Warsim: The Realm of Aslona News

Hey everyone,

This update is pretty much entirely the result of bugfixing and playtesting, I found a lot of these things needing improvement in a single playthrough.

STAFF TWEAKS (6 features)

Noticed staff training was just a single text notification at the bottom of the screen, now it's got it's own screen and is a little tidier.

* Added new screens for cancelling training for court staff
* Added new screens for starting training for court staff
* Added new screens for being unable to afford court staff training
* Added new screens for cancelling/starting/not affording to train monster trainer
* Added new screens for cancelling/starting/not affording to train game master
* Fixed 24 text anf grammar bugs with staff training text

BANKING IMPROVEMENTS (5 features)

It occured to me while playtesting how bland the bank withdraw and deposit screens are, so now I've made a much more dynamic system of screens.

* Added new screens with 23 different dynamic graphics depending on withdrawal size for bank withdrawals
* Added new screens with 23 different dynamic graphics depending on deposit size for bank deposits
* Added new screen for depositing or withdrawing 1 gold
* Added new screen if you have no gold to withdraw or deposit
* Added new screens if you try to withdrawl or deposit more than you have

DARKDALE TWEAKS (2 features)

A couple of things needing improvement in Darkdale!

* Added indicators of gold loss and troops gained in Darkdale merc post
* Added current gold bar visible when looking at buying darkdale properties

ASSURAK IMPROVED (6 features)

Found several bugs and things needing improving when attacking Camp Assurak!

* Fixed Assurak camp ruin rewards not having indicators showing what was gained
* Fixed small gold desposit Assurak reward giving you peasants instead of gold coins
* Fixed handful of gold Assurak reward not giving you any gold
* Fixed gold deposit Assurak reward not giving you any gold
* Added chance of finding bones instead of troops in Assurak
* Added new seperate screen for gold loot in Assurak

WILDWOOD SAVAGE IMPROVEMENTS (3 features)

Playtested and found that screens for destroying these places was pretty lackluster, now they've been fixed up!

* Added new screen to destroying old ruined outpost village in Wildwood (with sfx)
* Added new screen for destroying savage village in wildwood (with sfx)
* Added new loot chest discovered when destroying savage village in wildwood (with sfx)

LOSING IN A VILLAGE (4 features)

After last updates improvements on champion challenges I thought I'd further improve the event of losing against a village, it has previously been a single screen but now there's a bit more too it. Also to add insult to injury losing to a village champion will always dock you -1 public opinion!

* Added losing village champion challenge gives -1 public opinion
* Added new indicator post champion challenge loss explaining your champion is killed
* Added new cheering screen and sound effect if you lose against a village
* Added new memorial screen and sound effect for your defeated champion

MONFORT MINE IMPROVED (3 features)

Came across occupied monfort mine in a playthrough and realised capturing and freeing it was just a line of text and didn't even have a screen, now there's 4 new screens and a reward too!

* Added new screen for capturing monfort mine
* Added new screen for defeating foreign group occupying monfort mine
* Added miners reward you with random loot item for freeing them from occupiers

DOOMSTONE IMPROVED (3 features)

Viewing the doomstone was just a small bit of text telling you if any kingdom are doomed, now it's much better and more dynamic!

* Added new screen for viewing the doomstone with dynamic graphic based on if any dooms are listed
* Fixed 10 grammar bugs in doomstone viewing text
* Added sound effect for viewing doomstone if any dooms are listed

NORTHERN ANIMAL FIGHT PIT (10 features)

Another playtest sweep, found quite a few things needing improvement here.

* Fixed you pass by a the animal fight pit bug
* Reworked animal fight pit owned and unowned intros
* Fixed animal fight pit gold bar and added a new gold bar
* Reworked ruined animal fight pit text
* Fixed 17 text bugs in Animal pit fights
* Added indicator of gold spent watching animal pit fight
* Added coin sound effect to paying to watch animal fight
* Fixed text bug when destroying animal pit
* Added new screen and sfx for upgrading animal pit (shows what effect the upgrade has)
* Added new screen for capturing the animal pit

ARASUK SETTLEMENT IMPROVED (25 features)

A playtest took me to Arasuk where I found quite a few lacking areas, tried to improve and fix all I could!

* Added new option to ask to challenge Arasuk champion
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the demon totems (2 responses depending on demons defeated or not)
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the shrine of Xzefrak (2 responses depending on demons defeated or not)
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the Seer's Hut (2 responses depending on demons defeated or not)
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the Wall of Old Propehcy (2 responses depending on demons defeated or not)
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the Local book shop
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about the Sandman Tavern
* Added new option to ask Arasuk elder about recruiting from Arasuk
* Fixed Arasuk bookshop text bug
* Added march sound effect to recruiting troops from Arasuk
* Fixed typo in Arasuk elder intro
* Fixed text issue with recruitment in Arasuk
* Added new alt dialogue when asking about Arasuk with elder post demon gate destruction
* Reworked asking about Arasuk question with village elder
* Added the sandman tavern owner doesn't answer questions and wears a cloak if demon gate is destroyed
* Fixed text bug with Arasuk elder options
* Fixed text and spacing bug for rules of sudden death in Arasuk sandman tavern
* Fixed 2 text bugs in Arasuk hostile action screen
* Fixed missing gold loot indicator for looting Arasuk
* Added 50/50 chance of looting random item from Arasuk
* Fixed text bug in Arasuk loot screen
* Fixed looting Arasuk giving double destruction screen
* Reworked destroyed Arasuk screen
* Added missing book page turn sound effects to Arasuk library
* Reworked layout of Arasuk library book screens

DRYLANDS NOMADS IMPROVED (7 features)

Noticed a few issues here, now the nomad camp is improved and actually offers a reward for destroying it too.

* Added 4 loot item reward trove when defeating nomad camp in any state
* Fixed grammar issues with demonic Koova dialogue
* Fixed 6 text bugs in demonic drylands nomad camp
* Fixed 16 text bugs in normal drylands nomad camp
* Fixed grammar and text issues with normal koova dialogues
* Added new indicators of troop loss and new location gain when trading troops with Koova
* Added new screen for defeating nomad camp

MORE LOOT... AGAIN (25 features)

As with the last update, with new areas offering more random loot I thought I'd add more loot to ensure it doesn't get too repetetive. This update we've got new areas like the freed mine, the nomad camp, Arasuk, and the savage village offering loot!

* Added 'unicorn horn fashioned into a cup' random loot artifact (worth 155 gold)
* Added 'painting of a crying gnome' random loot artifact (worth 95 gold)
* Added 'painting of a goblin on another's shoulder' random loot artifact (worth 90 gold)
* Added 'painting of two knights dueling' random loot artifact (worth 85 gold)
* Added 'painting of a troll on a bridge' random loot artifact (worth 70 gold)
* Added 'sword made of hardened mud' random loot artifact (worth 5 gold)
* Added 'model skull made from troll dung' random loot artifact (worth 2 gold)
* Added 'jewelled obsidian dagger' random loot artifact (worth 246 gold)
* Added 'golden hilted obsidian dagger' random loot artifact (worth 320 gold)
* Added 'ancient demonic idol' random loot artifact (worth 166 gold)
* Added 'demonic drum' random loot artifact (worth 130 gold)
* Added 'old wooden smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 3 gold)
* Added 'wizards old smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 50 gold)
* Added 'obsidian smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 100 gold)
* Added 'jewelled smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 150 gold)
* Added 'jewelled obsidian smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 200 gold)
* Added 'gold smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 250 gold)
* Added 'jewelled gold smoking pipe' random loot artifact (worth 350 gold)
* Added 'dictionary of rude gnome names' random loot artifact (worth 60 gold)
* Added 'jar of witch warts' random loot artifact (worth 15 gold)
* Added 'jar of orc lips' random loot artifact (worth 20 gold)
* Added 'jar of severed cthuul tentacles' random loot artifact (worth 50 gold)
* Added 'jar of centaur hooves' random loot artifact (worth 45 gold)
* Added 'jar of imp tongues' random loot artifact (worth 30 gold)
* Added 'rusty old shield' random loot artifact (worth 5 gold)

EXPLORATION EVENTS POLISHED (10 features)

Noticed a sound bug with an exploration event, ended up fixing some other issues and adding new sound effects where there weren't any!

* Fixed peasants and soldiers for hire explore event not resetting sounds
* Added sound effect to Wagon man explore encounter
* Fixed wagon man explore encounter being available even if you don't have a trade post
* Added new screen for wagon man encounter if you haven't got the trade post (with sfx)
* Added new screen for trying to sell knight to foreign king when you have none
* Fixed text bug when selling knight to foreign king
* Added marching sound effect to foreign king explore encounter
* Added sound effect for receiving gold from selling knight to foreign king
* Fixed typo in chaos orb exploration encounter
* Added new sound effect to finding chaos orb while exploring

BUGFIXES (16 features)

* Fixed random chance of dead darkdale leader replacement turning darkdale into a vassal of you
* Fixed failure to recruit smallhaven people still gives sound effect
* Fixed village sound played incorrectly after defeating smallhaven champion
* Fixed gold from bet indicator popping up randomly at end of turn
* Fixed gold from bet indicator popping up after some village champion fights
* Fixed 3 text bugs in burned village ruins in the south
* Fixed 18 text grammar and spacing bugs in first southern totem
* Fixed 18 text grammar and spacing bugs in second southern totem
* Fixed 18 text grammar and spacing bugs in third southern totem
* Fixed 18 text grammar and spacing bugs in fourth southern totem
* Fixed error with Arasuk village elders face graphic
* Fixed 13 text bugs in Oasis region of the south
* Fixed spacing bug when buying monfort mine in throne room encounter
* Fixed 12 text bugs with big red canyon text
* Fixed 10 text bugs in Drylands locations
* Fixed text spacing bug with independent doom event

EVERYTHING ELSE (1 feature)

* Added 50 new kingdom names



At this point I've mentioned I'm going to be starting on merc stuff twice now in these what's next sections, but genuinely, planning on look into it from monday!

Cheers

Huw

Hey everyone,

This update is me catching up on player reports and the result of some playtesting. We've got better village champion battles, slight tweaks to tournaments, tweaks to the stones of the realm, more loot, better fort demotion, a new system for kingdom names, improvements on a special event, a fix for some combat issues, and tons of other bugfixes and improvements.

VILLAGE CHAMPIONS IMPROVED (14 features)

The challenging village champions system was an afterthought, you send a champion to fight and kill the village champions if they win cool, if they lose you lose a champion... Boring. Now when you win you'll be shown the rival champion being burried and then will be awared a random item of loot from the village. While adding this in I also reworked and fixed several things in these villages champion challenge system and beyond.

* Added defeating village champion gives you a random item reward from the village
* Added new screen and sfx for defeated Rihhm champion being buried
* Reworked who shall challenge village champion screen and blocked empty champion slots
* Added 3 new random screens at start of smallhaven champion challenge
* Added new screen and sfx for defeated Smallhaven champion being buried
* Added new screen for Smallhaven new champion announcement
* Fixed Rihhm village champion doesn't want to talk to you text bug
* Fixed ransacked Smallhaven screen text bugs
* Fixed abandoned Smallhaven screen text bugs
* Fixed burned Smallhaven screen text bugs
* Fixed ransacked rihhm screen text bugs
* Fixed abandoned rihhm screen text bugs
* Fixed burned rihhm screen text bugs
* Fixed text bugs in Rihhms pre-champion challenge text

Champion challenge reward




TOURNEY TWEAKS (5 features)

NotFox on steam noticed that his grand champions strength was changing after tournaments, this was due to bonus strength rewards granted to the champions but they weren't visibly shown, now there are indicators showing the change as well as a few other tweaks!

* Fixed grammar issues in many tournament screens
* Added indicator at end of 8 man tournament of +1 strength reward for winner
* Added indicator at end of 16 man tournament of +2 strength reward for winner
* Added indicator at end of 32 man tournament of +3 strength reward for winner
* Added indicator at end of grand tournament of +3 strength reward for winner

The tourney winner




THE STONES OF THE REALM (15 features)

There are many (mainly northern) stones that can be touched and rubbed for various effects, in a playtest I realised some parts of these were lacking, now they've all been reworked!

* Added new sound effect for rubbing a stone
* Added new screen for rubbing the doomstone
* Added new screen for rubbing the explorers stone (with indicator of gained explore chance)
* Added new screen for rubbing the old stone
* Added new screen for ancient northern stone
* Added new screen with sfx for destroying ancient north stone
* Added destroying ancient north stone gives -2 public opinion
* Reworked ancient north stone secret screen
* Added new sound effect to ancient north stone secret screen
* Added new screen to rubbing the goblinstone
* Added new screen to rubbing the strengthstone
* Added new screen to rubbing the harveststone
* Fixed missing line in destroying strength stone screen
* Fixed ancient north stone secret skipping
* Fixed old stone undead horde event missing line

MOAR LOOT (20 features)

As always, seeing as a new loot reward system has been added I thought I'd broaded the loot list again!

* Added 'rare mispressed gold coin with two kissing heads' random loot artifact (worth 100 gold)
* Added 'shield made of troll hide' random loot artifact (worth 110 gold)
* Added 'statue of a peasant man' random loot artifact (worth 40 gold)
* Added 'demonic lute' random loot artifact (worth 120 gold)
* Added 'rusty old spear' random loot artifact (worth 5 gold)
* Added 'broken orcish talisman' random loot artifact (worth 6 gold)
* Added 'fake orcish talisman' random loot artifact (worth 3 gold)
* Added 'ancient orcish talisman' random loot artifact (worth 125 gold)
* Added 'mysterious rainbow coloured coin' random loot artifact (worth 150 gold)
* Added 'crown of interlaced severed fingers' random loot artifact (worth 70 gold)
* Added 'statue of a goblin head made of goblin dung' random loot artifact (worth 5 gold)
* Added 'jar of gnome poo' random loot artifact (worth 4 gold)
* Added 'diamond claw' random loot artifact (worth 350 gold)
* Added 'green emerald claw' random loot artifact (worth 150 gold)
* Added 'blue sapphire claw' random loot artifact (worth 140 gold)
* Added 'topaz claw' random loot artifact (worth 130 gold)
* Added 'yellow amber claw' random loot artifact (worth 120 gold)
* Added 'green malachite claw' random loot artifact (worth 100 gold)
* Added 'red opal claw' random loot artifact (worth 90 gold)
* Added 'fire opal claw' random loot artifact (worth 115 gold)

CHAMPIONS RETURNED (4 features)

When you demoted champions from their positions running your fortresses for you they were gone forever, now if there is room for them they return as a champion and if not you are asked if you are sure you want to demote them as they'll be removed forever!

* Added demoting leader of Northwatch allows for them to be returned as a champion (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Added demoting leader of Restored North fort allows for them to be returned as champion (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Added demoting leader of Gorthmek allows for them to be returned as a champion (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Added demoting leader of Kullak allows for them to be returned as a champion (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)

Commander of the fort coming home.




KINGDOM NAMES (2 features)

When asking for a random kingdom name I felt most of the random ones weren't satisfactory, now there's a huge mix of cool names for your kingdom if you don't fancy Aslona!

* Added new system when asking for a random kingdom name at game start with 2/3 chance to pool from new list of kingdom names
* Added 512 new kingdom names

INCREASED CIVILITY EVENT (4 features)

It's rare but theres always been 1 in 100 chance that a group with less than 3 civilisation level could gain 1 civ level in a special event, this event previously was a line of text in the end of turn report screen but now it has it's own pop up event so if it happens you don't miss it!

* Added new screen for when independent kingdom increases it's civility in random end of turn event
* Added special notification showing if they have increased to diplomatic and trade level
* Added special notification showing their strength bonus
* Made new sound effect for independent kingdom gaining civility (modelled a little after the monolith scene from 2001: a space odyssey)

Here's a group getting more civil.




MAJOR COMBAT FLAW (5 features)

Bay12 forum member EuchreJack pointed out that attacking minor bandits with mercenaries, even if the mercs lost any of the surviving minor bandits from the battle wouldn't return home. I checked this and found that it went way deeper and effected all factions and sometimes even non-merc attacks. The code involved would have been the same for years so this bug has existed for almost all of Warsims development and gone unnoticed. I always remember seeing situations where factions lost a bunch of troops post battle but I just assumed I'd not been paying attention and they'd been attacked by someone else in the meantime. Thanks EuchreJack for reporting it!

* Fixed minor bandit troop issue (credit EuchreJack)
* Fixed krut and erak troop issue (credit EuchreJack)
* Fixed bandit horde troop issue (credit EuchreJack)
* Fixed rebel troop issue (credit EuchreJack)
* Fixed independent kingdom issue (credit EuchreJack)

BUGFIXES (20 features)

* Fixed destroyed bandit group showing random troop graphic instead of their actual troop graphic
* Fixed darkdale kings having the sir title resulting in king sir whatever
* Fixed orc name 'Kashthullurtz' having broken character inside the name
* Fixed Darkdale fort graphic extra space breaking the graphic
* Fixed missing indicator you can tell jokes in Darkdale tavern
* Fixed two bandit spawn chance texts showing up by mistake
* Fixed sounds not resetting when paying fee to look at Karalds Trophy room in smallhaven
* Fixed sounds not resetting after laughing man of smallhaven
* Fixed demon summoning in Blackmarket has no screen
* Fixed songwood and wildwood partially explored not showing option to return to previous region
* Fixed bandit assimilation system cooldown not working
* Fixed 'yoi want us to be lapdogs' bandit rejection text bug
* Fixed mercs from north merc post forming gang even if north merc post is ruined (credit NotFox)
* Fixed extra line in capturing fort gorthmek gold
* Fixed no gold check when paying for peace with krut or erak (takes you to minus gold if you don't have it)
* Fixed fix up and lands text bug (credit TuGun Jr)
* Fixed peasants shown instead of soldiers on soldiers to knight training screen (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Fixed mine sounds playing if you have sounds disabled (credit u/internetfunnyman1000)
* Fixed rubbing doomstone doesn't give gameover screen, just closes game (credit u/Dalajnikon)
* Fixed game starting with no minor bandits but new ones spawning blocking you from seeing them (credit Omer)

EVERYTHING ELSE (7 features)

* Added new indicator of how many jokes attempts you have left in Darkdale taverns
* Added sound effect to smallhaven recruitment screen
* Added new indicators of gold lost for demon house in Blackmarket
* Reworked capturing fort gorthmek text
* Reworked game stats screen a bit
* Removed irrelevant bandit id code
* Reworked game over screen with missing line and colour



I'm aiming to take a look at mercenaries and identify some possible improvements and changes as well as still clearing through a small backlog of bugreports and issues from players.

Cheers

Huw

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your patience on this one, I'm proud to announce the 'Bandits of the Realm' update. This update completely reworks how minor bandits work and adds a sort of background population of bandits. It's now possible that a realm can become infested with bandits, where all bandit factions gain huge recruitment bonuses, and any defeated minor bandit gangs are quickly replaced with new ones. Of course the bandit level can be reduced by defeating these gangs and putting down any bandit influence in the realm as well as enacting policy.

My recent post about this update with a fully documented infested bandit playthrough can be seen here.



I've tried to split the update into a few categories but most of the major stuff is here!

* Added new general bandit level system tracking the level of banditry in the realm
* Added randomisation for starting general bandit level based on current existing factions (ie if Bandit Horde exists)
* Added new bandits of the realm screen with 11 dynamic graphics and tiers
* Added tracker showing all active bandit groups in the realm
* Added ability to ask how you can reduce the bandit level
* Added ability to ask how you can increase the bandit level
* Added ability for new bandit groups to arise at the end of a turn if there are free slots (depending on how high the bandit level is)
* Added the ability to disable notifications of new bandit groups popping up
* Added ability to view the current effects of the bandit level
* Added 'secret' code 69 which if entered on bandits of the realm screen sets the bandit level to something random
* Removed diplomacy skill requirement to see minor bandit groups
* Renamed minor bandit groups section of diplomacy to bandit groups
* if game start with no minor bandit groups then bandit groups section is renamed to bandits of the realm and takes you directly to bandits of the realm assessment screen
* Added all minor bandit gangs get a custom and unique graphic for what their troops look like (121.5 million total)
* All newly spawned bandit groups get completely random relations with all factions in the game
* Added ability to choose a custom bandit level when playing a custom game (in the bandit scenario settings)
* Added new cheat code 450 (allows bandit level to be set to anything you wish)
* Reworked view minor bandit stats to show proper unit breakdown now
* Added if loading a save from pre-bandit update, bandit level will be randomised upon load



As the game progresses and some gangs fall, new ones will rise to take their place (if the bandit level isn't below 9). With each gang destroyed the bandit level will drop, keep chopping these gangs down and eventually your bandit problems will permanently disappear.

* Added outlaws and robbers bandit gang spawn origin
* Added landless marauders bandit gang spawn origin
* Added road robbers bandit gang spawn origin
* Added ravers bandit gang spawn origin
* Added landed sea raiders bandit gang spawn origin
* Added looters bandit gang spawn origin
* Added mountain bandits bandit gang spawn origin
* Added disgruntled villagers bandit gang spawn origin
* Added old deserters bandit gang spawn origin
* Added backwater village militia bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Blackmarket Garrison offshoot (which takes troops from the Blackmarket garrison) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Merc band turning bandit (only if group is not hired by the player) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Blackmarket Mercenaries (which takes troops from the Blackmarket mercs) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Northern Merc Post Offshot (which takes troops from the northern merc post) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Northern Merc Post Entire garrison (which takes all hireable bandits from northern merc post) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Fort Kullak Offshoot (which takes troops from Fort Kullak's garrison) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Bandit Horde units offshoot (which takes troops from the Bandit Horde faction) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Fort Northwatch Offshoot (which takes troops from the Fort Northwatch garrison) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added Your bandits offshoot (only if you have a decent number of bandit units and your public opinion is above 0) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added All of Your bandits offshoot (only if you have a decent number of bandit units and your public opinion is above 50) bandit gang spawn origin
* Added ability to request not to see bandit group formation notifications on the pop up windows at the end of turn



Have you reduced banditry to the brink? struggling to find those final pesky bandit groups? Fear not, send your spymaster to root out the remnant bandits, if successful you'll find a new bandit group made up of the last remnants which if destroyed will push that tiny bandit level even lower, keep it up and they'll be extinct.

* Added ability to send spymaster to find last remnants of banditry (only if bandit level above 0 but below 9, and all minor bandit gangs are dead, and you have a spymaster)
* Added if spymaster skill under 50 then 1 in 5 odds of finding remnant bandits
* Added if spymaster skill under 100 then 1 in 3 odds of finding remnant bandits
* Added if spymaster skill under 150 then 1 in 2 odds of finding remnant bandits
* Added if spymaster skill higher than 150 then always find remnant bandits



As you and other groups exist and interact with bandits in your world the bandit level will rise and fall, if big bandit groups die off then overall banditry goes down, but a prison break? some pro-bandit laws? maybe you free 3000 of your bandit units and let them loose, then you'll see the bandit level skyrocket, helpful if you've got some rivals who are always picking fights with bandits.

* Added bandit level drops by 2 if a minor bandit gang is assimilated by you as bandit king
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if a minor bandit gang is destroyed by you or someone else
* Added bandit level drops by 10 if the bandit horde is destroyed by you or someone else, or bribed by you
* Added bandit level drops by 2 if you enact bandit scourge law (and -2 each year)
* Added bandit level drops by 2 if you enact the rehab law (and -1 each year)
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if you capture the Blackmarket
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if the (unowned) Blackmarket is destroyed in world events
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if you capture fort Northwatch
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if you capture fort Kullak
* Added bandit level drops by 2 if you re-enforce unenforced laws
* Added bandit level drops by 2 if you re-open your closed prison
* Added bandit level drops by 3 if you cancel the evil pillaging law
* Added bandit level raises by 3 if you enact the evil pillaging law
* Added bandit level raises by 1 if there is a prison break
* Added bandit level raises by 3 if Phenor successfully pulls off a bandit truce between the horde and minor gangs
* Added bandit level raises by 3 if you close your prison
* Added bandit level raises by 1 for every 150 prisoners freed when closing your prison
* Added bandit level raises by 2 if you allow outlaws back into society
* Added bandit level raises by 3 if you lose Blackmarket to bandit rebels
* Added bandit level raises by 2 if you cancel or can't pay the rehab law
* Added bandit level raises by 2 if you cancel or can't pay the bandit scourge
* Added bandit level raises by 1 for every 150 of your bandit units that you disband from your army
* Added code to prevent bandit level increasing beyond 100 and below 0



The bandit level of the realm effects many things, mainly how quickly new gangs arise, how quickly the bandit level continues to grow, and the recruitment bonuses for bandit factions.

* Bandit level of 90+ gives bandit horde, bandit gangs, and player if bandit king origin 3x recruitment bonus
* Bandit level of 90+ allows new minor bandit groups to instantly replace dead ones at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 90+ grants 5/6 chance of bandit level increasing by +1 at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 80+ gives 50/50 chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 70+ grants 4/6 chance of bandit level increasing by +1 at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 70+ gives bandit horde, bandit gangs, and player if bandit king origin 2.5x recruitment bonus
* Bandit level of 60+ gives 25% chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 50+ grants 3/6 chance of bandit level increasing by +1 at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 50+ gives bandit horde, bandit gangs, and player if bandit king origin 2x recruitment bonus
* Bandit level of 40+ gives 1/6 chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 30+ gives 1/7 chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 20+ gives 1/8 chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 10+ gives 1/9 chance any empty bandit gang slot will have a replacement gang take over at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 25+ grants 2/6 chance of bandit level increasing by +1 at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 25+ gives bandit horde, bandit gangs, and player if bandit king origin 1.5x recruitment bonus
* Bandit level of 10+ grants 1/6 chance of bandit level increasing by +1 at the end of turn
* Bandit level of 9 or less theres no chance of bandit level naturally increasing
* Bandit level of 9 or less theres no chance of new bandit gangs spawning
* Bandit level of 9 or less gives bandit horde, bandit gangs, and player if bandit king origin half their normal bandit recruits



Bandit assimilation was a feature available to players who chose/or got the Bandit King origin story, with it players with under 20 public opinion are able to attempt to assimilate minor bandit gangs into their kingdom, previously this had a 100% success rate but has now been reworked and given a cooldown as well as several issues with it fixed.

* Made bandit king assimilating minor bandit gangs not 1 in 3 odds of success instead of 100% of the time
* Limited player to one attempt per year of assimilating each gang
* Removed irrelevant text from successful assimilation screen
* Fixed 0 gold gained being shown in assimilation screen
* Fixed 0 bandits gained being shown in assimilation screen
* Fixed 0 warlords gained being shown in assimilation screen
* Added new screen for failed assimilating attempt with 3 different dialogues



It's always been possible that bandit gangs end up with no men but still hold land, in that event visiting said gang in diplomacy will now show a different menu where the desperate gang leader will always be willing to buy new troops at an inflated rate.

* Added new minor bandit gang diplomacy screen variant if gang has no troops
* Added ability to sell troops to desperate troopless bandit for twice normal sell value (20 gold)
* Added new dialogue and sfx when trying to talk to bandit leader of troopless gang
* Added indicator on troop sell screen showing exactly how many they can afford to buy from you



Added a new cheat for the bandit system and ended up reworking several other cheat related features!

* Added new cheat code 450 (allows bandit level to be set to anything you wish)
* Reworked 111 cheat code list to include all cheat codes
* Reworked layout of 111 cheat code list
* Reworked order of cheats to be in numerical order on cheatlist
* Added text blurb for each cheat code to 111 cheat code list
* Reworked layout of 211 Debug code list
* Updated set your origin cheat to include new origins
* Reworked layout of set your origin cheat



A new system built on a whim that has over 121.5 million possible unique bandit troop graphics!

* Added new proc gen bandit graphic system capable of producing 121.5 million unique troop images
* Added bandit troop graphic generator to extras and generators
* Added text section to the graphic generator explaining it's origin
* Added bandit troop graphic concept notes to Warsim extras folder
* Added if loading a save from pre-bandit update, bandit gangs with receive random troop graphics



Quite a neat idea by NotFox, now you'll be able to see your expected interest when you have money in the bank.

* Added indication of expected bank interest (credit NotFox)



A good point made by Odieman, you couldn't feed prisoners to your monsters, now you can!

* Added the ability to feed monsters your prisoners (Credit odieman222)



The screens for defeating factions are a little outdated, now they've all been updated with a slightly new layout. Also defeating mercenaries and kingdoms grants new different rewards than before!

* Added new small group of imprisoned soldiers victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new reserves and hopefuls victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new peasant rally victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new famed knights army victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new outlaw group victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new peasant prisoner group victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Added new treasury looted victory screen reward for defeating a kingdom
* Made reward for defeating merc groups varied between 100-4100 instead of always 1000 gold
* Made new screen for Minor goblin tribe joining you event after Krut Defeat
* Reworked minor bandit defeat screen and merged it into one
* Reworked rebels victory screens and fixed layout and grammar bugs
* Reworked bandit horde victory screens and fixed layout and grammar bugs
* Reworked Krut Victory screens and fixed grammar and layout bugs
* Reworked Erak Victory screens and fixed grammar and layout bugs
* Reworked Mercenary victory screens and fixed grammar and layout bugs
* Reworked independent kingdom victory screens and fixed grammar and layout bugs
* Reworked sentinel kingdom victory screens



Lots of bugfixes in this, thanks to everyone who reported their issues!

* Fixed necromancer kingdoms raising the undead still happening even if the kingdom is dead
* Fixed space kingdoms blasting off event happening even if they are dead
* Fixed space kingdoms blasting off event happening even if they've already blasted off
* Fixed grammar issue in vassal independence text
* Fixed gold incorrectly shown as deducted from you when merc attack cancelled and refunded
* Fixed Nario asking how the party has been so far repeatedly
* Fixed slave revolt diplomacy unskilled diplomat warning missing
* Fixed deserters diplomacy unskilled diplomat warning missing
* Fixed theme music choice at new game improperly/not showing (active) indicator if no music selected
* Fixed getting rid of a champion in training at combat academy invalidates the training slot (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Fixed buy fort gorthmek option appearing twice (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Fixed issues with layout and false option number for ancient scythe in artifact market (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Fixed impassioned speech throne room text bug (credit u/YetiRoadBurger)
* Fixed closing the prison text split issue
* Fixed bug with scrawny race prefix having spacing issues
* Fixed layout and text bug for love cultist throne room encounter
* Fixed what are you orders text bug issuing orders to knightly order
* Fixed extra line appearing on battle screen if not playing a timed game



Been clearing out some areas of the game with unused code from systesm I've worked on historically, pretty much all of this has literally no bearing on the game at all but I'm putting it here anyway.

* Removed bandit fort unused code
* Removed irrelevant code from monster fighting grand champion
* Removed uneeded code in independent messenger encounter
* Removed useless code from vampire bard guessing game
* Removed old useless remnant of custom game start code
* Removed loose useless code in game refresh phase
* Removed useless code for bards face colour



Noticed capturing fort northwatch didn't have it's own screen, now it does!

* Made new screen for capturing fort northwatch



Infested realm



Defeating the horde



New gang popping up



Almost all bandits gone



Bandits gone



New Bandit graphics





I'm having a little break after this update and then I'm going to try and work through my backlog of bug reports and suggestions and look at some mercenary ideas from my to-do list.

Thank you for reading and hope you are all safe and well wherever you are!

Cheers

Huw

Hello everyone,

So I've been working on this update for the past week or so after having something similar on my to-do list and having had the general idea suggested a few times by players.

The idea is that new minor bandit gangs should spring up as other falls, while still allowing players to completely wipe bandits out and prevent respawning. This idea gave birth to the general bandit level system.

The idea of a background general level of banditry is that a world with a big bandit problem would have plenty of groups quickly fill any power vacuums when older groups died off, however a world where bandits have been repeatedly killed off and given little chance to recover would only rarely see new groups rise up. And of course for those mass-murderin' completionists you can eradicate the bandit threat for good if you push hard enough.

Read more about the general bandit level below, or scroll further down to see a fully documented playtest in action (with screenshots) showing how I took a test world from completely infested with bandits to bandits being completely extinct.



The general bandit level is a number that represents the level of banditry in the realm. there are 10 different tiers it can be at;

* Completely Infested (90+)
* Infested (80+)
* Endemic (70+)
* Many-Hordes (60+)
* Horde-Like (50+)
* Emergent (40+)
* Minor (30+)
* Very Minor (20+)
* Petty (10+)
* Near-Extinct (1+)
* Extinct (0)

These levels effect several things in game, firstly they affect the number of troops bandit groups recruit each year. In realms where the bandit level is extremely high minor bandit gangs and Phenor's Bandit horde will get up to an extra 3x bonus in number of recruits, and at extremely low levels of banditry they get half of their average recruits.

The level also effects the odds of both the bandit level increasing each year and the likelihood of new bandit gangs popping up to fill the void of old dead bandit gangs. If a realm is infested you will see new gangs spring up almost instantly to take their place, but with each group of bandits killed and certain laws passed the bandit level will drop.

It is possible to play with this feature in a number of ways, you can take a hardline stance against the bandits and wipe out any minor gang the moment they rise, capture all bandit forts and put anti-bandit laws in place such as the Bandit Scourge. Over time you will see this bandit level drop with the ability to push them to extinction. You may also just keep the bandits level at bay, crushing disobedient hostile bandit groups but ignoring other more compliant ones. You may also wish to leave the bandits to their own devices, this is especially effective if rival factions have more hatrid for bandits as this will thin them out with the constant fighting.



New bandit gangs don't just come out of thin air, there are 20 possible origins for these gangs, many of them only possible in certain scenarios. One bandit gang may be formed out of your own Bandit units, but this would only happen if you were a popular and kind ruler, if you were an evil and unpopular one the bandits wouldn't abandon you.

Another bandit gang could be formed of breakaways pulling directly from the Bandit Horde, the Blackmarket, the North Merc Post, Fort Northwatch, or any number of other bandit filled regions. Of course if those locations were destroyed or owned by you and missing their bandit garrisons, this wouldn't happen.

It's even possible for a mercenary group (as long as not under contract with you) turning to banditry, meaning they have the same leader and the same number of men, so keep an eye on those tough mercenary groups, and if you fill a mercenary group with 10'000 of your own soldiers and then fire the group, you'll bet there's a possibility that those 10'000 men could become nasty raiding bandits so be mindful.





I playtested setting the bandit level near it's max of 100 which is 'completely infested', from here I set out to completely wipe out the bandit population and reduce the bandit level to 0.



There were five minor bandit gangs at game start, two of them starting with a truce with me (that won't last). I went out and hired a tough mercenary group which had four attacks per year and very tough warriors with 120 battlescore each. I hired them and filled their ranks with all of my soldiers and then sent them to fight against the weakest minor bandits and invade their lands.



One of the groups fell pretty early and the bandit level was dropped by 3. Not long afterwards that same turn a second group fell knocking the bandit level down by another 3.



At the end of that turn the bandit level rose by 1 naturally, and a new group arose in the place of one of the dead ones. This group was called the Burgling Sons and was made of old deserters and runaways. Meanwhile one of the kingdoms in my game defeated a third minor bandit gang knocking the level down by another -3.



Next turn I focused my efforts on crushing this new bandit group first, with their defeat and another -3 bandit level this took the total to 87, and dropped it from Completely Infested to Infested.



With these many bandit gangs cut down I decided to focus my effort on the bandit horde and other bandit owned locations to reduce the total bandit level further.



After a lot of mercenary effort the bandit horde was on it's knees, with them gone the bandit level dropped a whopping 10 points as the bandit horde was a big and important part of bandit influence in the realm.



Now the problem has dropped down to being endemic, ended now are the times of huge recruitment bonuses for bandit factions, but the realm is still pretty bandit-filled, much more work to do.





The next turn the bandit level rose by 1, and two new bandit groups arose; one made up of hireable bandits from the Northern Merc Post (called the Unabashed Lobster Pillagers LOL), and the other a group of disgruntled peasants. I quickly set my sights on these newly spawned groups and looked to put them down.



With them both dead there were no active bandit gangs and the bandit level was reduced to 66, or 'Many Hordes'. We're getting somewhere but there's still work to be done.



I captured the Blackmarket knocking 3 more levels of banditry down, and captured Fort Northwatch for another 3 pointer.





At the end of that turn the bandit level rose by 1, and two more bandit groups sprang up. They were a group of robbers and outlaws called 'Green Scouts', and a mutiny of every bandit in my whole army who formed a new group called the 'Tall Association' the Bastards. I prepared to attack, hitting the mutineers first.



Now the bandit level was at 55, Horde-Like. Finally the bandit problem was falling under control and no active group bar the garrison of Fort Kullak were filling the power vacuum... But of course more came.



Opportunists from Fort Kullak split off and formed a new gang, weakening the garrison of the fort at the same time. There were only 115 of them and they were quickly cut down.



The next turn the bandit level rose again, and three new groups popped up to fill the void. One of these was a mercenary group called the Daylight Eagles who I'd contracted with in the past to fight against these bandit gangs... I trusted you.



These three new groups were quick to fall at the hands of my bulked up mercenary companies and soon the bandit level was looking even better at 45, now banditry was an emergent threat rather than a looming horde in the background.



Waiting 2 years a new bandit group made up of sea raiders landed, they were the United Sons. I crushed them, but now new bandit groups will be slower appearing due to the lower level I set to new ways to reduce their number, Laws.



I declared a bandit scourge and offered 5 gold per head for any bandit captured, this instantly lowered the bandit level by 2 and will further drop it by 1 each turn from now on. I also enacted the rehabilitation law costing me 1k per turn but helping reform those who may have chosen the way of the bandit. This also dropped the bandit level by 2 and would further drop it by 1 each year. Now with these expensive laws I could help bleed the bandit level down as time goes on.



After a few years and one or two pop up gangs being crushed the bandit level was now 'Very Minor' at 28, the end is near!



Another 10 years and three new groups and the bandit level was down to 14, or 'Petty'. Once the bandit level goes below 10 no new bandit groups can spawn and the bandit level can't naturally increase so unless you cancel some anti-bandit laws and close down your prison once it goes beyond that point the bandits aren't likely to return.



After another 5 years, on the year my anti-bandit laws dropped the bandit level to 9, 'Near-Extinct' would you believe it, two bandit gangs arise in the final moments. I put them down with my superior merc army and dropped the bandit level to 3.



Now with all the groups dead and no chance of any new ones spawning I'm left with only one option to root out the very final remnants of the bandit scourge on my realm. Using my spymaster I gain a new option to 'Attempt to root out the last remnants of banditry'



It was a success and my spymaster was able to find the last vestage of banditry, a small hidden group called the Nightfall Virgil, 339 bandits strong... They were short work for my men!



And that's it, bandits Extinct. There's still a group of bandits up in Fort Kullak but they are isolated, banditry in the realm in general is over.





While this is a fun little extra for the update, it's nothing game-changing. Now each bandit group will have their own troop image, a unique style for their troops. There are 121.5 million of these graphics in total so you'll never see the same one twice!

You can also play around with this in the extras and generators screen with a brand new random generation tool.



So it's very close to being finished but I still have a number of things I need to test and a couple of other features to look at, hopefully this update will be released some time this week.

Thank you all and hope you're all doing good and staying safe

Cheers

Huw

BETTER FORTS (24 features)

DazaKiwi pointed out a very good thing that was totally missing from fortresses and that's the ability to install and remove troops! Now that and much more has been fixed. There's also a new outcome for buying Fort Kullak, if the bandit horde is active then the bandit garrison of the fort will head off and join them.

* Added ability to add troops to garrisons of forts (tethered to max based on commander skill and fort level)
* Added ability to remove troops for owned forts
* Fixed all 4 forts unupgrading if you demote the leaders
* Added demoting leader gives you all troops from the fort
* Added new screen for demoting leader from all forts
* Fixed upgraded fort graphic not showing for all screens
* Fixed option to buy fort Kullak still visible if you don't have the gold
* Added new screen for capturing fort Kullak from Gor the bastard
* Added Fort Kullak estimate of garrison
* Added new screen for buying fort Kullak
* Added garrison of Fort Kullak will join the bandit horde if active if you buy Kullak
* Fixed line split issue in setting rules of the fort (all forts)
* Fixed grammar issue in fort rules (some forts)
* Fixed troop report for fort sending you only one soldier text
* Fixed troop recruitment for forts able to go over max capacity one time
* Fixed typo in rules of fort text
* Added indicator of gold gained when capturing fort Gorthmek
* Fixed gorthmek unupgrading when bought from Yurik the oppresor if upgraded
* Added new screen for buying fort gorthmek for Yurik the oppresor
* Fixed option to buy fort gorthmek visible even if you don't have 50000 gold
* Fixed fort aslona new commander screen showing unupgraded fort
* Fixed fort aslona graphic heigh changing on different screens
* Fixed installing new leader of fort shows benefits of unupgraded fort even if fort upgraded
* Fixed option to upgrade fort not blocked out if you don't have the gold

QUEST ITEM GALORE (17 features)

Can never have too many quest items, now we've got another batch!

* Added 'red dragon crested gold shield' random loot artifact (worth 350 gold)
* Added 'a crude drawing of a goblin on some hide' random loot artifact (worth 3 gold)
* Added 'tankard made of demon bone' random loot artifact (worth 320 gold)
* Added 'chipped obsidian pot' random loot artifact (worth 120 gold)
* Added 'finely decorated obsidian pot' random loot artifact (worth 199 gold)
* Added 'gold lined obsidian pot' random loot artifact (worth 290 gold)
* Added 'hat made of rat pelt' random loot artifact (worth 10 gold)
* Added 'golden toe' random loot artifact (worth 110 gold)
* Added 'bottle of purple mist' random loot artifact (worth 145 gold)
* Added 'bottle of red mist' random loot artifact (worth 125 gold)
* Added 'bottle of green mist' random loot artifact (worth 120 gold)
* Added 'bottle of cyan mist' random loot artifact (worth 145 gold)
* Added 'bottle of old elven wine' random loot artifact (worth 30 gold)
* Added 'jar of sand' random loot artifact (worth 3 gold)
* Added 'set of dice made of diamond' random loot artifact (worth 400 gold)
* Added 'set of dice made of gold' random loot artifact (worth 160 gold)
* Added 'set of dice made of gold and encrusted with gems' random loot artifact (worth 360 gold)

CHAOTIC MONSTERS (6 features)

While thinking about extra uses for chaos orbs recently I thought it would be great if you could feed them to your monster pit monsters, now if you've got a chaos orb you have a new option when feeding your monsters to feed them an orb, be warned there's a 1/6 chance it will kill your pet beast but if it doesn't the orb will grant a +10 strength bonus (normal feeding gives +1) the orbs bonuses will also ignore the max strength cap of 20 meaning you can abuse the chaos orb system to create some seriously overpowered monsters!

* Added ability to feed chaos orb to monsters
* Added 5/6 chance of +10 strength for monster
* Added 1/6 chance of monster death
* Added special new sound effect for monster eating orb
* Added special new sound effect for monster eating orb and dying
* Fixed typo in monster pit feeding screen

BUGFIXES (4 features)

Couple of loose bugfixes, cheers Mithc for the reports!

* Fixed Akall fortress text bug (credit Mithc)
* Fixed text and grammar issues in the south coast
* Fixed mad king execution typo (credit Mithc)
* Fixed blackmarket troop indicator bug when installing troops

EVERYTHING ELSE (1 feature)

* Rewrote destroyed blackmarket text

SCREENSHOTS

New menu of Northwatch


Adding and removing troops


New Option for feeding monster


Now it's stronk


WHAT'S NEXT

Hey everyone, I'm doing a bit of spring cleaning of my Warsim to-do list recently clearing loose ideas collected over the years. My next update will be looking into Bandit gangs and the potential of new groups rising where others fall.

I hope everyone is doing good and staying as safe as they can!