Today, UK-based indie studio Long Jaunt released the main branch of the Norland “Big Autumn Update,” which introduces a slew of new features and quality-of-life fixes.
The progression system tweaks how players advance, moving beyond simple tech trees to a more applied knowledge system for workers, reducing micromanagement. The Norland “Big Autumn Update” instead uses population-based progression, meaning that as a city grows, it attracts more trouble, like Bandits, greedy neighbors, the church, and diseases.
Thankfully, the church offers you knowledge to help deal with these problems in the form of books. The system will be tier-based, so as you hit clear population thresholds (20, 40, 60, 75), the settlement advances to a new level. The Matriarch will then let you know that challenges now threaten you, and the caravan will bring new books to help deal with them.
Speaking of reworks, Politics and Religion are being tweaked. Politicians will appear earlier and have nuanced demands, affecting relations before causing unrest, and Bishops are more useful, offering loyalty sermons, can be invited hunting, and can become puppets. The rumor system will also cause plenty of drama, as these global reports will unlock new cultural books with each town level, and new recipes for buildings/resources.
Global map conspiracies and bandit camp spawning are now much more dynamic and tied to war consequences, while Mines are now infinite but produce less when depleted; wolves yield more meat. Other balancing changes include UI improvements, adjustments to crime balance, easier early-game, harder late-game, and fixes for various bugs.
Norland is available on PC via Steam Early Access for a typical price of $29.99. For more information on this, other updates the medieval kingdom simulator has received since its release, its upcoming roadmap plans, and more, be sure to check the rest of Simulation Daily.
