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Topic: 100+ Hours Played / Feedback (0.7.0.12)
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- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by Wolfgang.
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24. October 2016 at 09:24 #17717WolfgangParticipant
Hello everyone! :)
I’m loving Battle Brothers, and have over 100h played so far…
After seeing a loading screen pop up and tell me that devs want to hear from customers, I decided to chime in. So I’ve registered to offer some feedback on this marvelous game that’s kept me captivated for the better part of a week now! I did my best to keep this as short and to the point as possible, and also offer some (hopefully constructive!) suggestions along the way.
The format below is (P)roblem > (S)uggestion > (C)omment.
With that said, on to the list!
P – when starting a new campaign, easily 70% of all maps are created with terribly annoying geography (ex: too much water)
S – give us a screenshot of what the map will look like, and a button to generate a new one until we get something we want
C – at the moment, ‘rolling’ a new map requires going through the tutorial fight and 2 additional text screens… not fun!P – swapping items during battle is a pain in the ass, mostly due to limited UI functionality where one has to open inventory
S – add a taskbar icon for every item the current character has stashed in his bags (RPGs like Icewind Dale II did this well)
C – note that brothers without the ‘Quick Hands’ perk should still lose APs when swapping weapons via this hypothetical trayP – when entering settlements at night, one has to exit and then camp until dawn for the shops and services to open
S – keeping the vendors closed over night is fine, but please add a ‘Lodgings’ button/option to the taverns themselves!
C – it makes sense to allow the party to rest at a tavern, and get bonuses for doing so (depending on room price/quality)P – currently, it’s necessary to hand-flag each item for repair (this is fine for early game with limited supplies, but not late)
S – add a small toggle-able button to the inventory screen called ‘Repair All’ that gradually auto-repairs the whole inventory
C – since repair supplies are limited, this auto-repair option should still give priority to the Brothers’ *equipped* items!P – when the situation calls for it, having your Brothers each passing a turn becomes an exercise in annoyance
S – add a ‘Hold’ button that, when clicked, will auto-pass the entire company’s turn, keeping everyone in place
C – sometimes it’s necessary to pass the first 2-3 turns, while waiting for Orcs or Undead to close the distance
Note: another button should be added next to this one that allows the entire company to ‘Wait’ (go at end turn)P – the AI will often hunker down in place and play a waiting game, especially with ranged goblin and bandit parties
S – change it so the AI is more aggressive… it doesn’t have to suicide rush, but neither should it just sit there
C – realism aside, no one wants to play a waiting game against a mountain-hugging turtle AI… it simply isn’t funP – all the food in the game apart from Ground Grains is basically pointless, since it costs more while giving nothing
S – make the various foods give unique bonuses to the party, with the more expensive ones doling out much larger buffs
C – as things stand right now, penny-pinching and feeding your company only grain is optimal, but far from satisfyingP – the amount of non-pathable hexes on Forest maps is not only annoying, but makes the game a chore to play…
S – scale down the amount of clutter by ~50%, and make the “Pathfinder” perk remove *all* of the extra AP costs!
C – pathing blockers in the forest (coupled with the insanely high amount of APs needed to move) made me hate it
Note: you know something’s wrong when you need 5 turns just to get close enough to a melee goblin to hit it
Note: swamps are another offender… they have no clutter, but moving only 1 hex per turn is disgusting :(P – maps where the party fights slow-moving undead usually spawn enemies on the opposite side of the board
S – either make the maps smaller, or make it so Brothers and enemies are spawned a lot closer to each other
C – I can’t count the number of times it took my company 3 full turns just to *reach* the damn weidegangers!P – battles where the player is facing off against 20+ enemies become a chore due to how slowly the AI moves
S – add another option to the menu that allows even *faster* reaction by the AI (hopefully with 0 delay time)
C – atm, there are still 2-4 second delays between each AI-controlled combatant, even with ‘instant’ movement!P – each time a new Brother gets their turn, the game waits 2-3 seconds before allowing the player to issue commands
S – allow players to assume control instantly, so they can move or pass the Brothers’ turn without any sort of delay
C – this might sound trivial, but consider that 3 seconds x 12 brothers = 36 seconds of wait time, per turn!P – early game is often the most difficult not only due to a lack of abilities and gear, but quests as well!
S – ensure that the nearest 2-3 towns after game creation have at least 1 quest each! (or even more, to be safe)
C – it’s simply not fun scouring the map for a quest right after starting a game, especially for newbie players!P – starting a new game, it would make sense for your party to scavenge at least some gear from the failed ambush
S – give every starting party 1 unique, random item (armor/weapon/shield) as a memento of their former Captain!
C – this would add a bit more role playing to the game, as well as ensuring new players aren’t left frustratedP – running a mercenary company includes a high turn-over rate to replace dead recruits; more room is needed
S – increase the max amount of mercs from 18 to 25, and have mercs in reserve get only half pay while there
C – while this *would* make the game somewhat easier, most people enjoy having a large roster to rotateP – sometimes you need to let a disfigured Brother go, but it breaks your heart to kick them out like a dog
S – add a ‘Retirement’ option that, for 1000 extra gold, permanently retires a Brother (they leave the party)
C – in return, the company gets the Brother’s journal where he shares his knowledge of war, battle, and tactics
Note: this journal would be a consumable item that, once used, gives +15% of the retiree’s total XP!
Note: the journal should also be named after the brother it belonged to (ex: Otto’s Journal, etc.)P – hiring new Brothers feels like a high-risk-low-profit casino game, which usually ends in a save-scum
S – allow players to view a prospective Brother’s stats and talents, but for a little extra gold (50-ish?)
C – this approach would satisfy purists, and also disincentivize save-scumming that cheapens the experience
Note: to prevent having to click on *every* potential recruit, simply add an “Informant” character to the
screen, and have him charge (50 x number_of_recruits) gold to unveil everyone’s stats/talents/featsP – hedge knights and swordmasters are so rare that they might as well not exist as recruitable mercs
S – drastically increase their chance to appear as recruits, and ensure they don’t spawn stat-gimped
C – also, introduce a new ranged class (sniper?) that would be the ranged equivalent of HKs and SMsP – the inventory is painfully limited and fills up quickly if the player wants to have multiple weapons available
S – either expand the number of available slots to well over a 100, or make it so provisions don’t take up space
C – the game should be about building and developing a mercenary company, not playing medieval Tetris /w foodP – settlements *slowly* refresh their stock of recruits, and players have to hire-and-fire in order to get fresh ones
S – make recruitable characters ‘move on’ after 1-2 in-game days, and display new ones when the player re-visits again
C – also, the more expensive the recruit, the longer they should ‘hang around’ the city (ie., more time to recruit them)24. October 2016 at 10:30 #17738RusBearParticipant3, 4, 5, 7, 15 – yes
6, 9, 17 – absolutly no28. October 2016 at 23:26 #17809WolfgangParticipantHaving played some more over the past few days, I’ll add a couple things that snagged my attention…
World Map Fog of War: Exploring the map is fun, but the fog of war sometimes messes up pathing simply because the player has no way of knowing what the terrain looks like while it’s hidden. This is a problem since terrain is randomized, and if clicking on an area with water, the BB avatar will stop and wait for another command. I’d suggest changing it so the fog of war on the world map obscures the towns, villages, settlements, camps, and ruins, while at the same time allowing the player to view the terrain itself… sort of like a dark, semi-transparent cloud. This would solve most pathing issues on the world map, while still allowing for exploration and discovery.
Unique Items: Finding them is far too random. And completing sets is next to impossible. I’d suggest that, in addition to finding unique items from killed enemies, they should also be available for purchase from a special item shop. Instead of having random armorsmiths and weaponsmiths sometimes selling these, have them be available at a special shop called a Reliquary. This shop would be available only in the largest town on the world map (just one per campaign!). Also, to keep things balanced, the shop would randomly cycle through the relics, and would not spawn doubles. Furthermore, the items themselves would be quite expensive. This would allow players to complete their sets without praying to RNGesus every time they kill an orc warlord.
World Map Travel: Sometimes, it’s necessary to travel over large stretches of the game world, either for a quest, or to get to a remote city. Please allow the option to have the game continue UNPAUSED while the inventory screen is open. There’s no better time to fiddle with loadouts (or level up your Brothers!) than while traversing the world map. Currently, players are stuck twiddling their thumbs while watching the company march from Town A to Town Z.
Leveling System: Far too random. Also, quite unsatisfactory, since you feel like the game hates you when your main DPS Brother rolls 1s in Offense three times in a row. Please change this to a point-buy system. Simply give a Brother 10 or so points per levelup, and allow the player to distribute them as they see fit. This would not only allow more customization, but would also give players the ability to spec into highly-specialized glass cannon and tank builds (which is currently difficult, unless you find Brothers with 3 stars in the stat of your choice).
Pristine Enemies: Every single enemy in the game world is always 100% fresh, with completely pristine armor, weapons, and physique. This not only breaks immersion, but also takes away from the game’s atmosphere. I’m not saying enemies need to be crippled by wounds or burdened with thrashed armor, but a dented chest plate here or a clubbed foot there would do wonders for believability. Also, the amount of damage that enemies spawn with could be tied to difficulty. Personally, I’d love to see bandits without ears, orcs with gashed noses, and soldiers with dented armors. Not too much, but just enough to set the mood!
Terrain Height: In fights, it’s sometimes difficult to see ‘behind’ high terrain. This is mostly due to the angle the map is drawn at, which makes it difficult to target enemies (or allies) huddling behind a steep cliff. If at all possible, adding highlightable outlines to characters would solve this problem. Also, height difference plays an overpowering role in combat engagements – spawning atop a hill makes battles either trivial or impossible, depending whether it’s you or your enemies holding the height advantage. It might be a good idea to tweak the bonuses from height differentials a bit, ie., decrease the amount of APs needed to move up/down cliffs, and also decrease the to-hit advantage. Just a thought.
Well, that’s about all I can think of at the moment…
Also, if you guys need help writing more game events (the textual stuff), I’d love to volunteer! :)
Here’s a verbose text mod I did way back for Dragon Age 2: http://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage2/mods/2564/?
Drop me a mail if you guys need an extra hand; I’d love to do some item descriptions for BB!
EDIT/P.S.
When is Jayson continuing his YouTube Let’s Play? He has a very soothing voice, and I’ve gotten used to watching the vids while eating breakfast! :D -
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