How Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord simulates its large medieval battles

“Warband was a very successful game, but kind of a rough gem,” says Taleworlds’ neighborhood supervisor and PR man, Frank Elliott, in a presentation at E3 this yr. “So we’ve looked at every aspect of the game, made it more polished and more complete, right across the board.”

That mentioned, battles are the main target of the demo I’m about to play. Taleworlds reckon they’ll match as much as 600 troopers on the sector directly now, and probably extra if they’ll additional optimise the sport forward of launch. You’ll nonetheless battle instantly and command troops, however a brand new wrinkle is that you simply, too, have a boss, who gives you orders to observe – display our archers from their cavalry, cost their flanks, that form of factor. You can ignore them, however there could also be repercussions on the strategic map in the event you do.

Rather than command the entire military, you’ll command one division – the entrance, for instance, or maybe the cavalry. Thanks to intelligent nesting of instructions, you possibly can challenge surprisingly difficult orders with simply two or three button presses, and it’s clear there’s a substantial amount of depth to discover right here. The function of AI has additionally been massively expanded as Elliott explains:

“We have AI that controls the skirmish, the subtle reformations, essentially formulate interesting battle strategy. A lot of these are also based on authentic medieval strategies, and they work in the game just as they’d work in real life. It’s a real simulation of what’s happening here. Nothing is fake. Nothing is scripted. If the cavalry is charging towards the archers and mows them down but the archers do something to the horses, it happens that way because our game is physical simulation.” 

There’s even AI devoted to controlling what particular person troopers are doing, from their behaviour when skirmishing to which assault they’ll select subsequent. The implications of this weren’t obvious within the battles I fought, however Taleworlds say it’ll imply much more depth, and maybe a couple of “dramatic moments” that may catch you without warning, and have profound implications on the technique layer. 

I had the possibility to play a few battles, and to talk with Korneel Guns, gameplay programmer at builders TaleWorlds Entertainment. 

SE7EN.WS: So, how has the sport progressed since Warband?

Korneel Guns: It’s utterly Mount & Blade on the core. We didn’t solely take the unique and develop it; we took what was in Mount & Blade, went by each single characteristic, and simply made every thing higher. The fight is extra refined, the politics, the intrigue, the buying and selling – whenever you get a request to kill some bandits, that’s not a random request. It’s way more dynamic. Trade occurs when merchants are on the lookout for a revenue, and fights occur as a result of completely different events try to achieve land and making an attempt to make themselves extra highly effective, not simply their faction. All this stuff occur for actual causes now. 

Let’s dig into all of that, beginning with the fight. We hear that, as a consequence of particular person physics, a tactic that labored in actual life would work within the sport, not as a result of it’s been particularly coded however as a result of it simply emerges. How does that work?

We do a number of bodily calculations for a lot of issues, not simply the fight. But if somebody is making an attempt to hit you and another person is standing in the way in which, then he may get hit by the strike that was meant for you. And for cavalry driving throughout the fields, every thing they hit can simply get bumped away, so it issues how briskly they’re going, it issues how heavy the horses are – when you’ve got heavy cavalry charging downhill, that’s an unstoppable power. They may attempt to cease you with their infantry, however on the backside of the hill, [the cavalry] will simply crush them and preserve going. If you’re going uphill, it’s a very completely different story. They can cease you, and you might be caught, and so they could kill you. So it’s not ‘I have cavalry, they have infantry. I charge them, they die’. You have to make use of them appropriately. 

And how deep does this go? Does it prolong to weaponry, too?

All of our weapons have statistics. We have stability, we now have how sharp they’re, so it issues in the event you slash or pierce. We even have how heavy they’re. All these issues give completely different outcomes, and it is determined by what armour you’ve gotten. We don’t have something as in-depth as chain or plate, simply have heavy armour or mild armour, but it surely positively makes a distinction.

How a lot of that is new in comparison with earlier video games?

The first one had related issues like armour worth, which is localised to chest, legs, or arms. What’s new is that it’s extra bodily calculated. It’s not simply ‘swing and return damage’. What issues is that the sword is that this heavy, this sharp, it does this a lot harm. But, in the event you hit somebody too quickly, it gained’t do its full potential of harm. If he’s standing simply too far-off and also you get him with the tip of your weapon, it additionally doesn’t do a lot harm. You need to hit him along with your whole blade on the [right moment]. 

Have their been any modifications to the morale system?

It’s not only a formation that may break morale. [Soldiers] can individually break. So, if they’re holding formation, and also you cost them from behind, that’s going to provide them an enormous shock. They will attempt to battle a bit first, after which they see that it’s simply overwhelming, to allow them to rout whereas the remainder of your military remains to be preventing. It’s very particular person.   

And how concerning the setting – we’re nonetheless within the continent of Calradia, sure?

Yes. It’s the identical continent, but it surely’s set earlier than Warband. It’s additionally, I consider, 4 occasions greater than what it was in Warband. We even have extra mountain ranges, and extra rivers going by. It’s the identical setting within the lore, however gamers will discover much more element.

Is there a status system or relationship system within the politics facet of issues?

You have the connection that you’ve got with your personal faction. Everyone of their factions is making an attempt to make their faction extra highly effective, so you’ve gotten a relationship along with your group. But you’re not simply making an attempt to make your faction extra highly effective. You’re additionally making an attempt to make your self extra highly effective. You’re a egocentric particular person – you need extra lands, you need extra armies, you need extra gold. So you’ve gotten a relationship with the Lords. You have relationships with NPCs which you should utilize to get extra recruits, for instance. If you’ve gotten a greater relationship with the NPCs, you get extra troops for a greater value and you’ll construct a military quicker. You even have relationships with Lords from different factions as properly. You might be at struggle with a faction and be on good phrases with a Lord inside that faction, so it’s much more gray and nuanced. 

Is there a story factor to it, or is it nonetheless a sandbox?

It is generally sandbox. There’s a little bit of narrative in the beginning, only a tutorial to get you in your ft first. Then it is going to take an increasing number of of a again seat, as a result of on the core, Mount & Blade is a sandbox. We need individuals to make their very own path and their very own narrative.  

An actual launch date for Mount & Blade II hasn’t been given – which is beginning to ruffle feathers among the many neighborhood – however at E3, Taleworlds repeated their ambitions to launch this yr. You can be taught extra on its Steam page, or choose up Warband here.