Hello everyone,
Release Date and Plans
In our Discord, I've already mentioned that in November, during testing with our internal testers, we encountered two issues - the routine actions of lords and the poorly functioning global map with few events. While these problems are not critical, we decided that we should address them and then retest the game to ensure a maximally enjoyable gaming experience at all stages. This led us to make some adjustments to our plans and postpone the game's release to January. We could have possibly tried to release it at the end of December or the beginning of January, but this period is considered the worst time for a release in the year.
On the other hand, we have arguments in favor of not having indefinite delays.
Firstly, we have finished adding new mechanics to the game, and we are now focusing solely on debugging, interfaces, combat tactics, and overall quality.
Secondly, we know how to solve these problems, and we do not see anything critical that would affect the game's overall architecture. Furthermore, we have already resolved the issue with the routine actions of lords, and a new global map is in the works - we need a week to finish and test it internally. After that, we will commence the promised playtests, and based on their results, we will announce the release date and begin the pre-release advertising campaign.
We regret that it has come to this, but these are complex games, and the current market situation, where the fate of a game depends on initial reviews, forces us to be very cautious. Ultimately, the situation with delays (not only for us but for all small teams) would be different if players left positive reviews like "This game may have flaws, but at least it was released on time. Keep it up, guys! I recommend it!" So please be patient. Thank you.
How Did We Solve the Issue with Lords' Routine Actions?
- We doubled their lifespan while slowing down the acquisition of experience from actions and the chances of illness. At the same time, we kept the speed of knowledge acquisition, pregnancy chances, and other factors. This way, lords will have more time to learn new technologies, of which there are now more than a hundred (by the way, we keep adding new ones - recently we added the "Logistics" knowledge, which speeds up the movement of your squads on the map). We didn't increase their lifespan too much to maintain the generational dynamics.
- We also automated the education of children. Now you have the option of "General Education," where your chosen teacher will teach the child all skills in a row, starting with those they have talent for. By the way, bishops can now also teach, but it requires a good relationship with them.
- We made the Chancellery knowledge available for purchase almost at the start. This way, you can choose between economic efficiency and free time for lords almost from the beginning.
- We also revamped the inspection system. They always lasted for three days, but lords would visit them every day, giving instructions "for the future." Now they visit them every other day, giving them more freedom. The duration of instruction actions is displayed in buildings, in "royal overview" mode, in the lords' menu (it shows the time when the nearest instructions will stop being effective), and the hourglass icon on the lord's portrait indicates that they have no management-related tasks for the day, allowing you to assign them to other tasks.
Our internal testers have positively evaluated these changes, so it seems the issue is closed.
We thank Hannibalingus, PotioN, bliden, and vangolla for their help in identifying the problem and devising solutions.
Regarding what we did with the global map, I will tell you more later when it is also approved by the guys. For now, I will share information about other small changes we made in November, aside from the major cultural mechanics that I already talked about last time.
Character Voiceovers
In the world of city builders and strategies, there aren't many games where characters have time for conversations. Therefore, we taught our characters to voice their dialogues, which had a good immersion effect. It works when the camera is zoomed in, so there won't be a cacophony of sounds. It's somewhat similar to Simlish, but it's actually a distorted Welsh language in which actors read excerpts from Darwin's Origin of Species.
Building Rotations
We have started implementing building rotations. For now, it's only for residential buildings (although they make up 90% of city construction), but cities already look more lifelike, with real squares and streets.
Advisor Menu
This menu, "inspired" by CK3, is designed for those who get lost in the multitude of mechanics and don't know what to do next. It highlights current issues, moves the camera when clicked, and explains how to solve them. Don't know what to do next? Follow the advice menu. We thank Gironimo for the suggestion to create this menu.
Genetics
We've moved away from traits that were granted based on a character's childhood outcomes, as this mechanic was not intuitive and felt too routine. Instead, this whole bunch of traits has become genetically inheritable from the character's father and mother. You will also see from whom exactly the character inherited a particular trait. By the way, talents are also inherited, so choose a bride for your heir carefully!
Dying King
Now characters don't instantly die of old age; they spend a few days in bed before passing away. When this happens with the king, strong mutual animosity arises between the heir and the second-in-line (the second heir) - as the king is helpless and cannot punish anyone, the second heir is strongly tempted to seize the crown, and the current heir suspects them of this. Tragic events can unfold!
Relationships with the Matriarch
Now your relationship with the church is more complex. The bishop's opinion of your king is just one of the factors. The Matriarch also looks at the number of fanatics, your actions on the map, sinfulness, and so on. At low relations, all fanatics in the city receive a significant mood debuff, and the caravan's assortment of goods also depends on this. For example, you will have a choice - either produce advanced weapons yourself or improve relations with the Matriarch up to 50.
Lords' Residences
Children until they reach adulthood now live in a house with their mother, and you can also evict and move any lord into any house.
We have also expanded and revamped the training system, as it had become outdated since the summer demo version.
And we are also redesigning all building interfaces, character interfaces (including creating an event log menu), and cities. Here is what our Figma workspace looks like.
That's all for now; stay tuned, it's going to be interesting. In the coming weeks, aside from the global map, I will also talk about the game's lore and combat tactics, which we have been working on during these months.
Dmitriy.