Hello everyone!
Today we're releasing Broken Crown 0.9, one of the most important updates the game has received so far.
Over the past few days we've been working hard to bring Broken Crown to a more complete, polished, and cohesive state as we move closer to version 1.0.
This update significantly expands the Orc campaign, introduces new faction-specific units, brings Workshop maps into multiplayer, improves the AI, redesigns the main menu, and further expands Map Studio.
Here's everything that's new.
The Orc Campaign Now Features 10 Missions
The Orc campaign has been expanded with seven new missions, bringing the total to 10 levels, matching the Human campaign.
These new missions introduce very different environments and objectives, including resource gathering, defensive scenarios, caravan escorts, neutral villages, multiple enemy commanders, and battles across completely different biomes.
You'll fight through forests, swamps, deserts, snowy mountain passes, autumn ruins, and even a volcanic caldera.
Each mission features its own terrain, navigation, resources, preview image, and localization.
A More Cohesive Storyline
We've also started an important revision of the game's story.
Mission introductions, descriptions, and briefings have been rewritten to make the conflict between the two factions clearer.
The Humans see the arrival of the Orcs as an invasion and are trying to reclaim the territory they have lost.
The Orcs, however, are fleeing from a much greater threat: the undead.
This allows us to tell the same conflict from two different perspectives and give both factions stronger motivations throughout their campaigns.
Two New Special Units
Faction differentiation is becoming an increasingly important part of Broken Crown.
The Humans receive the new Lion Guard, a heavy defensive infantry unit designed to hold strategic positions, protect ranged troops, and withstand heavy attacks.
The Lion Guard can be recruited from the Barracks after reaching Military Tier 3 and has been fully integrated with AI recruitment, saves, faction materials, minimap support, animations, and localization.
The Orcs receive the new Orc Assaulter, a much more aggressive unit with high damage, increased mobility, and a charge ability.
The Assaulter is also fully integrated into the game and represents the first step toward making the two factions feel increasingly different from one another.
Workshop Maps Are Now Playable in Multiplayer
One of the biggest additions in this update is support for Steam Workshop maps in multiplayer matches.
The host can now select an installed Workshop map directly from the multiplayer lobby.
If another player doesn't have the required map, they can subscribe to and download it before the match begins.
The game also checks that every participant has exactly the same version of the map before allowing the match to start.
This means maps created by the community are no longer limited to single-player Skirmish matches.
They can now become full multiplayer battlefields.
Race Selection in Multiplayer
Each player can now choose their faction directly from the lobby:
Humans
Orcs
The host can also choose the faction used by AI-controlled slots.
These selections are synchronized across all participants and locked once the match begins.
Map Studio Gets Even Bigger
Map Studio continues to grow.
Custom maps can now support between 2 and 8 players.
When a larger number of players is selected, the editor can automatically suggest a suitable minimum map size.
We've also doubled the maximum number of decorative objects:
512 → 1,024 objects
This gives creators much more freedom to build richer and more detailed battlefields.
A Redesigned Main Menu
The main menu has received a major visual overhaul.
We've introduced:
a separate and editable logo;
new icon-based buttons;
dedicated Human and Orc campaign tabs;
redesigned mission lists;
a clearer mission details panel;
dedicated areas for saves and news.
The goal is to make the interface easier to read while giving Broken Crown a presentation that better reflects the current state of the game.
Language Selector
Players can now manually choose the game language from the main menu.
The selected language is saved and automatically restored the next time the game is launched.
The currently supported languages are:
English
Italian
French
German
Spanish
Simplified Chinese
This allows players to choose their preferred language independently from the language automatically detected by the game.
New Cinematic Level Introductions
Every level now begins with a short cinematic introduction.
At the start of a match, the camera descends from above toward the battlefield while the mission title appears on screen.
The HUD and controls are temporarily hidden, giving each level a cleaner and more cinematic introduction.
The system also works with save files, tutorials, and custom maps.
Smarter AI
We've also made significant improvements to the AI.
The AI now uses a new strategic planner capable of maintaining a current objective and measuring its progress.
It can now better handle situations such as:
restoring missing workers;
reacting to storage shortages;
prioritizing urgently needed resources;
starting military production;
building up its army;
planning fortifications;
detecting when a plan is no longer making progress and attempting to recover.
Worker distribution, navigation checks, and building placement logic have also been improved.
Gameplay and Custom Map Improvements
We've also introduced several gameplay fixes and improvements.
Movement orders now respond more immediately, duplicated worker commands have been removed, and units now correctly remember commands issued during certain combat animations.
We've also changed how resources work in Map Studio maps.
Trees and mines are no longer automatically generated around starting bases.
What you place in the editor is what you will actually find in the match.
The Road to 1.0
With this release, Broken Crown enters the final stage of its Early Access development.
Most of the game's core foundations are now in place, and from this point forward our work will increasingly focus on:
completing the campaigns;
further differentiating Humans and Orcs;
adding new maps;
balancing;
polishing;
improving graphics and audio;
improving overall stability.
Version 1.0 will not mark the end of Broken Crown's development.
Instead, it will represent the point where we consider the core game complete, stable, and ready to stand on its own.
We'll share more details about the roadmap toward the full release in upcoming updates.
Thank you to everyone who has been playing, commenting on updates, using the Workshop, and following the development of Broken Crown.
Over the past few updates we've started to see the community become active again, and it has been incredibly rewarding to watch.
The road to Broken Crown 1.0 has officially begun.
See you on the battlefield.
— Broken Crown