Disclaimer: Features discussed in this post reflect what is currently under development in pre-alpha and may change in the future.
TERRITORY ZONES AND MILITARY VICTORY
The previous Territory system has been replaced with a new Zone system designed to make territorial control clearer, fairer, and more immersive overall. The map is now divided up into discreet Zones that have more sensible and natural borders. The borders will correctly stradle rivers, be bounded by the sea, and will conform more organically to the layout of the map. This will provides a clearer sense of frontline progress while also eliminating issues caused by the previous territory algorithm, such as territory claims erroneously bleeding across bodies of water.
Zones can exist in one of three states: Claimed, Contested, or Neutral, with each state affecting which side can build key structures like Homesteads, Keeps and Beacon Towers. To capture a Claimed Zone, an invading force must destroy all of the defending side's Keeps within it, which will turn the area into a Contested Zone. After a fixed period of time, the area will turn into a Neutral Zone, at which point the invader can build or capture a Keep to claim the Zone. Territories will each have a unique name (not shown in the image below).
The Military Win Condition is now tied to Territory Zone system, where a side must control a set number of Zones to achieve victory.
EARLY AGE SIEGE EQUIPMENT
There are two new pieces of siege equipment being added with the goal of enabling more sieges earlier in the Age. The Mantlet will be used to provide cover for ranged soldiers, helping an army hold ground as they advance towards their objective. It can be built using basic resources like Branches.
The second weapon will be the Makeshift Battering Ram, which is a much weaker version of the Battering Ram that can be built using Wood Planks. It will allow players to storm Fortresses before more advance resources become available.
BANDAGES & WOUNDED AVATARS
The wounded mechanic for Avatars has been redesigned. The goal is to give players more choice and options in preventing their Avatars from death. When a player's health reaches zero now, they will be put into a new wounded state where they will be able to crawl to a safe position and be treated by a friendly player. Wounded players are treated using Bandages which are widely available.
If players want to preserve their Avatars, it will be more important than ever for them to stick in close formation with allies during battle so they can be treated. An Avatar can be wounded up to 3 times in this manner, before they become incapacitated, at which point their incapacitated Avatar must be retrieved and stationed.
FORTRESS BOUNTY
There is a new bounty available for capturing enemy Fortress Keeps. Once captured, the bounty item will be dropped into the Keep Hold and can be looted along with any Silver. Certain Bounties like the Death-Writ and this new Fortress Bounty can now be completed at Fortress Keeps or Camps.
NEW WORLD BRIDGES
A new set of world Bridges have been introduced into the world. They will allow for more deliberate gameplay implications and flexibility with world placement. There are now narrow and wide bridges which allow for the traversal of two Caravans side-by-side. These come in stone and wood variants, with some allowing for the traversal of small boats underneath and others not.
NEW TAVERN
As part of the ongoing effort to solidify Town core gameplay, the Tavern building has been reworked to unify gameplay loops around cooking. With a large interior, all food production in the Town area is now centralized here as firepits are no longer buildable in the vicinity of the central area. On top of that, Auxiliary Rations can be produced here and food items' Silver costs have been adjusted.
NEW TOWN WORKSHOP
The Town Workshop has also been updated to become the central hub for crafting within Town cores, replacing both the old Smithing Area and the previous Town Workshop. Basic equipment such as blades, weapons, armour, and tools are now produced at the Town Workshop using resources and Silver. At the same time, a selection of higher-tier equipment and other advanced items have been removed from Town core production, shifting them toward Homestead progression.
FOREST COVER
There are two important additions to forest gameplay. First of all, players will now be able to use forests as cover from enemy Beacon Towers. This will allow armies to setup ambushes and move under the cover of trees. The complement this feature, forests will now automatically regrow to their original shape (as visualized on the map). This will make forests important strategic elements on the world map.
MARKETPLACE & CRAFTING FILTERS
With the growing number of items in the game, it's become more and more difficult finding items in certain interfaces. The Marketplace, Town Workshop, and Crafting Table windows now have a filter to separate different item categories, adding some quality of life to these workflows.
There are other improvements and bug fixes coming in the next update. Stay tuned for the release notes for the next test.
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