Hello everyone, I'm Ellis from the Team Century. First of all, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and I also want to thank our friends who are still following us for their patience and support. It’s been a long time since we discussed the development of "In the Name of Jerusalem II" (aka. INJ2) here. I often receive private messages or comments asking if everything is going smoothly and how the progress is, but it’s hard to summarize, so I haven’t replied to most of them. Now that 2024 is coming to an end, I've put together a development yearbook for INJ2 over the past year to address all the players who care about and are waiting for this project, and to introduce the plans and arrangements the Team Century has for INJ2 in 2025.
Part. I: Team Introduction
First, let me introduce the team behind INJ2. We are an established team originate from the Mount & Blade Chinese community. We were initially formed in 2011 by Yifeng, Da-M, and others, and later welcomed many enthusiastic community members, including myself. Before the "Warband era" (pre 2020s), we released several mods such as "16th Century Northern Hemisphere," "Fifty Years of Humanity," "In the Name of Jerusalem," and "Frenzia." Since the release begin of the "Bannerlord era" (which began with the release of the mod editor at the end of 2020), Our team has started working on "In the Name of Jerusalem II." And have become a diverse international modding team.
There were definitely some lively times in the Team Century, with many talented community developers coming together to discuss and create several Modding projects. But as the days whizzed by, most people have left. Over nearly four years of INJ2's development, we've received a lot of help from friends both at home and abroad, but the ones still active and working on the main game content (technical works, coding, modeling, etc.) are me and Yifeng, along with a few others who help manage the community, helping with text content, providing historical advise, and assist in designing game-related historical elements.
At the end of 2022, after the official Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord release and update, the game became quite stable overall. So, we quickly comes together and launched the first internal test version of INJ2 for team members during the Chinese New Year of 2023. At that time, this version only had GFX resources, a bare bone campaign map, and very limited logical code. Over the next year, with valuable testing data and suggestions provided by Buddy (content creator) and other internal tester, INJ2 completed its own combat balancing and built a solid foundation for many basic systemic framework. Then, during the 2024 Spring Festival, the development team started recruiting old players from the community of INJ1, longtime member of our discord server and history enthusiasts to continue testing and providing feedback on the development of INJ2. Thanks to the precious time they spent giving us feedback, INJ2 was able to maintain a healthy development cycle throughout 2024, continually providing energy and great ideas for us as main developers.
Part. II: Project Progress
Although due to the size of our team and everyone's limited energy, INJ2 has never been a fast-paced development project, it has been steadily improving and progressing. Since 2021, I've had a clearer goal in mind with Yifeng, and we can roughly see the final form of INJ2; in fact, we're quite close to it now. Below, I'll briefly introduce the main progress we've made in 2024:
1. Religion System:
Religion is the first development focus for 2024. Compared to INJ1, we plan to present a more engaging system that can participate in the larger gameplay cycle. So, we've added four main religions in the mod (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, the Apostolic Church, and Sunni Islam), each with various traits that provide different bonuses and restrictions for their followers, and each religion has multiple branches (schools, sects, patron saints, etc.) that offer more detailed branch values. Every character that appears in the game now has their own piety points, which change based on the character's interactions, similar to the original influence system. Additionally, we've added a whole new set of "theological" skills to the religious gameplay.
You can check out Buddy's previous videos for a more detailed introduction (Please turn on subtitle and auto translation for a better viewing experience on YouTube) :Youtu.be
2. Language and Education System:
This concept was initially proposed by Yifeng three years ago. The geopolitical landscape of the Eastern Mediterranean is incredibly complex, with a multitude of ethnicities and cultures. How to communicate and govern the residents has also been a significant issue for historical rulers. Therefore, we designed languages for each culture in the game, with each character having their own native language and the ability to learn new ones. If there's a mismatch in language proficiency during interactions with a character, certain dialogues and options will be unavailable. Mastering languages will unlock a wealth of communication options and a common gameplay element in the faction, which is reading. Additionally, we've added a whole new set of "Scholar" skill sets for this gameplay feature.
You can check out Buddy's previous videos for a more detailed introduction (Please turn on subtitle and auto translation for a better viewing experience on YouTube) :Youtu.be
3. Titles, Claims, and Political Systems:
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has never really done a great job of simulating the politics of medieval nobility, and the biggest issue is the lack of a "feudal" concept. For INJ2, we've introduced this idea, similar to the Crusader Kings series, where each settlement on the campaign map is assigned a title and has its own hierarchy and vassal relationships. When you acquire a piece of land, you need to spend resources and time to establish your claim and seize that title, meaning that establishing your rule won't be instantaneous. If you lose the land and you have a claim, you'll be able to reclaim it in a short time before the enemy legitimized their rule, and the ruler of your realm will directly return the land to you as you have its claim.
In the framework of the feudal title system, everyone except for the monarch has their own superior and subordinate titles, and some feudal gameplay systems will be going based on this rule. On this basis, we've added three types of governance: imperial, feudal, and tribal. Each faction has its own governance type, and their feudal framework will vary greatly. For instance, the Kingdom of Jerusalem under the Franks operates in a feudal system, meaning that only grand nobles with in-game titles of level three or higher can form army and invite their direct vassals to participate. Vassals can also then invite their own vassals, and this process doesn't require any influence cost due to feudal obligations. On the other hand, the Seljuks' Sultanate of Rum operates as a tribal governance system, where all family leaders and the first heirs of families can form legions and invite other family members to join. However, if those invited hold higher feudal titles, it will require a significant amount of influence. Additionally, we've introduced a whole new set of "lord" skills for this gameplay.
Aside from those, there are many other elements within the feudal framework, which I won't go into detail about here.
4. Fief Management:
M&B2 has a city and castle building system, but the process is slow and the impact on gameplay loop are minimal. Plus, the importance of villages has been significantly reduced from the previous game (Warband), making them feel optional. We’ve made major changes to address this in INJ2.
Firstly, due to the feudal framework, villages can now be granted individually. Once you acquire the title of a village, you can recruit and build within that village. In addition to the original number of households, we’ve also added slaves. Using infrastructure and transferring war prisoners can supply the village with slaves to perform various types of hard labor. Besides the usual building construction, villages can now also set up small industries. A village with multiple industries can gain new headman and a variety of products, and the output speed of each product will depend on how you allocate your workforce—like, for instance, slaves working better in copper mines while villagers are more suited for wheat fields—as well as the seasons—every product has its off and growth periods. We hope these systems can provide a better sense of fief management without requiring players to micro-manage constantly.
You can check out Buddy's previous videos for a more detailed introduction (Please turn on subtitle and auto translation for a better viewing experience on YouTube) :Youtu.be
5. Cultural Conversion:
After seizing a territory, it's still necessary to make the people submit to your rule. However, looking at medieval history, there are very few instances of example that completely wiping out the local population in a short period of time. So instead of opting for a blunt cultural transformation, we introduced a more reasonable concept—cultural acceptance. The settlements on the campaign map have a cultural acceptance value for various cultures in the game. Initially, the original culture has a 100% acceptance rate, but when a new foreign ruler comes to power, the locals will start to accept the ruler's culture, which will also lower their acceptance of the previous culture. This progression will depend on the skills, religion, language, and other traits of the ruler or appointed governor. As cultural acceptance increases, negotiations can be made with local headmen to propose that they change their culture or simply expel them (if you can't speak their language). By winning over these local figures, more lance (troop) can be recruited in the fief, allowing for deeper management.
You can check out Buddy's previous videos for a more detailed introduction (Please turn on subtitle and auto translation for a better viewing experience on YouTube) :Youtu.be
6. Socializing in Court and Marriage System:
One reason that interactions with NPCs in M&B2 lack immersion is due to the overflow of values caused by family-shared relation value and charm level. It's quite easy to find yourself in a situation where, after saving a lord from captivity, the entire family is now grateful toward you, or after you’ve wiped out a lord's entire family, you release him at the end of a battle and suddenly he have immense gratitude towards you because of your high charm skill. It just doesn’t hold up to immersion and lacks playability.
We decided a long time ago to change the affinity system to a one-value-per-person model, similar to warband, and we've been continuously adding content to it. For example, we brought in a few features in INJ2: feast/banquet, hunting and sending/receiving gifts.
Just like in the Warband, larger nobles of the realm will host feasts on their own lands(castle and city) and invite others from their faction to join. These banquets bring a ton of influence and prestige to the host and offer a social setting where they can relax and build relation with the other attendees daily (who stay at the location during the event). During the feast, there are also hunting activities where participants can hone their skills and bond with others while taking down rare games for high rewards. Plus, we’ve added a lot of unique items that can be given as gifts to others.
In terms of marriage, we continue to absorb the good aspects from the Warband. When you meet a noble of the opposite sex and have develop crushes, he or she will write a letter inviting you to meet up and advance the relationship. Once the mutual feelings between you reach a certain level, you can discuss the prospect of marriage with them. The proposal process involves negotiating a marriage contract with the other person's parents or clan leader, where you'll cover details about the bride price or dowry, and you can even ask for a piece of land as a part of the deal.
Besides that, our old friends from the Warband—the bards are back. They travel in and out of various courts, each with their own unique personality and traits. You can hire them to promote you in the kingdom—whether it’s your charm with women, your prowess in the arena, or your knowledge and piety, all of these can bring you different boosts. Of course, they’ll also stick to their old craft—teaching you poetry to impress the noble ladies.
7. Forge and Workshop:
The vanilla forging system was pretty useless and ended up being a money-making grind. But in INJ2, we’ve balanced the prices for forging weapons and added a armor forging system. Now, high-level armor doesn’t just show up in stores; you need to build unique armor workshops building to produce it or forge it yourself. Besides the basic metals from the Bannerlord , we’ve also added materials like silk, gold, silver, copper, and leather for crafting and producing armor. For instance, a regular lamellar armor piece requires iron for the plates, leather for the lining and straps, and wool for the inner padding; while high-end lamellar armor also needs copper and silver for decorations, along with silk for fancier straps and linings. If you’re worried that your forging skill is too low and don’t want to grind for it, no need to worry! Each city has a few local craftsmen that you can hire once you reach a friendly relationship with them. Their skills and culture will determine what kinds of armor and weapons they can craft for you, as well as how long the production time would takes.
8. Court Officials:
Aside from feudal titles, every regime has a series of court positions that aren't in conflict with these titles. Each official position comes with its own salary, influence bonuses, and special functions, depending on the ability of the person holding the position. Some positions are directly appointed by the ruler, while others can be elected through voting. Players can use their influence to gather other nobles to vote someone out of their position, and then run for the position themselves, or nominate their friends.
The current court system are still under active development. Among them, the Roman(Byzantine) court structure are the most complexed. In addition to the completed functions mentioned above, we also plan to include more details in the future.
9. Health and Illness:
Unlike the common plagues system found in other games, INJ2’s health and illness system is more RPG-like. Each character has a health level that depends on recent events, resting places, diet, hygiene conditions, and more. When a person's health level drops, they might get sick. We’ve added some common, curable diseases from the medieval era to the game, each with negative effects that decrease the health value daily. Visiting a doctor, buying right medications, and improving hygiene can help manage the illness until the recovery. If health levels drop to 0 and the character collapses on the battlefield, that character will die immediately.
10. Siege:
In the Eastern Mediterranean region, there have historically been many famous castles. Due to limited manpower and time, we can only present some representative ones, focusing on level design rather than just visual presentation. After all, purely enjoying the scenery without proper combat gameplay in "Mount & Blade" can be somewhat lame; the focus is on participating in exciting offensive and defensive siege battles. Our plan is to create 1-3 castle scenes for each region and culture, and we have currently achieved 30%-40% of this goal. We will continue to emphasize this aspect in 2025 and future.
(A few preview of our new castle designs, based on historical locations)
In addition to the castle scenes, we have also made some modifications to the siege battles. First, we improved the defending AI. The original defending AI, combined with poor level design, often led to the defenders being easily overwhelmed, rendering the walls ineffective. We made some adjustments to the AI, allowing them to better utilize the terrain and walls, and to change their strategies more intelligently. Now, in certain situations, the defenders can achieve very impressive kill and death ratios, which we have already verified in internal testing.
After adjusting the AI, the KD exchange ratio in siege is quite high. Additionally, the defending side will sallying out to conduct raid, killing the besiegers and destroying their siege equipment. All of this adds more interesting details to the siege warfare, making the difficulty much greater than the original straightforward siege.
(Screenshot of AI sallying out)
In addition, we will continue to work on the siege gameplay improvement and will announce it to the community upon completion.
11. GFX (Scene Models, Character Equipment)
Since we have already invested a lot of time in research and modeling armor and weapons from the 12th century over the past few years, this section honestly does not require much effort anymore. Therefore, we are focusing more on adding hairstyles, everyday clothing, jewelry, cloaks, and horse gear. After all, in addition to warfare, we have also added a lot of content related to daily life and the court, and these areas deserve a better sense of immersion.
In addition, we have created several new village scenes, all inspired by archaeological research and some locally representative landscapes. Even if you don't visit the villages for leisure, it doesn't matter—sooner or later, you will see them when you raid a village or encounter enemies near the village.
Part. III: Plans for the future
This is part of the work from Team Century in 2024, and many details have not been showcased. However, it can be seen that over the past two years, we have added a lot of content to INJ2 and refined it. Some friends might say, "It looks like it's ready, why not release it?" The answer is simple: We aren't pursuing perfection. In fact, it's not that we are pursuing perfection, but after summarizing and learning from the experiences of releasing INJ1 and other previous works of the team, we believe that a relatively complete and polished mod can provide the best experience and impression for everyone at launch. A game full of bugs and illogical elements will only waste players' time. Additionally, our team is indeed limited in size, so we ask for your patience and understanding as we work towards delivering a more complete and enjoyable INJ2.
In 2025, we plan to finish the planned castles (still requiring at least seven or eight scenes for the initial public release), optimize the performance of models and maps, finish the court political struggles and succession (system planning has already been completed), and work on the details of the above systems. Additionally, we need to localize and test the mod. If all these goals are successfully achieved, the day of INJ2's initial public testing release should not be that far off.
Editor note: This is just a report of what we had done and planned for 2024 and the near future. There are a lot of feature and detail that we did not include in this blog. Feel free to ask us on Discord (link in the summary of our ModDB page) and ModDB. You might also notice some English grammar and spelling error from our screenshot, as our main technical dev's first language is not English and our proofreading process is still ongoing. More of that on our discord.
Translate & edit by Valkyrie.Yukikaze, with help of AI.
