- AI War Party Fix: The AI now creates more diverse and balanced armies, ensuring a better variety of units in different factions.
- Game Crash Fix: Resolved an issue where the game would crash when closing, particularly related to music. This may also help with lingering sound loop problems.
- Smarter AI Targeting: The AI now avoids targeting units that are likely to dodge or evade missiles, making battles more strategic and realistic.
- Improved GPU Selection: The game will now prioritize external GPUs over internal ones, especially avoiding Intel GPUs and emulated devices for better performance.
- Technical Optimization: Adjusted settings to ensure smoother compatibility with modern hardware.
Battle Realms
Hotfix #5
Fixed crash for Windows on Korean language pack.
Battle Realms: Zen Edition - Full Release (+Trading Cards!)
Today marks two significant milestones for Battle Realms: Zen Edition - our official full release and the long- awaited introduction of Steam Trading Cards (profile badges, backgrounds and chat emojis)!
🃏 • Steam Trading Cards
Collect cards featuring iconic original Battle Realms artwork, craft badges, and unlock BR themed profile backgrounds and emoticons.
For this collection, we decided to honor Battle Realms' original artwork that has defined the game's unique identity over the years. Thanks to Steam's ecosystem, these classic designs are now preserved and made accessible to a wider audience, allowing both new and veteran players to collect and showcase pieces of Battle Realms history.
We hope these additions will add another layer of enjoyment to your experience with the game.
All the mentioned items are also available in the Steam Points Shop.
(We've spotted an internal error within Steam that prevents displaying the animated Ronin sticker in the chat, we'll be working on fixing it shortly. Don't hesitate to grab it if anything!)
🃏 • 🏅 About Badge Creation
Steam FAQ - Trading Cards
If you're new to Steam's Trading Card system, here's some important information about our badge design:
We've created unique clan-themed badges (except for Level 1 and Foil badges). However, due to Steam's badge progression system, there are some things to keep in mind:
🔸 Each time you craft a badge, it automatically progresses to the next level
🔸 You cannot display previous badge levels on your profile
🔸 Once you craft a higher-level badge, you cannot go back to display earlier versions
🔸 This is how Steam originally handles it, and we have no way of changing it.
This means you should consider which clan's badge design you want to display before continuing to craft higher levels.
Note: Foil badges are separate and work differently - they're a special single-level badge that requires foil cards to craft.
For more details about the Trading Card system, please check out the FAQ above.
⏰ • About the Launch Delay
The release was delayed from January 20th to today due to unforeseen circumstances that required our immediate attention. While we couldn't provide updates during this period, we want to thank you for your patience as we worked through these challenges.
As previously announced, with our transition from Early Access, the pricing has changed as follows:
🔸 Early Access Price: $9.99 (Previous)
🔸 Full Release Price: $14.99 (From this day on)
Regional pricing remains available across all territories that Steam allows it for.
🎆 • Moving Forward
As we transition out of Early Access, our focus will remain on ensuring Battle Realms: Zen Edition provides the best possible experience for our community. We're grateful for the incredible journey we've shared with you all, and we thank you for helping shape this game into what it is today.
Thank you for being part of the Battle Realms history!
Battle Realms Discord:
Join the official server for the game, the universe, and the community if you haven't. Discord has proven to be a very helpful and fun program to use for us (as developers), so we're quite keen on maintaining our server.
Populated by more than 4000 warriors, it is a solid communication bridge between us and all of you.
If you're having issues, planning to report a bug, or just want to learn something new about the game and communicate with other fans or even developers -- we'd like to see you there, come around!
Follow Battle Realms:
Stay tuned for more updates!
- The Battle Realms Team
Hotfix #4
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where units would move to the same location when near buildings.
- Resolved a crash in the campaign that occurred when dialogues played while the sound device was not ready.
- Addressed a problem where certain units would get stuck on battle gears that relied on projectile-based mechanics (e.g., Kabuki's Stardust).
Gameplay Improvements:
- Reworked the dump collection feature: Dumps can now be collected without requiring admin privileges.
- The game will automatically collect dumps if the -dump parameter is set as a launch option.
- Improved unit pathing in groups to reduce instances of units overlapping or moving on top of each other.
- Fixed an exploit related to unit stacking during attack-move commands. Units will now reposition upon entering an idle state to prevent stacking.
- Adjusted Tao's passive ability (max Monk/Ninja override) to function independently of the player's clan. Previously, it was restricted to players in the Dragon Clan.
Performance Enhancements:
- Significantly improved loading times for a smoother gameplay experience.
Version 1.59.1 - Hotfix #3
- [Campaign] Fixed a bug during the Swans Pool defense mission where a Berserker/Werewolf could prevent the mission from completing.
- [Campaign] Fixed an issue where AI towers could sometimes make dismounted units invulnerable, blocking mission completion.
- Fixed an issue where Peasants weren't gathering water correctly in certain scenarios.
- [UnitAI] Improved attack-move command behavior: Units will now evaluate how many attackers are needed per target at the start (as per MaxUnitsAttacking), immediately engaging additional targets if the initial target would be overwhelmed. This helps prevent units from unnecessarily clustering on the same enemy before spreading out.
Version 1.59.1 - Hotfix #2
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed various animation cancellation exploits related to rice gathering
- Resolved an issue where rice orders were not being processed correctly
- Fixed a displacement bug where units would occasionally teleport when colliding with each other
- Improved order processing performance to reduce perceived input delay
Database Changes:
- Completed migration of Data_Abilities->InnateAbility to new Data_UnitAndInnateAbility sheet
- - New sheet combines UnitType and AbilityType in a unified structure
- - Innate abilities now require valid UnitType/AbilityType pairs
- - The sheet allows to add these pairs manually, as many as Data_Ability slots allow, the game will read them.
Battle Realms - Early Access & Pricing Updates
Steam's RTS Fest is coming January 20th, and we're excited to confirm that Battle Realms: Zen Edition is participating!
After 5 long years in Early Access, we're ready to announce that Battle Realms is going for the full release. With the recent implementation of the multilingual system and its planned improvements, we've completed our Early Access roadmap.
Thus, we've decided to merge these two events into one.
Our Early Access Journey
Throughout Early Access, we maintained a lower price point as promised. We always said that the game would be at a discount during its entire EA period, as we weren't certain about the final pricing until we could gauge all factors involved.
We're ready to put the final "full release" price tag on Battle Realms: Zen Edition today, in this announcement.
Important Dates & Pricing
*Note: Final release date may shift to January 19th depending on certain factors. We'll update you if anything changes.
What's Next?
Leaving Early Access does not mean we're done - quite the contrary! Our focus will shift to:
A Word of Thanks
We're deeply grateful for your support throughout these years of Early Access. Your feedback and patience have been fundamental in shaping Battle Realms into what it is today. Launching the game 5 years ago, we couldn't have imagined we would be able to get it where it is now.
Thank you for being part of this journey!
Don't forget: If you want to grab the game at its Early Access price of $9.99, you have until January 20th to do so!
Battle Realms Discord:
Join the official server for the game, the universe, and the community if you haven't. Discord has proven to be a very helpful and fun program to use for us (as developers), so we're quite keen on maintaining our server.
Populated by more than 4000 warriors, it is a solid communication bridge between us and all of you.
If you're having issues, planning to report a bug, or just want to learn something new about the game and communicate with other fans or even developers -- we'd like to see you there, come around!
Stay tuned for more updates!
- The Battle Realms Team
Version 1.59.1 - Hotfix #1
- Fixed incorrect tooltip translations displaying outdated text
- Fixed a UI issue preventing speech language selection from working properly
- Fixed self-damage bug where Kenji's Battle Gear would trigger critical strikes against buildings
- Fixed an issue where units could cancel certain animations when interacting with towers
- Fixed Lotus towers preventing unit evacuation during fire state
- Fixed boulder physics causing them to become stuck in certain terrain
- Fixed duplicate visual effects appearing on melee attacks
Update 1.59.1 - LANGUAGES... AND MORE!
The Serpent has come bearing gifts! 🐍
Let's kick off the New Year with the great news that a lot of our players have been waiting for: Languages, Translations, Localizations, Dubs - you name it.
With this update, we're introducing a feature that has been in development for a good while, and we're finally ready and excited to present it to you as its foundation is now fully integrated into the game.
• The Multilanguage System 🌐
Yes, it's not just any system, it's a multilanguage system, allow us to explain.
Back in 2001-2002, and pretty much until today, if you wanted to play Battle Realms in German, you needed the separate German version. French? Different disc/version entirely. Each region had its own localized version of the game, all of them being separate from each other.
Today, with the introduction of the Multilanguage System, you not only have all the languages in one place (that the game had at the time of its release, excluding Korean), but you can also mix and match text and speech from each, creating unique combinations of, say, German Text and Spanish Audio.
[video]https://i.imgur.com/ApJRZbh.mp4[/video]
(this is a video, if you can't click it, open the announcement in a separate page, if you have no sound, click on the speaker icon)
You might be wondering why it took us so long to bring these languages back. We sincerely apologize it had to be this long. When we first started working on Battle Realms: Zen Edition, we were new to the game's 20-year-old development pipeline. We spent a significant amount of time figuring out how everything worked and rebuilding the necessary tools to work with the game files.
Meanwhile, as we progressed, the game kept evolving, with many English text tweaks integrated. We were mainly focused on fixing existing issues and enhancing the game, which meant we couldn't dedicate enough time and energy to re-translating everything or involving the community in that process.
We also intentionally bypassed Steam's language system because:
- It would’ve created unnecessary complications due to the need to create and maintain different file depos for each language.
- We felt that Steam's method was inconvenient and not obvious to players in terms of UI.
- Text- wise, the game already had foundation for multiple languages since the beginning; we needed to polish and finish the system properly.
- Steam doesn't support mixing text and speech from different languages, a feature we identified as valuable while developing the system.
In the end, it all worked out thanks to your continuous patience and support of our work.
• Added Languages 📝
With the release of 1.59.1 and the initial iteration of this system, we're adding a total of 6 languages:
- German
- You can now play the game in German with the original dubbing. However, WOTW dub remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it). - French
- You can now play the game in French with the original dubbing. However, WOTW dub remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it). - Spanish
- You can now play the game in Spanish with the original dubbing. However, WOTW dub remains in English, for now.
- WOTW Campaign remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it). - Russian (Cyrillic Limitations)
- Any player text written in Russian will only be seen by the people who also play the game with the Russian Text. It's the original limitation of the game that we're trying to navigate around.
- Текст игры страдает от нехватки великой и ужасной буквы 'ё', скоро исправим.
- You can now play the game in Russian with the original dubbing. However, WOTW dub remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it). - Italian (Text Only)
- WOTW menu, tooltips and miscellaneous information has been translated
- WOTW Campaign remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it). - Polish (Text Only)
- WOTW menu, tooltips and miscellaneous information has been translated
- WOTW Campaign remains in English, for now.
- The text has been updated to reflect the ZE changes excluding some nuanced hardcoded elements (we're on it).
Korean is not yet included in the game, but we're on it. Other than that, this pretty much means that ZE now has all the languages BR has ever been localized into (officially), and all of that in one easily available place.
• Join The Team 🤝
Now that things have calmed down a bit, and we've rebuilt the tools needed for proper translations, we're ready to bring even more languages to the game. That's where you come in. For now, it's only text, but we're hoping to possibly figure out some dubbing in the future.
With the adjustments we've made, the game is now able to support a total of 21 additional languages: Belarusian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malaysian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
Therefore, we're launching the Battle Realms Translation Initiative, and yeah, we want YOU on board. Battle Realms isn't just a game - it's all of us, this entire community. Your passion, your feedback, your support - that's what keeps this game alive. And now you can help bring it to even more players.
"But what's it actually like being a translator for this?" Pretty chill, honestly. You'll probably spend a couple hours a week with the game text, whenever it fits your schedule. Jump into Discord sometimes to chat about tricky phrases or share ideas. We've got a great community, and devs will be there to help you out if you get stuck.
Each language gets a small team - about five people. One person acts as curator, but don't worry, it's not some big corporate thing (we're indie, after all). If you're a curator, you're basically the team's guide. Keep everyone in the loop, help sort out any translation questions and be our go-to person when the team needs to check something with the devs. If you know the game well and love bringing people together, this could be your thing.
Our end-goal is to bring as many translations as possible, and, perfect them, hopefully preserving the spirit and essence of Battle Realms throughout the language variety.
We know this is a long and difficult process, and we’re committed to making it as smooth as possible. But we can’t do it alone. If you’re fluent in any of these languages—and you are passionate about the game— please, reach out! The easiest way is to DM Komi (komikoza) on Discord.
If you’re more old-school, email us at support@battlerealms.com.Just keep in mind, Discord will be our main hub for coordination. It’s where all the action happens, so you’ll have to join it anyway. Don't worry if you're new to Discord though - we'll help you figure it out.
So if you’re ready, shoot right away.
• SEA Communities 🌏
Let's be real - Southeast Asia is where Battle Realms truly found its heart. From one country to another, the game spread through internet cafes faster than we could track. Those late-night tournaments, the legendary strategies, the communities that formed around single computers, the funny bugs after all (CTRL+D anyone?) - that's Battle Realms history right there.
That's why getting languages like Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai into the game, for us, is a matter of principle. It's about giving back to the community that never gave up on BR.
Some languages will be easier to add than others. Filipino and Indonesian? Pretty straightforward since they use Latin letters. Thai needs some extra work because of its unique alphabet, and Vietnamese has its own special diacritics we need to understand how to handle. It'll take time to get everything right, but we're committed to making it happen.
Same as the above, let us know if you guys would like to participate in the future translation into these languages.
1.59.1 Changes:
🔧 Technical:
- Implemented multi-language support (text + audio)
- Updated and enhanced the game's font
- Disabled default D3D9On12 to prevent DirectX crashes
- Restored and improved unit anti-stacking mechanics
- Battle gear target cursor now deactivates when move orders are needed
- improved anti "instant-shoot" solution and fixed animation issues for units using special battle gear animations
- Eliminated redundant battle gear visual effects on melee weapon impacts
- Added AffectOwner to Data_Abilities
⚔️ Gameplay:
- Fixed abilities still increasing or decreasing Fire AM as per Update 1.58.3 redesign of Fire into "True Damage"
- [Campaign - Kenji] Monastery HP increased from 1250 to 3000
- [Campaign - Grayback] Shale Pile HP increased from 250 to 750
- [Campaign - Grayback] Landslide HP increased from 250 to 750
- [Serpent Clan] Serpent Tower will now prevent enemy units from running (forcing them to walk) for as long as the daze effect is active
- [Serpent Clan] Ronin will now take 150% damage from Explosive attacks instead of 175%
- [Serpent Clan] Ronin will now take 100% damage from Piercing attacks instead of 125%
- [Serpent Clan] Ronin's base damage decreased from 30 to 28
- [Dragon Clan] Samurai will now take 150% damage from Explosive attacks instead of 175%
- [Dragon Clan] Samurai will now take 88% damage from Piercing attacks instead of 100%
- [Dragon Clan] Guardian's Concussion Smash will now also affect himself (damage+stun)
- [Lotus Clan] Blade Acolyte will now restore stamina 2x slower
- Damage type (melee/ranged) now correctly matches the source weapon type (fixing Mauler Wrecking Ball vs Staff Adept Dark Canopy bug where Canopy protected against this damage when it shouldn't have)
- Fixed hybrid units (melee+ranged) getting stuck when targeting buildings from watchtowers.
- AI now considers recruiting golems as peasants when urgency is high
- Enhanced AI prioritization of damaged watchtower repairs
- Removed "AI" prefix from AI player names
- Fixed infinite climbing bug when peasants attempted to mount burning watchtowers
- Restricted Battle Gear Yin/Yang acquisition (Ronin/Samurai Blades etc.) to units only, preventing harvesting from trees and buildings
- Units now retain tamed wolves when morphing (i.e. Berserker -> Werewolf). Previously the Wolf would "lose" its host and become hostile.
- Prevented Necromancer from reviving zombies during Spirit Warrior ability
- Fixed healing spell deactivation for full-health targets
- Improved healer targeting logic for immobile units
- Adjusted mounted swordsmen positioning in the initial campaign mission
This is huge for us, and we hope you're as excited as we are. Battle Realms has always been about its players - you've stuck with us through everything, and this is our way of saying thanks. We couldn't have made it this far without you. Together, we're making Battle Realms better than ever.
Until next time - May your rice fields be plentiful this year! For The Serpent!
Battle Realms Discord:
Join the official server for the game, the universe, and the community if you haven't. Discord has proven to be a very helpful and fun program to use for us (as developers), so we're quite keen on maintaining our server.
Populated by more than 4000 warriors, it is a solid communication bridge between us and all of you.
If you're having issues, planning to report a bug, or just want to learn something new about the game and communicate with other fans or even developers -- we'd like to see you there, come around!
Battle Realms Fundraiser:
Follow Battle Realms:
Stay tuned for more updates!
- The Battle Realms Team
The Battle Realms Diorama is HERE! 🚨
We’re thrilled to announce the release of Miniquest64’s stunning Battle Realms Diorama video!
If you missed the teaser posted earlier, this project brings the world of Battle Realms to life with meticulously crafted miniatures—perfectly capturing the game’s iconic aesthetic. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the series, you won’t want to miss this homage to the world we all love.
As a bonus, Sergei (Miniquest64) has also released a behind-the-scenes video featuring Ed Del Castillo himself on his Patreon (click below to watch). In this special feature, Ed answers fan questions, dives into the rich history of Battle Realms, and shares his insights into the game’s development. Take a deeper dive into the making of this diorama and explore the legacy of the game. It’s completely FREE, no subscription needed! But if you enjoy his work, make sure to follow him for future projects.
Sergei’s incredible work completely caught us off guard, and we were blown away by how stunning it turned out. It’s humbling to see an amazing creator like him remember Battle Realms and pay tribute to its legacy in such a unique way. We want to offer our greatest thanks to Sergei and share his amazing work with our beloved BR community.
If you enjoyed this project, consider supporting Miniquest64 by following his work and sharing the video. Your support helps creators like him bring more amazing projects to life!