Forum:Improvements to Mount&Blade

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This article outlines suggestions for possible improvements to the Mount&Blade series. It is a collaboration of ideas added by several different people. Anyone may edit the list.

A crouch button, there's nothing worse than attempting to reload a crossbow or firearm and getting a generous arrow in the head. Cover should be more useful.
Better multiplayer bots, all they do is run at a door instead of open it, and they don't have the brains to lower a drawbridge or wheel up a siege engine.
More interaction, the hired assassin & belligerent drunk is great, but what if there are bandits that leap out of alleys. The more of these encounters the better.
A use for exploration; what's the use of walking around the street or going to a merchant's house when you do the same thing in a menu?
Better siege tactics beyond the ladder or siege tower. The AI often leads to your men flooding it and falling off. A choice of siege engines should be available, perhaps depending on the engineering skill of your party. Ladders would be level 1, battering ram level 2, towers level 3 and so on. This could even extend to catapults, onagers or trebuchets at more advanced levels.
Multiplayer in Single player, what about lowering a gate in a siege? Or maybe you could batter down a back door.
Stealth - Why must you always charge a castle head long? Why can't you use the cover of night to sneak past the guards (whose AI is programmed to detect and/or not detect you, depending on how stealthy you are), and then assassinate the commander, or maybe you can hire yourself out as a hired assassin and assassinate kings and vassals (or even merchants).
A way to make an alliance between kingdoms. It is really annoying when you have your own kingdom but you want to get some recruits from a nearby nation and their villages are getting looted by another faction. To stop them, you decide to help the villages by attacking the raiding parties. After a short period of time, the warring factions make peace and both declare war on you.
Dual Wielding- Wouldn't it be awesome if you could dual wield weapons? I mean, not only will you look awesome, but maybe it can give a speed bonus (perhaps losing the ability to use a shield).
Less politics- Let's face it, Mount&Blade is ALL about raising an army, becoming a lord, and conquering castles. What if you can choose to take a far less political path; such as an assassin, a farmer, a tavern keeper, a mercenary, a lord's lady, a constable of a castle, a thief, a castle guard, or any other character which could be fun to play as.
Better AI for spearmen so that they can actually create a wall of spears. Also something like the couch lance for horsemen but for troops on the ground to stop a horse with their spear. I find the only reason Swadian Knights can kill every unit in the game is because units such as Rhodok Sergeants don't even use their spears.
Either have the enemies looting villages be incapable of running away or let the player run and stop looting so that you are not committed to looting it - especially when 1500 enemies come marching in.
Climbing- Climbing up buildings and free running on roof tops like in 'Assassin's Creed'. This can be very useful in multiplayer, for example, you lightly armour your unit, go on top of a roof top and shoot a bow/crossbow from there. Or in a siege.
New explorable environments- You spend 90% of your time out in the open and 10% indoors of a castle. What about some mysterious backgrounds like abandoned salt mines or deserted bandit camps.
Tactical Mode; a mode where we exit the third/first person and enter a RTS bird's eye view of the battlefield. From there you could can give groups of soldiers orders as to where to position themselves etc., set waypoints for movement and easily coordinate large battles, like the Total War series.
Greater village/town/castle development - something that REALLY has an impact on how the game plays out. For example, maybe improving a castle's towers from simple platforms from which archers can shoot to ballista towers. This would make for a satisfying visual and a new strategic element.
The ability to found a settlement; instead of fighting over the finite number of settlements there are the player should be able to found a settlement, with a name, a basic layout and a pick of its geographic situation on the map (this would require TENS of thousands of denars and new units called "settlers").
Religion in Caladria could be a factor in deciding wars and alliances. There could be several, based on real-world religions (similar to the way the factions are based on real world cultures). In addition there could be chapels, abbeys and monasteries around the land. Pilgrimages could travel from cities to holy sites much as caravans do (attacking them will brand you as an infidel or heretic of that religion). Each religion would have a leader based in a temple or cathedral in a major city and could be a source of quests. Having the leader of a particular religion be favourable towards the player could lead to increased influence in kingdoms which share that religion. There could even be Holy Wars and Crusades given out by religious leaders undertaken to conquer other religious centers.
Other faction's armies should camp from time to time in the field as the player can - these could then be attacked and defended on a special "camp" battle map. This could be explored by the player like the towns - allowing you to chat with your troops and companions, or even undertake training like the training fields. There could even be an option in the camp menu to fortify the camp, which could then result in a "mini" siege of the site if attacked.
Ports and shipping routes. Coastal towns could have the additional option of visiting the port. Perhaps here you could recruit unusual or exotic units from other lands or other factions. You could have the option to buy passage on a ship to other coastal settlements, offering a much shorter journey time than overland routes. This also would open the possibility of owning ships and ship-based combat, if you are ambushed en-route, for example.
The game needs some additional animations for the feasts and tavern visits. Rather than the NPCs simply standing about they should move around, sitting at tables eating or drinking, and appearing to talk amongst themselves.
Kidnapping-Hey, who doesn't want to kidnap that pesky lord who never loses in battle in the dead of night? You can sneak into the castle or town where the lord is residing for the night, and try to nab him while he's sleeping. You could go into his room and grab him after you knock out two high-leveled troops (e.g., two Nord Huscarls guarding Lord or Jarl Haeda), and you could ransom him for a large amount of denars. This, however, will significantly drop your honor and right to rule, and if you fail, you could be captured. You will only have a pilgrim disguise and a quarter staff, but you could bring a companion of your choice and two soldiers from your party (or three soldiers, if you don't have a companion).
Speech-Although the occasional battle yell is nice, cursing, insults, the barking of orders, and daily talk at the tavern is good, too. On the battlefield, soldiers would be cursing and insulting the enemy, while the higher tier units would be barking orders at the lower tier units, and the player's character would say the orders given out, like ordering the infantry to charge or telling your companions to follow you. Regular talk would make the game more realistic, too. People complaining how high the prices are or drinking buddies reminiscing on their time in the military would be nice to eavesdrop in on.
The ability to explore the wilderness around your camp would be nice. You can see the lay of the land in case you are attacked while camping, and possibly stumble across travellers in your vicinity. They can spawn at random locations around the area you're exploring, and you can talk to them. But if you explore at night, there could be a small chance of you being ambushed by several bandits. This is why you should also have the possibility of bringing at least 4 other troops or companions with you. There should be a model of your camp from where you spawn with several of you troops standing around or patrolling the perimeter of the camp. Discarded or lost chests from passersby, travelling merchants randomly spawned on the map, and even other NPC camps would be nice, as well.
It would be nice if you could order your men to build rudimentary fortifications during a battle. Swadian knights would be less over powered if certain units could erect stakes or lay caltrops. As well as a unit called the engineer that could build things in battle and improve castles(you go into a birds eye view of the castle and can click and drag walls, towers, stakes etc. they would cost a lot of money and take a few weeks to build, you could unlock better fortifications based on engineering skill). Also having equipment such as stakes, caltrops, and shovels (to create rudimentary breastworks like in Napoleonic Wars) would be awesome.
It would improve the game a bit if you could execute a prisoner so they couldn't be freed by an enemy army closing in and just to eliminate important targets you just captured (lords, kings, claimants). If you have captured the heir to the thrown and king of Swadia you don't want to ransom them off you want them dead.
It would be really cool if you could alter things affecting honor. For example if you loot a village you lose honor and aren't liked by the village, in real life you could dress up as a lord of the faction that owns the town (along with fief) loot it then leave capture the castle where the lord actually is, come back to the town and say you defeated him. This would get you money, make the town love you, strengthen honor, and make the town A. hate their previous owner and B. make the faction you took it from hated, have all their lords loose honor, and have unhappy populous because you told the entire world that the king ordered his men to attack and loot their own town.
City-States-This would also be nice. There could be buffer states between the five (six) main warring factions, like the former Zendar. They could be major trading centers, a melting pot for mercenaries, and the areas around the city-states could be literal warzones. They could also offer safety when you have a bounty on your head. These states would be neutral in all conflicts in Calradia, like Switzerland, only using their military arm in defence against an invading army. Their armies would be influenced by the faction they are close to, but are still unique to that city-state. Refugees from looted villages could show up in taverns, where you could recruit them as recruits, or even turn them into settlers and found a different village (see; the ability to found your own settlement).
More to Calradia than the plains and rolling hills of Swadia, the coasts of the Nords, the tundra of the Vaegirs, the Rhodok highlands, the Khergit steppes, and the Sarranid deserts. What about the icy island lairs of the Sea Raiders (you could build and utilize ships to reach these parts), the hill tribes and their lands from which the Khergits came from over the mountains, and even reaching lands outside of Calradia, such as Geroia (where some of the heroes in the game come from) and the Nords' and Sea Raiders' homeland across the sea.
The ability to set up a different government other than a monarchy when founding your own kingdom. New governments, such as principalities, constitutional monarchies, and even republics and federations. The governments steered towards monarchy would be noble-friendly, increasing your relations with your vassals and other lords and kings, while the governments steered toward the people would be for the people, increasing all village and town relations, increasing prosperity in all villages and towns, and decreasing relations with all other lords not in your factions, all kings, and changing your vassals' titles to "Governor", such as Governor Klargus (Count or Lord Klargus, normally). The Return Serfs to Village quest would be unavailable to your "governors", yet quests oriented to politics and the safety of the people would be available. Other governments, such as oligarchies and aristocracies would greatly increase relations with your heroes in your party (they would be considered heads of state) and all kings.
The return of Zendar. Although Zendar was razed to the ground by an army of Sea Raiders, The survivors could probably rebuild the city from the ashes, trying to bring the city-state back to its former glory. But because of the city's destruction, Zendar's professional army was almost completely wiped out. So, Zendar's military power comes from mercenaries. There are a few soldiers unique to the city-state, however: the soldiers could have the most advanced weaponry in the Middle Ages, such as halberds, sword staffs, billhooks, repeating crossbows, and maces, and all crafted from the Calradian equivalent of Damascus Steel; Zendarian Steel. It would be based off of a mixture of Portugal (for the accuracy in the time period and names of the governors and prime minister, excluding Stavros) and the Dutch Republic (for the democratic element to the city-state). It would be the only democratic government in Calradia (it's actually a direct parliamentary democracy, electing a new prime minister every 5 years). There would also be five generals; the prime minster himself, Stavros, a commander from Zendar before it was destroyed, and the three provincial governors. There would be three villages surrounding Zendar (their names are up to your imagination), and each has its own provincial government and governors. The governors would be allowed to field their own armies and protect their villages when necessary. Zendar would be completely neutral in all the conflicts involving the other Calradian kingdoms, and would only use it's military arm for defense (like the other suggested city-states in the realm). It would be a center for commerce and free thought, and would therefore be tantalizing prey to an ambitious king, yet would be rightly feared, due to the fact that Zendar rose from the ashes in the first place, and would take almost anything thrown at its walls.
Crime: that is, criminal activity within the major settlements across Calradia. A report on the crime rate every time you visit a city would be nice, affecting whether bandits would roam the streets looking for a fat purse or whether the city guard would have the city on crackdown. Higher crime rates equal more bandits and more ambushes in the streets, and lower crime rates mean more city guards, and the decreased chance of committing a few crimes yourself without getting caught (stealing, murder, etc.). Crime depends on the city's wealth, whether it was recently captured or not, and the number of soldiers in the garrison.

Allow me to say that 80% of your suggestions suck! xDSeriously bro, you may like the ideas you're presenting but other players (Like myself for example) would hate it, and it would ruin the game for us :'(Mount and Blade is my favorite game of all time! Some of the improvements you suggested are nice but most of them would ruin the game for me </3 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mumluke (talk • contribs)

To tell you the truth, a lot of the things you mentioned are in mods. If you truly want a lot of these features, I can give you some suggestions. Sword of Damolces has religions. Star wars Conquest has sitting animations and sometimes an assasian will attack you while your walking round a town.

If you want me to name some more, ask me on my talk page.CatapractofOrder (talk) 00:05, January 27, 2014 (UTC)

I should point out that no one person wrote the above. It used to be a wiki article and many people added to it. I found it inappropriate as a regular page and moved it into the forum. If you feel like modifying some of the points or adding in your own ideas, go right ahead. I've rewritten the note at the top to explain as such.
◄► Tephra ◄► 03:38, January 27, 2014 (UTC)

so why hasent anyone brought up hiring militia to defend villages or hiring ranger groups (groups that travel around in your territory fighting bandits, withought being lead by a nobel? I mean lets face it a noble isn't going to concern himself with small groups of bandits that's the constable or whatevers job) it would be cool to be able to hire a ranger group with a new unit, a mounted commander of the ranger troop, kinda like how thiers caravan masters, then when you talk to the ranger have the option to give him troups like you do with your vassals, so give him all calvary to chase down bandits, or infantry to scare them away from your vilagers and caravans, or if not a faction owned unit allow you to higher manhunter units to defend your fiefs, that way you can focus on trade or war or relationships withough having bandits destroying your economy back home, also the ability to build roads or trails between fiefs, even if they build automaticly overtime as villagers and caravans travel to and from, then the more built the road is the more of a movement speed increase they will get on their trip... and deffinatly alow for production increasing buildings in your villages towns, I know that production is tied to wealth and you can build the mill to help increase wealth, but like actual industrial buildings, allowing you to invest in your town to make it produce like 50% more then it normaly would at its current wealth level, the only other thing id really like added is a minimap... inless their already is one? I just cant find it :(, but your troops know were the aponint is and you have to follow your other troops in order to find out where they are and that's really annoying, plus looking for the village elders and the guild guys is a pain but if they showed on a minimap.... p.s. great game.. I just cant figure out for the life of me why those few things weren't added. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frethelt (talk • contribs)

Why didn't you just add them to the list yourself instead of writing a wall of text asking why no one else has?
◄► Tephra ◄► 12:12, March 10, 2014 (UTC)

the reason I didn't add it to the previous post is.. 1. I have never done a wiki thing before 2. I didn't want to mess up how everything is organized, and 3. my spelling and punctuation and everything really sucks.. :) plus.. I have no clue if anyone else would like these changes so it wouldent be fair to add them to the list if im the only one who thinks they would be a good idea.. p.s. how do you set up your signature? of do you wright it in on every post? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Frethelt (talk • contribs)

1. There's a first time for everything. 2. There is no organization, people just added stuff to the list wherever and however they felt like. 3. Most of the additions had atrocious spelling and punctuation, which were since corrected. No one who added to this list surveyed others first to see how many people liked their ideas, they just added them. You add your signature by writing four tildes (~~~~) at the end of your post. If you want a customized signature, you can set one up in your preferences.
◄► Tephra ◄► 01:44, March 11, 2014 (UTC)