One the crucial points of improvement that I personally am expecting from Bannerlord is the battle atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, alot has been done, and by far, it is better than Warband at this point. However, I do believe that there are things that can still be added/changed to make it more immersive, breath taking, raw, full of emotions, chaotic. The sheer size of the battles, graphical upgrades, sound upgrades and numerous small ones already make a great deal to the atmosphere.
Please do note, my vision of the battle atmosphere may not (most likely not) reflect actual, realistic battle atmosphere, and is more influenced by movies, series and other games. That being said, the idea is not to try to turn into a "movie" game, rather bring some fitting elements that the game could benefit from, especially at this point.
This list is no particular order, rather just what came in my mind first.
Game of Thrones. The battle of Bastards.
By far one of the greatest battle scenes in tv history.
Let's dive into it.
More voice types.
Note the first charge of the Northerners. The sheer amount of different people create a very varied base of different voices and sounds on the battlefield. I believe a larger base of voices for the game would do much good, but obviously, the real question is what is enough. But understandably, if you have 1000 troops on the battlefield, and only have few voice types to begin with, it will very quickly sound bit silly/dull/repetitive when you hear the same sounds all over again, repeated by 1000 troops.
Horses
The impact of the horses are very notable, and they should be. Horses have gotten an upgrade in Bannerlord, and the new animations do a lot of justice. I do hope however, that horses will take damage/fall/die when they hit something at full speed, as currently, it does work a bit silly. They are big animals, and they have a huge impact where ever they go.
Battle sounds
Giving an "umff" to certain sounds can also be beneficial, instead of very dry ones. Obviously, the point of what is realistic and what is not will be of subject at this point.
Kindom of Heaven
Alot of great scenes.
Shield sounds
To me, these are a good reference.
Horse sounds
We can clearly hear more varied horse sounds, some of which id like to hear in the game as well.
Alexander the Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVLGwTggO8U
Arrows
Love the arrow sounds. Makes them sound scary.
Spears/pikes
Make note. Spears and pikes are effective against cavalry. I really hope to see the change in-game aswell. Cavalry must be afraid of spears and try not to make a full frontal charge against them.
Other notes
Banners, banners, banners.
I don't believe they were taken away completely. I really do hope so atleast. Please don't take them away. They really did at so much more into the atmosphere.
Battle stretches
What I mean by this is that the fighting will stretch along, instead of being in one big plot. That was a major issue in the previous titles. However, I have seen much improvement, but it still seems to be there somewhat according to some videos.
AI
A lot of things tie down to this one thing. AI. It's crucial. It's extremely crucial. It determines how the player sees and feels the battle. If AI acts stupid, the enemy possesses no danger whatsoever, what's the point in battles instead of simulating them? I can't stress this enough, good AI can and will do wonders. Without doubt, it will take a lot of work to be done in a way that it behaves as it should, but the time invested will pay back with smiles and thanks from the fans.
Please do note, my vision of the battle atmosphere may not (most likely not) reflect actual, realistic battle atmosphere, and is more influenced by movies, series and other games. That being said, the idea is not to try to turn into a "movie" game, rather bring some fitting elements that the game could benefit from, especially at this point.
This list is no particular order, rather just what came in my mind first.
Game of Thrones. The battle of Bastards.
By far one of the greatest battle scenes in tv history.
Let's dive into it.
More voice types.
Note the first charge of the Northerners. The sheer amount of different people create a very varied base of different voices and sounds on the battlefield. I believe a larger base of voices for the game would do much good, but obviously, the real question is what is enough. But understandably, if you have 1000 troops on the battlefield, and only have few voice types to begin with, it will very quickly sound bit silly/dull/repetitive when you hear the same sounds all over again, repeated by 1000 troops.
Horses
The impact of the horses are very notable, and they should be. Horses have gotten an upgrade in Bannerlord, and the new animations do a lot of justice. I do hope however, that horses will take damage/fall/die when they hit something at full speed, as currently, it does work a bit silly. They are big animals, and they have a huge impact where ever they go.
Battle sounds
Giving an "umff" to certain sounds can also be beneficial, instead of very dry ones. Obviously, the point of what is realistic and what is not will be of subject at this point.
Kindom of Heaven
Alot of great scenes.
Shield sounds
To me, these are a good reference.
Horse sounds
We can clearly hear more varied horse sounds, some of which id like to hear in the game as well.
Alexander the Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVLGwTggO8U
Arrows
Love the arrow sounds. Makes them sound scary.
Spears/pikes
Make note. Spears and pikes are effective against cavalry. I really hope to see the change in-game aswell. Cavalry must be afraid of spears and try not to make a full frontal charge against them.
Other notes
Banners, banners, banners.
I don't believe they were taken away completely. I really do hope so atleast. Please don't take them away. They really did at so much more into the atmosphere.
Battle stretches
What I mean by this is that the fighting will stretch along, instead of being in one big plot. That was a major issue in the previous titles. However, I have seen much improvement, but it still seems to be there somewhat according to some videos.
AI
A lot of things tie down to this one thing. AI. It's crucial. It's extremely crucial. It determines how the player sees and feels the battle. If AI acts stupid, the enemy possesses no danger whatsoever, what's the point in battles instead of simulating them? I can't stress this enough, good AI can and will do wonders. Without doubt, it will take a lot of work to be done in a way that it behaves as it should, but the time invested will pay back with smiles and thanks from the fans.
