Greetings, medievalists!
Vladimir here - you might remember me from the playthroughs and update showcase videos. We previously mentioned that we’d love to highlight some cool and creative mods in a dedicated video. But with Update #16 right around the corner and taking up most of our focus, we decided to shine a light on them through a blog post instead. So without further ado, here are some fantastic mods that caught my eye for various reasons (listed in no particular order).
Repair master - made by 鹿神ヒハル
View game pageThis mod amazes me on a technical level. Repairing items has always been buried deep in our to-do list, but it was never near the top of our priorities. We’ve often debated design questions like: What happens to an item’s quality after it’s repaired? Should it lose a level? Should that depend on how much durability it lost or the skill of the settler repairing it?
This mod handles all of that beautifully. It treats repairing as essentially recycling - breaking the item down and creating a new one with random quality based on the settler’s skill, just like production. It’s a brilliant use of the existing system, and I love how the modder approached it from that angle and just ran with it.
The JSON file for this mod is quite hefty, and I can only imagine what a headache it was to put together. 😅 As we consider adding a similar feature in future updates, this mod will definitely be on my mind.
Decorative plants - made by Maito
View game pageThis is one of many creative-focused mods our players have come up with, and it’s such a lovely addition for anyone who enjoys the more sandbox side of things. If you’re the type who dreams of building a grand castle or a charming little village, this mod lets you take that a step further by adding gorgeous, full-grown trees and plants purely for decoration. They spawn tall, lush, and instantly give your settlement a higher aesthetic value.
I really like how mods like this give players new tools to shape the world purely for the joy of it, beyond survival or efficiency. Sometimes, after hours of careful planning and battling the harsh environment, it’s nice to step back and just make something beautiful.
Decorative plants are actually on our long-term roadmap, so I’ll definitely be taking a few cues from how this modder approached things. It’s inspiring to see players expand the game in directions we always hoped it would grow.
Map type plateau - made by nukumorina
View game pageThis is a really interesting addition - a new map type built around the concept of a plateau, which naturally lends itself to strong defensive play. It’s one of those clever ideas that feels both fresh and perfectly suited to the game’s mechanics. Strategically, having a raised area to build on or defend from gives players new ways to approach threats, and I can see a lot of tense moments unfolding on maps like this.
From a technical standpoint, I genuinely appreciate how our sometimes messy, behind-the-scenes systems are picked apart and fully understood by our modders, then turned into something both functional and beautiful. It’s no small feat to navigate those tangled JSON files and data structures, yet this mod does it gracefully.
I also love the attention to detail here. The way the new map type ties neatly into event triggers shows real care and understanding of how all the pieces of the game fit together. It’s a thoughtful touch that ensures the experience feels cohesive and balanced, rather than tacked on.
Food - More Lavish Meals - made by Lyosha
View game pageThis is such a charming, Sims-like addition for anyone who enjoys giving their settlers a bit more life beyond survival basics. It’s the kind of mod you add when you want your game to lean slightly more toward cozy daily living, letting your people enjoy varied meals rather than just scraping by.
The different food combinations are fun and make for a delightful way to expand feast events. Reading through all the new dishes this mod adds actually gave me a bit of a Zelda: Breath of the Wild vibe.
Sometimes, a mod doesn’t have to have an impact on the gameplay. Sometimes, it’s about additional options. This one is for all you food lovers.
Construction Variants Personaliz - made by Jorge
View game pageWhen it comes to aesthetically pleasing mods, you’ll want to keep an eye out on this one. I especially love how it uses mesh variations to bring more visual diversity to the timber, lime, and sandstone walls. Seeing different textures and subtle design changes like these can really transform the overall look and feel of a settlement, making every player's base feel unique and personalized.
The staircase railing addition particularly caught my attention - it's such a neat solution. Normally, fences in our game are positioned directly in the center of a grid, making it tricky to achieve a seamless and aesthetically pleasing staircase design. The modder saw this challenge as an opportunity and crafted a special staircase made entirely of railings, allowing the fence to blend naturally and beautifully into the overall structure.
It's these kinds of intuitive improvements that genuinely impress me, as they showcase not only creativity but also a deep understanding of the game's limitations and possibilities. I look forward to seeing more of their creations in the future.
And that would be all for our first Mod Spotlight! What says you? Did you know about these mods? Have you used them? What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments and keep submitting them to our Steam Workshop. Of course, the workshop has a bunch of mods that we love, but there is only so much time/space we can share at the moment. You know what that means? We’ll do this again sometime in the future. Maybe continue it this way or in the form of a video, depending on the time and availability.
In case you missed it, Update #16 is live on the experimental branch, so right now we’ll focus on patching and improving it. Once we are satisfied with its performance and quality, we’ll push it live for everyone. Until then,
Stay Medieval!