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## Mount and Blade: Should Medieval RPGs look like this?

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Judging__Eagle
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### Mount and Blade: Should Medieval RPGs look like this?

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Post by Judging__Eagle » Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:49 pm

Because honestly.... I think they really should.
I'm currently using a version I borrowed from a friend, and found out about in on Friday from two of the students that I'm taking 3D animation with who are working on concept artist/3D modeling/Animation for the Heartbreaker portfolio with me.
and.... seriously, fiery and icey hells, is this game is mind-trippingly good.
It started as a shareware project in 2005 or so; and was released just recently (july or so 2010); and it's got the stuff to utterly complete the criteria needed for what I feel a medieval-themed RPG should have:
-Giant Sandbox
-Real Physics for combat
-You know, actual mounted combat that reflects at the very least, a Hollywood movie
-The ability to hire 'other' heroes like the main character
-The ability to hire, train, and lead mercenaries or villagers
-Sieges and Battles
-A 'direction' based combat system (mouse movement determines whether an attack comes from one of three angles; top, left or right)
-A direction based blocking system (as above)
-Unit variations in the high 50's, possibly more
-6 distinct factions, each with their own distinct looking units
-Each and every model has it's own distinct blocking volume; this is frankly one of the more important aspects of the game; since it means that you can't go running wily-nilly through your own, or enemy soldiers; and that a siege battle along the ramparts, or up a ladder is much more dangerous and feels a lot more forced, claustrophobic and otherwise chaotic.
-Open to Modification: there are.... lots, and lots, and lots of mods for this. I'm still playing a vanilla version, and I'm learning how it works before I go all mod-happy; but the content in some of the Mods is very impressive. The fact that it's a program that is both very high quality, and mod friendly means that I can potentially create a prototype for the "Heartbreaker" project in an electronic format a lot sooner than I thought possible.
That's just off of the top of my head. I know that the 'current' version (1.127 Mount and Blade: Warband) is possibly available on The Pirate Bay, much like many other files, such as Frank's Shadowrun Bit Torrent, or ancient comic books, or interesting books, but you'll have to look for yourselves.
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Surgo
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Post by Surgo » Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:26 pm

Release details are more than a bit wrong.
It wasn't just released in July 2010. The first game was released retail in late 2008. The second game was released in March of this year.
These are commercial games made solely by a husband-and-wife team. So don't go pirating this shit. And sure as hell don't go recommending it.
Anyway, I tried the demo on Steam when the game was on sale and just couldn't get into it. I found the combat too clunky and unintuitive and, as that makes up most of the game, I decided to stop there.
Last edited by Surgo on Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mean_liar
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Post by mean_liar » Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:22 pm

Game is fun for what it is, but repetitious. Once that repetition begins to grate, there's nothing left.
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Juton
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Post by Juton » Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:55 pm

The real fun is in the Mods. Some Mods let you turn up the number of people in a battle to several hundreds, here formations and tactics matter. It's feels different then other first person games with tactical elements because you can't give your units precise instructions, it's basically follow me or stay put.
Right now the game is basically a fun first person romp, but hopefully in a few months the tactical and strategic elements (like empire building) will be refined and it will be a more complete experience.
I do agree this is what Medieval RPGs should look like, it seems reasonably authentic but they have edited out all the grungiest parts of medieval life. There are a few fantasy mods that add magic, it will be interesting to see how they incorporate mages into medieval warfare in a way that evolves towards balanced.
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Zinegata
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Post by Zinegata » Tue Aug 10, 2010 11:43 pm

I love Mount & Blade. I've never had the thrill of using a lance until I've played this game.
There was a more recent released called "Warbands" which adds a lot of political options. The original game was criticized as being very limited. Combat is fun and all, but all you can ever be is a Squire.
In the updated version, a new faction has been added and you can now lead your own Kingdom if you decide to revolt. This is in addition to being a wandering mercenary option available in the first game.
Personally, I think the game would make a fine engine for a Dark Fantasy type game (i.e. Song of Fire & Ice, Darklands) where magic is very rare. It won't really work in a setting with more magic. In that case the game would look like Oblivion.
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Awkward Map
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Post by Awkward Map » Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:36 am

I had a great time with Mount & Blade about a year ago. The mounted combat and castle siege/defense was what really sold me.
Mounted combat feels really satisfying. The player can ride through a group of the enemy and drop a flurry of slashes wounding and killing masses. Plus nothing lives up to chasing after an enemy to have them make a critical error and turn at too loose an angle and follow that up with a killing blow to their skull. The combat engine is enjoyable.
Castle sieges are handled by either placing a ladder or moving up a siege tower and then raiding their fortress. If raiding, breaking through the front lines to allow men to surge forward and crush the opposition is exhilarating. Defense is less amazing, simply because it's pretty straightforward to order troops to clog up the ladder or siege tower and hack the enemy down.
There are some problems with initiating combat with large groups of lords - namely that they can be fought using guerrilla tactics. Essentially kiting a few lords at a time out of twenty or thirty is not even a problem, allowing the player to destroy large parts of the opposing army at once and then sweep in and siege their castles unopposed. I'm not sure it's intended to work like that, but it's a strategy that I used for taking down the remaining clans once I realized that worked.
The pacing can be annoying. There comes a time in the game where complete victory is all but assured, except some lords like to hide. And hide. Forever, it seems like without any willingness to engage. Which, hey, I can understand if it seems like they have an imminent loss headed their way, but I spent several hours just riding around the countryside to find and finish their armies off to say that I took all the land in the lord's name.
Also, Swadia is the super country. They have Knights, which are a beefy mounted unit that can cut down sometimes 10 or more opposing enemies apiece with their high armor and maneuverability. My army was composed of something like a hundred plus knights for the last half of the game.

> Zinegata wrote:I've never had the thrill of using a lance until I've played this game.

It's amazing, right? Couched lance damage!
Last edited by Awkward Map on Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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For Valor
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Post by For Valor » Wed Aug 11, 2010 4:05 am

What is Mount & Blade?

> Mask wrote:And for the love of all that is good and unholy, just get a fucking hippogrif mount and pretend its a flying worg.

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Zinegata
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Post by Zinegata » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:21 am

> For Valor wrote:What is Mount & Blade?

It's a computer game. Third-person RPG where you play in a medieval world without magic and where fighting from a horse confers a huge advantage.
Think of it as a D&D world where the only adventuring class is a Fighter, the Monster Manual consists of two entries (Humans and Horses), and everyone pimps out Leadership and Mounted Combat in all its forms (including lance and horse archery).
And it all somehow works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_%26_Blade
And it's a Paradox-published Game.
Last edited by Zinegata on Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Judging__Eagle
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Post by Judging__Eagle » Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:58 pm

My personal likes about it are the fact that it's a giant sandbox type of game.
Think of the game like as if it was one of the Fallout series. Except with a lot less quests; you can gain personal status based on past performance (having people say "...others say your name in fear. That is good." is frankly pretty awesome).
And lances, when you finally get them to work, they're phenomenally fun.
The Gaming Den; where Mathematics are rigorously applied to Mythology.
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Ganbare Gincun
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Post by Ganbare Gincun » Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:36 am

> Judging__Eagle wrote:My personal likes about it are the fact that it's a giant sandbox type of game.
> Think of the game like as if it was one of the Fallout series. Except with a lot less quests; you can gain personal status based on past performance (having people say "...others say your name in fear. That is good." is frankly pretty awesome).

So more Fallout, less GTA: Camelot then, eh?
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