Patch #54 (BETA). Guest Rework, Politics Improvements, and New Character Traits

Hi everyone,

this is Dmitry.

Unfortunately, in this patch we won’t be showing a radically new gameplay experience, but it noticeably improves the overall feel and logic of the game.

Notable changes:

• We have reworked the mechanics of guests arriving to the player. Their actions will now be more meaningful. However, this is only the beginning of a larger task: rethinking dark deeds and moving politics to the level of relations between states.

• We have made a map generation menu for the start of the game.

• Added many new character traits (they will still be balanced).

• Added new political mechanics and more complex intrigue logic.

• Based on your feedback, we have also made politics less suffocating - political demands will now only be made if a politician’s relationship with your ruler is below friendly. This change has also been pushed to the main branch.

• And overall, we made many fixes and improvements.

But the most interesting things are currently in development and will appear in updates in the coming weeks. This summer, we plan to radically improve the game experience.

Thank you for staying with us!

Guests

Updated the mechanics of guests arriving from neighbors.

Bodyguards

• Guests arrive with bodyguards - 2–3 soldiers who rest during the day and guard their lord at night.

• Guest bodyguards will receive equipment and skills according to the AI city’s development level.

• Guest bodyguards will display a trait with an explanatory hint about whom they are guarding.

Possible Guest Roles

Sociable - arrives when relations are above -25.

• The purpose of the visit is shown in the guest’s hint - to build relations with the player’s politician for the future or to obtain a puppet.

• Before arriving, checks whether there is a suitable target among the player’s lords with a weakness corresponding to the guest’s strength.

• Can use the following strengths: Silver Tongue, Fleshwolf Hammer, or Sensitive Lover.

• Looks for targets with the following weaknesses: Naive, Impressionable Hunter, Slave of Desire.

• Prioritizes the player’s politician; if there is no suitable target, chooses the character with the largest number of followers.

• The player’s ruler cannot be the target of a Sociable guest.

• A guest with Silver Tongue can give the target money or rings on behalf of their ruler, improving the politician’s relationship with them.

• A guest with Fleshwolf Hammer can go hunting with the target if the guest is a ruler.

• A guest with Sensitive Lover can attempt to seduce a suitable target.

• If the target’s weakness is on cooldown at the start of the day, the guest will leave the next day.

Schemer - arrives when relations are below 0.

• The purposes of the visit are shown in the hint as unknown.

• Before arriving, also checks for a suitable target with a weakness corresponding to the guest’s strength.

• Chooses the player’s ruler or a politician as the target.

• If the target is the player’s ruler:

• Madness Poisoner uses the Potion of Madness.

• Fistfighter challenges the ruler to a fistfight.

• If the target is not the player’s ruler:

• Slanderer worsens the target’s relationship with the player’s ruler through slander.

The Gambler and Parent roles remain unchanged.

Map Generation

Added a map generation settings menu at the Hall placement stage when creating a new game.

• If a small terrain is selected, a hill will no longer be generated in the center of the map, and the required playable area for successful generation has been reduced to 70% of the map.

• The final generation attempt (after a series of failed attempts) now tries to generate the map to the end, even if it does not fully match the parameters.

• 2D cliffs will no longer be created during map generation.

• Added a hill placement setting to the map generation settings menu.

Character Traits

• Added the “Berserk” character trait.

• Added the “Thirst for Knowledge” character trait.

• Added the “Master of Profit” character trait.

• Added the “Gourmet” character trait.

• Added the “Life of the Party” character trait.

• Added the “Intuitive Genius” character trait.

• Added the “Inspirer” character trait.

• Added the “Comforter” character trait.

• Added the “Voice of Reason” character trait.

• Added the “Redeemer” character trait.

• Added the “Beggar” character trait.

• Added the “Doctor” character trait.

• Added the “Musician” character trait.

• Added the “Prince of Thieves” character trait.

• Added the “Singer of Love” character trait.

• Added the “Harsh Judge” character trait.

Politics

• Added the usurpation mechanic. A politician who has taken the throne by force is considered a usurper.

• The usurper receives a thought toward the new ruler: “Overthrew my friend” or “Overthrew my enemy”, with a strength equal to their relationship with the previous ruler, with the opposite sign.

• A politician will not receive new desires for a change of power if their relationship with the ruler is +25 or higher.

• Added fistfight duels. The winner receives a bonus to interest in themselves (x2 from the opposite sex).

• A fistfight gives a social thought of release toward the participants.

• Added the Potion of Madness. It can be used by a poisoner. The target temporarily goes mad, loses interest in themselves, and loses followers.

• The Potion of Madness now reduces interest in the target by -20 for 10 days for all other lords.

• Added the character strength “Fistfighter”: 15% chance to knock out the opponent in a fistfight. Added the character weakness “Boastful”: losing a fistfight causes the character to lose followers and worsens relations with lords who witnessed the fight.

• Added thoughts for victory and defeat in a fistfight; lords within a radius of 20 tiles gain interest in the winner (+10, or +20 if the winner is of the opposite sex).

• Politicians can now use the puppets of their followers and give them orders in the same way as followers.

• Puppets of the player ruler’s followers can now perform ordered actions (seduction, duel, etc.) that were previously available only to followers or direct puppets of the ruler.

• Night intimidation conspiracies can now involve politicians’ followers, not only their personal followers.

• The player’s ruler can no longer personally participate in night intimidation; for this, you must use a puppet or an ally. The performer receives a negative thought toward the ruler. If the intimidation was ordered by the player, guards do not intervene.

• Politicians can now use fistfights to weaken another lord’s influence if the target has the “Boastful” weakness.

• Changed the chance of gaining loyalty after an army victory in battle from 35% to 10 + 1% for each level of the Command skill.

World Map

• Added new conditions for providing assistance during aggression on the global map: if a neighbor’s relationship with the victim is above +25, and their relationship with the attacker is below 0, the chance of assistance is 100%; if their relationship with the victim is above +25, and their relationship with the attacker is below +25, the chance of assistance is 50%

• Trade agreement fixes on the global map: renewal is now calculated based on the first contract, its duration has been reduced, and the penalty has been changed

• Trade agreements for selling goods become less profitable when repeatedly signed with the same city for the same resource

• Ignoring a request for military aid from a friendly neighbor (relations 25+) now worsens relations by 30

• If the player shows aggression toward a neighbor (except through dark deeds), neighboring factions that border both the player and the victim have a 50% chance to receive mutual positive thoughts about their shared neighbor

• Intrigue orders on the local map through allies or puppets now worsen the performer’s relationship with the ruler

• Secret murder now ignores the AI’s relationship check toward the player on the global map

• Changed the algorithm for generating knowledge for AI lords on the global map

• Wise Conversation is now free, requires a 25+ ruler-to-player-ruler relationship on the global map, and a character with the "Thirst for Knowledge" trait ignores the required relationship threshold

• A puppet performer in another city can commit a crime even if relations toward the player in that city are very low (which would prevent the player from sending their own lord)

Miscellaneous

• Pottery is now sold by caravan traders

• Bandits no longer try to rob the Hall (since this almost always fails due to nearby lords)

• Blindness will no longer prevent a lord from being challenged to a duel (because of the corresponding Blind Fury achievement)

• Characters will no longer stand up for their friend in fights if the fight is caused by the mask of shame being worn

• Removed the bishop’s mood increase from performing a sermon of faith

• The bishop can no longer be selected as a murder target through an action task on the local map

• The hiring cost of a free lord based on their skills now ignores all skill modifiers (except the lord’s blindness)

• Removed the "Natural Leader" character strength, removed the "Suggestible" character weakness

• Roads no longer increase speed if they are placed directly between buildings

• Stone and clay tiles have been moved from the Resources category to Raw

• The movement speed of characters between houses has been reduced by 75%

• When farm construction is completed in winter, the farm is disabled

• A disabled farm will not turn itself back on after the harsh season ends if the player changed its crop

• The seasonal thought is now removed after the harsh season ends

• The "visit a loved one’s grave" desire is now fulfilled when the grave is built, not when it is visited

• Disrupting a cultist ceremony now drives them out of the province

• Added the "Grant Title" order for free lords who have not been hired; it combines the "Hire" and "Grant Title" actions under the same conditions

• Duels and fistfights no longer give the social thought "Beat me up"; lords now watch fistfights and duels in the same way as villagers

Interface and QoL

• Added icons for all character talents in the character menu, based on the icon of the corresponding skill

• Added a list of lords who have the opposite character strength or weakness to the lord’s character strength and weakness hint (in the lord menu)

• Added display of which kings a neighboring ruler will help when they are attacked, and who will help them against the player; this information is shown in the relationship hint with the city

• Added an emoji bubble that will be displayed when a character moves between buildings. This indicates that the character is slowed

• Added floating icons above characters who block or unblock the temple exit during the "Fervent Prayer" conspiracy

• Added additional states for the "Send to Production" button in production building menus

• When pressing the "Back" button during map preview, the player will return to editing the new game with the same parameters instead of going to the main menu

• If a technology has already been studied by another lord, the research completion notification will now be normal instead of important

• Removed the line from the sermon hint footer saying that the number of parishioners can depend on the sermon performer

• Action tasks targeting the player’s ruler for poisoning, creating an ally, or creating a puppet will no longer be displayed

• Arrows to local map exits will not be displayed while a video is playing (for example, at the end of the game)

• The lord hint for portraits at the top of the GUI now displays character traits instead of thoughts

• Disabled the "Aftermath of War" problem flag

• Disabled the "Slow Knowledge Study" problem flag

• Disabled the "Knowledge Under Threat" notification

• Removed an extra footer from the peasant hint in their house. Previously, it also showed a line about fear of death

• Removed arrow pointers to map exits, leaving only the text

• Removed market saturation information from the resource hint (in the resource panel on the left), and removed daily consumption information from the caravan trader’s goods hint

Tutorial

• Added a tutorial scenario about the bandit camp: the player is guided through opening the army menu, choosing a commander, assembling a squad, equipping fighters, waiting for the squad to form, and moving to the bandit camp on the global map

• Added a tutorial scenario about the king’s political followers: the tutorial selects the king, highlights the required interface elements, and explains the followers tab/indicator

• Added a tutorial scenario about a politician’s weaknesses: the tutorial selects a suitable politician, guides the player to the required character tab, and highlights their weak trait

• Added a tutorial scenario about bad relationships between lords

• Added a tutorial scenario about intrigues with neighbors

• Added new tutorial scenarios and a tip about the Prison Ward

• Added a tutorial scenario and a tip about the player’s lord becoming a puppet of another faction

• Added a tutorial scenario about migration

• Added a tip about the patrol flag

• Added two new tutorial scenarios, about prisoner control and lord tutoring, as well as a tip about creating a puppet on the global map

• Made fixes to the tutorial scenario about creating a squad

• The tutorial flag "sign a trade agreement" has been moved to reaching a population level of 20

• During the "Vagabonds Are Approaching" tutorial, mercenaries no longer arrive instantly; the "Defend the City" task appears only after they arrive

• The soft tutorial window now hides together with the Encyclopedia

• The Encyclopedia pop-up window now hides when the pause menu is opened

• During the soft tutorial, the player’s squad will no longer take prisoners - they will finish them off instead

• Additional peasants created only at the start of the tutorial will now be placed not in the center of the Hall, but on its square

Fixes

• Fixed cases where characters carrying resources in baskets would fall out of the carrying logic and get stuck with baskets forever

• Family preset files are now deleted if loading fails (for example, if the file is corrupted) and replaced with the default preset

• Fixed child filtering for the "Knowledge Is Not Being Studied" tip

• Fixed an error when displaying the hint for the "Make Puppet" action if the target is the performer’s child

• Fixed a possible rare crash when displaying speech bubbles

• Fixed a bug that caused the soft tutorial task window not to disappear after the task was completed

• Fixed a bug that caused shields to continue being used invisibly in fistfights

• Fixed a bug that caused the Matriarch not to receive a negative thought for illegal duels between lords

• Fixed a bug that made the province impossible to select in the tutorial after renaming it

• Fixed a bug that caused the tutorial scenario about distributing resources to remove Moonshine from production

• Fixed an error that occurred when deleting a city from the map (for example, because it was captured by the Horde) if the city had an active trade agreement

• Fixed a bug that caused the tutorial to suggest setting borders, even though this cannot be done in the tutorial

• Fixed a game crash when trying to exit to the main menu while in manual combat with a bandit camp during the tutorial

• Added color validation when loading a family preset (fixes the inability to continue the game after choosing a starting province)

• Fixed the non-working button for restoring the local map generator’s default settings

• Fixed a bug that allowed gold and rings to be adjusted in the player ruler’s action tasks even when there were not enough rings or gold

• The order to visit a sick character will be automatically removed if the character is no longer sick

• Fixed the conditions for showing the tip about books not being studied in cases where a lord left the local map

• Fixed a bug that caused battle music to stop when there was a battle on the local map and a ceremony started

• Fixed the trigger for the problem flag about homeless soldiers, even though hired soldiers simply had not yet had time to move into free barracks

• Fixed a bug that caused crops in fields to be displayed at the wrong height, overlapping characters

• Fixed a bug that caused the building selection menu for another building to open when right-clicking in the tutorial while choosing a location for the Castle

• Fixed a bug that caused Wise Conversation on the global map not to work

• Fixed a bug that caused the "border buttons" pop-up window to appear when starting a new game or tutorial

• Fixed a bug that made it impossible to hover over some tips with the "Show How" button

• Fixed a bug that caused the number of Chancery buildings in the King’s Eye not to update

• Fixed a bug where, after completing the soft tutorial, starting a new game, and saving it, the save file did not consider the soft tutorial completed

• Fixed a bug that caused the bride’s parents to receive incorrect roles when visiting for the wedding

• Fixed a bug that allowed the game to be blocked if, during the family setup stage in the tutorial, the player clicked "Continue" instead of "Next"

• Fixed a bug that caused the soft tutorial not to start after the hard tutorial ended

• Fixed order starts with an insane performer

• Fixed an error where the soft tutorial task about moonshine production was completed when setting 20, although it should be completed when setting 30

• Fixed a bug that caused the "Got it" button to mark a read article as unread again

• Fixed a bug that caused the wet/icy feet effect from bad weather not to work after loading the game

• Fixed bugs with removing alcohol addiction

• Fixed a bug with the food theft activity starting endlessly

• Fixed an incorrect notification about harvested crops that do not fit into storage after harvesting

• Fixed a bug that allowed the conspiracy target to react with a fight to the temple arson during a conspiracy, while that fight did not work

• Fixed a bug that caused the rain sound to continue playing after loading a game where there was no longer any rain

• Fixed a bug that caused a peasant bribing a politician to enter an infinite loop if the faction that sent that peasant no longer existed

• Fixed a bug that allowed children to be born with blue or green skin if their parents had pneumonia or were poisoned at the moment of birth

• Fixed incorrect outline display in the comfort tutorial scenario when changing the GUI size

• Hired soldier cards no longer display the "Fear of Death" thought

• Immobilized prisoners no longer try to escape

• If a lord dies, develops Senile Dementia, or stops being a lord, politicians who chose them as their target reset the corresponding strategies

• If a lord commits a crime in their own house, they will not pick the lock and can enter the house without problems

• Borderless screen mode now automatically sets the full screen resolution, which fixes a bug where a lower resolution could be set in fullscreen mode and part of the screen would remain black

• Graphics

• Added new building assets for the training ground, pig farm, herbalist, and smelter; changed the brewery asset