After a long pause, support for Wizards and Warlords is picking up again. This first release is about getting the foundations back under control: the game has been moved to a current Unity LTS version and an up-to-date Steamworks SDK, and everything that had accumulated in the development branch since the last beta has been reviewed and is going out as an opt-in beta before it replaces the main branch.
Nothing here changes how the game plays in a big way. That comes later, once this build has proven itself. I shouldn't overpromise on this, so I won't, but I will try to do my best to fix some of the biggest issues with the game, improve on the core functionality, and even flesh out some of the parts of the game that never got the attention they deserved. That being said, I hope anyone reading this will not have too high expectations - it is an old codebase, and a gnarly one, so there are limits to what can be done, without completely rewriting the game. But let us see where this takes us.
Right-click Wizards and Warlords in your Steam library > Properties > Betas and pick the 1.0.5 beta branch. Switching back to the main branch works the same way. Save games: saves from the current main branch (1.0.3.65) and the previous beta (1.0.4.13b) should load fine in this build. Saves written by this build cannot be opened by the older versions, so keep a copy if you think you might switch back.
Updated to Unity 2022.3 LTS (from 2022.3.2 to 2022.3.62).
Updated Steamworks SDK (achievements, Workshop upload and subscription use the current API).
Garrison upkeep reduction was not applied to units that had moved that turn (BUG-9). Units in a garrison now always get the discount.
Armies belonging to factions that are not realms (planar invaders, monsters, marauders) never had their movement and exhaustion reset at the end of the turn, which could leave AI armies stuck.
Conquering a city cleared the seat of power of the conquering faction instead of the faction that lost the city.
Fixed a crash that could hit a minor realm's diplomacy AI on the turn it lost its capital.
Cities could accumulate duplicate satellite site entries.
Several crashes involving cities and buildings without an owner.
Sites left under construction by an eliminated faction are now cleaned up instead of lingering forever.
Volcanic eruption events no longer stack on a hex that already has an eruption in progress.
Dungeon expeditions: progress no longer overshoots the target after a defeat or retreat, and retreating now produces a notification.
Battle: spell hotkeys now validate the cast first and show why a spell cannot be cast, instead of starting a cast that fails.
Worship: clearing the resource selection now also clears the offering deposit.
Character upkeep: the discount for content characters only ever applied its first tier (-1%). The full range now works, from -2% at 20 Content up to -35% at 100 Content.
Character upkeep tooltip: shows the combined upkeep multiplier, and upkeep amounts are displayed as costs (-20 Gold) rather than looking like income.
Assorted tooltip and text fixes.
Unlock Mastery project cost: +10% per mastery already unlocked above 6, and a further +5% per mastery above 10. The old formula dropped back to no surcharge at 11 masteries, which was a bug.
Seafaring workers in coastal and river towers: 25 gold per skill level (was 20).
Demon workers no longer gain experience, in line with Faerie workers. Existing demon workers in old saves are unaffected.
Custom units: the Berserker option now also gives +1 Movement to Light and Very Light templates.
Recruitment requirements for the Golem Workshop and Stables now count damaged buildings as present.
Reorganised, with new Mechanics sections for City Buildings and Fortress Upgrades.
Arrow keys move through entries while the window is focused.
Export now includes entries with generated text, and asks whether to include the Mechanics sections.
If this beta holds up for a couple of weeks it becomes the main branch, and the current main build stays available as an opt-in branch for a while. After that: actual improvements to the game. Bug reports and feedback in the forums are very welcome.