Major Playtest Round Begins, New Features, & AI clarification

Major playtest round begins

We’re opening the gates for a large wave of playtesters today. We're excited for you to experience the simulated world of Tattered Banners and many new systemic elements - more on those below.

If you get in, we truly want to hear what you think works and what doesn't. The best course of action for a game like TB is to show it to the community early and develop together. And we believe TB truly has the potential to become something unique that hasn't been done before in the genre, but that'll only happen if it's developed with open feedback, and honing mechanics to perfection.

So join us on this journey and let us know what you think. We're reading and responding to everything on Discord, the Steam forums, and the survey linked in-game.

New simulation elements

Steam post imagePictured: A town obtaining enough resources to upgrade and treat itself to brand new walls

Substantial changes and additions have been made to the simulated world. Among them:

• Dynamic Upgrades: Towns and buildings now display specific agendas and resource goals. Once they meet these conditions - with or without your help - they will physically upgrade

• Garrison Logic: Garrisons now generate parties for patrols, escorts, and manning buildings. Garrisons have upkeep costs, and a well-funded city will spawn tougher guards, while a struggling one will field weaker militia

• Labor Cycles: Workers now physically travel from towns to mines and farms. This creates opportunities for bandits - or players - to intercept them

• Resource Logistics: Goods produced at locations (farms, mines, etc) stay there until periodically being transported to town. If you time a raid just before a transport, the haul will be significantly larger

• The Task Board: Towns now maintain an internal “task board” to prioritize their needs. This system will serve as the foundation for our upcoming quest system, making quests a natural byproduct of the simulation.

• AddedEvolving ThreatsBandit camps and wolf dens now possess a hunger for progress, allowing them to upgrade their encampments and spawn tougher, better-armored lieutenants and pack leaders (not entirely in yet, but added in a patch soon)

• Smarter Trade Routes: Merchants now more accurately trade goods between towns based on specific local supply and demand, and disrupting them will cause issues for towns

Steam post imagePictured: Workers commuting to the lumbermill, blissfully unaware of any bandits and wolves

AI Clarification

We’ve heard concerns regarding the "AI Use" disclaimer on the Steam page and game intro, and we want to be as transparent as possible about what we actually mean -

Currently, the only generative AI in the game is about 20 2D character portraits, which helps us gauge the “feel” of the final game. Even though it’s not a huge amount, because we value transparency, we clarified this prominently on the Steam page and game intro, which may have given the impression that much of the game was AI-generated.

Aside from the 20 portraits, everything you see is made by good ol’ humans. We too are fond of humans, and their art. But as a small indie team with only 1 full-time artist, replacing the portraits is a significant task.

That said, we’ve heard your feedback clearly - we are removing the AI-generated portraits and replacing them with hand-drawn WIP placeholders soon. Once that’s done the game will be AI free, the machines will have lost, and the disclaimer will be removed.

Public Playtest

From the 20th-27th, during Steam's Medieval Festival, more people will be given access into the playtest. If you haven't signed up yet, now is the time.

You can sign up for the playtest on the steam page,

Tattered Banners