Kingdoms and Castles is a 3D city-building sim where you control and establish your kingdom - from a tiny hamlet into a sprawling city with a castle in tow.
Recently, a new update was released that brought AI-controlled kingdoms to the game. It also featured new mechanics, such as building integrity and the visibility system.
New Content
The AI Kingdoms Update for Kingdoms and Castles allows you to play with up to three AIs on the same map. You can use diplomats from the Hall of Diplomacy to interact with the AI kingdoms. They may send their diplomats to you as well. Take note that the decisions you make will affect your relationship with them. You can make alliances, engage in a trade, or even declare war.
Another important thing to remember is that the AIs use an advanced system when establishing their towns and defenses. They follow the usual rules as you do, like constructing wooden walls first before upgrading to stone walls, etc.
Building Integrity
Building integrity is a new mechanic introduced in the AI Kingdoms Update. Just like the structures in the real world, buildings in Kingdoms and Castles will now degrade over time. A new overlay will show you the structures in need of repair. You can employ masons to keep your buildings safe and structurally sound.
Visibility System
The developers also implemented a new system where all of your units, such as footmen, diplomats, and ships, now provide a sight radius. This is useful as it lets you see previously unexplored areas when your units get close enough. On top of that, AIs that you’ve allied with will grant you full visibility into their kingdoms.
Improvements
- Added beefier Viking infantry unit
- Added ability for units to auto-target enemies (change it by selecting a unit)
- Added better range indicator for ballista and archer tower
- Added ability for ogres to attack units
- Reworked ship movement so they don't block each other as much
- Increased world size a bit (about 15 to 20% more buildable tiles)
- Added way to rate limit shipping routes
- Towers can be built higher without first removing the defenses on top
- Wood walls can be replaced with stone walls without demolishing them first
- Double-clicking a unit will select all units of that type in the camera view filtered by team
- Added happiness buffs for defeating enemy troops, and debuffs for combat deaths
- Added way to remove witch with army (for a cost)
- Added grid that appears in build mode
- Added options for choosing whether maps generate with rivers
- Much better support for ultrawide resolutions
The full patch notes can be found on Steam.
Kingdoms and Castles is available on PC.
