Update #8 - Balance Overhaul

This week’s update brings a major round of balancing and improvements across all areas of the game - with focus on world map performance, RTS battle flow, and key balancing changes to the campaign and economy.

The world map has seen a big boost in performance, especially in regions like Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East. The Nile region has also been completely reworked into a lush and vibrant landscape. We've also cleaned up several visual issues, including palm trees and world edge polish.

On the campaign side, we've overhauled how Crusader armies behave after the First Crusade, preventing late-game exploits and making their actions more grounded. We’ve also improved town entry mechanics with clearer rules and UI feedback.

RTS battles feel smoother and more cinematic now — with better AI, slowed-down combat pacing, and far less lag. Auto-resolve has been reworked to reduce frustrating unit losses, and healing now happens in real time rather than waiting for the end of the month.

Thanks again for sticking with us - and we’re just getting started. Here's the full list of changes in Game Version 0.31:

World Map Changes

• Major performance boost across the entire world map.

• Drastically improved performance in Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East regions.

• Reworked Nile region — now lush and green.

• Fixed Beirut incorrectly displaying as Acre.

• Polished the top-left corner and outer edge of the world map.

• Greatly improved the visual quality of palm trees.

Campaign Changes

• After completing the First Crusade, Crusader armies now garrison in captured cities

• Fixed exploit that allowed easy conquest of the Middle East using Crusader armies

• Tripoli now correctly transfers to Crusader control after the Crusade

Major Balance Changes

• Hamlet capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each hamlet you control

• City capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each city you control

• Combat food drain increased by 30% — cow and chicken income reduced accordingly

• AI now attacks much less frequently

• Army unit healing now occurs in real time, no longer tied to the end of the month

General Balancing

• Player units heal faster near friendly towns

• AI units heal more slowly

• Auto-resolve is now less likely to kill player units when clearly winning

• Auto-resolve now favors damaging units over killing them

• Stronger forces benefit more from auto-resolve

• Reduced renown rewards from battles

• Monthly renown output from buildings reduced by ~50%

• Rebalanced income, upkeep, and renown for Order and Church buildings

• Slightly slower accumulation of personal time

• Entering a town now deducts 1 minute of personal time

• Player must have at least 2 minutes of personal time to enter a town

• Added message notifying player when they lack enough time to enter

• Rebalanced attack stats for Macemen and Billmen

RTS Mode Improvements

• Major reduction in lag during RTS battles

• Combat slowed slightly for improved cinematic pacing

• Better overall combat flow in RTS mode

• Ranged units now properly auto-attack targets

• RTS AI now defends large cities more effectively

• AI will no longer sortie unless player is heavily outnumbered

• Large-town sieges are now significantly more difficult

• Nighttime lighting in RTS is now brighter

• Reduced distance fog, especially in winter

• Fixed terrain appearing overly bright in fall season

• Fixed bug with newly constructed buildings being sideways or upside down in Army vs Army camps

Other Fixes and Changes

• Fixed rare game-breaking issue where the game could freeze during a cinematic

• Major corrections to Spanish translation

• Major corrections to Italian translation