Update # 3 - New Features

We have another large update for you this week - focused on several new features, critical tutorial fixes, and balance improvements.

The biggest part of this update is another round of major tutorial fixes. Most importantly, the Siege of Savona instant-loss issue has been fixed. Really sorry again to everyone who ran into this bug. Building up Genoa should now continue properly from the world map, and several research-related tutorial issues have also been addressed.

This update also adds new research limits. Players can now only research two technologies at a time by default, while constructing additional Academy buildings increases how many technologies can be researched at once.

We`ve also added new city happiness and productivity rules. Cities now stop producing resources and trade goods if happiness drops below -50, while cities with happiness above +50 will produce 50% more resources and trade goods.

Diplomacy has also been rebalanced so it doesn`t become too easy in the late game. As the campaign progresses, the cost of diplomatic actions will increase, and depending on player growth, these costs can double or even triple over several campaign years.

In addition, this update includes late-game balancing, stronger defenses for Pisa, improved siege camp construction speed, reduced battle food drain, reduced trade agreement income, rain sounds, level design changes for Cagliari and Pisa, and a number of other fixes.

We`ve also made some solid performance improvements, with better FPS on the world map and in larger city maps.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #3:

Feature - Research Limits

• Players can now only research two technologies at a time

• To increase the research queue, players need to construct additional Academy buildings

• Updated art and description for the Academy building

Feature - City Happiness Productivity

• Cities now stop producing trade goods and regular resources if happiness is below 50

• Cities now produce 50% more resources and trade goods if happiness is above +50

Feature - Diplomacy Balancing

• Major rebalance of diplomacy so it doesn`t become too easy in the late game

• Costs of all diplomatic actions increase as the campaign goes on

• Depending on player growth, diplomatic action costs can double or triple within a few campaign years

Major Tutorial Fixes

• Fixed a major issue with the Siege of Savona resulting in an instant loss (terribly sorry for this bug, everyone!)

• Building up Genoa can now be successfully continued from the world map

• Fixed all issues with research in the tutorial

• Tutorial - fixed a common bug with Genoa having stone walls before they are built

Late Game Balancing

• Battle food drain is now better balanced for large late game armies

• Lowered battle food drain by about 30% on average

• Trade Agreement income nerfed so it is not OP in the late game

• In general, trade agreements now generate 25% less income

Performance Improvements

• Major improvement to world map FPS +15 FPS

• Significant performance improvement in large city maps +8 FPS

Other Fixes

• Fixed a lot of issues with continuing to build up Genoa

• Fixed issue with trade buildings constructed in large cities not generating trade goods

• Fixed issue with overwriting auto-saves when creating a new campaign but not starting it

• Updated message box to better handle longer strings

• Changed level design of the city of Cagliari

• Changed level design of the city of Pisa

• Fixed potential crash during the big Pisan attack on Genoa (removed 2nd belfry)

• Tutorial polish for Acre segment - Marco is stronger

• Rain now comes with rain sounds

Other Balancing

• Gives player a bit more time to recover when food runs out in a battle

• Player`s siege camp is now constructed much faster than regular walls

• Greatly increased silver upkeep for trade goods-producing buildings

• Increased upkeep of Academy

• Big Pisan attack on Genoa as part of Genoan campaign quests now comes with a much stronger army

• City of Pisa now has a much stronger garrison