Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Mount & Blade’s deep and intuitive combat system is one of the core features of our games. Our directional attacking and blocking mechanic is intuitive in the sense that it is easy to pick-up, and deep in that it allows players to continuously develop and adapt their own fighting style through the use of feinting, chambering and good footwork (including a well-timed kick!).

In previous Mount & Blade games, there is, however, an element of randomness in combat. Damage is calculated using a number of variables and weapons are hardcoded to deal a randomly selected amount of damage from a predefined range (before other factors are added to the equation, such as the attacker’s weapon proficiency, the speed of the combatants and the armour value of the unlucky soul on the receiving end of an attack). We feel that, for the most part, this system works well, but, there is still that one part of the damage calculation that can’t be controlled or reliably predicted by the player.

In Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, we wanted to improve this aspect of combat to make it both fairer and easier for players to understand, especially in a multiplayer setting. We decided that the best way to go about this would be to make a physics-based system which would take into account the physical properties of a weapon and use a simulation to derive the combat stats, such as weapon speed and damage. We hope that this system will balance weapons in a more natural and realistic way.

Another advantage for the physical stat calculation is that it can be used in our new weapon crafting system. The physics-based system fits naturally with crafting because all we need to do is to acquire the physical properties of crafted weapons and then feed these into the stat calculation system. This will, in turn, provide us with the stats for the weapon.

When crafting a weapon, the player first selects a template. A sword, for instance, is made up of a blade, a guard, a grip and a pommel. Each of these parts may give the weapon certain bonuses or penalties outside of the physics simulation (a particularly large guard may increase the wielder’s hand armour, for example). Each part also has certain physical properties that are used for calculations. Once the player selects each part, we combine the physical properties of the parts to make up the overall properties of the weapon.

These properties are:

• Length: Determines the reach of a weapon.
  
• Mass: This is important for thrust attacks and is used to determine the speed and power of thrusts. Light weapons are faster, but have less energy and cause less damage. Making the weapon heavier will slow it down but also make it more powerful, up to a point. If too heavy and too slow, a weapon will make contact with your opponent before it could reach its full speed, making it feeble and ineffective.
  
• Weight Distribution and Inertia: This is important for swings. Unlike thrusts, swing speed is affected not only by weight but also by the distribution of weight around the pivot point of the swing. Increasing the weight may increase the damage (within certain boundaries), but, it will also increase the inertia, meaning that more energy would be required to achieve sufficient speed on impact. Thus, these weapons will typically be slower and increasing the weight will only positively affect damage up to a certain point.

After deriving these physical properties, we then use them to determine the weapon’s swing and thrust speed. Doing this with perfect precision would be rather difficult, since we would have to take into account all the motions a fencer goes through, all the muscles that are involved, their performance limits, etc. We simplify all of this with a basic model where we assume the fencer is made up of three simple motors. One motor representing the legs and hips, one for the chest and shoulder, and one for the arm and wrist. We then run a simulation where the motors work together to speed up the weapon until it hits the target. (Actually, we run two simulations, one for swing and one for thrust.) After these steps, we get the length, mass, swing and thrust speed of the crafted weapon. But, there is still the rather interesting problem of determining its damage...



Discuss this blog post HERE



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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Mount & Blade’s deep and intuitive combat system is one of the core features of our games. Our directional attacking and blocking mechanic is intuitive in the sense that it is easy to pick-up, and deep in that it allows players to continuously develop and adapt their own fighting style through the use of feinting, chambering and good footwork (including a well-timed kick!).

In previous Mount & Blade games, there is, however, an element of randomness in combat. Damage is calculated using a number of variables and weapons are hardcoded to deal a randomly selected amount of damage from a predefined range (before other factors are added to the equation, such as the attacker’s weapon proficiency, the speed of the combatants and the armour value of the unlucky soul on the receiving end of an attack). We feel that, for the most part, this system works well, but, there is still that one part of the damage calculation that can’t be controlled or reliably predicted by the player.

In Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, we wanted to improve this aspect of combat to make it both fairer and easier for players to understand, especially in a multiplayer setting. We decided that the best way to go about this would be to make a physics-based system which would take into account the physical properties of a weapon and use a simulation to derive the combat stats, such as weapon speed and damage. We hope that this system will balance weapons in a more natural and realistic way.

Another advantage for the physical stat calculation is that it can be used in our new weapon crafting system. The physics-based system fits naturally with crafting because all we need to do is to acquire the physical properties of crafted weapons and then feed these into the stat calculation system. This will, in turn, provide us with the stats for the weapon.

When crafting a weapon, the player first selects a template. A sword, for instance, is made up of a blade, a guard, a grip and a pommel. Each of these parts may give the weapon certain bonuses or penalties outside of the physics simulation (a particularly large guard may increase the wielder’s hand armour, for example). Each part also has certain physical properties that are used for calculations. Once the player selects each part, we combine the physical properties of the parts to make up the overall properties of the weapon.

These properties are:

• Length: Determines the reach of a weapon.
  
• Mass: This is important for thrust attacks and is used to determine the speed and power of thrusts. Light weapons are faster, but have less energy and cause less damage. Making the weapon heavier will slow it down but also make it more powerful, up to a point. If too heavy and too slow, a weapon will make contact with your opponent before it could reach its full speed, making it feeble and ineffective.
  
• Weight Distribution and Inertia: This is important for swings. Unlike thrusts, swing speed is affected not only by weight but also by the distribution of weight around the pivot point of the swing. Increasing the weight may increase the damage (within certain boundaries), but, it will also increase the inertia, meaning that more energy would be required to achieve sufficient speed on impact. Thus, these weapons will typically be slower and increasing the weight will only positively affect damage up to a certain point.

After deriving these physical properties, we then use them to determine the weapon’s swing and thrust speed. Doing this with perfect precision would be rather difficult, since we would have to take into account all the motions a fencer goes through, all the muscles that are involved, their performance limits, etc. We simplify all of this with a basic model where we assume the fencer is made up of three simple motors. One motor representing the legs and hips, one for the chest and shoulder, and one for the arm and wrist. We then run a simulation where the motors work together to speed up the weapon until it hits the target. (Actually, we run two simulations, one for swing and one for thrust.) After these steps, we get the length, mass, swing and thrust speed of the crafted weapon. But, there is still the rather interesting problem of determining its damage...



Discuss this blog post HERE



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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Technical Artists perform a unique and challenging role in game development. They are responsible for ensuring that art assets can be integrated into a game without sacrificing the artistic vision or exceeding the technical limitations of the platform. The role demands for them to be artistically talented and to possess a good technical understanding of the tools at their disposal.

In previous instalments of our Q&A blogs we introduced you to one of our 2D/3D Artists, Fatma Nadide Öçba, as well as the Lead Programmer of our Game Engine Team, Murat Türe. In today’s blog we talk with the person who acts as a link between these two individuals and the very different roles that they play in the development of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord - Technical Artist, Gökalp Doğan.


Gökalp Doğan

Ankara, Turkey

2010

Visual Communication and Design

Technical Artist

"My duty as a technical artist is to act as a bridge between the graphic artists and the programmers. I work alongside both teams to provide support in solving any issues they face during the development process.

During my time at TaleWorlds, I have worked on various parts of Bannerlord. My involvement includes motion capturing, rigging, animations, visual effects, lighting, the interface for the game editor, as well as designing the user experience. I try my best to help my teammates whenever they need assistance with any of these different aspects throughout the day."



"Bannerlord offers much more in terms of richer content, a stronger game engine and a higher visual quality than the previous game in the series, Mount & Blade: Warband."



"But what excites me the most are the editor and tools that we use to develop the game. When designing new tools we aim to provide up-to-date technologies while prioritising user experience. Doing this means that the game will be more user-friendly when it comes to modding."



"I am really looking forward to seeing the content that modders will create using these tools!"

"Before joining TaleWorlds, I used to work on CG animations. I experienced some difficulties in adapting my previous experiences into real-time rendering, especially in my first few days. In my previous job it took 60 minutes to render each frame; at TaleWorlds, we are creating 60 frames per second. I found this process to be quite challenging in the beginning. You need to consider performance while following the aesthetic of the work."



"I overcame this mostly through trial and error, and by closely cooperating with the engine team. I think that we have been largely successful in this and it was great to see the positive feedback on dynamic effects that we received from the videos we shared at E3."

"I am currently working on atmosphere and general lighting. Today, for example, I am working on a day-night cycle and toning settings. We also record new animations using the motion capture system every week."



"My favourite faction is Khuzait because they are inspired by Asian nations and culture."

"I won’t go into detail about script components for now as we are thinking about publishing a detailed guide about modding. However, I will share a simple example for now."



Discuss this blog post HERE



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Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

Technical Artists perform a unique and challenging role in game development. They are responsible for ensuring that art assets can be integrated into a game without sacrificing the artistic vision or exceeding the technical limitations of the platform. The role demands for them to be artistically talented and to possess a good technical understanding of the tools at their disposal.

In previous instalments of our Q&A blogs we introduced you to one of our 2D/3D Artists, Fatma Nadide Öçba, as well as the Lead Programmer of our Game Engine Team, Murat Türe. In today’s blog we talk with the person who acts as a link between these two individuals and the very different roles that they play in the development of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord - Technical Artist, Gökalp Doğan.


Gökalp Doğan

Ankara, Turkey

2010

Visual Communication and Design

Technical Artist

"My duty as a technical artist is to act as a bridge between the graphic artists and the programmers. I work alongside both teams to provide support in solving any issues they face during the development process.

During my time at TaleWorlds, I have worked on various parts of Bannerlord. My involvement includes motion capturing, rigging, animations, visual effects, lighting, the interface for the game editor, as well as designing the user experience. I try my best to help my teammates whenever they need assistance with any of these different aspects throughout the day."



"Bannerlord offers much more in terms of richer content, a stronger game engine and a higher visual quality than the previous game in the series, Mount & Blade: Warband."



"But what excites me the most are the editor and tools that we use to develop the game. When designing new tools we aim to provide up-to-date technologies while prioritising user experience. Doing this means that the game will be more user-friendly when it comes to modding."



"I am really looking forward to seeing the content that modders will create using these tools!"

"Before joining TaleWorlds, I used to work on CG animations. I experienced some difficulties in adapting my previous experiences into real-time rendering, especially in my first few days. In my previous job it took 60 minutes to render each frame; at TaleWorlds, we are creating 60 frames per second. I found this process to be quite challenging in the beginning. You need to consider performance while following the aesthetic of the work."



"I overcame this mostly through trial and error, and by closely cooperating with the engine team. I think that we have been largely successful in this and it was great to see the positive feedback on dynamic effects that we received from the videos we shared at E3."

"I am currently working on atmosphere and general lighting. Today, for example, I am working on a day-night cycle and toning settings. We also record new animations using the motion capture system every week."



"My favourite faction is Khuzait because they are inspired by Asian nations and culture."

"I won’t go into detail about script components for now as we are thinking about publishing a detailed guide about modding. However, I will share a simple example for now."



Discuss this blog post HERE



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Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
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Greetings warriors of Calradia!

The misty hills of north-western Calradia are dominated by the Battanian clans, the original inhabitants of much of the continent. Their hilltop fortresses have born witness to countless wars fought to resist outside invaders: first the Empire's legions, and more recently the rising Sturgian and Vlandian kingdoms. They are masters of the longbow, the night raid, the sudden wild charge out of the woods. They idolise valour, but especially like it when mixed with a bit of mischief - the cattle thief who can whisk an entire herd into the fog; the champion who dines with a rival tribe, and, regaling his hosts with an anecdote of battle, produces from his bag the skull of one of their kinsmen that he took as a souvenir.



As readers have probably guessed, the Battanians are inspired by the Celtic peoples of Western Europe - in particular, the Picts, Irish, and Welsh of the early medieval era. So we'd like to take this chance to discuss how history influences our design. Mount and Blade's Calradia is a low-fantasy setting that we think gains from cleaving fairly closely to history. Our physics-based combat system, for example, gives a well-balanced sword or a hard-hitting axe the characteristics that you'd expect by looking at it. A murderous-looking ascent up a cliffside to assault a fort should be murderous in the game, thanks to an engine that gives defenders the ability to rain down rocks and arrows on attacking forces.

Because of this design philosophy, we try not to introduce any social institutions that would be impossible to find in the technological and economic setting we describe. But we also don't mind borrowing a bit from other times and places outside our core setting, the 10th and 11th centuries. For example, the Dark Age Celts built some mysterious and majestic structures, like massive roundhouses and complex concentric fortresses, but did not build major cities. By then, they'd been pushed back to the margins of Europe, where big cities were hard to sustain. Back in Caesar's day, however, the Celts still lived closer to the economic heart of the continent and created impressive towns known as oppida on key trade routes. So you won't find an exact archaeological antecedent for our Battanian settlements, which mix later Celtic architecture with earlier Celtic town layout. But we think the result will be both visually impressive and credible, sort of an alternate version of how Celtic settlements could have evolved had history been slightly different.



Lots of our characters, too, are based on history - or legends, at least. For example, the Battanian king Caladog is partially inspired by Gruffydd ap Llywellyn, who dominated much of Wales in the 11th century. He was a very colourful figure, ruthless yet possessed of a wicked sense of humour. He is famous for quipping, when accused of having killed off all his competitors for the kingship, "I merely blunt the horns of Wales' sons lest they injure their mother." The charismatic silver-tongued rogue, who'd steal your cattle and then extemporise a poem about it: this was a bit of stereotype of Celts among the English at the time. It's actually a common view that inhabitants of peaceful but despotic kingdoms held of tribal peoples who had a strong oral tradition and enjoyed freedom but little security. Boastful, cunning, resourceful, but perhaps a tad too cussed and individualistic for their own good -- the Battanians aren't an efficient conquering machine like some of their neighbours, but no one makes war with more flair.

Bannerlord gives us some new features to bring out the uniqueness of its cultures, but we're especially excited about minor factions - mercenaries, nomads and outlaw leagues that have their own agendas that aren't part of the struggle for power. One of the Battanian minor factions is the Wolfskins - a society of young warriors who have left their clans to live a life of freedom (and violence) in the woods. So long as they live 'as wolves' - eating no cooked meat, sleeping under no roof, and wearing no woven cloth - they are exempt from the laws of men. The Wolfskins are inspired by the Fianna, a fighting brotherhood who were the stars of a major Irish saga. It treats them as heroes, but they also have a dark side, extorting money from clans who are interested in mundane things like marriage and crops and don't have time to fight all the time. Simon Young, a historian who wrote a brilliantly entertaining reconstruction of "darkest Britain," AD 500, suggests that the Fianna may in reality have given rise to legends of werewolves. The Code of the Wolf however is our own invention.



In next week’s blog we will be talking with Technical Artist, Gökalp Doğan. If you have a question you would like to ask him please leave a reply in the comments and we will pick one out for him to answer.

Discuss this blog post HERE



Facebook
Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Twitch

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

The misty hills of north-western Calradia are dominated by the Battanian clans, the original inhabitants of much of the continent. Their hilltop fortresses have born witness to countless wars fought to resist outside invaders: first the Empire's legions, and more recently the rising Sturgian and Vlandian kingdoms. They are masters of the longbow, the night raid, the sudden wild charge out of the woods. They idolise valour, but especially like it when mixed with a bit of mischief - the cattle thief who can whisk an entire herd into the fog; the champion who dines with a rival tribe, and, regaling his hosts with an anecdote of battle, produces from his bag the skull of one of their kinsmen that he took as a souvenir.



As readers have probably guessed, the Battanians are inspired by the Celtic peoples of Western Europe - in particular, the Picts, Irish, and Welsh of the early medieval era. So we'd like to take this chance to discuss how history influences our design. Mount and Blade's Calradia is a low-fantasy setting that we think gains from cleaving fairly closely to history. Our physics-based combat system, for example, gives a well-balanced sword or a hard-hitting axe the characteristics that you'd expect by looking at it. A murderous-looking ascent up a cliffside to assault a fort should be murderous in the game, thanks to an engine that gives defenders the ability to rain down rocks and arrows on attacking forces.

Because of this design philosophy, we try not to introduce any social institutions that would be impossible to find in the technological and economic setting we describe. But we also don't mind borrowing a bit from other times and places outside our core setting, the 10th and 11th centuries. For example, the Dark Age Celts built some mysterious and majestic structures, like massive roundhouses and complex concentric fortresses, but did not build major cities. By then, they'd been pushed back to the margins of Europe, where big cities were hard to sustain. Back in Caesar's day, however, the Celts still lived closer to the economic heart of the continent and created impressive towns known as oppida on key trade routes. So you won't find an exact archaeological antecedent for our Battanian settlements, which mix later Celtic architecture with earlier Celtic town layout. But we think the result will be both visually impressive and credible, sort of an alternate version of how Celtic settlements could have evolved had history been slightly different.



Lots of our characters, too, are based on history - or legends, at least. For example, the Battanian king Caladog is partially inspired by Gruffydd ap Llywellyn, who dominated much of Wales in the 11th century. He was a very colourful figure, ruthless yet possessed of a wicked sense of humour. He is famous for quipping, when accused of having killed off all his competitors for the kingship, "I merely blunt the horns of Wales' sons lest they injure their mother." The charismatic silver-tongued rogue, who'd steal your cattle and then extemporise a poem about it: this was a bit of stereotype of Celts among the English at the time. It's actually a common view that inhabitants of peaceful but despotic kingdoms held of tribal peoples who had a strong oral tradition and enjoyed freedom but little security. Boastful, cunning, resourceful, but perhaps a tad too cussed and individualistic for their own good -- the Battanians aren't an efficient conquering machine like some of their neighbours, but no one makes war with more flair.

Bannerlord gives us some new features to bring out the uniqueness of its cultures, but we're especially excited about minor factions - mercenaries, nomads and outlaw leagues that have their own agendas that aren't part of the struggle for power. One of the Battanian minor factions is the Wolfskins - a society of young warriors who have left their clans to live a life of freedom (and violence) in the woods. So long as they live 'as wolves' - eating no cooked meat, sleeping under no roof, and wearing no woven cloth - they are exempt from the laws of men. The Wolfskins are inspired by the Fianna, a fighting brotherhood who were the stars of a major Irish saga. It treats them as heroes, but they also have a dark side, extorting money from clans who are interested in mundane things like marriage and crops and don't have time to fight all the time. Simon Young, a historian who wrote a brilliantly entertaining reconstruction of "darkest Britain," AD 500, suggests that the Fianna may in reality have given rise to legends of werewolves. The Code of the Wolf however is our own invention.



In next week’s blog we will be talking with Technical Artist, Gökalp Doğan. If you have a question you would like to ask him please leave a reply in the comments and we will pick one out for him to answer.

Discuss this blog post HERE



Facebook
Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Twitch

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

A video game is made up of a number of key components which come together to create an interactive experience for the player. At the core lies the calculations and scripts which make the game operate and respond to the player’s input, but on the outer layer these operations need to be represented to the player in a way which makes sense and is easy to digest. This is where Graphic Artists step in, turning the cold plethora of numbers in to graphical representations of actions, characters and places to make the game visually come to life.

In this week’s blog we talk to Graphic Artist, Fatma Nadide Öçba. Nadide works on a number of different visual aspects of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, helping to relay information from the game to the player, in an immersive and appealing way.


Fatma Nadide Öçba

Kocaeli / Maşukiye, Turkey

2013

Electrical Electronics Engineering + MSc in Medical Imaging (KTH, Stockholm) + 3D Modelling (Future Games Academy, Stockholm)

2D/3D Graphic Artist

“My workflow consists of a number of steps to get an item from the design stage all the way through in to the game. I start by doing extensive research for references, with the vast majority of these being historical items, and they could be anything: books, pens, horse harnesses, torches, you name it… Then I prepare sketches or sometimes I photo bash, (this is a process where I gather photos which have the right colours, angles and references and then paint over them.) Following this I get approval from the game directors and turn these into 3D models for use in the game.”



“I am a big fan of the really nice level designs, as well as the new game features. Each time there is a new shader, the game looks more beautiful.

Also, when I saw the effects of the cloth physics for the first time I was so hyped! Seeing the clothes and armours move according to world physics was so satisfying.

I also love playing with the atmosphere settings, it makes the props look realistic, (I love testing my horse harnesses with the atmosphere, they look so shiny… so precioussssss.) Salute to the engine coders and technical artists!”



“Sometimes, the integration of assets into the game can cause some minor problems, but I think I had the most difficulty with skinning my horse armours. I didn’t have much experience with skinning at the time, so it was a somewhat challenging, but fun, learning experience.”

“I am tearing castles into pieces right now for siege. This isn’t exactly the most fun process, especially when trying to break down wooden towers, however I think player’s will really enjoy the end result when they are demolishing enemy towers!”

“Aserai. I love the Middle-eastern, fairy-tale feeling to the cities of this faction. Dreamy.”

“As I said before, we tend to stick to historical influences for our designs. But as an artist, of course, one would like to be creative, so I usually try to add small ideas and imprint my own personality onto the design. There are also cases that I have to be creative, especially when I can’t find reasonable or enough resources for a functioning model, and so I have to engineer it myself.”



Discuss this blog post HERE



Facebook
Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Twitch

Greetings warriors of Calradia!

A video game is made up of a number of key components which come together to create an interactive experience for the player. At the core lies the calculations and scripts which make the game operate and respond to the player’s input, but on the outer layer these operations need to be represented to the player in a way which makes sense and is easy to digest. This is where Graphic Artists step in, turning the cold plethora of numbers in to graphical representations of actions, characters and places to make the game visually come to life.

In this week’s blog we talk to Graphic Artist, Fatma Nadide Öçba. Nadide works on a number of different visual aspects of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, helping to relay information from the game to the player, in an immersive and appealing way.


Fatma Nadide Öçba

Kocaeli / Maşukiye, Turkey

2013

Electrical Electronics Engineering + MSc in Medical Imaging (KTH, Stockholm) + 3D Modelling (Future Games Academy, Stockholm)

2D/3D Graphic Artist

“My workflow consists of a number of steps to get an item from the design stage all the way through in to the game. I start by doing extensive research for references, with the vast majority of these being historical items, and they could be anything: books, pens, horse harnesses, torches, you name it… Then I prepare sketches or sometimes I photo bash, (this is a process where I gather photos which have the right colours, angles and references and then paint over them.) Following this I get approval from the game directors and turn these into 3D models for use in the game.”



“I am a big fan of the really nice level designs, as well as the new game features. Each time there is a new shader, the game looks more beautiful.

Also, when I saw the effects of the cloth physics for the first time I was so hyped! Seeing the clothes and armours move according to world physics was so satisfying.

I also love playing with the atmosphere settings, it makes the props look realistic, (I love testing my horse harnesses with the atmosphere, they look so shiny… so precioussssss.) Salute to the engine coders and technical artists!”



“Sometimes, the integration of assets into the game can cause some minor problems, but I think I had the most difficulty with skinning my horse armours. I didn’t have much experience with skinning at the time, so it was a somewhat challenging, but fun, learning experience.”

“I am tearing castles into pieces right now for siege. This isn’t exactly the most fun process, especially when trying to break down wooden towers, however I think player’s will really enjoy the end result when they are demolishing enemy towers!”

“Aserai. I love the Middle-eastern, fairy-tale feeling to the cities of this faction. Dreamy.”

“As I said before, we tend to stick to historical influences for our designs. But as an artist, of course, one would like to be creative, so I usually try to add small ideas and imprint my own personality onto the design. There are also cases that I have to be creative, especially when I can’t find reasonable or enough resources for a functioning model, and so I have to engineer it myself.”



Discuss this blog post HERE



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Twitter


Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Twitch