1866: Reloaded

for Mount & Blade v1.011

What Does This Mod Do?

This is a fan-made expansion of the original 1866 mod for Mount & Blade, with the best additions of the Resurrected mod included, and with my additions of storyline fixes, tons of new Western-themed music, upscaled textures, and more.

What is the 1866 Mod?

Here's the summary ChatGPT wrote for me:

The 1866: Western mod for Mount & Blade offers players an immersive journey into the American Wild West of 1866, providing a comprehensive total conversion that transforms the game's medieval setting into a landscape characterized by vast prairies, dusty towns, and the rugged charm of the frontier. This mod introduces players to a rich tapestry of historical elements, including iconic weaponry of the era, authentic attire, and diverse factions inspired by the complex dynamics of the Old West. From lawmen to outlaws, players can choose their path, engaging in intense gunfights, cattle herding, and strategic battles amidst the backdrop of a dynamically evolving Wild West. The mod's meticulous attention to historical accuracy and its incorporation of Western aesthetics contribute to an engaging and authentic experience, making the 1866 mod a standout choice for those seeking to immerse themselves in the untamed spirit of the American frontier with the gameplay of the Mount & Blade universe.

Note: all screenshots featured on this page were taken many years ago, on the original 1866 mod, and don't represent the texture improvements of my mod.

Why Did You Mod a Mod for a Mod?

I first played the 1866 mod probably over 10 years ago. Since then, even today it stands as my favorite game mod of all time, and legitimately one of the best spaghetti-Western game experiences you can find. However, it wasn't without its flaws, namely an unfinished main questline, limited soundtrack, unfinished scenes, minor bugs, limited item and troop variety, and dated graphics owing to its age. The Resurrected mod by blaise.alexander breathed new life into 1866 by adding in some great additions, but common QoL changes, a better soundtrack, and minor polish were still wanting.

That's why I began to address every niggling issue I found with the mod (and, indeed, Mount & Blade itself... looking at you, Cattle Escort missions), and after about a month's worth of non-stop work and research, doing everything I possibly could without access to the original module code, I felt somewhat compelled to publish my work as a thank-you to both blaise.alexander for reigniting my love for 1866, and of course to the original 1866 developers for their incredible work.

List of Features

• Tons of QoL improvements--taken from the TaleWorlds 82 Tweaks Compilation thread and others--to make gameplay less tedious, some quests less frustrating, and make effort more rewarding


• Reverse-engineered free-camera mode code added to more scenes, so that the battle continues even after the player has fallen in even more scenes


• New, higher-quality, accurate sound effects for firearms, made from Hickok45 videos of the very firearms the sounds are for, painstakingly implemented to be as accurate as possible in-game, as much as possible


• Upscaled UI, environment, item, character, and many more textures make the game look crisp on modern PC monitors


• Brand new, custom-made UI with a Western flavor (new elements made by me, but some elements adapted from the Resurrection mod and altered to make text/items more legible)


• Thorough rewriting of various untouched vanilla M&B dialogue lines to make them fit into the era of the mod, as well as spelling and grammar fixes to numerous 1866 lines


• New spaghetti-Western, Mexican, Indian, American, and regular Western music--from a whole host of sources including games, movies, and TV shows--all with high fidelity, and coded to play in appropriate situations thanks to a painstaking process of research and reverse-engineering, help keep the player fully immersed in their character's shoes


• New optional voice lines for Mexican commands with better pronunciation, quality, and (hopefully) grammar; and new, creepy voice SFX for zombies


• Main quest changes to keep incomplete quests from getting permanently stuck in your log, or from ruining your game, and without erasing all of them altogether; complete but not fully implemented side quest changes to make them completable, with their own reward tiers, and with appropriate dialogue


• AI pathing fixes for certain scene locations


• All the new items, skins, animations, guns, troops, objects, and scenes of the Resurrected mod, but without some of the jank (like broken music, certain item inconsistencies, certain troop issues, UI illegibility, etc.)


• Probably even more that I can't remember, since I started modding 1866 over two years ago and, over time, built it to what it is now

Compatibility

• This mod is ONLY for the original Mount & Blade, v1.011. The free version available at TaleWorlds (https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/MountAndBlade) works flawlessly for me, and you should be able to activate it using your existing CD key, even if your version is from GOG or Steam, I believe.


• The GOG version of the game is NOT the same; there's some discrepancy in "mount&blade.exe", or in some other file, that may make the game throw lots of errors while playing 1866: Reloaded.


• I don't know about the Steam version; it's safest to just use the TaleWorld's version.


• No vanilla files are overwritten, except for the optional (but highly recommended) font file, in order to get higher-res text; therefore, the mod should work alongside any other module installed.

Credits

yellowmosquito and all the contributors of the original 1866 mod.
blaise.alexander for the new items, troops, etc. added by his mod.
See the included [Credits].txt file for Resurrected mod's credits.