Thread: Inside the Game: Mounted Combat discussion

If you've been itching to see mounted combat in-action, or learn more about the system, then you don't want to miss our latest video interview with Senior Producer Aaron "Rowan" Campbell! Click here to watch the video, and be sure to discuss what you saw below! Let us know what you thought!

Looks like it's going to be awesome. Can't wait to start tanking from horseback ^^.

I'm glad that you finally decide to show the main new feature of the next expansion.

But I expected much more of this video. Something like actual combat gameplay.
Instead, you use smallest 4:3 monitor you could probably get out of the accounting department, set the game to run in a window and make a camera focus on it from 2 meters away.
And instead of seeing a Guardian using his skills to lure enemy riders to himself, or a minstrel actually healing, or a captain doing anything meaninful, the camera zooms into the image for showing the player just riding around or healing himself, and whenever some close combat seems to be about to happen, you zoom out again to make it impossible to distinguish anything.

So far I was looking forward to the new mounted combat. But this video tells me that you are afraid to show what you actually have.

You are a sassy elf.

I see quickslots switch when you get dismounted. And that mounted combat seems to involve similiar to Champion style Fervour pip use. Other than that there wasn't a whole lot of detail to the video. It'd have been nice to see some longer period shots from the screen where we see some fighting and use of actual class based skills.

Some stuff I found interesting:

Horse has a dying animation
Uruks on horseback
Some sort of energy bar for the mount, using skills empties it
Larger Morale pool for mount(was ~2500 in video)
Horse has a Power bar
Skills seem to be 'set' for the next clash, noting the 'cancel skill' button.

Gonna be rewatching this a lot to see what else I can find.

Liking these sneak peek videos by the way. Great way of seeing what's to come versus walls of text.

Originally Posted by FromgalTheMinstrel

I'm glad that you finally decide to show the main new feature of the next expansion.

But I expected much more of this video. Something like actual combat gameplay.
Instead, you use smallest 4:3 monitor you could probably get out of the accounting department, set the game to run in a window and make a camera focus on it from 2 meters away.
And instead of seeing a Guardian using his skills to lure enemy riders to himself, or a minstrel actually healing, or a captain doing anything meaninful, the camera zooms into the image for showing the player just riding around or healing himself, and whenever some close combat seems to be about to happen, you zoom out again to make it impossible to distinguish anything.

So far I was looking forward to the new mounted combat. But this video tells me that you are afraid to show what you actually have.

For god sake it is only one video! I am sure we will be seeing much more down the road.

Looks great so far! Can't wait to see more.

It also looks like the main action bar at the bottom has a new look to it.

Decent teaser. I would like to see a little more gameplay. The video only really shows him attacking two mobs, one you can't really see what happens because it zooms out and the other he gets dismounted and then it cuts off. The battles look pretty cool and the plains of Rohan look very much like plains, although without the high grasses.

I like it .

BTW Aaron's screen made me chuckle .

Surprised to see something like that on a 2012 company's office .

And even more surprised ... Sapience & Aaron having to share that small room ?

I see the Horse Developer head.

I'm more interested in what the burglar roll will be since I don't see us sneaking around and backstabbing in mounted combat.

Originally Posted by Louvre

I like it .

BTW Aaron's screen made me chuckle .

Surprised to see something like that on a 2012 company's office .

And even more surprised ... Sapience & Aaron having to share that small room ?

I guess it kind of explains them not experiencing much video lag with things :-P

When you have a postage stamp size screen, of course the game will be pretty responsive.

Ok, for a teaser. I wish they would release a developer diary with some demos for each class. The expansion really isn't that far away. Looks interesting, and I'd love to see how the other classes play. I'm looking forward to trying it out, at the bare minimum I like the innovation and risk Turbine is taking.

Ah finally heard our requests for slashing things on a horse! Can't wait
But the question I had in my head thinking about this is: Can we spar just as we can attack but on a horse? And will there be mounted combat in PvMP which will make it harder for PvMP players to attack? (Which is hard enough because with the newest updates we are getting beaten up)

Also wondering if we have to buy mounted combat with the Rohan pack to use it... Because that would be pretty silly

It was interesting to hear a little of the theory behind mounted combat explained.

However, this video did little to reassure me that the theory actually works and can be implemented in a way that's fun for every class. We didn't even see much combat to give feedback on.

I'd challenge Turbine to show us 60 seconds of real close-up solo mounted combat for each class, and a few minutes of group mounted combat. That sounds reasonable to me for an expansion that launches in just a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Fredelas

It was interesting to hear a little of the theory behind mounted combat explained.

However, this video did little to reassure me that the theory actually works and can be implemented in a way that's fun for every class. We didn't even see much combat to give feedback on.

I'd challenge Turbine to show us 60 seconds of real close-up solo mounted combat for each class, and a few minutes of group mounted combat. That sounds reasonable to me for an expansion that launches in just a few weeks.

News to me that Rohan is launching in a few weeks. I thought it was September 5th...

When I first opened up the video, I was thrilled to see it was almost 6 minutes long!

Must be lots of info, right?

No.

The first 2,5 minutes were absolutely pointless. Sapience asks "Can tanks tank and healers heal from horseback?" and Rowan answers "Yes". That is the only thing that happened. Such a simple question and a simple answer, both so elongated without reason.

At the end of that we get some new info. Rowan proceeds to explain the concept of 3 stances, which will certainly be tied to the 3 mount trait lines that have been mentioned in the past.

Finally at 3:15, we get the sneak peek of mounted combat.

For 20 seconds.

Okay. Maybe there will be more later in the video?

12 more seconds starting at 5:03.

For a total of 32 seconds.

Those 32 seconds are full of interesting new things (most of which have been already pointed out by Nyrion so I won't type them out again). But really? 32 seconds of mounted combat in a 6 minute long video, where at least 4,5 minutes held no importance?

I am glad we are getting teasers, but I was disappointed with the way this one was presented. Please, more footage and less filler. Just less filler is fine too.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Originally Posted by Eartholloth

News to me that Rohan is launching in a few weeks. I thought it was September 5th...

8 isn't a few?

I appreciate the attempt to show us what's going on. I don't think this really answered any questions I have about how the implementation is going to work -- and in fact it raised a new concern that mounted combat may be a bit too much like a boring console scroller for my tastes. But the communication is a good thing.

Originally Posted by gildhur

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


8 isn't a few?

Not to me. 2,3 yes but not 8.

To me, 'a few' has always been more than two but less than six.

It's rather a moot point anyways. :P

Anyway, while I would have liked to have seen more actual gameplay, listening to the talk there were some good info snippets to glean. I'm not overly worried about details at this point, going by what they've said thus far these kinds of videos will become more common as we get closer to launch(another next week perhaps?).

Wait what about the rk's skills, or the burg's moves, or the lm's introductions, and the champs AoEs. How are those going to work out?

It was very exciting to see mounted combat. I agree i was disappointed by the small amount of actual footage. However what did stick out was how fast it can be 1-2 hits and the mob dies.
This is good because in real life one or two hits with a sword and you would be lucky to run away....
It looks fast paced and interesting.
Still did not really answer what a burg will do with 2 10 inch daggers riding full speed at a warg rider?...
But im sure we will see a lot more yet. Still 2 months to go...
Thanks Turbine keep it coming please.

Originally Posted by Crell_1

I see quickslots switch when you get dismounted. And that mounted combat seems to involve similiar to Champion style Fervour pip use. Other than that there wasn't a whole lot of detail to the video. It'd have been nice to see some longer period shots from the screen where we see some fighting and use of actual class based skills.

That most likely was showing mount speed. Mount speed has a direct effect on damage output according to turbine.

since im a burg and i like to sneak and do back stabs how is that going to work

Originally Posted by Nyrion

Some stuff I found interesting:

Horse has a dying animation
Uruks on horseback
Some sort of energy bar for the mount, using skills empties it
Larger Morale pool for mount(was ~2500 in video)
Horse has a Power bar
Skills seem to be 'set' for the next clash, noting the 'cancel skill' button.

Gonna be rewatching this a lot to see what else I can find.

Liking these sneak peek videos by the way. Great way of seeing what's to come versus walls of text.

THIS is exactly the kind of dissection and teasing apart we were hoping to see around this video. There are loads of little pieces of info in it for those who take a close look like Nyrion did.

Originally Posted by asearchforreason

Decent teaser. I would like to see a little more gameplay. The video only really shows him attacking two mobs, one you can't really see what happens because it zooms out and the other he gets dismounted and then it cuts off. The battles look pretty cool and the plains of Rohan look very much like plains, although without the high grasses.

Your second word nailed it. Teaser. That was the entire goal. No one outside of the press at E3 has seen even a single second of mounted combat.

Also, these inside the game videos are a community team effort. Yes we drafted our video guys to help out with some of the legal bits and pieces and to make it look pretty, but this is a community team inititive that we hope to conitnue (and will absolutely take your feedback to date into consideration). But please keep in mind these are done in one sitting, they're not scripted, and we are trying give you glimpses of not just the highlighted systems, but the people making the game and a little taste of what it's like to be 'in the building'.

Or maybe, 'A fly on the wall' is a better way to put it.

Originally Posted by Louvre

I like it .

BTW Aaron's screen made me chuckle .

Surprised to see something like that on a 2012 company's office .

And even more surprised ... Sapience & Aaron having to share that small room ?

LOL. Well, we all have different monitors and needs. For example my desk has two monitors, a 19" 4:3 and a 23" 16:9 1080P display. Others have fully touch enabled Wacom drawing monitors that they can draw directly on. They're pretty slick.

And the 'room' is actually very large. Aaron sits about 12 feet away from me. We had to scrunch up like that to make the video guys happy and get us both in the frame.

Originally Posted by naliia

I see the Horse Developer head.

That was a last minute add. We wondered how many people would notice.

Originally Posted by Mysterion

Ok, for a teaser. I wish they would release a developer diary with some demos for each class. The expansion really isn't that far away. Looks interesting, and I'd love to see how the other classes play. I'm looking forward to trying it out, at the bare minimum I like the innovation and risk Turbine is taking.

Developer diaries come closer to release. This year, unlike in the past, there will be two types of developer diaries; Video and written. Video diaries will let you see what it looks like, and the written diaries will give the dev team the ability to give you a more in-depth explanation of the changes and systems shipping with Rohan. So, if anything, you'll be getting more information, on a more regular basis, and earlier, than ever before.

So, as an example, you'll be seeing another video this week featuring Chance Thomas and a behind the scenes "dev diary" on the making of the Soundtrack.

Originally Posted by Patrickwg

That most likely was showing mount speed. Mount speed has a direct effect on damage output according to turbine.

Yes it does.

One last thing, I have to give a shout out to our waiter at the crab shack the other night. Better half was wearing a LOTRO Tee and he turned out to be a player and asked all kinds of questions of her until she told him he should ask me. He was very cool. So HEY! Ok, back to vacation!

Everyone's a critic these days...

Thanks for the teaser and first look. Probably raises more questions than it answers but that's exactly what a teaser should do. Looking forward to the next one.

Originally Posted by Killien

Everyone's a critic these days...

Thanks for the teaser and first look. Probably raises more questions than it answers but that's exactly what a teaser should do. Looking forward to the next one.

Sapience, I agree with others! What a tease! hehe. I'm delighted to hear about your team's plans for both video and written dev diaries. Now that is exciting news!

We asked for more and we're getting more. It's good to see you folks in your natural habitat. But where are the Cheez-its, carmel corn, and Snicker bars?

The thing that stuck out to me in the video was the slight class skill changes that are coming with mounted combat. Example being the captain not being able to use herald/banner like in traditional combat; but instead having the different stances to allow the captain to specialize in different utility roles as needed.

On a side note: Major props for reaching out and sharing this information with the community. You guys took a lot of flack from us for the lack of communication for RoI, and this shows me that communication this time around is going to be MUCH better this time around.

Look forward to more videos along the way

Right on, thanks for the sneak peak guys! Looks killer.

Ignoring all the naysayers who cant be happy with some rather than no info..

Couple other things I noticed were..

- A reworked UI skills bar at the bottom of the screen, looks* like its been specifically reworked to use in mounted combat so not sure if thats just for that and switches back when we dismount..?

- Horses are naked!? No cosmetics or even basic saddle looks to be in there..

- Seems as though the camera controls are the same.. ie player has complete control over views and it doesnt change automatically within mounted combat. Gotta be quick on that 3D rotate!? Especially if its as fast as they say/show..

A few things I noticed from this video:

• At 3:17 (when the close-up begins) it says something about Steed XP along with the normal XP message, in the lower-left corner.
• There is a new Rohan-themed HUD appearance on the lower edge of the screen, along with what appears to be horse-related skills.
• During the first close-up, at one point the Captain appears to use a skill which noticably increases mount speed (some kind of sprint, maybe?).
• There is no "pet" skill bar. Perhaps normal skill bars changed to pre-configured mounted combat bars when on a War-steed?
• At right about 3:19, when the Captain hits the warg-mounted Goblin Spear-thrower for 2605 damage, an identical number "hops" off the partially-visible vitals display (this number can be seen if you watch the upper edge of the video right at this moment). When the camera zooms out again, more numbers drop off the Goblin's vitals display if you watch closely. This appears to be a new addition to the HUD.
• At 5:06, if you look real closely, a Resisted message hops off the Uruk Shaman's vitals display, identical to the message above the mob when the Captain's skill is resisted.
• At about 5:08, the War-steed the Captain is riding does a stop with its front legs, dealing damage to the Uruk Shaman. This is clearly a mount-specific skill.
• At around 5:15, when the Captain gets dismounted from his War-steed taking too much damage, the Devastating Critical (from reflected damage, judging from the small number) the Uruk Shaman suffers also appears by the enemy vitals display.
• At 3:21, a new error message appears stating "Wrong position for skill". At the same time, a "(Skill_TargetNotInPositio n)" tag appears under the message in the chat area (likely for debugging purposes).
• At 5:11, the Captain uses a skill on a quickslot bar just above the main bar, with a significant cooldown. What appears to be a snare debuff appears on the Uruk Shaman's vitals display. This is likely some kind of movement debuff, judging from the hamstring animation.

Although what I've seen looks very interesting:

Videos like this when RoR preorder launched would have avoided A LOT of frustration and confusion ... Just saying.

Just noticed two new things:

Steed XP & You're not in the right position for that skill ( or something like that ) .

I wonder how is that going to affect skills wich do not need to face the target .

very exciting teaser I can't wait to learn more about the three stances; Red Dawn, Riddermark and Rohirrim were the ones I heard mentioned. I do like the cancel and dismount under the mount's health and power bar... makes me wonder what will happen if you dismount in the middle of a battle (to fight on foot.... okay - I know that isn't the purpose but I'm wondering just the same) I also heard Aaron say he "set up an attack" - that sounds pretty cool. I like the look of the skill bar too (from what I could see)

looking forward to more video's and dev diaries - 63 days!!!

Originally Posted by arch07js1

Couple other things I noticed were..

- A reworked UI skills bar at the bottom of the screen, looks* like its been specifically reworked to use in mounted combat so not sure if thats just for that and switches back when we dismount..?

- Horses are naked!? No cosmetics or even basic saddle looks to be in there..

- Seems as though the camera controls are the same.. ie player has complete control over views and it doesnt change automatically within mounted combat. Gotta be quick on that 3D rotate!? Especially if its as fast as they say/show..

Some quick responses...

Yes, the quickslot bar is specifically for Mounted Combat! It swaps out dynamically as you mount and dismount.

As Sapience says, this is a peek. I was using a horse without cosmetics on our test server - but there are a lot of gear variations and colors available.

For camera controls, we have the option to lock your camera view. I prefer to direct mine manually and drive with the mouse. To each his (or her) own.

About my monitor, I save the new stuff for the engineers, designers and artists. As a producer I spend most of my day working with spreadsheets and email anyway.

Originally Posted by Rowan

Some quick responses...

Yes, the quickslot bar is specifically for Mounted Combat! It swaps out dynamically as you mount and dismount.

As Sapience says, this is a peek. I was using a horse without cosmetics on our test server - but there are a lot of gear variations and colors available.

For camera controls, we have the option to lock your camera view. I prefer to direct mine manually and drive with the mouse. To each his (or her) own.

About my monitor, I save the new stuff for the engineers, designers and artists. As a producer I spend most of my day working with spreadsheets and email anyway.

Uruk shaman dismounted you! :P Looooozr XD

Originally Posted by Rowan

Yes, the quickslot bar is specifically for Mounted Combat! It swaps out dynamically as you mount and dismount.

Just wanted to jump in here, but given how many skills we already have at this time, I think this approach will make life a lot easier when Rohan launches. Reworking quickslot bar setups to accommodate for mounted combat would have been tedious, to say the least.

Anyway, out of curiosity, what influenced the decision in regards to this specific approach for War-steed skills, rather than other alternatives (ie. a "pet" skill bar, like the ones for Lore-master and Captain pets)?

Originally Posted by Rowan

For camera controls, we have the option to lock your camera view. I prefer to direct mine manually and drive with the mouse. To each his (or her) own.

Might mounted combat be the reason (or at least a big motivator) for the newly introduced option to lock the camera to a target? I can see how this option would help immensely in mounted combat.

Other observations; The horse dying-animation looked great, except for the fact that it looked to be locked to one spot on the ground. You had this horse galloping full speed suddenly coming to a sudden stop right there on the spot as if it had no momentum, and it just looked really awkward.

Nice to see Uruks mounted (though I really hope the horse is replaced with a warg eventually). Goblins aren't really that menacing visually, but a pack of regular orcs and Uruks, all mounted up, that would be something different.

Not as much gameplay-footage as I had hoped, but I really like that they're making an effort to give us information.

All I saw (I think) was lots of swinging at empty air and still somehow fighting the enemy.

I so hope that we´re not just getting a new horsie with skills, but still have to use our close quarters melee daggers or one handed swords and axes.
Will our current two-handed weapons and spears become mandatory for mounted combat or will we get a completely new class of arms?

I really hope you´re not expecting us to believe that a dagger will be of any use on horseback.

Oh and are you guys per chance running from an SSD there? Looked like it.