brulleks
Recruit
I've been playing Mount and Blade for the majority of the weekend (haven't tired of it at all), and have noted down some suggestions that I hope will be useful.
I don't know if any have already been made as I haven't read all the other threads, so apologies if this is the case.
Party Management
Following a battle, when deciding which 'allies' to take with you and which of your men to release from employment, it would be useful to have access to the 'Talk' button so that you can compare statistics.
Admittedly, some classes are obviously better than others, but those which are usually unavailable to buy, such as pirates and bandits, are not as obvious.
Also, as with the character screen, it would be handy to be able to 'undo' changes on the party screen - I've released fighters to swap with other ones after a battle that I then could not actually 'capture' and been unable to get my original fighters back.
Trade Routes
It would be useful to have a Trade Book that kept track of trade routes that have been discovered, or just a notepad screen where you could type in such things yourself - the latter might actually be preferable as you would not just be limited to trade routes then.
Prisoners
Different prisoners could have different prices, depending on their worth - e.g. dark knights get more money than river pirates. Of course, this would also mean displaying the price of each type when selling them.
Also, if you rescue anyone from an opponent, after the battle you should have the option to take them prisoner as well as the option to hire them.
i.e. If I am fighting for the Sawdians, I am more likely to want to take Vaegir men as prisoners - this would add an extra strategy for completing 'collect x Vaegir (class)' quests.
I think a separate button for 'hire' after a battle rather than having to use 'Capture' might prevent confusion as well.
Food
If extra food is held in the inventory, there should be a way of stocking it so that you do not run out when waiting at a tavern. This should not be done automatically, in case you are intending to trade it, but you could possible allocate food items to be used next once the current one has been finished.
Statistics log
It might be an idea to have a screen that captures your career statistics, i.e. kills, knock outs, tournament wins, battle victories /defeats etc etc. It won't add much to the gameplay, admittedly, so might not be worth the hassle of implementing, but could be fun if it doesn't take too much time to create.
Waiting
An option to 'wait' on the party map, so that time around you does not pause when you stop, would allow you to wait for the outcome of other battles - especially between two opposing factions, so you could pick off the depleted victors - as NPC parties can.
I notice that other people have suggested a way of fast-forwarding time on the map as well, so it could go hand-in-hand with this.
Also, it would be useful to specify amounts of time to wait at tavern, or have a button to 'stop waiting.' Sometimes I have waited for a large enemy force to go away, only for it to return again once my 'waiting' period has finished, so it would prevent this from happening for a start. It would also prevent morale dropping as a result of food running out, and allow you to restore your health back to maximum without wasting extra time.
Okay, that's what I have so far. Hope some of it is useful, at least!
Before I go, I also have a couple of questions re gameplay (if you've made it through this far):
1. How do you collect wages, or is this yet to be implemented?
2. Sometimes when party members are ready to upgrade, the button to do this is blanked out and I wait to wait for a while before I can use it. Is this a bug, or is there a particular reason for it?
3. Am I right to assume that I cannot hire Vaegir fighters when I already have Swadian fighters among my men, hence the 'Capture' button being blanked out?
I don't know if any have already been made as I haven't read all the other threads, so apologies if this is the case.
Party Management
Following a battle, when deciding which 'allies' to take with you and which of your men to release from employment, it would be useful to have access to the 'Talk' button so that you can compare statistics.
Admittedly, some classes are obviously better than others, but those which are usually unavailable to buy, such as pirates and bandits, are not as obvious.
Also, as with the character screen, it would be handy to be able to 'undo' changes on the party screen - I've released fighters to swap with other ones after a battle that I then could not actually 'capture' and been unable to get my original fighters back.
Trade Routes
It would be useful to have a Trade Book that kept track of trade routes that have been discovered, or just a notepad screen where you could type in such things yourself - the latter might actually be preferable as you would not just be limited to trade routes then.
Prisoners
Different prisoners could have different prices, depending on their worth - e.g. dark knights get more money than river pirates. Of course, this would also mean displaying the price of each type when selling them.
Also, if you rescue anyone from an opponent, after the battle you should have the option to take them prisoner as well as the option to hire them.
i.e. If I am fighting for the Sawdians, I am more likely to want to take Vaegir men as prisoners - this would add an extra strategy for completing 'collect x Vaegir (class)' quests.
I think a separate button for 'hire' after a battle rather than having to use 'Capture' might prevent confusion as well.
Food
If extra food is held in the inventory, there should be a way of stocking it so that you do not run out when waiting at a tavern. This should not be done automatically, in case you are intending to trade it, but you could possible allocate food items to be used next once the current one has been finished.
Statistics log
It might be an idea to have a screen that captures your career statistics, i.e. kills, knock outs, tournament wins, battle victories /defeats etc etc. It won't add much to the gameplay, admittedly, so might not be worth the hassle of implementing, but could be fun if it doesn't take too much time to create.
Waiting
An option to 'wait' on the party map, so that time around you does not pause when you stop, would allow you to wait for the outcome of other battles - especially between two opposing factions, so you could pick off the depleted victors - as NPC parties can.
I notice that other people have suggested a way of fast-forwarding time on the map as well, so it could go hand-in-hand with this.
Also, it would be useful to specify amounts of time to wait at tavern, or have a button to 'stop waiting.' Sometimes I have waited for a large enemy force to go away, only for it to return again once my 'waiting' period has finished, so it would prevent this from happening for a start. It would also prevent morale dropping as a result of food running out, and allow you to restore your health back to maximum without wasting extra time.
Okay, that's what I have so far. Hope some of it is useful, at least!
Before I go, I also have a couple of questions re gameplay (if you've made it through this far):
1. How do you collect wages, or is this yet to be implemented?
2. Sometimes when party members are ready to upgrade, the button to do this is blanked out and I wait to wait for a while before I can use it. Is this a bug, or is there a particular reason for it?
3. Am I right to assume that I cannot hire Vaegir fighters when I already have Swadian fighters among my men, hence the 'Capture' button being blanked out?
