GameShark | Features | Mount and Blade Developer Interview

Interview by: Todd Brakke

First off, for those who are unfamiliar, can you give us a brief introduction to Mount & Blade, and why it’s considered such a special game by so many PC gamers?

Certainly, Mount & Blade started as an unassuming independent game project over 7 years ago by my boss and his wife. They started posting their progress and selling the alpha online which eventually lead to being able to continue with beta production and then lead to the hiring of the first few employees of TaleWorlds Entertainment. Paradox Interactive saw all the noise being created by this and offered us to publish the game, the relationship has been fruitful for both parties
Aside from the origin story creating warm fuzzies for PC Gamers, our game is quite a bit different from what's available on the market and as such puts us in a position to garner a passionate niche following. We're one of the few games doing a non-fantasy medieval setting. We're also one of the only games offering a blend of great 3rd/1st person combat, character/party/army based RPG action, and elements of RTS, grand strategy, and diplomacy.
Oh and let's not forget our amazing mod community which generates great content and noise for us, thanks mod community, Yazzy loves you!

Getting into With Fire & Sword, what separates it, both on a tech and environment level, from Warband? Are we talking something of an advanced Warband total conversion in the way Civ 4: Colonization re-dressed Civilization 4, or an entirely new Mount & Blade experience?

With Fire & Sword takes the Warband engine and adds layers of new weapons, storyline quests, tactics, multiplayer maps, a new MP mode, and a historical setting. Overall it is a great offshoot game that builds on the foundations of what Warband offers.

The first two Mount & Blade games took place in the fictional world of Caladria. This game takes place in an actual historical setting. What should we know about that setting and why you chose it? Does the setting affect how you deal with the passage of time in the game world?

The answer to this question has a lot of history in-and-of-itself. The partners(Sich Studios and Snowberry Connection) of whom we worked with on this project have a lot of previous experience and love in/for this 17th century Eastern European setting. It is a period in time in which old ways of combat could still compete with the new age of firearms. The unique mix of weaponry, combat scenarios, and tactics are best found in the 17th century. Also the setting is incredibly popular and important in the regions of which the game was originally released, additionally the setting that is atypical, interesting, and slightly exotic for the Western market. And most importantly our community has been clamouring for Mount & Blade games to be set in history.