Hello lords and ladies! We have now had our steam page live for two months (time flys) :) so I thought it would be a good time to update everyone on the current state of development. As some of you may have noticed we have been updating the steam page with our development to showcase new gifs and images and this will continue.
But let's dive into the major improvements, features and developments thus far...
Battle System
The first major feature added since we launched our steam page has been the added ability to fight large scale battles. The player can now raise armies either by talking to their advisor or by using an army UI interface. The player will be able to lead their army personally, or appoint one of their lords to do it for them. They can have the army follow the player, or leave the army resting at camp if the player wishes to explore on their own.
If you meet a hostile army in the open world while leading your own army, a battle will trigger within the same world position the two armies met. Meaning each battleground will be different depending on that world position.
As you can imagine, changing battlefields will mean different tactics for you and your opponent. Is there a bridge nearby that could be used for defense? Perhaps the enemy is strong in bowmen, but luckily there is a forest nearby that can negate some of those arrows!
During the course of the battle you will be able to form different battlegroups and issue orders to those groups in real time (forward, back, charge, flank, etc). They will also be able to have these groups form different formations to counter the enemy, as some formations will have an advantage when fighting others.
As you can see from the Work in Progress (WIP) image above we still need to polish this a bit and change the distance of weapons so that a hit looks more like an actual hit. ;)
Road Building & Improved UI
The second thing we added since the page launch was the ability for the player to build roads throughout their kingdom, while also making some improvements to the overall building construction UI.
The road system will eventually be tied into the AI pathfinding mechanics and will improve movement speeds while traveling.
We also plan on adding a bridge building mechanic to allow the player and NPC's to cross major rivers and we hope to have this done soon. Also speaking of building things, we have added a bunch of new buildings you will be able to construct with many more on the way.
New Shop and Furniture
We have just finished adding a new shop that will allow the player to purchase furniture for their manors and halls. Some items will grant bonuses when your subjects come to court, while other items will unlock new abilities and features.
For example buying a better bed will allow you to sleep and improve your mood over sleeping on a hay floor. A larger dining table will allow you to invite more subjects and lords to your feasts, and a throne will allow you to hold court.
Some items can be upgraded, while others can be replaced with better items from the shop as they become available. Your shop's items are also tied to your kingdom's current tech level, so shop item availability will change during the game.
Besides the shop, the player may find some truly legendary items while exploring the open world.
Decorating Your Manor
What good is a shop if you have nowhere to put your new purchases? So, we have also added a new decoration mood to allow you a way of placing your new items, choosing their position, rotation and colour options.
Storing Items in Chests
Sometimes it will be prudent to store your most valuable items in your locked chest, after all thieves are everywhere, and maybe you don't want to risk losing that shiny crown if your monarch dies in battle.
To that end we have added the ability for the player to store items away for safekeeping.
What's Next?
So that is some of the major stuff I've worked on in the last few months, but what's next? Well here is a short list of just some of the things you can expect to see in future updates...
- Farm animals
- Farming and growing crops
- Horses and Horseback riding
- Fishing & Hunting
- AI Pathfinding and better subject spawning
- Kingdom research and tech
- Cooking & eating
- Building of forts and castles
- Mini games
- Quests
- Holding court and answering subjects
- Sending and receiving personal messages
- Marriage and children
- Random, legendary and historical events
- Polish, polish and more polish
- And more...