Manor Lords: Developer Addresses Expectations

With the release of early access to Manor Lords coming on April 26, people can’t wait to get started. The city-building RTS is already the most wishlisted game on Steam and the reviews available say nothing but good things. Slavic Magic is creating a beautiful experience where we will build a settlement from nothing to a self-sustained paradise.

Manor Lords is set in the medieval era of human history in Central Europe. You will become the lord of your village and watch as your people grow. Not only will you be required to build your settlement but you will also need to defend it from bandits or invading neighbors.

Greg Styczen took some time to address his potential fans and explain what we can expect from the game. The solo developer wanted to say a few things that everyone looking to buy Manor Lords should know.

Manor Lords: Slavic Magic Addresses What the Game is Not

At the beginning of the message, Greg Styczen made it clear that his journey will not end on April 26. He will constantly be moving forward, listening to whatever feedback players give, and intends to fix any issues that people will have.

Greg Styczen goes on to draw attention to what the game is not. Some gamers might have the wrong idea about Manor Lords and Slavic Magic wants to address this before people are disappointed. He says:

Manor Lords is not a Total War competitor. It's a citybuilder with battles. Yes, battles are there, but not as huge or as frequent as some of you might expect.

It's not an Empire Management style Grand Strategy game either. The map has regions, but you won't be able to conquer the whole of Europe, nor have marriages or anything like that. The game is designed to play at a much smaller scale.

Some players have noticed you can dress up your lord and walk around your settlement. To some, this could imply some sort of role-playing element but Slavic Magic wants to be clear on this subject.

It's not an RPG either. If you played KCD or Mount&Blade, ML is a different type of game. There is a visit mode in Manor Lords which allows you to walk around your town, but it's an experimental, cosmetic bonus feature, the game is really meant to be played from the "bird's eye" perspective.

Manor Lords: Early Access

Slavic Magic also wants to make sure everyone is aware that Manor Lords is still not a finished product. On April 26, we will be able to play the early access edition and we have to expect some bugs. Sometimes the best way of knowing where the game needs work is to have someone play it and listen to their feedback. That is exactly what Greg Styczen intends to do.

Yes, it must be disappointing, but I think it's the right choice. It's my first serious game and not only is some stuff still unfinished, but I bet you guys will ask me to change some things you don't necessarily like. But I want to pursue an open development strategy of a back and forth between me and you, I think it worked great for the game so far.

Styczen seems open to growing Manor Lords into something his fans will appreciate with the help of the community. We have to be patient with Slavic Magic when the game releases and expect some issues in the beginning.

It’s not all warnings and expectations. He also added that he was grateful for all the positivity towards Manor Lords and believes it can find its way into the hearts of the gamers who understand exactly what the game is.

Manor Lords Roadmap 

When Styczen approached the subject of what the roadmap for Manor Lords is, he made it clear that right now, there isn’t one. Or at the very least, there isn't a permanent one because he wants to adapt to players' wishes.

I do not plan on releasing a roadmap yet. I've made a mistake once or twice before, of promising and working on a feature only to find out that the testers didn't care as much as I did and that they actually wanted something else. So even if I have a plan, I want to adopt the philosophy of "listen, verify, implement".

As long as Styczen maintains this consumer-friendly way of building Manor Lords, we can expect a large fanbase to appear fairly quickly. Gamers are getting tired of game developers putting their agendas before their fans, so to see Slavic Magic listening to their community will truly show people that they care.

Manor Lords will be here before we know it, and now we have been told what our expectations should be, we can get ready for April 26. As long as we don’t start Manor Lords thinking this will be another war-filled strategy game that will be a polished work of art, it might just shine through as an amazing game.