Patch #42 (BETA). 90 points of system improvements and balance changes

[p]Hello everyone, this is Dmitry.[/p][p]Today’s beta build doesn’t include any new features (some of our team members are currently on vacation), but it brings major balance updates. To be honest, some of these changes are quite experimental — even I don’t fully know how they’ll play out across different scenarios — so I strongly encourage you to play and share your feedback.[/p][p]Behind some of these improvements is a large amount of optimization and rewritten code, especially in how lords behave. Those annoying moments when a lord suddenly abandons his nearly finished knowledge study to do something random should now be gone. Also, every task’s tooltip now shows why a lord can’t perform it at the moment.[/p][p]We’ve also made a number of updates to global map politics. Your vassals will now be less loyal to you — especially those of a different or hostile culture — and to maintain their goodwill, you’ll be able to revoke tribute payments.[/p][p]In addition, there are many changes to criminal behavior, forest bandits, and prisoners, as well as adjustments to food and alcohol balance. Vagabonds will now steal more valuable goods and try to escape — and guards have learned to chase them down, so the city gates now act as chokepoints (a good spot to post a guard!).[/p][p]On the bright side, we’re getting very close to finishing the new map generation system, and the maps are turning out much more interesting than the ones I assembled manually. They still need integration into the game, but I expect we’ll release them next month.[/p][p]And before you dive into our legendary patch notes, don’t forget to leave a review on our page and join the beta branch to help us continue improving the game experience for everyone.[/p][p]All saves are compatible.[/p][p]Thank you.[/p][hr][/hr][h2]Full Changelog[/h2][h3]Buildings and Assets[/h3]

[p]Updated assets for buildings with plazas — Hall, Altar, Den, and Market. The plaza now occupies the entire building area without a half-tile margin.[/p]
[p]Characters can now enter the Temple through any door, not just the lower one.[/p]
[p]Updated model for the Chancellery.[/p]

[h3]Interface and Notifications[/h3]

[p]Added an on-screen notification when a lord gains a romantic rival.[/p]
[p]Added a new filter in the Relations menu: “Spouses and Children.”[/p]
[p]The mercenary recruitment menu now displays soldier equipment; four mercenaries will have starting weapons and armor.[/p]
[p]Mercenary tooltips now show whether their contract has expired.[/p]
[p]Added tooltips and status messages for “Preach” and “Study Knowledge” actions, explaining their function and why they can’t be performed right now.[/p]
[p]If the player cannot cancel a command, the tooltip now specifies the reason.[/p]
[p]Added detailed explanations for why certain tasks cannot be forced.[/p]
[p]Fixed icon and number alignment in tooltips (e.g. gold amounts no longer break into separate lines).[/p]

[h3]Character Behavior, Orders, and AI[/h3]

[p]Conspiracy activities are now marked as important — the player cannot override them.[/p]
[p]The cancellation event for conspiracies now includes the initiator’s name.[/p]
[p]Guest traits Schemer and Duelist are now displayed at the top of the trait list.[/p]
[p]Reworked the guest role “Duelist.”[/p]
[p]Tasks assigned by guests now appear in the task list of both the executor and the target.[/p]
[p]Duels are no longer considered “bad” — relations with the Matriarch won’t worsen if the duelist isn’t from the player’s faction.[/p]
[p]Updated the activity selection algorithm: bad mood or low hunger/sleep/rest no longer fully block actions; they’ll just happen less frequently.[/p]
[p]Task priority is now divided into three levels — assignment (low), self-initiated (high), and player command (highest).[/p]
[p]Knowledge study tasks now have higher priority so they aren’t interrupted by other lords.[/p]
[p]Dates are now only canceled when sex begins, not when the date starts.[/p]
[p]The Date button now checks for nervous breakdowns.[/p]
[p]Characters having a mental breakdown can no longer carry others.[/p]
[p]Guests with the Lothario role no longer flatter — they now spend time seducing.[/p]
[p]Guest tasks can no longer be forced.[/p]
[p]Removed the old character menu code (previously used for animals). Animals now use the standard character menu.[/p]
[p]Many orders now use the treasury instead of lords’ personal funds.[/p]
[p]Added a flag for “problematic” houses with negative comfort.[/p]
[p]Added positive and negative thoughts based on the distance between home and workplace.[/p]

[h3]Needs, Traits, and Actions[/h3]

[p]Added a new Need task button — “Drink Alcohol,” shown when a character has the Alcohol Addiction trait and wants to drink.[/p]
[p]Added “Drink Nectar” for the Nectar Addiction trait.[/p]
[p]Added detailed explanations for why a character cannot perform an assigned “Study Knowledge” task.[/p]
[p]Added “Play Dice” for Gambler characters who aren’t currently thinking about playing.[/p]
[p]Reworked the needs satisfaction buttons (Eat, Sleep, Bribe Peasant for Sex) — they now appear only if the character has the matching trait and thought.[/p]
[p]Added explanations for why “Play Dice” cannot be performed.[/p]
[p]Inspiration is no longer gained from fulfilling a dream; it now appears when a lord wakes up with mood ≥ 90.[/p]

[h3]World, Crime, and Events[/h3]

[p]Thugs can now rob the Hall, not just lord houses.[/p]
[p]Vagabonds now steal the most valuable non-equipment resources from warehouses and flee town; guards will attempt to stop any bandit leaving after a crime. If caught, all stolen goods go to the player’s warehouse.[/p]
[p]On Peaceful difficulty, a bandit camp will appear in the player’s province on Day 4 (once per save).[/p]
[p]After migration due to war ends, a bandit camp may appear in the player’s province if none exists.[/p]
[p]Bandit camps now attack every 3–5 days instead of 4–6.[/p]
[p]If a camp has 7+ bandits, one may join incoming migrants.[/p]
[p]The “Church is Displeased” counsel will no longer appear if “Matriarch Enraged” is active.[/p]
[p]Forest bandits attacking the player’s city will now steal gold from the Hall instead of resources.[/p]

[h3]Economy and World Map[/h3]

[p]Book prices doubled.[/p]
[p]Reworked letters from unique guests, prophecies, and Inquisition warnings — now end with “Click to read the message.”[/p]
[p]If a vassal has walls, their military power counts as doubled when calculating rebellion chance. During rebellion, other vassals with relations < -25 will join with 100% chance, < -15 with 50%.[/p]
[p]Walls also double perceived strength in the “Might of Liege’s Army” thought.[/p]
[p]Removed the “Trade Agreement” thought (it’s now covered by daily trade relations).[/p]
[p]Vassals of different cultures now gain a negative thought toward their suzerain; if the culture is hostile, the effect is stronger. Added a tooltip warning about this when vassalizing.[/p]
[p]Tribute offerings now scale with the AI’s total army value.[/p]
[p]Added a new quest: “Demand to Remove Tribute.” It can appear if a vassal’s strength ≥ 50% of the player’s and relations < 0.[/p]
[p]Added “Remove Tribute” and “Restore Tribute” actions in vassal cities on the global map.[/p]
[p]Kings now gain a positive thought toward neighboring rulers of the same culture who are under a foreign king’s rule.[/p]
[p]Allies now send 100% of their troops (up from 70%) to assist other alliance members, keeping only a garrison behind.[/p]

[h3]Food, Addictions, and Misc. Balance[/h3]

[p]Added negative thoughts from consuming flour and carrots (lords and soldiers only).[/p]
[p]The turnip thought is now 1.5× stronger and lasts twice as long for lords and soldiers on all difficulties.[/p]
[p]The meat thought is weaker and shorter.[/p]
[p]Alcohol thoughts are now half as strong for lords.[/p]
[p]Fixed bugs where characters rarely developed alcohol addiction from beer or moonshine.[/p]
[p]Fixed hangovers triggering only after beer, not moonshine or ale.[/p]
[p]Reduced flowers per bush from 3 to 2; daily regrowth chance lowered from 10% to 6.6%.[/p]
[p]Brewing now produces 1 ale per 1 flower and 1 hop (previously 2).[/p]
[p]Added negative interest modifier between characters with different counts of Holy Rings.[/p]
[p]Dice game stakes raised to 100 coins; win/loss thoughts now last 24 hours (up from 4) and are stronger.[/p]

[h3]Misc. Fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed a bug where ongoing global map orders were canceled after loading.[/p]
[p]Changing preferred social stratum now triggers job recalculation.[/p]
[p]Fixed king culture icon position when zooming out on the world map.[/p]
[p]Fixed error when pressing Q or E while all lords were on the opposite map layer.[/p]
[p]Fixed missing tooltip for “Punish” order when no scaffold was built.[/p]
[p]Fixed task progress indicators not appearing until reopening the city menu.[/p]
[p]Fixed lord capture and execution logic — lords no longer consider executions “dishonorable” if ordered by the king.[/p]
[p]Fixed self-targeting tasks (deposit/withdraw money, punishments).[/p]
[p]Fixed reward desire persisting after a character became king.[/p]