Update #1 - Major First Steps

Our first major update since the 1.0 launch is here, and it's one of the biggest updates we've released so far. This update introduces several new features and dozens of fixes based on your feedback on Discord and our forums.

To start things off - we've fully redesigned the Unit Leveling system, making experienced armies far more valuable throughout your campaigns.

Another major addition is a redesigned RTS Day & Night Cycle together with dynamic weather. Battles can now begin at any time of day, with beautiful sunrises, sunsets, night battles, rain, snow, thunderstorms, and soldiers automatically lighting torches after dark.

We've also added a long-requested quality-of-life feature that lets you rearrange units inside armies directly on the World Map, making army organization much easier.

Alongside these new features, this update includes a large number of crash fixes, performance improvements, combat balancing, Sandbox improvements, UI polish, economy adjustments, and many gameplay fixes.

As always, thank you for all your feedback, bug reports, reviews, and suggestions. They continue to shape the game with every update.

Now let's take a closer look at what this update brings:

RTS Crash Fixes

• Properly fixed the AI siege crash while siege towers are active

• Siege towers re-enabled

World Map Crash Fixes

• Rare loading screen crash now occurs much less frequently

• Fixed rare crash affecting some systems during season changes

Unit Leveling

• Completely redesigned unit leveling system

• Level 5 units can now take on roughly two level 1 units

• Level 10 units can now take on roughly four level 1 units

• Leveling now increases attack, health, and defense

• Updated unit stats are now properly displayed in both RTS and World Map

• Units defending walls receive additional defensive bonuses against ranged attacks

• Wall defense bonuses are now shown correctly in unit tooltips

Rearranging Units

• Units can now be rearranged inside armies and cities on the World Map

• Move units onto empty slots or swap positions with other units

• Rearranging also works while transferring units between cities and armies

• Multiple units can be moved in a single transfer

RTS Day & Night & Weather

• Added full day and night cycle to RTS battles

• Improved sunrise, sunset, and nighttime visuals

• Added dynamic rain, snow, thunderstorms, and other weather effects

• Units automatically light torches during night battles

• Battles and city scenes now begin at random times of day or night

• Weather may already be active when entering a battle or town

• Faster day cycle (around 5 minutes) for more dynamic battles

• Greatly improved rain and snow performance

• Winter and rain no longer cause scrolling lag

• Improved overall visual quality of weather effects

World Map Improvements

• Fixed heroes not respawning in Sandbox mode

• Heroes now respawn in a new city if the capital has been lost

• Pisa attacks the player more aggressively during the Genoa campaign

• Reduced AI wars between non-player nations

• Improved World Map performance and reduced micro stutters

• Slightly reduced maximum zoom level

• Improved grass visuals

RTS Combat Improvements

• Fixed AI destroying player buildings far too quickly during sieges

• Buildings are now significantly tougher and require sustained attacks to destroy

• Fixed ranged units destroying buildings unrealistically fast

UI Improvements

• Completely redesigned Research window tooltips with improved artwork

• Fog of war is now much easier to see

• Enemy heraldry is now displayed when selecting enemy units in RTS

• Fixed reward window close button on 2560×1440 resolution

• Fixed rare issue preventing some players from hiring a lord

• Fixed incorrect palisade walls appearing in some Sandbox towns

Sandbox

• Improved Sandbox intro and victory cinematics

• General Sandbox balancing and polish

• Pirates now appear in newly created Sandbox campaigns

• Stronger starting army including a Monk, additional troops, and more support units

Other Fixes

• Improved Italian localization, including research technologies

• Starting the Genoa campaign without the tutorial now unlocks the remaining campaigns

• Looting and razing cities no longer generates random trade goods

• Fixed unintended trade goods being gained from random events

• Water lighting improved during morning, evening, and nighttime

• Fixed broken fir trees appearing in southern World Map regions

Balance Changes

• Rebalanced research times, with many technologies taking longer to complete

• Academies are now much more important for progressing through the research tree

• Palisade army camps can now be constructed much faster during sieges

• Relaxed World Map economy, increasing overall player income by approximately 20%

• Increased the cost of wall defense weapon upgrades

• Iron and Tar are now much easier to find through trade, making research progression smoother