Mount and Blade (very nice mounted combat, indy dev)

[WayAbvPar]

Sweet! That must have just come out today; I ran the 'check for latest version' utility yesterday and got nothing. Can't wait to see it.

[Zetleft]

Time to dust off my Black Plate and get to business. 

[Soln]

Ok. tried it last night.  Got spanked, x2 (took first entrance quest of getting river pirates).  What's the way to start?  I didn't find a "kill ten rats" or anything.  Plz God no grindy.

[Pococurante]

It's more of a skills-based game - your minions advance automatically not in levels but in class, e.g. peasants can eventually become knights.  You build up a pool of points you apportion depending whether you want to be a duke or a bandit leader.  I use those terms loosely - "dukes" focus on leadership skills/stats, bandit leaders on personal combat skills/stats.  I like that it is open ended.  All it really needs are persistence features (like housing, I should be able to carve my own duchy) and quest content which so far is fedex and foozle fumping.  For a proof of concept it is fairly complete and entertaining.

[Nija]

What I usually do is go through the training to get a 'free level'. Then I start betting the max ammt in the tournament. I do that until I can afford a good horse (around 2.7k) and a good blunt weapon. (up to 5k)

Then I CHA up to 6 and Prisoner stuff to rank 2, so I can capture 10 people and turn 'em in. Get inv management up to 2 as well - I usually do int to 9 or so early on so I can get 3 inv management. More loots + prisoners is pretty easy cash.

I usually end up being a horse bowman. I can't rely on my stupid minions at all.

edit: the tourney is pretty good fun for a 'grind'. It gives you a decent selection of weapons to use. Don't fret if you get stuck with the lance. To get 'crouched lance' bonus damage, DON'T click the attack button when charging into someone. If your your horse going fast, your lance will lower itself. You can move it around a tiny bit. Slam that into someone. Repeat.

 

[WayAbvPar]

Ok. tried it last night.  Got spanked, x2 (took first entrance quest of getting river pirates).  What's the way to start?  I didn't find a "kill ten rats" or anything.  Plz God no grindy.

Don't leave town for a couple of levels. Use the tournament for cash and skill advancement- I usually go to level 5 or 6, but you can probably do it at 3 just as easily. Grab a few peasants, find a small band of pirates, kill, loot, sell, and repeat. Eventually your troops will level and be more useful.

You can also run to the next town over from the starting town (I can't remember the name right off the top of my head) and pick up a hero early on- go in and talk to the Duke.

[Nija]

Bugfix patch is out -

http://www.taleworlds.com/download/mountandblade_0701_upgrade.exe

[WayAbvPar]

Has anyone who played the earlier version played with the patch yet? I have been busy the past couple of nights and haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet. I am curious how much content they added.

[Zetleft]

Hadn't noticed any extra content changes but I haven't left the starter town... apparently old character went bye bye 

There is a nice little arrow that appears warning you of attackers coming at you from the sides but you can turn that off. 

[Nija]

I've not got a chance to play much yet unfortunately. I did notice that they increased the ammount of gold in the world by around 90%. Most expensive weapons are around 800-1000g now.

Also you have gloves.

Apparently the big leaps were in the mod-ability of the game, so hopefully we'll see some good mods for it soon.

[Sairon]

This game is so freaking nice, extremly addictive. Best thing I've played in years. Sure it needs some work to become a true master piece, but if it just stays on course it's going to become a classic.

[Nazrat]

Ok, I officially hate you all.  I may have slept 6 hours this weekend because of this game. 

Wow, I am hooked.

Now, I am sitting at work and jonesing for my mace and shield so I can get my level high enough to upgrade my caravan guards.

What city has the free hero? 

[WayAbvPar]

I think it is Rivacheg. It is the closest city to the starting point, whichever one that is. There is also a crappy hero in the tavern in the starting city who will join you for some padded armor.

Some changes I have noticed in the new version-

Starting spots in all town 'shops' are right next to the vendor, elminating the need to walk over and talk to them. +

Money has gone through severe deflation- instead of wagering 200 gold on the tournaments, I can only wager 30. Loot is also worth much less. This makes it much harder to gather a large army early on, since you can't afford to pay them. +/-

New desert and snow areas on the world map +

Unit upgrades are restricted by the level of the main character. +/-

Overall, some decent changes. The money change and the unit upgrade change have the effect of lengthening the time it takes to build an uber army with phat lewts equipped, which is probably good for the game in the long run. Looking forward to seeing some more RPG elements later down the road.

[Evangolis]

Just got back into town, so I haven't played yet, but here is how I had the best success starting.

First, took the Trader background, and did the basic hand to hand training, which got me a level and some practice.  Second, did some arena fights.  I'm not a great arena fighter, so I don't make much on the bets, I mainly played until I leveled again, or quit having fun, whichever came second.

Third, I took my starting goods, and my starting horse, and hit the merchant, selling anything he was buying high.  Then I rode to the nearest town, and did the same.  Pretty soon I was sold out, and I then bought the local trade good, and took it to the recommended sell city.  I kept my quantity low, so that I could outrun everything.  I recruited no men, and took no mission, but I bought spare horses to offset wieght penalties.  Once I could afford it, I recruited the heros.  I put skill points into my perception skill (some scouting thing), my pathfinding (+Riding speed) and my inventory skill.  I upped Int for extra skill points, and charisma for extra follower slots.  All this meant that I could keep my overland speed up and run trade routes for money to equip myself.

Once I was decently armored, had two coursers, and had a double-ended spear (Best lance I have found), I recruited some men in a town, and took the River Bandit quest, then bought something I could sell at a profit near Zendar.  Then I did local trade and hunted River Bandits, telling my followers to hold position while I went out and did lance charges on the River Bandits.  If I got into low hits, I brought in the troops.  This let me build up a core of troops, and then I went ahead with other quests, etc.

[Soln]

I tried a preacher and was fine until I went to talk to the merchant -- kept CDT'ing me.  I had just run the patch that night too.  No one else have this issue?

[Rasix]

I had that problem until I went to a merchant outside of the starting town and talked to them and did a mission for them.  Then my interactions with the Zendar merchant no longer caused freeze ups or crashes.

[Mr_PeaCH]

More love for M&B.  Damn addictive combat.  I actually liked that it took some considerable practice to get to the point where I could trounce my opponents in the tournaments; and even then I expect to lose 1 in 3 or 4 due to the randomness of your starting weapon and teammates.  And how out in the real world it doesn't seem to matter how 'skilled' you are (in terms of character development or your hand-eye coordination), if you get swarmed by two or three lowly bandits you're eating dirt.  Loving the mounted archery the most.  My new favorite phrase is "Head Shot!"   :-D  Have just hit lvl 6 so it's time to pay up; and gladly.

If I could change one thing however, it would be that when you enter a battle already in progress, that you actually entered a battle in progress rather than have your allies line up with you and square off against the enemy from scratch again.  (And after that would be that when my horse gets knocked from under me in a tourney that I can switch to a sword instead of wielding a lance from foot... on the other hand, jumping up into a stray tourney horse is very cool.)

[WayAbvPar]

Headshots are quite satisfying, but there is still nothing better than 125 points of couched lance damage to the face. That is more fun than should be allowed.

[Evangolis]

There is a .702 executable out as well, not a patch, just a straight replacement of the game .exe.

So, why is the combat in this game fun?  I think part of it is the high movement attack style, and the need to be constantly aware of the tactical situation, particularly when it comes to not getting mobbed.  The maps also are sufficently varied that thing stay fresh, and you have to modify your tactics, but not out of all recognition.

[Sobelius]

I've also gotten hooked on this little gem.

Never played before, so I don't know what earlier version were like aside from what I've read here. But I did notice on the Options screen that you can change the quality of the AI and change how much damage is dealt. The default values were set at poor AI and 1/2 normal damage. That made sense given how easily I raced through the training fights.

Then I set the AI to good and damage to normal. Different, story. Now some of the champions in the training halls could one-shot me and would not let me back them up against the walls.

Finally set the AI to Average and damage to Normal. This feels right now -- a challenge, but not feeling like I can never win.

Just about to hit level 3 and have a couple of Watchmen and a Farmer in my employ -- money is the tightest thing. I must be suffering from some kind of trade penalty due to low charisma -- I buy and try to sell the goods that should net some profit but I've yet to be paid more for a good I bought in another town, even if I follow the merchant's advice.

Agree with earlier comment -- the eye-candy doesn't matter as much because the underlying combat system is not predictable but not random either -- it really does have it's own learning curve and each weapon requires some learning -- as does the horse riding, which is so realistic it's fun even when it's frustrating. And I LOVE mounted crossbow and archery -- tough but fun.

[Nazrat]

.703 was released on Friday.  It is much better stability wise as the .702 gave me the blue screen of death on exiting the program 8 out of 10 times.

Unfortunately, previous saved games are not compatible with the new version.

So, I am now trying to play a defrocked priest who walks softly, carries a big stick, and employs a couple of dozen troops.    I just started it this morning before work so I will let you know it goes.

This game is actually causing me to play it while watching my beloved Astros on TV.  It is almost unheard of for me to not focus on a playoff baseball game to the exclusion of all other life forms.  However, this is just something very satisfying about leaning out of your saddle and planting a broadsword between the eyes with a satisfying "thunk".   

[WayAbvPar]

.703 was released on Friday.  It is much better stability wise as the .702 gave me the blue screen of death on exiting the program 8 out of 10 times.

Unfortunately, previous saved games are not compatible with the new version

Is that all there is to the new patch? I haven't installed it yet, and I would rather not start over again just yet. I am up to like 18th level or something with my latest incarnation, and the party is starting to get tough. Still can't promote anyone to knighthood yet, but I am guessing that right around the corner. I love me some archers and crossbowmen...I usually run out front on a speedy, maneuverable horse to get everyone's attention, then drag them back and forth in front of my archers. Good stuff!

I played for like 10 hours on Saturday. That is terrifying.

[Nazrat]

Here is the announcement: 

Hi folks!

A new version of Mount&Blade is ready. This version has a few fixes and changes but its most important apect will be that I'll release the module system for it in a few days. 

Here's the changelog for the new version:



Melee hits to a horse consume %40-60 of the damage now permitting some of the damage to be carried to the rider.

Reduced probability of horse becoming lame from 30% to 20%

You can switch to shield without carrying melee weapons now.

Increased damage penatly for using a two-handed weapon with one hand to 25%.

Troops properly equip gloves now.

Some minor bugfixes.


Unfortunately earlier savegames will NOT be compatible with the new version.

Anyway here's the upgrade patch for the new version (26MB):
http://www.taleworlds.com/download/mountandblade_0703_upgrade.exe

And, the installer is here (36MB):
http://www.taleworlds.com/download/mountandblade_0703_setup.exe

There are not a lot of huge changes.  There is a new bug added with regard to couched lance damage but there are hints that .704 will be released soon to address that issue.  I haven't had much time to test the new version so the blue screen of death is the most significant change to me.  YMMV.  :)

[Mr_PeaCH]

The one concern to watch out for with .703 seems to be that the Zendar merchant will lock up when you talk to them IF you haven't already done a save.  So word to the wise is to, upon character creation, imediately ESC out, save game, re-load game, play on.

On a related note, my frustration with the .703 'patch' was that previous characters were incompatible.  But really, just a chance to make some different choices when starting over.  I don't forsee a time in the immediate future when routing river pirates with my band of merry men won't be fun.

[Hoax]

I think I've been moving too far too early.  I mean I've traveled up to the four ways inn and over to the keep to the east and through the snow areas to the west at lvl6.  I've fought and lost to black knight raiders and the purple name troublesom raiders and taken part in battles between war parties from the two main factions. 

Money comes and money goes, I think I'm going to patch then create a character with a leadership/personal fighting and prisoner taking skills.  Farming humans after I knock them out and take their stuff has always been my M.O. in good games.

[Evangolis]

The downside with going the slave trader route is that prisoners slow you down.  I prefer to collect horses and up my inventroy size to carry goods.  Marnid in Zendar has Trade 3, so riding with him should provide better trades, and Borcha can increase your speed and tracking.  Plus niether one slows you down much, by themselves.

.702 is pretty stable for me, think I'll wait to upgrade to whatever is current until the new mod tools come out.

[Yegolev]

New version .730 is out here.

[WayAbvPar]

Wow- did they crank up the polys or something? That looks pretty damned good. I really need to go back and play some more...game is damned fun.

[MrHat]

It needs just a slight more nudging in some direction for me to find it more fun.

[Strazos]

I sometimes found the combat to be a bit off....but as far as "twitch" combat goes, they were lightyears ahead of DDOs supposed version of the same concept.

[HaemishM]

I sometimes found the combat to be a bit off....but as far as "twitch" combat goes, they were lightyears ahead of DDOs supposed version of the same concept.

Yeah.

/sadf

[Yegolev]

For those who aren't sure what was upgraded, I only just started it up but the first thing you would notice is, yes, improved graphics I think.  Shadows.  I don't really remember them from previous plays.  Second, other towns are more than just a menu: you walk around, or ride your horse, and talk to people.  Needs work, since I was headshotting everyone in town without being attacked, but that's in-line with this game's beta status anyway.  Maybe I will read the forums to see if there is a change-log.

[WayAbvPar]

  Needs work, since I was headshotting everyone in town without being attacked, but that's in-line with this game's beta status anyway.

LMAO! That is exactly what I would have been doing too...heh. Not a bug- it's a feature!

[Mr_PeaCH]

Come inside, have a look at my prices!  What?  No, comedy is not pretty.

(sigh... 101 pics of Steve with the bunny ears and the only decent pic of the arrow-through-the-head was on angelfire.   :-( )

Don't *I* feel like The Jerk.

[WayAbvPar]

Come inside, have a look at my prices!  What?  No, comedy is not pretty.

Getting pwned by angelfire is comedic  :-D