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
Development Update - Rulers and AI Progress
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.
City Building AI
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.
AI Personalities
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
Until next time, -Pete, Michael, and Sam
Development Update
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?
Alpha Access
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
Please send all your bug reports to our email contact@lionshieldstudios.com or post them on our discord. We'll get them addressed as fast as we can. We'll be uploading new alpha builds as we fix and add things.
Now, on to more stuff we'll be still adding!
Color Selection
Since now you'll have the option of playing with other AI kingdoms, we've implemented a system to select a color for your kingdom. This can be changed at any time from your keep (even on old saves) and the original color palette is still available.
Minimap
We're adding a minimap! It's a nice way to keep track of military units and ships, dragons, envoys, and more. The minimap you'll see in the alpha is a little different from this one but we'll be adding this newer rotating version soon as it helps with navigation.
Until next time, -Pete & Michael
Development Update - Diplomacy and Carts
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!
Diplomacy
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.
Transport Carts
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
Development Update
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:
Siege Workshop + Catapults
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...
Theater
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
Development Update
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:
City Building AI
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:
Sea Gates
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
Development Update
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:
Visibility System
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).
Jousting Arena
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
Steam Workshop Support is Here!
Hi Everyone,
It’s 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, they’ll download in the background. Then, restart the game and you’re 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:
If you’re 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
Until next time, -Pete & Michael
Development Update
Hi Everyone,
We've been working hard on the upcoming AI Kingdoms update, here's what we've been up to:
AI Defense
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:
New Shipping Route UI
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):
Player Controlled Merchant Ships
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!
Fish & Pigs Update
Hi Everyone,
We’ve 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! We’ve been wanting to add all this stuff to the game for a long time. We’re glad we got to launch it sooner than later.
Why did this update take longer than usual to release? There are two reasons: first, it’s 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 what’s new!
Fish
We’ve 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 won’t 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
We’ve 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, they’ll 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 won’t want to live too close to the butcher either, due to the smell.
Health
To incorporate all these new food types, we’ve 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. You’ll 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 won’t 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
Rival Kingdoms Progress
You’re probably asking, “Cool fish and everything but what’s up with the AI Rivals update? When is that coming out?” We’ve shown some of the work we’ve already done on the city building AI, but expect to see some news about siege weapons, trade routes, diplomacy, and more in the future.
Since AI Rivals is such a big addition to the game it will still take some time to finish and make sure everything meshes well together. We’ll be running a much longer and earlier beta period for AI Rivals than our other updates and we’ll post an announcement when it’s ready to test drive. Thanks for your patience!
And what about VR?
VR is scheduled after AI Rival Kingdoms. We’ve done some proof of concept work already, we’ve posted it before but if you haven’t seen it, check it out here: https://streamable.com/86ler
