Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog Q&A

The latest post on the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord dev blog is dedicated to an interview with Berat Ceren Üstündağ, the lead programmer of Bannerlord’s Campaign Team. And apart from giving us a chance to learn a thing or two about the duties of a lead programmer, the interview also tells us a bit about the changes to Mount & Blade’s recruitment system we can expect to see in Bannerlord. An excerpt:

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT BANNERLORD?

“I think I like the randomness of the world the most. There are factions, nobles and notables, relations between them, settlements with different specialities… All of these aspects change from game to game and we cannot know exactly where players will be and what they will face in that kind of unstructured gameplay. For example, our common quests are dynamically created by the current state of the world. This means that we don’t just spawn in characters or create the conditions for a quest, but rather that the game looks to see what is currently happening and offers a mission based on what is available.”

WHAT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT THING THAT YOU SOLVED SO FAR, DURING THE PRODUCTION OF BANNERLORD?

“I think the most difficult part is trying to keep every feature moddable. This is something that we have to constantly keep in mind while we are adding a new feature or maintaining an implemented part of the game.”

WHAT DO YOU CURRENTLY WORK ON?

“Currently I’m working on quests.”

WHAT FACTION DO YOU LIKE THE MOST IN BANNERLORD?

“I like all of them, but if I had to pick one it would be Battania. I enjoy the atmosphere of that faction’s towns and villages.”

HAVE ANY CHANGES BEEN MADE TO THE RECRUITMENT SYSTEM?

“There have been many changes to the recruitment system. First of all, players can recruit base troops only from notables of fiefs. Some notables even provide higher level troops, such as archers or infantry, rather than just recruits. Depending on the relations with that particular NPC, they can provide a reduction in the recruitment cost or offer more troops for the player to hire.

Some special troops, such as Vlandian Knights, represent minor nobility. These kinds of units have completely different troop trees. In the instance of Vlandian Knights, they can only be upgraded from Vlandian Squires, who in turn can only be recruited from NPC nobles. With this in mind, it is wise to maintain good relations with Vlandian nobles if your eventual aim is to have Vlandian Knights in your party.

However, that’s not to say that you are restricted from acquiring heavy cavalry if your relations with the Vlandian nobility is too poor. You will still have access to Vlandian Men-at- arms, who are almost as skilled as Knights but aren’t as heavily armoured.”