3/12:08: Ok, I had made enough progress as of a month or two ago that it wouldn't take long to finish off what I have done and release it. It won't feature several of the larger changes, so it's largely a tweak mod rather than a complete overhaul. Because of this, I'm changed the name back to 'Enhanced', but will keep the thread locked as there has already been enough discussion, and I'm not going to add new ideas.
Changes to plans:
- Political system will be improved on native, but won't be as extensive as my original plans. Basically, your actions will have more of an influence on your reputation and relationships may be harder to maintain. This is more of a tweaking of native code than adding a whole lot of new code.
- Map may go back to Calradia rather than the new map I've made.
- May go back to the native lord system where there are multiple armies per faction, but since there will be less lords per faction, battle will still be far more decisive than in native.
- May or may not be a player faction. I'll probably allow progression and the player to start as a mercenary, knight, lord etc, but there are a few problems that I'd need to sort out with the player faction.
- Minimal work on the AI.
- Keeping the native scenes, although I may replace the native castle halls with my one.
Apart from some bugs and adding in some political influences, nearly all of what would be included in this 'light' version has already been done, so I won't have to spend much time on it and release is quite likely.
24/11/08: The mod is on hold until I find M&B sparks my interest again. I can't say when or if this will happen.
A number of sections have been updated over the last week.
This is a new thread since the old one is quite cluttered and there's no use bumping it. For anyone who isn't aware of the mod (I'm sure most aren't), it's a mod that largely increases the realism aspect of the game, creates a more challenging environment and seeks to deepen the gameplay with additional features. Two things this mod is not is 1) a content mod, and 2) a stats-based RPG. There will not be a huge variety of weapons or troop types as these kind of things become standardised quite quickly, and there will be significantly less leveling etc. I'll go into these later.
If you post anything that is covered in this post I won't bother responding. I intentionally regularly update this first post to keep people informed if they're interested in the mod, so I'd like people to return the favour by taking the time to read it rather than just post questions that have been covered many, many times.
Release DateWhen it's ready. Best estimate? Anytime in 2008.
No suggestions pleaseI already have enough of my own ideas to work on, so I won't be including people's suggestions. Most suggestions will have already been brought up earlier in the thread anyway.
What to expect (summary):- More realistic and tougher combat.
- Greater financial challenge.
- More emphasis on management.
- Increased political options and much more importance of relationships.
- Improved world map AI and behaviour.
- More consistency in equipment and troop types. I should point out that like native, this mod is based around the year 1257.
- Slower progression.
Those listsed below as "
re-thought" are things where I've changed my mind and will redo. Although a lot of it is red (low progress) and 're-thought', I've simplified it and it will take less time than before, even though I'm now less of my way through it.
World map, settlements, basic politics and AI UndecidedThere will be 20 or so factions, each with a single lord, a single army and a single main settlement (plus a couple of castles). Villages will be removed from the map, and most lords will become more like companions, rather than operating independently. This is all an effort to improve interaction and behaviour on the world map. A single army will mean the faction's forces are concentrated which will lead to more decisive campaigning and battles, and allows for better AI coding for defense of lands, supporting allies etc. This will all lead to more intelligent and appropriat AI behaviour, as well as a greater sense of each battle being more significant.
Political
- 20-30 factions.
- Only faction leaders have armies, the other lords travel with that army and are more like companions.
- The factions actively engage in politics to form alliances etc, so it's far more like loose groups of lords rather than native's nation-type factions.
- Player starts as a faction leader. Another possibility is to allow the player to be the only indepedent party. To allow this, the player could only ever control a small party and simply act as support of the army rather than take on armies ourselves, at least until we are the leader of that faction. Perhaps we start off as the son to allow us to progress and at some stage inherit the faction.
- Removal of villages as I don't think there's a need to represent them. This doesn't mean removal of management options, since those can be applied to towns etc once we inherit the faction.
Military
- One large army rather than many small parties lead by lords.
- Reintroduction of the old parties such as patrols, scouts, messengers etc.
- Lords would
no longer have their own parties will likely have small parties, but would travel with the main party (to represent an army).
AI
- Main army stays within the main settlement and only leaves an enemy invades, attacking an enemy settlement or supporting an ally.
- AI will be more decisive and intelligent when invading. It will chose targets that it can defend if necessary (i.e. target will most likely border the home land).
- AI will actively defend its lands by reacting to the invasion of enemy forces.
Politics
- Easier to code and more effective results. If an ally is to send support, he'll send his army rather than a few lords show up at different times.
AI playing by the same rules as the playerIn this mod the AI will play by exactly the same rules, with the same expenses, the same forms of income, the same method of recruitment, relations with other lords, paying ransoms etc. In native, lords don't pay for their own garrisons, they don't pay their own ransoms, they don't lose their gear, they can sit in any friendly town and recruit, they usually escape after battle and they receive huge income bonuses. This is pretty unfair compared to what the player has to put up with, and it's nothing something that will happen here.
Advisors/InformationStartedFirst of all there will be a report that can be accessed in the 'report' option on the world map menu. This will give a summary for political, financial and military matters. The political summary includes your relationships with other lords broken down into various categories (ranging from rival to allied), your power, the power of you and your allies, and the power of your rivals. Power includes strength of holdings, wealth and military. The financial summary lists your income, your expenses and your relative wealth. The military report lists your forces in quantity and type, the expense, your available manpower and the military strength of your allies and enemies.
You will also have several advisors that will give hints and information. These include managing your lands, political dealings and military matters. The amount of advise they will offer is quite substancial, as a large amount of gameplay mechanics have been changed or added and it might be confusing without any explanations.
Player/Troop changesMostly done and mainly just NPC equipment remaining.The focus will be on representing combat more realistically, largely by removing the stats-based RPG system. Stats among troops and the player will be higher and more inline with each other, and will remain relatively static throughout the game. There are three classes of troop: militia, semi-professionals and professionals. Instead of having a huge difference in all stats like in Native, the real difference between the two classes of troop is in weapon skill and equipment. Furthermore, the player at best is little better than a professional-level soldier. The stats of
all troops are significantly higher that most in native, in order for them to use their shields and weapons more effectively (i.e. faster combat). Horses will be more vulnerable, and considering their cost it would be wise not to use them recklessly.
Troops will be more generic than in native, but there will still be a large number of troop types overall. Troops fall into the basic categories of cavalry, men-at-arms, infantry and missile troops. When recruiting from your subjects you'll have access to only generic troops, being mounted men-at-arms, men-at-arms, infantry and crossbowmen. These troops will vary greatly in their equipment relflecting you hiring them as individuals. When you hire mercenaries you'll get more specific troops, like axemen, pavisse crossbowmen, longbowmen etc in addition to varying qualities, such as some axemen being better than others.
RecruitmentRe-thoughtYou will recruit men iin several ways. The first are mercenaries who can be recruited from your towns and are of varying quality and cost. The second method is to recruit from your subjects and these will be taken from a limited but slowly replenishing pool of troops. Mercenary companies will have specific troop types, while recruits will just be labelled 'infantry', 'crossbowmen', 'men-at-arms' etc to represent that they vary in equipment and quality, and are recruited as individuals rather than as groups.
In practise there is no party limit, we'll be limited by how many troops we can afford, and how many are available to recruit.
Combat/BattlesHalf-done, the other half re-thoughtCombat system being re-thought (I have some issues with the previous and publically released system).
Horse will also recieve some changes. They will become a little more vulnerable but have an increased charge. The abilties will vary more greatly and saddle and sumpter horses will become much less usable in combat, and the general speed of horses will be slightly lowered to reflect that they can't charge around at full-pace indefinately.
The combat UI will be removed to increase immersion, and the player will be warned of low health by heavy breathing or moaning.
Battle AI and the behaviour of the battles will be significantly improved upon. It always bothered me how the AI would stupidly charge into battle, no matter what the situation. This is no more, and the battle will make more intelligent decisions on whether to attack or defend. The pace of the battles will also change as when the enemy does attack, they will move slower across the map, slowly advancing in a thick line. The decisions and movement means that battles will almost always have an attacker and a defender, and a relatively long period of missile exchange before melee. You will usually have time to organise your forces whether you're attacking or defending. As an attacker, at times you're better off leaving the battle rather than trying to assault the enemy's position.
Battle morale may be included in the form of an adjusted version of Chel's battle morale script. The loss in cohesion would be slowed down, and the most important impact would be the morale hit after taking a cavalry charge (which is now stronger).
The lords and player can die as a result of being knocked-out in battle, so it will often be wise to surrender if it looks like we're going to lose. It's unlikely that we will die and I may allow the player to turn it off, but the risk is there.
World map influences of battlesNot only is combat tougher, but the penalties for losing in combat are much tougher. You will have to deal with paying a ransom, losing your equipment, losing your party, short-term, long-term or even permanent injuries, and political consequences.
Battle options are adjusted, such as being able to attack anyone you wish, and not being able to leave a battle if you have been knocked or are losing. You'll have to fight it out and hope that your troops are successful.
The number of deaths resulting from battle wounds will be lowered, but disease and sickness will play a role in attrition while campaigning, sieging and being besieged.
An enemy may not wish to fight, or may find itself losing and wish to retreat or seek for terms. Parties don't necessarily have to fight each other.
ProgressionRe-thoughtYou can either start as a lord or a lord's son. As a lord you'll have control of a faction immediately, while as a lord's son you'll have to work your way until you inherit the faction. This would include performing tasks, patrolling, following the army in campaigns etc.
FiefsRe-thoughtBig change in this section. You'll only have to worry about this if you start as a lord or when you inherit the land of your father (a lord). The most important part of managing your lands are keeping them prosperous. This will create wealth for yourself, keep your subjects happy also increase potential available military manpower. You can keep prosperity up by adjusting taxation and investment in infractructure. If prosperity is low, order may fall and you could find your lands revolting. Low prosperity could also cause problems with famine and disease. An unhappy, poor and sick populous will lower your potential military manpower, so keeping your lands prosperous is important for a number of reasons.
Scouts and patrols also patrol your lands, with patrols keeping the region free of bandits and scouts detecting foreign forces. They will also approach forces that are 'trespassing' in which case a lord may pay compensation, attack them or just ignore your authority. I'm also planning to set up an information network which will make information available to you such as the location of an army, of a lord, if a lord is coming to attack and possibly assassinations.
EquipmentMostly doneEquipment will be adjusted to be more consistent in era, price and effectiveness. Much of the era consistency has been taken care of, with a number of later armours taken out in native. The idea is that it will take some time to save up for great gear, and for your equipment to match your progress in the game. The consistency in price also means removing the different imod conditions of the items (i.e. sturdy, rusty, reinforced) as these alter prices quite unreasonably, to the point where you can equip yourself almost as well for half the cost.
All armours will be replaced by my own. The type of armours will be focused around leather and gambeson for light armours, and the hauberk for heavy armours. There will be more armours than in native, but at the same time they will be more similar to each other.
Misc World map changesMostly doneThere are various changes to world map options, such as attacking whoever you want, not being able to leave battle when knocked out, more nearby parties joining battle etc. No point listing them, as they're all just small changes.
FinancialWealth for lords and the player will be completely dynamic, with ransoms, looting, gifts and loans being transferred rather than being generated out of thin air. If you capture a lord, he will pay his ransom with his own gold. If you send a lord gold, he it will go in his pocket, if you capture his settlement, he will lose a lot of gold to you.
It will be tougher to amass money as war time activities will be quite expensive. If you lose a battle and are ransomed, it will be at a hetfy price. You will also be stipped of your equipment and lose your men or pay their ransoms. There will be many expenses, such as your personal retinue, gifts and fief expenses.
SeigesSieges will be a much more drawn-out process. Starving the enemy into submission will be much more favourable than in native, since an assault may come at too high a cost. You'll have to decide which is the most economic action, or whether to just walk away. You may also suffer problems such as logistical problems, disease and sickness when on campaign.
I'll be improving the siege scenes including adding multiple ladders and more protection for the siege tower, and the troops waiting for the siege tower. If Highlander pemits, I'd also like to use his working siege machines. They would be a costly construction, but would allow the besieger to significantly weaken the defences. If I'm not able to use those seige engines it will at least be represented in the menus.
The siege menu will be improved to show the strenth of each side, health, casualties, food supplies of both sides and your wealth (helpful to know if you're about to run out of money or food).
Map MovementNot startedMap movement will be adjusted so that marching at night is best avoided. Ideally I'd like parties to set up camp for the night (at the risk of bandit attacks), but I'd certainly like to implement a morale loss. If getting the AI to camp can be achieved, I will also implement penalties for parties that haven't had adequate rest. Under this system, parties that are attacked at night would also take a hit to morale, with the idea being to lower the battle morale. - unsure of this, since armies will move quite slowly anyway.
ReligionI will a reasonable amount of reference to religion, and it may take a reasonble role in politics, such as a piety rating which will influence relations with other lords and your lands.
PoliticsNot startedPolitics and diplomacy will become much, much more important. There will be more ways to interact with other leaders such as alliances, gifts, insults etc as well as the lords themselves having more of a personality, which will influence their actions. Since there are less lords to interact with (the other lords in your factions are more like companions, i.e. part of the main army), each of these relationships will be more personal and important. Rather than gaining some relation to be voted as a marshall, you'll be trying to improve relations to influence world politics, who attacks who, who allies with who, what lords think of each other etc. You won't be able to improve relations as easily as in native since it will require gifts, actions and personality (some people just won't like you - ever). You can improve relations in several ways such as gifts (money, item, daughter), alligning yourself with them etc. Your actions have a strong influence, such as who attacks you, who you attack, if you help someone out in battle, whether you release someone after battle (it's expected to be ransomed) etc. It will also go both ways, as good relations will see people come to
your aid, let
you go etc.
Your power will also influence relationships and diplomacy as some will dislike you for your power (or lack of it) or align themselves with you because of it. They may refrain from provoking you if you're powerful even if they dislike you, or they may attack you simply because you're weak. Relations and power will both be great influences on politics and diplomacy.
I may add in executions.
You can also insult any lord you wish. Sometimes there's a lord I just don't like, and I'd want to insult him for the hell of it. It could have a gameplay use as well since it would lower relations, and may provoke an attack. Not crucial, but it's the little things that matter
.
Sounds, Music and TexturesI'll be including many graphical upgrades with the mod, replacing the music and perhaps the sounds.
MapMostly doneAdjusting the terrain and location of the factions and their settlements, as well as making aesthetic improvements. Generally terrain will act as natural borders between factions, and settlements will be more heavily located along the expanded river system. Roads and agriculture textures have been added as well.
Old screenshots are longer working so I'll replace them.
ScenesIn progressAs I mentioned, castles and towns will be redone. Battlefields will be more consistent in their appearance and generally less hilly/rugged (more suitable for a battle).
A siege:
A tournament ground:
A lord's hall:
Dungeon:
Here's an example of an important town (only inside the walls is finished):
Example of armour:
Example of terrain:
Author
Topic: M&B: Enhanced (ex Realism), - light version (Read 125358 times)