What else remains to be explained?

[xdj1nn]

Regarding the control of parties I rescue the following Callum comment:

With the way our army system works in Bannerlord, you could leave part of the army besieging a castle and split off the rest of it to go around raiding villages, patrol, etc. (link)

hmmm that makes things more interesting 

 

[Terco_Viejo]

@Callum, Could you confirm this and thus we can provide accuracy - justification here in the official Taleworlds forums?

The map is changed, not just by the activity of the player and NPCs but also by the passage of time. Changing seasons affect the weather and transform the landscape sending snow creeping south during winter. Significant gameplay effects, of the changing conditions, are felt in the effectiveness of different troop types. Cavalry and ranged units in particular will have a harder time in rain or snow. One major change from Warband is how time progresses; the yearly cycle has been shortened to twelve weeks, which adds more importance to the changing seasons and ageing of characters.

(Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 12 - The Passage Of Time)

 

[DtheHun]

I've prepared FORM 66 to speed up the process.

........ was a planned feature, however, after implementing it, we found that it didn't really work well with the way our sandbox plays out, and ultimately, it wasn't much fun for the player.

 

[DanAngleland]

That would be disappointing. I hope he is talking only of the campaign map (though I would ideally want them to have effects there too), rather than the weather in battle maps not affecting certain troops. I hope Callum does clarify this.

 

[xdj1nn]

@Callum, Could you confirm this and thus we can provide accuracy - justification here in the official Taleworlds forums?

The map is changed, not just by the activity of the player and NPCs but also by the passage of time. Changing seasons affect the weather and transform the landscape sending snow creeping south during winter. Significant gameplay effects, of the changing conditions, are felt in the effectiveness of different troop types. Cavalry and ranged units in particular will have a harder time in rain or snow. One major change from Warband is how time progresses; the yearly cycle has been shortened to twelve weeks, which adds more importance to the changing seasons and ageing of characters.

(Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 12 - The Passage Of Time)

They probably realized that ultimately it wasn't fun for the player 

 

[DtheHun]

They probably realized that ultimately it wasn't fun for the player 

My only problem is the timing. It's 2019, despite of polishing state of every shown feature was advertised from 2016, but truly most of these feature explainations came directly from the scetch board without any proof of practicability. 3 years have passsed, and now they are just in the realization of their limits phase. Finishing touches are nowhere in the horizon. Only their physics department shows some achievements of boredom.

 

[xdj1nn]

They probably realized that ultimately it wasn't fun for the player 

My only problem is the timing. It's 2019, despite of polishing state of every shown feature was advertised from 2016, but truly most of these feature explainations came directly from the scetch board without any proof of practicability. 3 years have passsed, and now they are just in the realization of their limits phase. Finishing touches are nowhere in the horizon. Only their physics department shows some achievements of boredom.

I've said a thousand times over, BL is likely to be much closer to WB when released than what was promised.

 

[FBohler]

I've said a thousand times over, BL is likely to be much closer to WB when released than what was promised.

I think experienced WB players won't see too much difference because many features were already present in WB, but hidden under text walls and sometimes  with no UI at all.
In parallel, WB casuals (I include myself in this category) will see a very different game, because it's way more streamlined, with the features being better explained and fleshed out, having meaningful impacts on gameplay being actually pointed to the player by visual clues, text, UI, etc. The game will feel way deeper than WB for these players because it's so concerned on conveying its content, even if it isn't any deeper than WB at all.

 

[xdj1nn]

I've said a thousand times over, BL is likely to be much closer to WB when released than what was promised.

I think experienced WB players won't see too much difference because many features were already present in WB, but hidden under text walls and sometimes  with no UI at all.
In parallel, WB casuals (I include myself in this category) will see a very different game, because it's way more streamlined, with the features being better explained and fleshed out, having meaningful impacts on gameplay being actually pointed to the player by visual clues, text, UI, etc. The game will feel way deeper than WB for these players because it's so concerned on conveying its content, even if it isn't any deeper than WB at all.

I wouldn't say "deeper", I'd totally go for "smoother" and more "pleasant". But then again that's why User Interface is such a fundamental part in ANYTHING, even car interior design... For the game to be deeper it'd have to include more believable features that complement the setting, and a broader selection of options regarding gameplay and approach. So yeah, risk is that the game might end up being shallow, but smoother and feel much better. WB in it's core is quite shallow, so my "critique" falls flat into that tbh. I miss some depth in WB, lost my hopes for seeing it in BL a couple years ago.

If it serves as any consolation though, I won't mind the shallowness of the game at all because at this point I can't stand WB graphic wise, so BL will fill at least that void for me, but I won't call it game of the year or a masterpiece unless it packs such depth that I crave for... At least I'll get some WB action with updated engine, for me that's enough. Oh, and the opportunity of creating characters with realistic weird faces, like some Donald Trump to make Calradia Great Again  , maybe the best feature presented so far 

 

[Dead End]

I looked at some videos and found some intriguing things... you can ride sheep and cows? If not at least it seems sheep can hit things, can yo unleash a horde of space cows to attack the enemy?

I never knew that I wanted to complete all of Bannerlord riding a cow as my mighty steed. Thank you sir

 

[Terco_Viejo]

@Callum, Could you confirm this and thus we can provide accuracy - justification here in the official Taleworlds forums?

The map is changed, not just by the activity of the player and NPCs but also by the passage of time. Changing seasons affect the weather and transform the landscape sending snow creeping south during winter. Significant gameplay effects, of the changing conditions, are felt in the effectiveness of different troop types. Cavalry and ranged units in particular will have a harder time in rain or snow. One major change from Warband is how time progresses; the yearly cycle has been shortened to twelve weeks, which adds more importance to the changing seasons and ageing of characters.

(Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 12 - The Passage Of Time)

@Callum_Taleworlds would you be so kind as to bring a little clarity to these very unconnected statements in your utterance?
Is there an effect or not on the terrain?

So, that explains Bannerlord’s party speed mechanics in a nutshell. There are still a few aspects we left out such as the effect of terrain and seasons and leader and companion skills, but we’ll hopefully touch upon those in other contexts. (Dev Blog 21/03/19)

 

[vota dc]

I looked at some videos and found some intriguing things... you can ride sheep and cows? If not at least it seems sheep can hit things, can yo unleash a horde of space cows to attack the enemy?

I never knew that I wanted to complete all of Bannerlord riding a cow as my mighty steed. Thank you sir

Nice screen. Sheep will slow you down a lot. And we are lucky they aren't too realistic: in real world everyone march as the slowest one, so party skill would be 10 because a single sheep, instead we will get just a small penalty.

 

[vicwiz007]

I think the distinction is between seasons and weather. Weather being rain, snow, etc. So I guess we should expect no effects from those, as his comment on them was much more recent than the blog from Lust era.

So seasons will affect gameplay, but in what ways? I'm glad they at least do something.

I think it could be quite annoying to have weather affect battles tbh. Realistic yes, but tricky for the game. Will you be able to see if it's raining where you want to battle before making the tactical decision to engage there? I doubt it. Just one example of why it may have "been removed because it wasn't fun or didn't work"

 

[Insider]

I think the distinction is between seasons and weather. Weather being rain, snow, etc. So I guess we should expect no effects from those, as his comment on them was much more recent than the blog from Lust era.

So seasons will affect gameplay, but in what ways? I'm glad they at least do something.

I think it could be quite annoying to have weather affect battles tbh. Realistic yes, but tricky for the game. Will you be able to see if it's raining where you want to battle before making the tactical decision to engage there? I doubt it. Just one example of why it may have "been removed because it wasn't fun or didn't work"

We will find out in ANOTHER DEDICATED BLOG, I'm sure

 

[vicwiz007]

Let's be real, there is no "dedicated blog" that actually answers the specific questions we want to know. I mean this week was a great example. Everything said was already known/inferred from tooltips. The only stuff that would've been new, they say will be touched on in other blogs.

 

[Insider]

Let's be real, there is no "dedicated blog" that actually answers the specific questions we want to know. I mean this week was a great example. Everything said was already known/inferred from tooltips. The only stuff that would've been new, they say will be touched on in other blogs.

There is a whole list of things we don't know listed in another thread, but let's talk about reins and scabbards, the real core of gameplay

 

[Orion]

Though reins & scabbards are things the previous games didn't have originally (scabbards), or never had at all (reins), prompting people to complain about their absence. If they weren't in Bannerlord, it would be seen as a step backward. You're giving them no chance to win.

 

[Silen]

It's nice that they're putting them in the game, I appreciate attention to detail. Just making a blog exclusively out of "reins" seems a bit unnecessary.

 

[Insider]

Though reins & scabbards are things the previous games didn't have originally (scabbards), or never had at all (reins), prompting people to complain about their absence. If they weren't in Bannerlord, it would be seen as a step backward. You're giving them no chance to win.

They are welcome additions, but taking into account that we still haven't had an answer about major stuff like weather having an effect on the campaign map or just being purely cosmetic, or an explanation about the absence of ambushes beyond the "they are not fun for the player" line...Taleworlds is behaving like a telecommunications company, trying to appeal to newcomers instead of rewarding its  loyal clients 

 

[Orion]

You don't like surprises?

Loyal customers are just that: loyal. There will be some loss with time, but it's a safe bet that most will follow through to the next game regardless. There's very little to gain by inticing us further. New customers are less dependable.