Ruinarch News

Hello everyone! This will be our last update of the year. We will be on standby in case there are critical issues but otherwise, we will be taking a break and will be back after the New Year.


We've transferred a lot of player actions to a new Actions Menu that pops up when you right click on character or object sprites in the world. You can also right click on names and portraits to bring up the Actions Menu. This should hopefully make it easier and faster to interact with the game.


You can now see who are the next likely Faction Leaders once the current one steps down or dies. The chance that a character will become the next Faction Leader is based on hidden weights system that is also dependent on the Faction Type's internal succession rules. In the future, you will also be able to see what changes a possible Successor will introduce to the Faction (Ideologies, Crimes).


Migration is now no longer random. Each Village owned by an Elven Empire or Human Kingdom Faction has a visible Migration Meter on its Info that progressively fills up every hour. Certain events also fills up the Meter.


The new Meddler structure now becomes the Puppetmaster's second fixed Demonic Structure. It allows the player to conduct various schemes!

[h2]Schemes[/h2]

• Instigate War - Force a Faction Leader to declare war on another faction.
  
• Resign - Force a Faction Leader or Settlement Ruler to resign.
  
• Overthrow Leader - Convince a Successor to depose the current Faction Leader.
  
• Leave Faction - Convince a Villager to leave their current Faction.
  
• Leave Home - Convince a Villager to leave their current Home.
  
• Leave Village - Convince a Villager to leave their current Village.
  
• Break Up - Force a Villager to break up with their lover.
  
• Join Faction - Convince a Villager to join a target Faction.
  
• Rebellion - Convince a Settlement Ruler to split off from current Faction.
  
• Induce Migration - Village scheme that costs Mana! Force a Migration Event on the current Village.
  
• Stifle Migration - Village scheme that costs Mana! Reset the current Village's Migration Meter to zero.
  

NOTE: Village schemes can be performed by right clicking on Village names in various UIs and also by right clicking on the Town Center.

[h2]Blackmail[/h2]
To convince a Villager to agree to a Scheme, the player can use Intel of their Criminal act as Blackmail material. The more serious the Crime is (based on the character's Faction Crimes), the more convincing it would be.

[h2]Tempt[/h2]
Another option is to offer various Boons - Dark Blessing, Empower or Cleanse Flaws.


Intel Tooltip will now inform the player if the Intel can be used for Blackmail. In addition, it also now displays a few possible effects when it gets shared to other Villagers. Note that the info here is not exhaustive and there can be other uses for the Intel aside from the examples shown.


We've also reworkded the Mood UI to instead represent Mood modifiers as a collection of the character's current thoughts. For now, these thoughts all comes from the Villager's Statuses but we also intend to add more thoughts generated by other events in the future - giving players a clearer idea of a Villager's current state of mind.


The final Zombie upgrade path on the Biolab is now available! When a Plagued Villager dies, it will randomly be set to one of different Zombie Types - Walker, Night, Fast, Boomer, Tank.


- Increased HP of Villagers and Angels by 50% but reduced HP recovery while resting to 1 HP per tick.
- Tweaked Cooldown, Charges and Threat values of many player abilities.
- Threat Meter now reduces by 1 every other hour.
(DIFFICULTY NOTES: These are temporart measures to increase difficulty until we properly introduce progression systems early next year)
- Items on a character's Inventory can now be clicked and Seized.
- Structure Info now includes the Village it belongs to.
- Faction names in the log are now color coded to Blue.
- Cultists will no longer assume other Cultists of Trespassing.
- Characters are now more likely to avoid going through Settlements owned by Hostile factions.
- Parties are created and joined more quickly than before.
- Various starting populations of scenarios and custom maps have been increased.
- Villagers will now disregard Fire if they are currently doing a higher priority job - ex: combat.
- Added one more optional Demonic Structure for all Archetypes.
- Monsters and Undead will no longer be forced out when a Faction gains a Racial Exclusivity Ideology,
- Slightly nerfed preset values of Plague with no Biolab.
- Lightning spreads more quickly on wet tiles.


- [FIXED] Villagers may still attempt to butcher Ratmen that they have already recruited.
- [FIXED] Meteor sometimes does not deal damage to some objects/characters within its hitbox.
- [FIXED] Captives on a Demonic Prison sometimes are not carried outside after Torture.
- [FIXED] Prisoners released from their Restraint may sometimes still have the Prisoner Status.
- [FIXED] Characters may not "see" other characters in their line of sight if it is in a different Structure.
- [FIXED] Heroes should have 0% chance of being successfully Brainwashed.
- [FIXED] Plague Points are still being used up in Omnipotent Mode.
- [FIXED] If a Necromancer has been recruited by a different Faction, it may attack Skeletons it raised because they still belong to the Undead Faction.
- [FIXED] Faction Leaders sometimes try to restrain Prisoners that are already burning at the stake.
- [FIXED] If a Necromancer has been recruited by a different Faction, it should only attempt to invade Villages belonging to hostile Factions.
- [FIXED] Recruited Vengeful Ghosts may still attack Villagers from its newly joined Faction.
- [FIXED] Villagers sometimes release restrained characters belonging to hostile Factions.
- [FIXED] Undead army may sometimes follows the mouse cursor.
- [FIXED] Monster Lairs occupied by Ratmen may sometimes have missing World Map asset.
- [FIXED] Villagers cleansing Poisoned and Wet tiles may get stuck and stop moving.
- [FIXED] Characters killed by a Booby Trap becomes Unconscious and retains 1HP.

Hello! We have a bunch of tweaks and bug fixes today.


In the last update, some game-breaking issues occur when monsters are recruited by a Major Faction. This was because their wild monster behavior still applies and causes unintended conflicts. We've had to create new "tamed" versions of the monsters that would make them compatible residents amongst Elves and Humans.

Most monsters can patrol and defend the Village. A handful still retain some elements of their wild abilities. For example, Giant Spiders may still abduct - but should now properly exclude members of its new faction.


- Ratmen are now less likely to give birth and abduct.
- Ratmen can now butcher some prisoners.
- Ratmen will now only abduct characters that they can enslave for manual labor or characters they can butcher for food.
- Ratmen will use Recruit instead of Torture to attempt to convert a prisoner if its race is Ratman.
- Members of the Ratmen Faction will no longer attack Plagued Rats.
- Zombies are no longer affected by Plague symptoms and fatalities.
- Walker and Night Zombies have new sprites and portraits.
- Major Factions are much less likely to have Wild Monsters become their Faction Leader or Settlement Ruler.


- FIXED: Ratmen abduct hibernating monsters.
- FIXED: Number of Plague Active Cases can sometimes reach negative values.
- FIXED: Demons recruited by Major Factions usually just roam around.
- FIXED: Trolls and Kobolds can't drop dead sheep.
- FIXED: Enslaved characters may sometimes release their Master's Prisoners.
- FIXED: Some Defender summoned monsters can end up attacking distant Villagers when placed in some Wilderness Tiles.
- FIXED: Invader and Arsonist summoned monsters will now exclude Factions that are Friendly with the player.
- FIXED: Sometimes, Night Zombies do not reanimate.
- FIXED: Characters that were successfully converted by Preach still reports the Cultist.
- FIXED: Various Null Reference errors.

Hello everyone! Our Plague update is now up. As mentioned before, previous saves will no longer be compatible. Please see below for details of what's new:





The Biolab is a new structure that allows the player to customize the effects of Plague. The player gains Plague Points by spreading the Plague, triggering some of its symptoms or killing off Plague-bearers. Plague Points can then be used to improve the Plague, retroactively affecting those that are already afflicted.

The player can still use the Plague affliction without the Biolab but it will have randomized effects. The player may also use the Biolab without the Plague affliction but will be limited to spreading it by spawning Plagued Rats. These Plagued Rats are produced by the Biolab once every 2 days until the player has 3 available charges. Plagued Rats are pests that tend to visit Villages to consume available food there and they may typically transfer their Plague to the food they eat.

The Biolab replaces Defiler as one of the Lich's default Demonic Structures but is also available for other Archetypes as an optional choice. Defiler, on the other hand has now replaced Prison as one of the Puppetmaster's default Demonic Structures.



The Biolab has five upgrade categories:

Transmission - Unlock or improve the various ways of transmitting the Plague.
Lifespan - Increase how long the Plague naturally stays on a character or an object. The Plague has varying lifespans on objects and characters of different races.
Fatality - Choose from various ways that the Plague can kill off its victims.
Symptoms - Unlock various symptoms that the Plague can trigger on its victims.
On Death - Choose one powerful effect that will trigger when a Plagued victim dies.

Note: These upgrade costs and rates are "introductory". We'll take input from the players to tweak these over the next weeks.





Villagers will now sometimes build a Hospice. When a Village thinks that a Plague is running loose, they may quarantine and take care of plagued Villagers if they have a Hospice. Otherwise, they may end up slaying or exiling assumed plague bearers - depending on the current leader's Traits. Some Villages may even end up doing nothing at all about it.

Plagued victims recover faster when they are quarantined inside a Hospice. They are also less likely to transmit it. The Healing Expert trait has been removed and the ability to take care of Plagued victims are now transferred to the Hospice and the Druid class.



Villagers may now sometimes change their character class if deemed necessary. For now, the only class change that may occur is a change to a Shaman (when the Village feels like they need one due to a Werewolf Hunt or Vampire Hunt) or to a Druid (when the Village feels like they need one due to an active Plague event). Villagers can change to Shaman or Druid class from the Hospice.



You may now discover some pesky rats in some scenarios and custom worlds. They belong to a unique Ratmen faction separate from Wild Monsters and Undead. They usually start off at war with most other factions except for the Undead. Ratmen are rather unique as they are as complex as Villagers but behave somewhat like wild monsters while part of the Ratmen faction. You use Seize Villager on them, and Afflictions and Trigger Flaw can also be used on them once they get recruited by a Villager Faction but you don't need to wipe them out.



Also, Ratmen are Plague Reservoirs - they permanently carry the Plague but are not affected by its Symptoms and Fatalities. You'll find out some other interesting behavior that Ratmen do as you encounter them in your playthroughs!


- Villagers are now less likely to kill off intruders that have already been rendered Unconscious. This makes it more likely for Major Factions to have Prisoners that they can eventually recruit.
- Removed Zombie Virus as it is now included as an On Death upgrade for the Plague.
- New Trait: Ruthless. As leaders, they are more likely to harshly punish criminals. They are also more likely to decree that plague-bearers should be slain.
- Plague affliction have randomized upgrades if the player does not have the Biolab in their loadout.
- Vagrants are now more likely to relocate to other regions.
- Cultists may now sometimes transfer to a Demon Cult faction if its leader is alone or if there are available empty houses.
- Abductions will now use non-lethal combat instead of the Knockout Action - even if the target is sleeping. But if the target already cannot move when hit by a non-lethal attack, they will always get knocked unconscious.
- Druids can now take care and feed any quarantined Villagers inside the Hospice. They will do this once per day.
- Active parties can now set up camp even during day time if one of them have important Needs Recovery.
- Wild Monsters will sometimes feed on corpses of livestock animals. The new Plagued Rat is also considered a livestock animal and can therefor transmit (Consumption) the Plague to monsters when they get eaten.
- Cultist in an Active Party doing a Counterattack Quest will instead flee and then get expelled from the party once they reach their target destination. The other members will feel betrayed by the turncoat.
- Cultists in an Active Party are temporarily unavailble for Snatching.
- Villagers will no longer report crimes to leaders that are in an Active Party.
- Villagers living outside Villages are now slightly more likely to relocate if its Faction has other Villages.
- Factions with Reveres Werewolves ideology are now friendly with normal Wolves.
- Only one Defiler structure can be built at a time.
- Small Spiders will not transform to Giant Spiders while currently being targeted by an action.
- Puking slightly reduces Fullness while Seizures slightly reduces Entertainment.
- Leaders are automatically dethroned when they are presumed dead rather than when they are presumed missing.
- Villagers will no longer haul resources found inside Caves or other special structures that belong to another Major Faction (including Ratman faction).
- Witness and its corresponding emotional reaction logs have been combined into one.
- Undead characters should no longer attack the Necromancer when it transforms into a bat or a werewolf. Note - they will still attack it if it transforms into a wolf.
- Characters lose their Restrained and Prisoner status when they die.
- Necromancers can no longer turn into Cult Leaders.
- In Villager Info UI, Current Region line has now been replaced with Village line which displays the character's settlement residence.
- Added a No Shake option in the Settings Menu.
- Added a Randomize Monster Names option in the Settings Menu.

Bug Fixes
- FIXED: Trolls and Kobolds sometimes get stuck performing certain actions.
- FIXED: Villagers often drop Share Rumor or Spread Information to do other tasks.
- FIXED: Resting Parties sometimes stop moving if their camp is inside a cave.
- FIXED: Werewolf Cult Leaders founds a Lycan Clan faction instead of a Demon Cult.
- FIXED: Ensnared characters sometimes glitches when snatched.
- FIXED: Some characters follow the cursor if their target has been seized by the player.
- FIXED: Tutorial flow breaks when The Eye is already built before The Afflictions tutorial has been completed,
- FIXED: Demon Worshipers still sometimes report Demonic Corruption and post Counterattack Quests against the player.
- FIXED: Popup related to Demonic Structure attack repeatedly shows up sometimes.
- FIXED: Fleeing characters while having a butchering job will cause the villager to get stuck.
- FIXED: Snatched prisoners are inconsistently set as personal prisoner of the snatcher instead of the prisoner of the Demon Faction.
- FIXED: Berserked characters may indefinitely attack lakes.
- FIXED: Berserked characters may indefinitely attack the Excalibur.
- FIXED: Fixed missing text replacement on Take Shelter log.
- FIXED: Lycanthrope tooltip description does not fit when the afflicted has mastered it.
- FIXED: After a long playthrough, sometimes logs stop getting added.
- FIXED: Various Null Reference issues.

Hi everyone! Our next update focused on the Plague and the new Biolab structure is coming tomorrow. Previous Saves will no longer be compatible so we hope you can wrap up your current playthroughs soon.

Also, there will be another Steam Awards coming soon. It would be very much appreciated if you would nominate us for Most Innovative Gameplay!

We've updated the Villager nameplate UI with a few useful changes. Most of these came from great suggestions from our Discord channel:
- An edit button to rename any character. Note: Maximum number of characters is 12
- Replaced Elven and Human texts with new icons to give more space for longer names and classes
- Changed name color of Wild Monsters, Undead and Demons everywhere for easier identification
- Monsters no longer have random names and will default their name to their monster type


The previous Villager/Faction UI was a bit too huge so we thought of some ways to reduce its width.


Around 30 new Faction Emblems have been added to the game, replacing the previous placeholder emblems.


- Vampires may now sometimes eat in the morning if they are Starving
- Food can now be ignited while it is being eaten
- Thick Walls can no longer be poisoned by the player
- Added a new Tutorial Popup when the player first experiences Low Mana
- Added some new thought bubble icons
- Villagers are now less likely to feel Worried when seeing other Freezing Villagers
- Added a clearer "No Target" popup when there is no valid Vampiric Embrace target
- When stealing corpses, a Villager will less likely target those that are in hostile Villages. NOTE: Steal Corpse Job uses a new Avoid Combat mechanic so those that are performing this will Flee and drop the job when a hostile gets in range
- Different witnesses/assumptions of the same crime will now be collected together rather than each have separate crime entries
- Added different combat/assault reasons based on context


- FIXED: Parties may sometimes still track and follow a seized monster
- FIXED: Evangelize and Dark Ritual can sometimes be performed without a Cultist Kit
- FIXED: Some tutorial pop-ups have overflowing texts
- FIXED: Demons and Villagers may sometimes stop attacking each other when a Prison gets destroyed while someone is being tortured inside it
- FIXED: Necromancer still uses the default Villager icon