Hello, players of House of Legacy!
Since the release of the major update Echoes in History in April this year, we have officially entered the closed development phase for the full release (Version 1.0).
The development cycle for Version 1.0 has been quite long, and our team has been working tirelessly to push forward with development. We are currently focusing on expanding the gameplay systems related to foreign kingdoms. Today, we would like to give everyone an early look at the features currently under development and share our progress.
New Gameplay Features: Foreign Kingdoms System
We will be adding six foreign kingdoms to the world map, expanding the overall map size by more than 50%.
Each foreign kingdom will consist of a Royal Capital (representing the royal family), Tribes, and Barracks.
At the same time, the Empire will be able to establish institutions in these regions, such as Protectorate Offices, Pacification Offices, and Border Markets, creating a more complete system for managing relations with foreign powers.
I. Foreign Kingdom Royal Capitals
The Royal Capital represents the highest center of power within a foreign kingdom. It is the domain of the royal family, controlling its own population and armies.
The various attributes of a Royal Capital will directly influence diplomatic relations between the foreign kingdom and the Empire, including values such as Ambition and Submission.
Features:
1. Interact with members of the foreign royal family:
Players can visit and interact with members of the royal family. Unlike the previous fixed interaction system, interactions will now be driven by events, providing more dynamic diplomatic experiences. Each of the six foreign kingdoms will also receive a complete set of character portraits designed to represent their unique cultural identities.
2. Propose alliances with foreign kingdoms:
A new alliance system has been developed, including different alliance levels, alliance obligation mechanics, and alliance missions and objectives. Players will need to maintain their diplomatic commitments while benefiting from cooperation with foreign powers.
3. Arrange diplomatic marriages:
Players can establish alliances between the Empire and foreign kingdoms with diplomatic marriages.
4. Request royal hostages:
Players can request members of a foreign royal family to serve as hostages. However, the presence of a hostage will affect the probability that the foreign kingdom will initiate wars against the Empire.
5. Demand annual tribute from vassal states:
If a foreign kingdom has already become a vassal state, players can demand annual tribute. The amount of tribute can be adjusted by the player (Imperial Clan exclusive privilege). The quantity of tribute will also influence the foreign kingdom’s economic development.
6. Grant rewards to foreign royal families:
Players can reward foreign royal families to improve relations between the Empire and foreign kingdoms (Imperial Clan exclusive privilege).
7. Negotiate peace during wars:
If the two kingdoms are currently at war, players can initiate peace negotiations from this interface. (The alliance button will be replaced with a peace negotiation button.)
8. Demand resources from foreign kingdoms:
Players can request population transfers, financial resources, and goods from foreign kingdoms.
II. Foreign Kingdom Tribes
Besides the royal family, each foreign kingdom is also composed of multiple tribes. Each tribe has its own population, military forces, and internal interests. If relations between a tribe and the royal family in the foreign kingdom deteriorate, rebellions may occur.
Features:
1. Interact with tribal leaders:
Players can send envoys to visit tribal leaders and establish relationships. Similar to royal interactions, these will be driven by numerous events. The player's interactions with tribal leaders will directly influence relations between the Empire, the foreign royal family, and the tribe itself.
2. Demand resources and population from tribes:
Players can request wealth, population, and resources from individual tribes.
III. Foreign Kingdom Barracks
Each foreign kingdom contains numerous Barracks. These camps belong to different factions, such as the royal family or individual tribes.
The overall military strength of a foreign kingdom affects its Submission value. However, Submission is also influenced by the kingdom’s Ambition value, which is determined by factors such as the personality and characteristics of the foreign king.
Features:
1. Launch military campaigns against foreign Barracks:
Players can send armies to attack any Barracks and destroy its forces. However, enemy armies may provide reinforcements. If the situation becomes favorable, they may even launch counterattacks, potentially escalating the conflict into a large-scale war between kingdoms.
2. Persuade enemy troops to surrender:
Players can send envoys to persuade Barracks to surrender. Success depends on factors such as Morale and Loyalty.
3. Undermine enemy morale:
Players can send agents to disrupt enemy morale and reduce the combat effectiveness of Barracks.
4. Random events within Barracks:
Barracks will also experience various events that affect the condition and status of their soldiers.
IV. Protectorate Offices
The Protectorate Office is an important military institution established by the Empire to defend its borders. A Protectorate Office will be established at the border between the Empire and each foreign kingdom.
Large numbers of frontier troops will be stationed here, with their military pay covered by the imperial treasury. Armies dispatched to foreign kingdoms will be directly mobilized from Protectorate Offices. The military strength of Protectorate Offices will also influence the military actions of foreign kingdoms.
Each Protectorate Office will have two new military positions:
• Grand Protector (Second Rank, new military official position)
• Deputy Protector (Third Rank, new military official position)
Features:
1. Recruit troops from local civilians:
Players can recruit additional soldiers from surrounding regions.
2. Transfer troops from other cities:
Troops can be transferred from other cities to reinforce the Protectorate Office. (The War Minister can operate this function.)
3. Reward soldiers to improve morale:
Players can provide rewards and incentives to raise troop morale.
4. Set military administration policies:
Players can establish different military management policies that influence the development of the Protectorate Office. For example, allowing military farming can reduce some military expenses by having troops cultivate farmland while stationed at the border.
5. Events within the Protectorate Office:
Various events will occur within the Protectorate Office. These events may also affect neighboring prefectures and counties, creating either positive or negative consequences.
The outcomes will be related to factors such as: military policies, troop morale, and other military conditions.
V. Pacification Offices
The Pacification Office is an administrative bureau where the Empire sends envoys to foreign kingdoms. Each Pacification Office can host multiple diplomatic envoys (Pacification Commissioner, a new civil official position). All diplomatic interactions with foreign kingdoms, as well as the acquisition of important information about foreign affairs, will be conducted through the Pacification Commissioner.
The Pacification Office interface will display a Security Value, which represents the relationship between the Empire and the foreign king. Poor relations will greatly reduce the safety of the Pacification Commissioner. In extreme situations, the Commissioner may even be executed by foreign kingdoms.
VI. Border Markets
Border Markets are trading hubs established between the Empire and foreign kingdoms. Each Border Market will have a new official position: Border Market Administrator (Sixth Rank, new civil official position).
The Border Market Administrator or the Revenue Minister can set customs tax rates, allowed categories of trade goods, and other trade regulations. These decisions will affect trade volume, tax income, and even the economic, population, and military development speed of foreign kingdoms. Through controlling trade at Border Markets, players can peacefully restrict the growth of foreign powers.
Border Markets will also generate many civilian events involving both the Empire and foreign kingdoms.
The Border Market Administrator will have the authority to handle these events, which will affect market prosperity, diplomatic agreements, and diplomatic relations.
Current Development Progress
The interaction systems mentioned above have now been mostly completed. However, many internal mechanics, a large number of events, and additional art assets are still under development. Beyond these features, we also have many planned systems waiting to be implemented, including:
1. Foreign Kingdom Warfare System
We plan to introduce a more complete warfare system for foreign kingdoms, including:
• More intelligent military AI for foreign armies, like raids against borders, large-scale invasions,
reinforcements against the Empire that evolve into long-term wars.
• Player can request military assistance from allied foreign kingdoms based on alliance agreements.
2. Dynamic Foreign Kingdom Status System
Foreign kingdoms will have continuously changing internal states, including:
• Population growth, economic development, military strength, submission value, and ambition value.
• Internal conflicts and succession struggles within royal families, military rebellions and tribal uprisings, and conflicts between different foreign kingdoms.
3. Foreign Diplomacy System
We are also planning a deeper diplomatic system, including:
• Vassal King Appointment: Players will be able to formally appoint rulers of vassal kingdoms, including normal royal successions, unusual successions, and the corresponding consequences. For example, refusing to recognize a new king may reduce their prestige among other tribes within their kingdom.
• Foreign Diplomatic Events: Foreign royal families may actively propose marriage alliances, student exchanges, and other diplomatic requests. Players will need to decide how to handle these events.
• Handling Defeated Kingdoms: When defeated foreign kingdoms surrender, players will be able to decide their fate. You may execute the foreign king, appoint a new ruler, install members of the Empire clans (including the player's own clan) as the new king.
4. Other features
• New item crafting mechanics;
• Additional interaction options between the emperor and foreign kingdoms;
• A national treasury system for storing tribute items (which can later be granted to clans or foreign royal families).
• More content beyond the foreign kingdom system.
We will not list everything here, but there are still many exciting additions planned.
Final Release Plans
Before the official launch of Version 1.0, we still have a large amount of additional development work to complete beyond the new foreign kingdom system.
This includes:
• Further improving the overall gameplay experience;
• Adding future mod support;
• Expanding language support;
• Conducting extensive testing;
• Fixing bugs before release.
Therefore, the release of the full version will still require some time.We sincerely appreciate everyone's patience and continued support.
Thank you for waiting, and we look forward to bringing you the complete Version 1.0 experience of House of Legacy!
House of Legacy Team