Mount & Blade: "Canyon Village"
"Canyon Village" is a single-player strategy action role-playing level created by the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Modding Kit. Players can choose to be the offensive or defensive side, and conduct a 200v200 army battle in this village. Different styles of combat areas are designed for players to choose, such as Holy Tree Square, Highland, or Hidden Path. These areas all give different advantages, such as fast break, geographical advantage, or hidden advantage.
The core of this level is to allow players to get clear route guidance while choosing their favorite strategy to fight.
Parameters
• 200v200 army battleground.
• Three main paths.
What went well?
• Level Layout – Referring to the map design of MOBA games, the three paths can make the AI flow more smoothly.
• Level Decoration – Using a variety of props and decorations, I was able to beautify the details to make the level look more realistic and natural.
• Balance – After many tests, the winning rate of both the offensive and defensive sides is stable, with the winning rate of the defensive side being slightly higher.
What went wrong?
• Hard to control AI behavior – Since there is no direct control over the AI's route in the engine, sometimes the AI tend to use one path instead of giving every path chance.
Solution: If the engine supports intelligent control of AI's behavior, or has certain probability of using a certain road, the game experience will be better.
What I learned?
• World Building – By tightly controlling how I structured and built the level, I can help players to identify their target at every point in the level. In addition, I was able to polish gameplay quickly which allowed me to show my ability to decorate the level.
• Build Navmesh – A well-structured navmesh can help the AIs avoid getting stuck in the dead corners of the level and the places they should not go.
Overview Map
Diversified strategies
The level guides the player to find enemies through the roads extending in all directions in the village. At the same time, the three main roads in the level provide different combat strategies.
Because the combat takes place in a village, it is necessary to give the defender a slight advantage over the attacker. In the process of building the level, the defender's altitude is slightly higher than the attacker's and can reach the center battlefield faster.
Military Camp (Offensive Side)
The attackers are spawned out of the camps outside the village, surrounded by forest. When the player spawns, you can see two bridges leading to the village. The river is very shallow, and the attacker can also pass through the river. After entering the town, the attackers have three main routes to choose from, corresponding to the three strategies of seizing high and low, fast attack, or concealment.
Master Mansion (Defensive Side)
The defender's spawn point is the open space above the village, and the player can see three small village paths. The open space is surrounded by forests, the geographical position is relatively high, there is a good view, and you can see the enemies at the Highland and the Holy Tree Square.
Holy Tree Square
This location is the central area of the village, and there is a high probability of fighting in this area. Therefore, the area is designed as a square and four roads to facilitate the movement of soldiers. The hillside to the north can provide archers with an advantage in shooting.
Highland
This location is a Highland path to the west of the village, and it is also the relatively highest location on the entire map. Whether the offensive or the defensive team grabs this position, they can get a certain geographical advantage.
Hidden Path
This location is a hidden path to the east of the village. Due to the shelter of trees and houses, this path cannot be directly seen from Master Mansion. Therefore, if the attacker chooses this route, it can better carry out a sneak attack.
Four Seasons
In order to enrich the player's visual experience, I also set four different seasons for the level. The main elements that change are trees, vegetation, and ground textures.
Day and Night
Players can also freely choose to fight day or night. To provide lighting at night, I added streetlights and candles to make the main paths and areas more visible.
Interior (Easter Eggs)
In the Master Mansion, I arranged the interior space with various furniture. The first floor is the living room, including a long table for dining and some sofas for rest. The second floor is the master bedroom, which is more spacious and has a balcony. The third floor is the room for elder, and a bird is used to decorate the room, making it more vivid.
