What changed
0 fixes2 additions3 changes1 removal
- Gameplay
- Balance
- UI and audio
- Store
addedEmergent StoriesI am going to take a different approach to this dev diary and not show new screens or features but talk about something more subtle that I love about games, emergent stories. Some of my favorite games, even ones not turn based, have such great emergent story engines, like Crusader Kings, Dwarf Fortress or CDDA. While the games are fun, what I really love is my memories of it. Year later I still remember some of the crazy and interesting things that naturally occurred in some of my games. To me, a good story is not a multiple choice selection. It is something that occurs based on your actions. And even bad actions, like someone dying, can lead to interesting stories. However what makes great stories is when some of these actions and mechanics start interacting together.
addedExamples Of Stories You Will ExperienceIn a recent playthrough I had, one of my mercs, Cedric, died in battle against some orcs. Cedric left his sword with his name engraved on it to the company, while the orc that killed him became a vendetta to my company. He had bodyguards, was stronger and now he had a name, Grok. Grok was a pain. He ambushed me a couple times, once when I was fighting some feral gnolls. I wasn't strong enough so I retreated those times, losing a couple other mercenaries in the last battle. Finally, I was in Cedric's hometown hiring new recruits and there was Cedric's son for hire. When I hired him I saw he had a burning vengeance against Grok. In the next battle, I finally was able to corner Grok and I made sure it was Cedric's son who killed Grok with his dad's weapon. In another game I had a dwarf, Gimli, ascend as a demigod of war. He was the strongest one in my company and he held the line time and time again with his axe. The next game I played, in the taverns they had rumours talking about the demigod Gimli and later at the end of a very hard battle with an arch-nemesis, I was rewarded with a relic weapon, one of the strongest in the game. And it was Gimli's old axe now empowered as he is now a demigod.
removedExamples Of Stories You Will ExperienceFinally, I had an underachiever halfling. He actually was fine but he no longer was what I call top tier talent. I fired him and he ended up getting angry and becoming a vendetta for the local Greenskin faction. One time he ambushed me after my team had a tough fight and my units weren't at full strength and he killed two of my units, including one of his friends he had bonded with.
changedHow This WorksAll the actions you and your units do are tracked and those all are used to influence to future events. Use a shield in battle and you have a chance to learn a Shield Mastery skill. Hire Gimli from a town, Gimli remembers that is his hometown and they celebrate when he comes through. Your units fight close together? Your units form bonds. An orc kills one of your bonded units? His friend declares a blood feud on the orc. You fight an epic battle near some mountains and lost some mercs and a monument with a gravestone is posted at the foot of the mountains remembering the battle.
changedHow This WorksYou will see these through changes in the world. Minor changes to their characters. In your characters journals or the company journal. Through their own words in their obituary when Grok kills them in battle.
changedHow This WorksStore.steampowered.com
Mercenary Brotherhood changes
addedI am going to take a different approach to this dev diary and not show new screens or features but talk about something more subtle that I love about games, emergent stories. Some of my favorite games, even ones not turn based, have such great emergent story engines, like Crusader Kings, Dwarf Fortress or CDDA. While the games are fun, what I really love is my memories of it. Year later I still remember some of the crazy and interesting things that naturally occurred in some of my games. To me, a good story is not a multiple choice selection. It is something that occurs based on your actions. And even bad actions, like someone dying, can lead to interesting stories. However what makes great stories is when some of these actions and mechanics start interacting together.
addedIn a recent playthrough I had, one of my mercs, Cedric, died in battle against some orcs. Cedric left his sword with his name engraved on it to the company, while the orc that killed him became a vendetta to my company. He had bodyguards, was stronger and now he had a name, Grok. Grok was a pain. He ambushed me a couple times, once when I was fighting some feral gnolls. I wasn't strong enough so I retreated those times, losing a couple other mercenaries in the last battle. Finally, I was in Cedric's hometown hiring new recruits and there was Cedric's son for hire. When I hired him I saw he had a burning vengeance against Grok. In the next battle, I finally was able to corner Grok and I made sure it was Cedric's son who killed Grok with his dad's weapon. In another game I had a dwarf, Gimli, ascend as a demigod of war. He was the strongest one in my company and he held the line time and time again with his axe. The next game I played, in the taverns they had rumours talking about the demigod Gimli and later at the end of a very hard battle with an arch-nemesis, I was rewarded with a relic weapon, one of the strongest in the game. And it was Gimli's old axe now empowered as he is now a demigod.
removedFinally, I had an underachiever halfling. He actually was fine but he no longer was what I call top tier talent. I fired him and he ended up getting angry and becoming a vendetta for the local Greenskin faction. One time he ambushed me after my team had a tough fight and my units weren't at full strength and he killed two of my units, including one of his friends he had bonded with.
changedAll the actions you and your units do are tracked and those all are used to influence to future events. Use a shield in battle and you have a chance to learn a Shield Mastery skill. Hire Gimli from a town, Gimli remembers that is his hometown and they celebrate when he comes through. Your units fight close together? Your units form bonds. An orc kills one of your bonded units? His friend declares a blood feud on the orc. You fight an epic battle near some mountains and lost some mercs and a monument with a gravestone is posted at the foot of the mountains remembering the battle.
changedYou will see these through changes in the world. Minor changes to their characters. In your characters journals or the company journal. Through their own words in their obituary when Grok kills them in battle.
Emergent Stories
I am going to take a different approach to this dev diary and not show new screens or features but talk about something more subtle that I love about games, emergent stories. Some of my favorite games, even ones not turn based, have such great emergent story engines, like Crusader Kings, Dwarf Fortress or CDDA. While the games are fun, what I really love is my memories of it. Year later I still remember some of the crazy and interesting things that naturally occurred in some of my games. To me, a good story is not a multiple choice selection. It is something that occurs based on your actions. And even bad actions, like someone dying, can lead to interesting stories. However what makes great stories is when some of these actions and mechanics start interacting together.
In Mercenary Brotherhood, I have your units and the game world change through your actions.
Examples Of Stories You Will Experience
In a recent playthrough I had, one of my mercs, Cedric, died in battle against some orcs. Cedric left his sword with his name engraved on it to the company, while the orc that killed him became a vendetta to my company. He had bodyguards, was stronger and now he had a name, Grok. Grok was a pain. He ambushed me a couple times, once when I was fighting some feral gnolls. I wasn't strong enough so I retreated those times, losing a couple other mercenaries in the last battle. Finally, I was in Cedric's hometown hiring new recruits and there was Cedric's son for hire. When I hired him I saw he had a burning vengeance against Grok. In the next battle, I finally was able to corner Grok and I made sure it was Cedric's son who killed Grok with his dad's weapon. In another game I had a dwarf, Gimli, ascend as a demigod of war. He was the strongest one in my company and he held the line time and time again with his axe. The next game I played, in the taverns they had rumours talking about the demigod Gimli and later at the end of a very hard battle with an arch-nemesis, I was rewarded with a relic weapon, one of the strongest in the game. And it was Gimli's old axe now empowered as he is now a demigod.
Finally, I had an underachiever halfling. He actually was fine but he no longer was what I call top tier talent. I fired him and he ended up getting angry and becoming a vendetta for the local Greenskin faction. One time he ambushed me after my team had a tough fight and my units weren't at full strength and he killed two of my units, including one of his friends he had bonded with.
How This Works
All the actions you and your units do are tracked and those all are used to influence to future events. Use a shield in battle and you have a chance to learn a Shield Mastery skill. Hire Gimli from a town, Gimli remembers that is his hometown and they celebrate when he comes through. Your units fight close together? Your units form bonds. An orc kills one of your bonded units? His friend declares a blood feud on the orc. You fight an epic battle near some mountains and lost some mercs and a monument with a gravestone is posted at the foot of the mountains remembering the battle.
It isn't just your current game. You can find ancestors of some of your strongest units for hire in future games. Or you can a crumbling monument remembering one of your biggest battles from three games ago.
This isn't a big text box that pops up, where you have a multiple choice question with only one good answer or a random roll. Your units and the world just remembers and responds to your actions.
You will see these through changes in the world. Minor changes to their characters. In your characters journals or the company journal. Through their own words in their obituary when Grok kills them in battle.
Every game will be different and unique in it's own way. And hopefully years from now, you will remember your similar own tale about how one of your units took vengeance on his father's killer with his own sword.
Mercenary Brotherhood Coming to Steam as Early Access this Fall 2026. Demo: The demo is out, try it now.
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