Manor Lords Announces Exciting New Updates: AI, Buildings, and Major Gameplay Enhancements!

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Summary

  • April 26 marked the first anniversary of Manor Lords launching in early access.
  • Commemorating the occasion, Slavic Magic revealed a bunch of features and changes currently in the works, including AI and UI improvements, a better camera, and new building types, among other novelties.

Slavic Magic, the creators behind Manor Lords, recently unveiled plans for upcoming changes in the game. These updates span a wide range of aspects from AI and UI enhancements, to new features and refinements across the board. Excitingly, these confirmed improvements should be available before Manor Lords exits early access.

On its debut, Slavic Magic’s medieval city builder sold more than a million copies, placing it among the year’s top-performing indie games of 2024 in terms of sales. By February 2025, the game had surpassed the 3 million mark in total units sold. Beyond engaging players with an innovative combination of city-building and real-time strategy (RTS) elements emphasizing realism, Manor Lords continued to generate commercial interest through regular updates that added substance.

As a dedicated follower, I can confidently say that the stream of content is set to persist indefinitely, as Slavic Magic has confirmed. Looking back on the one-year anniversary of Manor Lords’ early access debut, Grzegorz Styczeń – the Polish mastermind behind the game – recently provided a comprehensive update on the ongoing development projects. Among these advancements are a new “Records” section for monitoring regional consumption and production data, as well as an improved approval system designed to stabilize player ratings by reducing the influence of past events over time, while giving more weight to recent occurrences.

Manor Lords Building Management Is Becoming More Realistic

As a dedicated gamer, I’m excited to share that a new feature on the horizon is an upkeep system, meaning that maintaining various buildings in the game will now come with a monetary cost. While the exact number of buildings affected isn’t clear yet, it’s certain that this addition will add a layer of realism to Manor Lords. On the topic of buildings, I can’t help but get pumped about the development of two new types: quarries and lime kilns. Quarries will serve as a plentiful source of stone when placed on rich deposits, while lime kilns will churn out lime, a necessary ingredient for advanced stone construction projects. Can’t wait to see these additions in action!

All Upcoming Manor Lords Changes Coming in Future Updates

  • AI Progress: AI can now build villages; work ongoing on trading and farming.
  • Records View: New screen showing detailed regional production/consumption data.
  • Approval Reworks: Approval balance now fluctuates less; recent events matter more.
  • Upkeep System: Buildings require ongoing resource inputs for maintenance.
  • Stone Updates: New Quarry and Lime Kiln buildings introduced.
  • Pathfinding Updates: Investigating multi-floor pathfinding; current 2D system still best.
  • Camera System Updates: Smoother camera movement around cliffs.
  • Progression Rework: Major changes to progression system in design phase.
  • UI Work: Replacing temporary UI graphics with manuscript-inspired art.
  • River Fishing: Rivers can now host fishing spots instead of random ponds.
  • Castle Pieces Rework: Level 1 castle parts reworked.
  • Map Resource Nodes: New art for resource nodes to match updated UI style.

The game will see enhancements in pathfinding and camera adjustments to reduce movement issues on steep peaks. AI capabilities will expand to allow for self-constructing small villages. Visual improvements include upgrades to level 1 castle pieces, resource nodes, maps, and UI elements for a more consistent look. Additionally, Manor Lords’ progression system is set for a redesign, though specifics are yet to be finalized.

It turns out that most of these modifications couldn’t have been addressed simultaneously, or even at all, if Slavic Magic remained a single-person studio. But due to the game’s achievement, Styczeń now manages a team with at least eight permanent staff members, along with some external assistance for quality assurance (QA).

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2025-04-27 02:38