Bannerlords - Veni, vidi, but not vici news - PARADIGM WORLDS mod for Mount & Blade: Warband

Will Paradigm go Bannerlords?

Maybe, but I am not gonna be its creator. But let us start from beginning.

I had a lot questions from You, on many occasions, that it could be cool to see PW on a new engine, on something we have waited so long. So I had decided to find an answer for you. Can we port it? I started research, reading and watching tutorials. Installing additional modding tools (decompilers, some apps made by modders). In same time I started playtesting with basic tweaks in XML files.

I have spent 3 months trying to make a prototype worth announcing and eventually uploading for some alpha testing.

This is what I have learned. First: I made an assumption on beginning of my research, that nothing less than TOTAL OVERHAUL is not acceptable. It has to be massive translation of npc, creatures, items, recreation of PW in Bannerlords. So I have to edit/mod: factions, troops, items etc.

• On basic level modding xml files (in game files, that hold stats for factions, troops, cultures, npc, items) allow to modify a lot, however some of them to work need to replace ORIGINAL game files _ so far TW does not guarantee that this 'blockade' will be removed (I don't know why?)
• Tutorials written and yt - are scarce, at best medium quality, but if you focus you can learn how to import basic item into a bannerlord
• from total overhaul perspective: C++ is a must. Or C+ or whatever Bannerlords uses. I don't care. I tried it, and like many Warband-Python modder - I don't like it. It is very complex, its 'grammar' is hard to use - for a selflearned modder like me. Is it learn-able? Yes it is, but I need some coding courses first.
• Blender (or any other 3d app that exports and edits fbx files) is must. Also you need to know what to do, that is hours of tutorials. Days of time of investment - which actually I picked up with pleasure - I am learning it and I am very happy that Bannerlords inspired me to do it.
• 2D Graph App is must
• for total overhaul that partially takes place in 10000AD in post-apo world - scening, levels is a must
• warband weights around what? 700MB? Bannerlords begin with how much 40Gb? Then add mods, etc. This comparison shows how much more complex Bannerlords are. Adding a single item takes ages, because you need to access many xml files, edit item in blender, I had to export it from PW: Warband first. Now - how big it had to be mod for Bannerlords if Paradigm Worlds is 4-5 times bigger than Warband?
• I don't think Bannerlords will have many Total Overhaul Mods made by one person. Or a very small team. It was possible in Warband. For instance - The Reckoning - was made by LaGrandMaster - and in WB mod scene this guy is a legend. Paradigm Worlds has autofire system thanks to Reckoning, like many other features.
• It would take 1 year to learn Bannerlords and coding, another 2 to make playable 50% overhaul, and ?? years to push it to 80%+ TW said for example that their team spends circa 3 weeks to create SINGLE TOWN. Let me repeat: A TEAM of PROFESSIONALS spend 3 WEEKS to make a ONE TOWN. (In Warband actually I didn't touch a single town, or castle, I have only replaced textures and used few other tricks. )

GENERAL CONCLUSION: M&B:Bannerlords is fairly easy to tweak and very, very hard to overhaul.

Now, I don't mind spending few years developing PARADIGM WORLDS, I just don't think I want do it with Bannerlords. I do not think that this 'prototype' is worth uploading, I cannot even guarantee it will work for anyone else.

MY CONCERNS OVER BANNERLORDS MODDING

• Bannerlords Modding Toolkit current state is... frustrating. I have spent 50% of modding time on debugging, or just trying to make MBB run. At the end of 3rd month after another update everything stopped working. Toolkit and Vanilla as well. (Allegedly: I am supposed to delete some original file from game then re-install it from steam, but I just don't have time to do it, so next week I will have to do something else. I don't complain it is EA and I had no expectation really. But again I will not throw X years of development to a project build on unstable engine, that is still WIP/EA.
• Another problem for future Bannerlord modding is situation with 'libraries'. These additional mod files allow make better tweaked changes in M&B:B. Problem is that with every new patch, they become obsolete, and some modders already stopped supporting updates. These libraries - what is worse - do not work well together.
• Another thing that Blender and Bannerlords do not cooperate perfectly and at least at the beginning there is a lot of hassle to just correctly import a single item.
• I know that there are already great mods, or plans for them, I have also seen whole cabinet of shades modding teams organized like semi-pro studios. I think it is great for the game, probably I will enjoy playing some Bannerlords mods in the future, but...

Another reason why I don't really feel urge to mod Bannerlords, is my feeling about game itself.

BANNERLORDS - I got exactly what I wanted, and now I am a bit disappointed.

It is common rule that people who tweak hundreds hours in games quite often complain most. I have 300+ hours, I had a lot of fun. Money well spent.

Have you ever heard that: This who has nothing, wants to have something. One who has something, wants to have more. One who has all wants to keep it.

So when I got 'something', I also realized that MB2 is perfect port of Warband with some new features, but there is no hmm, how to say... no revolution? Not on a Warband-scale. There are few nice things like editcs, by articles we can shape state politics, but... Let me put it that way: Warband was frequently called a new genre of games and alone example in one. If Warband created new genre, than Bannerlords perfectly - exactly as I hoped as a fan - went that road. But I don't have a feeling that BL forge new genre too.

GENERAL CONCLUSION: MB2: Bannerlords - in my personal view - is a great game, but it will not replace Warband.

But this is me. After 3 months of hard-work on Bannerlords coming back to PARADIGM WORLDS for Warband modding was refreshing. I choose this simple graphics, this roughness of the world. I like the way textures and some models mess with players (and mine) eyes/brain, I like diversity, randomness, and I think that this Warband engine - maybe it is sentiment - but it looks to me more familiar, cleaner.

All screens come from this Bannerlords Paradigm Prototype.

What has been achieved, what were plans?

Idea was to follow Bannerlords in a way. If BL goes back in time, than Paradigm BP should go to most early time, where creatures were beginning to organize.

Mostly by XML editing, I have managed to

• change names of factions, few lords, faces, colors, skin colors.
• Also there are working basic features like flaming arrows, there are already cloned crossbows named 'laser gun xxx' and stuff like that. This was all very primitive. To make it work I had to overwrite BL native folder files, but it worked.
• There is new weapon pieces system - I started cracking it - with new stats, and some experimental objects.
• I already managed to add few lightsabers (with metal swords sounds), and that is it. (and ready to use lighting-saber materials) (glowing).

I make this list in case someone would want to have this project as a base for Bannerlords mod. I can upload it, if needed as osp of course. If someone would like to use Paradigm Worlds project as a base I gladly provide all possible help. [check media section].

First experiments on creating new races - Paradigm Bannerlords Prototype