Hooded Horse has announced that Long Jaunt’s noble family management game, Norland, has re?ached Patch 26. This one might be the largest yet, as it adds family trees, new NPCs, and �pe??rhaps most notably �an overhaul to the world map.

Norland launched into early access in kind of rough shape. The framework was there, but I found it to be unbalanced and required too much juggling to really enjoy. As I described it in my early access review, none of its facets have any time to breathe, leading to things breaking do??wn.

Since the time I played it, the devs have been hitting it hard and fast with updates to address player concerns. The gusto is admirable. I haven’t jumped back into the game since my initial encounter, but? I have seen certain tweaks that seem like they would make things more palatable. Things like cutting down on the amount of babysitting the peasants need.

Here’s what information I have on the update: “The latest update for Norland completely overhauls the world map with new sprites, more topology, and more regional diversity. Players will start each game battling for control over a single region before transitioning to the “world�stage and fighting over nation-states of different cultures. The overall map size is also bigger now, and a previous patch allows players to compel nearby vassals to tackle distant issues, freeing their own nobles to focus on matters closer to home.�/p>

On top of that, an added family tree means you can keep track of your lineage so that, I don’t know, you can keep second cousins from m?arrying each other. If you can stop them. There are also new “guest�NPC characters such as cultists and pilgrims. I’m not sure why “guest�is in quotes, but that’s how it is in the press release.

Norland is currently?? in Early Access and available on PC. Also, it's on sale?? for 35% until December 4, 2024.

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Publisher Hooded Horse and developer Long Jaunt have released a road map for their noble house simulation game, Norland. The plans stretch from now until October, outlinin??g what will be added to the Early? Access title.

This month will have focus on optimization, graves, and archers. S??eptember is more optimization, ranged towers, and “unique guests.�Finally, October is when we’ll see city walls and gates, barons, and usurpers.

I’m not sure how barons will come into play, but another tier of noble would definitely be appreciated. Usurpers sound interesting since Norland’s big gameplay hook is a Rimworld-like system of generation where stories develop from a chaotic interplay of the game’s mechan??ics.

I previewed Norland before its Early Access launch. I found that it suffered heavily from a lack of balance and progression. I wasn’t alone, as the Steam reviews show that it has a 77% positi?ve “Mixed�rating. However, the developers have taken community feedback and made significant changes over a vast number of patches and updates (they’re on patch 17). I haven’t jumped back in to see how it affects my opinion of the game, since I want to let it marinate for a bit, ?but I have seen some of the issues I had with it get adjusted.

It’s hard to say if Norland will eventually become recommended playing �and city walls aren’t going to be the fix it needs �but the developers are clearly listening and putting in the work to get it in shape. And to be clear, it isn’t that bad, it just isn’t where it needs to be. The core concept of Crusader Kings meets Rimworld is a tantalizing one, and there are some great ideas foun??d in the execution, so hopefully, it won’t be long before?? it reaches its potential.

Norland is available now for PC via Steam Early Access.

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I tend to play The Sims as a storyteller. I like to create unique characters and guide them through their lives in the most entertaining w?ay possible, even if I’m the only one benefiting from that entertainment. However, I’ve always liked to do so while also utilizing the game??’s own events to move things along.

It’s collaborative storytelling with the game itself. Rimworld took this concept in a more literal direction. It’s not just a survival game but also one where stories develop. You, as a player, have a hand in how your colonists react to their environment, but it’s the lack of control that defines it as an experience. I’m obviously not the only one who saw the appeal, since Rimworld has since inspired all kinds of games, including Norland.

Norland is Rimworld meets Game of Thrones meets Crusader Kings. It takes the essential colony mechanics from Rimworld while moving it to a fantasy realm w?here you contr?ol a noble family. But something in that equation is confused.

While Norland takes its inspiration from Rimworld, the two aren’t entirely similar. Norland ties in an additional layer of strategy, as well survival city build??er mechani??cs.

You have direct control of the noble family, and you have to keep not only them happy, but also the peasants under them. You need to build up your kingdom’s infrastructure and production, gather wealth, and deal with the oth?er?? territories around you.

The key ingredient here, ho?wever, is the members of your noble house have some autonomy. They have nee??ds that include food, drink (alcohol), sleep, sex, and faith, as well as desires. If you’re not providing for them, they’ll sometimes go and satisfy their needs themselves. Right now, this mostly manifests in one of your house members paying for sex from a peasant, which may result in the birth of a bastard.

There’s also a complex-ish social system. On one h??and, it’s straightforward where if you get two characters to spend time with each other, they’ll start to like each other more. But then there’s prejudices and envy. Right now, envy only seems to take the form of wanting more rings than another person, while prejudices seem to be preset involving race. It’s simple enough that you might know what a situation needs to be resolved, but complex enough to where it will sometimes piss you off.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of my characters starting to hate each other. When it works, it’s fun. One situation had ?a lord and his spouse s?tart butting heads in conversation (which seems random) and that led to a sexless marriage. One cheated on the other, which resulted in a bastard, and that led to attempted murder and a huge rift in the family. That’s awesome.

Less awesome is managing their fucking rings. Their rings are a symbol of status. Except they’re expensive and tough to come by and exchange. I get that the royal coffers wouldn’t always be full enough to make every member of the family feel pretty, but considering the characters get bitchy enough about it to completely stop working and cause a breakdown in your economy which makes everyone, including your peasants, miserable, while y??ou’re waiting for a trader to show up so you can unload enough rutabagas before realizing that you’re unable to buy enough rings for your king to reward them; that’s annoying.

It would be less annoying if everything wasn’t always so pressing. My biggest issue with Norland is that nothing gets to breathe. You are constantly keeping plates spinning: bandits, peasants, cutthroats, other kingdoms, the economy, your family, prisoners, trading, politics, upgrades, production. All the while, you have a finite number of clan members to keep things running, and even balancing their social life, their wants, their jobs, and the?ir needs is a full-time job. This is because, as I mentioned, if they get pissy enough, they’ll just stop working and start fucking the peasants, which causes a bi?gger breakdown.

I tried to get a successful colony going in Norland four times. I'd never quite fail, but I'd get annoyed enough to start over. Each time, I’d reassess my priorities and go in looking to be more successful, but each time, I’d get hours in before I realized I just wasn’t having fun, even when things were going well. E?verything would happen all at once. I’d take my eyes off the political map, and my neighbors would get aggressive. I’d focus on keeping the nobles off of the peasants, and peasant?s would turn into murderous criminals. And no matter what I prioritized, it came at the expense of something that nobody was willing to go without.

Everything was always happening at once. When things went wrong, it gave no time to recover. It never really rewards you, it just gives you more problems. Norland never gave me a mom??ent to just enjoy what was happening.

Norland is a game with a clear goal and plenty of good ideas. However, it needs a severe change in balancing. Certain systems need to be tweaked, streamlined, or upgraded. It is difficult to know where to start, because the issue is in the interplay between all its different facets. It’s not impossible, but if I’m feeling overwhelmed thinking about it as a player, I ca??n only imagine what it would be like as a developer.

Norland is launching into Early Access, which is clearly where it be??longs. There’s a lot of game there right now to the point where you could be fooled into thinking it’s essentially a complete product. However, beyond expanding what is there, Long Jaunt will need to collect and address a lot of player feedback to turn? it into an enjoyable experience. For now, I wouldn’t let it into your bed.

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As part of the Triple-i Initiative stream, Hooded Horse has announced that Long Jaunt’s medieval colony sim Norland, will ?be hitting Steam Early Access on May 16, 2024.

Norland bills itself as a story generator and compares itself to Rimworld and Crusader Kings. You manage an “up-and-coming�noble family? as they manage their domain. You have to help them navigate various intrigue including feuds, power struggles??, and other such treachery driven by human folly. Meanwhile, you must also manage a medieval kingdom and keep the unwashed masses complacent while you leech off their hard work.

The press release also says, “Absorb knowledge and technology from books, rewrite them, or create entirely new works,�which sounds amazing. Spreading misinformation is all? the rage these days with the cool kids.

This mostly makes me upset that I never got into Rimworld and Crusader Kings if this is how they are. I like games where story just kind of organically develops. I play The Sims for the stories that I both create and help my hapless victims navigate. I can certainly see the influence here, as even the art-style is somewhat evocative of Rimworld.

Norland releases on PC via Steam Early ?Access on May 16, 2024.

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