Kingdoms and Castles News

Hi Everyone,

We've got the beta available for the next update - War & Diplomacy! We've got a sticky thread in the forums where there's a more detailed list of all the new changes that are ready for testing, but here's a little preview of just a few of the things you can look forward to:

[h3]New Dragon Type![/h3]


[h3]New Defense Type[/h3]


[h3]And more![/h3]

Of course, we'll do our usual a big update post when the War & Diplomacy update is ready for final release, and that'll be on... September 22nd!

If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to the beta branch (keep in mind there will be bugs and things to fix). Here's how:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Choose the next-version-preview branch

No code is necessary, your game should automatically update once you switch. Everyone who has been playing on the alpha branch will be kept up to date as well.

Please send your feedback and bug reports to [email protected], chat with us directly in our discord, or post here in the forums!

-Pete, Michael, and Sam

Hi Everyone!

Hope you’ve all been enjoying the AI Kingdoms update (and the Steam Deck controls if you have one)! It's been fun to see folks interact with the AIs. We're now working on the next couple of updates, here's a little preview of the progress we're making:

[h3]VR[/h3]
We have been working very hard to get the game playable in VR. This is our last crowdfunding campaign goal and it’s important to us to follow through on our word. This will also be a free update and completely optional. The game is now mostly playable in VR, but has some rough edges we’ll be working out before it's ready for beta testing.

[h3]AI Kingdoms - Diplomacy+[/h3]
Thanks for all the feedback on the AI Kingdoms update! We’re preparing another update with a new conversations to expand your interactions with the AI as well as the ability for you, the player, to demand tribute if you’d like, and a bunch more things folks have asked for. We're also working on more optimizations. We should have this up on the next-version-preview branch soon for beta testing.

[h3]Note on Price[/h3]
Over the last five years, we’ve improved the game significantly and added tons of new features and mechanics. So far we’ve done 11 big content updates, all completely free. On August 9th we're raising the price of the game to $14.99 (if you’ve already bought the game this has no impact on you). We feel this is still a great value but better represents all the work we’ve put in to the game over the years.

Until next time,
-Pete, Michael, & Sam

• Restore peasant rotation after being freed from vikings
  
• Fixed ogres damaging archers when attacking a tall tower
  
• Fixed extra gold being deducted when building an outpost from an exploration ship
  
• Fixed rare issue where you could get stuck in the feast diplomacy menu
  
• Fixed the church getting mad at you for using the witch if you didn't have any churches but the AI did
  
• Fixed being able to end a war without being able to afford it
  
• Fixed issue where towers with archer emplacements were collapsing too soon when damaged
  

-Pete

Thanks for all the bug reports! If you run into any issues, send us your save game. Saves are in %AppData%\..\LocalLow\LionShield\Kingdoms and Castles\Saves\, email to [email protected]

Hey Everyone!

[h2]Steam Deck[/h2]
We’ve added support for the Steam Deck to Kingdoms and Castles! We've worked hard to implement intuitive gamepad controls that make it easy to build and manage your kingdom and we've tweaked the UI to work well for the Deck's screen size. Note this doesn’t impact the PC/mouse experience at all - it’s just a little bonus. If you've got a Steam Deck, give it a try and let us know what you think!



[h2]Gamepad Controls[/h2]
This also means general gamepads plugged into your computer will now work! The game can transition seemlessly between gamepad and keyboard/mouse. Just make sure to check on ‘Console Controls’ option in the game’s settings menu if you want to use a gamepad on the PC (note you don’t need to change this setting for the Steam Deck).

[h2]What's next?[/h2]
Otherwise right now we’re hard at work on:

• Fixing bugs - you may have noticed a few small hotpatches over the past few weeks, more to come soon.
  
• New stuff for the AI Kingdoms based on your feedback so far (for example, getting that pesky aggressive AI to stop asking for tribute after defeating them in a war, and being able to demand tribute yourself).
  
• VR version of the game - this is well underway and feels really cool. We'll have some progress to show here soon.

Until next time,
- Pete, Michael, & Sam