How Classic RPGs Inspired Band of Crusaders' Real Time…

Band of Crusaders is a medieval strategy RPG set in a fantastical 1350 A.D. Europe. Stepping into the shoes of a Grandmaster, players must lead a knightly order against invading demonic forces and those would see the chaos as opportunity. It's the first title from Polish studio Virtual Alchemy, which also describes it as a love letter to personal games they enjoy. Band of Crusaders' devs cited many inspirations, including some potentially unexpected classic RPGs like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Although Band of Crusaders' European folklore vibes might bring games like The Witcher to mind, this wasn't a direct influence.

While this is still likely a good thing, Band of Crusaders also seeks to forge its own identity and utilize lesser-used mechanics of the past. Band of Crusaders uses real-time tactical combat, for example, which is much less common today. The Best War Games recently sat down with Band of Crusader s' CEO Dominik Sypnicki and art director Kamil Mickiewicz to learn more about the title.

Band Of Crusaders' Classic RPG Inspirations

Band of Crusaders overworld map screenshot

When asked about Band of Crusaders' gaming inspirations, Mickiewicz explained they focused on games they loved as kids. This includes Heroes of Might and Magic 3, which Mickiewicz pointed out has similarities to Band of Crusaders' campaign map. Band of Crusaders features a fully-simulated overworld map where players move crusaders and events unfold in real-time. While Mickiewicz added Band of Crusaders' RTS map plays out more like Mount & Blade: Bannerlord or Wartales, Mickiewicz hopes it may also bring back memories of playing Heroes of Might and Magic games. Heroes of Might and Magic also inspired Band of Crusaders' music as another point of connection, with Mickiewicz explaining how creating authentic medieval music with real instruments and Latin vocalists was important:

We have a very similar take on music in our campaign map because we emphasize male vocals a lot, and our music is, to a large degree, recorded live. We quickly understood that we wanted to strike this very genuine medieval tone, so live recording would be super crucial for us.

Band of Crusaders' Real-Time Combat And KOTOR Inspirations

While Heroes of Might and Magic is not necessarily that far a stretch, some players might be surprised to learn that BioWare's classic RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was also a big inspiration for Band of Crusaders. Although acknowledging it is not that similar overall, Mickiewicz said Band of Crusaders is "very much" like Knights of the Old Republic in terms of its Real Time with Pause (RTP) combat system, which features time-slow mechanics without full pause. This also reveals more about its origins, as Mickiewicz said:

Actually, the story of our development was that it was supposed to be a game like Knights of the Old Republic - of full pause under your space bar - or Pillars of Eternity. We were looking at those titles as inspirations. Since we technically did this with something called time dilation, we asked for the early prototype, which was this method.

Fans of early BioWare RPGs like Knights of the Republic may recall it used Real Time with Pause mechanics, wherein players can pause combat to queue up combat decisions. The effect was a mix of turn-based in a real-time combat environment, albeit with full pause. Later BioWare games like Dragon Age: Origins also use RTP, something Sypnicki added is another title players have compared Band of Crusaders to, as well as Diablo and Baldur's Gate 2, and adding it's "super cool" fans are drawing individual comparisons.

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