Spring has sprung, and Norland is celebrating with a brand new update! Dmitry and his battalion of beta testers have been hard at work refining multiple beta patches, and the resulting Spring Update is the culmination of patches 50-53. We also just got an updated development roadmap for Norland. So in case you missed any of the latest development news, here's a full roundup for you.
Norland is also part of the Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale at 50% off. Check it out, and the other games that are discounted as part of the Hooded Horse May Publisher sale.
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Norland News Roundup
The Big Spring Update is aptly named, as it compiles multiple beta patches into one beefy main branch update. Here's a quick look at the major changes from each beta patch that went into this update.
Patch 50 added seasons and climate to Norland. The game now starts in spring, and seasons last for 12 days by default. "Harsh seasons" were also added -- and depending on the biome, they will be defined differently and last for different lengths of time. Climate and seasons will also affect weather events like rain, snowfall, and blizzards.
This patch also added options and enhancements to resources, farms, and production. Dmitry added a new resource, Clay, and a clay extraction building. So now you can use either clay or stone to build roads! Farms also got reworked into a single building with assignable resource options.
Politics, uprisings, and allies were expanded too. Political activity will now start at 20 population. This system has been expanded significantly, introducing new actions for politicians with the action task system, new mechanics for gaining allies, changes to political logic, and much more.
Patch 51 added new character traits, further updated the politics and AI behavior systems, made some changes to combat and squads -- including a chance for fog and precipitation to occur in manual battles. The patch also included changes to production and economy, interface and UX improvements, new building assets, and, of course, squashed some bugs.
Patch 52 added new character traits that interact very well with the new social mechanics, updated and balanced the intimidation mechanic, and made a ton of balance changes, such as depression now applying a -5 penalty to skills.
There were also some major improvements to the interface, notification system, and UX, giving you clearer alerts when important events transpire and cleaning up duplicate notifications. Other noteworthy fixes, stability changes, and graphical improvements were also included.
Patch 53, the newest one included in the Big Spring Update, introduced some totally fresh content! New character traits were added, like Devout and Preacher, each of which includes new relations bonuses. Other balance changes were implemented to account for these new traits, too. For example, fanatics now receive a relations bonus to characters with the devout trait.
Patch 53 also included plenty of Interface and QOL changes. Some standouts include:
- Lords no longer eat berries from the warehouse if other food is available
- Scrolling in the settings menu is no longer blocked by tutorials
- Politicians no longer schedule sermons if there is no Bishop in the city
Like any worthwhile update, this patch is also packed with balance updates and big fixes.
That's a high-level look at the major changes you can expect from the Big Spring Update, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. These additions and changes will impact many different functions of your game, so make sure to check out the patch notes for the full scoop!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1857090/view/668364810351544283
After shipping the Big Spring Update, Dmitry also shared his updated development roadmap for the second half of 2026! For the rest of the year, the team's main areas of focus will be:
- Expanding the event system
- Local map late game
- Global map expansion
- Combat system improvements
Here's a look at the new roadmap. For a full rundown of everything the team has planned in each area of development, check out the full blog post.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1857090/announcements/detail/694262411242243720
Thanks for reading and happy governing!
~The Hooded Horse Team