Impressions, and things I'd like to see.

[Alesch]

Let me start by saying that I am really, really happy that I finally get to try this out. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it, and I seem to be favored by RNGesus, because I haven’t run into any werewolves yet. Orcs and Bandits have been enough to do in several of my battle brothers though. I’m really liking how all the factions feel different to fight against. Fighting a group of orcs, and fighting a shambling undead horde, really have nothing in common. I think that is a huge plus, and really keeps the game fresher, longer. One of the most harrowing fights I’ve had so far was against a Dangerous Orc camp, where I got stuck in a gruesome battle of attrition with the orc warriors before the Warlord let loose with a battlecry that sent half of my brothers running for the hill. I walked into that fight with twelve badasses, and walked out with two.

I have run into a few issues with the game that bother me though, some smaller than others. One thing that really annoyed me (though it’s pretty petty) is that the tooltip when hovering over a tree describes it as having a large stem. That isn’t wrong. The trunk of a tree is its stem, botanically speaking, but no one ever actually calls it that in english. A bigger issue that I had with the trees is that they are so large that they frequently block my view of the battlefield. While I can flip the camera to see the far side of hills, if I have several trees in a vertical line it becomes very difficult to see if there are any open hexes between them. This can sometimes result in enemies coming from angles that I thought impossible. I would like to see a button that shortens the trees to stumps, graphically, so that I can see the map a bit more clearly. If there is a button that does something like this already, then I haven’t found it.

Another things that I really liked was that you had multiple quest-giving sprites. I kind of lost interest in that, however, when I realized that the quests were the same and that they ultimately amounted to picking door #1,2, or 3. My initial reaction to those sprites was to ascribe some level of personality to them, and I think it might be a wasted opportunity not to take advantage of that. The three quest givers (that I have nicknamed “Fat Merchant”, “Priest-Man”, and “Shady-Guy”) could potentially represent different groups within the human faction. They might offer different quests, based on their personality. For example, let’s say that there is a bandit camp near the town that you’re in, and a large undead fortress near a different town some distance away. “Fat Merchant” would be very interested in having the bandits driven away, as they affect trade, and his profits directly. “Priest-Man”, however, might prefer to send the mercenaries to the aid of the other town. “Shady-Guy” might not particularly care about either group. The bandits aren’t large enough to actually threaten the town itself, and he has no business with the distant town, so “Shady-Guy” instead offers the mercenaries a courier contract. This would also allow you to establish a reputation with the various sub-factions. Work with the merchants a lot? They offer more money. Drop “Shady-Guy”s contracts too many times? Maybe next time he straight up tells you that he has work, but not for you. “Shady-Guy” is a bit of a jerk like that.

A third thing that I’d like to see is a bit more control over your starting game. I’ve read a lot of comments about people restarting games until they’ve gotten an “acceptable” party, and I have to admit that I’ve done the same thing. My favorite thing about this game so far is the stories that I end up making with it. The characters have, between their backgrounds and traits, just enough information for me to imprint a personality to them. I think that being able to choose the three starting characters (even if just from a pool of candidates) would cut down on the number of times that I restart when starting a new game drastically. The story of the Peddler, the Poacher, and the Killer of the Run who started their own mercenary company just doesn’t fill me with confidence in their chances :P

A bit more ambitious probably, but I would also like to see a bit more control over the generation of the map itself eventually. The ability to choose the percentage of ground that is forested, or mountainous, or the number of rivers. Perhaps even the ability to select the number of towns, cities, castles, and towers. Perhaps even the ability to turn certain factions on or off in your particular game. Ultimately, the ability to share a seed number and slider settings with friends so that both might generate the same world, even with their separate mercenary companies running around in them. I don’t know how your world generation works, so being able to tweak it or import/export seeds might be impossible, I’m not sure.

Other than that, I’m mostly looking forward to things that I’m confident will be coming already. Perhaps some more weapons (I really want a pike. Range 2 spearwall!), more quest variety, more factions. Those, at least some of them, I suspect will be added as the game moves through, and comes out of, Early Access. But please, please please please, change the tooltip on the trees before then.

Thank you.

[PsenBattle]

Hi alesch, im writing on my phone so i keep it short:
1.we will change the stem :)
Clearer vision in the forest is something ive put on my list. This will become more important eventually as fights will happen indoors etc.
2. quest givers are just random guys atm. I want to create a big variety according to the types and levels of contracts.
3. more weapons, especially 2hex range, are totally on my list. Pike, glaive, pitchfork etc.

Cheers!

Overhype Studios - Let´s roll!

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[Malthus]

To 3: Might it be possible that we get a melee 2hex range weapon with a swing attack 2 hex away if the hex between you and your enemies are empty?

"I am a Paladin!"
>OMG, Malthus, there are no damn paladins in Battle Brothers...<
"OK, OK! Then I´m a wrecked down minstrel drunkard pretending to be a paladin, singing so wrong in the midst of battle that even the undead run in fear... Better?!"

[PsenBattle]

Maybe im a bit brain frozen right now, but I dont get what exactly you mean :)
2hex range weapons can always attack all hexes within 2hexes range. Whether the space in between is empty or not doesnt matter atm.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Paul,
I might be wrong but I think Mathus was talking about having a pike-like weapon that would enabel to do a ranged swing attack hitting several tiles (similar to the 2H Sword maybe) if there is nothing blocking the target.
Cheers!

[Malthus]

Ok I made a litte picture to visualize what I mean. The one using the weapon is on the green spot and his swing attack would hit the red spots. But to make that attack possible, the yellow spots have to be empty. Something like this.

Attachments:

1. 

   BB.jpg
   

"I am a Paladin!"
>OMG, Malthus, there are no damn paladins in Battle Brothers...<
"OK, OK! Then I´m a wrecked down minstrel drunkard pretending to be a paladin, singing so wrong in the midst of battle that even the undead run in fear... Better?!"

[PsenBattle]

Okay, thanks for the sketch. I could imagine a glaive or something like that with such a cone if attack.

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[Holy.Death]

Pike could use a combination of the flail and sword mechanic – if something is on tile 1, then it hits, but if there is nothing, then pike hits tile 2.

[Alesch]

I’m excited about the prospect of having a guy with a pitchfork. Especially if torches ever make it in.

To hell with being a mercenary company, I’m going to play as an angry witch-burning mob!

[tomme25]

Nice, just name them Rabble and you are set :)

[Alesch]

I noticed something odd while playing the game today. The towns in my area are almost all destitute, and trade has all but stopped as several orc camps have sprung up near the center of the map. Since the map spawned with one big circular road that connects all the cities, that means that these particular orc camps can threaten every caravan, and every town, at the same time. It’s pretty intimidating, because by the time I noticed them the central camp had grown to the point where it is rated as Invincible. I haven’t tried attacking them yet, since I lost all but two of my battle brothers in a raid against a Dangerous orc camp. The idea of fighting an Invincible camp right now is pretty daunting.

What I noticed, however, is that several of the camps have different banners. To me, this would indicate different orc clans or something. I haven’t seen any orc parties fighting one another, but seeing those different banners did make me wonder if they ever do. In the same vein, I can’t help but wonder if orc parties will fight bandits, or undead. I’m also curious if the castle patrols ever burn down camps themselves, or if your mercenary party is the only thing that controls the bandit population right now. I know that someone said something about other mercenary parties roaming the map in the future, and I presume that they would attack enemy camps, but I think it would be interesting to see some more conflict between the factions. That is, of course, assuming that it isn’t already happening and I just haven’t noticed.

On an unrelated note: the tooltip for the Fainthearted trait says that the character sometimes needs a “pad” on the back. It should probably say that they need a “pat” on the back.

[PsenBattle]

Hey, here are some quick notes:
Enemies fight one another (orcs vs undead etc) but they dont yet fight within their faction (orcs vs orcs). Each spawnpoint has its own banner and all parties spawned there have the same banner.

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