer: Those that are expected: game-making, (independent) gaming. Like many who cultivate this hobby, I think it is a form of artistic creativity that represents, in potency, the sum of almost all the others (from painting to music). In addition, it adds interactivity. What do you want more?

13- How did you meet M&B and WB?

Answer: As a player. I think from Home of The Hunderdogs (or maybe it was from TIGsource?) .

14 - What motivated you to become a modder for TW games?

Answer: TLD, no doubt.

(incidentally: I only started because TLD liked me so much, but modding gave me a lot.
I learned a lot, as did many others on the team, almost all of them.
The artistic growths of Merlkir (main role: 2D artist, but not only) or Pagan (main role: music), for example, were incredible.
But above all, new friendships have been forged, which last beyond TLD).

15 - Before approaching modding for these games, have you had such experiences?

Answer: Modding, no. Programming games, yes. Indeed, "making the game you want to make", to name TIG source, is the queen of this form of creativity. In comparison, Modding is ... just like the dark side of star wars force: Luke: "Is he stronger?" Yoda: "No! No! No ... faster ... easier ... more seductive ..." ... but much less powerful.

16 - How did you get in touch with the TLD team?

Answer: When AncientWanker was still there. I started with edits on the map (some of which were then discarded: for example a way to make the mountains look less realistic and more like the map drawn by hand by Tolkien.) Then at the end we adopted an opposite strategy, always mine, that is making the mountains much more realistic, this was also inherited from the vanilla version, around 0.808 if I'm not mistaken). Then the icons on the map, then new wargs, then the writing on the map, little things in short. Then, one cherry pulls the other ... up to the comomeri.

17 - Do you have any anecdote to tell us that it happened during the processing of a mod?

Answer: Once I went to see another modder, Triglav, at his home in Slovenia. We did a three-man team, with MadVader. A very profitable week, and a very pleasant holiday. Part of the mod has been built on board a US submarine (from Brutus). What else? GetAssista was distracted by his modding activity from his political activities in Russia, if he is too ugly sight!

A funny thing is the slang from mod that emerged among us Devs to discuss the gameplay. For example, let's say "crossdressing" and "crossdresser" (the English term that originally indicates the fetish of dressing with garments of the opposite sex) to refer to the use by players (more or less to be limited) to use equipment of enemy factions . At first it was a joking way of saying, but in the end it became absolutely normal among us to use that term to refer to that phenomenon. Or, say "Sauron" to say "resource points of the part of Mordor", for example "XYZ should cost tot Saurons".

18 - TLD is a truly remarkable work, but for M&B, do you have any projects for WB? What would you like to do ? What would be the setting and the era to which you would like to dedicate yourself?

Answer: No personal project, I just want to help others to do their mods through OpenBRF. And even OpenBRF, sometimes I think it would be better to free it from M & B and turn it into a more generic gaming tool.

Unfortunately, the weather is short.


19 - Many in the Italian community often express the desire for a mod set in our country, what do you think?

Answer: Why not? I hope it very much!

In fact, no setting would naturally be suitable for M&B/WB as the one that sees Italian fortune-captains of the XV-XVI century as protagonists. The spirit is perfect, for example in the motivations of the "heroes", small private entrepreneurs of the war (all the contrary not with Tolkien, in fact in TLD it was necessary to distort entire systems of gameplay mechanisms).

Even the numbers involved could be made more come back: at the end M&B simulates the mischiefs of, let's say, 100 armed against 100, not the thousands of fighters, or many more, that would be necessary for most of the other settings (including Tolkien).

20 - What other games did you love? Do you think you can also mod on other games?

Answer: No, I will not wear it anymore. If I have more time to dedicate to this hobby, it will be for direct game-making, not modding.
Or to make tools, like OpenBRF, and beyond...

 

[Seek n Destroy]

Great interview! Though from reading it I can tell it was conducted some years ago in Italian, out of curiosity when was it done exactly? Would have been great to have a shorter interview in annex to this one just to know Mtarini's thoughts on the still ongoing development of TLD and its Warband port but I imagine he might be busy and/or hard to reach, great interview nonetheless!

Will Rejenorst's iconic lines make a comeback in Bannerlord? How long until harvesting season?

 

[Ettenrocal]

Imagine you have programming courses at university and your professor can be this guy ! wow ! openBrf is myhtic !

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

Great interview! Though from reading it I can tell it was conducted some years ago in Italian, out of curiosity when was it done exactly? Would have been great to have a shorter interview in annex to this one just to know Mtarini's thoughts on the still ongoing development of TLD and its Warband port but I imagine he might be busy and/or hard to reach, great interview nonetheless!

I have been told it is a 2013 interview, done by Gaxleep and published at his Italian mb forum.

 

[NPC99]

Timeless interview. We all owe a debt of gratitude to mtarini for his excellent OpenBRF.