Hello everyone!
This is Dmitry.
Summer is coming to an end, and we’re a bit late with our patch, but I think you’ll enjoy what we’re releasing today in BETA branch. This patch doesn’t contain big features, but it’s dedicated to general gameplay improvements and fulfilling several community requests. It contains about 90 points that make the game noticeably more pleasant, logical, and interesting. Work like this has to be done regularly, since the development of new mechanics creates a lot of logical conflicts, inconsistencies, and contradictions in design.
In our near plans: finishing the development of collective conspiracies, new intimidation mechanics (including for the global map), and some interface reworks. We also started developing local map generation, so in a several of months the start of the game will be more varied. I think within the next couple of weeks we’ll present a roadmap for the next six months and share what we’ve managed to do so far.
So please leave us a review on the store page so we won’t be afraid to look there at night, and get ready for some long reading. Thank you.
Spouse relationship changes
One of the community’s oldest requests was that spouses should sleep in the same house. Not historically accurate, but we understand you. This change also forced us to rework the structure of relationships and affairs between spouses, since it became harder for them to find a place for… um… entertainment (because the spouse might be at home). We also added special “private” zones inside houses, where random people won’t enter. If someone does happen to catch a couple having sex, they’ll awkwardly leave the house. Except for the spouse, of course.
Thus:
Spouses now sleep together. By the way, this will save you housing space.
The king and queen now sleep in the castle.
A spouse learns of an affair not telepathically, but only if they actually catch it happening in their house.
Characters will now cheat under stricter and more logical rules—only if they have negative feelings towards their spouse (in which case they refuse to sleep with them), and their interest in the seducer is above 50.
If someone refuses another character’s date, you’ll now see a message with the specific reason why.
Spouses also continue to fulfill their duty at least once every three days, but if their mutual interest is high, they’ll keep flirting and going on extra dates.
Since spouses now receive a relationship bonus upon marriage (which gradually decreases until it disappears in 20 years), I’m afraid the era of the Bishop’s sexual adventures is behind us. No, he’s still quite something, but now he’ll have to put in some effort. And overall, it all looks much more logical.
Removal of the loyalty mechanic
To make the system more consistent after the introduction of politicians, we removed the loyalty mechanic. Now all politicians have followers. The king has them too, since he now participates in politics independently (though you can still give him such tasks). Thus, characters’ loyalty to the king is now defined the same way as with other politicians—through relationships.
Politics
In exchange for reducing the sexual activity of the church servant, we gave him another role—the Bishop is now a politician and actively recruits supporters. And he can even seize power and become your king.
Apart from the king and the bishop, a third lord can also become a politician, but only under certain conditions (for example, if he has accumulated a lot of gold and wants to protect it from your claims).
We also gave politicians special desires—political demands. For instance, if a neighboring king bribes your politician, that politician may want you to make peace with the neighbor. If you don’t, he’ll give an unpleasant speech about you in temple. On the other hand, if you do, he’ll praise you, boosting the mood of the congregation.
Overall, we reworked the system, adding many actions and rebalancing conditions for more dynamic and logical gameplay.
Balance and midgame
Games of this genre always have the same problem—too hard at the start, and too easy once you figure things out. We tried to improve this situation in Norland.
Trade. Prices for some caravan goods have risen, but now you’ll be able to earn more money by trading them if your merchant has a higher skill than the caravan trader. This means caravan trading can sometimes be as profitable as trading on the map. In addition, you’ll sometimes get information that a certain good is likely to rise sharply in price next time, letting you speculate right from the start.
Cities Population on Map. We also increased city growth, so in the mid and late game you’ll see the difference—cities will actively build walls and strong towers, place crossbowmen on them, and expand their garrisons.
AI help. We tweaked the AI, and now it will more actively come to the aid of allies and send larger armies.
Defense become stronger. Walls and towers are now three times stronger, so city sieges will eventually require more serious preparation. Let us know if we went overboard.
Archers Vision. Also, archers can no longer see through walls, and their accuracy is greatly reduced if a wall stands between them and their target. This protects garrison archers and increases the value of towers.
Protection Of Blessed. Of course, this works for you too, so defending will be easier. For defense, we also made the Blessing book available to all cultures, and the blessing now includes church protection. So now you can survive hard times under the wing of Mother Sophia.
Replenishing Migration. And if you still get looted, the new replenishing migration mechanic will help cities recover faster (migration increases if the city has many job vacancies).
Treasurer. In case stronger opponents give you trouble, we improved the seduction mechanic, and also gave a critical role in medium and large cities—the Treasurer. If the Treasurer is eliminated, the city suffers -30% to its army for three turns.
Nectar
As you may know (from the movies of cause!), to get someone hooked on a drug, you’re first offered a free sample or a discount.
That’s why now some prisoners for sale and mercenaries come with a Nectar addiction — but their price is reduced by 30%.
Also, Nectar’s effect now lasts for two full days.
Prayers and Altars
We’ve streamlined prayers: now they grant +5 when performed at home, +10 at an Altar, and +20 in the Temple.
Altars can now also host sermons. However, their effect is noticeably weaker compared to Temples—due to poor acoustics, obviously.
New Prisoner Barracks
Unlike most other buildings, this one is meant to have only a single entrance (for security), so we’ve drawn 4 variations with exits facing all four directions.
We’ve also improved the Hall’s lighting
Carrots
Oh, and we also added a new type of food—carrots. They yield every day and don’t have the downsides of Rutabaga (in terms of quality, they’re like Flour), but their productivity leaves much to be desired. In short, this means you won’t have to rush headlong into researching Flour production at the start—you can live off carrots for a while without worry.
That’s the main part. There are many other interesting improvements, so read the list below:
Full Changelog
Balance
Villages will now have more light clubmen and spearmen.
The chance of a soldier joining another lord after a victorious battle has been increased from 20% to 35%.
Confiscation now takes all the money instead of half.
Praise and slander are now twice as effective on puppets.
Politicians now start appearing and becoming active from day 5.
A bishop’s religious uprising now requires at least 30% fanatics among the population.
The random price increase from the caravan trader is now x2 or x3 instead of the previous x1.5.
City populations no longer decrease when attacked.
AI cities on the world map should now grow faster.
The thought “Hunted Together” has been strengthened.
On the world map, AI now buys nectar instead of daggers.
Purchase prices for ale, tools, meat, healing ointment, steel, paper, coal, flowers, and daggers have doubled; nectar purchase prices have tripled. At the same time, selling these goods to the caravan trader is now much more profitable depending on skill differences.
The “Blessing” technology is now available at 40 inhabitants. It is available to all cultures since it is written in the imperial language.
The thought “Forced Marriage” has been removed (previously triggered when marrying with relationships below +25).
Fortifications are now 3 times stronger.
The social thought “Spouse” now expires 20 days after the wedding.
AI now sends 70% of troops to assist other factions (previously 50%).
Balance changes: “Axe Mastery” now adds x1.5 tickets instead of x2; “Club Stun” is now x2 instead of x3; “Bowstring Mastery” is now x1.5 instead of x2.
During attacks, neighbors with a relationship ≤ -25 towards the attacker now always help (100%), instead of only 50% of the time.
The bishop’s thought “No Temples in the City” has been strengthened to -15.
The effect of seduction on interest has been removed; the cooldown time for seduction has been set to 72 hours.
The cost of the bishop’s “Repentance” action has been changed.
Duels now always give +50 relationship between participants.
The effect of smell on interest has been removed; the age threshold for the youth interest bonus has been raised; the potential relationship-based bonus to interest has been increased.
Fixes
Fixed a bug where the thought “Slandered” always had a value of 0.
Fixed the seduction mechanics.
To demand tribute or start a sudden attack, factions must now share a border with the player.
Fixed a crash when clicking on the notification for a new quest.
Fixed incorrect message that a puppet had a higher chance of dark deeds outside its city.
Fixed the description of the sermon “Army Loyalty” so it now reflects the current mechanics.
Fixed a bug where the lord was always considered the winner when calculating the chance to gain loyal soldiers.
The inspector notification for the Hall no longer appears before the Hall is built.
The unique guest “Maniac” now acts at night instead of during the day.
Fixed a bug where AI would not assist another AI when attacked by the player if the player had an upcoming or active prophecy.
Fixed a bug where ring-related thought effects were identical at medium and high wealth levels.
Characters no longer slow down when walking past a building if there is no other building next to it.
The “Slander” action now lowers relationship with the king instead of with the performer.
Fixed a bug allowing camera control from the keyboard while searching the encyclopedia.
A lord will not attempt to bribe someone for sex if it would count as adultery and he does not wish to cheat.
Gameplay
Characters now live in pairs.
The royal couple now lives in the hall.
A lord with positive relations with their spouse will not be forced into seducing another, unless they are lustful.
A seducer will not attempt to seduce a target if the target’s spouse is nearby.
The king can now perform tasks previously only available to his puppets and followers.
When shooting through walls, gates, or towers near walls, archers now get a -60% accuracy penalty. If an archer is standing on a tower, there is no penalty.
Spouses now only have sex if they have good relations. Other factors no longer matter.
If the player’s lord cannot become a politician due to hostile relations with other politicians, another lord with army loyalty ≥ 30% may become one.
Trade offers on the world map now refresh at the interval specified in the tooltip.
Church protection is now granted by completing the quest “The King Attains Holiness.”
The hire menu can now contain 2 to 4 mercenaries depending on nectar availability.
A new food resource has been added — carrots.
Added the “Political Demands” mechanic — unique whims of the player’s politicians.
Added the ability to schedule sermons at the Altar, though they are much weaker compared to the Temple.
The bishop can now demand a crown and become king.
If there are more than 10 free jobs, a migration bonus is activated.
Puppets can no longer refuse their idol’s advances.
The quest “Gift for the Idol” has been removed. Instead, the “Take Money” quest has been changed: puppets don’t lose mood, they give 300 coins (instead of 150), and their relation to the king drops by -10 (instead of -20).
If the player eliminates a treasurer lord (formerly called trader) in an AI faction, it gains the “Army Weakening” status: -30% to army and garrison, and cannot recruit troops for 3 days.
The player’s king and bishop now act like politicians and recruit followers independently.
Loyalty in all systems has been replaced with “relationship with the king.”
Added a mechanic where the value of a gift decreases depending on the recipient lord’s wealth.
The player’s king now sometimes sits on the throne.
A lord is no longer considered a politician’s follower if they are another lord’s puppet.
Added a separate “Gift” action for lords on the world map. The “Offering to the King” action now has a 1-day cooldown.
The “Bribe Heir for Rebellion” action has been replaced with “Bribe Politician” (a politician appears in an AI city once the population reaches 40). The cost is fixed and does not depend on skills.
The “No Politicians” mutator has been removed.
The “Slander” action can now be performed on the world map.
Captured lords now gain a long-term negative thought toward the king of the faction that captured them.
If a character notices sex in a house, they will leave and wait before re-entering.
Added infidelity thoughts if someone catches one of the partners having sex.
Interface
The tooltip for donating to a politician now shows the money amount.
Unavailable tasks now display their description along with the reason they are unavailable.
The battle icon on the world map is now always displayed above city names and quests.
When selecting a ranged unit, enemy squads will show a broken arrow icon if fortifications block line of sight.
The relationship tooltip now specifies that a character agrees to sex with their spouse.
The spouse of a kidnapped AI lord will no longer appear in the house on the local map.
Added the option to assign empty equipment to a soldier when creating an army.
The bottom army panel now indicates that the army is taking weapons from storage.
If there are no suitable lords, the house settlement menu now shows a message about their absence.
The barracks menu now shows soldier information on hover.
The event for the return of the player’s squad now shows the change in soldier loyalty after the campaign.
The army loyalty tooltip now shows undecided warriors.
AI politician lords now have the proper status in tooltips and titles (similar to king, queen, heir, etc.).
The alcohol ban has been replaced with a ban on ale only.
All of the player’s lords are now displayed as potential executors of intrigue tasks, but blocked if unavailable with a reason shown.
Added a setting to restore the old camera mode where all roofs disappear when zooming in, not just near the center.
Added an “Auto” button for automatic equipment distribution in squads.
Added a new tip about married lords who don’t love each other.
Canceling a date now shows a message with the reason.