Suggestion: Merge Warband Custom Battles Interface with MP "Host Game" for SP

[Helmut_AUT]

Hi all

In "classic" M&B, if a single player wanted a quick battle fix without having to worry about party management, money or other considerations on the "world map", there were only two crude ways. One was to use the default five scenarios, which eventually got old quickly. The other was the "Custom Battle" mod which allowed you to select enemy forces (man by man) and three default maps to fight on.

Now in Warband, things have improved a lot. On one hand, we have the included "Custom Battle" generator, which has a really nice interface for picking enemy factions, force structure (Infantry, Archer, Cavalry) and map. I'm not so hot on having to pick one of the default characters, and the maps are limited (Three maps for battles, two maps for sieges). Also the battle (backspace key) still doesn't work here, so command of units is only possible by hot keys. And the CB generator doesn't "save" what you selected, so you end up endless resetting the same battle.

On the other hand, we have "Multiplayer with Bots" (hosting a server offline only for yourself to play against computer) which is also a good way for a Singleplayer gamer to get some quick randomized battles going. The interface there is actually a lot more interesting, since it allows you to select your personal gear and troop yourself based on money earned in battles. And there are a lot more maps to play on as there are in Custom Battles. Problem with "MP with/against bots" is that the Sieges don't work, commands don't work, and the number of bots is limited to 64 (max player number for the M&B Online Server).

Now, obviously the aim of the Singleplayer Custom Battles idea is to give a single player guy a chance to pick a quick, short scenario to fight in 3d, without the overhead of the "roleplaying world map" from the full game. In this the default SP Custom Battles Generator is too limited with it's small selection of maps and will get old fast. But if we could somehow merge the good elements from the MP Setup Screen into it (more maps to chose from, selection of personal gear at start of battle), keep the game modes like Conquest that are also fun offline, but raise bot count to 150 or more and make the tactic map/commands fully functional for the "bots" it would be the ultimate best mix of both worlds.

I'm not sure if modders can do this, but I think the outline is a good idea.

 

[PrinceGhaldir]

So, if I am correct you want a more expanded quick battle option? Well, dont see why not? Should be fun.

 

[Helmut_AUT]

Yep, I want a more expanded QB option (needs to include the choice of my personal gear, and more maps, also maybe different game mode like conquest) and my point is: all that's necessary for fleshing out the Custom Battle Generator is already present in multiplayer bot matches.

I think everyone has days with little time to play, and the ability to get a large battle going at once, without having to find a faction war going on, is priceless. Also for training and tactics evaluation, like putting 50 knights against 100 infantry and seeing what weapons work best... a good QB Generator with lots of configuration options would just rule.

 

[PrinceGhaldir]

Nice, I love testing soldiers, see which soldier works with another. Maybe the army builder menu should be build on the troops file, in such a way that modders dont have to do it again, but the game recognizes which troop should be in the menu and which not.

 

[Helmut_AUT]

Okay, I just realized you can use MP "Soloing", and when you launch the map, you can select (on top of screen) if you want to take command of the units on your side.

So basically, short of sieges not working in MP Solo, and inability to define amount of infantry, cavalry and archers for each side, it is quite perfect. Set bots to 100 per team and you have large scale battles, on many different maps.