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