Norland developers announced that they are "moving" accumulated patch changes from beta to the main branch, including a season system, new politics, improvements, and fixes. For example, a bug was fixed that prevented caravans from arriving when loading saves made in the previous version of the game.
The "Intimidation" mechanic has been introduced in Norland – now the lords' punishments on the scaffold will cause fear:
- The player's lords and the player's junior lords (excluding hired free lords) will receive a fear thought towards the ruler "Intimidated" and a mood thought "Terror" from the lords' punishments on the scaffold. The strength of the thoughts depends on the type of punishment
- Added loss of half of a lord's direct followers in case of his punishment on the scaffold
- Added display of all consequences from a lord's punishment on the scaffold – change in relations with the player's ruler, change in lords' mood, and more
- Added a restriction on possible punishment if there are accusation traits
- Added "Accused of Crime" and "Accused by Bishop" traits for lords. These traits allow punishing a lord on the scaffold without a penalty to the mood of other lords. Traits are attached when crimes are committed (murders, attempted murders, poisonings, attempted coups) and when accused by a bishop before a religious uprising
"Seasons of the Year" have appeared; the game will start in spring.
- Depending on the biome, a "harsh season" is determined. Winter, drought, or rainy season.
- Season duration is 12 days for a normal season (summer - spring - autumn), 4 days for a harsh season (7 days in the north)
- For old saves on the old global map, the season duration is set – 4 days for harsh, 15 for fertile
Seasons will affect the economy. The game has added an increase in prices for farm-grown goods that cannot grow during the harsh season (turnips, carrots, wheat, hops). The developers also added a decrease in prices for resources that increase their growth during the harsh season (wood, medicinal herbs).
In addition, they changed the effect of rain; heavy snowfall-blizzard now causes the "Frozen Feet" trait in characters who walked on bare ground without roads.
A full description of the May Norland update is available at the following link.
The game trailer is available here.