The Wargamer

Taleworlds, the developers for the highly popular Mount & Blade, recently announced they are working on a multiplayer expansion to the game.  At GDC this week a video presentation detailing some of the features was also released.  The Warband expansion will introduce a number of features requested by players that they hope will improve the gameplay experience. 

The features that were announced this week include:

• Multiplayer – previously announced, the ability for up to 32 players to play simultaneously on a single map in Team Death-Match style battles
• Faction Rulers – A new in-depth system allowing the player to gain followers even as a rebel and to become the ruler of their own faction and recruit Lords as their vassalals
• Accessibility – Improved and additional detailed game information for players
• Improved Graphics and optimisation – The introduction of state-of-the-art rendering technologies including HDR (High Dynamic Range), as well as significant improvement in the level of detail on characters, armour and weapons
• Increased interactivity  - New interactivity implemented in the environments that the AI will recognize and adapt to, directly impacting the Siege mode

Commenting on the development of Mount & Blade: Warband, Armagan Yavuz, Producer at Taleworlds Entertainment said, “As a development team, we are used to short development circles, fast feedback from our users and the ability to have our gamers in the development loop. That is why we decided to create this expansion. We have received a large amount of requests from players for multiplayer and when we had published the game we saw an opportunity to explore this as well as additional improvements that our gamers requested. I feel that the multiplayer mode adds tremendously to the game experience.”

Additional features are expected to include customizable quick battles, extended diplomatic options and  new weapons, armor and animations. Other aspects introduced in Mount & Blade: Warband will be improvements to the combat system with more physically accurate horse archery, a variation in horse sizes, and more options when embarking on sieges.

Mount & Blade: Warband is scheduled for release in Q3 2009.

The video presentation taken at GDC for Mount & Blade: Warband may be found on YouTube.

In-game footage of the game is hosted by The Wargamer.  The 149 MB download requires Windows Media Player to view and may be downloaded here:  ftp://ftp.wargamer.com/pub/mountvids/M&B_Warband_Ingamefootage.wmv