Norland News

[h2]Hello everyone, [/h2][p]this is Dmitry.[/p][p]With this patch (which once again goes to the Beta channel, and the public update will be released to the main branch in a week), we are finishing improvements to the core gameplay. Starting next week, we will move on to the long-awaited story generation features – crime and justice, aggression, intimidation, blackmail, deeper character personalities and traits, intrigues using weaknesses, and so on. In addition, in the conservative branch we continue working on new buildings and resources and are moving quickly toward climate and seasons. By the way, we have decided to bring back barracks for warriors (in one of the nearest update).[/p][p]This patch solves two problems – mood management and tool transparency.[/p][p][/p][h2]Mood management [/h2][p]The main problem with mood right now is that there are many tools to increase it, but first, their effects are not transparent, and second, once you solve the migration issue, these tools become mostly unnecessary. That is, they work to solve a problem, but do not work to provide advantages. To address this, we took the existing inspiration mechanic for lords, expanded it to peasants and warriors, unified everything into a single system, and significantly improved tool transparency.[/p][p][/p][h3]Energy surges[/h3][p]All characters (except prisoners) who wake up happy in the morning receive an energy surge that lasts for 2 days (for lords it remains +5 to all skills for 1 day). [/p]

• [p]For warriors this is +7 to Combat skill. [/p]
• [p]For peasants this means +50% productivity (including construction).[/p]

[p]Buildings now have two priorities – prisoners and energized peasants.[/p][p]The ways to achieve this mood can be any. Nectar gives +50 mood (and its negative effects have been reduced). The effects from housing comfort, alcohol, and punishment spectacles have been increased. Sermons of Hope also work very well, which your king, politician, or Bishop can deliver at the temple among their followers at your request (this allows you to use their political popularity for your own purposes).[/p][p]Thus, you can endlessly invest resources into the happiness of your subjects (and if migration becomes too high, it can always be disabled).[/p][p][/p][h2]Transparency[/h2][p]We made the tools more transparent. [/p]

• [p]Descriptions of alcohol, food, nectar, punishments, and sermons now provide clear data on mood bonuses during the day. [/p][p][/p][p][/p]
• [p]In addition, you can now click on any object on the map and get information about it – this applies to trees, bushes, and resource deposits. [/p][p][/p]
• [p]When starting the game and choosing a location for the Hall, map entry points will also be shown. [/p]
• [p]In the King’s Eye, you can now see the average happiness of the residents living in houses, and when selecting a church or another public building, the total amount of money owned by the residents of that building. [/p][p][/p][p][/p]
• [p]In the politician interface, it is now much clearer who holds which powers.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Other stuff[/h2]

• [p]At your request, we have brought back wolves finishing off lords to death and reduced the cost of moving a building back to 5 wood. [/p]
• [p]Also, based on your feedback, we removed the negative bonus for not having a place of prayer, serious injuries during training, and inheriting gray hair. [/p]
• [p]We removed relationship requirements for Wise Conversation, Slander, and the Gift from a Lord. To invite another lord to your court, it is now enough to have good relations with his king (this will make it easier to collect special knowledge from the Global Map). [/p]
• [p]Since there are now more trees, we rebalanced them, as well as the balance of bushes. [/p]
• [p]We added another source of organic influence growth – training fighters. [/p]
• [p]Now, when a politician gains influence comparable to that of your king, he receives the status of Contender, and only then begins to put forward demands for a change of power. The change of power itself is now much less painful.[/p]

[p]As always, we count on your feedback and suggestions, and stay in touch – the most interesting part is just beginning.[/p][p][/p][h2]How to switch to Beta channel[/h2][p]RMB on the game in Steam Library and then go to Game Versions and Betas[/p][p][/p][h2]Full list of changes[/h2][p][/p][h3]Local Map[/h3]

• [p]When loading an old save without berry bushes and Stone, these resources will now appear on the map and will not overlap[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where resource bushes were generated in very small clusters; they now generate in larger patches[/p]
• [p]Added entry point indicators to provinces in the map preview after starting a new game and before the Hall is built[/p]
• [p]Increased the number of harvested bushes that regenerate each day[/p]
• [p]Berries on bushes are now less bright[/p]
• [p]Chopped trees are now harvested faster, but yield less Wood[/p]
• [p]Fixed saving of map entry points to file; entry points are now calculated only during map generation or when loading old saves[/p]
• [p]Removed old tree assets; when loading old saves, trees are now replaced with new ones[/p]
• [p]Trees, stone clusters, bushes, and hop fields are now clickable and open a menu[/p]
• [p]Trees now grow 1 unit every 10 hours instead of 5 units every 50 hours[/p]
• [p]Improved resource distribution during map generation[/p]
• [p]Reduced the chance of generating maps with a long hill that has a passage on one side[/p]
• [p]Tightened map generation rules to ensure sufficient accessible space for the player[/p]
• [p]Dry trees no longer grow in place of chopped trees[/p]
• [p]Minor adjustments to lake and mountain size and count in the local map generator[/p]
• [p]Tutorial is available again; replaced the tutorial local map[/p]
• [p]Added edge blockers on the local map; they are applied at the start of a new game (e.g., in Turnow the right and top edges are blocked)[/p]

[p][/p][h3]AI[/h3]

• [p]Pack wolves will finish off their opponents in combat again[/p]
• [p]Bandits now gain a positive “Crime in the City” thought after committing a crime instead of a negative one[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where combat did not end after three guard strikes on a fleeing prisoner or bandit, as each guard calculated its own three strikes; only one guard now engages a fleeing prisoner, the fight ends in one hit, and guards use weapons[/p]
• [p]Residents no longer idle around the Hall; for social relaxation and drinking alcohol (if no Taverns are available), they now choose squares, including the Hall square[/p]
• [p]Homeless residents no longer attend sermons[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Characters[/h3]

• [p]If a lord has a desire to visit a grave, this activity now has higher priority[/p]
• [p]A lord who trained soldiers on the Training Field now has a 10% chance to gain loyalty from those soldiers[/p]
• [p]Gray hair color is no longer inherited by children[/p]
• [p]During training fights, soldiers now receive only light bruises and minor injuries[/p]
• [p]Prisoners can no longer have loyalty to lords and therefore cannot be Loyalists or Fanatics[/p]
• [p]Loyalists no longer have a productivity bonus[/p]
• [p]Peasants gain the “Energetic” trait at 8:00 AM and after a sermon if their mood is ≥75[/p]
• [p]Set the duration of thoughts for transferring the ruler’s crown and heir crown to 5 days; a lord receiving the crown now gains a positive thought[/p]
• [p]Politicians, player lord puppets, and politician followers no longer leave the player faction due to −50 relations with the ruler; a notification is shown if a lord leaves a province[/p]
• [p]Reduced experience gained from the “Training” order so children cannot reach skill level 14+ while growing up[/p]
• [p]Nectar no longer increases movement speed, inspection speed, or skills; addiction chance reduced to 10%; addiction ends 3 days after stopping use[/p]
• [p]Lord inspiration no longer expires early if the lord goes to sleep or their mood drops[/p]
• [p]Soldiers can now also become Energetic; for them this provides a combat skill bonus[/p]
• [p]Individual worker productivity now also affects construction speed[/p]
• [p]Hunting (10:00–20:00) and walks/drinking (10:00–23:00) now have time limits[/p]
• [p]Removed required relation threshold for “Gift from Lord”, “Gift from Neighbor”, “Slander”, and “Wise Conversation” orders[/p][p][/p]

[h3]GUI[/h3]

• [p]Updated the politician support hint: personal support from population and army is shown first, followed by allies and their support; total population support is shown at the bottom[/p]
• [p]Added a line showing ruler support percentage to the politician support hint[/p]
• [p]Added mood change values to food and alcohol tooltips[/p]
• [p]Added the number of Energetic peasants to the residents hint in the top panel[/p]
• [p]Added a hint to the new heir event display[/p]
• [p]Reordered skills in the menu to match training categories[/p]
• [p]Updated the info panel above residential buildings in King’s Eye mode: shows average resident mood and composition (soldiers, peasants, Energetic)[/p]
• [p]Updated the info panel above production buildings: worker icons are larger, Energetic workers are displayed[/p]
• [p]Reworked the resident tooltip in houses: mood and culture are now shown with icons[/p]
• [p]In King’s Eye mode, production buildings show a Zzz icon for inactive buildings[/p]
• [p]Buildings under construction now display a “missing resources” icon above them and a special status in the build menu if there are insufficient materials to finish the project[/p]
• [p]When selecting service buildings (Market, Tavern, etc.), residential buildings display resident money and comfort[/p]
• [p]Updated resource area icons and context menu on the local map[/p]
• [p]The top lords panel now shows technology research progress percentage next to the assigned task icon[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where a city was not burned to the ground if the executing army was located on the same tile as the AI city[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Nectar resource was missing from the statistics menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where player soldiers could repeatedly go to sleep and wake up during the day[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where flower bushes did not appear when loading a save[/p]
• [p]Fixed fertile land indicators when constructing farms[/p]
• [p]Fixed completion of a conspiracy that involved a fight to the death[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where maps were generated with the same seed[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the negative comfort issue flag in residential buildings also affected prisoner barracks[/p]
• [p]Fixed game start in the Prisoner scenario[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with a construction marker that did not disappear in the build menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the pain relief effect was infinite[/p]
• [p]Fixed inverted character references in the relationship tooltip[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where dead peasants and soldiers could be assigned to houses[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where action tasks on the global map could be completed instantly[/p]
• [p]Fixed bush sprites breaking during map generation with rivers[/p]
• [p]Fixed header text wrapping in the Training Field menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed the issue “Monogamous characters are suffering” appearing and resolving repeatedly[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where a rebellion warning event could appear for a culture that had no residents[/p]
• [p]Fixed trees on manual battle maps on the global map[/p]
• [p]Fixed credits not starting after victory[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Misc[/h3]

• [p]Reduced building relocation cost from 10 to 7 Wood[/p]
• [p]Changed Ale technology availability requirement from 20 to 40 population[/p]
• [p]Added the “War Consequences” problem flag[/p]
• [p]Removed “Approval Sermon” and “Joy Sermon”; added “Hope Sermon” (increases mood, only for followers)[/p]
• [p]Reworked the worker type assignment menu and filters in buildings[/p]
• [p]Added a “Trade” building category (Market, Den, Tavern)[/p]
• [p]Doubled the thought strength from Meat and berries; doubled alcohol thought duration[/p]
• [p]Increased comfort from religious buildings by +4[/p]
• [p]Removed “No place to pray nearby” thought[/p]
• [p]Building upgrades can no longer be started without sufficient resources[/p]
• [p]Relocating a residential building now preserves the “Priority for Warriors” option state[/p]

[h3]Hi everyone, this is Dmitry.[/h3][p][/p][p]We're back after the winter break with the feature we've been working on since August — map generation. Besides that, in this update we've significantly improved public politics, added new buildings and resources, and overall made 259 improvements of various kinds.[/p][p]There are a lot of changes, so it's better to start from the beginning. For the same reason, we're releasing the patch to the beta channel — some things might work strangely.[/p][p][/p][p]To switch to the beta branch, right-click the game name in your Steam library, select Properties, and choose the Betas tab.[/p][p][/p][p]And as usual, we'll be glad to hear your feedback.[/p][p]In the coming weeks we'll focus on developing character traits, the justice system, and climate.[/p][p]Let's start with the biggest one.[/p][p][/p][h2]Map Generation[/h2][p]Now you can start the game in any province of the global map. Each province has defined settings based on which the map will be generated. These settings include resources, biome type (it will matter later, once we implement climate), hilliness, and landscape complexity.[/p][p]We've redrawn trees and bushes, fields, added rivers and fords with water lilies.[/p][p]Before starting the game, you'll be able to inspect the map generated by the system (resources will be marked on it), and if you don't like it — regenerate it from scratch.[/p][h3]New Resources[/h3][p]Added Bloodberries — tasty food that can be gathered in the forest using the Herbalist.[/p][p]From bloodberries you can brew Herbal Infusion (or maybe better to call it "berry" one?), which relieves pain. At the same time, we brought back receiving injuries during training so that growing free soldiers wouldn't be so easy.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Public Politics[/h2][p]Lord-politicians will no longer spend money on bribing other lords (we'll develop a different mechanic for that), but they will spend money on sermons. On the other hand, their followers and unfriendly neighbors will regularly donate money to them.[/p][p]They will distribute this money to listeners during the sermon, strengthening their influence among them. Internal trade has become even more relevant.[/p][p]Gradually politicians will start putting forward various political demands, up to demanding to make them heir, and later to hand over the crown to them.[/p][p]We also added organic sources of popularity among lords — for example, workers will become followers of the manager-lord.[/p][p]Lords will improve their attitude toward those who have many followers among peasants and warriors, thus politicians' popularity will also become more organic.[/p][p]Overall, there are many changes, but the main thing is that politicians will now really fight for influence, and when it equals the influence of your king — they will start demanding power.[/p][p][/p][h2]Parishes[/h2][p]We removed the thoughts that were given to peasants depending on the distance to their workplaces. Instead, the organization of the city will now be built based on church parishes.[/p][p]For residents (and prisoners) it will be important to live within the range of the temple (let's imagine it's the radius of hearing its bell), and only these residents will come to sermons.[/p][p]At the same time, we increased the effect of these sermons, so if you need efficient loyalists in production, you'll have to fight for them.[/p][p]If a politician decides to fight for the Bishop's loyalty, he will conduct sermons of faith.[/p][p]By the way, we added a wooden temple, whose range of effect (and therefore parish) will be larger than that of the altar, and the stone temple (unlocked later) — larger than that of the wooden temple.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Feedback Implementation[/h2][p]A lot of changes were made based on your feedback. From the most noticeable:[/p]

• [p]Lords on the global map now almost always possess special knowledge, which can be extracted through Wise Conversation.[/p]
• [p]Vassal armies can be sent on various tasks like protection from marauders, politician uprisings, etc.[/p]
• [p]When a unique guest-maniac sets buildings on fire, this is considered a crime and guards will react to it[/p]
• [p]Wolves will no longer finish off their opponents (incl. lords who failed on a hunt)[/p]
• [p]Social thought "Woman on the Throne" has been removed[/p]
• [p]Freed prisoner will become a loyalist[/p]

[p]That's it, leaving you with the list of changes. New patches will come out more often (with this one we just waited a long time and debugged generation).[/p][p][/p][h2]Politics and Power[/h2]

• [p]Conspiracies against lesser lords are now allowed[/p]
• [p]Fixed the marriage issue — it will now be checked when granting or revoking a title[/p]
• [p]Probability of neighbors bribing a politician increased from 25% to 50% per day[/p]
• [p]The player's politicians can now also be bribed by the player's vassals or suzerain if their relation is < 0[/p]
• [p]Unfriendly neighbors will bribe the player's politicians for 400 coins instead of 250[/p]
• [p]Importance of the event "New Political Demand" raised from normal to important[/p]
• [p]For determining the danger of a military conspiracy, the total % of loyal troops of the politician and his followers will be used, not just his personal one[/p]
• [p]When participating in riots, a resident will not attack residents loyal to the same politician (even if they are directly loyal to different lords, but those lords are under the influence of the same politician)[/p]
• [p]In the politician's menu, the % of population support will now be displayed taking into account follower-lords of this politician who “pass on” their % support to him; hints for population and soldier support will also show additional information about this[/p]
• [p]To politicians' sermons (Approval, Riots) will come residents who are loyal to a lord under this politician's influence (i.e. his follower); these same residents will participate in riots if organized by the politician; in the resident's menu near the portrait of the lord they are loyal to, the portrait of the politician who influenced that lord will be displayed[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which the player could cancel a politician's sermon by assigning that politician to another sermon in a different temple/altar, although canceling sermons that politicians assigned themselves should not be possible[/p]
• [p]In the politician's menu it will now display not the number of followers, but the total percentage of population and army support, including the support of his followers; in the followers hint the total army and residents support considering all followers will also be written[/p]
• [p]Politicians will no longer give money to their future follower-lords[/p]
• [p]The "Flattery" order has been removed, politicians will also no longer flatter followers[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which actors bribing politicians or bandits for dark deeds would immediately leave the player's city if their faction's relation to the player was -25 or lower[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which the message "New Political Demand" appeared together with "New Obsession"[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which the player's politician could try to force an already dead lord to donate money to him[/p]
• [p]Immediately after a neighbor bribes a politician, the politician will gain a desire to make peace with that politician if the conditions are met (-15 relations or lower)[/p]
• [p]Instead of the lord with the highest number of knowledges, a politician will become the lord with the highest level of the "Persuasion" skill (if above 6); such a politician can appear in the city if there are no other politicians in it except the player's king[/p]
• [p]The "Praise Neighbor" action on the global map has been replaced with "Gift from Neighbor", now you need to pay money and the price increases each time[/p]
• [p]The list of lords in the "WHO?" category in the orders "Praise", "Conciliatory Gift", "Slander" will be sorted by faction so that lords from the player's faction are displayed first[/p]
• [p]Political demands for change of power will have priority over other desires with high priority[/p]
• [p]A lord who has declared a political demand for change of power cannot be sent to the global map until the demand is fulfilled or ignored[/p]
• [p]If the target of the politician's uprising or the uprising conspirator leaves the player's faction, the uprising is canceled[/p]
• [p]If a soldier is loyal to a lord preparing an uprising, or to a politician of whom that lord is a follower, such a soldier or lord cannot be added to an army or dismissed[/p]
• [p]When ignoring or fulfilling a political demand for change of power, a screen event will be displayed; with each ignoring of such a demand the politician will behave more aggressively[/p]
• [p]Politicians have been given power change desires — “make me heir”, “make me king”[/p]
• [p]Changed the mechanics of donations to politicians from their followers — now followers on the local map daily give 20% of their money to the politician, leaving themselves a minimum of 150 coins[/p]
• [p]When performing the "Transfer the Crown" action, the line of succession will not change — the heir will remain the same[/p]
• [p]Fixed an error that occurred if a lord-follower of a politician was stripped of his title and made a knight[/p]
• [p]Added notification that a lord has ceased to be a politician's ally[/p]
• [p]Notification that someone has become a politician's ally is now displayed on the right, not at the top[/p]
• [p]Politicians no longer receive an experience bonus[/p]
• [p]The player can no longer conduct Sermon of Approval; the technology has been removed from the game[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a message about a political follower could appear before politics was unlocked[/p]
• [p]Added political demand — offering to a king-ally of the politician, if that king has relation worse than 0 to the player's king[/p]
• [p]Added desire for the politician "Reward his ally"[/p]
• [p]New politician demand — remove vassal tax from his ally-vassal[/p]
• [p]Politicians will not be expelled from AI cities by a random event with 0.5% chance[/p]
• [p]Desire will first be received by the lord who has a possible desire with high priority[/p]
• [p]The heir will not become a politician, but if a politician became the heir, he does not stop being a politician[/p]
• [p]The politician will escalate the consequences of ignoring demands only if his relation to the ruler is < +25[/p]
• [p]A politician now requires 0.9x support instead of 1.2x to put forward power change demands[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Religion and Sermons[/h2]

• [p]Bishop's Persuasion and Teaching skill will be from 9 to 15[/p]
• [p]The "Diplomat" talent has been reworked, now it boosts the effect of Loyalty and Approval sermons by 50%[/p]
• [p]Only fanatics will receive the bad thought "King is cursed by the Matriarch" when relations with the Matriarch are bad[/p]
• [p]Politicians will conduct Approval sermon also in cases if they woke up Inspired or if the politician has good (25+) relation to the player's ruler and the player lost a battle somewhere on the global map or local map (for local map defeat it counts that the enemy attacked, achieved their goals and left the map)[/p]
• [p]Doubt sermon no longer requires technology research[/p]
• [p]In hints of sermons affected by the Orator talent (former Diplomat talent), the strength of received thoughts will be displayed already with the bonus[/p]
• [p]Joy, Doubt, Loyalty sermons now cost 100 more gold and this gold will be distributed among the sermon listeners[/p]
• [p]If a politician has > 1000 gold, the politician will conduct a Loyalty sermon 2 times more effective, distributing 350 gold to listeners instead of 100[/p]
• [p]Bishop will conduct Faith sermon even if his relation to the king >= 0, 100% chance if number of fanatics < 25%, otherwise 33% chance[/p]
• [p]Politicians and bishop will schedule sermons not at 8 AM, but at 10 AM and conduct them the next day[/p]
• [p]Loyalty sermon will distribute 150 gold to listeners, not 100[/p]
• [p]Politician will sometimes perform Faith sermon to gain the Bishop's favor. Bishop's relation to politician > 0, Bishop is not an ally of this politician, number of fanatics < 50%, 30% chance[/p]
• [p]If relations with Matriarch < 0, the player cannot conduct sermons[/p]
• [p]Player can now also conduct generous Loyalty sermon[/p]
• [p]If a character cannot walk, he cannot schedule sermons himself. If at the moment of sermon start the character is on the local map but cannot start the sermon (e.g. cannot walk), the sermon will be canceled provided that the player did not schedule this sermon himself[/p]
• [p]During temple/altar construction, the number of potential parishioners will be displayed[/p]
• [p]Politicians and Bishop will consider potential sermon effectiveness when choosing a building for the sermon. For example, for Loyalty sermon fanatics who cannot be converted to their loyalty will be taken into account, and for Faith sermon — the number of non-fanatics who no longer need conversion[/p]
• [p]Characters will go to pray only to the temple or altar whose radius covers their home. If a character has no home — to the nearest one. If the home falls into the radius of more than one temple or altar, a random one will be chosen[/p]
• [p]Bishop no longer has thoughts "Few Temples" and "No Temples"[/p]
• [p]New menu for altars and temples, now it displays the number of parishioners in the radius and their loyalty to lords[/p]
• [p]Altars now also have a resident-priest serving[/p]
• [p]When determining a temple or altar for a sermon, the lord will choose the building with the maximum number of possible listeners. If listeners < 5, the sermon will not be scheduled[/p]
• [p]Added calculation and display of the number of potential sermon listeners (residents of houses in the radius)[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which lords conducting a sermon did not go to someone else's sermon[/p]
• [p]Characters will not be distracted by beating characters in the pillory mask if busy with important activity (e.g. going to conduct a sermon)[/p]
• [p]In the temple/altar menu, the status line will display information about the start time of the scheduled sermon, the sermon button will have a sermon hint[/p]
• [p]Sermon effectiveness is now higher[/p]
• [p]Added cooldown for conducting sermons by politicians and bishop — no more than two in a row in the same place[/p]
• [p]Added technologies for building Temple and Stone Temple, resources changed[/p]
• [p]Added Small Temple building[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Characters and Social Mechanics[/h2]

• [p]Becoming a prisoner now clears thoughts about having money[/p]
• [p]Wolves will no longer finish off their opponents (including lords who failed on a hunt)[/p]
• [p]The strength of the social thought about being a bastard has been reduced to -5[/p]
• [p]Added thought for soldiers "Was on patrol" after working as a bodyguard[/p]
• [p]Message about a lord's death will now appear even if no one is grieving[/p]
• [p]Event about starting a relationship with a Loving Family will now last 1 day instead of 1 hour[/p]
• [p]Lords have been given a social thought "Population Loyalty" — it is given about other lords who have higher total loyalty of residents and soldiers; Politicians do not receive this thought; The larger the gap in total loyalty, the stronger the thought (up to +25 at 50% difference)[/p]
• [p]Social thought "Woman on the Throne" has been removed[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which the thought "Indecently Rich" appeared for a lord after 100 gold instead of 1000 gold[/p]
• [p]Thought "My Favorite Politician" weakened from +25 to +10, added thought "Rival of My Favorite Politician" -10, which attaches to all other politicians[/p]
• [p]Thought "Life Turned Out Great" has been removed[/p]
• [p]Thought "Spent the Night Together" can no longer go below -15[/p]
• [p]Freed prisoner will become a loyalist[/p]
• [p]Politicians will no longer receive new thoughts "Happy Under Rule", old thoughts will remain until they fully expire[/p]
• [p]If the criminal is caught, the victim of the crime will lose the thought that the criminal went unpunished[/p]
• [p]Thought "My Teacher" will now stack up to 5 times instead of 3[/p]
• [p]Added thought from eating berries, added berry sprite in characters' hands[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Economy and Resources[/h2]

• [p]The amount of money a lord needs to buy a ring from a caravan merchant increased from 250 to 500[/p]
• [p]When the player gives food to pilgrims, they now leave the city after 12 hours instead of 24[/p]
• [p]Changed the algorithm for residents buying goods directly from the caravan merchant — now they will first wait for resources that are given to them for free and resources that have not yet been brought to the market or tavern[/p]
• [p]Mercenaries will now receive the full hiring amount into their pocket instead of one-third[/p]
• [p]Information about the list of affected resources in prophecies about crop failure and rat invasion will be inserted via code, not localization (thus adding missing resources like carrots to the lists)[/p]
• [p]When marrying a lord on the global map, the bride will receive 250–400 coins in her inventory[/p]
• [p]Amount of money lords start with will be from 450 to 500, amount for the Bishop from 700 to 1000[/p]
• [p]Fixed the description of the "Confiscation" order and now the money goes to the treasury, not to the king[/p]
• [p]Joy, Doubt, Loyalty sermons now cost 100 more gold and this gold will be distributed among the sermon listeners[/p]
• [p]Changed the mechanics of donations to politicians from their followers — now followers on the local map daily give 20% of their money to the politician, leaving themselves at least 150 coins[/p]
• [p]Removed distribution of resources to unemployed at game start[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which buying a dog was free[/p]
• [p]Added new resources — bloodberries (grow on bushes, can be eaten), herbal infusion (reduces pain thoughts)[/p]
• [p]In old saves, bushes with bloodberries will be added when loading the game[/p]
• [p]Loyalty sermon will distribute 150 gold to listeners instead of 100[/p]
• [p]Generous Loyalty sermon will distribute 300 coins to listeners instead of 350[/p]
• [p]Herbal infusion is now produced in the brewery. Added technology for production (unlocked at 20+ population)[/p]
• [p]Added technologies for building Temple and Stone Temple, resources for temple construction changed[/p][p][/p]

[h2]War, Security and Events[/h2]

• [p]Added problem (top flag) about marauder attack[/p]
• [p]When a unique guest-maniac sets buildings on fire, this is considered a crime and guards will react to it[/p]
• [p]A starving peasant when attempting to steal food will immediately become a bandit, not after successfully stealing the food. A notification will also be sent[/p]
• [p]Added ability to send vassal armies on quests to protect from forest bandits, marauders and politician uprisings[/p]
• [p]When marauders attack the player, the player will receive only one notification, not 3. Clicking the notification will open the global map and move the camera to the marauder squad. In the marauder attack hint it will say how much time until they reach the city. If the travel time would be less than 24 hours, the squad will stand in place for some time so that the travel time is at least 24 hours[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which Wise Conversation did not work on the global map[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which peasants from the player's village did not return to proxy after battle[/p]
• [p]When attacking the player's village, defender peasants will belong to a different faction from the player's. Thus peasants will form their own separate squad and the bug will be fixed where after attacking the player's village, the player got dead peasant souls[/p]
• [p]On loading, all lost due to bugs peasant souls in the player's city will be killed so they are not counted in resident statistics[/p]
• [p]If AI city has aid squads from other states and an enemy attacks the city, but not the one the aid was sent against, after battle the aid squads will not return home but will continue staying in the AI city[/p]
• [p]Death of Horde squad commander on local map will not trigger a funeral ceremony for that commander[/p]
• [p]If the player's city has aid squads from other states and an enemy attacks the city, but not the one the aid was sent against, after battle the aid squads will not return home but will continue staying in the player's city[/p]
• [p]Important local map events (yellow, no animation) will hide not after 1 hour, but after 3 hours[/p]
• [p]Fixed the issue with ragged men attack[/p]
• [p]Added problem "City Defenseless"[/p]
• [p]New settings in the training field menu; battles on the training field now again cause light injuries and pain[/p]
• [p]Redone the flag for problems about inflamed soldier wounds[/p]
• [p]Added flag for problem that soldiers are deserting[/p]
• [p]Victory in battle will no longer give loyalty to regular residents (will give only to soldiers)[/p]
• [p]In the unhappy cultures problem and possible cultural uprising problem, only peasants and bandits will be taken into account, not all residents[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a fortification tower could be built so that builders could not reach it (if entrance from below and place tower right against gates from below or water)[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Buildings, Construction and World[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a bug due to which carrot and turnip farm showed "Fertility: 120%" instead of 100% in the building menu header[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which farms cost nothing, and farm names were not displayed in corresponding technologies[/p]
• [p]Added unique sound of work at the sawmill[/p]
• [p]Fixed crash when demolishing a farm[/p]
• [p]If a farm is depleted but its repair was not started, enabling "Auto-fertilization" option will start the repair[/p]
• [p]Lords without one eye and fully blind will have scars instead of eyes[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a character could get stuck if the building under him was deleted or moved[/p]
• [p]Optimized rendering of construction grid during road laying, building and wall construction[/p]
• [p]Comfort effects from neighboring buildings now affect the prisoner barrack[/p]
• [p]Prisoner barrack now holds 6 prisoners instead of 10[/p]
• [p]Peasant and lord residential buildings get comfort debuff when not within temple range[/p]
• [p]Removed skill debuff when conducting sermon at altar[/p]
• [p]Fixed rendering of lines between buildings if they are on elevation[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which buildings on elevations had incorrect zone hiding characters when they were under the building roof[/p]
• [p]Walls can no longer be built over stone resource[/p]
• [p]Buildings (except patrol flags and walls) can no longer be built on river fords and rises between hill levels, as otherwise it can lead to sharp landscape leveling and its blocking[/p]
• [p]During building construction, inaccessible cells due to stone resource there will be highlighted yellow[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a farm could become a decorative object[/p]
• [p]Building relocation cost increased from 5 to 10 wood[/p]
• [p]Updated soil color of northern lands biome[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Interface, Hints and Notifications[/h2]

• [p]Fixed pig farm hint, now it displays accurate information about the number of days for pig growth[/p]
• [p]Increased width of the "King's Ambitions" hint (top one)[/p]
• [p]Added color differentiation for resident mood value in population hints (top left)[/p]
• [p]Removed padding between cursor and typed text in the game save menu[/p]
• [p]When opening the global map to show some object (e.g. clicking on player's army in bottom panel), the camera will zoom in to disable politics mode, because in politics mode objects like armies are not displayed[/p]
• [p]In the hint of the political followers list, followers will now show not only soldier loyalty but also resident loyalty; Adjusted font style for army count of foreign followers; Foreign followers will have their faction indicated[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which in actions in AI cities the hint explaining impossibility to send a lord on some task was not displayed[/p]
• [p]In the king's resident and soldier loyalty hint, fixed the position of the loyalists block[/p]
• [p]Changed the right-side event display about lord inspiration — now it lists all inspired lords[/p]
• [p]Fixed possible crash when hovering over the icon of an assigned task in character menu that currently cannot be performed due to some conditions[/p]
• [p]Fixed army menu freeze if there was an unequipped soldier in the list of mercenaries[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect information in the hint about becoming a politician due to high persuasion skill[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which enemies of a character might not be displayed in the important personalities panel of the character menu[/p]
• [p]Added hint on the selected resource harvesting button in the herbalist building menu[/p]
• [p]Removed duplicate line from talent hint explaining how to unlock this talent[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which formatting might not work in the "Prophecy Will Soon Come True" hint (e.g. for "Xenophobia" prophecy)[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which some icons were rendered over video[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a sermon assigned by an incognito guest did not disappear after the guest left the local map[/p]
• [p]In the temple/altar menu, the status line will display information about the start time of the scheduled sermon, the sermon button will have a sermon hint assigned[/p]
• [p]Added note in the pain hint that it can be reduced with Herbal Infusion[/p]
• [p]Removed the "DO NOT SELL" panel from the market menu[/p]
• [p]Added hint on the child birth event display[/p]
• [p]Removed event display about unemployed not receiving food[/p]
• [p]Added information about increased labor productivity in the loyalists hint[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Start of Game and Generation[/h2]

• [p]Added tooltip about hovering over capitals in the new game creation menu; New order of windows before starting the game; Warning about difference between lord family culture and starting region culture[/p]
• [p]Now every time family composition is generated, random lord appearances matching the selected culture will be generated anew[/p]
• [p]Added local map generation at the start of a new game[/p]
• [p]Now after starting a new game, you need to place the Hall, which will be placed instantly, and only after that all characters will be created. Pause cannot be unpaused until the Hall is placed[/p]
• [p]At the start of a new game a new menu appears with options to place the Hall, regenerate the map and return to new game settings[/p]
• [p]During the first Hall placement stage at new game start, resource locations will be highlighted[/p]
• [p]Added hint on resources when choosing a province for new game start[/p]
• [p]Now you can start the game in any province on the global map[/p]
• [p]Fixed generation of negative and positive traits for AI lords at new game start[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Fixes and Balance[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a bug where the "Loyalist" achievement could not be completed because bandits were counted as population[/p]
• [p]Fixed a possible bug where character bodies might not be carried if they died during binding[/p]
• [p]Loyalist-prisoner will be counted as a prisoner for the hiring system, not as a loyalist[/p]
• [p]Fixed the issue with ragged men attack[/p]
• [p]Fixed the functioning of the advice and problems menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed a possible crash when hovering over the icon of an assigned task in the character menu that currently cannot be performed due to some conditions[/p]
• [p]Fixed army menu freeze if there was an unequipped soldier in the list of mercenaries[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a character could get stuck if the building under him was deleted or moved[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a notification about not having enough paper to write a book could appear when the paper was already being carried to the library[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which rewriting and writing new books did not work[/p]
• [p]Fixed frequent appearance of the problem "Bishop in Rage"[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which sex was interrupted if there was an animal in the building — wolf or dog[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which buying a dog was free[/p]
• [p]Experience gained from completing work with knowledge reduced by half[/p]
• [p]Strength of thought from ignoring a political demand increased from -18 to -22[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug due to which a resource production task was canceled if the knowledge about the resource was public but there were no specific lords who possessed that knowledge[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug in the Bishop's "Conversion" order where relations were checked not with the player's ruler but with the conversion target[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple appearances of the message about resolving the problem "Lord's relation to king is worsening"[/p]
• [p]If an AI city has knowledge but no carriers of that knowledge and no lords suitable by Intelligence level, the knowledge will be added to the lord with the highest Intelligence[/p]
• [p]Thought "My Teacher" will now stack up to 5 times instead of 3[/p]

[h2]Graphics, Sound and Assets[/h2]

• [p]Updated character voice parameters[/p]
• [p]Replaced fertile soil assets[/p]
• [p]Added vegetation and stone assets for fords, updated bush and tree sprites[/p]
• [p]Removed old unused building sprites[/p]
• [p]Replaced fertile soil assets for hops[/p]
• [p]New bush assets with berries and flowers — each biome has its own bush appearance[/p]
• [p]Added unique sound of work at the sawmill[/p]

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• [p]Added a line to the personality traits list of AI faction characters stating that he is the player's puppet, with the idol's name shown in the hint[/p]
• [p]Updated display of lord icons in AI cities. Lord backgrounds are now gray, and icons of selected special statuses (low loyalty, player's puppet, politician, merchant, not in city) are now displayed as a list[/p]
• [p]No more than 3 icons will be displayed on lord portraits in AI cities. The icon indicating that the lord is not in the city (world map icon) will always be displayed last[/p]
• [p]Added tester Sm1r to Credits[/p]

Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire.

Norland is 50% off as part of the Hooded Horse January Publisher Sale!

Hooded Horse January Publisher Sale

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]

[h3]Hey guys, Dmitry is here.[/h3][p][/p][p]Below, I will talk about the challenges facing the game's design and how we plan to address them.[/p][p]But first, I would like to thank everyone for their support. It's not easy to develop experimental complex games these days, given the increased quality expectations from the audience. Conducting experiments while maintaining the required level of quality is a non-trivial task that would be impossible without the constant support and feedback from our wonderful community. Thank you - we will continue creating interesting new features (even if they don't always work as intended right away, but that's part of the invention process).[/p][p]So.[/p][p]At the moment, we are planning to exit Early Access around summer 2027, giving us roughly one and a half years of development to create the envisioned gameplay experience. After that, we will expand it both through adding a modding system and through our own updates.[/p][p]Of course, all of this is very tentative - the Early Access exit date may be postponed, some items on this list will be implemented differently, and so on. So please don't take this as a promise - these are approximate plans. I'm sharing them to hear your ideas and feedback.[/p][p]Over the past year, we have formed a fairly clear vision of the game's final form, and now we will focus on three strategic directions that, in our opinion, the game needs the most.[/p]

1. [p]Progression[/p]
2. [p]Variety[/p]
3. [p]Story Generation[/p]

[h2]Progression[/h2][p]Currently, the game has two progression systems - the city and the global map, with the global map playing more of a supporting role. Once city progression stalls (currently around 30 hours of play), progress on the map starts relying on grinding, which significantly kills interest. We will work on both directions, but the city is the priority.[/p][p][/p][h3]City Progression[/h3][p]This autumn, we changed the overall progression system, tying it to population size. However, since our characters are very complex in behavior (and thus in computational resources), we cannot expand the city outward like in classic city-builders, so we will develop it upward in a spiral.[/p][p]Currently, progression stops at 100 population from peasants and captives, and next we will introduce a new type of thresholds: based on the number of craftsmen. Craftsmen are efficient specialized workers with higher demands. At the same time, we will add management of village development, where basic productions like agriculture can be outsourced.[/p][p]Thus, craftsmen will begin to "replace" peasants, keeping the total population (and thus game performance) stable. The replacement process will occur through more complex productions and services, such as entertainment (e.g., theater), hygiene, more refined food and clothing, etc.[/p][p]In turn, craftsmen will be necessary for producing top-tier weapons, city siege tools, potions, and luxuries.[/p][p]As a result, the initial militarized village will transform into a true medieval city - a center of craftsmanship, trade, spiritual, and entertainment services. In some ways, this is a historically accurate process.[/p][p][/p][h3]Global Map Progression[/h3][p]Currently, conquering the global map is limited to about a dozen provinces. One reason is that the more provinces under your control, the more micromanagement with vassals and allies.[/p][p]History also suggests a solution to the scaling problem - feudalization. The map can be divided into regions - groups of provinces sharing common culture and climate - and dukes can be appointed over them as intermediary vassals who collect tribute from the territory, take a portion as taxes, and pass the rest to you. The rulers of such provinces themselves would prefer to submit to one of their own kings rather than a foreign ruler from a distant land with an alien culture. Thus, creating duchies will be necessary for stability.[/p][p]Such dukes will be stronger opponents to your ruler (since they receive part of the income) than a single vassal. They will also serve as power centers of the kingdom - when sending an army is too far and complicated (and garrison management is very complex overall), it's easier to send an emissary with gold who can hire local mercenaries or barbarians on the spot and arm a loyal (for the time being) duke.[/p][p]By adding the possibility of internal power transitions within the state, we will also develop foreign policy (currently, joining another state is a step backward toward victory, but enabling internal power seizure could make it a good opportunity). And for Alliances, we will add elections.[/p][p][/p][h3]Late Game[/h3][p]We are also thinking about reworking the late game, shifting it to a survival mode in the later stages. After you've built everything, you can test your city's resilience. Historically, it all started with droughts that set the wheel of history in motion. Famine, nomadic invasions, epidemics and destruction, religious tensions - all the trials and crises of the end times in a chain reaction. Perhaps we will add some meta-progression - for example, after completion, new unique books written by your lords will remain in the world, available early in the next playthrough.[/p][p]Overall, the measures described above should increase the average playthrough length by 2-3 times.[/p][p]However, playthroughs should also be varied. Here's what we want to do for replayability.[/p][p][/p][h2]Variety[/h2][h3]Local Map[/h3][p]We've already started working on this - since summer, we've been developing local map generation. By the end of winter, we will start implementing seasonal changes and climates for 4 different biomes (to make generation even more meaningful). For this, we need to prepare mechanics for alternative food gathering and storage, heating, and so on.[/p][p]Hunting, foraging, clay mining - all already in progress. A bit later, we also want to add variety to resource extraction methods. For example, in a swamp biome, you can mine bog iron - it's practically infinite but requires a lot of firewood to purify from impurities.[/p][p][/p][h3]Global Map Variety[/h3][p]After much deliberation, we decided to hand-draw global maps. We will create about a dozen of our own, and later add the ability to import player-drawn maps.[/p][p]However, for the map to be interesting, it needs to be diverse and complex. In addition to climate, we want to add a trade route system.[/p][p]Trade routes are historically based on light and expensive luxury goods unavailable for production in one part of the continent due to geography. For example, a scarce resource that can only be bought from a specific barbarian tribe in the mountains on the edge of the map. A caravan buys this resource cheaply from the barbarians and travels to the opposite end of the continent, gradually selling it off at stops in different cities at ever-increasing prices. All cities on this trade route gain advantages, as they can now resell the luxury to their neighbors and collect tolls from the caravan. However, caravans prefer routes through safe provinces, so many wars will gain a clear economic dimension.[/p][p]Barbarians, luxury sources, trade routes, historical conflict points, abandoned lands, cultural regions - all this will be part of the settings (and generation) of the global map's political layer at game start.[/p][p][/p][h3]War[/h3][p]To add more tactics to battles, weapons and armor need to have more significant advantages against each other.[/p][p]How we'll achieve this is a separate big discussion - for now, I just want to say that we plan to tackle combat in spring-summer this year. It should turn out interesting.[/p][p][/p][h3]Character Traits[/h3][p]This winter, we will begin a radical overhaul of the character role-playing system. In addition to skill modifications, preferences or dislikes for actions, special abilities, relationship bonuses, and behavior modifications, we want to add weaknesses to characters that will be used in politics.[/p][p]We also want to expand talent skills into small skill trees.[/p][p]King traits on the map will also be revised - they will be more complex and varied, and in some cases more predictable.[/p][p][/p][h2]Story Generation[/h2][p]This year, we realized that by making a game about society, we're making a game about hierarchy. The struggle for a place in society is called politics. Accordingly, we want to focus on generating stories about power in all its forms - violence, sex, and money.[/p][p]Right now, we're testing the politics of the next version, where pawns, gaining support and power, start dictating their desires to you and soon demand that you hand over the crown.[/p][p]We will add a topological dimension to politics through temple influence zones (essentially the area where their bells can be heard). Thus, each temple will have its own flock and parish, and influence over it will determine politics.[/p][p]Politics will also include intermediate forms of violence (currently, characters jump straight from hatred to murder, whereas in life it's usually more nuanced), as well as intimidation and control through dependent characters (imprison a close relative to turn someone into your puppet out of fear).[/p][p]We also want to experiment with multi-stage conflicts, where after initiating a conflict, various kinds of response actions may follow - including involving third characters, harbored grudges, immediate anger, attempts at reconciliation, or delayed revenge. Such an action in turn can also trigger a response reaction - and so on.[/p][p]Overall, this is the most interesting part for us, and we have a lot of ideas here. For example, we haven't really started developing church politics yet, or a system of hidden knowledge (e.g., when not everyone knows about a crime, but only a limited circle, enabling mechanics like blackmail).[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]That's the plan in broad strokes.[/p][p]I'm not at all sure we'll manage to do all this in one and a half years, but we'll try (since it seems very exciting to us), and thanks to your support and feedback, we can always adjust and fine-tune the most complex processes.[/p][p]Thank you again for everything, and please write what you think - we'll read it all.[/p][p]And don't forget to leave a review on the Steam page if you like our ambitious plans. :)[/p]

[p]Hello everyone, [/p][p]...and a few more fixes — sorry, we just can’t stop. [/p][p]Though we do feel a bit bad about the dog.[/p][p]List of changes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a crash where the game could crash for some players immediately after the intro on startup[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where sex was interrupted if an animal (wolf or dog) was present in the building[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the notification about missing Paper for writing a book could appear while Paper was already being carried to the Library[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where rewriting and writing new books did not work[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a tooltip could freeze in the trade menu[/p]