Patch #42 (MAIN). A lot of general improvements and fixes

Hello everyone.

Today we’re rolling out Patch 42 to the main branch, adding a number of fixes and improvements. Nothing revolutionary, but that only makes next week’s patch more interesting.

Here’s what we’ve adjusted compared to the current beta:

Interface and hints

• Fixed the template for displaying residents’ thoughts in tooltips
• Fixed incorrect selection of statistically strong positive thoughts for the residents’ hint
• Character behavior and tasks
• Fixed a bug where characters would automatically wake up and get out of bed after loading a morning save, which prevented them from gaining inspiration
• Fixed a bug where an incapacitated lord could not be carried to the stone hall if one bed slot was already occupied
• Fixed a bug where a character’s menu would not open if they had a training task while the teacher was not present on the local map
• Growing up now resolves the issue of “the child does not receive training”

Economy and balance

• Fixed a bug where residents could buy nectar at any set price, effectively creating money out of thin air
• Fixed a bug where the “Offering to the King” action could cost 0 resources
• Player policies will no longer require attacks on the player’s hostile vassals

Battles and world map

• Characters in an army can no longer catch fire or receive burns from burning fortifications (gates, towers, etc.)
• Fixed multiple bugs in the battle simulation on the world map, where city garrisons and other factors were not taken into account when calculating victory chances and balance of power
• Archers now fire more slowly in simulated battles, and damage to gates and towers is dealt twice as fast — simulation results are now closer to manual battles
• Fixed a bug where retreating using the world map button with a vassal’s or ally’s army counted as an automatic victory
• Fixed a bug where editing an existing army allowed adding a lord who was already part of another army
• Fixed a crash that could occur after burning down the city of an alliance or vassalage leader
• Fixed the NO error that occurred when appointing a younger lord as a knight
• Fixed a bug where the “Puppet Uprising” button did not work

Sound

• Fixed a bug where battle preparation music would play simultaneously with battle music during a cultural uprising

And here are the Patch 42 contents (the remaining improvements compared to the main branch):

Full Changelog

Buildings and Assets

• Updated assets for buildings with plazas — Hall, Altar, Den, and Market. The plaza now occupies the entire building area without a half-tile margin.
• Characters can now enter the Temple through any door, not just the lower one.
• Updated model for the Chancellery.

Interface and Notifications

• Added an on-screen notification when a lord gains a romantic rival.
• Added a new filter in the Relations menu: “Spouses and Children.”
• The mercenary recruitment menu now displays soldier equipment; four mercenaries will have starting weapons and armor.
• Mercenary tooltips now show whether their contract has expired.
• Added tooltips and status messages for “Preach” and “Study Knowledge” actions, explaining their function and why they can’t be performed right now.
• If the player cannot cancel a command, the tooltip now specifies the reason.
• Added detailed explanations for why certain tasks cannot be forced.
• Fixed icon and number alignment in tooltips (e.g. gold amounts no longer break into separate lines).

Character Behavior, Orders, and AI

• Conspiracy activities are now marked as important — the player cannot override them.
• The cancellation event for conspiracies now includes the initiator’s name.
• Guest traits Schemer and Duelist are now displayed at the top of the trait list.
• Reworked the guest role “Duelist.”
• Tasks assigned by guests now appear in the task list of both the executor and the target.
• Duels are no longer considered “bad” — relations with the Matriarch won’t worsen if the duelist isn’t from the player’s faction.
• Updated the activity selection algorithm: bad mood or low hunger/sleep/rest no longer fully block actions; they’ll just happen less frequently.
• Task priority is now divided into three levels — assignment (low), self-initiated (high), and player command (highest).
• Knowledge study tasks now have higher priority so they aren’t interrupted by other lords.
• Dates are now only canceled when sex begins, not when the date starts.
• The Date button now checks for nervous breakdowns.
• Characters having a mental breakdown can no longer carry others.
• Guests with the Lothario role no longer flatter — they now spend time seducing.
• Guest tasks can no longer be forced.
• Removed the old character menu code (previously used for animals). Animals now use the standard character menu.
• Many orders now use the treasury instead of lords’ personal funds.
• Added a flag for “problematic” houses with negative comfort.
• Added positive and negative thoughts based on the distance between home and workplace.

Needs, Traits, and Actions

• Added a new Need task button — “Drink Alcohol,” shown when a character has the Alcohol Addiction trait and wants to drink.
• Added “Drink Nectar” for the Nectar Addiction trait.
• Added detailed explanations for why a character cannot perform an assigned “Study Knowledge” task.
• Added “Play Dice” for Gambler characters who aren’t currently thinking about playing.
• Reworked the needs satisfaction buttons (Eat, Sleep, Bribe Peasant for Sex) — they now appear only if the character has the matching trait and thought.
• Added explanations for why “Play Dice” cannot be performed.
• Inspiration is no longer gained from fulfilling a dream; it now appears when a lord wakes up with mood ≥ 90.

World, Crime, and Events

• Thugs can now rob the Hall, not just lord houses.
• Vagabonds now steal the most valuable non-equipment resources from warehouses and flee town; guards will attempt to stop any bandit leaving after a crime. If caught, all stolen goods go to the player’s warehouse.
• On Peaceful difficulty, a bandit camp will appear in the player’s province on Day 4 (once per save).
• After migration due to war ends, a bandit camp may appear in the player’s province if none exists.
• Bandit camps now attack every 3–5 days instead of 4–6.
• If a camp has 7+ bandits, one may join incoming migrants.
• The “Church is Displeased” counsel will no longer appear if “Matriarch Enraged” is active.
• Forest bandits attacking the player’s city will now steal gold from the Hall instead of resources.

Economy and World Map

• Book prices doubled.
• Reworked letters from unique guests, prophecies, and Inquisition warnings — now end with “Click to read the message.”
• If a vassal has walls, their military power counts as doubled when calculating rebellion chance. During rebellion, other vassals with relations < -25 will join with 100% chance, < -15 with 50%.
• Walls also double perceived strength in the “Might of Liege’s Army” thought.
• Removed the “Trade Agreement” thought (it’s now covered by daily trade relations).
• Vassals of different cultures now gain a negative thought toward their suzerain; if the culture is hostile, the effect is stronger. Added a tooltip warning about this when vassalizing.
• Tribute offerings now scale with the AI’s total army value.
• Added a new quest: “Demand to Remove Tribute.” It can appear if a vassal’s strength ≥ 50% of the player’s and relations < 0.
• Added “Remove Tribute” and “Restore Tribute” actions in vassal cities on the global map.
• Kings now gain a positive thought toward neighboring rulers of the same culture who are under a foreign king’s rule.
• Allies now send 100% of their troops (up from 70%) to assist other alliance members, keeping only a garrison behind.

Food, Addictions, and Misc. Balance

• Added negative thoughts from consuming flour and carrots (lords and soldiers only).
• The turnip thought is now 1.5× stronger and lasts twice as long for lords and soldiers on all difficulties.
• The meat thought is weaker and shorter.
• Alcohol thoughts are now half as strong for lords.
• Fixed bugs where characters rarely developed alcohol addiction from beer or moonshine.
• Fixed hangovers triggering only after beer, not moonshine or ale.
• Reduced flowers per bush from 3 to 2; daily regrowth chance lowered from 10% to 6.6%.
• Brewing now produces 1 ale per 1 flower and 1 hop (previously 2).
• Added negative interest modifier between characters with different counts of Holy Rings.
• Dice game stakes raised to 100 coins; win/loss thoughts now last 24 hours (up from 4) and are stronger.

Misc. Fixes

• Fixed a bug where ongoing global map orders were canceled after loading.
• Changing preferred social stratum now triggers job recalculation.
• Fixed king culture icon position when zooming out on the world map.
• Fixed error when pressing Q or E while all lords were on the opposite map layer.
• Fixed missing tooltip for “Punish” order when no scaffold was built.
• Fixed task progress indicators not appearing until reopening the city menu.
• Fixed lord capture and execution logic — lords no longer consider executions “dishonorable” if ordered by the king.
• Fixed self-targeting tasks (deposit/withdraw money, punishments).
• Fixed reward desire persisting after a character became king.