Dev Blog 03/05/18

[parsehtml]<p><img class="frame" src="https://www.taleworlds.com/Images/News/blog_post_38_taleworldswebsite.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="290" /></p> <p>In previous instalments of our weekly updates, we introduced you to the major powers of Calradia and talked about the historical influences that we used as a foundation for creating our own take on the early medieval period. In this week’s blog, we thought it would be nice to put a face to a name, so to speak, by sharing each of the factions’ banners with you. After all, this is Mount & Blade II: <em>Bannerlord…</em></p></br> [/parsehtml]Read more at: http://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/58

 

[Dest45]

Eveyone is talking **** about my Vaegirs but we endure. You only make us stronger and weed out the weak.

Who cares about the banner? The Nordic and Slavic cultures are so similar, especially before Christianity and they also have the same roots.

The difference is like Alaskan Natives vs Canadian Natives lol

And about the whole mish mashing thing, Nords hadn’t come en masse yet but I’m sure they had a presence in Calradia and the closest faction/first stop is likely the vaegirs. After a few decades of trading, settling, raiding and raping, I’m sure the cultures would mesh a little.

They obviously have significant Slavic influence than anything else. So lets just chill out. We have Nordic minor factions and then the super sexy forest nomad minor faction that is super duper sexy slavic vaegir goodness, lets just be happy guys.

 

[King Henry of Britonnia]

The devs themselves said they added in Viking art so Sturgians are not only descendants of the Vaegirs, they are partially viking and maybe that is why the Nords invaded later on. There is probably a connection just saying. The Nords are technically vikings. The Sturgians have a mix of both Nordic and Vaegir culture. We'll also find out because right now you and I can only go on what theories and facts we have in mind.

yes it have nordic influence but they are not viking, they are not nord, they are vaegir native to calradia land, the nord (i assume) in this era will be that mercenary faction though.
https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/39

I said they have a mix of both. The Sturgians lean more towards being the early Russians but like you said they have the influence of viking culture which means they are at least influenced by 2% due to their similar banner. I never said they are fully viking, I said the Sturgians are a mix and are mostly the early Russians. The troops that I have seen though with the Sturgians must be the mercenary group that looks very viking like so maybe the Sturgians allow that viking like mercenary group in to help them? But yeah, I think the Sturgians are a mix of both while mostly being early Russian. I just looked at a screenshot in an earlier post and it seems they do not have Nordic like armor or anything except the banner.  Only the banner part with the similar design defines that the Sturgians are somewhat influenced along with the mercenary group.

 

[King Henry of Britonnia]

Eveyone is talking **** about my Vaegirs but we endure. You only make us stronger and weed out the weak.

Who cares about the banner? The Nordic and Slavic cultures are so similar, especially before Christianity and they also have the same roots.

The difference is like Alaskan Natives vs Canadian Natives lol

And about the whole mish mashing thing, Nords hadn’t come en masse yet but I’m sure they had a presence in Calradia and the closest faction/first stop is likely the vaegirs. After a few decades of trading, settling, raiding and raping, I’m sure the cultures would mesh a little.

They obviously have significant Slavic influence than anything else. So lets just chill out. We have Nordic minor factions and then the super sexy forest nomad minor faction that is super duper sexy slavic vaegir goodness, lets just be happy guys.

Thanks, at least you understand what I was saying. They do look so similar that I can tell the Sturgians are a mix of Nordic and Slavic/Russian culture due to the design of the banner and that mercenary group.

 

[hiul]

but the nord are not descendant of the sturgia they are vaegir though.

i hope TW implement weather effect so maybe sturgia will have advantage in snowy or cold climate while aserai have advantage in sand or hot climate   

 

[King Henry of Britonnia]

but the nord are not descendant of the sturgia they are vaegir though.

i hope TW implement weather effect so maybe sturgia will have advantage in snowy or cold climate while aserai have advantage in sand or hot climate 

Its from the blog right here.
The Sturgians populate the cold and forbidding forests of North-Eastern Calradia. They are based on the federation of predominantly Slavic city states known as Kievan Rus, with influences taken from the many different peoples who travelled to and settled in this region. This gave us quite a bit of free reign when choosing the design for this faction. In the end, we decided to lean more towards the Viking style of art, which we felt would be more recognisable. The Viking shield is perhaps one of the most iconic shields we can think of, so using that in the centre of the design was an idea we had right from the start (the sword just naturally fit in with that!). We combined this with a design taken from some Viking jewellery (a torc) which helped to bring the whole piece together. The dark blue of the banner was chosen to represent the cold and harsh environment in which the Sturgians live, and also the seas which they travelled across from their homelands.

The Sturgians are the descendants of the Vaegirs and are somewhat influenced by viking culture. This proves that the Sturgians are a mix of the early Vaegirs, who are the representation of the Kievan Rus/Slavic city states(remember the Sturgians were inspired from that), and have some viking culture to them due to sea travel and their coat of arms. Do keep in mind that historically, some vikings lived in places like Greenland and Iceland. I believe that is where the viking culture is inspired from. They already added in weather change and season change from before remember? It is in one of their first trailers. I have a theory that the reason why the Nords invaded later on is because of the amount of Nordic influence they had in Sturgia. As I said from before, there is only one way to find out. We must play the game ourselves when it is released.

 

[hiul]

You are right, I knew that the Sturgians were going to be descendants of the Nords who land 200 years later. Somehow, they are also part Russian so I am not surprised that parts of the Kingdom of Sturgia would divide off to become the Vaegirs, who are the Russians in Warband. Otherwise, who else would be the descendants of the Nords? My hunch was right and those who told me that Sturgians were not viking like are invalid. Obviously, the Sturgians are a mix of the early Nords/Vikings and the Vaegirs/Medieval Russians.

well you claim that sturgian is nord ancestor and split up into vaegir, thats what i want to correct about.

i mean the effect of the weather something like getting overheat, hypothermia, frostbite,(on battlefield) hard movement in snow (i know camel can move faster in sand but not sure is it also in battlefield), or in rain that will be disadvantageous for archer and crossbow, stuff like that. 

maybe stuff like that will give some pro to sturgian and aserai which look weak compare to other that have better armor and such.
beside both this culture major historical advantage is due to their climate.

about the flag, i agree with innocent flower, i dont know how rus or slav symbol look like, but the flag is to viking like, at least try mix both, i think this flag is better put on the nord mercenary faction one since its still look good but feel out of place.

 

[King Henry of Britonnia]

You are right, I knew that the Sturgians were going to be descendants of the Nords who land 200 years later. Somehow, they are also part Russian so I am not surprised that parts of the Kingdom of Sturgia would divide off to become the Vaegirs, who are the Russians in Warband. Otherwise, who else would be the descendants of the Nords? My hunch was right and those who told me that Sturgians were not viking like are invalid. Obviously, the Sturgians are a mix of the early Nords/Vikings and the Vaegirs/Medieval Russians.

well you claim that sturgian is nord ancestor and split up into vaegir, thats what i want to correct about.

i mean the effect of the weather something like getting overheat, hypothermia, frostbite,(on battlefield) hard movement in snow (i know camel can move faster in sand but not sure is it also in battlefield), or in rain that will be disadvantageous for archer and crossbow, stuff like that. 

maybe stuff like that will give some pro to sturgian and aserai which look weak compare to other that have better armor and such.
beside both this culture major historical advantage is due to their climate.

about the flag, i agree with innocent flower, i dont know how rus or slav symbol look like, but the flag is to viking like, at least try mix both, i think this flag is better put on the nord mercenary faction one since its still look good but feel out of place.

I meant to say they are mixed because of the influence. My most recent post has part of the blog that states there are some viking influence such as the banner and the sea travel. That is why I said the Sturgians are a mix of both while they are mostly the early Vaegirs. Btw its really up to the devs, if they want to make it viking like then ok. There has to be some sort of connection to how the Nords eventually invaded. I think there is by having the Sturgians mixed in between. You know how in the blog it states there are people of other cultures who sailed from their homeland to Sturgia? That is where I am pointing out that Sturgia allows diversity which points directly towards the mixed cultures. I hope you can understand what I am saying here.

 

[anarchy]

Good blog. Not exactly what i was hoping for but new info always makes the blogs better and gets me exited for the release. Off topic does anyone know if creating weapons, armor, and shields will be easy to mod in for noob modders like me? Something close to the way they created the camel on a previous blog.

 

[lolbash]

Yes you can already do modeling like the camel with weapons and armor too. In fact, you can already do this in Warband.

 

[anarchy]

you think it will be as easy as create and upload? Or having to mess with textures and files?

 

[King Henry of Britonnia]

you think it will be as easy as create and upload? Or having to mess with textures and files?

There will be modding tools for scene editing, map making, 3D modeling tools, texturing tools etc, so yes it will be easier to upload and to create. I will be able to make my own mods(A mod based on my fantasy world/fantasy book series/lore and maybe even a Justice League/Batman mod) with custom made items etc.

 

[Do not look here]

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes for Sturgia to have some Nords at the top. Matheld says that Nords arrived to claim their birthright, I doubt devs themselves thought so far to use it as an excuse, but as all factions lay their claims to Calradia after fall of Empire, it would make sense for Nords to check-in during Warband times cause 'we once ruled over Sturgia, yo', before tripping over Vaegirs.

 

[Roccoflipside]

Do keep in mind that historically, some vikings lived in places like Greenland and Iceland. I believe that is where the viking culture is inspired from. They already added in weather change and season change from before remember? It is in one of their first trailers. I have a theory that the reason why the Nords invaded later on is because of the amount of Nordic influence they had in Sturgia. As I said from before, there is only one way to find out. We must play the game ourselves when it is released.

Just wondering about the Greenland/Iceland part here. You're not claiming vikings originated there, are you? Yes, they settled on Iceland, Greenland, and we're still finding Viking settlements in parts of modern day Canada and NE U.S., but the viking culture came from Scandinavia.

 

[AmateurHetman]

I agree with people saying the Sturgian banner isn’t great.
I like all the other banners, but this particular banner appeared too Skyrim-Esque to me which I find tacky.
Also I’d recommend the banner designs being less digitally rendered and instead make them appear more ‘hand-made’ as a banner would from that period. Just a suggestion.

 

[DeusPuppy]

My Favorite Banners are from the Vlandias ( Agressiv and Noble look like) and of the Sturgians ( Cold and Nordic Tribe Flare )
The Khuzait Symbol is cool, but in my Opinion this Colour is wrong, However the Empires, Battania and Aserai Banners are good ( Colour and Symbol)

 

[KhergitLancer80]

I want everyone and TW to just to imagine how it would look like to reverse the primary and secondary colours of Strugian banner.
White being the primary color and dark blue being the secondary color would make it look sooooo cool !

 

[Innocent Flower]

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes for Sturgia to have some Nords at the top. Matheld says that Nords arrived to claim their birthright, I doubt devs themselves thought so far to use it as an excuse, but as all factions lay their claims to Calradia after fall of Empire, it would make sense for Nords to check-in during Warband times cause 'we once ruled over Sturgia, yo', before tripping over Vaegirs.

Yeah but the fools can never take Rivacheg.
I can't not see it as -Vikings are popular, Russians aren't- kinda shtick, everything they've got going says it's that. It's not like they hate russians, it's more like a parent trying to sneak in some vegetable the kids don't like into their food, only in this case it's more like the parents have to put a facade of one food around the food they'd like to give, let's say a kebab masquerading as an enchilada. The kebab is delicious in it's own right, but some people are turned off by them for cultural perceptions, whilst the enchilada is so attractive to the target audience. Ultimately, you'd probably enjoy the dish more if it was just an outright kebab or enchilada and not a dish of lies.


If we're talking realism, calradia'd be almost one culture with some tiny regional differences. It's just too damn small. We want cultures to be distinct and vibrant, mixing nords in with half the bloody landmass isn't going to do anyone favours.

 

[Bustah]

Vlandia is literally the Lannisters.

I think three lions in a triangle or a column would have been better, it looks a bit too monolithic for early Europe.

I really like the Aserai, Battanian, and especially Khuzait. Khuzait reminds me of the Golden Horde.

Really not sure about the Sturgians... was hoping you would do something Russian with it considering they're based on the Rus... oh well.

Better than last week's blog but I'm going to start a riot if we don't get another video soon.

edit: what the hell is "watched"?

 

[Innocent Flower]

Lanister comparisons are a little silly, when the lion, even in that position, is one of the most overused devices in heraldry, and Mr Martin there was originally going to write an alt-history of western europe, which included a medieval flamethrower, then his friends'n family begged him to use dragons instead.

Someone had put up a bunch of old heraldry up. The town I'm living in has one of the exact designs there, just with different colours. Heraldry is pretty repetitive.

The big thing I don't get with it is, well, if they're going to use nigh-the same heraldry, surely they should be calling themselves swadians by now? 

 

[KarlXII]

I don't understand why so much people are making a fuss over the sturgian banner now. It's been said in the Sturgian blog that they have been made with both kievan rus and varangians in mind. They are more proto-vaegir since Nordlands is outside the map. They do have minor factions which are Nords.
Read the blog over Sturgia once more to remind yourself : https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/39

I've been disappointed with Sturgia ever since they did a blog on it. What's the point of mixing Nordic and Rus cultures? It would honestly be better for them to just accept that the Nords had yet to set up a kingdom in Calradia. Either that or they could just retcon and include both Nord and Vaegir precursors. Anything is better than this nonsensical mish-mashing of the factions that is little more than a half-arsed attempt at trying to keep Nord and Vaegir 'fanboys' interested in the game (as if the lack of a ancestor to your favoured faction would be particularly influential on your purchasing habits), and is at worst an insult to both Scandinavian and Eastern European cultures. Perhaps it's because I'm a Vaegir fanboy myself.

You do realize Bannerlord is a video game yes? If so then Taleworlds has freedom to make Sturgia whatever they want. If they need to make them vikings then so be it. Since they are prioritizing gameplay over realisim Im pretty sure this is a deliberate choice to introduce diversity into the game.

How is making the Sturgians less diverse going to make the game fun?

Remember, Fun>Realism.

Nobody should argue against the developers having a degree of artistic licence, but Warband set the precedent that each faction was based off of a specific culture (or perhaps more correctly, a group of similar cultures). The fusing of the cultures is unnecessary and is unlikely unless you stretch the reality of the lore. Perhaps Taleworlds could write another blog in future about how the Vaegirs lost their Nordic influence while also being invaded by the Nords to the West.

After all, they seem to have all the time in the world.

Edit: Also, yet again the inclusion of "gameplay over realism" in a discussion where it has little place.

You do realize Russia only exists because of Norse and Slav mixing right? The Norse were very active in Eastern Europe, and it's speculated that they founded Novgorod. The early Rus were very much both Norse and Slavic. This influence waned over time but it was certainly there at one point.
It's weird to think of these cultures as independent blocks, but they were more mixed than people give credit for. Border regions like Alsace are heavily mixed between French and German. Both sides of the border are very similar.