Hey Everyone,
This week’s update brings a major round of balancing and improvements across all areas of the game - with focus on world map performance, RTS battle flow, and key balancing changes to the campaign and economy.
The world map has seen a big boost in performance, especially in regions like Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East. The Nile region has also been completely reworked into a lush and vibrant landscape. We've also cleaned up several visual issues, including palm trees and world edge polish.
On the campaign side, we've overhauled how Crusader armies behave after the First Crusade, preventing late-game exploits and making their actions more grounded. We’ve also improved town entry mechanics with clearer rules and UI feedback.
RTS battles feel smoother and more cinematic now — with better AI, slowed-down combat pacing, and far less lag. Auto-resolve has been reworked to reduce frustrating unit losses, and healing now happens in real time rather than waiting for the end of the month.
Thanks again for sticking with us - and we’re just getting started. Here's the full list of changes in Game Version 0.31:
World Map Changes
Major performance boost across the entire world map.
Drastically improved performance in Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East regions.
Reworked Nile region — now lush and green.
Fixed Beirut incorrectly displaying as Acre.
Polished the top-left corner and outer edge of the world map.
Greatly improved the visual quality of palm trees.
Campaign Changes
After completing the First Crusade, Crusader armies now garrison in captured cities
Fixed exploit that allowed easy conquest of the Middle East using Crusader armies
Tripoli now correctly transfers to Crusader control after the Crusade
Major Balance Changes
Hamlet capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each hamlet you control
City capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each city you control
Combat food drain increased by 30% — cow and chicken income reduced accordingly
AI now attacks much less frequently
Army unit healing now occurs in real time, no longer tied to the end of the month
General Balancing
Player units heal faster near friendly towns
AI units heal more slowly
Auto-resolve is now less likely to kill player units when clearly winning
Auto-resolve now favors damaging units over killing them
Stronger forces benefit more from auto-resolve
Reduced renown rewards from battles
Monthly renown output from buildings reduced by ~50%
Rebalanced income, upkeep, and renown for Order and Church buildings
Slightly slower accumulation of personal time
Entering a town now deducts 1 minute of personal time
Player must have at least 2 minutes of personal time to enter a town
Added message notifying player when they lack enough time to enter
Rebalanced attack stats for Macemen and Billmen
RTS Mode Improvements
Major reduction in lag during RTS battles
Combat slowed slightly for improved cinematic pacing
Better overall combat flow in RTS mode
Ranged units now properly auto-attack targets
RTS AI now defends large cities more effectively
AI will no longer sortie unless player is heavily outnumbered
Large-town sieges are now significantly more difficult
Nighttime lighting in RTS is now brighter
Reduced distance fog, especially in winter
Fixed terrain appearing overly bright in fall season
Fixed bug with newly constructed buildings being sideways or upside down in Army vs Army camps
Other Fixes and Changes
Fixed rare game-breaking issue where the game could freeze during a cinematic
Major corrections to Spanish translation
Major corrections to Italian translation