KoMiKoZa

At the time of its release back in 2001, Battle Realms was critically acclaimed and enjoyed by fans worldwide, it was packed with innovation, deep strategy, and an immersive world filled with meaningful detail. Battle Realms is a game defined by its setting -- an RTS that combines resource management, unit development, and tactical gameplay with storytelling inspired by the Kung Fu movies and oriental culture. Let's remember what makes Battle Realms a truly unique game together with IGN and Peter Bartholow, former designer at now defunct Liquid Entertainment (IGN Article - July 31, 2001). Here you will find a comprehensive list of the "details" in Battle Realms. These "details" combine to give players a completely different and more strategic real-time strategy gaming experience. A few key themes run through these "details." At Battle Realms' core are the dual concepts of choice and opportunity cost - many gameplay elements have alternatives, and the player can only choose one ¿ there are no "incorrect" choices, only choices that shape and define a player's strategy. As we explore gameplay details, we'll illuminate where these choices come into play. (Note: The article was written before the release of the game, some individual aspects of the game were changed at the time of release).Setting the Stage: The Core Gameplay DynamicsThe Living Resource SystemAt the start of every real-time strategy there is the inevitable production stage. From day one, Liquid Entertainment wanted to make a real-time strategy game that did not rely on production competence for success. In other real-time strategy games, out-producing your opponent will often lead to victory as you storm through their base after a large clash in the center of the battlefield. In order to prevent this from happening, Battle Realms limits production's effect on the war effort. It all starts with a single Peasant Hut. The Battle Realms peasant has a lot in common with the workers and peons of other real-time strategy games. Peasants harvest rice and water, repair buildings, put out building fires, and water the rice fields. But the Battle Realms peasant has two major differences that completely change the way production is handled. First, peasants are not bought. Peasants spawn from one's peasant huts at a rate determined by the number of units the player has and the number of peasant huts he's built, up to a maximum of 30 units. As a player accrues more units, the rate of peasant production slows to compensate. Second, all soldiers start as peasants and must be trained before they become better units. Perhaps the most profound example of the roles of choice and opportunity cost, the fate of each and every peasant is important. Should this peasant train into a military unit to fight the good fight, or would he prove more useful as a farmer or on call to extinguish fires set by the enemy? Unit AlchemyBy spending time in training buildings, any peasant has the potential to become a noble samurai. Each clan has three core training buildings and one or two additional buildings, depending on the clan, for producing support units such as healers. By training a peasant through the core training buildings, one can create seven basic military units. For example, training Dragon peasant at the Alchemist's Lab creates a Chemist. But the unit's training isn't necessarily over - train the Chemist in the Target Range, and you get a hybrid unit, the Powder Keg Cannoneer. A player creates his most powerful units by training a peasant through all three buildings, so in this case, our Powder Keg Cannoneer could visit the Dojo and finally learn the ways of the Samurai. Once again, choices come into play - is my Powder Keg Cannoneer useful as he is, or should he take the final step and become a Samurai? Planning Your Attack: The Strategic ElementsWith a limited number of units at the player's disposal, victory is in the hands of the player who outthinks rather than outnumbers his opponent - in the end, the player that uses his units the most effectively will. Rock, Paper and Scissors - The Keys to BalanceWhile any peasant can become its clan's "ultimate" unit, such as the Samurai, the Samurai is not necessarily the best unit for all occasions. Battle Realms employs a six-way rock/paper/scissors damage system, or in this case, a cutting/piercing/blunt/explosive/fire/magic system. Each unit deals a particular type of damage, in addition to being strong against some types of damage and weak against others. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Source: Battle Realms - Complete Info Chart[battlerealms.github.io] Let's go back to the Samurai - the Samurai deals massive cutting damage, but won't be very effective against the Musketeer, who is strong against blades. To make his situation worse, the Musketeer deals Explosive damage, one of the Samurai's two weaknesses. The interplay of these statistics not only builds a basic "what unit is good against what unit" balance system, but also gives players alternatives if they understand the damage system and a unit's strengths and weaknesses. BattleGearBattleGear are special upgrades that, unlike traditional RTS upgrades, are for individual units. Each clan acquires its BattleGear by different means: buildings are a common means, but some soldiers get them from other units or bizarre necromantic rites. Instead of just boosting a unit's stats, BattleGear upgrades were designed to give units versatility they wouldn't otherwise have. For example, the Dragon Archer has two BattleGear at his disposal. From the Fireworks Factory he gains the ability to launch fire arrows - normal arrows are ineffective against buildings, but fire arrows set them ablaze with ease. However, fire arrows are less effective against most units. Once the BattleGear has been acquired, it can be toggled with the press of a button. The Dragon Archer's other BattleGear, obtained by meditating in the Shrine, is the Zen Arrow. Zen Arrows have excellent range, and temporarily reveal the terrain around wherever they land. The choice is between a building-killer or a reconnaissance unit. Different BattleGear have different uses - some require stamina to use, others are limited count and others have unlimited use. Additionally, many of the game's BattleGear are designed to work in conjunction with the BattleGear of other units. By meditating at the shrine, the Powder Keg Cannoneer gains the Indirect Fire ability, allowing him to "hunker down" and fire great distances with the aid of a spotter. Naturally, players are incentivized to paint an enemy target with a Zen Arrow and use the abilities of the two units to better assault opponents from afar. Yin and YangA common problem in the traditional real-time strategy game is the tendency to "turtle up" in one's base until one has a sizable enough force to roll over all opposing forces in one great battle. By awarding Yin and Yang points based on performance in battle, Battle Realms incentivizes players to actually get out there and fight ¿ the more damage you deal to your opponent, the more of your "good" point you'll receive. The Dragon and Wolf Clan use the white Yang points, while the Lotus and Serpent use the Black Yin points. TechniquesYin and Yang have a number of uses, the most notable of which is the purchase of Techniques. Each training building has three techniques that can be purchased with the Yin or Yang points that the player has accumulated in battle. Techniques are global stat-based upgrades similar to those found in other real-time strategy games, such as damage and health boosts for particular unit classes. Mounting and the use of HorsesThe final of Battle Realms' many upgrades is the horse. While many games simply plop units on horseback for visual purposes, horses are real and distinct units in Battle Realms. Peasants capture horses, which are taken to the stables and domesticated. Any unit can use a horse once it has been domesticated. Horses provide a unit with a variety of bonuses: speed, stamina, health and damage. While most units mount the horse, some use the horse in other ways. The peasant, for example, uses the horse as a packhorse to streamline his harvesting operations. Not all clans use horses the same way. The Wolf Clan don't ride horses, but instead chop them up to feed the Packmaster's lupine escort. The Lotus Clan's first tier units can all mount, while stronger units can devour a horse to fuel some of their more devastating magic. Zen Masters, the Heroes of Battle RealmsEach clan has its share of heroic figures known as Zen Masters. Zen Masters are incredibly powerful units that can be purchased from each Clan's keep and deployed. In addition to their impressive stats, Zen Masters start with their own unique BattleGear abilities. These powers vary as widely as the heroes they stem from, ranging from impressive healing abilities to group teleports. Zen Masters are masters of their particular alignment, and benefit from the presence of Yin and Yang. As the player stores more Yin or Yang, the damage Zen Masters do in battle will gradually increase. Additionally, each Zen Master has a second, upgraded ability that replaces the first once the player has stockpiled a certain amount of Yin or Yang. For example, the Dragon hero Kazan can breath fire on an enemy for large amounts of damage, but can call forth a blazing phoenix spirit for massive area-of-effect damage if the player has five Yang points. However, Kazan will lose the phoenix ability should the player spend those Yang points on a Technique. Once again, the player has a choice - should I stockpile Yin and Yang to strengthen my Zen Masters, or would I be better served by purchasing a Technique? Each strategy has its time and place, and it's up to the player to weigh these options when spending his Yin and Yang. Line of SightRather than adopt the traditional shroud / fog of war combo, Liquid Entertainment has created its own line of sight and fog of war system. At the start of the game, the entire map is covered in fog of war. Fog of war is translucent, and thus players can see all features on the map. This allows players to look at the terrain and plan their assault with terrain in mind. Gaining control of the high ground and forests is an important strategy in Battle Realms, as the lack of sight wouldn't allow players to effectively strategize. TerrainAs in real battle, using the lay of the land to one's advantage is critical to victory. This is mostly represented by a damage bonus conferred to units that attack from higher ground. Additionally, units that attack from lower ground suffer a small damage penalty. Naturally, this is particularly effective for missile units, although melee units that attack from above will also benefit. ForestLike height, the forests in Battle Realms can be key components in a winning strategy. Forests are not obstacles, but rather terrain to be used. Troops can enter the forest and will be largely invisible to their opponents, since forests limit a unit's line of sight. As friendly units walk under the forest canopy, the trees fade to let the player see his own army. This allows for a variety of sneak attack options, which can be countered by placing units in or near the forest. Care must be taken when moving through the woods - move too quickly, and birds scatter from the trees, alerting enemy players to movement. BouldersA potentially devastating attack, boulders can be rolled downhill to squish units and deal large amounts of damage to buildings. Like the terrain and forests, boulders are visible through fog of war so players can plan their assaults around these natural wonders - players will definitely want to gain control of a map's boulders to use against his enemy or prevent them from being used agaist himself. Running and WalkingIn Battle Realms, most units can either run or walk. As one would expect, running gets the units to their destination faster. However, running also burns stamina. While many units don't have uses for stamina other than running, many units have abilities or BattleGear that draw on stamina to power them. Additionally, a unit that runs into battle and depletes his stamina won't be able to run out. Running offers players a number of choices - should I slowly sneak through the forest and save my stamina for special attacks, or should run in and try to catch them off guard? Stamina is gradually restored as a unit idles, allowing a unit to run, rest, then run again. Retreat While it seems like a not-so-novel concept, when has retreat actually been beneficial in other real-time strategy games? Since in other games, the number of units you throw at your enemy is limited only by your massive stockpile of resources, retreat is never a worthwhile option. In Battle Realms, because all units must be trained up from peasants, attempting to save as many of your units as possible is an important strategy. While it is possible to recover from defeat without doing this, the time saved is significant. After a few minutes resting, your units will be almost as good as new, ready to attack again. FireMany games use fire as a simple damage indicator, but Battle Realms uses fire…we ll, as fire. A number of units, such as the Serpent Clan Raider, can set buildings on fire. Burning buildings lose health and will eventually collapse. Peasants can be pulled away from other tasks to douse these infernos, allowing them to salvage the building and incentivizing the player to keep a staff of peasants on-hand for such occasions. As part of Battle Realms' "living world" system, rain slows the spread of fires and can naturally quell all but the hottest flames. The World is Alive: Presentation ElementsOne of the primary goals of the Battle Realms team was to create a lush, vibrant world that felt detailed and complete. Reflected in the intuitive versatility of the Living Resource System, this high concept is also represented by hundreds of minute details that bring the world of Battle Realms to life. Unit AnimationsWith a smaller number of total units, it became important for players to become attached to their units and their units' personalities. In order to do this, the units had to have more than a small number of monotonous animations. Thus every unit was given many more animations than the standard RTS unit. Instead of repeating a single sword swing, units unleash wild slashing combos upon their foes. Units limp back to their village after being wounded in battle, while the Kabuki Warrior juggles to lighten the spirits of his comrades. Environmental EffectsIn addition to giving the units many animations, we've populated the world with hundreds of minute details to make it feel more complete. Frogs hop through the swamp and fireflies gather around trees at night. As units walk through shallow riverbeds the water ripples, then splashes when the soldiers begin to run. Snippets of freshly cut leaves fall to the ground as peasants harvest rice. Maggots squirm on the ground after leaving the Infested One's rotting belly. WeatherBattle Realms' weather system is dynamic and complex. From a purely visual standpoint, the cloud cover is generated in real time and cloud shadows move across the terrain. Storms come and go with time, bringing rain and lightning with them. Though at first, the weather system appears to be just a visual effect, the weather can have a major impact on gameplay. Rain slows the advance of all units, extinguishes building fires and helps rice regrow faster. Some of the game's more powerful heroes can alter the weather to suit their clan's strategic needs. Hopefully, all of this attention to the little things will translate into a deep and satisfying gaming experience. -- IGN View the full article

Greetings from the team! The work on Battle Realms is ongoing, we are fully focused on recovering the multiplayer, and there are no plans to stop any soon. First things first, we'd like to thank everyone again for the overwhelming support you've shown since the first launch on Steam. It really means a lot to us, and we will reciprocate by bringing a better game to all of you. The updates are scarce and the work is generally slow since we're a small team at the moment, but what matters here is that we're moving things forward and are eager to release a new update that is 1.56. We can't say when it's going to be out yet, but we are sure you will have a better multiplayer experience. ;) Aside from that, expect more fixes and improvements as well as a significant gameplay change - Unit Collision. Patch 1.55 has introduced a change to collision that prevented units from being shifted or stacked together (in each other). This is how it was in 1.50q (Winter Of The Wolf) : Why was that done? Here's a reply from Ed Del Castillo: The soul of Battle Realms was always to draw from real life. This is a clear abuse and was never intended to work that way. As we begin to create the Battle Realms we should be about fixing broken issues rather than allowing them to persist because people are used to them. It was never my vision to have units stacked on one another and I would like it fixed.Therefore, that unit stacking won't be in the game from now on. However, the team understands the importance of having units close to each other and that the default game behavior may've also been extreme in a way, that's why the general collision has been readjusted. What does that mean? The units will be closer to each other by default. This may be adjusted further based on the overall feedback. You will be able to test this when the update 1.56 is out. We will be eagerly awaiting any feedback on that. Remember that you can always help us out by testing the current build of the game (1.55 - Steam) and reporting any strange occurences. You can do that in:The FB BR Community Group[www.facebook.com]. Steam Bugs & Troubleshooting Megathread. Here's some more useful links:Our Discord[discordapp.com]. Join up! Complete Info Chart[battlerealms.github.io]. Battle Realms on Facebook[facebook.com]. Battle Realms on Reddit. Battle Realms Wiki[battlerealms.fandom.com]. Till the next update! - The Battle Realms Team View the full article

We've released a small hotfix to readjust the FoV on 4:3 and 16:9 ratios for both Skirmish and Journey modes: - Fixed "extreme zoom-in" in Journeys. - 4:3 and 16:9 default FoV has been increased. Let us know what you think! - The Battle Realms Team View the full article

Hello everyone! Thank you for your patience. We are rolling out the first official update for Battle Realms after almost 17 years... Unbelievable... Time to eliminate some of the reported issues and improve the game! Also, in case you haven't seen it yet, Ed Del Castillo wrote a small letter to the fans not too long ago. As Mr. Del Castillo has pointed out, we're a small team of people dedicated to the cause. Crave Entertainment dissolved in 2012, Liquid Entertainment - in 2018. Ubisoft is no longer affiliated with Battle Realms either. There's no fully established company, only us for now, but we can definitely make things right and this update will hopefully prove that claim further. :) There is also a lot of confusion about BR being in Early Access now. In order to clear that up, we recommend visiting BR's store page once again and reading the special Early Access note where Ed Del Castillo explains what's going on and what the general plan is. Remember that you can always report any issues in this topic. Alright, now let's see what we've actually brought: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  Technical: Game version changed from 1.54 to 1.55. Fixed Steam MP lobby join / exit crashes. Fixed the Playlist crash. Fixed Steam MP lobby validation. Fixed lobby slot checkings in the lobby list. Fixed LAN interface. Fixed in-game invite feature. Fixed Steam Overlay interfering with the game controls. Now, when steam overlay is on, game controls are disabled. Fixed FoV zoom issues in campaign and skirmish. Fixed minimap issues for most maps. Fixed terrain textures not displaying properly, was especially noticeable on winter maps. Fixed cancel button in tech tree menu. If you're experiencing issues with black shadows multiplied around units and similar stuff, we recommend disabling Steam Overlay for now, it's a 100% working solution. Other than that, If you wait a little or alt-tab, this problem goes away, but can be triggered again by any Steam popup. We're looking into this. Steam Multiplayer is still giving us a headache. It's hit & miss at the moment, but now the whole team is focused on getting it stable for everyone (we want to play it just like you!). We can't provide any ETAs as of now, but we'll try to stabilize it as soon as possible. Gameplay: Fixed S (Stop), N (Stand Ground) and O (Passiveness) hotkeys not working properly. Fixed units not reloading on horses or towers. Fixed the "Resource Shifting" bug that allowed peasants to collect rice or water without delivering said resources to their peasant huts. Fixed a bug that allowed getting resources out of terrain. Fixed the resource exploit done by interacting with teammates' huts. Fixed a bug that occured whenever "S" hotkey was pressed or held in melee combat. The key was originally not supposed to work under those circumstances. Fixed Lotus Yin bug (cancelling a technique to generate more Yin pearls). Fixed the unit collision bug that allowed stacking units in each other by manipulating SHIFT or S, N and O hotkeys. Fixed Lotus Brothers ability to enter watchtowers (if Crypt rally point was set to any watchtower). Fixed the Townsquare cancel bug that allowed obtaining resources by manipulating the cancel upgrade/refund function. Fixed the invisible horses bug. Fixed Serpent Cannoneer's Smoke spam, ammo depletion & stackability bugs (the effects of smoke are no longer stackable). Fixed Lotus Acolyte & Adept attack bugs. Acolytes and Adepts no longer deal huge amounts of damage to Dragon huts or horses. Fixed Master Warlock's Soul Thresher bug that allowed MWs to shoot ST projectiles without consuming stamina. Fixed Wolf Slinger's Scorched Earth BG that would previously get stuck after first use. Changed Wildeye's weapon damage type from 'cutting' to 'blunt'. Wildeye dealing cutting damage was an oversight. Fixed the Stamina Ratio issue that allowed using "Whirling Spear" twice despite Spearmen not having enough stamina for the second use. Fixed Fan Geisha's Dark Pact BG. It no longer stacks. Unclean's Goo now reduces fire resistance by 50% instead of increasing it. Fixed Pack Master having a missile weapon, it's no longer the case. Fixed WOTW units not having any bonuses/penalties when on high/low ground. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Technical: Added Widescreen (FullHD) support. Works as it should, and will be further polished as the time goes. Made the cinematic LOD (Level Of Detail) selectable outside of campaigns. This lod unlocks high poly models with better textures, now available through the 'Very High' setting. Previous highest level of detail has been moved to the 'high' setting. Added new camera zoom. Improved Steam lobby interactions. Improved Steam lobby search performance. Gameplay: Improved input responsiveness. Units react to commands quicker. Improved minimap latency. Almost no delays now. Improved AI. Restored various visual FX for unit abilities, such as: - Archer's Stoic Calm (Innate ability) - Archer's Zen Arrow & Zenning (battle gear). - Lotus Brothers' Dark Blessing (battle gear). - Lotus T2 Units Rite Of Ascension (battle gear). - Horse Trample & Unit Trampled (battle gear & unit state). - Dragon Warrior's Inspiration (innate ability). - Damage Reduction (Unit state FX. Seen on Shinja's Intimidation and Chemist's Mandrake Spores). - Otomo's Battle Cry (battle gear). - Master Warlocks' Dark Lightning Ball (projectile). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Temporarily removed BOTs from Steam Multiplayer games as they need some additional treatment. Restored Bandit's Handcrossbow missing launch sound. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Updated all the original BR maps to the latest .bre format. We've done that in order to ensure that everyone plays the WOTW version of the game. We encourage all mapmakers to update all of their maps to this format. In order to diversify and expand the default map pool, we've made some changes: - - Max player count increased from to 2 to 4 for the following maps: Samana, Freedom, Inferno. - - Max player count increased from to 4 to 8 for the following maps:: Freedom, Valley Of Death, Dragon's Coast, Forested Delta, Gateway Valley, Lost Quarry, Odyssey, Passing In The Night, Ziggurat. The starting positions may be slightly altered now due to how the game controls them (mostly on maps that went through the "to-8" change). That's why the original versions of popular competitive maps that got close starting positions have also been preserved: - - (4) Valley Of Death, (6) Wheeler Canyon. If you see any unusual starting positions in some maps- let us know! As of now, we recommend setting the "Allies Nearby" option for games that have 4+ players. - - Other maps: - - - Plantation Plateaus- Max player count increased from 3 to 6. - - - Twisted Fate- Max player count increased from 4 to 6. - - - Survival- Max player count increased from 5 to 8. - - - Wheeler Canyon- Max player count increased from 6 to 8. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ That's about it! Leaving some links in here that you may find useful: Report any issues you experience in this topic. Our BR Discord Server[discordapp.com]. Complete Battle Realms Info Chart[battlerealms.github.io]. Battle Realms on Facebook[facebook.com]. Battle Realms on Reddit. Battle Realms Wiki[battlerealms.fandom.com] Merry Christmas and Happy Upcoming New Year! - The Battle Realms Team View the full article

It's confirmed now. TL;DR: The original BR + WOTW with Steam Online Multiplayer and some other improvements is coming to Steam Early Access. Some details of what to expect on release.

BRR Project lead here. 1.50r FoV is no different from 1.50q FoV. Resolution patch won't work with 1.50r as the two are different executables. The answer to your question is "no", use either one, there's no way to change the fov. And I personally advise to use the resolution patch as BRR project is no longer a thing that's worked on.

I am KoMiKoZa and thanks for sharing the information on here. Although now it's quite outdated and I suggest this topic should be deleted.

Hello! I was finally able to find something really really... golden. Jackpot! It's the Battle Realms Widescreen support hack/fix/patch and a program that changes Field Of View in the game (even on 4:3/5:4). I've decided to inform everyone about this amazing find, so here you are. This is the original site with the patch. This is an archive recompiled by me with instructions. HOORAY! REJOICE! Please, unpin the "Custom Resolution Patch" because it doesn't work properly and pin this instead, because this is exactly what people have been asking for. Attention: Works only with Winter Of The Wolf (A.k.a. 1.50q a.k.a. the latest GAME VERSION since 2002).

What you described is the same as blank minimap. It's a conflict between the game and your videocard. Assuming you have nVIDIA, go to its control panel, 3D settings tab, set antialising to 8x (or less, experiment with it) and set it to "override application". This should fix it.

So your screen is stuck in a certain area? Screenshots needed indeed... Or a video in this case? Try this: Edit-> Program Options-> "Far Clip Plane" to the maximum. Tinker with the scroll speed a bit. Try switching to game camera view (G hotkey).

Thank you for taking the time to explain. But as we are aware, your forums are not only BR- related, there are many discussions about very unrelated-to-BR stuff like Quantum Theories, for example. And many people who don't know about BR register at the forums because of the LifeStream thing. Which looks more out-of-the-place (to us at least) than the stuff on LotusClan. So there's basically no difference between this and your forum, LotusClan has it's own topic branch fully dedicated to BR. Same goes for the "lack of moderation". What's to moderate on here? Everyone is allowed to make topics, no spam here as well. + You can always ask @Mana for moderating privileges. Not sure about the vote- system either. Weird reasoning. Have you told them about these forums in the first place? But let's leave it for now. Anyway, we're admired by the amount of work you've done on your forums and we can only wish you a good luck!

Hello, Ben. May BRJokerz ask you why would you make another BR site instead of being active on this one? And why do you use different account to advertise it?

Synchronization means the game should work in the same way for every player . If someone has modified game files that may influence on the game mechanics, the sync-error will happen. Share your AI with friends better, just like maps.

"Couldn't connect" may mean a lot of different things. You need to be more particular about it, then we can help you to fix the problems.