Hi Everyone,

Quick update for you today - we're excited to announce we're now Steam Deck Verified! The game should now run great, look great, and control great on the Steam Deck.

While we've been focusing on the console ports for Kingdoms and Castles and on our new game Nova Roma, we've still been monitoring your feedback and bug reports and have implemented a bunch of much requested improvements and fixes.

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Allow carts and ships to deposit resources at stockpiles and docks even if those buildings have their desired amounts set to zero.
  
• Allow carts to pick up and drop off from swineherds and fishing huts
  
• Reduced cost of the Well
  
• Reduced cost of Transport Ship
  
• Increased radius of the Large Fountain
  
• In gamepad controls, disallow selecting empty tile when units are selected.
  
• Optimize catapult target finding
  
• Increase camera zoom range during map select
  
• Increase favor gained when you humor the AI during the joke conversation

• Fixed issue in gamepad controls where building selection did not clear unit selection
  
• Fixed input issue on Steam Deck when using Steam Dock and starting the game with a keyboard and mouse where the game would get stuck in gamepad control mode.
  
• Fixed issue where fires could start too soon if playing with AIs
  
• Fixed person UI and transport ship/cart UI being too small on Steam Deck
  
• Fixed rare bug where AI units could get stuck unloading and loading their troops
  
• Fixed bug where damage calculations for archer units with only the general still alive were wrong
  
• Fixed bug where 'Clear Map' on the map edit mode wouldn't clear fish
  
• Fixed performance issue with UI when looking at an AI owned island
  
• Fixed issue where catapults would stop auto targeting
  
• Other small fixes

Hi Everyone,

Nominations for this years Steam Awards are underway and wed like to ask for your support by nominating Kingdoms and Castles for the Labor of Love Award.


We first launched Kingdoms and Castles in the summer of 2017 and in those six years weve continued to work on the game and improve it with lots of big updates. Compared to the original 2017 release, the game today has more than doubled in content. We've worked hard to incorporate lots of your feedback and suggestions into the game to make it the best it can be.



We've been very grateful for your support over the years. There's certainly a lot of other deserving games for this award, so your nomination means a lot us. You can check the nominate button right here in this post if you'd like to consider us for the Labor of Love award.

Until next time,
-Pete, Michael, and Sam

• Added building name and size to hover info
  
• Added option to disable sending game crash data
  
• Reduced cost of archer school and barracks
  
• Small UI fix
  

• Fixed overlay and irrigation display being different for larger reservoir
  
• Fixed building info going of edge of screen on steam deck
  
• Removed ping to our old shopfiy store from when we were selling the dragon plushy
  

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for your patience, the Industry & Infrastructure Update is out now on the main branch! Our last major update (War & Diplomacy) was focused on combat and interaction with the AI. For this update we've focused back on the city building and economy! It's got a bunch of new stuff folks have been requesting. Let's get right to the notes!


[h2]Large Treasure Room[/h2]

This is a 2x1 structure (shown on the right) that houses a bit more gold than two small treasure rooms. You can place them adjacent to small treasure rooms to make some creative building shapes (shown on the left).



[h2]Large Produce Storage[/h2]

This is another 2x1 structure, which can store more fruit than two small produce storages. This brings fruit storage closer to parity with the grain storage buildings.



[h2]Large Iron Mine[/h2]

This is a 3x3 structure that sits completely on top of an iron deposit. It produces more iron than 3 small iron mines but requires more space and more workers. It's ideal for later in the game when you've got more of a worker surplus.


[h2]Large Quarry[/h2]

This is also a 3x3 structure you place on top of (rather than adjacent to) a stone deposit. It also produces more stone than 3 small quarries. While it produces more stone, the tradeoff is that is requires tools to operate. You'll want to make sure you have a blacksmith and tool production chain established before building this one.


[h2]Large Charcoal Maker[/h2]

This 2x2 building produces more charcoal than 4 small charcoal makers but requires more workers. Great for later in the game when you need to be more space efficient but have plenty of people.



[h2]Large Reservoir[/h2]

This is a 2x2 reservoir with a much larger radius of effect as compared to the small reservoir. While more expensive than the small reservoir, it's handy for serving lots of fountains around your city center at once or by irrigating a large swath of land for your farms.


[h2]Large Tavern[/h2]

This is a 2x2 tavern. Great for dense cities to make your city center more lively and adds another way to meet your peasants' need for good drink!


[h2]Chapel[/h2]

And to break of the trend of larger versions of everything, we've got a small church - the chapel! It's a 1x2 building you can fit into the smaller spaces the normal 2x3 church is too big for.



[h2]Improvements & Fixes[/h2]

• Increased some text sizes on the Steam Deck.
  
• Increased damage of Greek Fire Tower
  
• Fixed rare issue where viking ships could get stuck on custom maps with a particular layout
  
• Fixed issue where AI could use suboptimal job priorities
  
• Fixed issue where large quarry/iron mine could be placed over trees
  
• Fixed issue with hazard pay when conquering an AI island
  

Hi Everyone,

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday so far. We've got the beta available for the next update - Industry & Infrastructure! We've got a sticky thread in the forums where there's a more detailed list of all the new changes that are ready for testing, but here's a little preview of just a few of the things you can look forward to:

[h3]Large Iron Mine[/h3]


[h3]Large Treasure Room[/h3]


And more! Here's a recap of the dev stream we did showing off all the new stuff for this update:
[previewyoutube=H2ePeDI2JNw;full][/previewyoutube]

Of course, we'll do our usual big update post when the Infrastructure & Industry Update is ready for final release.

If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to the beta branch (keep in mind there will be bugs and things to fix). Here's how:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Choose the next-version-preview branch

• Tweak dragon difficulty
  
• Improve doctor healing algorithm to work better on large cities
  
• Fixed case where ship could get an invalid building destination
  
• Added wage information to building info highlight in the build menus
  
• Improved text readability on Steam Deck
  
• Fixed building info highlight going off screen on Steam Deck

• Better messaging when manors are out of charcoal and very unhappy
  
• Siege dragons don't clump up so much
  
• Restored spawning of the small dragons
  
• Fixed issue where vikings could steal gold after being killed
  
• Fixed weird behavior with the 'random' check mark for spawning AIs in map select
  
• Fixed visual issue where fishmongers showed in some cases they were search for wheat, even though they actually weren't
  

Hi Everyone,

We've got another update on the way! Based on your feedback and ideas, it will feature some much requested new buildings. Here's a preview of two of them:

[h3]Large Quarry[/h3]
A 3x3 building that sits on top of a stone deposit. Produces more stone than two quarries, but requires more workers and needs tools to function. Good for boosting mid to late game stone production.


[h3]Large Charcoal Maker[/h3]
A 2x2 building that produces more charcoal than 4 small charcoal makers, but requires more workers and has a higher up front construction cost.


We'll have more to preview soon!

Until next time,
- Pete, Michael & Sam

• Changed cart and transport ship behavior to not drop resources on the ground if the drop off storage is full. Instead the goods will stay on the ship or cart.
  
• Changed oculus controllers select action to use "A" button instead of trigger
  
• Added Mixed Reality Motion controller SteamVR bindings
  
• Added Vive Cosmos controller SteamVR bindings
  
• Added missing translation for VR orbit tutorial
  
• Improved VR pivot pointer visuals when very close to the ground
  
• Fixed issue where you couldn't put troops on ships in VR (changed VR unit selection to select action and movement to be cancel action - on Vive this means separate triggers)
  
• Removed VR controller vibration during movement tutorial
  
• Updated VR pivot mode to be easier to keep active while gripping

VR Support is now available!

If you want to play in VR mode, just plug in your headset and start up SteamVR and the game will automatically launch into VR mode. SteamVR must be running first for the game to detect you want to start in VR. You can start a new game or play an existing one. Note that performance in VR can be an issue depending on the city size and your computer's specs.

It's a pretty neat feeling to watch dragons fly by or stand in your city in VR. You can zoom out and build your city from above, or shrink down and view things from the perspective of a villager.








Thanks to everyone who tested VR support!

If you don't have a VR headset or you don't want to play in VR, don't worry! This is a completely optional way to play.

[h3]Why VR?[/h3]
VR Support was promised as a stretch goal during our original crowd-funding campaign for the game. It is important to us to follow through and this marks the fulfillment of all our crowd-funding stretch goals. Thank you so much for coming with us on this journey!

[h3]What's next?[/h3]
We've got another gameplay related update in the works. More news on that soon!

Until next time,
-Pete, Michael, and Sam

Hi Everyone,

The VR mode beta is now available on the next-version-preview branch for testing! Here's how to try it out:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Choose the next-version-preview branch

• Fixed issue where catapults wouldn't auto target gates
  
• Fixed issue where catapults in water couldn't be damaged by melee units
  
• Fixed issue where catapults could persist from an old save into a new world
  
• Fixed drag selecting picking up enemy/neutral units as well
  
• Fixed rare issue where AI could block their river with a bridge
  
• Fixed issue where AI wouldn't build piers very often
  

• Fixed case where gate would disappear if a dragon destroyed an archer tower on top of it.
  
• Fixed rare case where a transport cart error (possibly caused by mods) would cause a map to not load
  
• Small performance improvements for some maps

• Fixed case where AI would give viking help misison during a viking raid
  
• Fixed some localization errors
  
• Fixed bug where you could use middle mouse eyedropper on the outpost
  
• Reduced viking catapult health
  
• Reduced frequency of AI diplomat visits a little bit
  

Hi Everyone,

Weve got another free update for you called War & Diplomacy! It expands upon the AI Kingdoms update a bit with your feedback and comments. New conversations, new diplomatic options, and more. Heres the notes:

[h2]Conversation Expansion[/h2]

New Conversation - Birthday - the AI will talk to you about their birthday, and you have the option or not to give a gift.

New Conversation - Theater Event - the AI has written a play and would love it if youd show it in your theater. Lets hope their work pleases the peasants!

New Conversation - Origins of Power - The AIs discuss how they came to power, different for each personality type. Some of these conversations can take a dramatic turn!

New Conversation - Broker Peace - If you are war long enough either your ally or a neutral AI may try to broker peace between you and your enemy. You can agree and end the war or disagree and see what might happen.

Ignore Response

The AIs will respond if you ignore or dismiss their diplomats. Depending on personality, how they feel about you, and how much youre ignoring them they may decide to go to war against you.

[h2]Tribute[/h2]

Player Tribute

When your diplomats visit an AI Kingdom you can now demand tribute from them if youd like. The results of this demand will depend on their personality, relative military strength, mood, and if they can afford it.

Resolution for AI Demanding Tribute

If you refuse to pay tribute, go to war, then win and let AI stay in power they now show some deferrence to your grace. After being defeated in a war they acknowledge their defeat and will no longer demand tribute.

[h2]Warfare[/h2]


Weve made a few changes to improve the combat:

• Archers now fire from ships
  
• When stopped, catapults auto-attack military buildings if in range
  
• Increased catapult damage to non-stone buildings
  
• Increased catapult range by 1 tile
  

• Added option to permanently decline an AI trying to abdicate
  
• Peasants now become unhappy if you betray an ally or treacherously surprise attack someone.
  
• Increased happiness radius of all 1x1 and 2x1 statues
  
• Fixed issue where sea gate pathing cost was wrong for vikings
  
• Fixed issue where you could build a happiness building and then close it but still get credit for happiness debuffs.
  
• Fixed issue where AI would immediately demand troop removal after you had defeated them in a war and spared them.
  
• Fixed bug where AI would demand payment to end a war after the war had already ended
  
• Fixed bug which caused archers to sort of dance around when using auto targeting behavior
  
• Fixed case where AI would have trouble balancing tax rate vs happiness
  
• Fixed bug where AI would not build a theater
  
• Fixed bug where AI would build too many masons
  
  

Hi Everyone,

We've got the beta available for the next update - War & Diplomacy! We've got a sticky thread in the forums where there's a more detailed list of all the new changes that are ready for testing, but here's a little preview of just a few of the things you can look forward to:

[h3]New Dragon Type![/h3]


[h3]New Defense Type[/h3]


[h3]And more![/h3]

Of course, we'll do our usual a big update post when the War & Diplomacy update is ready for final release, and that'll be on... September 22nd!

If you'd like, you can try it out now by switching to the beta branch (keep in mind there will be bugs and things to fix). Here's how:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Choose the next-version-preview branch

Hi Everyone!

Hope youve all been enjoying the AI Kingdoms update (and the Steam Deck controls if you have one)! It's been fun to see folks interact with the AIs. We're now working on the next couple of updates, here's a little preview of the progress we're making:

[h3]VR[/h3]

We have been working very hard to get the game playable in VR. This is our last crowdfunding campaign goal and its important to us to follow through on our word. This will also be a free update and completely optional. The game is now mostly playable in VR, but has some rough edges well be working out before it's ready for beta testing.

[h3]AI Kingdoms - Diplomacy+[/h3]

Thanks for all the feedback on the AI Kingdoms update! Were preparing another update with a new conversations to expand your interactions with the AI as well as the ability for you, the player, to demand tribute if youd like, and a bunch more things folks have asked for. We're also working on more optimizations. We should have this up on the next-version-preview branch soon for beta testing.

[h3]Note on Price[/h3]

Over the last five years, weve improved the game significantly and added tons of new features and mechanics. So far weve done 11 big content updates, all completely free. On August 9th we're raising the price of the game to $14.99 (if youve already bought the game this has no impact on you). We feel this is still a great value but better represents all the work weve put in to the game over the years.

Until next time,
-Pete, Michael, & Sam

• Restore peasant rotation after being freed from vikings
  
• Fixed ogres damaging archers when attacking a tall tower
  
• Fixed extra gold being deducted when building an outpost from an exploration ship
  
• Fixed rare issue where you could get stuck in the feast diplomacy menu
  
• Fixed the church getting mad at you for using the witch if you didn't have any churches but the AI did
  
• Fixed being able to end a war without being able to afford it
  
• Fixed issue where towers with archer emplacements were collapsing too soon when damaged
  

Hey Everyone!

[h2]Steam Deck[/h2]
Weve added support for the Steam Deck to Kingdoms and Castles! We've worked hard to implement intuitive gamepad controls that make it easy to build and manage your kingdom and we've tweaked the UI to work well for the Deck's screen size. Note this doesnt impact the PC/mouse experience at all - its just a little bonus. If you've got a Steam Deck, give it a try and let us know what you think!



[h2]Gamepad Controls[/h2]
This also means general gamepads plugged into your computer will now work! The game can transition seemlessly between gamepad and keyboard/mouse. Just make sure to check on Console Controls option in the games settings menu if you want to use a gamepad on the PC (note you dont need to change this setting for the Steam Deck).

[h2]What's next?[/h2]
Otherwise right now were hard at work on:

• Fixing bugs - you may have noticed a few small hotpatches over the past few weeks, more to come soon.
  
• New stuff for the AI Kingdoms based on your feedback so far (for example, getting that pesky aggressive AI to stop asking for tribute after defeating them in a war, and being able to demand tribute yourself).
  
• VR version of the game - this is well underway and feels really cool. We'll have some progress to show here soon.

Added steam deck support
- Fixed case where AI couldn't pick up an envoy if player island was walled off

Hi Everyone,

We are very excited to announce the AI Kingdoms update is finally here! We've been working on this update for over a year and a half and it represents an huge amount of content. Here's a quick little trailer we whipped up: [previewyoutube=nXW9QInOBN4;full][/previewyoutube]


We've not only added AI Kingdoms you can chat with, trade with, and fight but we've also improved the game in many other respects. There's so much we've added - this is going to be a long post - let's get to it!

[h2]AI Kingdoms[/h2]

We've added AI Kingdoms that exist on the same map and essentially play by the same rules. You can establish relationships with them, engage in trade, and of course war.

Up to 3 AIs can play on your map at once. AIs are allowed to spawn on island maps with large enough islands.



You'll use diplomats from the hall of diplomacy to interact with the AI. Train a diplomat and use a transport ships to visit AI Kingdoms.



Once there you'll be able to discuss important things, make alliances, declare war, plea for peace, request help, and more. The AIs will also send diplomats of their own to talk with you. Depending on how you respond and interact with the AI their opinion of you will change.



The AIs use an advanced system to build their towns and defenses. They plan areas for residential and agricultural zones. They follow all the normal build rules the player does, construct wooden, then stone walls, and can even use aqueducts and reservoirs.



[h2]Visibility System[/h2]

Alongside the AI Kingdoms we've implemented a visibility system. All units (diplomats, footmen, ships, etc) provide a sight radius. When you become allies with an AI you are granted full visibility into their kingdom.



[h2]Sea Gates[/h2]

Now you can have protected harbors. Build a sea gate to block enemy ships from entering.



Siege Workshop and Catapult

In case things get a bit unfriendly between you and the AIs, you both will need a way to address those pesky walls. We've added a siege workshop which can create catapults. Load them on your transport ships to siege AI Kingdoms, but watch your gold - their wages are expensive.



Transport Carts

You can now build transport carts to transport resources between docks, granaries, butchers, fishmongers, and stockpiles. Now it's possible to solve those pesky transportation issues when you have large farming districts separated from residential zones.



New Happiness Buildings

We've also added a jousting arena and theater to entertain your peasants. We've also added a system where idle peasants will actually go and sit in the stands, visit gardens, taverns, and other kingdom attractions.



New Mechanic - Building Integrity
Over time buildings will start to degrade, you can check you building integrity in the bottom left UI. Clicking on it shows an overlay indicating which structures need repair. Build masons and they'll automatically get to work keeping your buildings safe and structurally sound.



[h2]Minimap[/h2]

We've added a fully featured minimap that tracks unit positions, vikings, dragons, fires, and plagues. It can be moved and re-sized as you see fit. It also has the option to rotate to match your view, or to stay fixed and only rotate the camera view display.



[h2]Pretty Roads[/h2]

Very special thanks to Jorge, creator of the the Pretty Roads mod. With his help we've integrated it into the game. Now double wide roads are possible and look great!



[h2]Exploration Ship and Settlers[/h2]
This is now how to settle new islands. Once an island is settled and you want to get more people over there quicker, you can make settlers at your keep then load them into a transport ship. Unload them on the new island and click settle.




[h2]Survival Mode and new Statue[/h2]
We've added a new much harder difficulty mode. In this mode, viking and dragon attacks are increased and resources are limited. If you can survive 250 years you'll unlock a new statue to use in any game mode thereafter.



[h2]Kingdom Colors[/h2]
You can now change your kingdom color and banner both before you begin during banner select and at any time during gameplay by clicking on the keep and selecting the banner button.



[h2]Save Sharing[/h2]
You can now share your save games with your friends. Upload your save to the cloud using the Kingdom share feature, then send the code to your friend. They can get a copy of your save from the cloud and play with it as they wish. Either click the share button in game up in the top right or click the share button from the main menu to try it out.

[h2]Optimizations[/h2]
We've worked very hard to optimize the game given all the new stuff that's been added. In general, any map you had from before the update should run faster than before. Of course there's always more work to be done here and we'll be optimizing further in future updates.

[h2]Other Improvements[/h2]

• Added beefier viking infantry unit
  
• Added ability for units to auto target enemies (change it by selecting a unit)
  
• Added better range indicator for ballista and archer tower
  
• Added ability for ogres to attack units
  
• Greatly improved localization
  
• Reworked ship movement so they don't block each other as much
  
• Improved building selection effect
  
• Increased world size a bit (about 15-20% more buildable tiles)
  
• Job categories can now be limited per category in the Job Priority Menu
  
• Added way to rate limit shipping routes
  
• Towers can be built higher without first removing the defenses on top
  
• Wood walls can be replaced with stone walls without demolishing them first
  
• Reduced costs of witch spells
  
• Double clicking a unit will select all units of that type in the camera view filtered by team
  
• Added a little visual effect on tile actions (chop, chop remove, demolish, rebuild)
  
• Added happiness buffs for defeating enemy troops, and debuffs for combat deaths
  
• Improved blacksmith resource gathering
  
• Added way to remove witch with army (for a cost)
  
• Great halls can be used to throw a public feast
  
• Added grid that appears in build mode
  
• Added options for choosing whether maps generate with rivers
  
• Much better support for ultrawide resolutions
  
• Revamp UI visuals to be more clear and easier to read
  

• Fixed issue where workers could loop resources between granary, dock, and produce storage
  
• Fixed game speed getting reset on entering certain UIs
  
• Fixed crash on start if you had Citrix Workspace installed
  
• Fixed hazard pay not being reflected in gold info
  
• Fixed rare issue where using the creative mode delete brush could cause a hang
  
• Fixed some resource counting issues in the UI
  
• Tons of other small fixes
  

Hi Everyone,

Quick but exciting announcement today. We're doing some final bug fixing on the AI Kingdoms update and it will be released on May 23rd! Thanks so much to everyone who has provided feedback and bug reports as we've worked on this behemoth update.

Here's a little teaser trailer:[previewyoutube=Ocmbq5PDqJU;full][/previewyoutube]

Of course, you can always try it out early if you just can't wait any longer by switching to the next-version-preview branch on steam.

We're so excited to finally have a release date! Thanks so much for your patience.
-Pete, Michael, & Sam

Hi Everyone!

We are very excited to announce the AI Kingdoms update is now in open beta! The update isn't done yet, but it's a big step forward towards final release. We've been previewing the new features in previous posts and we'll do a bigger post with lots of images for final release, but here's a quick list of the big features to look for in the beta:

• AI Kingdoms you can add when starting a new game
  
• Talk, trade, or fight with these AI kingdoms
  
• Hall of Diplomacy where you can make diplomats used to interact with the AI Kingdoms
  
• Fog of war system
  
• Siege Workshop which builds Catapults
  
• New harder 'Survive 250' game mode
  
• Theater and Jousting Arena
  
• Transport carts
  
• Minimap
  
• Ability to set maximum workers per job category
  
• Lots of other various improvements

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Choose the next-version-preview branch

As the year ends, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at where we started five years ago. In 2016 Kingdoms and Castles was a little game Michael and I were working on in our spare time (nights and weekends). Back then the game looked like this:



Things were quite rough! As you can see I had no idea how to pick a pleasing color palette and was just learning to made 3D models.

Then came our launch in 2017 and the many updates since. Now we're approaching the beta phase of our biggest update ever. The game has come a long way and there's lots of new mechanics we've added for the upcoming AI Kingdoms update. We've also taken time to improve the visuals. First, here's a city from the current version (117r7):



And here's what the same city it will look like in AI Kingdoms update (we've adjusted the fog, colors, shadows, and lighting):



It's been four years since we launched on Steam and working on the game really has been a labor of love for us. We're so grateful people are still playing and enjoying the game.

This year the AI Kingdoms update has been in alpha and we've been incorporating as much of your feedback as we can (and fixing as many bugs as we can) - thanks so much for that feedback and for your patience.

The update will enter it's beta phase soon, expect another announcement around that sometime in December!

We're very excited to be so close to beta (and then final release) of the AI Kingdoms update. Thanks everyone for all your support over the years. There's lots of deserving games out there (and you've probably decided already), but please consider us when nominating for the Labor of Love award!

-Pete, Michael, and Sam

Hi Everyone,

We are still hard at work on the AI Kingdoms update. We are getting closer and closer to our public beta phase. Huge thanks to everyone playing the alpha and providing feedback and bug reports - it's been very helpful! We wanted to show some of the latest progress.

[h3]City Building AI[/h3]
The city building AI has undergone more improvements and now can build large, sensible cities with better organization and an inner and outer wall. It also can make composed city blocks: you'll notice the well surrounded by parks in the screenshot below. Of course, still lots of issue to work out but it has come a long way. We wanted also to take this opportunity to introduce Sam Cook who joined the team and has been working hard on these improvements.




[h3]AI Personalities[/h3]
We've been fleshing out the AI personalities and adding more 3D portraits for the AIs. In the latest alpha build if an AI has an aggressive personality it's more likely to get angry with you and also periodically demands gold as tribute. We'll be adding more diplomatic interactions in the future. Here's the next couple of AIs you'll meet:



On the path toward beta for this update we'll be focusing next on improving the AI's ability to mount invasions and defend against you. We still don't have an exact date for the final release of this update but we're working as hard as we can. If you'd like to try the current alpha version, here's how:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Enter 'alphatester123' without quotes into the box, press enter
  
• Choose the newly available alpha-unstable branch

Hi Everyone,

Before we get into the latest news I wanted to mention that we're far enough along that we have opened a public alpha branch. What does this mean?

[h3]Alpha Access[/h3]
The update is in 'alpha' and you can play it now (if you dare) and see everything we've been showing in these development update posts, but it'll be rough, a bit buggy, and unfinished. If you want a smoother and more stable experience, you'll want wait for beta or for the update's final release.

Here's how to access the latest alpha version:

• Right click on the game in the steam library
  
• Click properties, then choose betas
  
• Enter 'alphatester123' without quotes into the box, press enter
  
• Choose the newly available alpha-unstable branch
  

Hi Everyone,

Got some more news on the AI Kingdoms progress! Again huge thanks for your patience as we work on this big update. We know it's super hard to wait and we are also anxious to get it out there as fast as we can!

[h3]Diplomacy[/h3]
You'll be able to talk to the rulers of the AI Kingdoms, having conversations, making requests, forging alliances, and establishing trade relations. Here's a little preview of meeting an AI ruler for the first time and making them grumpy.


[h3]Transport Carts[/h3]
We'll also be adding a much requested feature: transport carts! They can transport resources over land from stockpiles, granaries, produce storages, butchers, and more. This should give you a way to make more types of city layouts viable. For example, cities with huge farming areas far from housing can now get the food into the housing districts much faster with transport carts.


You can set up their routes using draggable waypoints. As you add and drag them onto a storage building they will auto populate an entry in the cart UI where you can set desired resource amounts to pick up and drop off. It should be pretty quick and intuitive - it will use the same new system we've been implementing for the cargo ships.


Until next time,
-Pete & Michael

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to update you all on how the AI Kingdoms work is progressing. We really appreciate everyone's patience while waiting for this update. We're quite a small team and this is the biggest update we have ever released - it's turning into a bit of an expansion pack at this point!

Here's another look at some of what will be coming:

[h3]Siege Workshop + Catapults[/h3]
If you choose the path of war with the other kingdoms on your map you'll need some way to get through their walls. We'll be adding a siege workshop which can build catapults.



Catapults can be ordered around and loaded on to ships like any other military unit. They are very effective at attacking walls and buildings. The AI kingdom I'm invading here perhaps should have upgraded their walls to stone...



[h3]Theater[/h3]
There's also a new happiness building on the way, the theater! Let your peasants enjoy a fine show, and if you are able to provide the theater with food they'll be extra delighted. The seats are populated with idle peasants.



More to come in the future!

Until next time,
- Pete & Michael

Hi everyone,

We wanted to share some more progress on AI Kingdoms update. There's still much to do but things are starting to come together and each day it gets more exciting. Here's what we've been working on lately:

[h3]City Building AI[/h3]The city building AI has come a long way - the city on the cover image for this update was built by the AI! It can reach the 1000 peasant mark in about 100-130 years with a happiness of about 75-80. This is a major milestone for the AI. It handles building all the things peasants need including bathhouses connected to aqueducts and noria. The AI also builds defensive walls and spins up archer towers quickly to protect against early attacks. Here's a timelapse of the AI growing its city:



[h3]Sea Gates[/h3]The AI Kingdoms update will also include new buildings, including the Sea Gate. You can use this to allow your ships and friendly ships to pass freely while blocking hostile ships from entering:



Until next time,
- Pete & Michael

Hi everyone,

We're still hard at work on the AI Kingdoms update. Currently we've been diving into expanding the city building AI and tying it into a diplomacy and trade system. Still mucking around in the guts of that so we'll have more to show there later, but we did want to show off a couple other things that'll be part of the update:

[h3]Visibility System[/h3]
We've been working on a fog of war style visibility system. So far we're thinking you'll have full visibility on your own landmasses, but AI controlled landmasses will be hidden unless you have units to scout them. Here's a little demo of the effect where I walk my knights through an AI's kingdom. This looks a lot better at a normal frame rate (steam only allows gifs 3mb in size, so I had to reduce the frame count to fit).


[h3]Jousting Arena[/h3]
We'll also be adding a jousting arena. If it's properly supplied with food and armaments, jousting matches can take place and spectators will arrive to watch - if you have idle peasants. This will be a late game happiness building with a very large effect radius. The system that places idle people in the crowd will also be used to let idle people visit statues, taverns, cemeteries and other buildings like that.


Until next time,
- Pete & Michael

Hi Everyone,

Its our pleasure to announce official mod support for Kingdoms and Castles via Steam Workshop! You can subscribe to mods and banners created by other players from the community workshop. Once subscribed, theyll download in the background. Then, restart the game and youre off with mods!

Mod support has always been a hotly requested feature, so we're glad it's now live. While you're waiting for AI Kingdoms (we'll have more progress to show on this soon), take a look at some of the cool mods people are already making. Here's a few we'd like to spotlight:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1967437879
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1979042514
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2012687154
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2013600042
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2021178725

If youre interested in developing mods for Kingdoms and Castles, start here.

This build also include some bug fixes (thanks for reporting everyone!):

• Fix key for speeding camera motion up not working
  
• Fix rare issue where vikings could on occasion not be targeted by defenses
  
• Fix rare pathing issue vikings/military troops
  
• Fix issue first time demolish warning ui pops up
  
• Fix memory leak on map editing
  
• Improve performance during map editing
  
• Improve performance on maps with lots of fish

Hi Everyone,

We've been working hard on the upcoming AI Kingdoms update, here's what we've been up to:

[h3]AI Defense[/h3]
Michael has been doing more great work on city building AI. It will now reinforce its walls in response to attacks, and it places towers in a natural and very functional way. Here's a screenshot of a town the AI was able to build and defend using the new tower placement algorithm:


[h3]New Shipping Route UI[/h3]
Meanwhile I've been revamping the ship route UI to be more intuitive and streamlined. Now you'll be able to see the shipping routes visualized in the world and the UI on the right should read more clearly. You will also be able to drag and adjust the ship's path however you wish. It used to take more than 20 clicks to set up a route between two docks, now it will take less than six (I had to split this gif into 2 parts to get around steam's size limit):



[h3]Player Controlled Merchant Ships[/h3]
Another reason we wanted to change the shipping route UI is to support player controlled merchant ships. You'll be able to build your own merchant ships and use them to sell your resource to AI controlled kingdoms. We're reworking the merchant ship models as well:

Until next time!
-Pete & Michael

P.S. We're also working on mod support. We'll have more to announce on this very soon!

Hi Everyone,

Weve got a big new update for you that adds new buildings, food types, and mechanics. We had been planning to launch this all packaged together with the upcoming AI Rival Kingdoms update, but after chatting with the community, we decided to launch this early! Weve been wanting to add all this stuff to the game for a long time. Were glad we got to launch it sooner than later.

Why did this update take longer than usual to release? There are two reasons: first, its a pretty meaty update (pun intended); second, my (Pete) second daughter was born right after we launched the Warfare Update, so I took some time off. Thanks for your patience!

Now, onto whats new!

Fish


Weve added fish as a new food source. New maps now have areas where fish will spawn. Old maps will be automatically upgraded to have fishing grounds when loaded. Fish will spawn more fish, and can expand a little from their initial fishing grounds, but will mostly stay in the same region.



Fishing Hut


To catch the fish, build a fishing hut nearby. It comes with a little boat that will go out and catch fish, but will take shelter during storms. Be careful not to overfish; fishing grounds can become depleted if too many fishing huts are built nearby. Peasants can take fish directly from the fishing hut to eat.



Fishmonger


This building takes fish from the fishing hut and prepares them for eating. Using 1 tool and 1 fish, the Fishmonger will output 3 fish. Fishmongers can store 75 fish. This building will be an important part of keeping fish supplied in your kingdom. Peasants wont want to live too close to it though, due to the smell.


Produce Storage


The new Produce Storage building can store 125 apples, and their workers can carry a double apple load. But why do we need this new building, when we can already store apples in the Granary? Previously, wheat and apples were treated as the same resource and apples would mysteriously transform into grain when placed in a Granary. We were never quite satisfied with that, so now apples are their own distinct resource type. Apples must now be stored in markets or in this new building. Peasants will need to eat apples along with the other food types for maximum health.



Small Market


Weve now added a 1x1 Market. It employs fewer people and stores less, but it should be easier to fit into some city layouts than the existing 2x2 Market. It also costs less to build.


Swineherd


You can now build Swineherds, a 3x2 building that raises pigs. Pigs consume wheat and can be slaughtered for meat. If there is no wheat to feed the pigs, like peasants, theyll get hungry and eventually die off.



Butcher

Butchers will take tools and 1 unit of meat from Swineherds and turn it into 3 servings of meat. They function a lot like Fishmongers. They can store up to 150 meat. Peasants wont want to live too close to the butcher either, due to the smell.


Health


To incorporate all these new food types, weve added a new Health mechanic for your kingdom. Hovering over the Health number will explain all the factors impacting it. For maximum Health, peasants need a varied diet and enough Clinics and Hospitals open and operating. Peasants will want access to fish or pork, apples, and wheat or bread. Youll be able to click the Health overlay to see which houses need better access to the food types.

As your kingdom grows, your peasants will care more about their Health and will want it to be better and better. Health will affect their happiness, the likelihood of a plague, plague virulence, and average life expectancy. If your kingdom is in poor Health for too long, peasants may die prematurely!

Note that for existing cities, you will get a 5 year grace period before your peasants become unhappy with their Health.



Optimization
As mentioned in our previous development update, we have implemented some performance optimizations targeted at large cities with lots of resources. In our benchmark city, we were able to improve performance 30% from 17-18fps to 22-25fps, though results vary depending on city size/composition and your computer specs. Let us know if you see an improvement! More optimization is coming in future updates.


Other Improvements/Fixes

• Added configurable keyboard controls
  
• Added a confirmation dialog if you are demolishing more than 25 buildings
  
• Added a way to disband Troop Transport Ship
  
• Heads of household will limit their gathering to a 30 tile radius of their home. That means if their only source of wheat/bread is more than 30 tiles away, it will count as too far away and they wont go out to gather it
  
• Markets now collect apples, bread, wheat, fish, and ham
  
• Tavern has been re-tuned slightly and now consumes both wheat and apples but provides a little extra happiness if you can supply both
  
• Neighbor and road access happiness bonuses adjusted
  
• Houses too close to Iron Mines suffer a happiness debuff (the same as Quarries and Charcoal Makers)
  
• Large and manor houses too close to a Swineherd or Fishmonger also suffer a happiness debuff
  
• Added some in-game tips on picking a starting position for your Keep for first time players
  
• Field flooding now only happens within a few tiles of the shoreline. Chance to flood is displayed in the building UI when clicking on a Farm.
  
• Aqueducts can now be built over the top of Iron Mines, Quarries, and Charcoal Makers
  
• Stone Walls, Gates, and Bridges can replace Wooden Walls, Gates and Bridges without having first demolished them
  
• Rock removal now automatically removes the rock after construction has finished
  
• Attempted to fix bug where drag-to-demolish triggers erroneously
  
• Fixed an issue with gold income info not adding up correctly
  
• Fixed Twitch integration (twitch had changed their API since our last update)
  
• Fixed closed/unconnected Bathhouses from contributing to peasants Bathhouse satisfaction
  
• Fixed bug where ships were not using Moats to sail through when possible
  
• Fixed issue where you could not place a Dock adjacent to Moats
  

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all having a good summer!

Here's a little preview of what we're currently working on for our upcoming updates:

Rival Kingdoms Progress
We are running various design tests on how trading and diplomacy will work with the other kingdoms. At the same time we're continuing progress on the city building AI. The AI can now build and sustain a city of hundreds, including building food storage, happiness buildings, and defensive walls:

There's still much to do here but the foundation is solid and it's been very cool to see all the work on the city building AI come together to allow it to build thriving cities.

Fishing
We will be adding the much requested fish food source. Eating fish will tie into a new villager 'health' mechanic. You'll be able to build Fishing Huts that will send boats out to catch them and Fish Mongers to store/distribute them:


Optimization
We have also been digging very heavily into optimizations. We're currently testing some optimizations that improved the framerate on our test case city (a completely built out map with 100,000+ total resource stored) from 18fps to 25fps which is about a 30% performance boost (although results will vary based on system specs, city size and composition). We'll be continuing to go as far as we can down this road to try and get more gains.

Until next time,
-Pete & Michael

Today's Deal: Save 30% on Kingdoms and Castles!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time

Hi Everyone,

Today we've got an update for you themed around Warfare! We've implemented lots of new system and features - all in support of our future AI Rivals update.

Any bugs, issues, or have any feedback? Let us know on discord or email contact@lionshieldstudios.com. Big thanks as always to all our beta testers and translators! Here's whats new:

Military System Revamp
We have streamlined the military system. Barracks now produce a full 1 tile fully functional 16 footman unit complete with a general with one click (rather than the old way of having to separately train a general, then individually train and recruit units at the barracks). This should feel a little more like an RTS. If you have an old save with bigger armies it will be split up into individual units and we have removed the 3 unit cap. Additionally:

• Left click and drag will select multiple units, shift and ctrl click work as well.
  
• Chamber of War no longer recruits generals, instead it can activate a Hazard Pay bonus which doubles all unit damage in exchange for higher soldier wages while active.
  
• Units can walk on walls and towers (more on this below)
  
• Units can be queued up at a barracks/archer school (like in an RTS)
  
• Units can be disbanded
  
• Partial strength units can recuperate at the barracks to return to full strength
  
• Military units now need to be paid wages (previously only tower emplacements were paid wages) and will disband themselves if they arent paid for a few years.
  

• Rebuild now works as expected on castle towers and tiles with aqueducts
  
• Aqueducts can be built over hovels
  
• Fixed gates not visually closing when vikings were nearby
  
• Map generation tweaked to better guarantee viable amounts of stone and iron
  
• Fixed some load/save exploits with the witch
  
• Fixed cemetery orientation getting lost after a load/save
  
• Fixed generals not attacking ogres
  
• Reduced gravekeeper walk speed from 2x to 1.5x
  
• Military units get same speed bonuses on roads that villagers do
  
• Roads can be placed anywhere and do not need to be connected to other roads
  
• Other small fixes
  

• Follow our developer page on Steam
  
• Chat with us on discord
  
• Follow on twitter
  

Hi Everyone,

This update is taking a little longer than our previous updates because we're adding a bit more new stuff than usual (thanks for being patient!). We're getting close! Here's another preview of some of the upcoming new stuff.

Rectangle Drag Placement
Last time we preview the 'click+drag' placement of roads. We are also adding a rectangle mode for click+drag placement to work with fields, orchards, cemeteries, and piers. Here's what it looks like:


New Viking Unit - Thief
We're adding a new viking unit which walks faster than normal vikings and instead of starting fires, they try to find your treasure rooms and steal your gold. If you can kill them before they get away you'll be able to recover the gold:


We'll post again when the update is ready for testing and feedback. In the meantime you can:

• Follow our developer page on Steam
  
• Chat with us on discord (https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles)
  
• Follow on twitter (https://twitter.com/LionShieldGames)
  

Hi Everyone,

We wanted share some of the progress were making on the next update, we've got some pretty interesting changes coming up.

Troop Transports
As mentioned earlier, we're upgrading core parts of the game to better support AI rival kingdoms and we want to release these upgrades as they become ready. For example, in the last update (Infrastructure II) we upgraded the map generation. In this coming update, we'll be upgrading how armies work. You'll be able to click+drag select them, load them on transport ships, send those ships to a new landmass and unload them (ship art is not final):


Click and Drag Placement
We're also introducing click and drag placement for placing certain building types like roads, aqueducts, and castle walls. It especially makes creative mode more fun. Here's a preview of where that's at:

We'll also be extending this to support click+drag for other stuff like designating tiles for chopping.

Lots more interesting stuff in store as well, we'll make another announcement later on when this update is ready for beta testing and feedback!

Until next time,
-Pete & Michael

Hi Everyone,

It's time for another big update! As we mentioned in our last development post, the AI rivals will need a lot of big tech changes and well be rolling some of those out early as we finish them. The first early tech change were launching for this update is a big rework of the map generation.

If you've got questions, ideas, bug reports, come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles, or email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com.

Here's the details:

New Map Generation

We've reworked map generation algorithm. Now distinct landmasses will be farther apart (no more landmasses separated by just 4 tiles). Additionally maps have a chance to spawn with shallow water rivers. Map island shapes should in general be more interesting. All landmasses are guaranteed to be above a certain tile count and wolves also wont spawn on small landmasses. Finally, maps got a bit bigger! The number of build-able tiles increased by 20-30% per map size.

Wooden Gates

These will match up better with wooden walls, and are cheaper than stone gates.

Stone Bridges

These bridges fit together with stone roads and provide the same movement bonus. They are impassable by ship so be careful you dont box in your transport ships. Viking ships can't pass through them or destroy them.

Fire Brigade

You can augment the automatic volunteer peasant firefighters with actual firefighters who hang out at the Fire Brigade building until needed. These professional firefighters run very quickly and put out fires much quicker than normal peasants. With the right Fire Brigade placement, youll now be able to put out fires that would have destroyed buildings when the peasant volunteers were too far away to arrive in time.

Twitch Integration

If you'd like, you can turn on streamer mode in the settings. A twitch icon will appear on the side of the screen, enter your username there, start streaming and viewers can vote on what befalls your kingdom: bonuses, disasters, and other events!

Tax Tweaks

The tax rate used to go from 1 to 3. Now it can do half increments (so 0.5, 1, 1.5, etc). As a stylistic choice weve changed the display to show a percentage so if you had a tax rate set at 3, itll now show as 30%, but all the internal math will remain the same. This will allow you finer grain control over taxation vs. your kingdoms happiness.

Windmill Bonus Tweak
Windmill bonuses no longer stack with adjacent windmills and instead each does a flat +3 per tile. It turns out with overlapping bonuses a really strange formation of farms and windmills is optimal (long rows of windmills with a row of farms in between). We wanted to make it so you don't have pack windmills in a line to get optimal food output.


Other Improvements/Fixes

• For older mac users who werent able to see trees, you can now turn on Mac Compatibility Mode in the settings to address that.
  
• Optimization pass
  
• Dragons are less punishing in terms of how many people they kill (especially large dragons)
  
• Stockpiles are treated as stone roads regarding peasant walk speed
  
• Added dirt under the stone roads so they match up with regular roads/gardens better
  
• Baker bakes faster (10s per bread from 15s)
  
• Right click now also deselects tower range UI
  
• Previously viking ships would phase through drawbridges, now the drawbridges go up when any ship comes through
  
• Display charcoal maker yearly output
  
• Reduced costs on castle blocks
  
• Tweak castle tower ballista/archer ranges
  
• Reservoirs can be built anywhere (ignores road territory)
  
• Fix issue where vikings spawned in creative mode wouldnt always leave on their ships properly
  
• Fix mason not repairing walls
  
• Fix case where peasants could end up in deep water
  
• Fix case where doctors could end up in deep water/floating in air
  
• Fix garden not receiving adjaceny bonuses if under aqueduct
  
• Fix armies not able to stand in town squares
  
• Fix not being able to build castle blocks on top of a gate that had a garden underneath
  
• Fix issue where delivery workers could carry their goods with them if they switched jobs
  
• Other small fixes/tweaks
  

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share some progress were making on the next update, tentatively called Infrastructure II. Itll include some new stuff and also lay some groundwork for our future AI Rivals update. Heres a preview of whats coming up:

Firehouse, Wooden Gate, and more:
Were adding a few new infrastructure themed buildings for this update. Weve got a a Firehouse coming up that employs very effective professional firefighters. Were also adding a wooden gate:


Map Generation Rework + Size Increase
The AI rivals update needs a lot of tech changes and well be rolling some of those out early as we finish them. The first early tech change were launching for this Infrastructure II update is a rework of the map generation.

We're working on a new algorithm based on your feedback, with these goals in mind:

• Guarantee landmasses are not too close to each other, aiming for minimum 10 tile distance
  
• Landmasses guaranteed to be above a minimum size
  
• More interesting landmass shapes
  
• Bias fertile farmland towards water
  
• Higher chance of interior lakes, bays, and setting up rivers.
  
• Total map size a bit bigger, and the number of usable tiles (tiles that arent deep water) will increased compared to the current version.

Hi Everyone,

We've got a Halloween themed update for you with a bunch of new game mechanics! If you've got questions, ideas, bug reports, come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles, or email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com. Here's what's new:

Cemeteries

Now when peasants die, their bodies will need to be taken to a cemetery by a grave keeper. Weve added a grave keepers hut which employs three grave keepers. We've also added a cemetery tile that will fill up with gravestones as grave keepers bring people back to be buried. Youll need to find the right balance of grave keepers and cemeteries for your town layout. If bodies are left on the ground they will have a chance of starting a plague, plus itll make your peasants unhappy.

Witches

Maps now have a witch hut. The witch can be talked to and depending on how the relationship goes shell work with you and provide access to powerful spells, or shell curse your kingdom. Old saves will get a witch placed as well (if there is room).

Wolves

Maps now spawn with empty caves. After you place your keep, caves farther away from your keep will populate with wolves. Wolves will eat anything that comes near them (including vikings), except for peasants employed by foresters. They can be killed by archer towers, ballistas, and armies. Once empty, caves can be removed with the rock removal building. Like the witch, old saves will get caves and wolves when loaded.

Plague Rework
Plague now can spread over time from its starting location, and most often will start in residential areas. Youll need to make sure your doctors have good and fast access to your kingdom, especially the heavily populated or high traffic areas.

Clinic

The clinic is a 1x1 building that houses two doctors. It costs less than the hospital and is a good way to get doctor coverage early and a good way to provide doctor coverage on the edges of your kingdom where a full hospital might be overkill.

Town Square Halloween Edition

We did a visual revamp to the town square so it links with stone roads better, and added some festive jack-o-lanterns.

Improvements/Fixes/Tuning

• Charcoal maker, Forester, Iron Mine, and Quarry now come with delivery people who can take their output to a stockpile on their own.
  
• Lots of tweaks and tuning to building costs and wages
  
• Archer towers are less effective vs. ogres and dragons, but more effective against vikings
  
• Ballistas are less effective vs. vikings, but more effective vs ogres and dragons
  
• Increased noria water pressure by 50%
  
• Noria requires all three tiles for its wheel be in water (instead of just one)
  
• Increased amount of water bathhouse uses from noria
  
• Gardens can provide road access bonus for houses
  
• Reduced speed bonus for gardens, its now faster than nothing, but slower than a real road
  
• Add hot key for rebuild (r)
  
• Fix issue where you could build anything on top of rubble which was on top of a castle block
  
• Fix irrigated gardens not clickable on piers
  
• Fires go out faster in rain/snow
  
• Roads, stone roads, and gardens can all be built on top of each other without first demolishing
  
• Fixed armies jittering like crazy at low fps
  
• Foresters will plant faster if they have access to tools
  
• Tweaks to how resources are counted - if they are being transported in someone's hand they are not counted until they are deposited back in a stockpile.
  
• Other small fixes and tweaks
  

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick update on our development progress. In our next free content update were adding a bunch of new stuff with a bit of a spooky theme (since we're approaching Halloween). Here's a little preview of just a few of the new additions:




We'll put out the full notes on how the cemetery and witch hut game mechanics will work when update launches. While these happen to be Halloween themed, they'll all be permanent additions to the game. And of course there's a whole bunch more included in this upcoming update as well. Look for this update to hit the beta branch in the next week or so.

Rival Kingdoms Progress:
Currently were working on the part of the AI that will build its own cities. This is still very work-in-progress, so there's not much to show right now. More news on this as we get farther along.

Email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com or chat with us on discord with any questions!

-Pete & Michael

Hi Everyone,

While we're still hard at work on other updates (Rival AIs, VR, twitch integration, and secrets), we've got the Beautification Update ready for you now! If you've got questions, ideas, bug reports, come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles, or email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com.

Now let's get to what's new:

Gardens

Added gardens, they provide happiness in a radius and provide bonus happiness if they’re on irrigated soil or near other gardens. The gardens work like roads and they change appearance based on if other gardens are adjacent.

New Statue

Added a new statue, Lord Nextraztus, a monument to the mighty dragon!

Fountains

Added small and large fountains. They provide all the benefits of a well, but in a larger radius with extra happiness. However, they must be on irrigated land to function.

Skill System Tweaks

Workers will slowly forget skills they aren’t using. The person UI now shows this and better shows what skill they are currently learning. Archer Towers and Ballista Towers also now have some visual decoration when their workers are highly skilled (see the tower on the right who are grandmaster archers vs the left who are apprentices).

Aqueduct Tweak

You can now build aqueducts through castle walls and castle walls on top of aqueducts. No longer will your irrigation system be a hole in your defenses!

Improvements/Tweaks

• Added happiness bonus for killing vikings
  
• Adjust tax happiness curve
  
• Some performance improvements
  
• Reorganize building menu, now at the bottom center of the screen and the ‘Town’ category is split into ‘Town’ and ‘Advanced Town’
  
• Archer Tower and Ballista Towers won’t shoot unless the workers are actually there.
  
• People working at Archer and Ballista Towers won’t leave their jobs during combat (unless you manually disable that job) even if a job is placed above it in the priority list.
  
• Granary workers will now pick up wheat dropped by other workers
  
• Fixed issue where w or s could scroll the kingdom log
  
• Fixed issue with bakeries reporting inflated food amounts in the food report
  
• Some performance improvements
  

Hi Everyone,

It's been a little over a year since we launched Kingdoms and Castles and the game has grown and improved quite a bit. But we won't rest. Looking into the future, we've got lots more new stuff planned!

On a personal note, it's been a life changing year for us, and we wanted to say thank you all for ideas, bug reports, and for playing!

Here's a quick update on what we're working on next:

Rival AI Kingdoms
This is gonna be a big one with lots of hefty new features, so it’s going to take a while. The AIs will need to build cities on their own and we’ll need to work out the consequences for sending armies across landmasses, attacking with soldiers and towers, and how to handle diplomacy. We’re laying the groundwork and setting stuff up for this now.

Since it’s going to take some time we’ve got some quicker updates coming out soon while you wait. You can look forward to our upcoming...

Beautification Update
We’ll be adding some new stuff for your villagers to enjoy, including royal gardens, a new statue, and fountains that tie in with the aqueduct system. Here’s a little preview of the gardens, they use a tile based system like the roads that changes how they look based on how you place them:



Questions, suggestions? You can always reach out to us on discord (http://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles) and contact@lionshieldstudios.com.

Until next time,
-Pete & Michael

Hi Everyone,
After incorporating lots of your feedback, the Grand Buildings Update is now out for everyone! If you've got questions, ideas, bug reports, come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles, or email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com (or post on the forums here).

Thanks to all the beta testers, we really appreciate your efforts. And another super special thanks to our translators - a bunch more languages have been added!

Here’s what’s new:

Cathedral

You can now build cathedrals, which are very expensive and provide happiness in a large radius. Cathedrals can also strike awe into invading vikings who get near and convert them to peasants. If this happens you’ll notice a bolt of lightning hitting the viking army.

Great Library

Great libraries are also available to build. They too are very expensive but provide a lot of happiness in a large radius. They also increase the maximum happiness of small libraries within their radius. And perhaps most importantly you can research upgrades to your kingdom from the great library.

Bathhouse

When towns reach a certain size the peasants will start wanting a place to bathe. So once you’ve got a noria and aqueducts set up, pipe some water over to a town center and build a bathhouse! Bathhouses aren’t as expensive as the new cathedral and great library, but provide lots of happiness in a pretty big area.

Happiness Overlay Revamp

Now when you click to show/hide the happiness visuals, you’ll see the happiness of each tile displayed from red to green.

We’ve also reworked the happiness radius and overlay system to feel a little more natural. The happiness provided by wells, churches, libraries, etc is now a gradient.This means a house right next to a tavern will get more happiness from that tavern than a house far away from the same tavern. The overlay visuals now show this as well. While placing or clicking on a happiness building you can see the coverage gradient that type of building provides.

Menacing Dragons

Dragons are now more of a threat. They do more damage and escalate their attacks over time. We’ve added some new burning behaviors and you’ll find them much more of a threat to contend with. Since this makes the game a bit harder, please let us know your thoughts on the tuning here.

Other Improvements/Fixes:

• 7 new languages (Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian)
  
• Added health bars to ogres, dragons, player and viking armies
  
• Rubble has a button that will rebuild what was once there. (Only works on rubble created after this update)
  
• Added info to show when the next dragon and viking attacks will arrive. This can be turned on and off in the settings.
  
• Taxes collected depend on working tax collectors
  
• Forester is now a prerequisite for charcoal maker
  
• Performance optimizations
  
• Lots of small tweaks and other fixes
  

Hi Everyone,

Creative Mode is now live! Issues, questions, ideas, feedback, bug reports? Chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles, or email us at contact@lionshieldstudios.com (or post on the forums here).

Thanks as always to all the people who tried out and provided feedback on the beta. And super special thanks to our translators because we were able to add Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch for this update and more languages to come later!

(City in the cover photo courtesy of @Dizzythepanda of discord)

Here’s what's new:

Creative Mode

You can now choose between standard mode and creative mode. In creative mode you can modify your map before you play, and tweak all kinds of settings and spawn all sorts of things while in game. Note that achievements won’t be triggered when playing in creative mode.


Map Editing

If you’ve chosen creative mode, once you pick a seed you can edit your map however you wish. Use the brushes to paint land, water, rocks, and more.

Tweak and Spawn

During gameplay you can toggle all kinds of settings that will take you as far from (or as close to) standard play as you want, everything from building for free to whether people eat or not. You can additionally spawn things like dragons (I spawned a whole bunch in the screenshot above), vikings, trees, ogres, and resources of any type.

Custom Banners

You can now use your own banners, just add an image file to the banner folder (which you can find when selecting a banner) and chose it. We’ve included a template image file which you can use to make your banners fit correctly.

Other Fixes and Improvements:

• Armies can now target ogres
  
• Armies do double damage to ogres
  
• Fix issue where it looked like armies weren't damage ogres at 3x speed
  
• Fixed storage calculation issue with stockpiles/docks
  
• Added option to open or close a dock to foreign merchants
  
• Added new attack tower range indicator
  
• Attack tower ranges stop increasing after 8 blocks high (while you can still build ultra tall towers if you want, this eliminates the degenerate strategy where a super tall central tower covers the entire map)
  
• Re-tune viking invasion progression, will also appear a little earlier
  
• Fix input boxes mysteriously taking keyboard focus
  
• Ability to rename transport ships
  
• Added more new sound effects
  
• Libraries cost more gold to build
  
• Small optimizations
  
• Add Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch localization (thank you translators!)
  

Hi Everyone,
Were excited to announce the new Merchants and Ports update is now available! Thanks to all the people who tried out and provided feedback on the beta, we could not have done it without you. Also special thanks to our translators!

As always, if you have any feedback or bugs to report, or any trouble post in the forums or come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles

Here's whats new:

Bigger Maps and Deep Water
You can now play on small, medium, or large maps. Medium maps are slightly larger than the original map size, and large maps have about twice the buildable tiles that medium maps do. You can also choose between island biased or land biased maps. There is also now a concept of deep water vs. shallow water. Deep water cannot be built on or crossed except by boat.

Weve reworked the simulation code so you can now have multiple settlements completely separated by deep water.

But how do you start a new settlement? Try building a...

New Building: Outpost
You can now build outposts on land that is separated by deep water from your original settlement. Youll find the Outpost in the new Maritime tab. Placing an Outpost is how you start a new settlement, and it comes with some starting wood, stone, and food - much like when you place your first keep.
Note: Outpost are not available on maps with just a single landmass (i.e. all old maps without deep water).

Now youve got a new settlement, how do you transport goods between them? First build a

New Building: Dock
Docks can be placed adjacent to or in shallow water. You can set the amount of resources you want the dock to prepare to ship out (and also lock the resources so other workers wont take stuff you intend to export).

Once at least one dock is built, you can look forward to

Merchant Ships
Every so often merchant ships from afar will arrive at one of your docks. You can buy and sell them goods from you dock. Occasionally they will offer special permanent upgrades to your kingdom, so keep a lookout!

Now that weve got some docks, lets get some shipping routes set up between our islands with...

Transport Ships
Once you have at least two docks, Transport Ships can be used to move goods from dock to dock. You can program them with your docks as destinations and what to pick up and drop off. Use them to set up shipping routes to transport goods around your kingdom.

But youll want to make sure they can reach their docks, so you may need to replace some bridges with

New Building: Draw Bridges
These automatically open to allow ships to pass through.

But with all these new buildings, youll probably want more control over what workers are doing, so check out the new


Job Priority System
Re-prioritize jobs per island by dragging and dropping the the jobs in the order you want them filled. Jobs at the top will be filled first by idle workers, or if you have no idle workers, people will leave jobs at the bottom. You can also mass open and close entire building types per island.


Other Improvements/Fixes:

• You can now rename any building, just click on the little edit button next to its title
  
• Reworked UI a bit and how resource tooltips are accessed (now you click on them to view the info).
  
• Tax rate is now set on the UI in the bottom left rather than on the Treasure rooms
  
• Lots of new sound effects
  
• You can now specify specific desired amounts of resources per stockpile. Anything above the amount you have specified will be removed by people seeking resources.
  
• Granaries now employ more people, but those people help bring in the grain and can carry twice as much as farmers (much like market workers).
  
• Library, Church, and Tavern provide bonus happiness in a radius as before, but you just need to build a certain amount of them rather than requiring you to provide total coverage. The happiness ui explains more in-game.
  
• Other small tweaks and tuning to worker counts and bonuses
  
• Fixed bug where villagers would sometimes not collect bread from bakers even if they were hungry
  
• Fix for Gates not visually closing when vikings are near
  
• Lots of other small fixes and tweaks
  
• Optimizations to loading time for save games.
  
• Optimizations to many other game systems, most notably pathfinding (and more on the way)
  

Hi Everyone,
We’re excited to announce the new Merchants and Ports update is now available! Thanks to all the people who tried out and provided feedback on the beta, we could not have done it without you. Also special thanks to our translators!

As always, if you have any feedback or bugs to report, or any trouble post in the forums or come chat with us on discord: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles

Here's what’s new:

Bigger Maps and Deep Water
You can now play on small, medium, or large maps. Medium maps are slightly larger than the original map size, and large maps have about twice the buildable tiles that medium maps do. You can also choose between island biased or land biased maps. There is also now a concept of deep water vs. shallow water. Deep water cannot be built on or crossed except by boat.

We’ve reworked the simulation code so you can now have multiple settlements completely separated by deep water.

But how do you start a new settlement? Try building a...

New Building: Outpost
You can now build outposts on land that is separated by deep water from your original settlement. You’ll find the Outpost in the new Maritime tab. Placing an Outpost is how you start a new settlement, and it comes with some starting wood, stone, and food - much like when you place your first keep.
Note: Outpost are not available on maps with just a single landmass (i.e. all old maps without deep water).

Now you’ve got a new settlement, how do you transport goods between them? First build a…

New Building: Dock
Docks can be placed adjacent to or in shallow water. You can set the amount of resources you want the dock to prepare to ship out (and also lock the resources so other workers won’t take stuff you intend to export).

Once at least one dock is built, you can look forward to…

Merchant Ships
Every so often merchant ships from afar will arrive at one of your docks. You can buy and sell them goods from you dock. Occasionally they will offer special permanent upgrades to your kingdom, so keep a lookout!

Now that we’ve got some docks, let’s get some shipping routes set up between our islands with...

Transport Ships
Once you have at least two docks, Transport Ships can be used to move goods from dock to dock. You can program them with your docks as destinations and what to pick up and drop off. Use them to set up shipping routes to transport goods around your kingdom.

But you’ll want to make sure they can reach their docks, so you may need to replace some bridges with…

New Building: Draw Bridges
These automatically open to allow ships to pass through.

But with all these new buildings, you’ll probably want more control over what workers are doing, so check out the new…


Job Priority System
Re-prioritize jobs per island by dragging and dropping the the jobs in the order you want them filled. Jobs at the top will be filled first by idle workers, or if you have no idle workers, people will leave jobs at the bottom. You can also mass open and close entire building types per island.


Other Improvements/Fixes:

• You can now rename any building, just click on the little edit button next to its title
  
• Reworked UI a bit and how resource tooltips are accessed (now you click on them to view the info).
  
• Tax rate is now set on the UI in the bottom left rather than on the Treasure rooms
  
• Lots of new sound effects
  
• You can now specify specific desired amounts of resources per stockpile. Anything above the amount you have specified will be removed by people seeking resources.
  
• Granaries now employ more people, but those people help bring in the grain and can carry twice as much as farmers (much like market workers).
  
• Library, Church, and Tavern provide bonus happiness in a radius as before, but you just need to build a certain amount of them rather than requiring you to provide total coverage. The happiness ui explains more in-game.
  
• Other small tweaks and tuning to worker counts and bonuses
  
• Fixed bug where villagers would sometimes not collect bread from bakers even if they were hungry
  
• Fix for Gates not visually closing when vikings are near
  
• Lots of other small fixes and tweaks
  
• Optimizations to loading time for save games.
  
• Optimizations to many other game systems, most notably pathfinding (and more on the way)
  

Today's Deal: Save 25% on Kingdoms and Castles!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all having a good new year so far! The beta version of our latest update is now available for testing in the next-version-preview branch here on steam. The major features to look for are bigger maps, merchant ships, transport ships, independent islands, and a job priority system.

We've been hot-patching the beta a few times a week and fixing bugs as people report them, but remember this update is a beta so there are likely more bugs we have yet to squash. Thanks to everyone who has tested so far!

Here's how to try it:

• Select Kingdoms and Castles in your library, right click it and hit properties.
  
• In the menu that pops up click the "Betas" tab.
  
• Select "next-version-preview-" in the dropdown menu. Your game will update to the latest beta of the new update.
  

Hi Everyone!

We wanted to give a quick report on our progress with the new Merchants and Ports update. This update is big in scope, with new buildings and some big new systems. We're in the process of finishing some things up and testing internally in preparation for a beta branch release. When the beta branch is ready you'll get a chance to try it out and we'll incorporate feedback.

Chat with us on discord or follow on twitter for more frequent updates.

Here's a quick look at our current progress - keep in mind this is work-in-progress and will likely change a bit before releasing:

Docks, Transport Ships, Outposts, Islands


These are screenshots from our dev build. We're adding deep water where nothing can be built. Only ships will be able to cross it. This creates distinct islands on larger maps that you'll get to settle using a new building called the Outpost. You can then use the transport ships and docks we're adding to link your settlements together to ship resources where they are needed in your kingdom.

Bigger Maps

We're adding the much requested larger map size. You'll be able to play on the old size still if you want, but the larger size has roughly 2x the number of tiles.

And there's a bunch more good stuff coming as well!

Right now we're getting some of the last big features ready (job prioritization, AI merchant ships that arrive from across the sea to buy and sell resources and special upgrades).

We're not sure yet when the update will be ready but it's getting close.

Keep a look out for another announcement when the beta branch is ready!

-Pete & MIchael

Hello Kings and Queens, we’ve been reading the forums, chatting with you on discord, and checking out all the suggestions on our community feedback page. We’re happy to announce our first free content update.

This was originally going to be part of our upcoming Merchants and Ports update, but there was enough here we thought we’d release it early. We also want to demonstrate our commitment to updating and improving the game.

Huge thanks to all the people who tested it in the beta branch last week!

Let’s get to the changes:

Wooden Walls

You can now build wooden walls. They have a height limit of 3 and cost 7 wood a piece. They can help keep vikings out early, but they are vulnerable to fire and ogres.

Stone Roads

Stone roads are now available to build and can also be placed over the top of existing roads. They increase peasant movement speed 50% over normal roads.

New Statue - Queen Barbara

A new statue is available to impress your peasants. We also added a happiness bonus to both statues.

Noria, Aqueduct, and Reservoir

You can now irrigate the land (soil enrichment)! Build a noria near fresh water to pull water up. Use aqueducts to transport it to your fields, and reservoirs to provide irrigation. An irrigated tile allows you to farm it regardless of underlying soil type and provides a bonus crop yield to tiles that are already fertile. You can chain norias together in the same aqueduct system to push water further across the map.

We've also added the concept of 'salt water' vs 'fresh water' and you'll need place your norias in fresh water.

Fire Changes
Now only buildings with fireplaces can spontaneously catch fire, and if you have good well coverage you can reduce the risk of fires spreading to zero.

Tune Food and Time
We’ve increased the length of an in-game year by 50%. We’ve also re-tuned food production and consumption rates. This has the effect of allowing people more time to transport food, which should reduce the cases where heads of household can’t get food back to the houses in time.

UI Updates

The building information UI is now docked at the left corner of the screen (speed controls are in the top left now) and has received an overhaul. You can now see how much a building is at risk of catching fire if a something is burning nearby. We also added a list of everyone living and working in the building as well.

There’s also a new highlight effect on building selection!


Tweaks and Fixes

• Z now pans camera down as well as s, so wazd works now too.
  
• Added more names to the villager pool
  
• Town squares count as roads for house happiness bonus
  
• Pressing Escape closes any visible UI
  
• You can now see and edit your map generator seeds
  
• Added expanded tooltip info for all resources
  
• Added hotkeys (delete for demolish, and c for chop)
  
• Houses now count neighbors across the street
  
• Generals can regen while out of battle
  
• Fix issue where viking raid would always happen shortly after loading a save
  
• Fixed bugs where vikings could kidnap people on the other side of walls
  
• Ogres can now disembark their ships and attack even if your land is completely walled off
  
• Viking ships now have catapults
  
• Fix bug where generals could die before the rest of their army
  
• Running multiple festivals at once yield diminishing returns with each stacked festival
  
• Fixed bug where demolishing an in progress wall section would cause walls below to have strange life values
  

In case you missed it, we released version 105 back on Thursday. While we are still working on a content update, first we wanted to quickly get some fixes and improvements out to everyone.

If you are still running version 104, make sure to restart steam. That should trigger the update.

Improvements

• Statues will no longer catch of fire, and tuned fire spreading in general. Still more to do here but it should be better.
  
• When fully staffed, foresters now also replant trees on tiles without trees (instead of tiles only with) and employs one more person.
  
• Added setting for camera keyboard pan speed.
  
• Added v-sync setting.
  

• Fixed math bug in food info tooltip.
  
• Fixed issue where ogre and dragon were still moving when paused.
  
• Fixed issue where viking raids could happen back to back.
  
• Fixed issue where vikings and armies would sometimes freeze.
  
• Fixed issue where roads/bridges couldn’t be built sometimes.
  
• Fixed issue where you could get more than three generals by destroying and rebuilding chamber of war.
  
• Fixed issue where you could place a rock removal on top of an existing rock removal.
  

Our launch is really just the beginning for Kingdoms and Castles, we’ve got a lot planned for the game coming up! Stay up to date on progress on twitter, facebook, or discord.

We'll be working toward big updates, but will also do smaller patch releases more frequently.

If you want to try the very latest version before it’s released, check out the steam branch called next-version-preview. Nothing is in there now, but we’ll post an announcement when a new build is ready. Keep in mind that the build in this branch is for testing and will likely have some issues and bugs.

Planned Updates

• [In Development Now] - Merchants and Ports - build a port and merchant ships will dock to allow buying and selling goods. Sometimes they’ll even offer special upgrades for your town and castle.
  
  
• [In Development Now] - Twitch Integration - Optional feature to let viewers interact with your game as you play. Viewers will get to vote on special events each year that can befall your kingdom. Perhaps they’ll help by voting for a windfall harvest, or they can make things more exciting by voting for things like fires, invasions, and plagues.
  
  
• Hero System - A special hero unit you have direct control over. Depending on hero type they can help fight vikings or help your town run more smoothly.
  
  
• Map Special Features - Maps have a chance to reveal a secret feature for your kingdom to contend with or take advantage of, things like bandit camps, ancient ruins.
  
  
• VR Support - Play the game in VR! We’re investigating the VIVE right now.
  
  
• And more - We’ve got a huge list of other stuff we’ll be organizing and updating the roadmap with as they’re ready. If you’ve got ideas or things you’d like to see in the game, come chat with us on discord and head over to the #ideas channel!
  

Kingdoms and Castles is Now Available on Steam!

Kingdoms and Castles is a game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle.

Kingdoms and Castles is Now Available on Steam!

Kingdoms and Castles is a game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle.

Had a slight delay, but we're ready to release the game on July 20th. Hope you can wait a few more days!

It's been quite an adventure, this game started as a little project my friend and I tinkered. We're very proud of what it's become with the help of our Fig crowd funding campaign and all our wonderful backers. Thank you!

Of course, this is just the beginning! We're already working on the next big update - Merchants and Ports. We'll be releasing a roadmap soon with more details.

Price will be $9.99 USD.

For youtubers and twitch streamers, please make your key request through Keymailer: https://www.keymailer.co/