Yeah, it's bad and it's killing the sp experience. I've played a decent number of hours in sp, and apparently some of you have played for much longer, so please add your inputs in. The purpose of this post is to try and diagnose the cause of this terminal, game-breaking bug.
To me, it's being caused by a number of cross-complications:
1. When a lord loses big time in a battle, they get absolutely wiped out and it takes a long time for them to recover.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing by itself. In Warband, if you played on Campaign Difficulty set to hard, AI lords could respawn their entire army in 2-3 days even after getting completely annihilated. This was extremely frustrating and one of the most heavily criticized features of Warband. Not only was it annoying because you literally had to face an endless horde of enemies non-stop with no time for you and your troops to recover, but it also hurt the immersion, because it made battles feel less important. Instead of a campaign consisting of a few key battles that broke the back of the enemy's military strength -culminating with a siege of one of their main settlements, there was instead this nightmare of neverending fights that ultimately felt so draining.
I think Taleworlds made the right move by extending the recovery time AI lords need to rebuild and retrain their forces. I believe economic factors (fief ownership, settlement prosperity, personal wealth) also play a part in how well lords can bounce back from a loss. This too is good and builds immersion.
But, when this feature -designed in good faith, is coupled with factor number...
2. Extremely aggressive and relentless campaign AI
Now we have a problem.
I'll start with a Warband anecdote. In a few of my sp campaigns, I would do these "blitzkriegs" once I started my own kingdom. Once I had all my resources squared away, I'd go to war with another faction and wipe them out entirely in one single campaign. When I really pushed the pace, I'd be taking a city/castle a day, only pausing to stop at my garrisons and replace any troops I had lost by attrition. Within days, I annexed the entirety of the enemy's territory.
Well, the AI in Bannerlord puts my blitzkriegs to shame!
Seriously, it's like they're driven by some invisible, desperate desire to conquer as many settlements in as little time as possible. The AI conducts war at an absolutely grueling pace.
It's like they're on a personal crusade to wipe all their enemies off the face of Calradia. They don't eat. They don't sleep. And they absolutely do not stop until they are dead.
In Warband, after a settlement was taken, many of the victorious lords would disperse and attack targets individually, or they'd go home and lick any wounds they'd suffered in the campaign, or they'd celebrate by feasting. The war might still go on, but it wasn't imperative to besiege and assault the next nearest settlement before the next sunrise. Eventually, another settlement might be taken (or lost) and then, invariably, at some point peace would be declared.
In Bannerlord, all they know is non-stop total war. When this, combined with issue #1 -where defeated lords have trouble getting back on their feet, it makes for a slippery slope. Once one faction loses a key battle, they're toast, because the victorious kingdom will just keep battering their already defeated foes until they're completely wiped out.
The AI pretty much never stops to recover, celebrate, or have any down time.
3. The Army mechanic and its lack of limitations.
The marshal campaign feature in Warband saw many of the faction's lords rally around a chosen military leader for the purpose of saving a besieged settlement or laying siege to an enemy location. It was thrilling and visceral to see 1600 enemies outside of your town, and the subsequent siege is usually something for the ages. Vice versa, being part of that great host was also epic. But when it was all said and done, in victory or defeat, the huge marshaled army usually disbanded.
Not the case in Bannerlord.
The roving host the size of a small country, like a travelling circus, just rolls from one town to the next. This relates to issue #2, because they just don't stop. This gigantic unstoppable army tramples everything in its path, and there's nothing you (and especially the AI) can do about it. They don't disband. They don't scatter. They just keep winning.
You'd think such a massive number of people wouldn't be able to stay together so long due to logistics reasons (lack of food, water, fodder for horses and pack animals). Historically, great hosts weren't able to operate as one for long periods of time due to these reasons. They had a limited amount of time to complete their task before they had to split up and do their own thing.
In Bannerlord, shouldn't there be a similar time constraint on how long an army can operate in the field?
Perhaps armies should have their own food inventory slots that deplete over time? And once food runs out they have to break up? Or even if the devs set an arbitrary time limit on how long they can operate, with a set cool-down time.
Well, those are my thoughts on snowballing. Thanks for reading. If you have any insights on the issue please let me (and Taleworlds) know. Together we can make Bannerlord a truly awesome experience.
To me, it's being caused by a number of cross-complications:
1. When a lord loses big time in a battle, they get absolutely wiped out and it takes a long time for them to recover.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing by itself. In Warband, if you played on Campaign Difficulty set to hard, AI lords could respawn their entire army in 2-3 days even after getting completely annihilated. This was extremely frustrating and one of the most heavily criticized features of Warband. Not only was it annoying because you literally had to face an endless horde of enemies non-stop with no time for you and your troops to recover, but it also hurt the immersion, because it made battles feel less important. Instead of a campaign consisting of a few key battles that broke the back of the enemy's military strength -culminating with a siege of one of their main settlements, there was instead this nightmare of neverending fights that ultimately felt so draining.
I think Taleworlds made the right move by extending the recovery time AI lords need to rebuild and retrain their forces. I believe economic factors (fief ownership, settlement prosperity, personal wealth) also play a part in how well lords can bounce back from a loss. This too is good and builds immersion.
But, when this feature -designed in good faith, is coupled with factor number...
2. Extremely aggressive and relentless campaign AI
Now we have a problem.
I'll start with a Warband anecdote. In a few of my sp campaigns, I would do these "blitzkriegs" once I started my own kingdom. Once I had all my resources squared away, I'd go to war with another faction and wipe them out entirely in one single campaign. When I really pushed the pace, I'd be taking a city/castle a day, only pausing to stop at my garrisons and replace any troops I had lost by attrition. Within days, I annexed the entirety of the enemy's territory.
Well, the AI in Bannerlord puts my blitzkriegs to shame!
Seriously, it's like they're driven by some invisible, desperate desire to conquer as many settlements in as little time as possible. The AI conducts war at an absolutely grueling pace.
It's like they're on a personal crusade to wipe all their enemies off the face of Calradia. They don't eat. They don't sleep. And they absolutely do not stop until they are dead.
In Warband, after a settlement was taken, many of the victorious lords would disperse and attack targets individually, or they'd go home and lick any wounds they'd suffered in the campaign, or they'd celebrate by feasting. The war might still go on, but it wasn't imperative to besiege and assault the next nearest settlement before the next sunrise. Eventually, another settlement might be taken (or lost) and then, invariably, at some point peace would be declared.
In Bannerlord, all they know is non-stop total war. When this, combined with issue #1 -where defeated lords have trouble getting back on their feet, it makes for a slippery slope. Once one faction loses a key battle, they're toast, because the victorious kingdom will just keep battering their already defeated foes until they're completely wiped out.
The AI pretty much never stops to recover, celebrate, or have any down time.
3. The Army mechanic and its lack of limitations.
The marshal campaign feature in Warband saw many of the faction's lords rally around a chosen military leader for the purpose of saving a besieged settlement or laying siege to an enemy location. It was thrilling and visceral to see 1600 enemies outside of your town, and the subsequent siege is usually something for the ages. Vice versa, being part of that great host was also epic. But when it was all said and done, in victory or defeat, the huge marshaled army usually disbanded.
Not the case in Bannerlord.
The roving host the size of a small country, like a travelling circus, just rolls from one town to the next. This relates to issue #2, because they just don't stop. This gigantic unstoppable army tramples everything in its path, and there's nothing you (and especially the AI) can do about it. They don't disband. They don't scatter. They just keep winning.
You'd think such a massive number of people wouldn't be able to stay together so long due to logistics reasons (lack of food, water, fodder for horses and pack animals). Historically, great hosts weren't able to operate as one for long periods of time due to these reasons. They had a limited amount of time to complete their task before they had to split up and do their own thing.
In Bannerlord, shouldn't there be a similar time constraint on how long an army can operate in the field?
Perhaps armies should have their own food inventory slots that deplete over time? And once food runs out they have to break up? Or even if the devs set an arbitrary time limit on how long they can operate, with a set cool-down time.
Well, those are my thoughts on snowballing. Thanks for reading. If you have any insights on the issue please let me (and Taleworlds) know. Together we can make Bannerlord a truly awesome experience.
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