Topic: 100+ Hours Played / Feedback (0.7.0.12)

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 tray

P – 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 fun

P – 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 satisfying

P – 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 frustrated

P – 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 rotate

P – 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/feats

P – 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 SMs

P – 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 food

P – 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)