Norland News

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]

Norland News Roundup at the Hooded Horse October Publisher Sale

In the last few months, Norland has gotten several updates and a brand new development roadmap. Here's a roundup of all the recent Norland development news that you might have missed.

Norland is also part of the Hooded Horse October Publisher Sale, at 35% off on Steam. Check it out, and the other games that are included in the October Publisher Sale.

[p]Hooded Horse October Publisher Sale[/p]

[h3]Norland News Recap[/h3][hr][/hr]Last month, Norland released a new roadmap that outlines what the development team hopes to accomplish in the last half of 2025.

Their primary goal is to broaden the game, improve the mid-to-late game experience, and make progression feel more interesting and tangible in the long term. They also want to expand the economy, character, and AI systems to add more variety and replayability.

Check out the full roadmap post for a deep dive into these plans:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1857090/view/500584797655007370
Additionally, Norland has received two significant updates in the last two months.

Patch #40 brought major changes to spouse relationships, removed the loyalty mechanic, and some updates to politics. Perhaps most importantly, it also added carrots as a new food.

Patch #41 implemented the highly requested Developer Mode, where players can tweak various settings, create characters, and so on. This update also added the ability for politicians to stage group conspiracies, further developed mechanics related to public policy, and added a Usurper trait for characters that seize illegitimate power.

Check out the full changelogs for both updates here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1857090/view/545620341180858492?l=english
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1857090/view/500585431504521353?l=english
Thanks for reading and happy gaming!

~The Hooded Horse Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1857090/Norland/

Current Version Bugfix Update

[p]Hello everyone. Today we're rolling out a small update to the current version. It mainly includes bug fixes and minor interface improvements.[/p][p]Next week, we’ll aim to release more significant improvements that are currently being tested.[/p][p]Thank you all, we're in touch.
[/p][h3]Here’s the list of fixes:
[/h3]

[p]Greatly reduced the chance of characters catching fire while extinguishing a blaze[/p]

[p]Fixed a bug where, instead of showing the percentage of neutral soldier or citizen support, the interface displayed their count[/p]
[p]Fixed a rare crash: “vertex_submit: Illegal vertex buffer specified”[/p]
[p]Characters will now choose any available door when entering a church, not just the lower one[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where builders might not deliver resources for construction if the building was placed after 6 PM and there were no prisoners among them[/p]
[p]Added display of average thought strength in citizen thought statistics[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the position of the king’s culture icon when zooming out on the global map depended on the name’s length[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where lords who were knocked unconscious in global map battles were considered dead when attaching the thought about losing an AI commander whose army was used in the attack[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where all orders already in progress in global map objects were canceled after loading a game[/p][p][/p]

Save 35% on Norland

[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. [/p][p]
Norland is 35% off as part of the Hooded Horse October Publisher Sale!
[/p][p]Hooded Horse October Publisher Sale[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
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Patch #41 (MAIN) - Public Policy, Conspiracies, and Developer Mode

[p]Hello everyone, this is Dmitry.[/p][p][/p][p]Today we’re pushing to the main branch a patch that adds Public Policy and Conspiracies.[/p][p]In addition, we’ve fixed several bugs and introduced a few pleasant QOL improvements — such as a more detailed list of the most common thoughts in the character hint icons in the top-left corner.[/p][p][/p][p]By the way, I wrote a short post on our Reddit community explaining why the game has so many bugs in the first place. Take a look: Why are there so many bugs in the game Norland?

We'd also really appreciate it if you could share your thoughts and feedback in a Steam review. It's a powerful way to let us know what you think and will help inform future patches. If you'd like to help and support Norland's development, then that is the way![/p][p][/p][p]Now, here’s the list of improvements compared to the current beta version:[/p][p][/p][h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]

[p]Removed the “Basics of Loyalty” technology[/p]
[p]Reworked the system for calculating frequent thoughts in the citizen panel hints — it now shows the strongest positive and negative thoughts over the last 24 hours[/p]
[p]Added an icon indicating the idol of puppets; a lord with puppets now gets the “Idol” trait showing their list[/p]
[p]The chance of catching fire increases the longer a character stays inside a burning building; characters now start receiving burns from the very first fire stage[/p]
[p]A character can no longer extinguish themselves while inside a burning building[/p]
[p]You can no longer assign bodyguards during a conspiracy if they’ve already been bribed[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed a possible issue where the ransom quest could appear before the player actually delivered the prisoner to their city[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where tags didn’t work in the “Developer Mode Enabled” message window, and the window didn’t appear the first time a new version of the game was launched[/p]
[p]City lighting now disappears along with the city when switching to King’s View mode[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where constant messages appeared saying someone had become a follower of a politician[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where AI vassalization demands didn’t work on the next day without reloading the save[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when burning a city to the ground[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the portrait and name of a city’s king didn’t update when the king changed[/p]
[p]Cities in the fog of war no longer disappear when zooming out; now city walls are hidden as well[/p]
[p]Fixed a notification about a lord no longer being a follower of a politician[/p]
[p]Fixed the position of the King’s Eye UI near the hall’s storage[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where characters would scatter around a building where sex began, even if they weren’t initially in the bedroom[/p]
[p]Added a fallback home override for deadly sex if the target’s house is occupied by a partner[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the technologies “The Right Nectar” and “Makha Ale” didn’t work[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the player’s king could appear among his own list of important persons[/p]
[p]Fixed tooltips on action tasks targeting conspiracy victims; fixed a bug where the target wasn’t blocked for global-map tasks unless the target was the player’s king[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when loading a save with a deadly sex conspiracy[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where city residents could think that a level 2 castle storage was located in the king’s bedroom[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug in the sex activity that caused participants to freeze if the character had no home[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where zooming in and out of the city sometimes caused roofs to disappear and reappear[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where executing the player’s lord could trigger the “Army Weakened” status[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the player’s king could start slandering himself[/p]
[p]Conspiracy participants and targets no longer react to crowd dispersal or switch to panic mode[/p]
[p]If a character catches fire inside a building with a blocked exit, they will now run around inside the building[/p]

[p][/p]

Patch Improvements Inherited from the Beta Branch

[p][/p][h2]Developer mode[/h2][p]In response to community requests, we’re giving you access to our Developer Mode. Inside it, you can tweak and adjust various things, create characters, and so on. [/p][p]Achievements are disabled in this mode, and to activate it you need to add the launch key -debug in the settings (LAUNCH OPTIONS) and then press Ctrl+D in the game. [/p][p][/p][p]By popular demand from our Russian-speaking community, we’ve also added a battle simulator, where you can experiment with how our combat system works.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Group conspiracies[/h2][p]Politicians with low army loyalty - meaning they have poor chances in an armed rebellion - can now stage group conspiracies against their enemies and the king. For this they will need accomplices: followers, puppets, or even a hostile neighboring king.[/p][p]This way, politicians may at some point set a trap for their enemy, kill them, and arrange everything to appear innocent in the eyes of the other lords.[/p][p]Right now there are five types of conspiracies: unfair duel, failed hunt, deadly passion, and fervent prayer.[/p][p]What lies behind these names - you’ll have to discover for yourself.[/p][h2]Usurpers[/h2][p]When someone seizes power illegitimately, they gain the Usurper trait. Other lords - and especially the former heir - hate the usurper, while the usurper himself will execute his enemies on the scaffold.[/p][p]On the other hand, on the global map there’s a kind of reversal of relations - enemies of the old king welcome the new ruler, while the old king’s friends, conversely, are displeased.[/p][h2]Public policy[/h2][p]We’re continuing to develop our experimental mechanics based on simulating society, since politics is about building hierarchies within such a society. Until now, this hierarchy only had a few levels, but with the addition of popular support, things are getting more interesting. At the same time, we’re unifying the old systems of loyalists and fanatics.[/p][p]This system is still in its early stages and not working 100%, which makes your feedback all the more valuable. Play, write to us - we’re here.[/p][p]So now kings, the bishop, and politicians will have followers not only among soldiers, but also across the broader population. The king’s followers are loyalists, the bishop’s are fanatics. Loyalists and fanatics no longer appear automatically - they now share the same appearance mechanics as political followers. Besides military victories, they can be gained through loyalty sermons (with the possibility of converting other people’s followers, though not fanatics).[/p][h2]Political demands[/h2][p]Politicians now also have political demands (a small number so far).[/p][p]For example, a politician bribed by a neighbor may want you to sign a peace agreement with his patron. If you refuse, his fiery speech to his supporters will incite unrest; if you comply, his sermon of support will raise spirits among his followers and give a productivity bonus.[/p][h2]New relations menu[/h2][p]There was some confusion: in the relations menu, you saw a character’s relations toward other lords, while on the global map you saw kings’ relations toward our king - in other words, the opposite perspective.[/p][p]We’ve decided to unify this into one system, updating both the character relations menu and the display on the global map when zoomed out. [/p][p][/p][p]Thus, in the character menu you can now see their relations toward the selected lord. You can also tick the interest box to immediately see who is sighing over that character.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]New buildings[/h2][p]We’ve added stone upgrades for the Hall and lords’ houses (with improved comfort bonuses), as well as updated models for the Library and Temple.[/p][p]Next week we’ll move on to the Quarry, so everything will fit together organically.[/p][p][/p][h2]Full changelog:[/h2][h3]New mechanics[/h3]

[p]Conspiracies of lords against each other and the king added[/p]
[p]-debug flag for launching the game in developer mode added[/p]
[p]City residents will now have loyalty to politicians[/p]
[p]Politicians can now demand fulfillment of their political demand[/p]
[p]If a political demand is fulfilled, the politician will hold an "approval sermon" and temporarily boost mood and productivity of his supporters[/p]
[p]If the political demand is ignored, the politician will hold a "riot sermon" and worsen the mood, starting riots among his supporters-citizens. They will begin attacking supporters of other politicians[/p]
[p]The book "Eternal Loyalists" removed[/p]
[p]Loyalist riot temporarily disabled[/p]
[p]Mechanics of loyalists changed - now it is a visible trait showing that the character is loyal to the king[/p]
[p]Automatic appearance and disappearance of the Fanatic trait depending on the character’s mood removed[/p]

[h3]Graphics and interface[/h3]

[p]Assets of the Library and Temple have been changed[/p]
[p]Hall upgrade to level 2 added, comfort display added to the Hall menu[/p]
[p]Upgrade of lords’ houses to level 2 added[/p]
[p]Relations tab in the character menu updated[/p]
[p]City information panel updated when zooming out on the global map[/p]
[p]Exclamation mark display added in the distribution menu for a resource that is not enough for everyone[/p]
[p]Fixed detection of invisible zones under building roofs so that characters are not displayed when the roof is closed[/p]
[p]One new faction symbol and two new background patterns for the coat of arms added[/p]
[p]When selecting a character, the roof of the building they are in will be removed[/p]

[h3]Experience and balance improvements[/h3]

[p]Starting fields replaced with carrot fields, starting flour replaced with carrots[/p]
[p]Guards will intervene in fights of citizens who riot after a politician’s calls[/p]
[p]Thoughts from the Emperor’s coronation will now be temporary, and the thought "We are doomed" will disappear after defeating the Inquisition[/p]
[p]A puppet of a ruler from another faction will start an uprising only if that ruler’s relation to the player is
[p]Beggar mobs will become active on day 3 instead of day 4, and bandits can appear in the player’s city from day 5 instead of day 7[/p]
[p]Algorithm for AI requesting military aid from the player has been changed. If the AI has twice as many forces as the enemy (considering fortifications), it will not request help. AI will not request help from the player if relations are
[p]Recruiting a hostage into your faction now worsens relations with the lord’s former faction by -15[/p]
[p]Thoughts about usurpation of power after an attempted coup in the player’s city added[/p]
[p]Warning added that research will take longer due to the lord’s skills[/p]
[p]Hint added about slow research progress[/p]
[p]Hint added that the lord does not keep up with learning knowledge[/p]
[p]The technology for paying salaries in gold has been removed, now payment is available from the very beginning of the game[/p]
[p]Gold cost display of an already assigned sermon added[/p]
[p]New action "Ask to become a vassal" in an AI city added[/p]
[p]Deserting soldiers from the player’s city will leave their equipment in the warehouse. They will take their gold with them[/p]
[p]On-screen event added, describing the results of holding any type of sermon[/p]
[p]The thought "related through marriage" weakened to +15. Family connection "Son-in-law - Father-in-law" added, which gives +25 relations[/p]
[p]Cost of the sermon of joy and sermon of doubts increased, duration and strength of the positive thought from the sermon of joy increased[/p]

[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed a hill in the northeast of the Gorno map where there was a gap for passage along the lakeshore[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where after deleting a sell task for a resource on the local market, those resources continued to be sold there[/p]
[p]Fixed errors where characters could get the desire for happiness for a child who was no longer alive[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where "Sexual desire" did not disappear if the "Sublimation" trait was present[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where after a successful AI city defense with its army in an auto-battle, the result was as if the enemy had refused to attack instead of being defeated[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where some modifiers of interest were not counted if sex between characters was impossible due to good relations or the "monogamous" trait[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the burning sound of a tower after a battle on the global map could remain on the local map[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where the "Reconciliation Gift" command did not work[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where rebel lords and soldiers were not considered enemies and could not be attacked with orders[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where beggar mobs could not attack the player’s city[/p]
[p]Rebels now break into the warehouse when taking equipment[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where children were not born with 2 talents[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p]