Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 12 - The Passage Of Time

Hello Bannerlord blog regulars and newcomers. In this entry, we are once again responding to your demands to hear more about single player gameplay - specifically, looking at the overworld map and some of the improvements made there. We revealed the map at Gamescom and mentioned some new features in the last blog. Here, we'll take what we've revealed and go into some more detail.

Read more at: http://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/14

 

[PrinceNaga]

I just assumed writing that post, that Praven's red color was one of the two empire factions present, my bad. Never played Nova Aetes, is that the one that focuses exclusively upon Swadian land?

But for all we know, that screenshot could've been during a progressing session and changed hands between factions already, how doubtful that idea is.

I always assumed from Warband, that historically the majority of the Empire's territory transpired over the Swadian region, and spreading out in all directions from there. But I don't remember anything really anyway.

 

[SenorZorros]

actually, Suno would be the major hub since it was the capital of the Calradic empire. if anything I expect Praven to have a lot of Vlandian influences.

Actually wasn't Praven the largest city in the Empire? That would give it plenty of reason to be a central hub. I know Suno supposedly has the most similar culture to the Empire, but I seem to recall that Praven was the Largest city. Regardless though, neither is the Capital as far as we know.

On a related note. I find it interesting that neither seem to be under Imperial control. Given their supposed affiliation with the Empire I would have assumed they would be among the cities that would stick with the Empire even during the rebellion of the various tribes. But apparently they're Vlandian.

small question, where do you get from that Praven and Suno aren't under imperial control? the only images of the world map [EDIT: I know] are the gamescom video and this blog and as far as I know neither of them mentioned the cities.

on the whole Suno was the capital thing,
Firentis tells the player when visiting Suno that it was the seed of the Calradic empire and the inhabitants generally regard the lord of Praven as just as a barbaric warlord. I furthermore believe that swadia is modelled after the holy roman empire due to its central location, germanish name and the fact that the kingdom of rhodoks once was part of it which mirrors the empires struggles with the Italian cities. since the holy roman empire stems from the empire of Charlemagne which was a frank, and the franks were a barbaric tribe which turned into a feudal state heavily relying on armed cavalry, I believe that praven may very well be an important location to the vlandians.

 

[MrMundy]

Well... considering the Seasons Video, you can quite clearly see Towns being taken over etc. Who says that the Faction owning the City in the Video was the original Owner? In Warband Swadia got their arse handed to them all the time.
But again: Where have you these informations from? Clearly not from the M&B or Warband.

 

[SenorZorros]

was this post aimed at PrinceNaga or at me?

 

[MrMundy]

Everyone talking about the Calradían Empire. All I ever saw considering it was in Nova Aetes, never anything inside the Actuall Games.

 

[DanAngleland]

The answer is C. There is zero evidence that they wore scale and the rumor that they did wear it is due to the word Scythian being a derivative of the world lizard (sauros). The scale armor thing was just like the term amazon meaning without breast...a translation into greek using a similar greek sounding word that altered the perception of what it was. Amazons did not cut off their breasts but the word is similar to a greek word meaning without breast, Mazos. In fact, there are zero works of art from Greece or Rome depicting an amazon with one or no breasts...

There are many depictions of Scythian female warriors by Scythians themselves as well as the burial finds of female warriors and their "armor". It was not full body armor nor was it scale.

So the Romans and Greeks in general knew that the Amazons didn't have one breast, despite one Greek man mistakenly creating that idea by dodgy etymology? In which case, why conclude that another bit of erroneous etymology was the sole source of Greek knowledge about Scythian armour? They lived next to and often fought the Scythians for hundreds of years! You don't think that they might have judged for themselves what Scythians did and didn't wear? Not to mention if the Scythians didn't use scale armour when they first migrated to north of the Black Sea etc, they certainly would have had the option to either buy it or create it after a short time, since they would have had knowledge of it from neighbouring cultures such as the Greeks who verifiably did use scale armour. Certainly it was used by later horse cultures for both man and horse, so since the Scythians must have known of it, why would their elites not occasionally use it? By the way, may I remind you that I am not talking solely about females, I am talking about the Scythians as a whole.

Regarding the 'full' armour; I didn't say they wore 'full' armour and nor did anyone, not that you have defined what you mean by it. Though if you mean armour that covered the whole torso, then obviously people at the time did wear such armour- the linothorax covers most of the torso, with just a few inches at the top of the chest and back plus the armpit area from the side being left exposed. More to the point (the original point that is, about scantily clad women), people in general would not have worn revealing torso clothing. In hot weather, when working in a field perhaps, yes, if going bare chested or tying off a shirt/tunic/skirt and exposing the upper legs or part of the torso kept you cool without being impractical then people would have done it, but there is no reason not to have the whole or nearly the whole torso covered by clothing in normal everyday life, and certainly not battle. It is easy to produce a garment which covers the whole torso, and preferable in most circumstances. Regardless of cultural norms regarding nudity, both sexes generally have always (in most cultures and with exceptions in very hot humid regions) kept the whole torso covered as standard for practical reasons. It protects you from cold and rain, from being burnt by the sun, from being scratched and getting infected cuts or insect bites when walking through tall grass/thick woods/past stinging nettles and prickly bushes. When people start using clothes, they cover the torso, that is the first thing they do after covering the genitals.

 

[vonbalt]

actually, Suno would be the major hub since it was the capital of the Calradic empire. if anything I expect Praven to have a lot of Vlandian influences.

Actually wasn't Praven the largest city in the Empire? That would give it plenty of reason to be a central hub. I know Suno supposedly has the most similar culture to the Empire, but I seem to recall that Praven was the Largest city. Regardless though, neither is the Capital as far as we know.

On a related note. I find it interesting that neither seem to be under Imperial control. Given their supposed affiliation with the Empire I would have assumed they would be among the cities that would stick with the Empire even during the rebellion of the various tribes. But apparently they're Vlandian.

small question, where do you get from that Praven and Suno aren't under imperial control? the only images of the world map [EDIT: I know] are the gamescom video and this blog and as far as I know neither of them mentioned the cities.

on the whole Suno was the capital thing,
Firentis tells the player when visiting Suno that it was the seed of the Calradic empire and the inhabitants generally regard the lord of Praven as just as a barbaric warlord. I furthermore believe that swadia is modelled after the holy roman empire due to its central location, germanish name and the fact that the kingdom of rhodoks once was part of it which mirrors the empires struggles with the Italian cities. since the holy roman empire stems from the empire of Charlemagne which was a frank, and the franks were a barbaric tribe which turned into a feudal state heavily relying on armed cavalry, I believe that praven may very well be an important location to the vlandians.

https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/14

the latest devblog, look at screenshot on the top of the blog, Praven and suno shows in red, in the end of the blog TW says that red = Vlandia

 

[warpowerfull]

Talking about the seasons video, do we know what the question marks next to units mean? Is that supposed to show the number of people in each unit? If so than I saw units with 4 question marks, which would mean you can have over 1000 people with you. Also I'm not a big fan of those question marks, especially when there are several units together, to me it looks a bit ugly. I would almost rather have to mouse over a unit to see how big it is or other info than have those question marks.

 

[Dest45]

Talking about the seasons video, do we know what the question marks next to units mean? Is that supposed to show the number of people in each unit? If so than I saw units with 4 question marks, which would mean you can have over 1000 people with you. Also I'm not a big fan of those question marks, especially when there are several units together, to me it looks a bit ugly. I would almost rather have to mouse over a unit to see how big it is or other info than have those question marks.

im pretty sure those are just placeholders and everyone is looking to far into it

 

[SenorZorros]

Everyone talking about the Calradían Empire. All I ever saw considering it was in Nova Aetes, never anything inside the Actuall Games.

well... there were hints in the original games as well as the fact that mount and blade is clearly modeled after the real world so I'd say that some speculation can be done...

on the scytians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_armour#Scythians

The Scythians' horse warriors appear to have used scale or possibly lamellar armour, evident both from contemporary illustrations and burial finds in the Kurgans. The armour was made from small plates of iron or bronze.

off course it's wikipedia and wikipedia is untrustworthy but I don't want to spend money for a forum discussion.
also, for full armour I would consider torso, back, legs, arms and head protection.

https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/14

the latest devblog, look at screenshot on the top of the blog, Praven and suno shows in red, in the end of the blog TW says that red = Vlandia

I guess you're right. that could mean that praven and suno will indeed be part of vlandia. it could also mean they are conquered.

on the question marks, they are shown when you are close enough to see the group but not close enough to see how many people are in it. if you move closer they turn into numbers.

 

[warpowerfull]

Zorros, where did you hear about the question mark turning into numbers? I don't remember reading anything about that, but maybe I missed it.

 

[DanAngleland]

It can be seen in the B-Roll footage from Gamescom, the video is in the main Bannerlord thread. When the player approaches Poloria, two small parties are fighting, and initially they have question marks above their heads; once the player gets at a certain distance they change to numbers.

 

[Shidan]

I guess you're right. that could mean that praven and suno will indeed be part of vlandia. it could also mean they are conquered.

I've considered that before. But I somewhat doubt they would show off a screenshot like that with improper city ownership. Doesn't seem like a normal thing to do when they could easily show it with proper owners instead. It would be like if for Warband they showed a picture of Sargoth, but under Veagir control, and then made no mention of it being captured. Why would they?

I furthermore believe that swadia is modelled after the holy roman empire due to its central location, germanish name and the fact that the kingdom of rhodoks once was part of it which mirrors the empires struggles with the Italian cities.

Never noticed those parallels to history. Given the whole Swadia vs Rhodoks, and those parallels you mentioned, that would actually reinforce my thoughts that some of the various Imperial factions might largely be in old Rhodok territories.

 

[Sekij]

Im happy that Blade and Soul is finaly here... waited for it 7 years and finaly i can suppressing my Hype for Bannerlord ^^"

 

[darealist]

Will this game have a streamlined UI for town and city management?

 

[SenorZorros]

maybe

hint: it's around the 0:55 mark

 

[adrakken]

Are you seriously still going on about this?

I dont come here often and he clearly had more to say in refute. Just ignore other peoples discussions if you dont like it.

 

[adrakken]

So the Romans and Greeks in general knew that the Amazons didn't have one breast, despite one Greek man mistakenly creating that idea by dodgy etymology? Snip.

More to the point (the original point that is, about scantily clad women), people in general would not...snip.

The Romans didnt know a thing outside of what the Greeks said since the Amazons were gone before the Roman Empire came about. And yeah, all it takes is one man at a time in history when the person is a famous story teller and your society lives on oral history.

And this was all while Homer's referrence to them is mostly ignored. "Amazones antianeirai"...it means "the equal of men" which is clear because in his story the men BOAST of killing them which would mean they were worthy opponents.

As for your ending, the point actually was for people to stop making demands that things that dont fit their "morals" to not be allowed in game. The armor debate was merely proof that today's fascist PC standards did not apply to history. Also..."people in general" means that some, would not. And there is historical proof of that which has already been given. The very fact the greeks and romans were able to stampede over a large part of the western world was due to the fact most were not armored...hell, even the romans and greeks only covered parts of their bodies and with their BPs on a woman of endowment would have created massive side boob like the actual, real ancient armor below.  OMG side boob, we are all going to burn in politically incorrect hell if we depict it.

http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-87491460501412/spartan-armor-bronze-2.gif

 

[GingerMan]

Folks, I am wondering, was there at least a single hint from developers (or maybe threads where this was previously requested by Mount & Blade fans) about possible implementation of coop campaign (campaign with friends over network) in Bannerlord?

I don't think so, all of the blogs I have read haven't mentioned co-op campaign, and neither has any of the interviews (Or atleast the ones I saw)

But I honestly hope they don't add Co-op campaign, would just push the release date further and further away, I can't wait any longer.

 

[Shidan]

I don't think so, all of the blogs I have read haven't mentioned co-op campaign, and neither has any of the interviews (Or atleast the ones I saw)

But I honestly hope they don't add Co-op campaign, would just push the release date further and further away, I can't wait any longer.

There was mention in something once. Don't remember if it was a blog or an interview. But it was a pretty clear "no there will not be a co-op campaign".

Though it's been years, and things can change. But I wouldn't hold out hope that there will be co-op in the campaign.