Manor Lords - PC GAME - a beautiful city builder in Total War-style
It feels like medieval-era city builders are thriving, with early access games like Fundament and up-and–coming players like Farthest Frontier. Manor Lords could be another example. It’s a medieval-style strategy game, where you’ll manage small groups of people to cut trees and tend farms. However, what makes it different from other examples is its large-scale Total War battles.
Below is a new trailer which explains how those battles work. It’s amazing considering that it’s only one person’s work.
In battles, hundreds of soldiers can be fighting simultaneously. The trailer shows how you can arrange your soldiers into different formations and equip them differently. You can adjust how many helmets you wish to give (and how many people your hate and hope will be beaned to death) using the slider.
In truth, I have a part that is waiting for the other foot to drop. Manor Lords was created by one developer. The Steam page claims that the game is solo, but the video has a lot of detail. You can equip units with bows, spears or bows. You can order your soldiers to move in formation or stand still. There are horsies.
While the video above shows the latest work on combat, the video below gives a general overview of the entire game. The map can be divided into regions and you can use the buildings to customize what the region produces depending on its resources. To raise funds, you can tax your people, give money the church to gain influence, and engage in diplomacy (ie. You can insult rival lords by sending insults. Your armies could grow from a peasant militia outfitted with improvised firearmry to an armoured lord’s retinue.
Manor Lords doesn’t have a specific century in mind. Instead, it draws heavily on the medieval era from the 11th century. Developer Slavic Magic maintains that everything is influenced by historical references. However, the goal is to build a city that is grounded in reality.
Instead of focusing on one settlement only, you will have multiple regions to conquer and develop. You can exploit their resources, build new towns, and then raise armies to defend them.
You’ll need to be vigilant when you engage in real-time combat with enemy troops.
You can build whatever shape you like by using free-form building. Although you don’t have to follow a grid, it is important to think about where resources are and how close you are from trade routes to make sure your production chains are as efficient as possible.
Diplomacy is possible between lords, as well as conflict. There are also trade systems and development trees for each region. These allow you to personalise the trees based on their roles in your new realm or their resources. Although it is large and detailed, it can be done by one developer.
Manor Lords will be the first to take the Early Access route, but no date has been set.
James King
James is a gamer, writer and developer that covers various different gaming topics. His goal is to promote and encourage more indie game development that brings new and exciting game ideas to life.
