Merlin'in Kazanı: Greetings from "Merlin's Cauldron", we're in LA, on the first day of E3. We're starting our interviews with the sponsorship of MSI Gaming Laptop. Our first interview will be out a game hailing from our own country that is very much of interest to people. As you can see in the images behind me, it's Mount&Blade 2: Bannerlord and I have here, next to me, Armağan Yavuz.
MK: Hello Mr. Armağan, how are you?
Armağan Yavuz: Hello, I'm good, thank you.
MK: First off, we're on the first day of E3, this must be a very busy couple of days for you. What are your thoughts on E3?
AY: We're very excited. As gamers would know, we've been working on Bannerlord for a long time with the development team. We've made good preperations and have videos published. We're offering the press to test the game out and experience it themselves.
MK: Yes, we've also tried the game out inside, it is very good. Compared to the first game, there are a lot of differences, with the new shield system, the command system, you've made a lot of changes. Can you give us some general info on what's different?
AY: Of course, in E3 this year we're specifically showing the differences in the combat and battle systems. There are a couple of very important differences to the combat system, one of these would be the directional defence system that shields now have, like swords were able to do in the past iterations. If you defend on the correct direction with your shield, you get extra bonuses, like having your shield last longer or attack your enemy better afterwards. We've also added the ability to do shield bashes, which stuns enemies. Other than that, after making a strike with a sword, pushing the mouse button quickly again can lead to subsequent strikes, without losing momentum.
MK: The shield thing looks great and I think you do that with the "kick" button. Those who played the previous games would know that there was a kick button. When you hold the shield and press the kick button, you can try to hit with the shield. (Perhaps this means the kick is still in place but won't be done when holding the shield up?) I had a bit of a problem with the spear-wielding enemies but it is obviously very useful in close combat. Can we talk a bit about the command system, like can we do the "Crescent tactic" (Pincer Movement)?
AY: (laughing) Yes, you can do that as a commander. We have lots of good features in the command system as well. One of them would be that if you're not the main commander of the battle, the commander can give you command of a small company. You can be given command of the cavalry and be given commands like "strike from the flanks" but you decide what you want to do with your command. Aside from that, we have advanced formations, you can order soldiers to do a single-line or a circle, allowing for more tactical and important decisions to be made.
MK: Yeah, strategy seems to have become an important feature in the game. Lastly, I want to talk about the graphics. Lots of differences there, with helmet tassels moving, etc. I especially liked the desert area, with dust kicking up as soldiers move. What more can you say about the graphics?
AY: About the graphics, yeah, the team has been working a lot on it. Our cloth simulation has developed greatly and can be seen in multiple places, like in flags, horses' manes, and various clothings worn by soldiers, like the tassels on helmets. We try to use them as much as possible. We have very good particle effects, like the dust kicked up by horses in deserts. Pretty much every scene you can see has a couple of little graphical improvements, those little touches.
MK: Lastly, Bannerlord is a highly anticipated game both in our country and globally. You've been developing it for a long while. Any information on the release date, can you tell us how much of the development is done?
AY: We're not giving a release date because we don't necessarily have a date on our own minds either. When it's done, when we're happy with it, we're going to release it. As for how much of it is finished, most of it is currently done.
MK: Can we say that you're doing the finishing touches?
AY: Yeah, we're doing the finishing touches. When we're sure of it, when we're sure that the product won't result in negative feedback from the players, we'll release it.
