Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

[Metro]

You are getting too obsessive over what is simply a game.

I don't have to take that from a 2016 newfag.

I'm sure everyone is very impressed that you spent 8 years on a forum.

Jesus Christ, dude, chill out.

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

 

[Dakka]

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

You are the definition of cringe.

 

[Merlkir]

On one hand, most edgelords and cringeposters on the Codex tend to be recent members. (I think the general reputation draws them in)
On the other hand someone's join date is often way too easily used as a deflection when the oldfags get a bit pissy.

Use your words and don't be assholes, people.

 

[Iznaliu]

On one hand, most edgelords and cringeposters on the Codex tend to be recent members. (I think the general reputation draws them in)

I also feel this is as established members represent a sort of a status quo or a baseline.

 

[LESS T_T]

This week's devlog returns to weapon physics, specifically about how they deal damage: http://steamcommunity.com/games/261550/announcements/detail/2819679329371591672

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

In the previous blog in this series, we described how Bannerlord’s new weapon physics model derives swing and thrust speeds of weapons from their physical characteristics. We talked about how weapon crafting plays a role in determining these properties and how this gives players the freedom to create a weapon which will complement their own fighting style. In this week’s blog, we would like to expand on this topic and explain the rest of the weapon physics model, showing how we determine the damage that a weapon inflicts and how that works in the game.

Damage is a difficult concept to get right in a computer game. Making the damage model realistic could be desirable since this can help with immersion and depth, on the other hand, what happens in a real-life physical trauma is incredibly complex and trying to replicate that in a computer model could easily get needlessly complicated with little benefit to gameplay.

While working on the system we made great use of an excellent article[www.thearma.org] written by George Turner. The article was an eye opener about the intricacies and fine points of weapon dynamics. Of course, during implementation we had to make several simplifications and assumptions and if there are any unrealistic elements or errors in the end result, the fault lies with us and not the article.

Energy and Damage
In Bannerlord we tried to come up with a good model that is somewhat based on physics, but is still simple and understandable for players. In our model, damage depends on kinetic energy dissipated during the impact. However, energy is not converted to damage directly as we use several extra steps in our calculations.

Types of Damage
A weapon hit can have three different types of damage: cut, pierce or blunt. These three types have different trade-offs.

• A cutting weapon is most efficient in converting kinetic energy of the weapon into hit-point damage. However, it is also least effective against armour.
  
• Blunt weapons may require more hits for taking down an opponent, however, they make up for this by being least affected by armour.
  
• Piercing weapons sit somewhat between cutting and blunt weapons.

Apart from kinetic energy and damage type, weapons also have a damage factor that can increase their effectiveness. Better made, more expensive weapons will inflict more damage.

Speed Bonus
As our calculations are physically based, we no longer need to calculate an extra “speed bonus” like we do in the previous games in the series. We simply get the attacker’s and target’s velocities and feed these into our equations. This results in a realistic and accurate way where the attack damage is affected by speed.

Impact Point
For swings, damage depends on the location of the impact point on the weapon. When showing weapon statistics in the inventory, we simply show damage as if the attack connected at a point a few centimetres below the tip. During combat we take the impact point from the position of the weapon and the target, so it is not necessarily near the tip. So for example, an axe that advertises itself as having 80 damage can deliver much less if it hits the target near the grip.

Weapon Balance and Damage
Weight and balance of the weapon has significant effect on damage. As we discussed in the first part of the blog, weight and weight distribution basically determines how much kinetic energy accumulated in the weapon’s swing.

• Lighter weapons are faster and more agile.
  
• Heavier weapons can take more time to connect, but this gives more time to increase their energy making them more powerful.

Therefore, during the swing, the muscles work to speed up the weapon increasing its kinetic energy. When the impact happens, this energy can go into three places:

• Some of the energy will stay with the weapon since the weapon will not necessarily come to a complete stop.
  
• A significant portion of the energy will go into the impact with the victim. This is the part of the energy which does the useful stuff that a weapon is supposed to do (inflict damage!). As the attacker, you will generally want this to be as high as possible. Hitting the opponent at an optimal point may ensure that more of the energy goes to the impact rather than being retained by the weapon.
  
• Lastly, a portion of the energy will go to kicking-back the attacker’s hand(s). Not only does this do nothing to the opponent, but it also affects the attacker adversely. In the game, we model this with an “attacker stun”, which means that weapons with high kick-back will make you unable to attack again for a short while after your current attack connects or is blocked. An interesting note is that a pommel with the right weight will reduce kick-back, much like a making a gun heavier will reduce recoil, ensuring that energy goes to the bullet rather than the shooter’s hand.

Conclusion
Overall, for Bannerlord we strived to create a physics based combat system that will give realistic and immersive results without making use of hidden random variables. This allows players to craft different weapons with individual characteristics and strengths. Hopefully, as players become familiar with the system, they will keep creating new weapons and discovering new techniques and this will serve as a good base to make the game’s combat fun and interesting.


In next week’s blog we will talk with 3D Modeller, Ümit Singil. If you have a question you would like to ask him then please leave a reply in the comment section and we will pick one out for him to answer.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Taleworlds you Goddamn tease.

 

[Metro]

Teaseworld. I bet this doesn't get released in 2018, either.

 

[Old One]

I'm waiting for Erdogan to see it as a threat and order it suppressed so it never comes out.

 

[Metro]

Erdogan needs to arrest these developers and turn them over to the secret police torturers to get them to release the game.

 

[Toffeli]

I'm waiting for Erdogan to see it as a threat and order it suppressed it so it never comes out.

All of Taleworlds employees will be soon arrested as Gülenists.

 

[Iznaliu]

Teaseworld. I bet this doesn't get released in 2018, either.

The solution is as follows: When TaleWorlds posts anything about a release; ignore it. Think of the game like a fine wine that will be uncorked when it is suitable.

 

[Dakka]

Teaseworld. I bet this doesn't get released in 2018, either.

The solution is as follows: When TaleWorlds posts anything about a release; ignore it. Think of the game like a fine wine that will be uncorked when it is suitable.

But that would require patience.

 

[Metro]

You are getting too obsessive over what is simply a game.

I don't have to take that from a 2016 newfag.

I'm sure everyone is very impressed that you spent 8 years on a forum.

Jesus Christ, dude, chill out.

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

 

[Nutria]

All of Taleworlds employees will be soon arrested as Gülenists.

They also support the PKK, the deep state, the CIA, and the (((globalists))) who want interest rates to increase. Why else would so many infidel foreigners buy their games?

 

[Liquorice]

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

>being this new

 

[Dakka]

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

What a great argument. I am convinced.

So, what exactly do you plan on doing about Taleworld's stubborn refusal to release the game on your demand?

 

[ragnor]

New blog post is up and it is about a dear friend of mine. http://steamcommunity.com/games/261550/announcements/detail/1457340983216971711

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Every single thing that you see when you look around in a 3D video game is a unique, painstakingly-modelled object. We are not talking only about the flashiest, most important things, such as warriors, weapons or impressive architecture: in order to be realistic, a 3D world needs to take care of its smallest details. 3D modellers do exactly that: they work like sculptors, giving shape to their imagination to create and populate the worlds we will “live” in when we play. In this week’s blog we talk with 3D modeller Ümit Singil, who takes care of such things – but being one of the most veteran members of the TaleWorlds team, he has a history of doing a good number of different tasks for the Mount & Blade games.


NAME
Ümit Singil

FROM
İzmir, Turkey

JOINED TALEWORLDS
2008

EDUCATION
Animation

OFFICIAL JOB DESCRIPTION
Animator, 3D Modeller, Translator, Web Design, Morale Officer

WHAT DO YOU NORMALLY DO DURING YOUR DAY?
“I have been involved in a number projects and had many different responsibilities during my time at TaleWorlds, so my daily routine has varied quite a lot over the years. We were a small team in the beginning, so everyone pretty much had to do a bit of everything. I worked on animations for the first Mount & Blade and designed the previous TaleWorlds.com site. I helped out with the Turkish translation for all of the titles (up to and including Napoleonic Wars) and I checked the string tags for the French and Japanese versions to see if they were implemented correctly. I handled the support mail of TaleWorlds for some time and I was responsible for processing Mount & Blade: Warband Beta applicants (and made some great friends during that period!).

Currently, I am responsible for the architectural and prop modelling tasks for the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord campaign map. I get a great deal of satisfaction from being able to make my contribution to bringing Calradia to life!

When I am asked about the differences between Bannerlord and Warband, I say that Bannerlord is bigger, better, stronger and faster in every way. The rural areas look gorgeous, with vast grassy planes, lush forests and majestic mountains. Cities are full of life and have beautiful authentic architecture. And the combat... THE COMBAT! Charging downhill into enemy lines with a couple of hundred of your fellow cavalrymen is a uniquely invigorating experience.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BANNERLORD?
“I really enjoy the depth of the game world, where everything (be it riches or troubles) is plenty! I love how I can influence so many things and get an immediate reaction within the game.”

WHAT'S THE MOST DIFFICULT THING THAT YOU SOLVED SO FAR, DURING THE PRODUCTION OF BANNERLORD?
“We set out to create a game that was closer to the "ultimate game" in ours and our players' heads. We knew to achieve our goal we had to rewrite and improve the game engine greatly. The work on the engine and art asset creation have been going on simultaneously and that has meant that sometimes we need to go back and retouch the assets that we have previously created in order for them to work with the newly added features and functions. This particular challenge didn't need to be “solved”, but it was still a challenge nonetheless.”

WHAT DO YOU CURRENTLY WORK ON?
“I am currently working on the settlement models for the campaign map which represent villages, castles, towns, etc. I mostly use existing scene object models for reference to create the polygon friendly map models.”

WHAT FACTION DO YOU LIKE THE MOST IN BANNERLORD?
“The Empire. The Byzantine empire, which our empire takes its inspiration from, is a hugely underrated empire!”

WHAT IS THE POLY COUNT FOR WEAPONS?
“The models for both weapons and armour vary a lot, since they come with several pieces. Polygon count for an armour set is usually between 8000-12000 triangles.

In the case of weapons (which are created in multiple parts so that they are compatible with our new weapon crafting system) I will use a sword as an example:”

• Blade: 120-1302
  
• Guard: 320-1396
  
• Handle: 96-928
  
• Pommel: 144-1244

Can we add particle effects to models/weapons?
“Yes, you can! You will be able to add particles to pretty much every entity in the game. However, adding dynamic lighting to your fiery sword could be slightly taxing on system resources.”

 

[Liquorice]

Crafting

But..

 

[hivemind]

so what if the game is gonna get released in 2020

fucking virgins who don't have anything else going on in their life just shitting on masterpieces in the works because they take longer than their favourite ea annual rehashed shit and kikescammer 2 year productions that are borderline unplayable

 

[Metro]

Joined:
Oct 3, 2017

What a great argument. I am convinced.

So, what exactly do you plan on doing about Taleworld's stubborn refusal to release the game on your demand?

Seriously, is this a troll account or did you literally come here from Neogaf?

 

[Iznaliu]

Seriously, is this a troll account or did you literally come here from Neogaf?

This site features pretty prominently in search results for many older RPGs, so it's conceivable that that could be a point of entry; that's how I found this site.

 

[PirateScum]

fucking virgins who don't have anything else to play just shitting on masterpieces in the works (...)

FTFY

 

[Bohrain]

This week's devlog returns to weapon physics, specifically about how they deal damage: http://steamcommunity.com/games/261550/announcements/detail/2819679329371591672

Speed Bonus
As our calculations are physically based, we no longer need to calculate an extra “speed bonus” like we do in the previous games in the series. We simply get the attacker’s and target’s velocities and feed these into our equations. This results in a realistic and accurate way where the attack damage is affected by speed.

Physics based calculation on every unit on the map?
RIP my CPU.

 

[Sarkile]

Hopefully you will have upgraded your machine sometime between now and Bannerlord's 2037 release.

 

[Iznaliu]

Hopefully you will have upgraded your machine sometime between now and Bannerlord's 2037 release.

That would be a valid point, except that by that time, they would have added simulation of all the bacteria that caused the diseases that were so important in medieval warfare.