My First Impressions of the Game +Suggestions

[Whitmire]

Having just finished the game to level 6, I thought I'd share my first impressions.

There is definitely something weirdly alluring in this game. Although the graphics look like they were created 5 years ago, the game is very immersive. I love the horses. They look realistic and riding feels like riding.

This game would make an excellent MMORPG - and earn you lots!

Then off to some topics:

LANCES

Just how good are they? They should not be as effective when used on foot! Perhaps by reducing weapon speed a lot and increasing damage (esp. with Warrider bonuses), their use could be limited to mounted charges. Spears and such can be as effective as they are now - they would do a lot less damage than the improved Lance.

ARCHERS

They're of no use. Unless you have a very high Acrobatics, you're going to die as soon as anybody reaches you. This is especially annoying in the Tournament: When you spawn as a Foot Archer you can kiss those 80d goodbye.

The player as a Mounted Archer, on the other hand, seems very powerful, especially in the beginning. Buy enough arrows, and you can take out 12 River Pirates without getting hit once.

CHARACTER CREATION

I can't choose eye colour, or shape the mouth in any way. Adding Lips and Choose Eye Colour would allow more freedom in developing your character. Also, while it is not the most essential thing, colouring eyebrows would allow to create "true blondes" - guys and gals with blond hair look like they've just come from the barber because of their dark eyebrows.

In short, the missing options are:
- Shape Lips
- Shape Ears
- Shape Eye Brows
- Choose Eye Colour
- Choose Eyebrow Colour

THE NAME OF THE GAME

Mount&Blade? Sorry, but this sounds horrible. WARRIDER, on the other hand, would be very striking indeed!

 

[fastjack]

my 2 cents

lances should be less effective on the ground, dedicated lances, not neccessarily spears i dont think, also the charge bonus should prolly be better. In my game i had a boar spear and a narming spear with a spirited courser and charging with the spear didnt even really do as much damage with its 3x damage as my arming sword did with its warrider damage. So either more charging bonus or less warrider, especially considering that charging you are more likely to hit them/their horse and get stuck-in.

archers rock, and rock hard, i cant agree here at all. They seem well balanced. As for horse archers this works against river pirates since they have no horses or bows/xbows this is not so with anyone else.

totally agree with character creation those are the two options i wanted eye color and mouth changes.

name could be better, i liked tales of the sword or whatever, though i think drawing attention to the excellent horse fighting is good.

 

[Me]

Tis a very addictive little game, I dont normally buy these registering games but this one has gripped me and a fair few others on the Preys-World boards.

Lacks atmospear what with most places being bear but thats to be expect since its not finished yet.

Would be nice to be able to 'parry' a blow, say if you press block just before the blow lands (using a very small window to do this, otherwise it will just block normally) that leaves the attacker open to a counter attack would help the more defensive sword fighter. You dont seem to gain much chance to retailiate after a successful block as it stands now.

The horse riding is extremely fun, something is just so satsifying about riding people down...

 

[Whitmire]

Well, it got me off Counterstrike: Source, so this game has to be good! Now, if only the world got some content and more factions, this would be a game to remember. The empty villages are rather depressing, and the names could be more "normal" than the generic fantasy names like Zendar and Zulga.

Archers rock? From my (limited) experience, I'd say that archers are okay, but once a footman catches you, you're dog meat - and there's nothing you can do about it (apart from running to your baggage). Now, if you have a horse, things turn very interesting...

Curiously, computer driven mounted archers are quite harmless. In the hands of the player, a mounted archer is deadly - and very, very cool. Thumbs up for the horsemanship in this game!

Blunt weapons should kill at times. They're not that humane as the game suggests.

Would be nice to be able to 'parry' a blow, say if you press block just before the blow lands (using a very small window to do this, otherwise it will just block normally) that leaves the attacker open to a counter attack would help the more defensive sword fighter. You dont seem to gain much chance to retailiate after a successful block as it stands now.

As to the idea of a counterstrike, I believe it already exists. I think parrying a blow does give you a millisecond's advantage to your foe, as long as your opponent isn't carrying a faster weapon. At least my personal style of close combat involves a lot of blocking when I'm facing just one or two opponents. Against multiple opponents, all you can do is back and hack away.

The horse riding is extremely fun, something is just so satsifying about riding people down...

Oh yeah, one thing about horse riding... Colliding with horses should definitely cause some damage. It doesn't have to be huge, but I've started stopping mounted knights by dodging in front of their horse. And it's turned out to be the best way to stop them! That can't be good!

 

[armagan]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for your positive remarks and suggestions. I will definitely think about all of them and will work on the issues you mentioned.

Whitmire: You can switch weapons with the "]" key if you are carrying a melee weapon alongside your bow. You don't need to go to you baggage.

 

[Gibby]

This game is indeed brilliant. Brought to my attention on the Preys-World forums, I downloaded it immediately. I payed for my activation key the very next day! Great work! I look forward to seeing how the game progresses!

 

[armagan]

Hi Gibby,

I had a peek at your discussion on the Preys-World forums. That was an excellent, very fun thing to read. You guys seem to be having a jolly good time there. Thanks a lot for your support and kind remarks.

 

[Balor]

Heh, one of the most cost-effective advertising types - word-of-mouth - at the work!
I guess the game is starting to get what it deserves, finally.
By the way - is it just me, or most characters seem a bit 'slack-jawed'?
Their lips are parted, making them look rather stupid... and I cannot affect that at all. I guess that should be addresed with 'lip configuration' bar.

 

[Kolya]

Hi Gibby,

I had a peek at your discussion on the Preys-World forums. That was an excellent, very fun thing to read. You guys seem to be having a jolly good time there. Thanks a lot for your support and kind remarks.

We are indeed

I think the three of us (Gibby, Me, and... er... me ) have also encouraged a few more people to buy the game.

Personally, I'm loving the game so far - bought my act. key today - yet naturally there are things I'd improve. Whitmire's right about the archer problem (being chased and killed); I did originally think of a Sprint button, but I think that would possibly unsettle the balance of play between you and the AI.

 

[Plant]

*jumps on the bandwagon*

Enjoying the game - It's taken my attention away from WoW today, which can only be a compliment... Will be buying my license tomorrow (well, later today...). A few comments, though...

Another thing about the archery, if this hasn't already been mentioned - When mounted, if you look beyond a certain angle the arrow is fired directly forwards. This can be quite irritating in that if you're stationery, you have to turn your horse to face your target. It also makes "ride-by" shooting near impossible to carry out.

Also, you commented somewhere that you chose not to include a save function to make the game smoother and therefore more enjoyable - I would suggest including one and leaving the decision as to whether to use it up to the player, as some players will want to save as they go along and may be discouraged by the lack of save function.

Finally, it would be nice to see some sort of game speed altering function on the map screen, as riding long distances on a slow horse can become tedious when you want to get on with the fighting .

Again, if any of this has already been mentioned then it will just have to serve to back those comments up.

Psst, I'm done, you can wake up now.

 

[Plant]

By the way - is it just me, or most characters seem a bit 'slack-jawed'?
Their lips are parted, making them look rather stupid... and I cannot affect that at all. I guess that should be addresed with 'lip configuration' bar.

You obviously haven't been investing your points in the "Stiff Upper Lip" skill

 

[Me]

Another thing about the archery, if this hasn't already been mentioned - When mounted, if you look beyond a certain angle the arrow is fired directly forwards. This can be quite irritating in that if you're stationery, you have to turn your horse to face your target. It also makes "ride-by" shooting near impossible to carry out.

You can only aim off to one side of the horse, but thats still a 180 degree arc for ride-by shootings.

 

[Plant]

Ah, didn't realise you could aim off the side at all.

It's the left hand side you can aim off, I assume?

 

[Balor]

Another thing about the archery, if this hasn't already been mentioned - When mounted, if you look beyond a certain angle the arrow is fired directly forwards.

Well, in fact, it's not a bug - it a feature! Like Me noticed, you can aim in a 180 degree arc - one to the left. It's highly logical, btw - try swisting your torso to the right and pretend to draw a bow... you'll quickly understand that it's plain impossible. (your own body would stand in the way).
So, you just have to tactically manuever... and this can be also used when dealing with enemy horce archers. Cheers armadan - your horce archery is perfect .

 

[Plant]

But what if I want my character to be left-handed ¬_¬

</awkward git>

 

[armagan]

For the left handed, we recommend Mount&Blade Deluxe edition which will include a latest technology mirror to look at the screen through.

 

[Gibby]

Where do I get one?

 

[Me]

You know, it could use a banking system, I dont like riding out with a huge heap of money that I'm saving thats just begging to be stolen from me...
You could have a small bank in Zendar so you dont have to risk losing whole heaps of money when you're saving up for that special pecie of armour or something.

 

[armagan]

Where do I get one?

It's still under development. We need to ensure compatibility with all those monitors and video cards out there.

 

[Plant]

Will there be an update for the current version which will allow me to use a mirror I already own? I don't want to have to shell out another 6 quid...