0.8.2.4 - Better NPC Cities

Patch 0.8.2.4 is here, with changes focusing on NPC cities and behaviors, as well as bringing the AI up to speed with the new mechanics introduced in the latest patches.

• NPC city layout has been improved, allowing AI to make use of the new building rotation feature. They're also better about connecting buildings by road, harvesting resources and working slots. Although they'll send out armies to clear nearby raider camps, the player is safe... for now.

• Fixed an issue where workers could not pick up resources at ore smelters.

• Fixed an issue where units could get stuck on building edges.

• Improved Marketplace GUI and more interface tweaks.

• Any tier of armory now satisfies the barracks prerequisite.

• Fixed some visual glitches when rotating buildings.

• Performance and memory improvements.

The AI being smarter about resource management is important for a couple upcoming features I'm excited about. One that I've been experimenting with a bit is AI creating trade routes to the player or offering rewards to the player to send a trade route to them. But after noticing this could quickly become annoying if the AI sent too many requests, I decided to disable this feature until I've done some more tweaking, and instead get these updates out. It will likely be making an appearance in some form soon. Until then, enjoy! /Andreas