Pumpkin Lord
Hatboy
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3D Artist
Hello, Hatboy. You are a new member to the modding community, if I am not wrong, yet you impress with your talents. You have been busy working on the Witcher project for Bannerlord for a while now, which is called Monsters from Men and looks amazing! So, let's start with an introduction of yourself for those who don’t know you.
Answer: Hii. I'm Hatboy102 and I am the lead dev for the aforementioned modification Monsters’ from Men for mount and blade bannerlord. I have been modding for 4 years and plan to continue for as long as i can.
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 got started by working on an AKOK mod for Skyrim, making armor and textures for the mod. But once that was cancelled I had just finished one of my playthroughs for the witcher 3 and noticed bannerlord was added to ModDB and I just said to myself I’m going to make my own mod.
How did you start on the project? What’s your motivation behind the creation process? Are you working on this alone? How do you handle the research?
Answer: A more detailed version than before is that I started what is now known as Monsters’ from men as a Skyrim mod that was going to just be an asset port. Then seeing Bannerlord I quickly moved over to modDB and began work there. Scrapping everything and starting what you can see today. As for the alone question.
I have a few members on my team. For models textures and everything in game you will find that is done by me. But the motivation behind these pieces are partially thanks to a group of concept artists I have on board, as well as a beautiful music composer pat mahoney.
Research for the mod is fairly simple, I look at the books as well as the game for anything that is related to the witcher, but as my mod takes place on a new land a lot of it comes from my own head, as well as this amazing short film Despair, where I get a lot of my inspiration.
What kind of challenges you are facing at the moment? What’s it like developing a project for a game that hasn’t come out yet?
Answer: At the moment it's motivation to continue on a game that feels like it's never going to come out. I know as soon as it does and I add everything that we have mad into the game that inspiration will come pouring in but right now I'm stuck.
The asset quality of your project is spot-on! Did you learn to make all these armors just for Witcher or were you making armors like these for a long time now? How do you start making an armor?
Answer: I had very little experience before this mod, and learned most everything for it. And I learned by just saying f**k it one day.
Why do you think the Witcher is a good idea for bannerlord? Combat system? Strategy aspects?
Answer: I feel that the very dark and slavic atmosphere will mesh perfectly. I want this mod to be a lot more open and be focused more on in scene stuff rather than playing on the map. But we will see
What is the reaction of the community? Are you happy with the feedback?
Answer: Die hard book fans of the witcher hate my mod because I am not sticking to the lore. But I don't mind the hate, I love my community that I have built and I would do anything for them. If you are respectful, fun, and don't just come on my page to tell me my work sucks,I will work with your comments to meet a medium in what we both want in asset creation
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: Yeah absolutely. I use my work as portfolio pieces all the time as I aspire to work for a gaming company one day, I currently work as an indepent sound contractor for a church, Odd and irrelevant as it may sound, I got the job because when the pastor asked me about what I had as my background, I told him about my mod.
And how the underlying theme is the clash of different cultures and how in the mod**** Spoiler****** you have the opportunity to shape the new world. Now I only have to work 2 days a week
Are you working on any warband project? What do you think of the future? Do you have any plans that will follow Witcher?
Answer: Yeah actually I am working with a team called Dark anvil studios on a cartoon LOTR mod and I plan continue modding for as long as i can.
What is your favourite warband mod? Why do you like it? Also, is there any project that caught your attention lately?
Answer: I've never found a favorite, I always play a mod for a bit and then switch. But I really feel the cartoon mod is going to bring something really cool to the table and That's why i wanted to help
What is your overall impression of the modding community of this game?
Answer: I love this community and how meme centered and non-toxic it is.
And - lastly. Would you like to say anything to creative people who’re reading this interview at the moment?
Answer: Honestly follow your dream, modding is a great way to test what you have and an audience to tell you what to think. And maybe you don't have the stuff to make your own mod? Join a team, I'll take anyone I can get :p
