Update # 9 - Second Milestone Update

Welcome back to our ninth weekly update – and it`s a big one, as this marks our second major milestone. Version 0.32 brings some of the most significant core Kingdom War gameplay changes in years.

We’ve overhauled how your kingdom develops, with building construction and research now taking months on the world map. And RTS and world map modes now have true continuity between them – bringing long-term strategy and planning to the forefront.

This update also delivers a full rework of Eastern Europe, adding several new playable Slavic and Pagan nations, a massive music expansion, smarter AI, and a complete balance pass across multiple factions. Most importantly, this milestone completes our broader goal of making each culture feel truly unique – with distinct units, mechanics, music, art, and more.

Slavic nations like Novgorod and Smolensk now stand apart with wooden-only towns, all-new visuals, and custom voice acting – while Pagan tribes such as Livonia bring fresh gameplay and exclusive unit rosters. All of this builds on the unique design direction we previously introduced for Muslim factions.

We’ve also added 20 new music tracks to deepen immersion, and reworked over a dozen units and buildings for Eastern factions. Finally, the entire game has been rebalanced to reflect the new pacing and cultural variety.

Thanks again for all your feedback – it`s been essential in shaping every weekly update. Check out the full Update 0.32 details below!

Disclaimer:

With an update of this magnitude, we expect a few new issues to pop up, and we’ll still need about a week to wrap up all the loose ends – like giving each culture a unique tech tree and finalizing some art assets. We expect everything to be ironed out with the 10th update next week.

Building Times

• Building construction time added to the world map – no longer instant

• Buildings now take time to construct on the world map

• Time to construct is shown alongside the building cost

• Construction time ranges from 1 month to 1 year

• Notifications now appear when buildings start and finish construction

• Buildings take significantly longer to complete in RTS mode

RTS World Map Transition

• Improved continuity when switching between RTS and world map

• Switching between RTS and world map no longer auto-completes all tasks

• Buildings under construction on the world map continue building in RTS

• Incomplete construction in RTS mode will continue progressing on the world map

Research Times

• Technologies in the research window now take time to unlock

• It`s possible to research several technologies at once

• Technologies take from 2 to several months to complete

• Added voice dialogue and event log notification when research is completed

• Constructing Academies and Churches improves research speed and cost (WIP)

Slavic Nations

• Major changes to Eastern Europe on the world map

• Kievan Rus split into Principalities of Chernigov, Smolensk, Novgorod, Suzdal, and Kiev

• Four new unique playable kingdoms added to sandbox: Republic of Novgorod, Principality of Smolensk, Principality of Chernigov, Principality of Kiev

• Completed work on Slavic nations' unique gameplay and art

• Slavic nations use only wooden materials – no stone walls

• Unique voice acting and flags added for Slavic armies on the world map

Pagan Nations

• Added two playable Pagan nations – Chiefdom of Livonia and Chiefdom of Liuthania

• Began work on implementing Pagan art set and gameplay differences (WIP)

• Work in progress – many assets currently shared with Slavic nations

• Unique unit roster for Pagan nations (partially shared with Slavic factions)

• Pagan nations have more units available at the Hamlet's Mustering Hall, but fewer in their cities

• Pagan nations don`t get access to high-tier siege engines – no trebuchets or catapults

• Pagan nations don`t have crossbowmen but can train basic mounted archers

New Units – Slavic

• Fully unique unit roster for Slavic nations

• Slavic factions gain extended options for Rams and Siege Towers

• Slavic nations can train basic mounted archers but do not have crossbowman tech

• Added unique unit art for 12 Slavic units

• Slavic units feature a distinct look – national clothing, hats, beards, and chainmail-dominant armor

• 15 new lord portraits designed for Slavic factions (WIP)

New Building Art – Slavic

• New town houses for Slavic nations

• New Town Hall added for Slavic towns

• Slavic towns designed to use only wooden materials

• Work in progress: large town designs for Slavic factions

• AddedWork in progressnew village houses for Slavic towns
• AddedWork in progressnew textures for Slavic buildings

AI Improvements

• Further decreased rate of AI attacks on the world map in certain scenarios

• Fixed a major issue with AI attacking large cities and behaving poorly

• Large towns are now properly defended by the AI instead of the garrison running out

• AI will only ride out from towns if it`s 100% certain it can win

Balancing

• Major gameplay rebalance to account for new building construction system

• Additional balancing of progression based on new research timings

• Gameplay rebalanced for Muslim factions

• Gameplay rebalanced for Slavic factions

• Gameplay rebalanced for Pagan factions

New Music

• Unique Slavic music set added with 16 all-new tracks

• Expanded Muslim music set from 6 to 16 tracks, all newly composed

Other

• All-new lord portraits for Nomad factions like Cumania and Pechenegs

• New portraits for Pagan tribal factions – Livonia and Liuthania

• Lowered War/Peace window layer so it doesn`t clash with the "Defeat..." window

• Added close button for the tutorial tooltip window