City States: Medieval news & patch notes

Hey everyone,

First, thank you once again for all your feedback, bug reports, and continued patience.

Today’s update fixes the last remaining major crash issue - specifically, the infamous loading-screen crash, which has finally been resolved.

This crash usually affected players during longer sessions, particularly when repeatedly switching between the world map and RTS mode.

This issue took months to resolve. We tried one possible solution after another before finally identifying the real cause: the game was gradually running out of video memory. While the cause may sound simple, the solution was anything but.

Previously, the crash could occur after only two or three transitions between the world map and RTS mode, making longer sessions extremely frustrating. After the latest fixes, the game can now handle these transitions reliably during normal gameplay.

I do have to mention that it is still possible to encounter a crash after playing nine or ten large city battles within the same session. However, this requires so many hours of continuous play that it should almost never occur during regular gameplay.

A special thank-you goes to everyone who submitted crash logs, save files, and detailed descriptions of this issue. That information was instrumental in finally tracking down and resolving this terrible engine bug.

Thank you for helping us make the game better.

Now, let’s take a look at the other changes and additions included in today’s update:

Stability Fixes

• Fixed the loading-screen crash.

• Fixed a rare crash during combat.

• Fixed a rare crash on startup.

• Improved overall performance.

• Fixed an issue that could cause some graphics cards to overheat.

AI Improvements

• The AI will now train more units during RTS battles.

• Defending AI armies will now build more siege weapons on city walls.

• Significantly improved how the AI handles the defense of large towns.

• Greatly improved AI unit progression during sieges.

• Ranged AI units will now advance properly during sieges.

Other Fixes and Balancing

• Improved the default RTS camera view, making units easier to see.

• Reduced and normalized the RTS camera rotation speed.

• Improved the Chinese translation.

• Fixed excessively long pauses between sentences in the Chinese voice-over.

• Reduced the damage dealt by ship-mounted catapults.

• Updated the Call to Arms flag description.

• Improved the quality of mounted-unit portraits for all cultures.

• Novgorod and Granada now display the correct hero portraits in RTS mode.

• Reduced the number of citizens in Genoa, making the city less crowded and improving performance.

Hey Everyone,

How is City States different from our previous games?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions, so let’s dive into it.

First, a small disclaimer: this is a passion project. I handle most of the development myself, with two helpers. It is not profitable and does not come close to minimum wage.

My goal is to improve and expand with every new title. Each game explores a different historical period and tells a new campaign story (one of my favorite parts of development is researching and learning about these eras).

City States: Medieval is designed both for players who have spent many hours with our previous games and for those discovering them for the first time.

It is a major evolution of our previous games rather than a complete reinvention. This is a common approach in the strategy genre, especially for a very small indie project.

Now, let’s look at some visual comparisons between Medieval Kingdom Wars, Knights of the Crusades, and City States: Medieval to highlight the improvements to the graphics and UI.

World Map - France

This shows same location on the world map from Medieval Kingdom Wars, Knights of the Crusades and City States, includes all the UI as well.

Medieval Kingdom Wars

Knights of the Crusades

City States: Medieval

RTS City

Here’s a look at same RTS city, including buildings and units. In City States: Medieval, every main player city has been redesigned from the ground up and is significantly larger than any city featured in our previous games.

Medieval Kingdom Wars

Knights of the Crusades

City States: Medieval

Other Stuff

The differences go far beyond updated graphics and a redesigned UI.

Most of the artwork is completely new, including the buildings and units. There is also much more variety: City States: Medieval features 35 building types, compared with 14 in Medieval Kingdom Wars, along with a significantly larger unit roster.

A few elements have been reused:

• Some sound effects remain the same, although these are barely noticeable. Sounds such as arrows, sword strikes, or an archer shouting “Fire arrows!” do not necessarily need to be replaced.

• Some artwork has been reused, including ship models and a few natural objects such as rocks and bushes. Ships saw very little use in our previous game, while naval gameplay is much more important here.

• Level design has been expanded and reworked, although some cities may still look familiar. Many of the original layouts were already based on real-world maps of locations such as Orléans and Dover.

Hey Everyone,

Time to take a look at today’s major update and how it significantly changes the mid and late game experience.

To start things off - any of the player`s armies can now engage in RTS combat, instead of requiring a hero. A hero`s presence in a city still allows that city to be defended, but now simply having an army near a city will do the same. This opens up a lot more strategy as your realm grows, especially once you start gaining colonies and distant holdings.

For example, you can now keep one army near your Home City, while another army protects your colonies in the Holy Land. It is also now viable to build up cities focused entirely on economy, while using a nearby army as the garrison in case of a siege.

Call to Arms and Lord Management have also been reworked from the ground up. Calling lords to defend or attack areas now works reliably and quickly, and lords become a powerful force in the mid to late game. Managing lord stances, summoning armies, and asking lords for silver is now an important strategic part of the campaign.

This update also includes major tutorial and localization improvements, along with various other fixes and polish. The patch notes below only cover the main-level changes.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for this update:

New RTS Battle Rules

• Any of the player`s 5 armies can now engage in RTS combat

• Inviting any army to a city without a hero also enables RTS combat

• Rebalanced the game to support the strategy of keeping armies near cities in different regions as garrisons

Reworked Call to Arms

• Calling lords to defend or attack an area now works much more reliably

• Fixed all issues with lords not sending armies after Call to Arms

• When a lord`s army arrives at the player-set coordinates, it will patrol the area and look for enemies

Reworked Lord Management

• Greatly increased the price of setting a lord`s stance to Serve in the Diplomacy menu

• Lords in Serve stance will create a new army within 2-4 months and await commands

• Lords now generate silver several times faster

• Asking lords for silver from time to time is now a viable strategy

• Greatly increased the price of summoning lords to defend or attack an area

New RTS Enter Town Rules

• Player can now enter a town if a hero is in an army near the city

• Transferring a hero to the city also allows the player to enter the town

Tutorial Improvements

• Major improvements to the tutorial in all localized languages

• All languages now use the same wording in both tooltips and objectives

• Reworked tutorial translation to be error-free in all languages

• Fixed major tutorial issue when starting it from a pop-up after clicking the Granada or Novgorod campaign

• Fixed lag when training four peasants during the tutorial while building repairs were in progress.

• Updated the messenger’s voice acting in the tutorial.

• Relaxed the troop-type requirements for completing certain tutorial objectives.

• Fixed an issue where the player’s army could not enter RTS combat after completing the Siege of Savona without restarting the game.

• The tutorial will no longer rearrange the player’s buildings after Genoa is developed for the first time.

Other Fixes of Note

• Fixed issues with gates not auto-closing when a city is under attack

• Fixed issues with gates sometimes being closed after entering a city

• Various localization corrections

• Mouseover of trade goods on the world map now shows correct backgrounds

• Improved the look of trade goods tooltips

• Reduced the number of citizens in Genoa, making the city less crowded and improving performance.

• Improved the starting position of the player’s army near Genoa to prevent overlapping banners from obscuring or confusing army selection.

• Reduced world map music volume slightly, allowing voice acting and sound effects to stand out more clearly.

• Reduced RTS camera rotation speed.

• Fixed the Novgorod and Granada heroes displaying incorrect names in the campaign.

Hey everyone,

After all the work over the past few months, we`re finally in a much happier place with City States - from performance and visuals to gameplay. The game has come a long way during Early Access, and your reports, feedback, and support have helped a lot along the way.

This week`s update continues that work, with a focus on world map performance, visual improvements, camera scrolling, and additional campaign polish.

The biggest part of this update is a major improvement to world map performance. Most systems should now see a noticeable FPS increase on the world map, along with smoother scrolling and reduced lag during movement.

We`ve also improved the look of the world map, especially during winter. Trees have received new art and animations, along with better performance handling, helping the campaign map both look and run better.

This update also includes additional campaign polish, UI improvements, AI improvements, cinematic fixes, and another round of balancing work across research, resources, and the campaign economy.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for this update:

Performance Improvements

• Greatly improved World Map performance

• Most systems will gain 10-15 FPS on the World Map

• Fixed various issues with lag during map scrolling

Visual Improvements

• Improved the look of World Map trees during winter

• Greatly improved art for World Map fir trees

• New animations for World Map fir trees

• Improved World Map performance with updated fir trees

Other Improvements

• Greatly reduced camera scrolling deceleration effect

• Camera scrolling has been greatly improved in many regards

• Faster World Map scroll speed

• Can no longer build Trebuchets on Genoa towers during the tutorial without research

• Main menu welcome message rewritten

• Improved main menu news and welcome message windows

• AI now constructs proper field tent buildings in its army camps

• AI now constructs army camp buildings faster when attacking

• During attacks on Home City, AI will now have time to construct buildings and train at least some replacement units

Campaign Work

• Tutorial Chapter 1 - additional polish

• Tutorial Chapter 5 - if the player recruits the wrong unit by mistake, the tutorial can still continue

• Victory and defeat cinematics now properly hide World Map town banners

• Victory and defeat cinematics no longer lag on the World Map

• Various improvements to campaign scripted attack on Genoa

Balancing

• Rebalanced a lot of research technology costs

• A lot more research technologies now require trade goods

• Stone is now a lot harder to acquire

• Stone Mine and Masonry income reduced by 40%

• Price to buy Stone on town markets increased by 30%

Hey everyone,

We have another update for you this week, focused on three main areas: the tutorial, world map visuals, and world map performance.

The biggest part of this update is a major rework of the tutorial. The prologue and first half hour of the game have been redesigned, a lot of dialogue has been shortened, voice acting has been re-recorded where needed, and the early Genoa and world map chapters have received a lot of improvements.

We`ve also made several visual improvements to the world map. The map should now look better overall, with improved distant rendering, better handling of town buildings, cleaner cinematics, and fixes for several visual issues around the horizon and edge of the screen.

Finally, this update includes another major world map performance pass. Winter and snow should now run much better, scrolling should feel smoother, and world map loading has been slightly improved.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for this update:

Reworked Tutorial

• Major redesign of the tutorial prologue

• First half hour has been completely redesigned

• Tutorial no longer features the Acre sequence

• A lot of dialogue has been shortened

• All adjusted dialogue voice acting has been re-recorded

• A lot of improvements to the first World Map chapter

• A lot of improvements to the Building Up Genoa chapter

• Improved World Map level design of the Holy Land

• Fixed various issues with custom saves and resuming the tutorial

World Map Improvements

• Improved World Map appearance

• Disabled LODs for World Map trees for now

• Fixed issue with houses in towns changing appearance when scrolling

• Lowest zoom-in camera now looks better, with more visible far-distance rendering

• Fixed issue where the World Map horizon looked strange

• Fixed issue with World Map objects disappearing at the edge of the screen

• Campaign cinematics now end with correct shadows and max draw distance

• Better handling of World Map house LODs

Performance Improvements

• Finished major World Map performance improvement pass

• Snow on the World Map now lags a lot less

• Greatly improved World Map performance during winter

• Reduced World Map tree texture sizes to help with stability

• Improved scrolling lag on the World Map

• Small improvement to World Map loading speed

Hey Everyone,

We have another solid update for you this week - focused mostly on UI improvements, especially on the world map.

The biggest part of this update is the reworked Trade Goods UI. The world map trade goods bar is now cleaner, easier to read, and shows more useful information, including monthly production and trade agreement consumption.

We`ve also reworked the Resources UI, with a major round of fixes to income and upkeep tracking. Tax income, base income, and happiness bonuses should now be shown much more clearly and accurately.

In addition, this update includes a lot of balancing work, especially around battle food drain, looting, naval combat, AI unit training, siege weapons, livestock, and mid to late game wood economy.

There are also several important bug fixes, including fixes for Home City recruitment, RTS wall defense construction, and world map building options, along with some new art polish for mounted unit portraits, Muslim stone towers, and campaign map terrain.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #5:

Reworked Trade Goods UI

• World Map Trade Goods bar has been reworked to be cleaner and show a lot more information

• Shows how many trade goods are being produced monthly

• Mouse over a trade good to see city production and trade agreement consumption

• Trade goods text is now easier to read on the world map

• Trade Goods bar no longer shows 0 for goods the player does not have

Reworked Resources UI

• Major round of fixes to resource income and upkeep shown on the World Map Resources UI

• Tax income is now properly shown

• Fixed issue with how base income was added and tracked

• Fixed issue with tracked values increasing when a city or army is opened

• Added tracking for happiness bonuses to silver, food, wood, and stone production

Fixes and Additions

• Fixed major issue with armies being unable to recruit units from the Home City

• Fixed RTS wall defense construction - Ballista and Catapult could be built without research

• Level 3 trade buildings now have a Disable option on the world map

• In naval combat, ship catapults can now be targeted by melee units

• On the world map, hero portraits on hamlets are now much larger - players can no longer lose track of the hero

• Game speed is now much easier to see in both RTS mode and on the world map

Major Balance Changes

• Player can now loot during battle, with silver going over the cap

• Food drain in battles increased by 25% - more attention is now required to food during sieges

• In naval combat, the more siege weapons the player army has, the more siege catapults will spawn

• During combat, AI will train new units much faster

• During siege combat, progressing quickly and destroying AI buildings is now key to stopping them from training more units

Other Balancing Changes

• Swordsmen can no longer be trained by Western culture with just a Mustering Hall - Barracks are now required

• Livestock now generates 20% less food over time in RTS mode

• Corrected cost of some trade goods buildings to only require wood and stone, not silver

• Fixed issue with some trade goods building upgrade costs being extremely low

• Siege weapons now have higher wood upkeep, adding more pressure to the mid to late game wood economy

Art Updates

• Reworked and improved portraits of mounted Western units

• Mounted portraits no longer show low-poly horse models

• Improved the art of Muslim stone wall towers

• Polish to campaign map terrain

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Hey everyone,

We have another big update for you this week - and the main focus is balancing.

This update makes major improvements to trade, diplomacy, AI attacks, research prices, unit upkeep, building upkeep, food consumption, loot rewards, and the overall campaign economy. Trade routes should now feel more rewarding, rare goods like Silk and Spice are more valuable in the right markets, and trade agreements have been improved across many nations.

Home City recruitment also received a major upgrade. Home Cities now offer many more world map recruitment options, can create hamlet units like Horse Carts and Livestock, and have updated unit rosters for Slavic, Muslim, and Western cultures.

We`ve also added several UI improvements, especially for RTS mode and the world map. Units and buildings now show more useful information, including upkeep, happiness, and bonuses, while trade and recruitment windows now pause the game outside of the tutorial.

In addition, this update includes stronger campaign pacing, revised building progression, better hamlet defenses, and several important Home City and world map fixes.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #4:

Home City Unit Recruitment

• Home City now gives a lot more world map unit recruitment options, up to 30

• Home City can now also create hamlet units, like Horse Carts and Livestock

• Changed the roster of units for Slavic, Muslim, and Western cultures

• Added Siege Ram to world map recruitment for Western and Slavic factions

• Town Hall units trained on the world map now use the Town Hall`s level

Other New Features

• Increasing building level now reduces upkeep

• Level 5 hamlets now allow outer stone wall construction in RTS and on the world map for non-Slavic nations

• Newly created armies now start with more units: 2 Peasants, 2 Horse Carts, and 1 Cow

UI Improvements

• In RTS mode, units now show upkeep when mousing over the unit portrait

• In RTS mode, buildings now show upkeep, happiness, and other bonuses when mousing over a building icon

• Trade windows on the world map now pause the game when opened, except during the tutorial

• Recruit Units window on the world map now pauses the game when opened, except during the tutorial

• Reworked happiness tooltip for world map town UI

• Happiness tooltip now explains that happy citizens produce more resources, while unhappy citizens stop all work

Trade Balancing

• Major rebalancing and polish to the city trade system

• Major rebalancing and polish to city trade agreements

• A lot more cities now pay great prices for Silk and Spice

• Buying common goods in Western Europe and selling them in the Middle East is now a lot more profitable

• Long-distance trade routes, like selling Silk and Spice in faraway English markets, are now a lot more profitable

• A lot more variety in goods purchased and sold around cities in the Mediterranean

• Reworked a lot of trade agreements for various nations - they now seek rare goods more often, like Spice and Silk

• Trade agreements now generate up to 30% more income

• Major trade goods production rebalance - building upkeep reduced by 30% on average

AI Balancing

• Rebalanced the frequency of AI attacks on the player on the world map

• Primary enemies like Pisa will attack the player about one third less often

• Other nations that the player goes to war with will now attack more often

Other Balancing

• Reduced silver upkeep for Swordsmen

• Increased silver upkeep for Crossbowmen, Longbowmen, and Veteran Crossbowmen

• Increased food consumption of basic infantry and ranged units

• Revised research prices - they no longer require huge amounts of trade goods for late-game technologies

• Increased RTS construction time for all trade goods buildings

• Greatly reduced Renown income from churches, Herbalists, and other buildings

• Reduced population upset from various buildings like Silver Mines, Lumber Camps, etc.

• Looting corpses now generates mostly silver instead of silver and wood

• Looting corpses now gives 3-5X more silver, depending on unit tier

Bug Fixes

• Fixed various issues with disabled buildings on the world map

• Added a lot more spawn markers for Home Cities in the worker category

• Fixed a bug in Home City where workers could appear far away from the Town Hall on level load

Hey everyone,

We have another large update for you this week - focused on several new features, critical tutorial fixes, and balance improvements.

The biggest part of this update is another round of major tutorial fixes. Most importantly, the Siege of Savona instant-loss issue has been fixed. Really sorry again to everyone who ran into this bug. Building up Genoa should now continue properly from the world map, and several research-related tutorial issues have also been addressed.

This update also adds new research limits. Players can now only research two technologies at a time by default, while constructing additional Academy buildings increases how many technologies can be researched at once.

We`ve also added new city happiness and productivity rules. Cities now stop producing resources and trade goods if happiness drops below -50, while cities with happiness above +50 will produce 50% more resources and trade goods.

Diplomacy has also been rebalanced so it doesn`t become too easy in the late game. As the campaign progresses, the cost of diplomatic actions will increase, and depending on player growth, these costs can double or even triple over several campaign years.

In addition, this update includes late-game balancing, stronger defenses for Pisa, improved siege camp construction speed, reduced battle food drain, reduced trade agreement income, rain sounds, level design changes for Cagliari and Pisa, and a number of other fixes.

We`ve also made some solid performance improvements, with better FPS on the world map and in larger city maps.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #3:

Feature - Research Limits

• Players can now only research two technologies at a time

• To increase the research queue, players need to construct additional Academy buildings

• Updated art and description for the Academy building

Feature - City Happiness Productivity

• Cities now stop producing trade goods and regular resources if happiness is below 50

• Cities now produce 50% more resources and trade goods if happiness is above +50

Feature - Diplomacy Balancing

• Major rebalance of diplomacy so it doesn`t become too easy in the late game

• Costs of all diplomatic actions increase as the campaign goes on

• Depending on player growth, diplomatic action costs can double or triple within a few campaign years

Major Tutorial Fixes

• Fixed a major issue with the Siege of Savona resulting in an instant loss (terribly sorry for this bug, everyone!)

• Building up Genoa can now be successfully continued from the world map

• Fixed all issues with research in the tutorial

• Tutorial - fixed a common bug with Genoa having stone walls before they are built

Late Game Balancing

• Battle food drain is now better balanced for large late game armies

• Lowered battle food drain by about 30% on average

• Trade Agreement income nerfed so it is not OP in the late game

• In general, trade agreements now generate 25% less income

Performance Improvements

• Major improvement to world map FPS +15 FPS

• Significant performance improvement in large city maps +8 FPS

Other Fixes

• Fixed a lot of issues with continuing to build up Genoa

• Fixed issue with trade buildings constructed in large cities not generating trade goods

• Fixed issue with overwriting auto-saves when creating a new campaign but not starting it

• Updated message box to better handle longer strings

• Changed level design of the city of Cagliari

• Changed level design of the city of Pisa

• Fixed potential crash during the big Pisan attack on Genoa (removed 2nd belfry)

• Tutorial polish for Acre segment - Marco is stronger

• Rain now comes with rain sounds

Other Balancing

• Gives player a bit more time to recover when food runs out in a battle

• Player`s siege camp is now constructed much faster than regular walls

• Greatly increased silver upkeep for trade goods-producing buildings

• Increased upkeep of Academy

• Big Pisan attack on Genoa as part of Genoan campaign quests now comes with a much stronger army

• City of Pisa now has a much stronger garrison

Hey Everyone,

We`re excited to release a major update today - and it truly is a game changer.

The biggest part of this update is a complete solution for the last common crashing issue. I`m glad to say that the last major stability issue has finally been addressed.

This update also introduces two new major features. Lord`s Armies now make newly created armies feel more personal, with each new army belonging to the lord who is fielding it, complete with unique lord portraits on the world map.

We`ve also added the Global Market to the Trade Menu. This allows you to instantly buy or sell trade goods for silver, though at very unfavorable exchange rates - very useful in emergencies.

But what really makes it a game changer is the completely reworked mid to late game and combat economy, including re-balanced unit costs and siege economy.

In addition, there are dozens of other improvements, fixes and polish across the board.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports, feedback, and support during Early Access!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #2:

New Feature - Lord`s Armies

• Every new army created now belongs to the lord who is fielding that army

• New armies show that lord`s portrait and name when selected

• New armies show the lord`s portrait on the world map by the army

• If main hero is transferred into the lord`s army - his portrait is shown

• Transferring hero out of the army shows Steward`s portrait

• Note - above changes only affect newly created armies or new campaigns

• Different lord portraits are now shown in attack window when inviting armies

New Feature - Global Market

• Global Market can be accessed from the world map trade menu

• Global Market allows instant purchase and sale of trade goods, but at very bad rates

• Added tooltips with detailed explanation of trade menu and global market

Final Fix for Crashing

• Completely reworked engine`s handling of lighting to resolve rare crashes

• Fixed all possible loading screen crash cases, including extremely rare instances

• Resolved last common crash issue during world map load affecting some systems

Siege Combat Balancing

• Rebalanced food drain during combat - to be significantly higher

• During siege battle player must set up food gathering in the camp

• Combination of livestock and Hunter Lodges required to feed the army

• Hunter Lodge income increased during battles

• Sieges with two armies and higher-tier units require several livestock/hunter lodges

Mid to Late Game Balancing

• Major rebalance of mid to late game economy

• Fixed issues with player accumulating too many resources in late game

• Major rebalance of higher-tier unit costs and upkeep

• Mid-tier units like bowmen or swordsmen are now on average 1.5x more expensive and have higher upkeep

• High-tier units like longbowmen and knights are now 2x more expensive

Other Balancing Changes

• Rebalanced auto-resolve victories, on average 50% less now - was giving too many resources

• Redesigned importance of growing citizen population for tax income

• Taxes from cities increased by nearly 80%, making citizen management more important

• Genoan campaign now starts with 3 trade routes - forcing player to capture more ports

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug with some city siege army camp plots showing city plots

• Fixed visual issues with some hamlet terrain not showing grass

• Fixed wrong tooltips shown in non-English languages for some buttons

• Fixed some text in German localization showing in English

• Pisan scripted attack on Genoa now comes with a proper strong army

• Fixed peasants not spawning in naval combat - can now properly loot

Other Changes

• Updated Loot and Plunder message to clearly indicate victory

• Time to loot after battle increased from 2 to 3 minutes

• Improved the look of Research window - especially positioning

• Tutorial - Acre battle polish

• Reworked tooltips for all main world map menus

• New world map menu tooltips go over all features

• Improved icon and tooltip for Global Market

• All new text localized in the 7 supported languages

Hey Everyone,

Thanks again for your continued support and invaluable feedback during City States launch week! We’re thrilled with the engagement since our Early Access launch and excited to present the first big official update.

To start things off, this update greatly reduces crashes during loading screens. We’ll keep monitoring reports, but this should make the game much more stable.

We’ve also fixed several campaign progression issues, including getting stuck while recruiting a second Lord/army, and the Milan Tar objective being blocked by trade good limits.

There are several visual improvements as well, including major upgrades to desert cities, and palisade walls - including new art.

One of the larger gameplay additions in this patch is a new trade balancing system. Cities now have limits on how much they can buy or sell at one time. Merchants need time to restock their wares, and cities only have so much demand for certain trade goods during each period. This should make trade feel more natural, prevent unlimited buying and selling, and add more strategy to planning trade routes.

Finally, we’ve included a number of smaller fixes based on issues reported by players on the forums.

And once again - thank you so much for the reports and feedback!

And now, here are the full notes for Update #1:

• Greatly reduced crashes during loading screens

• Improved overall game stability across several systems

• Fixed major issue with Novgorod and Granada campaign - unable to attack/time passing

• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the quest to recruit a second Lord

• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck while creating a second army

• Fixed an issue where the Milan Tar objective could become blocked by trade good limits

• Temporarily disabled the day and night cycle in RTS, gradually introducing new light values

• Major visual improvements to desert cities

• New design for palisade towers transforming the look of palisade walls

• Added limits to how much a city can buy or sell at one time

• Cities now need time to restock resources and trade goods

• Cities now have limited demand for trade goods during each trade period

• Improved the look and spacing of Marcos` melee formation used in Acre

• New players now need to complete the Republic of Genoa tutorial campaign before unlocking Novgorod or Granada

• Research window no longer displays trade goods or global market information

• Trade goods and global market information are now shown only in the Trade window

• Improved spacing of desired goods in Diplomacy to properly support up to 5 items

Build Your City State

City States: Medieval puts you in command of a single large city, guiding it toward dominance not just through war or expansion, but through vast trade networks and diplomacy. And with great wealth comes the ability to raise powerful mercenary armies and defend your city state against enormously powerful kingdoms that look upon your coffers with jealousy.

Trade, Politics, and Survival

Balance prosperity and survival in a world of shifting alliances, rival lords, and looming conflict. Build up production chains, secure valuable resources, and establish trade to strengthen your position. Defend your lands in real-time battles, command your forces in sieges and open warfare, and navigate the political struggles that define the medieval age.

Real-Time Warfare on a Medieval Scale

When conflict comes, it comes in force. City States: Medieval features large-scale real-time battles, sieges, and city defense, where your planning on the world map carries directly into war. Raise armies, defend your lands, assault enemy strongholds, and fight for survival in a world where power is never secure for long. Military force matters - but so does preparation, economy, and timing.

A Living Story-Driven Sandbox

At the heart of City States: Medieval is a grounded medieval sandbox shaped by your choices. Story-driven events, hero-led missions, and evolving campaigns give structure and flavor to the world, while still letting you forge your own path.

You can focus on trade, expansion, diplomacy, warfare, or a balance of all four. Every campaign becomes its own story, shaped by the cities you build, the alliances you keep, and the enemies you make.

The Path Ahead

Over the coming months, I`ll be continuing to expand the game with frequent updates. That means more content, more campaign depth, more historical events, more polish, and more variety between nations and regions.

A lot of focus will go into making each faction feel more distinct in how it looks, plays, and develops - with continued work on units, visuals, mechanics, and story content across the map.

Join Us

Thank you for being here at launch - whether you`ve followed our previous games for years or just discovered City States: Medieval now.

I`ll be active on the Steam forums, in the in-game chat, and on Discord throughout launch week, so come say hi, share feedback, and let me know what you`d like to see next.

This is just the beginning for City States: Medieval - and I`m very glad to have you here for it.

Hey Everyone,

I`ve been getting a lot of questions about how City States: Medieval compares to our previous games - so let`s go over that.

And I have to mention that this is a passion project, with me handling most of the work and two others helping from time to time. It`s not profitable by any means and doesn`t even cover minimum wage.

The goal is to improve and expand with each new title. The game is for players who spent countless hours with our previous games, or for players who are just discovering this one and these who don`t grow tired of Medieval history.

Also, the majority (about 70%) of the game art is brand new in City States. For example, all of the buildings are new. New units as well.

There are major improvements on the technical side - earlier games had their share of engine problems, and many of those have finally been addressed.

Anywho - let`s take a look at some pretty pictures. We`ll be comparing a couple of locations from Medieval Kingdom Wars, Knights of the Crusades, and City States.

World Map - France

Okay, you got me—it’s almost exactly the same. I can barely spot four differences between these MKW, KotC and City States screenshots myself—showing the same location in the south of France.

Medieval Kingdom Wars

Knights of the Crusades

City States: Medieval

RTS - Muslim City

Yes it`s an evaluation, not a revolution. As for the gameplay difference - please check the demo:)

Medieval Kingdom Wars

Knights of the Crusades

City States: Medieval

🎉Very exciting news to share today! City States: Medieval officially has a release date — we’ll be launching in Early Access on April 20th!

We’re also part of the indie.io Franchise Sale, making this the perfect time to wishlist the game and follow along as we approach launch.

Build Your City State

City States: Medieval puts you in command of a growing medieval realm, where every street, workshop, and wall matters. Start with a modest settlement and guide it into a thriving city through careful planning, trade, and expansion. Manage the daily life of your people, develop your economy, and shape the destiny of your state in a living medieval world.

Trade, Politics, and Warfare

Balance prosperity and survival in a world of shifting alliances, rival lords, and looming conflict. Build up production chains, secure valuable resources, and establish trade to strengthen your position. Defend your lands in real-time battles, command your forces in sieges and open warfare, and navigate the political struggles that define the medieval age.

A Living Story-Driven Sandbox

Beyond city building, City States: Medieval offers a more grounded and immersive journey through the Middle Ages, with story-driven events, hero-led adventures, and meaningful choices that shape your path. Whether you focus on commerce, diplomacy, expansion, or war, your city state will grow according to the decisions you make and the challenges you overcome.

Lead your Republic

Don’t forget to Wishlist the game and join the Discord here as we march toward launch together.

👉 While you're here, be sure to check out some of the other great titles featured in the indie.io Franchise Sale!

See you at launch!

Hey Everyone,

I`ll be starting to share weekly development updates on City States: Medieval as we get closer to launch, and today I have quite a bit of news to share!

Development is now in its late stages, and we have recently wrapped up several major milestones.

With things progressing well, I am excited to share that the game is currently on track to launch into Early Access in April 2026.

A brand-new trailer is also in the works, and I look forward to sharing it soon, along with our official launch day.

An updated demo is coming as well, featuring major improvements based on player feedback, including visual upgrades, UI improvements, and broader polish across the game

If you're excited to try the updated demo, make sure to wishlist and follow the game so you’ll be notified when the update drops and when we reveal our official launch day.

As we get closer to that point, I also wanted to share a bit more about some of the work that has been happening behind the scenes during development. Over the course of production, we have reworked nearly every major art asset used in our previous games - from buildings and units to the overall visual presentation - while continuing to improve the UI and the overall gameplay experience. Alongside these improvements, we have also been refining some of the core systems that shape how the game is played.

One of the features I am most excited about is the new Hero system. In City States: Medieval, your hero is central not just to strategy, but to storytelling. This is a much more story-driven game, where your ruler shapes the fate of your city state both at home and abroad.

You might send your hero with an expeditionary force to the Holy Land to establish a trade outpost, secure the spice trade, or take part in a distant war. You might send them on a long voyage across the sea to meet the ruler of another kingdom and negotiate trade agreements or alliances. Or you may choose to keep your hero at home, leading the defense of your capital - whether that is Genoa, Granada, Novgorod, or another great city.

The hero also changes how you experience the game. When your hero is away, you rule mainly from the world map, giving high-level orders across your realm. But when your hero is present, you take direct control on the ground - fighting battles in person, defending your city, and managing it up close in full RTS view.

There is still more to reveal, and I`ll have additional news to share before long. Thank you for following the development and for all your support.

Hey Everyone,

Just in time for Steam Next Fests start - we`ve released a big updated City States: Medieval demo.

This updated build includes a lot of improvements across both visuals and gameplay, all-new voice acting, and much more. Thanks so much for all the feedback - everything reported was also addressed in the updated demo

There`s also a bunch of new media - with a brand new trailer, a new broadcast, and fresh screenshots live for Next Fest, so make sure to check those out as well.

And please keep the feedback coming - I`m replying to every forum post during Next Fest, so any ideas, suggestions, or bug reports are very welcome.

Thank you to everyone who`s been playing, sharing feedback, and wishlisting - it helps more than you know.

We hope we`ll see you again when the full game comes out and forever grateful for all the support!

We are excited to share that the City States: Medieval demo is now officially live.

This demo offers your first hands-on experience with the core vision of the game: a focused, historically grounded city-state strategy set around the year 1110, where trade, diplomacy, and careful management matter as much as military strength.

Designed as a complete, guided first experience, you will travel from the Holy Land to Italy, visit different cultures and cities, and naturally encounter trade, diplomacy, and warfare through a campaign centered on the Republic of Genoa.

The demo lasts several hours. Rather than being a limited or stripped-down preview, it functions as a walkthrough of what the full experience has to offer. It highlights most of the game’s major features and introduces players to the new mechanics that distinguish City States: Medieval from our previous titles.

Everything you see in the demo is real content from the game. For the full release, this same foundation will be further polished, with improved visual and audio quality throughout.

We invite you to try it and experience the journey for yourself.

Don’t forget to wishlist the game and join our Discord community to be notified the moment the game is released.

We’re excited to announce that City States: Medieval has formed a new partnership with indie.io, marking our third published game together. This is a big step for the project, and we’re thrilled to finally share it with you.

About City States: Medieval

City States: Medieval is a new strategy title built around the rise of powerful mercantile republics and frontier city-states, mixing deep economic gameplay with tactical battles, hero characters, and a living world map. Development began earlier this year after we wrapped major updates on our previous titles, and it’s been energizing watching this project grow into something truly unique. What keeps us going is seeing players respond to our mix of grounded history, city-building, and fast-paced strategy—and this game pushes that formula further than ever.

About Working With Publishers

For those of you who may not know, working with a game publishing platform like indie.io greatly helps indie developers focus on game development while they handle all the behind-the-scenes magic. From managing store pages to crafting marketing campaigns and helping the game shine at digital and live events, indie.io supports all the areas where small studios often struggle alone.

Why We Chose indie.io

We’ve worked with indie.io before, and choosing them again felt natural. They have a great track record with helping indie games reach more players, and other developers who’ve partnered with them have always spoken highly of their support. For City States: Medieval, we wanted a partner who could help bring the game to more gamers while we stay focused on building content, polishing systems, and delivering the strongest experience possible. Their team understands our vision and has been fantastic to collaborate with. If you’d like to explore more titles supported by our new publishing partner, check out the indie.io Steam Publisher Page here. 

Join Our Community & Support the Game

(INSERT STEAM PAGE LINK AND IT WILL CREATE A WIDGET FOR THE GAME HERE) 

Your support means everything. If you’re excited for City States: Medieval, make sure to:

• Wishlist and Follow the game on Steam, so you can be the first to find out when we drop our upcoming demo

• Join our Discord community to get news and keep up with development updates

These small actions help the game reach more players and strengthen our community as we move toward launch.

Thanks again for being here with us—this journey is only getting started.