Mount and Blade with Fire and Steel

[Steerpike1 53]

I somehow missed out on the original release of Mount and Blade a couple of years back, though heard some good feedback on other forums. So, when I saw With Fire and Steel lurking on the shelf of my local Game store, I thought I'd give it a go. So far I'm struggling with sorting out what I'm meant to do. I thought I'd spend a little while browsing forums tonight to pick up some ideas about what to do before beginning play tonight (after I got trounced by a group of bandits last night, that is). Problem is the forums seem to mainly be about making money later on in the game, not about getting started! Oh well, I guess I'll have to persevere!

 

One thing that isn't working for me at the moment is the way combat works. You click and hold you left mouse button, then move the mouse to initiate an attack. The only problem is that you also use the mouse to change the direction your character is looking in, which means in my wild attempts to kill some vagabonds that ambushed me, I ended up looking in completely the wrong direction, before my character was on her back looking up at the stars with no hit points. Luckily they only stole 86 thalers, but its the principle of the thing that annoys me! I think I need to keep practising, as I got more of them tonight before they got me.

 

Another thing that has annoyed me is that it has insisted on installing Steam. If I buy a game in a shop, I don't really expect it to install Steam, thank you very much. If I wanted Steam, I'd have signed up again in my own time.

 

I think it also might be trying to do too much - it's like an A-RPG that wants to be an RTS but also a God game. As I haven't got far enough into it to assess the latter parts. The really odd thing is that the graphics aren't up to much really, but it seems to be slowing my system (which can run Sacred 2 fairly well) tremendously.

 

Sorry for the post - I just wanted to work this out of my system somewhere, and you guys got lucky...

[DMCain 1]

I somehow missed out on the original release of Mount and Blade a couple of years back, though heard some good feedback on other forums. So, when I saw With Fire and Steel lurking on the shelf of my local Game store, I thought I'd give it a go. So far I'm struggling with sorting out what I'm meant to do. I thought I'd spend a little while browsing forums tonight to pick up some ideas about what to do before beginning play tonight (after I got trounced by a group of bandits last night, that is). Problem is the forums seem to mainly be about making money later on in the game, not about getting started! Oh well, I guess I'll have to persevere!

 

I started playing mount and blade WAY back when it was maybe $5 to get a key and version 0.4 something. Made a few mods for myself and played it for ages. Still load it up on occasion too.

 

As for getting started, it is a ROYAL PITA. Best I can tell you is to hire a few mounted guys from taverns and just beat on random SMALL groups. Also, look for the various heroes you can get/hire. They help immensely.

 

One thing that isn't working for me at the moment is the way combat works. You click and hold you left mouse button, then move the mouse to initiate an attack. The only problem is that you also use the mouse to change the direction your character is looking in, which means in my wild attempts to kill some vagabonds that ambushed me, I ended up looking in completely the wrong direction, before my character was on her back looking up at the stars with no hit points. Luckily they only stole 86 thalers, but its the principle of the thing that annoys me! I think I need to keep practicing, as I got more of them tonight before they got me.

 

Combat does take a while to get used to, but once you get the knack of it, you'll be almost unstoppable. I prefer mounted myself, but on foot with a big muckin sword is also loads of fun, and a bit easier to do. Look around fro the training camps. You can go there to practice all the various forms of combat, earning a few weapon points and a small amount of XP. And there is no real penalty if you screw up there aside from some wasted time while you heal up.

 

 

Another thing that has annoyed me is that it has insisted on installing Steam. If I buy a game in a shop, I don't really expect it to install Steam, thank you very much. If I wanted Steam, I'd have signed up again in my own time.

 

Steam is the devil in disguise. I refuse to purchase ANY game that requires me to install spy-ware. Yes, Steam is spy-ware. That is what I call any application that lets someone else know what I'm doing, when I do it and for how long.

 

I think it also might be trying to do too much - it's like an A-RPG that wants to be an RTS but also a God game. As I haven't got far enough into it to assess the latter parts. The really odd thing is that the graphics aren't up to much really, but it seems to be slowing my system (which can run Sacred 2 fairly well) tremendously.

 

Sorry for the post - I just wanted to work this out of my system somewhere, and you guys got lucky...

 

Mount and Blade was originally written by one guy using the DX6 developers pack. And as far as I can tell, it is still one, MAYBE 2-3 guys, working on the main game. Many of the newer systems get confused while trying to run the old DX6 graphics. Though I think he did update them to DX9 with the release of Warbands.

 

The later parts of the game revolve around you trying to take over the world, either for yourself or whatever King you decided to sign on with. There's no real story to it, but there is one main side story for each kingdom where you try to find the 'True' heir to the throne and put him/her in power. IIRC, there are also some romance options in the game if that interests you.

 

Basically, it's just one big slugfest. And by far the best mounted combat game I've seen to date.

[Steerpike1 53]

Thanks for your feedback, DMCain. I'll be giving the game a more determined go tomorrow, Saturday, afternoon when I can dedicate a few hours without distraction to is. I think I was getting the hang of combat at one point - in another fight, I managed to kill two of three bandits who decided to attack me before the last one got me. I just need practice, I guess. I think I've forgotten that part of the fun of a game, as I've played largely straight forward A-RPGs over the last few (ten?) years! I will carry on, though.