Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 13 - Weekending

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Greetings ye faithful and thank you for coming to read the, somewhat belated, thirteenth of our here Bannerlord blogs. As promised, we're giving a rundown of what we showed at the PC Gamer Weekender (video below) in March, with some added detail, guided by the questions we received on the forums. Thanks to everyone who got involved whether directly asking questions or just discussing in general!</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bbrnPtybNd4" frameborder="0" width="560" height="370"></iframe></p></br> Read more at: http://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/15

 

[Dest45]

i have been a MB player for years
and imho, it is very weird and unrealistic to see men riding horses without stirrup
anyone know if developers aware of it ?

for warband yeah but not Bannerlord. Romans didn't use stirrups. Neither did the rest of europe til later. I could see the Khuzaits using them but I don't see the point. Ive gotten used to it and prefer it the way it is

 

[Do not look here]

Anyone interested in new M&B-like games, you should take a look at Of Kings And Men(Aka Melee: Battlegrounds) and Mordhau.
These seem to be more interesting than Chivalry or War of the Roses.

They're not exactly M&B, though, are they? It's great that there's competition for medieval combat simulator, but hopefully Bannerlord won't go down this road. There's still next to no competition for M&B single player, because sword-swinging and mace-flailing seems to be focus of people trying to copy M&B's success.

 

[cherac]

8 more days till E3 , I can't wait for the siege battle

 

[Dest45]

i have been a MB player for years
and imho, it is very weird and unrealistic to see men riding horses without stirrup
anyone know if developers aware of it ?

for warband yeah but not Bannerlord. Romans didn't use stirrups. Neither did the rest of europe til later. I could see the Khuzaits using them but I don't see the point. Ive gotten used to it and prefer it the way it is

that being said it would be nice if unarmoured troops could dismount significantly faster and on the move. Make for better skirmishers

 

[SenorZorros]

i have been a MB player for years
and imho, it is very weird and unrealistic to see men riding horses without stirrup
anyone know if developers aware of it ?

for warband yeah but not Bannerlord. Romans didn't use stirrups. Neither did the rest of europe til later. I could see the Khuzaits using them but I don't see the point. Ive gotten used to it and prefer it the way it is

that being said it would be nice if unarmoured troops could dismount significantly faster and on the move. Make for better skirmishers

stirrups were introduced in the 6th or 7th century. Bannerlord uses 9th to 11th century technology thus stirrups should be in the game. the problem with the empire is that it shouldn't exist (or be modeled after the Byzantines which did have stirrups)

 

[cherac]

i have been a MB player for years
and imho, it is very weird and unrealistic to see men riding horses without stirrup
anyone know if developers aware of it ?

for warband yeah but not Bannerlord. Romans didn't use stirrups. Neither did the rest of europe til later. I could see the Khuzaits using them but I don't see the point. Ive gotten used to it and prefer it the way it is

that being said it would be nice if unarmoured troops could dismount significantly faster and on the move. Make for better skirmishers

stirrups were introduced in the 6th or 7th century. Bannerlord uses 9th to 11th century technology thus stirrups should be in the game. the problem with the empire is that it shouldn't exist (or be modeled after the Byzantines which did have stirrups)

Stirrups were only needed by heavily armoured units ,to gain balance on the horse most of the current bannerlord factions don't need it, except the empire and they seem to have it already , we can't also overlook the fact that  decapitations and dismembering seems to be missing , whats the point of buying a great sword or axe if I can't cut someone in half?

 

[SenorZorros]

i have been a MB player for years
and imho, it is very weird and unrealistic to see men riding horses without stirrup
anyone know if developers aware of it ?

for warband yeah but not Bannerlord. Romans didn't use stirrups. Neither did the rest of europe til later. I could see the Khuzaits using them but I don't see the point. Ive gotten used to it and prefer it the way it is

that being said it would be nice if unarmoured troops could dismount significantly faster and on the move. Make for better skirmishers

stirrups were introduced in the 6th or 7th century. Bannerlord uses 9th to 11th century technology thus stirrups should be in the game. the problem with the empire is that it shouldn't exist (or be modeled after the Byzantines which did have stirrups)

Stirrups were only needed by heavily armoured units ,to gain balance on the horse most of the current bannerlord factions don't need it, except the empire and they seem to have it already , we can't also overlook the fact that  decapitations and dismembering seems to be missing , whats the point of buying a great sword or axe if I can't cut someone in half?

stirrups are cheap and useful even if you aren't a heavy armoured knight. also, considering the vlandians are feudal they certainly need it.
also, dismembering and decapitations are actually horribly inefficient since you are guaranteed to hit bone and dull or break your weapon.

 

[joei160.]

Well, I would desperately love to see dismemberment and decapitation in Bannerlord! This is one of the reasons I have bought Chivalry, by the way. A medieval game without the real gore? Bloodbaths and violence! This is what humanity needs.



Gore and Communism.

 

[Dest45]

Well, I would desperately love to see dismemberment and decapitation in Bannerlord! This is one of the reasons I have bought Chivalry, by the way. A medieval game without the real gore? Bloodbaths and violence! This is what humanity needs.



Gore and Communism.

Realistically there wouldn't be a lot of dismemberment. plus I don't think its fun. Gore for sure though

 

[boomstomp]

If the npcs have learnt to ride there horses without stirrups why make it hard for them to have to learn a new way of riding so close to the battle starting it makes no sense.

 

[SenorZorros]

please explain? do you mean you think they haven't had time to learn how to use stirrups? because in that case I can tell you it is actually quite easy to use them. put your left feet in the left stirrup and the right feet in the right one. if you do it the other way around you should turn around and try again. once the feet have been properly connected to the stirrup you get an instant increase of stability while losing nothing since you can still use your legs the same way you did before. stirrups have no disadvantages except the slight increase of time to mount and dismount (possibly covered by the stirrup making the mounting easier though). there is no reason to not use them. I in fact wonder why they weren't invented earlier.

 

[cherac]

please explain? do you mean you think they haven't had time to learn how to use stirrups? because in that case I can tell you it is actually quite easy to use them. put your left feet in the left stirrup and the right feet in the right one. if you do it the other way around you should turn around and try again. once the feet have been properly connected to the stirrup you get an instant increase of stability while losing nothing since you can still use your legs the same way you did before. stirrups have no disadvantages except the slight increase of time to mount and dismount (possibly covered by the stirrup making the mounting easier though). there is no reason to not use them. I in fact wonder why they weren't invented earlier.

I think he was being funny and sarcastic in his own way or he simply didn't type well .... And yes stirrups are indeed a very great invention , they are as crucial as the invention of the wheel , however as long as  my character doesn't fall of his horse , I don't really care if he even has a seat belt on , I didn't even notice the lack of stirrups until now

 

[SenorZorros]

either this forum should get itself a way to tag people or someone has to tell me how to do it.

I have to admit I didn't either though it is a case of what is seen cannot be unseen and we should expect better from a 2016 game made by a "premium indie" studio. it shouldn't be hard to animate and as I explained there is no reason for them not to be used. the technology level is high enough for them to be used.

 

[Tannith]

Wow. Discussion of stirrups is clearly by non-riding people. And people who have never competed in equestrian skill-at-arms. Just try to use even a light tent-pegging lance, without stirrups. And try to lemon-stick with a saber, leaning out of the saddle, without stirrups. Go on, try. Then cry, when you fall on your head (and the horse forgets that it can leap a six-foot fence, and tramples you). Lots of crying will happen, with no stirrups.

Warband's lack of stirrups is something I've learnt to pretend is not important. The game's all that matters, yup. Never mind the reality: it's impossible to couch a lance without stirrups.

 

[Do not look here]

This is my go-to article about stirrups http://www.classicalfencing.com/articles/shock.php

About the stirrups and Bannerlord - well, I'm not really sure. They'd have to look natural and not just stick out of horse's sides, don't look weird on riderless horses and generally sound like more hassle than it is worth it. I think I'm fine with pretending they are there instead

 

[boomstomp]

was looking forward to the conan exiles game play trailer but what a disappointment no 3d person combat so will not be playing it looks stupid,  so glad that i can still look forward to Bannerlord thanks for making it and getting the combat right!

 

[cherac]

was looking forward to the conan exiles game play trailer but what a disappointment no 3d person combat so will not be playing it looks stupid,  so glad that i can still look forward to Bannerlord thanks for making it and getting the combat right!

I know right! how can you make a medieval game in only first person, what were they thinking? I didn't commit to deliverance for this same reason , and the game seems shallow in every way, they ended up making a linear medieval game , without basics like horseback fighting , and other cool stuff, they could have been better off with a medieval fantasy ,what a bummer    . Anyway four more days to E3 

 

[Tannith]

This is my go-to article about stirrups http://www.classicalfencing.com/articles/shock.php

About the stirrups and Bannerlord - well, I'm not really sure. They'd have to look natural and not just stick out of horse's sides, don't look weird on riderless horses and generally sound like more hassle than it is worth it. I think I'm fine with pretending they are there instead

I'm doing some very hasty 3D modeling to show how easy it would be to do stirrups in Warband, both the unmounted view and when the rider is in the saddle. No promises, because I usually start out "hasty" with Blender, and then get into must-just-add-a-BIT-of-detail, and then... Yeah. "Hasty" flies out the window. *cough*

 

[Tannith]

Re: the stirrups discussion

Pics under the spoiler--

Spoiler

That's a really low-poly model. The stirrup irons and leathers are about 128 faces. In the 2nd and 3rd pictures you can see how I rotated the stirrup iron and part of the leather to align with the rider's foot. When the rider's on the horse, the stirrup models would be parented to the rider's legs, not the saddle, and would therefore move with the rider through any animations.

(no-one must tell me that "This is hard to do!" because I modeled this from scratch, and also cooked dinner, dispensed financial advice over the phone, and ate dinner, and then got back to a modeling job that took about 45 minutes [and I'm a rank amateur at this stuff]).

 

[cherac]

well done comrade , I'm looking forward to a bannerlord mod between you and I , "Aztec" with your designing and my advanced writing ability we would be unstoppable (I would pm you) .... Nice modelling I know blender is pretty tricky , but somehow stirrups are not really on the most wanted list, they can be added anytime , there are more advanced mechanics and features they must tackle, like lords giving birth and stuff, if you've noticed taleworlds doesn't have problem with animations and 3d modeling, if that was the case it would have been released long ago . its the AI and game mechanics that gives them headaches (they have probably added it already since this topic came up).