Some things that REALLY need a change

[No idea]

I like this game a lot (especially playing POP mod), however, there are some points which needs changing or improvements ASAP (I can´t understand how they have not been changed or improved yet):

1. First and above all, controls and GIU in Battles. Men, it´s absolutely HORRIBLE. I can think lots of ways it could have been much easier to use. If you want to take a look at a game that get this part right just look ANY of the TW games. Perhaps it´s because I have played TW a lot (so I am too used to a good way of controlling your armies) but I have been in real pains to control my army in WB. The fact that as soon as you make the GIU appear you can move the camera just very slowly is especially frustrating. So much that, in some instances, I have just given up with all the trouble, especially when “Charge¡” works so well in many situations.
2. You really NEED to give us a “Speak with Village Elder” or a “Speak with Guild Master” in the town menu. Yes, I know you can easily mod the game with WB Tweaks, but I can´t understand how developers missed a so vital little thing. Any beta tester could have told you this feature was needed after just a few hours playing.
3. Prices need to be better thought/reworked. It´s a nonsense (for balance purposes) that something that gives more armor is cheaper than something which gives less (this happens when you find a crude version of something and a lordly or thick one, for example).
4. Vanilla late game is a bit lame. Diplomacy mod improves it a lot, but, still, I think vanilla could have made things much better. Vanilla game had the potential, but, I don´t know why, they didn´t exploit it.

Well, this is all I can think about now. By far the first point is my biggest gripe. Don´t take me wrong. I am enjoying the game a lot, but I feel like if it could be easily improved a lot to make it far more enjoyable and for some reason developers didn´t want.

 

[Armie_knock]

1. The army is there just to assist you. You are supposed to be the main force, so i dont think that you will be able to use super advanced mega smart nerd tactics. It wont help you alot anyways. You will be much better of with just very basic tactics and use your troops as the anvil and be the hammer yourself =)

2.I agree.

3. I agree.

4. I agree. But ey, lucky us that we got such a great modding community 

 

[sandoval]

1. You must learn the shortcuts! I love how battles are handled in Warband. No well ordered and organized pushing around of units like in Total war. Instead you get thrown in the middle of the action and have to get a overview, form your battle plan and execute it on the spot and under high stress. I prefer it over Total War; it feels more realistic to me.

 

[DogSoldieR]

Indeed, how can TW & MBWB be even compared?

One is a RTS (TW), MBWB is a medieval FPS in battle.

I am enjoying the game a lot, but I feel like if it could be easily improved a lot to make it far more enjoyable and for some reason developers didn´t want.

Ah but thats where the magic of being a mod-able game comes in! Dont like it, make it to your liking then! Developers just give you the base engine, the rest is up to your imagination, no limits as long as it is in the coding constraints.

1. It is easily improve-able!
2. Developers leave it up to you how you want it!


I had the same gripes as you when I started out on vanilla WB. Then I found out how to do some coding and been loving it since once I got the game to correct what I perceive as stupid and lame.

2.  You really NEED to give us a “Speak with Village Elder” or a “Speak with Guild Master” in the town menu. Yes, I know you can easily mod the game with WB Tweaks, but I can´t understand how developers missed a so vital little thing. Any beta tester could have told you this feature was needed after just a few hours playing.

Well, its keeping in line with what you experience in the city talking to vendors (which strangely, they give a shortcut option for vendors), or going to an inn talking to people. You get that 1st person feel of actually being in a town/village. But yes, the initial novelty does wear off after awhile of repeatedly hunting down and memorising where each elder/guildmaster is in each town/village.

 

[argyre]

Agreed. I find controlling the army far too awkward as well. Having to issue the same orders at the beginning of every battle to keep your soldiers from running off on their own, get your surgeon off the battlefield (since even if you put him last on your roster the game will still inexplicably throw him into combat sometimes for some reason), etc. Very cumbersome. I also find myself getting tangled up in the orders menu a lot, because there appears to be some tiny delay between menu transitions that I never had to deal with in the original M&B, so when I try to run through orders too quickly the game will skip a step and I'll be stuck repeatedly telling my cavalry to hold their fire or whatever until I hit escape and start over.

 

[Hertog Jan]

3. When you compare armors, you also have to look at weight.

 

[Caba`drin]

Having to issue the same orders at the beginning of every battle to keep your soldiers from running off on their own, get your surgeon off the battlefield (since even if you put him last on your roster the game will still inexplicably throw him into combat sometimes for some reason), etc.

Pre-Battle Orders & Deployment (see my sig).

 

[argyre]

I know about it, but unfortunately it's incompatible with the latest version of Warband. It's functionality that ought to be in the core game, anyway.

 

[Armie_knock]

I do however think that the devolopers should pay the makers of great addons, like graphics mod, Pre-battle deployment, diplomacy,banner mod, AI formations etc. Everything that makes the game better. Just pay the creators of these mods 100-200 $ and put them in the originall game. It will sell much better since many people dont bother downloading mods or even give the game a good try before throwing it way.

 

[Sven-Mjolnir]

about the first point... it a lot more realistic this way!!! you think ancient generals had some sort satellite view to control their armies?? No, they just had to do the better they could with what they could see, that made them great and worth remebering....

As for the rest I agree, but you can always use mods

 

[annallia]

I don't get what your point is about the armor, maybe it is something that popped up in 1.153 but in 1.149 the only way a crude version of something would be more expensive than a heavy/reinforced version of something is if they are two different kinds of armor.

In that sense they still make sense, certain types of armor cost more to make. Armor value in that sense isn't so much based on protection value but rather the cost of making said armor and the workmanship put into it.

If you think about it in those terms there is a bit of sense to it as an extremely ornate (or in game terms lordly) set of leather armor was likely to cost you more than a rusty set of plate armor, even though the plate may offer better protection.

I do agree on the meet the guild master/village elder thing, that should be standard but if I were a dev putting it in I would make it so you have to at least visit the guild master/elder once for the option to pop up.

 

[No idea]

3. When you compare armors, you also have to look at weight.

Yes, I took that into account in my "rant". The thing is that weight hardly matters in practical terms. You run slower, but that doesn´t pay for all the money you save. And, on horseback, weight is meaningless. Only if you are a horse archer it has some importance, but not really much.

 

[No idea]

about the first point... it a lot more realistic this way!!! you think ancient generals had some sort satellite view to control their armies?? No, they just had to do the better they could with what they could see, that made them great and worth remebering....

As for the rest I agree, but you can always use mods

I never said they had some sort of satellite to control their armies. But they also hadn´t something like 8 seconds to get their troops in position before battle (which is aproximattely what you sometimes get in WB). And, frankly, I don´t find appropiate to justify a cranky control system on grounds of realism ("control system was made bad on purpose because IRL generals hdan´t perfect control over their armies")

 

[No idea]

I don't get what your point is about the armor, maybe it is something that popped up in 1.153 but in 1.149 the only way a crude version of something would be more expensive than a heavy/reinforced version of something is if they are two different kinds of armor.

In that sense they still make sense, certain types of armor cost more to make. Armor value in that sense isn't so much based on protection value but rather the cost of making said armor and the workmanship put into it.

If you think about it in those terms there is a bit of sense to it as an extremely ornate (or in game terms lordly) set of leather armor was likely to cost you more than a rusty set of plate armor, even though the plate may offer better protection.

I do agree on the meet the guild master/village elder thing, that should be standard but if I were a dev putting it in I would make it so you have to at least visit the guild master/elder once for the option to pop up.

Perhaps I didn´t explain myself properly. What I meant is that different kinds of armor (for example, chain shirt and plate armor) hace different prices which are not in accordance to the armor rating they give. For example, a crude plate armor gives you more armor than a thick chain shirt while being cheaper. This, even if it might be realistic, unbalances the pricing of things in the game. That´s why I put in brackets "for balance purposes". I am aware that IRL some elaborated armors could be far expensive than other non so elaborate ones even if they gave the same or similar protection.

At least a lordly armor (considering it´s freakingly expensive because it´s so elaborated, aka, good looking) could give us some bonus to persuasion.

 

[Armie_knock]

3. When you cohttp://forums.taleworlds.com/Themes/TWcurve/images/bbc/ftp.gifmpare armors, you also have to look at weight.

Yes, I took that into account in my "rant". The thing is that weight hardly matters in practical terms. You run slower, but that doesn´t pay for all the money you save. And, on horseback, weight is meaningless. Only if you are a horse archer it has some importance, but not really much.

Wight have alot of impact.

Every weight point on the chest removes - wpf. So if you got 150 in 200 and yourf armor weights 40, you will only have 110 as long as you use it.
I belive it goes like this :

  40 chest weight points : -40 wpf 1*40
  5 head weight points :  -10 wpf 2*5
  4 foot wegiht points :  -12 wpf 4*3
  2 hand armor weight :  - 4 wpf 2*2

I belive that is the right formula but i am not 100 % sure.

Only applies in some mods, not in native.

 

[sandoval]

...
I never said they had some sort of satellite to control their armies. But they also hadn´t something like 8 seconds to get their troops in position before battle (which is aproximattely what you sometimes get in WB). And, frankly, I don´t find appropiate to justify a cranky control system on grounds of realism ("control system was made bad on purpose because IRL generals hdan´t perfect control over their armies")

As I said, use shortcuts, especially the "Hold down F1 to place-flag" command. I don't find it cranky, but quick, smooth and efficient. It's close to shouting commands directly.
edit: There are some minor problems like waiting cavalry dismounting or turning their back towards the enemy. But that can be handled with a bit of practice (cavalry mount horses! / cavalry advance 10 paces!).

I used to play Total War a lot before I discovered Warband; I can't play it anymore, it find it now boring and "artificial".

 

[No idea]

3. When you compare armors, you also have to look at weight.

Yes, I took that into account in my "rant". The thing is that weight hardly matters in practical terms. You run slower, but that doesn´t pay for all the money you save. And, on horseback, weight is meaningless. Only if you are a horse archer it has some importance, but not really much.

Wight have alot of impact.

Every weight point on the chest removes - wpf. So if you got 150 in 200 and yourf armor weights 40, you will only have 110 as long as you use it.
I belive it goes like this :

  40 chest weight points : -40 wpf 1*40
  5 head weight points :  -10 wpf 2*5
  4 foot wegiht points :  -12 wpf 4*3
  2 hand armor weight :  - 4 wpf 2*2

I belive that is the right formula but i am not 100 % sure.

I wasn´t aware of that. Interesting. Then I guess my rant is not correct, as there is some more drawback.

 

[KaosProphet]

about the first point... it a lot more realistic this way!!! you think ancient generals had some sort satellite view to control their armies?? No, they just had to do the better they could with what they could see, that made them great and worth remebering....

As for the rest I agree, but you can always use mods

I never said they had some sort of satellite to control their armies. But they also hadn´t something like 8 seconds to get their troops in position before battle (which is aproximattely what you sometimes get in WB). And, frankly, I don´t find appropiate to justify a cranky control system on grounds of realism ("control system was made bad on purpose because IRL generals hdan´t perfect control over their armies")

The only battles where I find I've got about '8 seconds' to put troops in position is against khergits and steppe or desert bandits.  And that's approximately how their real-world analogues operated in the first place, so I don't really mind.

But then, that's an appeal to realism (or pseudo-realism) so you'll probably just dismiss it.

 

[argyre]

Realism or no, there's no reason for why you shouldn't be able to change the default behaviour of your men before you enter a battle to avoid having to issue half a dozen orders rapidly as soon as you get dumped into the combat screen, or why the order tree sometimes fails to respond immediately to your keypresses.

 

[HolgerHardrada]

3. When you compare armors, you also have to look at weight.

Yes, I took that into account in my "rant". The thing is that weight hardly matters in practical terms. You run slower, but that doesn´t pay for all the money you save. And, on horseback, weight is meaningless. Only if you are a horse archer it has some importance, but not really much.

Wight have alot of impact.

Every weight point on the chest removes - wpf. So if you got 150 in 200 and yourf armor weights 40, you will only have 110 as long as you use it.
I belive it goes like this :

  40 chest weight points : -40 wpf 1*40
  5 head weight points :  -10 wpf 2*5
  4 foot wegiht points :  -12 wpf 4*3
  2 hand armor weight :  - 4 wpf 2*2

I belive that is the right formula but i am not 100 % sure.

I don't believe this is true in native...maybe in some mods.