First proper Manor Lords patch targets archers, trading, homelessness mechanics and over-expansionist AI

Manor Lords developer Slavic Magic, aka Greg Styczeń, has laid out the broad strokes of the game's first proper patch in early access. This follows a boisterous opening weekend that has seen the new city builder top purchase charts on Steam, causing Valve's mighty servers to crumble under the strain like overloaded oxen.

The proposed changes include tweaks to archer damage, retuning the game's trading mechanics, and making the AI a touch less zealous about claiming territory. We can also expect a fix for "all the weird homeless bugs", which I assume refers to people without homes behaving in odd ways, rather than the game defining insects as homeless and expecting you to house them. Though I do think that'd make for an intriguing endgame, and it's worth noting that publisher Hooded Horse have an insect strategy sim on the boil and argh, enough tangents, it's the end of my shift. Here's the tweet with details of Styczeń's plans to update the game.

As discussed in follow-up tweets, Slavic Magic are also working to "improve the sawpit efficiency / storage" and targeting another bug that stops people playing in free mode. If you're experiencing crashes, Slavic Magic point out that you might need to update your graphics card drivers - surely, the devtips equivalent of "you're holding that pitchfork by the forky end". What next, turning the PC off and on again?

It's quite funny to follow reports of technical issues on social media inasmuch as some of the "issues" are just faithful representations of medieval economics and agriculture - I say, like I know the slightest thing about either of these things. For instance, one player frets that their farmers have stopped harvesting fields in November, switching over to plowing and seeding. The developer comments that this is, in fact, correct and proper farmerly behaviour: fields need to be ploughed if they're going to be harvested the following year. No magic beans round this neighbourhood, you bloody townies!

Even as capering fopdoodles like me make fun of people who have advertised their humiliating ignorance of crop rotation on social media, our industrious guides writers are tilling the soil of Manor Lords and reaping a fresh harvest of how-to pages. If you're having trouble with any particular aspect of the game, you might want to check our Manor Lords beginner's guide, which walks the player through their opening year as Manor Lorder, and ends with some suggestions about what to do in year two. More advanced players may prefer these Manor Lords tips and tricks, aimed at all skill levels. Or you can take a page from the book of Nic Reuben and stalk an ox.

There's no launch date for the first Manor Lords patch, but I imagine it's just "when it's ready". If you're wondering whether to buy, Nic did take some time out from his busy schedule of cattle-bothering to write a Manor Lords review.