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Hey everyone,
I’m glad to say that we are back to regularly updating Knights of the Crusades, with some great updates on the way.
Please also allow me to apologize for not updating the game for several months. Unfortunately, we found ourselves facing a publisher deadline, and same time finding a solution to the game’s biggest issue - the loading-screen crashes - literally took months.
There is some good news resulting from this break though. A great deal of new technology and engine improvements were developed at the same time, and we will now begin bringing many of them to Knights of the Crusades.
With that said, let’s take a look at today’s update.
The most important change is the fix for the long-standing loading-screen crash.
This problem usually appeared during longer play sessions after repeatedly entering and leaving cities, hamlets, and battles.
Finding the true cause proved extremely difficult.
Over several months, we tested many possible explanations and attempted one solution after another. Eventually, we discovered that video memory was the culprit—but even after identifying the cause, it took another couple of months to fully resolve the issue.
There is one small disclaimer: it is still possible to encounter a video-memory overload crash, but this now requires continuously entering or leaving nine or ten large city battles within a single session. This should almost never happen during normal gameplay.
A special thank-you goes to everyone who submitted crash reports, log files, save files, and detailed descriptions of when the problem occurred. These reports were essential in helping us identify patterns, reproduce the issue, and finally resolve this engine bug.
Although the crash fix is the most important part of today’s release, this is a major update containing dozens of additional fixes, improvements, and optimizations.
You can find the complete list in the patch notes below.
We are very happy to be working on Knights of the Crusades again, and many more updates are planned for the coming weeks.
Thank you for continuing to support the game.
Fixed the loading-screen crash.
Improved overall performance.
Fixed an issue that could cause some graphics cards to overheat.
Fixed a rare crash during combat.
Fixed a rare crash on startup.
Calling lords to attack or defend an area now works much more reliably.
Fixed several issues that prevented lords from sending armies in response to a Call to Arms.
When a lord’s army reaches the designated location, it will now patrol the surrounding area and search for enemies.
Made major improvements to how resource income and upkeep are displayed in the World Map Resources UI.
Tax income is now displayed correctly.
Fixed an issue with how base income was calculated and tracked.
Fixed tracked values incorrectly increasing when opening a city or army.
Added tracking for happiness bonuses affecting silver, food, wood, and stone production.
Fixed the positioning of resource bar tooltips on the world map.
Buildings in RTS mode now display additional information, including upkeep costs and their effect on population happiness.
Fixed attack request notifications sometimes overlapping.
Cities that are lost or transferred are now updated on the minimap immediately.
Fixed an issue where some buildings completed in RTS mode appeared unfinished on the world map.
Players can now loot silver from fallen units during combat.
Units trained from upgraded town halls on the world map will now start at a higher level.
Fixed poor-looking winter textures on Slavic village houses.
Fixed a major issue that could cause nations to gain dozens of enemies.
Relations with hostile nations now deteriorate faster than relations with friendly nations improve.
Upgrading buildings now reduces their monthly upkeep.
Fixed an issue where opening the New Campaign screen could remove the latest autosave.
Knights of the Crusades is 30% off in the Steam Summer Sale, June 25 to July 9.
Grab your copy and check out other great indie games on sale during the Summer Sale to add to your collection.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3440120/Hello Everyone,
This week’s update is one of the biggest so far — the world map AI has been completely reworked, making diplomacy, war, and late-game strategy far more dynamic and challenging.
Nations will now actively declare wars, form alliances, and create coalitions against stronger powers — including the player. You’ll see large-scale rivalries and shifting power balances, with major factions conquering each other and reshaping the map over time. The late game now feels alive, unpredictable, and much harder to dominate.
Alongside the AI overhaul, today’s update includes dozens of important fixes, improvements, and balance changes across both the world map and RTS modes. In addition, all Slavic and Muslim nations now have culturally accurate Lords and Kings, with 18 new portraits added.
Thank you all for continuing to send reports and feedback — every update brings the game closer to the polished experience we’ve all been working toward.
And now, here are the full notes for Update #11:
Major improvement to how AI handles diplomacy and attacks in mid to late game
World map nations will now actively engage in politics, declaring war on each other and on the player in some situations
AI players are now much more aggressive in late game, often resulting in several superpowers conquering other nations
Major nations will actively fight among each other (for example, England can destroy France)
Nations will form coalitions to attack the player in mid to late game if the player becomes too strong
Late game diplomatic difficulty rebalanced to be much more challenging
Fixed all situations where AI players had no enemies
Fixed AI armies that would sit idle near cities
Eliminated exploits allowing the player to remove all enemies through diplomacy
Restored windowed mode (patched to live earlier last week)
Fixed major exploit allowing players to loot towns indefinitely
Auto-resolved battles now consume food, similar to RTS battles
Fixed major issue where building and unit pop-ups were missing information on required technologies
Fixed occasional issue with large towns loading with zero resources
Fixed issue with livestock and cavalry climbing onto palisade walls
Fixed major diplomacy issue where AI nations could be at war with the player while the player was not at war with them
Fixed diplomacy issues in Sandbox mode where some nations traded with enemies at campaign start
Fixed Sandbox mode startup issue where some nations had no enemies
Fixed issue with Oil Pot spawning on the ground
Added 12 new Slavic lords and Kings
All Slavic Lords now have a proper Slavic culture portrait
All 18 new Muslim lords and Kings added
All Muslim Lords now have a proper Muslim culture portrait
Fixed missing information on the RTS victory screen showing ? marks
Player gates no longer open automatically after victory in RTS battles
AI players will now retreat and stop attacks after losing an RTS battle
Fixed delay in resource display when entering large towns
Decks and bridges in large towns are now darker and more natural-looking
Cavalry diamond formation now correctly increases trample damage
Fixed twitching animation on destroyed fire carts
Peasant "Gather Food" button now targets cows as well as chickens
Updated descriptions for Fletcher building and research technologies
Updated Pilgrim Hospital and Herbalist descriptions for clarity
Fixed Ballista description mentioning iron requirement incorrectly
Fixed Damascus lacking correct number of building plots, causing buildings to disappear
Fixed a dozen other world map cities with incorrect building plot setups
Knight Command’s Rally Horn ability greatly boosted – now lasts twice as long
Monk’s Pray ability greatly boosted – now lasts twice as long
Market building in RTS mode now generates (and consumes) resources 30% faster
Significantly reduced basic and elite Spear unit resistance to arrows
Fletcher building now locked until researched
Improved the effect of Herbalists and Hospitals on healing garrisons and nearby armies on the world map
Hello Everyone,
Today’s major update brings another round of stability and performance improvements, fixes many player-reported issues, and includes a major balance pass and polish to the late game.
We’ve also resolved the last remaining loading screen crash that was still affecting some players using ultra-wide or above-4K resolutions. To ensure this fix works reliably for everyone, resolution options above 3840 width have been temporarily disabled.
If you are still experience the issue after updating the game, please follow this quick guide - need to delete one game file: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3440120/discussions/0/671726025354637732/
In addition, this update focuses heavily on improving late game performance, RTS battle flow, and addressing long-standing issues with walls, siege equipment, and post-battle sequences. The late game should now play much smoother, with more stable AI behavior and reduced world map lag.
Thank you again for your patience and support. With the major crash issues behind us, development is now fully shifting back toward new content, new nations, and continued balance and feature improvements throughout mid and late game.
And now, here are the full notes for Update #10:
Fixed a loading screen crash that still affected players running the game at very high resolutions.
Removed resolution options above 3840 (including 5120x1440) as part of fully resolving the final crash cases.
Cavalry no longer trample or damage units standing on gatehouses.
Added notification when the looting phase begins after winning an RTS battle.
Added a countdown timer showing how much time remains before the victory cinematic triggers.
Removed the Swap button from the army transfer window and added clearer instructions at the bottom instead.
Fixed multiple issues where wall-mounted siege weapons appeared off-position or on the ground when loading.
Units now consistently line up correctly after reloading a saved game.
Melee units will no longer attempt to attack wall-mounted siege weapons from ground level.
Fixed major sources of world map lag affecting late game performance (takes a few in-game months to fully start working)
Fixed diplomacy issues where a nation could be at war with you while you are not at war with them
Fixed AI spawning dozens of armies without valid targets.
AI armies are now significantly stronger in late game.
Removed diplomatic relation listings with nations that are already eliminated.
Allied nations no longer automatically share map vision (only your main nation does).
In late game RTS battles, attacker AI will no longer send Horse Carts or Fire Carts.
After completing the Crusades, players can now directly capture Jerusalem, Antioch, and Nicaea (instead of them always transferring to the Church).
Auto-resolve now deals less health damage across units.
Auto-resolve no longer removes peasant livestock or siege units until the very end.
Byzantium in Sandbox mode can now build stone walls.
Removed healing ability from Elite Maceman unit (was added accidentally).
Removed Shield Wall ability from Order Swordsmen (as it was non-functional).
Fixed hotkey conflicts involving the pause key (P).
Fixed birds flying in repetitive straight-line loops that looked unnatural.
When selecting multiple types of siege weapons, only the correct type will respond to a movement command.
When selecting Rams with other siege units, only the Ram will move when clicking on a gate.
Slavic nations now correctly display the crossbowman portrait.
Hello Everyone,
This is a big one... after more than 100 hours of work, I can finally say that all known crashing issues have been fixed. It’s been a tough month tracking down the causes across so many different player setups - from old PCs to high-end rigs - but at last, it’s done.
Im terribly sorry for how long it took to fix, really wish I could go back in time... seeing the games review score drop from the 90s to the 70s over these crashes was heartbreaking. I truly hope that with this fix in place, the score will rebound, as these days an indie game can’t really grow without a Very Positive rating. Fingers crossed. I`ll continue working on the game no matter what though.
And I also want to thank everyone for your patience and support. Even after the 7th update, nearly a third of players were still affected by crashes. Ad your reports, shared logs, and feedback are greatly appreciated.
And with this major hurdle out of the way, we can finally return to the usual weekly updates - got so much exciting stuff on the horizon. A lot of polish to mid and late game, new nations for Sandbox, new features - and so much more...
And let’s take a closer look at what today`s 9th update has in store - a lot of other solid fixes and improvements.
Fixed a crash on the loading screen that would close the game
Fixed additional crash on the loading screen – affecting a very small number of players
Fixed loading screen crash related to point light
Fixed game getting frozen on the loading screen – requiring a PC restart
Fixed a crash during combat when player is about to win defense of his city
Fixed a major issue when winning battles and having to wait a minute for victory to register
Fixed a rare major issue when after winning a battle player could still not get a win
Various campaign progression fixes – fixing last situations where player can rarely get stuck
Byzantine Empire is now playable in Sandbox mode
Byzantine Empire has 6 playable and 8 total lords
Unique starting conditions for Byzantine King and Lords with a very large number of assets
Various fixes to Byzantine Empire assets, relations, starting conditions
Visual performance in RTS battles in large cities improved by up to 15 FPS
Scrolling speed on the world map is smoother now
Shaved off additional 1-1.5 seconds from most loading screens on all systems
Disabled some odd light in the army camp and large city houses
Improved the look of Slavic king portraits
Fixed some issues when loading hamlets with double walls
Final Crusades battle vs Fatimids now shows a quest at the start of the battle
Improved Russian localization
Improved Chinese localization
No longer playing Low Food voiced notification in naval battles
Added flags to small stone gatehouse – so it’s easy to identify it
Player lord character is now more clearly marked in diplomacy screen
Play Victory/Defeat sound when end battle window is opened
Further reduced frequency of AI attacks on player (please note – in existing campaigns it will take a few months to take full effect)
Greatly reduced penalty for leaving battle – it now only damages some units, without removing any
Winning battles is now faster in most game modes
Player can now choose to stay and loot or leave the battle
Rebalanced ranged units – a bit less effective in some situations now
Stone resource is a lot harder to acquire now, requiring bigger investment to build up large city
RTS mode stone income decreased by 25%
World Map stone income decreased by up to 35%
Hello Everyone,
Today’s update focuses on one important fix - the game freezing or crashing when exiting. This issue was affecting around 20% of players, and should now be resolved.
There is also a chance that this fix may help players who are still experiencing the crash with the Visual C++ Runtime Library error during or after battles. If you continue to encounter this error during loading screens or combat, please let us know so we can review your reports directly.
Work is continuing at full speed to resolve the last of the stability problems, and we expect to have everything wrapped up by next week.
As always, thank you for all of your patience, feedback, and support. It makes a huge difference and helps us keep pushing forward.
Hello Everyone,
This week we took a few extra days to gather feedback from the community and focus on adding features and fixes that were specifically requested by players. A lot of your ideas made it directly into this update.
Today’s update brings a major campaign fix, new UI scaling, game speed hotkeys, better food balance, reduced AI pressure in the Order campaign, and a range of polish and improvements across many areas.
We are still finishing the last of the stability fixes. Some players on higher-end systems continue to encounter a common crash after battles, and a separate crash can happen when exiting the game. Both of these should be resolved by next week. We’re close to wrapping up stability work for good.
And now for the full breakdown of Update #7:
New Features
Added option to increase UI size – use the Large GUI checkbox in the Options menu.
Added hotkeys to control game speed (+, -, and P).
Game speed control keys can now be rebound in the Options → Controls menu.
Major Fixes
Fixed major campaign issue with Fatimid armies not always appearing after conquering Jerusalem
Fixed Seven Nation Army victory condition not working in Sandbox – now properly requires 6 alliances.
Fixed error affecting the Buildings window – where sometimes it will not work
Other Fixes and Improvements
Fixed issue with upgrading Manor not showing up when entering RTS mode
Fixed issue with renaming Cities not working right away on the world map.
Balancing and Tweaks
Major reduction to AI attack frequency on players, especially during Order campaign sequences.
Greatly reduced food upkeep for low and mid-tier units (up to 30%).
Rebalanced food drain and income, making food requirements less punishing.
Order campaign is now significantly easier during the first couple of years.
Walls under construction on the world map no longer increase city/hamlet strength until finished.
Hey Everyone,
We took a short break over the weekend, but we’re back at full speed supporting and improving the game. Over the past few days nearly 20 hours were spent polishing the campaign, fixing rare issues, and adding balance and polish across many areas.
The main highlight of today’s update is campaign progression. Some players were not getting victory conditions to trigger — like completing the First Crusade battle, finishing a crusade, or registering an Order with 1000 faith in Rome. All of these problems are now resolved. If you previously missed out on a reward, cinematic, or objective completion, you will now correctly receive them.
Alongside this, dozens of smaller fixes and tweaks have been made to polish the experience and improve balance.
A big thank you again to everyone who continues to report bugs and leave positive reviews. Your support really helps keep us going through the longest days and ensures the game keeps getting better with each update.
Hello Everyone,
Thanks again for all the support, and feedback. It’s been an intense first week since launch, and your voices have been shaping every single patch. Welcome to our 5th daily update — this one focuses on stability, new player-requested features, and a major late-game rebalance.
Crashes should now be far less common. With the latest stability improvements, most players should be able to enjoy hours of gameplay without interruptions. We’re not done yet, but the game is already much smoother and more reliable than at launch.
We’ve also added one of the most requested features — redesigned RTS unit group portraits. These now show the actual units from your army, reflect whether a group has multiple units, display hit points directly, and even feature unique art based on culture (Slavic, Western, Muslim, etc). The portraits make it much easier to manage your armies at a glance.
On top of this, we reworked the cheats menu: just hit F7 and type a keyword like silver, renown, food, wood, or stone to instantly add resources.
Finally, today brings a major late-game balance pass. Resource accumulation was too easy, making the late game less challenging. Elite units like Knights,
Here’s the full breakdown of Update #5:
Stability and Crashes
Major stability improvements, crashes now much rarer
Most players should now play for hours without crashes
New Features
RTS unit group portraits redesigned
Portraits show actual units from your army
Portraits indicate multiple units in a group
Portraits show group and unit hit points
Portraits feature unique art based on culture (Slavic, Western, Muslim, etc)
Cheats menu reworked: press F7 and type silver, renown, food, wood, stone to add resources
Fixes and Additions
If music volume is low, loading screen music will not play
Large cities on the world map redesigned to look more medieval
Improved retreating behavior for units after losing battles
Balancing
Major late-game rebalance
Late game resource accumulation reduced
Elite units recruitment cost increased up to 60%
Order units recruitment cost increased
Silver upkeep for Order and elite units increased up to 30%
Tax income reduced by 20%
Chapterhouse income reduced by 25%
High-tier buildings produce 15%–20% fewer resources
Increased silver upkeep for some late-game buildings
There will be a bit of a break in our update schedule as we return with pushing more updates from Monday. I`ll still be around the game`s chat, forums and discord daily.
Hello Everyone,
A big thank you once again for all the help, support, reviews and feedback you’ve been sharing since launch. It’s been amazing seeing so many of you in-game and on the forums and in-game`s chat, and your reports have been vital in helping us track down issues and improve the game day by day.
Welcome now to our 4th daily update — and this one is a big one. And the best part - everything we`ve worked on has been suggested by You - in-game, on the forums and discord.
So...stability continues to improve, but the final fix for crashes is coming in tomorrow`s update... sorry for the delay. We’ve also fixed several long-standing bugs that affected siege weapons, carts, and pathfinding, and the overall flow of gameplay is noticeably smoother.
We’re also introducing some major new gameplay features with this update. Battles now feel more alive and dramatic thanks to a new retreat phase for defeated enemies, where you’ll have 60 seconds to loot, destroy, or chase them down. Surrendering AI will open their gates, ranged siege can now attack the ground, and ranged units gain a new volley ability to strike from afar. On top of that, a brand-new 5120x1440 resolution option has been added for players with ultrawide setups.
Your feedback keeps shaping the game every single day. Please keep posting your thoughts and suggestions — I’m in chat daily and checking the forums constantly to make sure nothing is missed.
And now for the full breakdown of Update #4:
Major Fixes
Additional improvements to stability, Final fix for crashes tomorrow
Fixed mantlet wooden shield pathfinding, they now line up correctly
Greatly improved horse cart and oil cart movement, smoother turns and fewer issues
Siege weapons now align properly in battles
Fixed major bug limiting horse carts to only 400 resources
New Features
Defeated enemies now retreat after battles, with a 60-second window to loot or destroy
Surrendering AI now open all gates
Ranged siege weapons can now attack ground
Ranged units can now fire volleys at distant targets
New 5120x1440 resolution option added
Other Fixes and Balancing
Chickens can now pass through gates
Big rebalance in offensive combat, players can carry more resources into battles
Chapterhouse can now be built with either a Military or Defensive alliance
Conversion to Christianity possible with either alliance type
Reworked tooltip for conversion
Research complete sound no longer interrupts cutscenes or dialogue
Research complete sound volume reduced
Other overly loud sounds adjusted
Barn food output normalized
Hunter Lodge generates food faster in RTS mode
We’ll continue pushing forward with more improvements based on your feedback. Thanks again for being part of this journey — and here’s to making the game stronger every day.
Hello everyone,
A huge thank you for all your help, support, and understanding over the past couple of days as I`m working on getting the game into the best shape following launch... and welcome to our 3rd daily update.
Crashes should now be much rarer. To improve stability we temporarily disabled windowed mode, which was part of the issue. You may still see a crash every 3 - 4 hours, but all progress is always saved. We expect another day of work to fully resolve this.
We also really appreciate all the player feedback - it’s been incredibly helpful. I’ll be hanging out in in-game chat daily and checking all the forums to make sure your voices are heard.
And yes - I skipped posting about Update #2 yesterday. Think of it as the “lost crusade” patch....
Today’s update also includes faster loading times, better sound balance, refined camera controls, and important campaign fixes - alongside a dozen more improvements across the board requested by players.
Full breakdown of Update #3:
Crash fixes – stability greatly improved (still only one crash every few hours)
Windowed mode – temporarily disabled for stability
Faster loading – large cities now load ~5 seconds quicker, hamlets up to ~7 seconds quicker
Normalized sound – achievements and other effects no longer overly loud
Siege fix – enemy no longer opens fire immediately in large town sieges so players camp is always safe
Camera improvements – slower drift and smoother movement
Campaign fixes – several issues in the Templar and Seljuk campaigns resolved
We’ll keep posting daily updates until last of the crashes are fully eliminated, and all the player suggestions have been implemented. Thanks again for being part of this journey - and here`s to the game being in a perfect state by the weekend..
Hello everyone,
A huge thank you to all of you for joining us since launch – your support means everything. Glad to say that most players are enjoying the game - but there`s definitely some Day 1 issues that we are working on resolving asap.
We know some players are still running into crash issues. Only effects some - and we didn`t catch this in earlier testing. This has our full attention, and we expect to have this resolved tomorrow.
Alongside this, today’s first update brings key improvements: a reworked chat window, windowed mode, a brand-new Social window to see who’s online and add friends, proper ultra-wide screen support, a smoother food economy, and several important campaign fixes. We’ve also made the ESC key close all menus as expected.
Here’s the full breakdown of Update #1:
Reworked Chat Window – cleaner layout, better usability
New Social Window – see who’s online and add friends directly in-game
Windowed Mode – Option to play in windowed mode added to the options (note it will only show the 2nd time you start the game)
Ultra-Wide Support – proper handling of 3440x1440 and other wide aspect ratios
Food Economy Rebalance – smoother pacing, less punishing in early stages
Campaign Fixes – resolved progression blockers and adjusted balance
ESC Key Behavior – now correctly closes all menus
We’ll keep posting regular updates as we polish the experience and bring more improvements. Thanks again for being part of this journey from day one. And update tomorrow that will focus entirely on resolving the crashing issue.
Hello Crusaders,
Thanks to your support, we`re officially at 1.0! Since launching into Early Access, we`ve been hard at work with weekly updates, steadily adding content and refining every part of the game for this milestone.
Thank you for playing, and for joining us on this journey to 1.0 and beyond!
Since our Early Access launch, you’ve helped us refine battles, balance factions, and polish systems to bring the game closer to what we always envisioned: a living, breathing strategy experience where every campaign feels unique. We couldn’t have gotten here without you.
We`re proud of how far the game has come and grateful for the support along the way. But this is only the beginning. We`ll keep releasing weekly updates after launch, bringing in more unique art, new features, balance changes, and ongoing polish.
Campaigns Across Continents: The Holy Land, Spain, North Africa, and Eastern Europe are all yours to conquer.
Expanded Factions: Play as Christian, Muslim, Pagan, or Slavic powers, each with unique units and mechanics.
RTS + Sandbox Gameplay: Command armies, build settlements, and manage survival-driven economies in one seamless experience.
Polish & Balance: Dozens of quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and community-driven changes.
⚔️ See you on the battlefield,
Hey Everyone,
Today’s update gives you the tools to master the game. We’ve added a full Help section – an in-game walkthrough covering everything from your first steps as a landless knight to advanced strategies for survival in the Holy Land.
The Help system explains nearly every aspect of play: using Personal Time, marching to Constantinople, fighting Crusade battles, setting up order chapters, advanced diplomacy, trade, and more. Whether you’re new or deep into a Sandbox campaign, it offers clear strategies right when you need them.
To access the new health menu, click on the ? sign in the top right corner of the screen.
This update also includes a major localization pass. Translations have been polished and expanded across multiple languages, making menus, tutorials, and tooltips smoother and more immersive for players worldwide.
Together, the new Help system and improved localization make the game more approachable, polished, and enjoyable.
Thanks as always for your feedback and support – it continues to drive us forward every week.
Hello everyone,
Over the past month we’ve released several important updates leading up to our Massive Update on August 30th. While we didn’t post news for every patch along the way, August brought a huge amount of progress across nearly every part of the game.
With this milestone, the game is now almost complete. All core systems are in, the last stability issues have been addressed, and the Order campaign has been fully reworked with new content and a much deeper tutorial system.
This is the best time to jump back in – we strongly encourage everyone to start a new Order campaign with the tutorial turned on, to experience all the improvements and learn more about the game’s expanded mechanics.
We’ve also resolved the crash problems some players were seeing. To make sure everything runs smoothly on your end, please re-validate your game files on Steam. Here’s how:
Open your Steam Library.
Right-click Knights of the Crusades and choose Properties.
Go to the Installed Files tab.
Click Verify integrity of game files. Steam will check your installation and re-download anything that’s missing or outdated.
From here we’ll keep polishing and balancing the game as we head toward full release. Thank you for your continued support during Early Access – it’s been an exciting journey and we’re almost there.
Here’s a quick overview of the major areas we worked on across three August updates:
Order Campaign Overhaul – Complete redesign with smoother progression, new event chains, and expanded tutorials.
Tutorial System – Now covers all key mechanics across campaign, battles, economy, and diplomacy.
Stability Fixes – Resolved final crash issues reported by players.
Bug Fixes – Hundreds of small fixes across all systems.
Performance Optimizations – Faster loading and improved framerate in large battles.
Siege Battles – AI improvements, food mechanics fixes, and balance tweaks.
Diplomacy – Expanded options, fixed trade deal bugs, improved AI negotiation.
UI & UX – Numerous tooltip updates, new minimap markers, improved readability.
Graphics & Visuals – Terrain polish, updated unit models, fixed texture issues.
Localization – Expanded and corrected text in all supported languages.
Hey Everyone,
Welcome to our eleventh weekly update – and this one is a major leap forward. Version 0.34 delivers massive improvements to both world map and RTS AI, along with dozens of new features and essential quality-of-life updates across the board.
This update marks a huge milestone in how the game plays on the World Map. Armies now act more intelligently – waiting, planning, and adapting to their enemies. You’ll also notice that AI factions are much more dynamic in how they maneuver, siege, and conquer territory. RTS combat AI has received similar love, with faster reactions and smarter tactics both in camps and during assaults.
Meanwhile, we’ve added brand-new art sets for Slavic and Pagan vhamlets, new visual UI improvements across menus, smarter recruiting systems, and major updates to how garrisons and army formations function.
All of this brings us one step closer to a living, breathing medieval world – where your strategies matter, and the AI plays by the same rules.
Thanks again for continuing to shape this journey with us. Check out the full Update 0.34 details below!
Slavic and Pagan nations now have a new art set for hamlets, including all-new village houses
New directional arrow when tasking multiple unit battalions
New diplomacy option to cancel trade agreements, at the cost of a major diplomatic penalty
Cities on the world map now display if a building is under construction and how many months remain
The Recruit Units button is now only active when the player is in range of a friendly or owned town – a major QoL improvement
Armies and Garrisons now display a grid view separating all unit slots
Players can click any free garrison grid slot to initiate recruitment
When recruiting units, players can now select a specific grid slot for unit placement
New visual indicators for negative status effects like missing or draining resources – clearly visible and intuitive across dozens of menus
While recruiting, city names are now clearly displayed when hiring units or mercenaries
AI armies now wait several weeks after arriving at their targets, prepping for siege
It’s now possible to coordinate more effectively with friendly AI armies and counter enemy forces
Fixed issue where sandbox AI would attack instantly in the first month – AI now builds up for several months before engaging
Resolved a bug where AI armies were assigned to attack but never actually arrived
AI now avoids hostile ports when possible instead of engaging them
AI is now much more competent at reaching the player by sea
AI captures rival towns significantly faster, dramatically reshaping the world map
AI navigates the world map with far greater intelligence and efficiency
Fixed major issue causing AI to delay attacks for several minutes
AI now sends freshly trained units into battle instead of leaving them idle in camps
Big improvements to how AI positions units on walls during sieges
Fixed various issues where AI would refuse to charge the player under certain conditions
Players now start with more trade route points (minimum 2)
Players can sign additional trade agreements
Starting resources have been greatly increased in sandbox mode
Early game is easier in sandbox due to several rebalancing changes
Fixed world map lag spikes
Fixed issue preventing army invites to battle
Fixed issue where Recruit Units sometimes didn’t detect town proximity
Fixed incorrect listing of active diplomacy agreements
Fixed world map unit stats displaying 10x inflated attack values
Cities no longer gain 1 extra pop beyond cap at the end of the month
Fixed flickering nation portraits in diplomacy screen when refreshing (e.g. on gifts or declarations)
Army and city windows now keep unit portraits without flickering during refreshes or transitions
Fixed winter visuals incorrectly appearing in Muslim desert cities
Corrected Muslim town halls from showing strange winter variants
Hey Everyone,
Welcome to our 10th update since EA launch! While this week’s patch isn’t a huge one, it continues our steady pace of weekly improvements – cleaning up interface issues, polishing visual elements, and knocking out some annoying bugs.
One major focus this week was improving interface clarity. From smarter tooltips and cleaner map UI to clearer RTS warnings and more useful visuals, we’ve tried to remove those friction points that add up over time. If you’ve ever squinted at the world map wondering why your resources didn’t update, or hovered over a gatehouse unsure if it was open – this update is for you.
We also spent some time giving the Slavic units a much-needed visual pass, including updated portraits with proper regional helmets and beards to better reflect the time period. And yes, zooming in is now a bit tighter too, for those who like to see the action up close.
A few long-standing bugs are finally squashed – including level display glitches in combat, diplomacy issues when ascending to King, and even a weird seasonal message bug in January (yep, that was a thing).
Thanks again for all your feedback – it’s been essential in shaping every weekly update. Check out the full Update 0.33 details below:
Open gatehouses now show an open icon – no more guessing.
Winter now clearly highlights wood penalties for citizens.
Civilian food and wood consumption tracking now works as intended.
Tooltips for RTS building buttons now smartly adjust position (top/bottom) based on screen location.
World map resource bar now updates once per second max – reduces micro stutters.
Tax rate changes now instantly update the world map’s resource bar.
World map unit training no longer freezes the entire map.
Training queues auto-refresh when resources change.
Low food warning in RTS battles has been reworked to be clearer and less spammy.
Cities now show larger looted text, displayed above the portrait.
Buy/Sell buttons now show tooltips on hover and work better with clicks.
Recruit Units window no longer refreshes portraits when you train units.
New armies now play a voiced greeting when created.
Big update to Slavic unit portraits – new beards, proper regional helmets, and historically grounded attire.
Slight zoom-in boost – you can now zoom closer than before.
Healing FX made more subtle and less visually noisy.
Army slows down by 70% when near a port.
AI attacks no longer overwhelm the player on hard difficulty.
AI attacks slightly reduced overall for better pacing.
RTS build times halved in the prologue.
AI is now more likely to ride out from Hamlets and attack the player.
Building levels now reduce unit cost on the world map.
Increased AI assault time limit on towns by 1 minute.
Peasant income increased on the world map.
All building hit points greatly increased.
Many low-tier buildings received an additional hit point boost.
Fixed a bug where January showed the wrong season message.
Simplified season code – should be more reliable and cleaner under the hood.
Smoke now stops correctly when looting ends.
Fixed unit level display bug during combat.
Diplomacy screen now behaves properly when the player becomes King.
Fixed a bug where armies could recruit from a city with buildings still under construction.
Hey Everyone,
Welcome back to our ninth weekly update – and it`s a big one, as this marks our second major milestone. Version 0.32 brings some of the most significant core Kingdom War gameplay changes in years.
We’ve overhauled how your kingdom develops, with building construction and research now taking months on the world map. And RTS and world map modes now have true continuity between them – bringing long-term strategy and planning to the forefront.
This update also delivers a full rework of Eastern Europe, adding several new playable Slavic and Pagan nations, a massive music expansion, smarter AI, and a complete balance pass across multiple factions. Most importantly, this milestone completes our broader goal of making each culture feel truly unique – with distinct units, mechanics, music, art, and more.
Slavic nations like Novgorod and Smolensk now stand apart with wooden-only towns, all-new visuals, and custom voice acting – while Pagan tribes such as Livonia bring fresh gameplay and exclusive unit rosters. All of this builds on the unique design direction we previously introduced for Muslim factions.
We’ve also added 20 new music tracks to deepen immersion, and reworked over a dozen units and buildings for Eastern factions. Finally, the entire game has been rebalanced to reflect the new pacing and cultural variety.
Thanks again for all your feedback – it`s been essential in shaping every weekly update. Check out the full Update 0.32 details below!
With an update of this magnitude, we expect a few new issues to pop up, and we’ll still need about a week to wrap up all the loose ends – like giving each culture a unique tech tree and finalizing some art assets. We expect everything to be ironed out with the 10th update next week.
Building construction time added to the world map – no longer instant
Buildings now take time to construct on the world map
Time to construct is shown alongside the building cost
Construction time ranges from 1 month to 1 year
Notifications now appear when buildings start and finish construction
Buildings take significantly longer to complete in RTS mode
Improved continuity when switching between RTS and world map
Switching between RTS and world map no longer auto-completes all tasks
Buildings under construction on the world map continue building in RTS
Incomplete construction in RTS mode will continue progressing on the world map
Technologies in the research window now take time to unlock
It`s possible to research several technologies at once
Technologies take from 2 to several months to complete
Added voice dialogue and event log notification when research is completed
Constructing Academies and Churches improves research speed and cost (WIP)
Major changes to Eastern Europe on the world map
Kievan Rus split into Principalities of Chernigov, Smolensk, Novgorod, Suzdal, and Kiev
Four new unique playable kingdoms added to sandbox: Republic of Novgorod, Principality of Smolensk, Principality of Chernigov, Principality of Kiev
Completed work on Slavic nations' unique gameplay and art
Slavic nations use only wooden materials – no stone walls
Unique voice acting and flags added for Slavic armies on the world map
Added two playable Pagan nations – Chiefdom of Livonia and Chiefdom of Liuthania
Began work on implementing Pagan art set and gameplay differences (WIP)
Work in progress – many assets currently shared with Slavic nations
Unique unit roster for Pagan nations (partially shared with Slavic factions)
Pagan nations have more units available at the Hamlet's Mustering Hall, but fewer in their cities
Pagan nations don`t get access to high-tier siege engines – no trebuchets or catapults
Pagan nations don`t have crossbowmen but can train basic mounted archers
Fully unique unit roster for Slavic nations
Slavic factions gain extended options for Rams and Siege Towers
Slavic nations can train basic mounted archers but do not have crossbowman tech
Added unique unit art for 12 Slavic units
Slavic units feature a distinct look – national clothing, hats, beards, and chainmail-dominant armor
15 new lord portraits designed for Slavic factions (WIP)
New town houses for Slavic nations
New Town Hall added for Slavic towns
Slavic towns designed to use only wooden materials
Work in progress: large town designs for Slavic factions
Work in progress: new village houses for Slavic towns
Work in progress: new textures for Slavic buildings
Further decreased rate of AI attacks on the world map in certain scenarios
Fixed a major issue with AI attacking large cities and behaving poorly
Large towns are now properly defended by the AI instead of the garrison running out
AI will only ride out from towns if it`s 100% certain it can win
Major gameplay rebalance to account for new building construction system
Additional balancing of progression based on new research timings
Gameplay rebalanced for Muslim factions
Gameplay rebalanced for Slavic factions
Gameplay rebalanced for Pagan factions
Unique Slavic music set added with 16 all-new tracks
Expanded Muslim music set from 6 to 16 tracks, all newly composed
All-new lord portraits for Nomad factions like Cumania and Pechenegs
New portraits for Pagan tribal factions – Livonia and Liuthania
Lowered War/Peace window layer so it doesn`t clash with the "Defeat..." window
Added close button for the tutorial tooltip window
Hey Everyone,
This week’s update brings a major round of balancing and improvements across all areas of the game - with focus on world map performance, RTS battle flow, and key balancing changes to the campaign and economy.
The world map has seen a big boost in performance, especially in regions like Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East. The Nile region has also been completely reworked into a lush and vibrant landscape. We've also cleaned up several visual issues, including palm trees and world edge polish.
On the campaign side, we've overhauled how Crusader armies behave after the First Crusade, preventing late-game exploits and making their actions more grounded. We’ve also improved town entry mechanics with clearer rules and UI feedback.
RTS battles feel smoother and more cinematic now — with better AI, slowed-down combat pacing, and far less lag. Auto-resolve has been reworked to reduce frustrating unit losses, and healing now happens in real time rather than waiting for the end of the month.
Thanks again for sticking with us - and we’re just getting started. Here's the full list of changes in Game Version 0.31:
Major performance boost across the entire world map.
Drastically improved performance in Greece, Anatolia, and the Middle East regions.
Reworked Nile region — now lush and green.
Fixed Beirut incorrectly displaying as Acre.
Polished the top-left corner and outer edge of the world map.
Greatly improved the visual quality of palm trees.
After completing the First Crusade, Crusader armies now garrison in captured cities
Fixed exploit that allowed easy conquest of the Middle East using Crusader armies
Tripoli now correctly transfers to Crusader control after the Crusade
Hamlet capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each hamlet you control
City capture cost increases by 50% (base) for each city you control
Combat food drain increased by 30% — cow and chicken income reduced accordingly
AI now attacks much less frequently
Army unit healing now occurs in real time, no longer tied to the end of the month
Player units heal faster near friendly towns
AI units heal more slowly
Auto-resolve is now less likely to kill player units when clearly winning
Auto-resolve now favors damaging units over killing them
Stronger forces benefit more from auto-resolve
Reduced renown rewards from battles
Monthly renown output from buildings reduced by ~50%
Rebalanced income, upkeep, and renown for Order and Church buildings
Slightly slower accumulation of personal time
Entering a town now deducts 1 minute of personal time
Player must have at least 2 minutes of personal time to enter a town
Added message notifying player when they lack enough time to enter
Rebalanced attack stats for Macemen and Billmen
Major reduction in lag during RTS battles
Combat slowed slightly for improved cinematic pacing
Better overall combat flow in RTS mode
Ranged units now properly auto-attack targets
RTS AI now defends large cities more effectively
AI will no longer sortie unless player is heavily outnumbered
Large-town sieges are now significantly more difficult
Nighttime lighting in RTS is now brighter
Reduced distance fog, especially in winter
Fixed terrain appearing overly bright in fall season
Fixed bug with newly constructed buildings being sideways or upside down in Army vs Army camps
Fixed rare game-breaking issue where the game could freeze during a cinematic
Major corrections to Spanish translation
Major corrections to Italian translation
Hey Everyone,
This weeks second regular update update addresses several campaign and world map issues, focusing on performance, balance, and AI improvements.
AI now behaves more realistically across the map – no more constant pressure, but more strategic movement and engagements. We’ve added a significant world map performance boost and rebalanced the early Templar campaign to ease the difficulty curve.
You'll also find UI polish and bug fixes, along with reworked timing for the First Crusade departure, giving you more time to prepare. Thanks again for your continued support and here`s the full update details - Game Version: 0.30:
AI attack frequency adjusted in both Sandbox and Campaign modes
More AI armies now roam and battle each other across the map
Final fixes applied to prevent players from getting overwhelmed by AI attacks
Another major world map performance boost – lag spikes significantly reduced
Templar Campaign AI no longer spawns overpowered armies early on
General AI behavior improved for Templar campaign gameplay
Palm trees in desert regions now look much better
Major performance boost in the Holy Land/desert areas
Renown/Faith tooltip now shows income from Buildings and Chapterhouses
Fixed bug with broken ghost armies showing up in the Military list
Only player armies show healing/damage effects
Resource reward window properly hidden behind fade screen
Renown and Faith bars now show +Amt indicators
Fixed tax/coin display showing incorrect values
Resolved bug with bright white flags on world map armies
Tutorial prompt now appears after clicking “Start Campaign”
Fixed issue with "Play Tutorial" achievement not unlocking
Resolved UI layering issue between army buttons and recruit window
York and other large cities – fixed tasking units to front and keep walls
Month length increased by 50% – giving players more time to reach Constantinople
Crusader armies now depart for Constantinople in June, arriving late 1096
France no longer starts at war with the Holy Roman Empire
Tons of internal campaign rebalancing tied to extended month length
Chapterhouses now unlock up to 20 Order units for nearby army recruitment
Hey Everyone,
This week brings a smaller but essential update as we fix key issues from last week’s major patch. World Map AI behavior has been overhauled – no more relentless spam attacks, with AI now launching fewer but stronger assaults. The eastern regions of the map also got a makeover, improving both level design and strategic options.
We’ve also rebalanced Order mechanics – expect higher costs across the board and proper unit spawning in RTS. As always, thanks for your feedback and support – see you on the battlefield!
As always thanks for all your feedback and here`s the full update details - Game Version: 0.29
Resolved the new loading screen crashing issues introduced in the last update
Fixed a major bug causing AI factions to launch excessive attacks in Campaign mode.
Adjusted attack frequency in both Sandbox and Campaign – AI will now strike less often, but with stronger armies.
AI armies are now better composed and more impactful when they engage.
Smyrna is no longer at war with the Teutonic Order.
Expanded the eastern regions of the world map.
Improved level design in the newly added eastern territories.
Fixed a bug with birds flying unusually slowly.
Eastern Middle East edge is now far more playable and accessible.
All armies can now register Holy Orders in Rome.
Fixed issue with Order building UI buttons shifting on mouse hover.
Visual overhaul for Order buildings: Headquarters, Hospital, and Hostel.
Units now spawn correctly from the Order Headquarters.
Rebalanced the cost of Order units and buildings.
Order structures and troops are now significantly more expensive.
Chapterhouse setup cost has been greatly increased.
Hey Everyone,
Welcome back to our fifth weekly update – and this one is absolutely packed. Version 0.28 brings a massive new layer of depth with unique army rosters for Western and Muslim nations, several new unit types, improved campaign content, sweeping balance changes and a number of gameplay changing features.
A total of eight new units have been added – including Siege Towers, Mounted Archers, and Heavy Macemen – while several others were fully reworked. This now means that different cultures plays very differently with several unique units per culture, with new tactical choices and technologies to unlock them. For example - Muslim nations now dominate in the open field with mostly mounted armies packed with horse archers, while Western nations work great in sieges.
We’ve also rolled out a major performance boost on the world map – many players will see up to 20 FPS improvements. AI aggression has been dialed up significantly – larger nations now feel genuinely threatening, and border skirmishes are frequent.
Campaign players will be happy to see 16 new quests, major scripting fixes, and smoother First Crusade progression. We also rebalanced RTS training, battle retreat logic, and siege pacing to improve flow and realism.
Thanks as always for all your feedback – your support helps us keep moving fast. Check out the full update details below! - Game Version: 0.28
Major visual performance boost on the world map - up to +20 FPS on most systems
Fixed rare campaign load bug that prevented proper start
Fixed rare level load failure affecting some scenarios
Western and Muslim culture groups now use distinct unit rosters
Each faction now has 8 different units depending on cultural group
AI builds and fields different units based on nation culture
RTS and World Map now reflect culture-specific unit availability
Technologies now unlock different units for different cultures
New unit: Arbaletist and Veteran Crossbowman (Western factions)
New unit: Heavy Maceman (Western)
New unit: Mounted Archer and Veteran Mounted Archer (Muslim factions)
New unit: Siege Ram (Muslim factions)
New unit: Siege Tower (Western factions)
Battering Ram - completely new art and stats
Belfry - completely new art and stats
Reworked Maceman portrait, visuals and stats
Armies only heal near own/ally towns and if they have food
Armies now cost Renown to field: 0 / 20 / 40 / 60 e.t.c increasing for each new army
Player can now sell resources at ally and neutral cities (Recruit Menu)
Armies now show healing indicator on the Army UI
Edge of the world map added to the eastern side
Fixed excessive silver rewards when defending towns
Updated news feed to avoid broken line formatting
Army strength now displays correctly when using custom names
Fixed cut-off background for Research titles
Unlocked techs now show tooltip popups when hovering icons
AI now targets closer cities instead of crossing the map
Major boost to world map AI aggression and activity
Larger kingdoms (e.g., France, Byzantium) now field massive armies
Fixed inactive AI armies not moving to targets
Overall strategic AI behavior drastically improved
10 new quests added to the Seljuk campaign
6 new quests added to the Templar campaign
Improved pacing and onboarding in both campaigns
Seljuk campaign diplomacy now behaves properly
Fixed critical bug in First Crusade progression logic
Defense of Antioch mission time reduced from 20 to 12 minutes
Crusader armies no longer capture player objectives by accident
Tutorial “Scout the World Map” quest is now easier to complete
Can no longer invite Godfrey to help siege Ma`arat al-Numan.
Fixed "Capture Hamlet" objective not completing in the campaign.
Fixed player not receiving a reward for acquiring 600 Faith in the Crusader and Templar campaigns.
Fixed incorrect cinematic playing after acquiring Faith in the Crusader and Templar campaigns.
AI Crusader armies now set off much later — around May 1096 — giving the player a better chance to travel with them.
Fixed AI Crusader armies very rarely arriving in Constantinople on time.
Combat tutorial now lasts longer before victory is declared.
Units in RTS now train logically with space and population checks
Retreated units are removed from population count
Strong/high-level units will now fight to the death instead of retreating
Retreated units no longer re-enter battle automatically
Improved visibility of building names in towns
Palisade gatehouse now aligns properly with adjacent wall sections
Fixed unit unlock issues in RTS mode
Disabled double-click selection on unit overlay portraits
Bird flight speed corrected for RTS camera
Reworked all building icons.
Building icons now show symbols to easily identify their function
Improved playable player characters with several new ones
Professional soldier battalions now carry a flag banner into combat
Player's floating unit portraits are now much more visible
Allied group portraits are no longer as prominent
Player army flag is now easier to spot in the Your Own Order and Templar campaigns
Major rebalance of Muslim armies - Horse Archers are now core units
Unit speed now varies by armor weight - light units move faster
Light units can effectively skirmish heavier units at range
Personal Time accumulates more slowly.
Increased price of all basic hamlet buildings: Storehouse, Silver Mine, Barn, Stone Mine, Lumber Camp, and Hunter Lodge.
Fixed bug causing cavalry to move too fast in Loose formation
Reduced RTS defense time: Hamlet 12 → 8 min, Large City 20 → 16 min
Fixed a bug allowing some mounted units to run while in naval combat onboard ships
Fixed archers not being able to attack Knight Commander and Chevalier units
Fixed armies not playing the correct walking animation on the world map during cinematics
Night-time city and unit elimination effects (fires, torches, etc.) now occur simultaneously
Units created from buildings now form up better if there is no default rally point
Units coming out of the Town Hall now form up especially well
Changed Bristol to Cardiff
World map winter lighting is now brighter
Hey Everyone, We`ve been gettign a lot of questions about what`s new with Knights of the Crusaders and how it compares to Medieval Kingdom Wars and our other games, so I wanted to take a moment to address some of the most common questions about this And as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words—so we’ll compare the same locations and situations from both games with side-by-side pictures. First picture will be MKW, and second KotC. And in order to keep this as lighthearted as possible - there are some weak attempts at humor below... And for our players who have played MKW in the past and feel that KotC might be too similar - I believe these comparisons often come from how many games we all play these days. Over time, it’s easy to forget what MKW was really like...
Okay, you got me—it’s almost exactly the same. I can barely spot four differences between these MKW and KotC screenshots myself—showing the same location in the south of France.
Let’s take this up a notch—there are at least seven differences between these pictures. ***Hint: there’s an extra naval army in the center
Same hamlet of Almeria on the Spanish southern coast in KotC and MKW. ***At least I finally figured out what the "Bloom Level" setting is for—baby steps.
if anyone has any questions - please don’t be shy, I’ll be happy to answer any and all questions - no matter how tough.
And I’m very excited to share our big engine update with you shortly. It reworks a lot of the weaker sides of Kingdom Wars games from the very foundation. Things like tasking units, pathfinding on walls, resolution, visual issues, starting the game for new players, and so much more.
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Knights of the Crusades, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main Knights of the Crusades statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.