Final version improvement checklist.

Sorry going to be quite a long post, been play testing .952 and made some notes
Bugs;
0
After being taken prisoner and losing my companions their arguments still turned up for a while

1
Baheshtur still talked about Rolf after I'd kicked him out, I went back to my last save point and found it behaved the same after the next battle, but this time the game crashed.  Got this message on the desk top after I pressed a few bepuzzled buttons;
Assertion failure...      File:e:\develop\mb\program\src\../../rgl/rglHash-vector.h    Line:103
Expression: Keys[key]==key

2
After upgrading several companions and entering the inventory, it occurred every time the pointer touched an item;
Script error on opcode 521: invalid party ID: 575; line no 8
At script: game_get_item_sell_price_factor

3
Similar message, appeared after I accidentally selected surrender being half asleep, again in the inventory
Script error on opcode 521: invalid party ID: 214; line no 8
At script: game_get_item_sell_price_factor

4
The quest for peace between two factions was still active even though they declared a treaty
An enemy lord was still taken prisoner in battle despite the war ending
I was still unable to enter the towns, is this due to the 'resentful' status?

Suggestions;
There's quite a few spelling/grammar typo's
I should imagine you're aware of this, when looking up information the lord's portrait's are currently messed up with bits showing through where they shouldn't,  Also any chance of pre drawn backgrounds and some sort of photoshop type filter to give them a more 'portrait' look?  Could the towns and castles be represented by images of the actual sets rather than the map icons?

More random information from the companions including gossip that may or may not be true, and therefore sometimes helpful in quests/politics, or completely misleading

The sound after the inventory scene to sort battle loot doesn't play properly, and can we have some ambient sounds for when talking to companions, the horse snorts like its got pepper up its nose

Metal noises for the metal shield

When talking to characters there's always something blocking their image

What no pole hammer?  And whats the black thing behind the fireplaces?  It certainly doesn't look like smoke staining

Some of the companions, randomly picked, to only become available as your renown increases, this would make their management more of a challenge as you try to keep as many as possible.  Not sure if others would agree this is a good idea

I snuck into an enemy town and managed to join the tournament, shouldn't my name come up as 'unknown pilgrim'? Also once inside I changed back into my heraldic armour and was free to hang around in the tavern and wander the streets! Surely I should have been thrown out or arrested?

Giving companions good equipment should increase their base moral or loyalty to you

The military hammer is still swung with the pointed side rather than the four pronged head

Heraldic high end blackened/blued plate armour for lords, and only available for 20,000 denars

Lastly, can we have some random designs for the heraldic shields/armour before you gain a banner, it would be the same as having them repainted/stitched when you gain your title?

Thanks, tata for now!

Nutjobs, just noticed the bugs thread 

I think these suggestions are way more in the spirit of the original post's idea than my others.  They are really small tweaks.

1.  The ambient noise in villages should be present while traveling on the world map.  I love the hooting owl at night when you are in the village center.  I think some more of that would be perfect when traveling on the world map.  The music does get repetitive.

2.  The graphic for the khergit arrows quiver needs to be changed to either the graphic for the barbed or the bodkin arrows quiver.  As it is now, the khergit arrows quiver EXACTLY matches the nomad bow sheathe.  Should not the khergit arrows match the khergit bow sheathe?

3.  Towns need to restock their victuals.  Currently, they do not and I have bought all the food from all the Khergit towns, so now I have to buy 1 or 2 at a time from the villages.

4.  The screen whipping from one character to the next during a conversation is annoying and actually a bit nauseating.  I think showing both conversing characters at the same time from a unique camera angle would be better.  Gothic 1 and 2 did a very nice job and almost made it cinematic.

5.  Lords run off chasing inconsequential enemy parties during their besieging of enemy towns and castles and accidentally end their sieges prematurely.  A tighter limit on the max chase distance for lords needs to be used during sieges.  Discussed here  http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,37320.0.html

6.  Perhaps when all the lords are standing around with the marshal during a siege, they should use the little tent graphic?  It seems odd that the player is the only one who is ever in a tent and when I think of castle sieges, I think of a ring or cluster of little tents.  discussed here  http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,37493.0.html

7.  The character report screen, when listing friends, should perhaps be reorganized.  When you have a long list of friends, it is very very hard to read.

8.  Color code all the names of lords, locations, factions, etc in the "Q" menus and at the bottom left screen of the world map.  Organize each screen in the "Q" menus first by faction, then by type, and then in alphabetical order.

9.  Remove "Lord" from the front of the names in the "Q" menus.  I do not need to see an alphabetical list of 50 names all starting with "lord."  The lord part should only come in front of the name in conversations, the world map, and the information shown at the bottom left of the screen.  Organize the "Characters" menu first by faction, then by type (faction ruler, lords, and claimants) before listing them alphabetically.

10.  The character screen displays your relationship with each lord.  It should also list what major actions you have taken together.  When you talk to a lord who was with you when you captured a fief together or fought a tough battle against an enemy lord together, he remembers this.  I would be great if a simple list with a date was displayed like "Captured Ismirala Castle - 29 May XXXX or Defeated Lord Ralcha - 20 April XXXX.  Perhaps some of the more difficult quests done for the lords could be included.  Nothing about the same person or place would display twice, only the most recent time you did something to either.  Of course, list these things first by faction, then by type, then alphabetically.

11.  List things first by faction, then by type, then alphabetically.

Eogan said:

Weapon animations.
It's been said plenty of times before, but the swings in-game are ridiculous.  Every shot swings from the shoulder, when they should be a lot more economical and compact.  Poles can use a counter-levered attack.  Two-handers should combine a counter-lever motion with a short swing.  One-handed blows should be closer to a punch than a tennis swing:  it's more powerful, more accurate, and much faster.

Click to expand...

Totally agree on this. The on-foot combat animations are ridiculous. They're so artificial that they break the immersion of the game

Horseback animations, on the other hand, are almost perfect, until you get locked in non-moving horseback combat ie. horse just standing there, you blocking and retaliating. Then it looks ridiculous too

For near-perfect combat animations, look at Jedi Outcast left-right-overhead swings

Fortunately, they seem to be in the process of getting remodeled.  Check the video thread in the Zendar Square forum.

Is this the thread?

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,36949.0.html

If it is, it sure doesn't show anything much  . But it's still nice to see they're working on it!

-edit-

Ok I just noticed the full video and watched it. Oh that's very nice! I really think the combat will look awesome when they do flesh out all the animations. God, those animations look so fluid compared to the current state's. It's that new breath of fresh air that M&B needed for sure!

The ability to choose where you defend a castle from, or when to fall back to your lord halls/city interior

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,36196.0.html

I like this new mercenary "quest" that you can do for the factions. I have a problem with the way your status with other factions is after your released from service, however.

When you join a faction as a vassal and your faction goes to war with another faction your relationship with the enemy faction decreases, understandably. Fighting them decreases it more along with raiding villages.Once the war is over however your relationship with the now nuetral faction drops back to 0.

As a mercenary you essentially become a vassal in the game's "mind" I assume, as on the character screen your refered to as such. When the faction you work for goes to war your relationship with that now enemy faction drops. When your released from service that relationship stays the same, why?

If anything your relationship with a faction you were once at war with as a vassal should remain the same, but not as a mercenary. I think a mercenaries relationship with any enemy faction should normalize to 0 or maybe to its original state if it was higher after being a mercenary. I would really love to work for all the factions off and on. I might understand relationships with various lords staying the same, even as a vassal, if it doesn't already. This should be especially true for raiding villages and your relationship with the village. I think faction relationship should fall if your not in the service of any faction as a mercenary or vassal.

A decrease in relationship then would be representative of you being an outlaw or rebel for attacking villages, peasants, or an army. Maybe if you stop these hostile activites as a outlaw the relationship normalizes over time. Bounty hunters or assassins( for assassins think the mugging encounters in the city) try to kill you if your to much of a problem?( maybe just while you try yo loose your heat?).I could also see this working in the oppsite manner if you help one faction in a battle against another you gain relationship with them and lose it with the other.

Another thing to possibly consider is having the option as a mercenary or maybe even a vassal to change sides at the start of a battle, Since the lords meet before hand anyway. Switching sides could possibly have a negative affect on your honor. The relationship with factions leader your working for and perhaps lords participating in the battle would drop because of the switch.

I understand mercenary- faction relationship could be a simple glitch or work in progress, but I would hate for it to remain as it is. I didn't have the fortune of having the Nords declare peace with any of the enemy factions before my service ended. Now I'm stuck working for the Nords or Swadia since their the only factions I have a positive relationship with.

Muffin Raider said:

I like this new mercenary "quest" that you can do for the factions. I have a problem with the way your status with other factions is after your released from service, however.

When you join a faction as a vassal and your faction goes to war with another faction your relationship with the enemy faction decreases, understandably. Fighting them decreases it more along with raiding villages.Once the war is over however your relationship with the now nuetral faction drops back to 0.

As a mercenary you essentially become a vassal in the game's "mind" I assume, as on the character screen your refered to as such. When the faction you work for goes to war your relationship with that now enemy faction drops. When your released from service that relationship stays the same, why?

If anything your relationship with a faction you were once at war with as a vassal should remain the same, but not as a mercenary. I think a mercenaries relationship with any enemy faction should normalize to 0 or maybe to its original state if it was higher after being a mercenary. I would really love to work for all the factions off and on. I might understand relationships with various lords staying the same, even as a vassal, if it doesn't already. This should be especially true for raiding villages and your relationship with the village. I think faction relationship should fall if your not in the service of any faction as a mercenary or vassal.

A decrease in relationship then would be representative of you being an outlaw or rebel for attacking villages, peasants, or an army. Maybe if you stop these hostile activites as a outlaw the relationship normalizes over time. Bounty hunters or assassins( for assassins think the mugging encounters in the city) try to kill you if your to much of a problem?( maybe just while you try yo loose your heat?).I could also see this working in the oppsite manner if you help one faction in a battle against another you gain relationship with them and lose it with the other.

Another thing to possibly consider is having the option as a mercenary or maybe even a vassal to change sides at the start of a battle, Since the lords meet before hand anyway. Switching sides could possibly have a negative affect on your honor. The relationship with factions leader your working for and perhaps lords participating in the battle would drop because of the switch.

I understand mercenary- faction relationship could be a simple glitch or work in progress, but I would hate for it to remain as it is. I didn't have the fortune of having the Nords declare peace with any of the enemy factions before my service ended. Now I'm stuck working for the Nords or Swadia since their the only factions I have a positive relationship with.

Click to expand...

never thought much on that, but yes.  it would make more sense if your relationship reset as a merc rather than as a lord.

Polearms and big axes are magically glued to your back when not used. Simply put, this look rediculous.
Could some sort of universal strapping / harness be put in-game to cater for theese sheath-less weapons?

Zathan

Zathan said:

Polearms and big axes are magically glued to your back when not used. Simply put, this look rediculous.
Could some sort of universal strapping / harness be put in-game to cater for theese sheath-less weapons?

Zathan

Click to expand...

never thought much on that, but it is pretty damn ridiculous.  just a leather strap that runs over one shoulder and across the back would work for me, like the one for shields.

The terrain displayed in the background when talking to someone on the world map is always stone.

Art Falmingaid said:

Muffin Raider said:

I understand mercenary- faction relationship could be a simple glitch or work in progress, but I would hate for it to remain as it is. I didn't have the fortune of having the Nords declare peace with any of the enemy factions before my service ended. Now I'm stuck working for the Nords or Swadia since their the only factions I have a positive relationship with.

Click to expand...

never thought much on that, but yes.  it would make more sense if your relationship reset as a merc rather than as a lord.

Click to expand...

I don't think the relations should be simply reset at the end of a mercenary contract, I think you should still carry over a certain reputation for your actions when under contract. It would be unrealistic otherwise. I agree with Muffin Raider that on completion of a mercenary contract, the relations should be normalised -but I'd suggest something like halving any change (increase or decrease) to faction relation incurred/gained whilst under-contract, once the contract ends.

As a mercenary, you predominantly follow orders, but as a lord you are supposedly more in charge of your own actions, so as Art says, there should be no change when you are a Lord.

Also, regarding relations with previously enemy cities or lords (etc), I think any changes that occur to these during the mercenary contract should not be reset as you still acted as an individual -certainly in how you chose to treat enemy Lords. 

I'd also advocate the faction that hired you as a merc reducing it's relation with you by half after the contract expires: they would remember your "good" service but would be wary of you now that you are a free agent.

OMG,

no place to store cool items?
No place to store Heroes?

Ape-O said:

I would like to see populations for villages and towns. For exampe, village has a population of 250 and town has 1500 people living in it. Population would affect the amount of goods produced, taxes, etc. Population would increase slowly but would be decreased by looting, raiding, poverty, recruiting etc. Prosperous villages would attract immigrants from poor villages, but also raiders and bandits. Villages should have some sort of defense forces to fend off small parties of bandits. Poor villages would start regaining population and prosperity quickly after a brief time of peace (representing villagers returning to their village from their hiding places)

Click to expand...

It is a must have in my opinion. It will give logic to the economy and game.

I don't think you should be allowed in to look at a castle's layout unless you are trusted, or if you manage to bribe a guard he'll give you a hand-drawn map which could also be a trap, if you're unlucky.

Weather effect on the world map, not kept in localised areas, just the same general effect you would get in the scenes to let you know what the weather is like where you are standing.

Can we have proper water effects in the bowls and troughs, it looks like they've got plastercine in them.

There's a spiral staircase in one of the castles, it's going the wrong way round.  They were made to turn clockwise so the invading force were not only having to fight their way up the stairs but their right handed swings were blocked by the central pillar of the stairwell.  (Shouldn't be too hard to reverse the model )

Your enemy's deserters might be willing to help you.

I would rather wait a moment longer for the battle map to appear than have it freeze everytime more troops are added, any way of getting the computer to 'prepare' this beforehand?

When you do the collect debt quest, the lords should react in different ways.

Rowdy drunks raising their mugs and singing if you make it to the tavern in one peice at night, and the muffled sound of them from outside in the streets as you are attacked, explaining how the ambushers have managed to catch you undetected by the town guards.

Sorry going to be an irritating perfectionist for a moment;
There's bright orange doors in some of the taverns...
New wheels on the old cart for delivering the new wheels?  Shouldn't they be either muddy or atleast have one with old wheels or a new body too...
Squashed melon heads, everywhere, any way of restricting the level to which the computer selects this shape, I don't think I've ever even met someone with a head that shape in all my life! 

Sorry to say this outside the sieges thread but its more about the lords and their character.  If the huge event of sieging becomes the huge event it was, the lords in the commanding tent could have either a serious attitude to the devastation of their actions, or treat it as if its just an extension of the tournament, offering to make bets and joking about it if you speak to them.  This would depend if they were an essentially good character or a spoilt toff with more interest in money and power than the well being of such outcomes.  You are of course welcome to take part in either attitude and gain/lose favour through it. Thought it would add to the scene and immersion.

If your opponent has faster weapons there's no option to switch to bare fisted, which should also deal more damage.

Any room that's got a fire to have the slight mist effect, not so much in the kings halls though, I'm guessing, but I should imagine such huge buildings had some kind of vent like system going on (the ones not under chimneys).

Any chance of having the option to switch armour/weapons before the battle scene, the luggage box is all very well during the scrap but surely there would have been time to prepare, and I myself like to have certain weapons for certain foes.  Most the time I forget when I'm chasing people about the map! tara 

Some graphical indication of the unit type you have selected in battle without going to the "Backspace" strategy map.  Something small and simple, running up the bottom right corner above the health bar.  Maybe a sword, bow, and horse that has a border around it when the unit is selected.  Would work the same for "5" - selecting more than one.

i have read allot of the improvement lists and threads, and i may have missed but pretty sure nothing like this has been asked, as you can improve villages you fief, why not have one of the improvements as a barracks, to speed training of men combined with your skills. also buy/choose the type of troop from the region you wish to start scratch and build up. i find it frustrating that i cant mount allot of my troops they have to choose and this may help a small way to fixing it.... and also being able to store trained troops at the barracks if you wish to get more, and they cahrge less wage whilst they stay at ure village and eat ure peasents foods instead of yours inventory. this also negated you haveing to travel back to village to defend and you have a trained constituant to defend, for lower costs. and a resere team if you fall in a ditch and lose all your men in anther battle. i dont know. i know this is RPG mainly and thats maybe not what most ppl want to see. but you have an avenue already in empire building, why not make that bigger? you also reach larger audience this way. and offer a little more micromanagement than just butchering sea raiders all the time.
on that note, go the NORDS! VIKING METAL!!! both in cold steel and music

*edit*
also met me know your thoughts !!!!!!

Currently there are a lot of small and huge inconsistencies on item a) prices, b) weight and c) protective value

Examples

a) a good pair of gloves cost more than a horse; a set of hardened leather gloves are somehow more expensive than superior handwear, while giving less protection. Basically the whole cost-increase of hardened/reinforced/thick etc needs to be reworked.
Horses trained for war, heavy armour and big weaponry were rare, expensive and only for the few. IMO, much gameplay would be gained if these facts were reflected in the game. Sometimes less is more.

b) some armours have very bad protection vs weight ratios. Could very well be realistic, but means no one will use them unless they intend to nerf themselves.

c) there's a black hood that rivals a nasal helm for head protection; there's a pilgrim outfit that gives more leg protection than a coat of plates.
And a scale armour is somehow less protective than a gambeson.

Some of the above are minor issues, others are IMO quite damaging to the game.
Either way, ALL of the above is very easy to correct, and downright silly to ignore for a final release.



Zathan

Also, i think another thing for native 1.0 should be Complex and before battle start formations. kind of like total war set out your party and give orderes before battle, and whilst in battle with new fkey adjustments and key keys opening up more commands etc. although getting the AI to respond in the same way and not just fire then charge might be a little harder....