Norland News

[h3]Hello everyone.[/h3][p]We’ve fallen a little behind our update schedule since our lead programmer was on vacation, but in the meantime a lot has piled up, so today’s update is going to be quite large and interesting.[/p][p][/p][p]The update goes to the BETA branch. All saves are compatible. 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][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]

[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 Autumn Publisher Sale!
[/p][p]Hooded Horse Autumn Publisher Sale[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello everyone, this is Dmitry.[/p][p]Today I’ll tell you about our new roadmap for the next six months – meaning fall 2025 and winter 2025. We have completed most of the previous roadmap (features with usurpers and conspiracies are currently being tested). Some things we didn’t implement because we decided those features should be expanded based on new mechanics (for example, character traits). On the other hand, we added some extra things – like the initial political mechanics. Map generation is currently in progress, and the results are looking good.
[/p][p]Be that as it may, now, a year after release, the game is beginning to take on the shape we intended in terms of combining mechanics, but it’s still rather poor on the content side. I’d say it’s about 25% of what I want to see for version 1.0. Early Access will likely last at least a couple more years from this point.
[/p][p]That said, the next half-year will be dedicated to broadening the game, improving the mid- and late-game experience, and making progress more interesting, long-term, and tangible.
[/p][p]The theme of the next roadmap will be the expansion of the economy and character and AI systems, which should bring greater gameplay variety and replayability.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Economy Expansion[/h2][p]I’d like to start discussing planned content with a picture – here’s what the production and resource scheme we’re aiming for will look like. (Right away, I want to say, I don’t know how many buildings and resources we’ll manage to add in six months – this map is a long-term goal, and the timeline is unclear).[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Source in big resolution

The dark blue buildings and yellow resources are what’s not in the game yet. This would roughly double the current economy. Later, we’ll add unique resources, alchemy, a bit of magic, and so on, but that’s the base. And before adding lots of new buildings and resources, we need to solve some growth problems.

The problem is, we can’t scale the economy painlessly. Like real medieval cities, whose size was limited by the lack of sewage (and thus frequent epidemics and fires), our city population is curbed by CPU performance, since our residents have complex AI. So instead of expanding horizontally, we’ll expand vertically – through complexity and social evolution.
[/p][h3]Hygiene and Bathhouse[/h3][p]First, population growth will be moderated more naturally through the hygiene and bathhouse system. There will be infection and epidemic mechanics (like typhus), with risks increasing as population density rises. Bathhouses will help reduce infections, but at the cost of soap and firewood, forcing you to balance city size with upkeep costs.
[/p][h3]Villages and barons[/h3][p]Second, you’ll be able to hand over villages to your lords (turning them into barons with independent income – tying into politics). In such villages, you lose part of the tribute (which goes into the baron’s pocket), but you can build low-level structures like fields, mines, lumber mills, and even breweries. This lets you focus the city on more advanced, profitable production chains.
[/p][h3]Craftsmen[/h3][p]Third, we plan to introduce a new social stratum – craftsmen. These are professionals who are more efficient than peasants or prisoners at complex production (like blacksmiths). But they only live in high-comfort houses and demand payment in gold (and they’re poor workers in the fields).
[/p][h2]Knowledge System Reform[/h2][p]Finally, there’s the issue of expanding the knowledge system. The more new knowledge we add, the more has to be passed on to future generations. To solve this, we’ll implement a long-awaited applied knowledge system for workers. For example, if a mill operates for 10 days, the knowledge of flour production and mill construction becomes “rooted” in the people – now everyone knows it, and it’s automatically passed to new lords. (We might also make it so if the mill sits unused too long, the knowledge becomes fragile again, existing only in lords’ minds).
[/p][p]This will not only reduce micromanagement when transferring knowledge but also make oral knowledge transfer more meaningful, since you’ll choose what to pass on (as the total pool of knowledge a lord has will be smaller). I’m also considering improving knowledge research via a “phenomena” system – I’ll talk about that later, but overall, I’m coming to the idea of a rather interesting combination of the current system of knowledge and its carriers with a more classical technology tree.
[/p][h2]New Buildings[/h2][p]As for new buildings, soon we’ll add a stone quarry, a bow workshop, clay extraction, a lumber mill (different from woodcutters), and so on – we want a more organic building system. Right now, most buildings require just wood, iron, and tools. We’d like to add clay, wooden planks, stone, and even tiles for higher-level buildings (and later cloth as well). This way, development will feel more organic and closer to the classic city-building experience.
[/p][h2]Trade Reform[/h2][p]Trade routes will come in a future iteration, but for now, we’d like to make caravan trade more realistic. There will be two types of caravans – the Holy Caravan, which mostly deals in luxury goods and books, and small traders who circulate between local towns and barbarian settlements. Barbarians will sell luxuries (like furs and spices) and captives, but buy tools, medicine, and weapons. The Holy Caravan, in turn, will be interested in local luxuries and captives, but won’t care about your turnips.
[/p][h2]Climate and Seasons[/h2][p]This is a major feature we’ve been putting off because of the huge content workload (which, as you’ve noticed, we’ve started reworking). For autumn we’d need leafless trees, for winter snow cover (including snow mechanics) and heating, and so on.
[/p][p]Still, with local map generation, we’d like to implement a first iteration of this feature, focusing on gameplay (less on visuals). Different regions will then have different growth modifiers and food sources. The temperate zone will work roughly as it does now, but in the north there will be vegetables, trees, more hunting game, berries, and herbs, while in the south there will be grains and more iron. This will make local map trading more relevant.
[/p][p]For seasonal changes, we want to try adding a cold season, when certain crops grow slower but deer migration increases, while in the south it’s a drought season. Visually this won’t differ too much, but gameplay-wise it’ll be livelier.
[/p][h2]Barbarians[/h2][p]These will be hostile pagan settlements. Barbarians are sources of luxuries and captives, but they can also be destroyed in the name of the Church – which hurts local trade but improves your relations with the Matriarch (and we’ll seriously weaken the option to improve relations by destroying bandit camps).
[/p][h2]Character Traits[/h2][p]Now, about character traits.[/p][p]We had planned to implement this earlier (as with many other things!), but didn’t take into account that our actors actually have two behavioral environments – as lords on the local map and as rulers on the global map. It would make sense if traits affected their strategy when acting as rulers – but at other times it wouldn’t be noticeable.
[/p][p]So, in the current concept, character traits will form complex group systems, including a stat system that modifies different aspects of character behavior – personal, political, strategic. This is a large topic I’ll talk about later. For now, I’ll just note that we’ll start with “weaknesses” – pressure points of characters that can be exploited for political control.
[/p][h2]Global map improvements[/h2][p]Alongside improved ruler behavior, we want to try adding a system of cultural regions to the map. You’ll start in your cultural region, e.g. the land of the Varns, made up of 5 provinces. Unifying these provinces will be relatively simple – the people are generally willing to unite under a strong ruler of their culture. But then your new kingdom will contact the Tanaya, who will strongly resist the Varns taking their lands, providing more organized opposition that grows as you expand. Then there’s the land of the Kaidens, with whom you had no previous contact – and they simply hate you because of old grudges.
[/p][p]So, conquest on the global map will go from easier to harder, with unique challenges at each stage.
[/p][h2]And so on.[/h2][p]Of course, this is far from everything we plan to do (as with the previous roadmap, we ended up adding many things outside of it). For example, in the upcoming update you’ll get an improved relations menu, developer mode, and public policy – none of which were in the last roadmap. [/p][p]
We also really want to further develop tactics and the combat system, city planning, politics, game starting options, traits, cultures, social mechanics (such as submission and intimidation), religious policy, and so on. All of this will be added as opportunities allow.
[/p][p]Thanks for reading through such a long post. And don’t forget to leave a review on the Steam page – you know we love that.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone, this is Dmitry.[/p][p]This patch is a set of cumulative changes from the past month, including patches #39 and #40, plus a number of fixes that we’re merging into the main branch.[/p][p]Once again, thank you to all community members for playing the beta branch and giving us feedback.[/p][p]As for our plans, currently in testing are features such as collective conspiracies, public policy, developer mode, and interface updates. There’s also a fairly large graphics pack of beautiful buildings (stone lord buildings, a stone hall, and temples).[/p][p]However, since our technical director Roma is going on a well-deserved vacation next week, and we’re hesitant to release anything without him, we’ll likely roll them out in about ten days.[/p][p]In the meantime, we’ve almost finalized our team’s work plans for the next six months, and next week we’ll present the roadmap — so you won’t be left without news.[/p][p][/p][p]As always, we’ll be happy to hear your feedback on our Steam page — it’s sweeter to us than stewed rutabaga cooked the varn-style way![/p][p][/p][p]Now, on to the changes. First, there will be a block of fixes related to the current beta, and below I’ll list the features already present in the current beta — so if you’ve been following the beta updates, you can just read the first block.[/p][p][/p][p]As usual, all saves are compatible![/p][p][/p][h2]Latest fixes changelog[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a blocker in the tutorial during the army creation stage if the player tried to add five axes to the squad at once using Shift button[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where items could be visually duplicated in the warehouse during squad creation[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where, when helping the rightful AI king in a rebellion, a window appeared stating that the king would be displeased in case of victory[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a province could have its own borders even though it was part of a kingdom or a vassal union[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where flags continued to display during video playback[/p]
• [p]Battles on the global map between a rebellious AI politician and an AI king now skip the wall destruction and army approach stages — the fight starts immediately[/p]
• [p]When the player incites an AI politician to rebel, support from the rightful king in that rebellion will no longer grant a "Debt of Honor". The percentage of troops supporting the politician is now 30% instead of 20%[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where pre-battle music would remain stuck after a global map battle[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where, in the crown transfer hint, selecting the current heir displayed a line saying the heir would be upset with himself[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where builders could get stuck in a building if it was broken and then burned down[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a politician could freeze in place and glitch if their political opponent was not on the local map[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where performing the "Gift" action would harm relations instead of improving them if the target had too much money[/p]
• [p]Bandit camp info now counts the garrison in the camp (archers on towers) when showing their total number[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a suzerain could attack their vassal-player immediately after the death of the suzerain king[/p]
• [p]Building icons are no longer displayed when a video is playing[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where children were not being born with 2 talents[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Spouse relationship changes[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]One of the community’s oldest requests was that spouses should sleep in the same house. Not historically accurate, but we understand you. This change also forced us to rework the structure of relationships and affairs between spouses, since it became harder for them to find a place for… um… entertainment (because the spouse might be at home). We also added special “private” zones inside houses, where random people won’t enter. If someone does happen to catch a couple having sex, they’ll awkwardly leave the house. Except for the spouse, of course.[/p][p]Thus:[/p]

• [p]Spouses now sleep together. By the way, this will save you housing space.[/p]
• [p]The king and queen now sleep in the castle.[/p]
• [p]A spouse learns of an affair not telepathically, but only if they actually catch it happening in their house.[/p]
• [p]Characters will now cheat under stricter and more logical rules—only if they have negative feelings towards their spouse (in which case they refuse to sleep with them), and their interest in the seducer is above 50.[/p]
• [p]If someone refuses another character’s date, you’ll now see a message with the specific reason why.[/p]
• [p]Spouses also continue to fulfill their duty at least once every three days, but if their mutual interest is high, they’ll keep flirting and going on extra dates.[/p]

[p]Since spouses now receive a relationship bonus upon marriage (which gradually decreases until it disappears in 20 years), I’m afraid the era of the Bishop’s sexual adventures is behind us. No, he’s still quite something, but now he’ll have to put in some effort. And overall, it all looks much more logical.[/p][p][/p][h2]Removal of the loyalty mechanic[/h2][p]To make the system more consistent after the introduction of politicians, we removed the loyalty mechanic. Now all politicians have followers. The king has them too, since he now participates in politics independently (though you can still give him such tasks). Thus, characters’ loyalty to the king is now defined the same way as with other politicians—through relationships.[/p][p][/p][h2]Politics[/h2][p]In exchange for reducing the sexual activity of the church servant, we gave him another role—the Bishop is now a politician and actively recruits supporters. And he can even seize power and become your king.[/p][p]Apart from the king and the bishop, a third lord can also become a politician, but only under certain conditions (for example, if he has accumulated a lot of gold and wants to protect it from your claims).[/p][p]We also gave politicians special desires—political demands. For instance, if a neighboring king bribes your politician, that politician may want you to make peace with the neighbor. If you don’t, he’ll give an unpleasant speech about you in temple. On the other hand, if you do, he’ll praise you, boosting the mood of the congregation.[/p][p]Overall, we reworked the system, adding many actions and rebalancing conditions for more dynamic and logical gameplay.[/p][p][/p][h2]Balance and midgame[/h2][p]Games of this genre always have the same problem—too hard at the start, and too easy once you figure things out. We tried to improve this situation in Norland.[/p]

• [p]Trade. Prices for some caravan goods have risen, but now you’ll be able to earn more money by trading them if your merchant has a higher skill than the caravan trader. This means caravan trading can sometimes be as profitable as trading on the map. In addition, you’ll sometimes get information that a certain good is likely to rise sharply in price next time, letting you speculate right from the start.[/p]
• [p]Cities Population on Map. We also increased city growth, so in the mid and late game you’ll see the difference—cities will actively build walls and strong towers, place crossbowmen on them, and expand their garrisons.[/p]
• [p]AI help. We tweaked the AI, and now it will more actively come to the aid of allies and send larger armies.[/p]
• [p]Defense become stronger. Walls and towers are now three times stronger, so city sieges will eventually require more serious preparation. Let us know if we went overboard.[/p]
• [p]Archers Vision. Also, archers can no longer see through walls, and their accuracy is greatly reduced if a wall stands between them and their target. This protects garrison archers and increases the value of towers.[/p]
• [p]Protection Of Blessed. Of course, this works for you too, so defending will be easier. For defense, we also made the Blessing book available to all cultures, and the blessing now includes church protection. So now you can survive hard times under the wing of Mother Sophia.[/p]
• [p]Replenishing Migration. And if you still get looted, the new replenishing migration mechanic will help cities recover faster (migration increases if the city has many job vacancies).[/p]
• [p]Treasurer. In case stronger opponents give you trouble, we improved the seduction mechanic, and also gave a critical role in medium and large cities—the Treasurer. If the Treasurer is eliminated, the city suffers -30% to its army for three turns.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Nectar[/h2][p]As you may know (from the movies of cause!), to get someone hooked on a drug, you’re first offered a free sample or a discount.[/p][p]That’s why now some prisoners for sale and mercenaries come with a Nectar addiction — but their price is reduced by 30%.[/p][p]Also, Nectar’s effect now lasts for two full days.[/p][p][/p][h2]Prayers and Altars[/h2][p]We’ve streamlined prayers: now they grant +5 when performed at home, +10 at an Altar, and +20 in the Temple.[/p][p]Altars can now also host sermons. However, their effect is noticeably weaker compared to Temples—due to poor acoustics, obviously.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Prisoner Barracks[/h2][p]Unlike most other buildings, this one is meant to have only a single entrance (for security), so we’ve drawn 4 variations with exits facing all four directions.[/p][p]We’ve also improved the Hall’s lighting[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Carrots[/h2][p]Oh, and we also added a new type of food—carrots. They yield every day and don’t have the downsides of Rutabaga (in terms of quality, they’re like Flour), but their productivity leaves much to be desired. In short, this means you won’t have to rush headlong into researching Flour production at the start—you can live off carrots for a while without worry.[/p][p][/p][h2]Continue playing after victory[/h2][p]One of the community’s most frequent and long-standing requests. Now, after defeating the Inquisition and proclaiming your monarch Emperor, you’ll be able to keep playing.[/p][p][/p][h2]Dog speeds up walking for blind characters[/h2][p]One of the most heartfelt requests we’ve ever received, so it was impossible to ignore.[/p][p][/p][h2]Crown can be passed to the Bishop[/h2][p]We continue to work on the power system, and this improvement should reconcile you somewhat with our main villain.[/p][p][/p][h2]Improved auto-battle simulation[/h2][p]We hadn’t revisited this corner of the game in a long time, and there were some very old and inaccurate algorithms. Auto-battle on the world map is now significantly more accurate, taking into account the presence of walls, watchtowers, and archers firing at the advancing enemy army.[/p][p][/p][h2]General alcohol ban reinstated[/h2][p]Based on your feedback, we brought back the overall alcohol ban in the dynasty menu, as it still remains the best way to deal with alcoholism.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]That’s the main part. There are many other interesting improvements, so read the list below:[/p][p][/p][h2]Patch #39 Full Changelog[/h2][p][/p][h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Villages will now have more light clubmen and spearmen.[/p]
• [p]The chance of a soldier joining another lord after a victorious battle has been increased from 20% to 35%.[/p]
• [p]Confiscation now takes all the money instead of half.[/p]
• [p]Praise and slander are now twice as effective on puppets.[/p]
• [p]Politicians now start appearing and becoming active from day 5.[/p]
• [p]A bishop’s religious uprising now requires at least 30% fanatics among the population.[/p]
• [p]The random price increase from the caravan trader is now x2 or x3 instead of the previous x1.5.[/p]
• [p]City populations no longer decrease when attacked.[/p]
• [p]AI cities on the world map should now grow faster.[/p]
• [p]The thought “Hunted Together” has been strengthened.[/p]
• [p]On the world map, AI now buys nectar instead of daggers.[/p]
• [p]Purchase prices for ale, tools, meat, healing ointment, steel, paper, coal, flowers, and daggers have doubled; nectar purchase prices have tripled. At the same time, selling these goods to the caravan trader is now much more profitable depending on skill differences.[/p]
• [p]The “Blessing” technology is now available at 40 inhabitants. It is available to all cultures since it is written in the imperial language.[/p]
• [p]The thought “Forced Marriage” has been removed (previously triggered when marrying with relationships below +25).[/p]
• [p]Fortifications are now 3 times stronger.[/p]
• [p]The social thought “Spouse” now expires 20 days after the wedding.[/p]
• [p]AI now sends 70% of troops to assist other factions (previously 50%).[/p]
• [p]Balance changes: “Axe Mastery” now adds x1.5 tickets instead of x2; “Club Stun” is now x2 instead of x3; “Bowstring Mastery” is now x1.5 instead of x2.[/p]
• [p]During attacks, neighbors with a relationship ≤ -25 towards the attacker now always help (100%), instead of only 50% of the time.[/p]
• [p]The bishop’s thought “No Temples in the City” has been strengthened to -15.[/p]
• [p]The effect of seduction on interest has been removed; the cooldown time for seduction has been set to 72 hours.[/p]
• [p]The cost of the bishop’s “Repentance” action has been changed.[/p]
• [p]Duels now always give +50 relationship between participants.[/p]
• [p]The effect of smell on interest has been removed; the age threshold for the youth interest bonus has been raised; the potential relationship-based bonus to interest has been increased.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed a bug where the thought “Slandered” always had a value of 0.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the seduction mechanics.[/p]
• [p]To demand tribute or start a sudden attack, factions must now share a border with the player.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash when clicking on the notification for a new quest.[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect message that a puppet had a higher chance of dark deeds outside its city.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the description of the sermon “Army Loyalty” so it now reflects the current mechanics.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the lord was always considered the winner when calculating the chance to gain loyal soldiers.[/p]
• [p]The inspector notification for the Hall no longer appears before the Hall is built.[/p]
• [p]The unique guest “Maniac” now acts at night instead of during the day.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where AI would not assist another AI when attacked by the player if the player had an upcoming or active prophecy.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where ring-related thought effects were identical at medium and high wealth levels.[/p]
• [p]Characters no longer slow down when walking past a building if there is no other building next to it.[/p]
• [p]The “Slander” action now lowers relationship with the king instead of with the performer.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug allowing camera control from the keyboard while searching the encyclopedia.[/p]
• [p]A lord will not attempt to bribe someone for sex if it would count as adultery and he does not wish to cheat.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• [p]Characters now live in pairs.[/p]
• [p]The royal couple now lives in the hall.[/p]
• [p]A lord with positive relations with their spouse will not be forced into seducing another, unless they are lustful.[/p]
• [p]A seducer will not attempt to seduce a target if the target’s spouse is nearby.[/p]
• [p]The king can now perform tasks previously only available to his puppets and followers.[/p]
• [p]When shooting through walls, gates, or towers near walls, archers now get a -60% accuracy penalty. If an archer is standing on a tower, there is no penalty.[/p]
• [p]Spouses now only have sex if they have good relations. Other factors no longer matter.[/p]
• [p]If the player’s lord cannot become a politician due to hostile relations with other politicians, another lord with army loyalty ≥ 30% may become one.[/p]
• [p]Trade offers on the world map now refresh at the interval specified in the tooltip.[/p]
• [p]Church protection is now granted by completing the quest “The King Attains Holiness.”[/p]
• [p]The hire menu can now contain 2 to 4 mercenaries depending on nectar availability.[/p]
• [p]A new food resource has been added — carrots.[/p]
• [p]Added the “Political Demands” mechanic — unique whims of the player’s politicians.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to schedule sermons at the Altar, though they are much weaker compared to the Temple.[/p]
• [p]The bishop can now demand a crown and become king.[/p]
• [p]If there are more than 10 free jobs, a migration bonus is activated.[/p]
• [p]Puppets can no longer refuse their idol’s advances.[/p]
• [p]The quest “Gift for the Idol” has been removed. Instead, the “Take Money” quest has been changed: puppets don’t lose mood, they give 300 coins (instead of 150), and their relation to the king drops by -10 (instead of -20).[/p]
• [p]If the player eliminates a treasurer lord (formerly called trader) in an AI faction, it gains the “Army Weakening” status: -30% to army and garrison, and cannot recruit troops for 3 days.[/p]
• [p]The player’s king and bishop now act like politicians and recruit followers independently.[/p]
• [p]Loyalty in all systems has been replaced with “relationship with the king.”[/p]
• [p]Added a mechanic where the value of a gift decreases depending on the recipient lord’s wealth.[/p]
• [p]The player’s king now sometimes sits on the throne.[/p]
• [p]A lord is no longer considered a politician’s follower if they are another lord’s puppet.[/p]
• [p]Added a separate “Gift” action for lords on the world map. The “Offering to the King” action now has a 1-day cooldown.[/p]
• [p]The “Bribe Heir for Rebellion” action has been replaced with “Bribe Politician” (a politician appears in an AI city once the population reaches 40). The cost is fixed and does not depend on skills.[/p]
• [p]The “No Politicians” mutator has been removed.[/p]
• [p]The “Slander” action can now be performed on the world map.[/p]
• [p]Captured lords now gain a long-term negative thought toward the king of the faction that captured them.[/p]
• [p]If a character notices sex in a house, they will leave and wait before re-entering.[/p]
• [p]Added infidelity thoughts if someone catches one of the partners having sex.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Interface[/h3]

• [p]The tooltip for donating to a politician now shows the money amount.[/p]
• [p]Unavailable tasks now display their description along with the reason they are unavailable.[/p]
• [p]The battle icon on the world map is now always displayed above city names and quests.[/p]
• [p]When selecting a ranged unit, enemy squads will show a broken arrow icon if fortifications block line of sight.[/p]
• [p]The relationship tooltip now specifies that a character agrees to sex with their spouse.[/p]
• [p]The spouse of a kidnapped AI lord will no longer appear in the house on the local map.[/p]
• [p]Added the option to assign empty equipment to a soldier when creating an army.[/p]
• [p]The bottom army panel now indicates that the army is taking weapons from storage.[/p]
• [p]If there are no suitable lords, the house settlement menu now shows a message about their absence.[/p]
• [p]The barracks menu now shows soldier information on hover.[/p]
• [p]The event for the return of the player’s squad now shows the change in soldier loyalty after the campaign.[/p]
• [p]The army loyalty tooltip now shows undecided warriors.[/p]
• [p]AI politician lords now have the proper status in tooltips and titles (similar to king, queen, heir, etc.).[/p]
• [p]The alcohol ban has been replaced with a ban on ale only.[/p]
• [p]All of the player’s lords are now displayed as potential executors of intrigue tasks, but blocked if unavailable with a reason shown.[/p]
• [p]Added a setting to restore the old camera mode where all roofs disappear when zooming in, not just near the center.[/p]
• [p]Added an “Auto” button for automatic equipment distribution in squads.[/p]
• [p]Added a new tip about married lords who don’t love each other.[/p]
• [p]Canceling a date now shows a message with the reason.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Patch #39 Full Changelog[/h2][p][/p][h3]General changes and fixes[/h3]

• [p]Carrots are now sold to caravans for 3 coins instead of 5. Yield reduced by 20%.[/p]
• [p]Politicians no longer gain a second talent; instead, they have a permanent +30% XP bonus. The maximum number of talents for lords has been increased back to 2 (instead of 1).[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a building completely surrounded by others became inaccessible for pathfinding, trapping characters inside.[/p]
• [p]“Mace Stun” once again gives x3 stun tickets instead of x2 (reverted to original value).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where characters refused a date even if the spouses had good relations.[/p]
• [p]On Easy difficulty, fortifications are now as resilient as before (i.e., weakened again).[/p]
• [p]Characters no longer react to sex unless they are directly in the bedroom.[/p]
• [p]Player lords gain +16 Thought after buying a ring from a caravan.[/p]
• [p]If a character has a dog, it removes the movement speed penalty for blindness.[/p]
• [p]Resource tooltips now show information about future price increases. Fixed freezes when trading such resources.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]City life and households[/h3]

• [p]Guests with children will visit the player’s city more often.[/p]
• [p]Added music before battles.[/p]
• [p]Housing comfort now applies to the king and queen in the hall.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to continue playing after victory.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Battles and simulation[/h3]

• [p]Archers are now valued more highly in victory calculations and in the strength progress bar if the city has walls and towers.[/p]
• [p]World map auto-battles now account for walls: defending archers fire until the gate is destroyed.[/p]
• [p]Fortifications are now displayed in the battle simulation GUI on the world map.[/p]
• [p]In auto-battles, soldiers will now destroy towers and kill those on them.[/p]
• [p]Archers in auto-battles no longer use bows in melee.[/p]
• [p]After losing a battle, an escaping captured lord no longer makes repeated attempts that night, and guards beat him with fists instead of weapons.[/p]
• [p]Bandit camp map updated: no longer flat and now supports towers.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Politics and dynasty[/h3]

• [p]Restored the ability to ban alcohol for lords through the dynasty menu.[/p]
• [p]Added a 48-hour cooldown between spouses’ dates.[/p]
• [p]Player characters no longer take part in random dialogues with other lords at 11:00 if they are in an AI-controlled city.[/p]
• [p]Workers no longer switch workplaces during the workday.[/p]
• [p]Price increase notification removed from lords with the “Forecaster” talent. Instead, price increases occur with a 50% chance, and the tooltip will show the verdict of the lord with the “Forecaster” talent.[/p]
• [p]Restored ambition for rewards among regular lords (non-politicians).[/p]
• [p]A free lord can now only be granted a title after being hired.[/p]
• [p]Politician icon now displayed in the top menu for the player’s king.[/p]
• [p]The “Debt of Honor” event now includes a letter displayed upon clicking.[/p]
• [p]To become a politician due to 30% army influence, a lord must now have at least 5 loyal soldiers.[/p]
• [p]New reasons for becoming a politician: having 500 coins and 4 adult lords in the faction; if the ruler is old and there are 3 adult lords, the heir becomes a politician.[/p]
• [p]It is now possible to give the crown to the Bishop at any time, not only during a rebellion. The former heir worsens relations with the new king.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted algorithm for money growth among lords on the world map — they now get rich faster.[/p]

[p][/p]

[h3]Hello everyone,[/h3][p]Unfortunately, based on your feedback and the extra features we’d like to showcase, we’re not yet ready to roll everything into the main branch, so today’s improvements are also going into the beta version. After all, that’s what the beta channel is for, right?[/p][p]This is patch number 40, so next week—if everything goes well—we’ll release a main-branch version that includes the changes from patches 39 and 40.[/p][p]As always, all saves remain compatible.[/p][p]This update mainly focuses on algorithms and features that you, our beloved community, have been asking for for a long time. [/p][p]Support us with a review on the game’s page to motivate us even more![/p][p][/p][h3]Continue playing after victory[/h3][p]One of the community’s most frequent and long-standing requests. Now, after defeating the Inquisition and proclaiming your monarch Emperor, you’ll be able to keep playing.[/p][p][/p][h3]Dog speeds up walking for blind characters[/h3][p]One of the most heartfelt requests we’ve ever received, so it was impossible to ignore.[/p][p][/p][h3]Talent system restored[/h3][p]By your request, we’ve reverted the talent system back to its previous state.[/p][p][/p][h3]Crown can be passed to the Bishop[/h3][p]We continue to work on the power system, and this improvement should reconcile you somewhat with our main villain.[/p][p][/p][h3]Improved auto-battle simulation[/h3][p]We hadn’t revisited this corner of the game in a long time, and there were some very old and inaccurate algorithms. Auto-battle on the world map is now significantly more accurate, taking into account the presence of walls, watchtowers, and archers firing at the advancing enemy army.[/p][p][/p][h3]General alcohol ban reinstated[/h3][p]Based on your feedback, we brought back the overall alcohol ban in the dynasty menu, as it still remains the best way to deal with alcoholism.[/p][p][/p][h2]Full changelog[/h2][p][/p][h3]General changes and fixes[/h3]

• [p]Carrots are now sold to caravans for 3 coins instead of 5. Yield reduced by 20%.[/p]
• [p]Politicians no longer gain a second talent; instead, they have a permanent +30% XP bonus. The maximum number of talents for lords has been increased back to 2 (instead of 1).[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where a building completely surrounded by others became inaccessible for pathfinding, trapping characters inside.[/p]
• [p]“Mace Stun” once again gives x3 stun tickets instead of x2 (reverted to original value).[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where characters refused a date even if the spouses had good relations.[/p]
• [p]On Easy difficulty, fortifications are now as resilient as before (i.e., weakened again).[/p]
• [p]Characters no longer react to sex unless they are directly in the bedroom.[/p]
• [p]Player lords gain +16 Thought after buying a ring from a caravan.[/p]
• [p]If a character has a dog, it removes the movement speed penalty for blindness.[/p]
• [p]Resource tooltips now show information about future price increases. Fixed freezes when trading such resources.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]City life and households[/h3]

• [p]Guests with children will visit the player’s city more often.[/p]
• [p]Added music before battles.[/p]
• [p]Housing comfort now applies to the king and queen in the hall.[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to continue playing after victory.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Battles and simulation[/h3]

• [p]Archers are now valued more highly in victory calculations and in the strength progress bar if the city has walls and towers.[/p]
• [p]World map auto-battles now account for walls: defending archers fire until the gate is destroyed.[/p]
• [p]Fortifications are now displayed in the battle simulation GUI on the world map.[/p]
• [p]In auto-battles, soldiers will now destroy towers and kill those on them.[/p]
• [p]Archers in auto-battles no longer use bows in melee.[/p]
• [p]After losing a battle, an escaping captured lord no longer makes repeated attempts that night, and guards beat him with fists instead of weapons.[/p]
• [p]Bandit camp map updated: no longer flat and now supports towers.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Politics and dynasty[/h3]

• [p]Restored the ability to ban alcohol for lords through the dynasty menu.[/p]
• [p]Added a 48-hour cooldown between spouses’ dates.[/p]
• [p]Player characters no longer take part in random dialogues with other lords at 11:00 if they are in an AI-controlled city.[/p]
• [p]Workers no longer switch workplaces during the workday.[/p]
• [p]Price increase notification removed from lords with the “Forecaster” talent. Instead, price increases occur with a 50% chance, and the tooltip will show the verdict of the lord with the “Forecaster” talent.[/p]
• [p]Restored ambition for rewards among regular lords (non-politicians).[/p]
• [p]A free lord can now only be granted a title after being hired.[/p]
• [p]Politician icon now displayed in the top menu for the player’s king.[/p]
• [p]The “Debt of Honor” event now includes a letter displayed upon clicking.[/p]
• [p]To become a politician due to 30% army influence, a lord must now have at least 5 loyal soldiers.[/p]
• [p]New reasons for becoming a politician: having 500 coins and 4 adult lords in the faction; if the ruler is old and there are 3 adult lords, the heir becomes a politician.[/p]
• [p]It is now possible to give the crown to the Bishop at any time, not only during a rebellion. The former heir worsens relations with the new king.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted algorithm for money growth among lords on the world map — they now get rich faster.[/p]