Knights of the Crusades News

[p]Hello Crusaders,[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks to your support, we`re officially at 1.0! Since launching into Early Access, we`ve been hard at work with weekly updates, steadily adding content and refining every part of the game for this milestone.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for playing, and for joining us on this journey to 1.0 and beyond![/p][p][/p][p]Since our Early Access launch, you’ve helped us refine battles, balance factions, and polish systems to bring the game closer to what we always envisioned: a living, breathing strategy experience where every campaign feels unique. We couldn’t have gotten here without you.
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We`re proud of how far the game has come and grateful for the support along the way. But this is only the beginning. We`ll keep releasing weekly updates after launch, bringing in more unique art, new features, balance changes, and ongoing polish. [/p][p][/p][h3]What to Expect in 1.0[/h3]

• [p]Campaigns Across Continents: The Holy Land, Spain, North Africa, and Eastern Europe are all yours to conquer.[/p]
• [p]Expanded Factions: Play as Christian, Muslim, Pagan, or Slavic powers, each with unique units and mechanics.[/p]
• [p]RTS + Sandbox Gameplay: Command armies, build settlements, and manage survival-driven economies in one seamless experience.[/p]
• [p]Polish & Balance: Dozens of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and community-driven changes. [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]⚔️ See you on the battlefield,[/p]

[p]Hey Everyone,[/p][p][/p][p]Today’s update gives you the tools to master the game. We’ve added a full Help section – an in-game walkthrough covering everything from your first steps as a landless knight to advanced strategies for survival in the Holy Land.[/p][p][/p][p]The Help system explains nearly every aspect of play: using Personal Time, marching to Constantinople, fighting Crusade battles, setting up order chapters, advanced diplomacy, trade, and more. Whether you’re new or deep into a Sandbox campaign, it offers clear strategies right when you need them.[/p][p][/p][p]To access the new health menu, click on the ? sign in the top right corner of the screen.[/p][p][/p][p]This update also includes a major localization pass. Translations have been polished and expanded across multiple languages, making menus, tutorials, and tooltips smoother and more immersive for players worldwide.[/p][p][/p][p]Together, the new Help system and improved localization make the game more approachable, polished, and enjoyable.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks as always for your feedback and support – it continues to drive us forward every week.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone,[/p][p][/p][p]Over the past month we’ve released several important updates leading up to our Massive Update on August 30th. While we didn’t post news for every patch along the way, August brought a huge amount of progress across nearly every part of the game.[/p][p][/p][p]With this milestone, the game is now almost complete. All core systems are in, the last stability issues have been addressed, and the Order campaign has been fully reworked with new content and a much deeper tutorial system.[/p][p][/p][p]This is the best time to jump back in – we strongly encourage everyone to start a new Order campaign with the tutorial turned on, to experience all the improvements and learn more about the game’s expanded mechanics.[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve also resolved the crash problems some players were seeing. To make sure everything runs smoothly on your end, please re-validate your game files on Steam. Here’s how:[/p]

1. [p]Open your Steam Library.[/p]
2. [p]Right-click Knights of the Crusades and choose Properties.[/p]
3. [p]Go to the Installed Files tab.[/p]
4. [p]Click Verify integrity of game files.
   Steam will check your installation and re-download anything that’s missing or outdated.[/p]

[p][/p][p]From here we’ll keep polishing and balancing the game as we head toward full release. Thank you for your continued support during Early Access – it’s been an exciting journey and we’re almost there.[/p][h2][/h2][p][/p][p]Here’s a quick overview of the major areas we worked on across three August updates:[/p]

• [p]Order Campaign Overhaul – Complete redesign with smoother progression, new event chains, and expanded tutorials.[/p]
• [p]Tutorial System – Now covers all key mechanics across campaign, battles, economy, and diplomacy.[/p]
• [p]Stability Fixes – Resolved final crash issues reported by players.[/p]
• [p]Bug Fixes – Hundreds of small fixes across all systems.[/p]
• [p]Performance Optimizations – Faster loading and improved framerate in large battles.[/p]
• [p]Siege Battles – AI improvements, food mechanics fixes, and balance tweaks.[/p]
• [p]Diplomacy – Expanded options, fixed trade deal bugs, improved AI negotiation.[/p]
• [p]UI & UX – Numerous tooltip updates, new minimap markers, improved readability.[/p]
• [p]Graphics & Visuals – Terrain polish, updated unit models, fixed texture issues.[/p]
• [p]Localization – Expanded and corrected text in all supported languages.[/p]

[p]Hey Everyone,[/p][p][/p][p]Welcome to our eleventh weekly update – and this one is a major leap forward. Version 0.34 delivers massive improvements to both world map and RTS AI, along with dozens of new features and essential quality-of-life updates across the board.[/p][p][/p][p]This update marks a huge milestone in how the game plays on the World Map. Armies now act more intelligently – waiting, planning, and adapting to their enemies. You’ll also notice that AI factions are much more dynamic in how they maneuver, siege, and conquer territory. RTS combat AI has received similar love, with faster reactions and smarter tactics both in camps and during assaults.[/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, we’ve added brand-new art sets for Slavic and Pagan vhamlets, new visual UI improvements across menus, smarter recruiting systems, and major updates to how garrisons and army formations function.[/p][p][/p][p]All of this brings us one step closer to a living, breathing medieval world – where your strategies matter, and the AI plays by the same rules.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again for continuing to shape this journey with us. Check out the full Update 0.34 details below![/p][p][/p][h2]New Features[/h2]

• [p]Slavic and Pagan nations now have a new art set for hamlets, including all-new village houses[/p]
• [p]New directional arrow when tasking multiple unit battalions[/p]
• [p]New diplomacy option to cancel trade agreements, at the cost of a major diplomatic penalty[/p]
• [p]Cities on the world map now display if a building is under construction and how many months remain[/p]
• [p]The Recruit Units button is now only active when the player is in range of a friendly or owned town – a major QoL improvement[/p]
• [p]Armies and Garrisons now display a grid view separating all unit slots[/p]
• [p]Players can click any free garrison grid slot to initiate recruitment[/p]
• [p]When recruiting units, players can now select a specific grid slot for unit placement[/p]
• [p]New visual indicators for negative status effects like missing or draining resources – clearly visible and intuitive across dozens of menus[/p]
• [p]While recruiting, city names are now clearly displayed when hiring units or mercenaries[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Major World Map AI Changes[/h2]

• [p]AI armies now wait several weeks after arriving at their targets, prepping for siege[/p]
• [p]It’s now possible to coordinate more effectively with friendly AI armies and counter enemy forces[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where sandbox AI would attack instantly in the first month – AI now builds up for several months before engaging[/p]
• [p]Resolved a bug where AI armies were assigned to attack but never actually arrived[/p]
• [p]AI now avoids hostile ports when possible instead of engaging them[/p]
• [p]AI is now much more competent at reaching the player by sea[/p]
• [p]AI captures rival towns significantly faster, dramatically reshaping the world map[/p]
• [p]AI navigates the world map with far greater intelligence and efficiency[/p][p][/p]

[h2]RTS AI Improvements[/h2]

• [p]Fixed major issue causing AI to delay attacks for several minutes[/p]
• [p]AI now sends freshly trained units into battle instead of leaving them idle in camps[/p]
• [p]Big improvements to how AI positions units on walls during sieges[/p]
• [p]Fixed various issues where AI would refuse to charge the player under certain conditions[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Balancing[/h2]

• [p]Players now start with more trade route points (minimum 2)[/p]
• [p]Players can sign additional trade agreements[/p]
• [p]Starting resources have been greatly increased in sandbox mode[/p]
• [p]Early game is easier in sandbox due to several rebalancing changes[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Other Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed world map lag spikes[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue preventing army invites to battle[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where Recruit Units sometimes didn’t detect town proximity[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect listing of active diplomacy agreements[/p]
• [p]Fixed world map unit stats displaying 10x inflated attack values[/p]
• [p]Cities no longer gain 1 extra pop beyond cap at the end of the month[/p]
• [p]Fixed flickering nation portraits in diplomacy screen when refreshing (e.g. on gifts or declarations)[/p]
• [p]Army and city windows now keep unit portraits without flickering during refreshes or transitions[/p]
• [p]Fixed winter visuals incorrectly appearing in Muslim desert cities[/p]
• [p]Corrected Muslim town halls from showing strange winter variants[/p]

[p]Hey Everyone,[/p][p]
Welcome to our 10th update since EA launch! While this week’s patch isn’t a huge one, it continues our steady pace of weekly improvements – cleaning up interface issues, polishing visual elements, and knocking out some annoying bugs.[/p][p][/p][p]One major focus this week was improving interface clarity. From smarter tooltips and cleaner map UI to clearer RTS warnings and more useful visuals, we’ve tried to remove those friction points that add up over time. If you’ve ever squinted at the world map wondering why your resources didn’t update, or hovered over a gatehouse unsure if it was open – this update is for you.[/p][p][/p][p]We also spent some time giving the Slavic units a much-needed visual pass, including updated portraits with proper regional helmets and beards to better reflect the time period. And yes, zooming in is now a bit tighter too, for those who like to see the action up close.[/p][p][/p][p]A few long-standing bugs are finally squashed – including level display glitches in combat, diplomacy issues when ascending to King, and even a weird seasonal message bug in January (yep, that was a thing).[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again for all your feedback – it’s been essential in shaping every weekly update. Check out the full Update 0.33 details below:[/p][h3][/h3][h3]Interface Improvements[/h3]

• [p]Open gatehouses now show an open icon – no more guessing.[/p]
• [p]Winter now clearly highlights wood penalties for citizens.[/p]
• [p]Civilian food and wood consumption tracking now works as intended.[/p]
• [p]Tooltips for RTS building buttons now smartly adjust position (top/bottom) based on screen location.[/p]
• [p]World map resource bar now updates once per second max – reduces micro stutters.[/p]
• [p]Tax rate changes now instantly update the world map’s resource bar.[/p]
• [p]World map unit training no longer freezes the entire map.[/p]
• [p]Training queues auto-refresh when resources change.[/p]
• [p]Low food warning in RTS battles has been reworked to be clearer and less spammy.[/p]
• [p]Cities now show larger looted text, displayed above the portrait.[/p]
• [p]Buy/Sell buttons now show tooltips on hover and work better with clicks.[/p]
• [p]Recruit Units window no longer refreshes portraits when you train units.[/p]
• [p]New armies now play a voiced greeting when created.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Visual Changes[/h3]

• [p]Big update to Slavic unit portraits – new beards, proper regional helmets, and historically grounded attire.[/p]
• [p]Slight zoom-in boost – you can now zoom closer than before.[/p]
• [p]Healing FX made more subtle and less visually noisy.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

• [p]Army slows down by 70% when near a port.[/p]
• [p]AI attacks no longer overwhelm the player on hard difficulty.[/p]
• [p]AI attacks slightly reduced overall for better pacing.[/p]
• [p]RTS build times halved in the prologue.[/p]
• [p]AI is now more likely to ride out from Hamlets and attack the player.[/p]
• [p]Building levels now reduce unit cost on the world map.[/p]
• [p]Increased AI assault time limit on towns by 1 minute.[/p]
• [p]Peasant income increased on the world map.[/p]
• [p]All building hit points greatly increased.[/p]
• [p]Many low-tier buildings received an additional hit point boost.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed a bug where January showed the wrong season message.[/p]
• [p]Simplified season code – should be more reliable and cleaner under the hood.[/p]
• [p]Smoke now stops correctly when looting ends.[/p]
• [p]Fixed unit level display bug during combat.[/p]
• [p]Diplomacy screen now behaves properly when the player becomes King.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where armies could recruit from a city with buildings still under construction.[/p]