Here is the transcription of what was said during the last AMA, hosted on Northgard TV by the very dedicated and talented Weihn8smann!
Q: Will each clan get a unique Warchief like the Wolf and Bear in the future? Shiro Games: Some of them will have unique Warchiefs, but not all of them! I already can tell you that the Clan of the Snake will have one! Her name is Signy, and she’s got her very own way of gaining new abilities! Q: Will each clan get a 800 (or even more) fame bonus in the future? Shiro Games: With the release of the Clan of the Snake, we're changing a few things about the Fame Victory to rebalance it, in comparison with the Lore and other special Victories! In addition, the clan of the Snake has a particular relationship with this Victory! Q: Who are clans balanced the most for? Casual or high level players? Shiro Games: That’s a very interesting question! The main responsibility of our Game Designers is to find a perfect balance between casual and hard-core gamers. For example, the Clan of the Snake has very interesting gameplay mechanics that makes it very cool to play for beginner players. In parrallel, the depth of those mechanics will allow the most skilled players to experiment entirely new tactics! Q: Make each clan more standout and unique with its own unique abilities. (Let each clan has its slogan animals as free roamers in the battlefield) Shiro Games: Each of Northgard’s clan already have unique ways of reaching the different victories. With the already existing 6 clans, we feel like we have a well established variety of gameplay types. This allows us to focus on innovation when designing the new clans! Q: Are you working on a spectator mode? Shiro Games: We already started designing a spectator mode. As the game was not originally thought to include such a mode, it’s quite a challenge to integrate it! But we’re working on it! Do not expect to see it anytime soon though... Q: Are you gonna change the improve tools mechanic? Shiro Games: That’s a possibility! We’re going to change a lot of things in the update that will follow the Snake Update, this may well be part of these changes! Q: Are you going to implement new building types? (for example advanced economy buildings like a bakery) Shiro Games: Not in a Settlers king of way. We’re going to have new buildings in the future, with dedicated mechanics, but we won’t create this kind of resource transformation gameplay loops. Q: Are you going to implement maps that are even bigger than huge maps? Shiro Games: I don’t think so, we already have some technical issues with huge maps on lower end computers, I’m not sure adding even bigger maps would be such a great idea! Q: Are you working on advanced chat features? (like muting people, adding them as a friend after a match) Shiro Games: We’re working with Steam to integrate more social features into the game! Regarding the mute option, that’s completely doable, and should be available pretty soon!
Q: When can we expect a higher AI difficulty? Shiro Games: With the Clan of the Snake, we worked a lot on the AI to adapt it to the new features we included in the game. But we also change its behavior, and more specifically while fighting. This new AI will have a more intelligent way of attacking. For example, the AI will position its Shield Bearers in the frontline to tank the Watch Towers arrows! Q: Thoughts on adding an attack move command or other hotkeys? Shiro Games: The attack-move button will come with the Clan of the Snake update! in addition, we’ll add more hotkeys to the game with the different updates we’ll release! Q: Is the current Supply Lines system permanent going forward, or will there be nerfs? Shiro Games: The Supply Lines mechanic has been created to prevent players from doing Early Rush tactics, and so far, it served its purpose. With the arrival of the next patch, this feature will be more important than ever ;-) Q: Will unit collision become a thing in Northgard? Shiro Games: Unit collision isn’t planned at the moment! Q: Are you going to implement more types of units? Shiro Games: Yes, of course! For the clan of the Snake update, we’re releasing a new military unit, the Skirmisher! This is a melee unit with high move speed but low defense. In neutral tiles, they are invisible to wildlife and their movement isn’t limited by the presence of adversity. You can choose to attack wildlife whenever you want by right clicking on a Wolf, Draugr, etc… With this unit comes of course a new building, the Skirmisher’s camp, which is a base military building (you won’t need a training camp in order to build it)! We'll be giving you more information on this new unit in a few days...
Q: Will there be any new resources added to give the Snake clan something to be good at considering all over resources have a clan that's good at getting it. Shiro Games: Like the Clan of the Wolf and the Clan of the Bear, the Snake does not have a particular affinity with a ressource but its gameplay is linked to its backstory! After the aggressiveness of the Wolf and the winter resistance of the Bear, the Clan of the Snake is the most roguish clan on Northgard! They’re cunning and deceitful with no regards for fame nor honor! We tried to build the mechanics of the clan around these thematics! We’ll be unveiling this clan in the next few days! Q: Is the new clan going to be a paid DLC? Shiro Games: Yes, the clan of the Snake will be a paid DLC. However, the rest of the update, including the Skirmisher, will be completely free for everyone who already owns the game!
Q: Are you going to add more neutral factions, like the Jotnar, that you can befriend? Shiro Games: Of course! Q: What do you think about a playable non human clan? Maybe in a special gamemode? Shiro Games: Also something we’re thinking about! it would be fun to play something else that Vikings! Q: Any thoughts on neutral factions, both future and present, giving other bonuses/resources than Kröwns? Shiro Games: The next neutral faction, that will come just after the Snake Update, will have a very different gameplay that what we currently have with the Kobolds and Jotnars! We also plan on changing those two factions’ gameplay mechanics at some point!
Q: Trade victory is pretty unrewarding, are you going to work on that by any chance? Shiro Games:Yes! Trade victory is going to be improved in the Clan of the Snake update! ;) Q: Are you planning to add more map specials or events in the game (like blizzard / earthquake / maybe rework Wyvern a bit) Shiro Games: Of course! We already have a bunch of new event planned for future updates! Positive events are also something we're thiking about!
Q: Was Northgard Trials successful by your standards? Shiro Games: Yes it was! We had a huge shift in our single vs multiplayer games ratio: we went from 80% single and 20% multiplayer to a close 50%-50%! Q: Can you arrange a matchmaking system for ranked games? Shiro Games: Matchmaking isn’t a simple thing to design, especially for a game like Northgard. We’re still not sure it’s worth the investment as we feel that the way people join games at the moment works quite well!
Q: Why is the game incredibly laggy on Mac OS? Do you have someone to test it there? Shiro Games: We know there are a lot of issues for Mac users and we’re trying to deal with them! We’re going to add resources into solving these issue especially regarding the map generation in solo game mode. We're trully sorry about these issues :-( Q: Better optimization to support lower end computer Shiro Games: Northgard already run on 6 to 7 year old computers but we’re always trying to find new way to make it more optimized!
Q: Is Northgard ever gonna be free to play? Maybe separate single- and multiplayer. Shiro Games: It’s not really an option for us at this point, as Northgard is our only running game! Q: Is Discord Support going to be implemented? (Showing lobbysize/ time in game on discord and such) Shiro Games: We’re working with both Steam and Discord to add more social features in the game! Q: Are you going to support more languages? (italian and korean have specifically been asked for) Shiro Games: We select the different languages that we add into the game depending on the potential market they represent, as localisation isn’t the cheapest thing when talking about video game development! Right now, Italy and Korea cannot be considered as the strongest potential markets… Q: Are you going to implement a solo endless mode? Shiro Games:That’s something that could come in a few updates!
Q: What direction do you guys want this game to go? Just a relaxed/chill game, or more in the direction of esports (fast paced)? Shiro Games: We were always clear with the community about Northgard and eSports! The randomness that makes Northgard what it is will not be removed, and even if the balanced generation adds to the equality between player, Northgard cannot get into eSport without major changes. However, since its release in Early Access, Northgard has gained more and more Multiplayer features, and we’ll not stop investing on this aspect to make your games more fun and competitive! Q: Is there any chance of an alternate faster-paced game mode? Shiro Games: That’s something we’re thinking about! Q: Is the clan of the Snake going to be the last clan added to the game? Shiro Games: Absolutely not! We already have a lot of other clan concept that we think would be very cool! Q: Are you guys going to introduce some new mechanics like scouts using poisons, diplomacy, water combat or religion? Shiro Games: Poison will soon be part of the game ;) Regarding religion, we already explored the idea and we may introduce a God worshiping clan, but I don’t think religion will ever be part of Northgard as a “resource”. Diplomacy is an aspect of the game that will be the subject a major update at some point. We feel that it’s one of the aspects that really deserve to be developed in Northgard! Finally, regarding water combat, we would love to see that coming into the game, with multiple islands, special water tile, etc… We already tried to design something like that but right now, we still have troubles finding a true purpose for such a feature. We need to find the right way to integrate this feature! Q: Are you going to implement more monsters or animals? Shiro Games:Of course! The update that will follow the Clan of the Snake update will add a lot of new features, including monsters ;) Q: Are you going to implement more islands that are part of Northgard? Shiro Games: I fell like this would come with the “water combat” extension, which we’re thinking about! Q: Any mythic creatures to train or control in plans? Maybe minor or major gods? Shiro Games: Possibly! Q: Will you consider adding whales or other creatures of the deep as a resource / fightable enemy into the game? Shiro Games: That’s something we’re thinking about ;) Thanks for reading this :) If you have any question about Northgard and its development, I strongly advise you to join our Official Discord