General Gameplay

• Adds beta saving and loading!

This is a feature that we wanted to add with the original release, but unfortunately it had some major issues during development. While that was happening, life stuff got in the way so we decided to put it on the back burner. We looked at it with fresh eyes once life slowed down and were able to get it to be functional now. Right now, it still needs a little work and refinement, so consider it a beta launch. Please come report saving and loading bugs in our discord. As of now, the game autosaves every 5 years, but you can save any time in the escape menu.

• Changed scaling of population growth and resource production

A common theme in this patch is making the game feel less unpredictable. This change will add to the feeling of accomplishment of getting a big city, since it will take more time and effort. Also, it will allow the numbers on the screen to mean a little more than they do right now.

• Excess houses will now be destroyed over time
• Adds “house ruins” to city generation

Something we felt that was missing from Fiefdom was the tangible impact from losing a large chunk of your population. Sure, the stability bar goes down but there isn’t anything reflected within the city. Now, if there are an abundance of houses, they have a chance to get destroyed and turned into ruins. House ruins are a new tile that can (and probably will) be built over, but serve as an aesthetic reminder of the player’s failings as a monarch.

UI & Appearances

• Fixes bug where the UI would get squashed and stretched with resolutions/displays not in a 16:9 aspect ratio, making the game unplayable at times.

Unfortunately, none of our alpha testers had a monitor with an aspect other than 16:9, so this problem went overlooked. We’ve tested the fix with some extreme aspect ratios, so it should be working now.

• Revamps the tilemap to add more depth and a more consistent look
• Reworks the road tile sprite
• Adds colored text to the event UI to help players pick out key information
• Adds button to randomize crest in the new game menu
• Increases odds a citizen will spawn, making for slightly busier streets
• Resizes the X button to the “Decisions” window

It now matches the size of the other smaller windows instead of the family tree window.

Events

• Reduces event frequency by 30%

With saving and loading, we think the game should move away from the quick-burst, roguelike feel. That was never the intention for the game when it is completely finished, so we’re making small steps starting now.

• Changed events that only happened once a run to once in a generation

This should keep some more variety within events now that saving and loading has extended the time period the game is played in.

• Removes “Castle Fire” event

This was one of the first events we ever created. It was made in a time when the family tree could get very large. Unfortunately, this event just appears way too often for it to be fun in the current build. Maybe we can add it back when it would be less detrimental to the game.

• Rescaled many events to shift the court balance less

Hopefully this will reduce the negative impact of trying new options out for events. Especially with saving and loading, this should make Fiefdom feel more gradual and more like a strategy game.

• Adds several new events

Construction

• Adds an option in the construction window to delete infrastructure (roads, bridges, and walls)

This was a highly requested feature, so we are happy to say that it is now in the game.

Bug Fixes

• Fixes bug where the city would continually try building on tiles that were unable to be built on, resulting in stunted city growth.

Known Issues

• The tilemap can sometimes have a weird pattern of null tiles at the center when reloading a save game. If this happens to you, try exiting to the menu without saving and reloading the save game. We have no idea why this happens, so let us know if you have any ideas!
• We know the family tree is unstable right now. We’re looking into it.
• Due to changes in city generation fixing the stunted growth of the city, the road tiles have been forming “courtyards” instead of spacing out like they used to. It’s not the end of the world, so we’re leaving it in for now.