Medieval Kingdom Wars?

[ArizonaTank]

Here is a post with their upcoming development plans heading toward beta.  Note that Update #54 has already been implemented:

Hey Everyone,

With Beta milestone just three months away, .....

Wow! how many devs really pay attention to "alpha" and "beta" in the era of "early access"?  I can't think of one piece of early access software that has gone into "beta" in the last year...

[Gusington]

It echoes what JH said above about the developer being dedicated. High hopes here.

And they mentioned the tutorial...I am really looking forward to that.

[Geezer]

Looks like Update #55 went live a couple of hours ago:


Update 55 - Four Armies in Battles
Hey Everyone

Before we jump to the patch details - we wanted to give a warm Thank You to all the new players who joined us this week, thanks for your feedback, reviews and bug reports. And most of all for supporting our small indie company on a quest to create a new worth Grand Strategy game!

Now... it`s another solid update today - introducing fighting battles with up to four armies in the campaign. Sure the second army for now is AI controlled, but we`ll address this in the next update. Today`s patch also includes a lot of new player requested features - from new Cheats menu, to Heal All Units option, and a lot of other quality of life improvements.

We should have the next update 56 the week of June 11. That update will enable controlling both armies in battles (right now AI controls the other one), as well as introduce huge number of new diplomatic features.... and hopefully finally bringing you the first part of Direct X 11 engine update

And so, presenting Update # 55:

-Multiple armies in RTS battle mode enabled for Naval and Army vs Army combat
-Multiple armies in RTS battle mode enabled for Town and Hamlet combat
-During multiple battles in Hamlets or vs Army - additional armies spawn in supporting Army Camps
-During town battles additional armies spawn inside the city or in the second army camp
-AI controls the second army - to be changed in the next update
-Added Heal All option when clicking on damage soldier in the army
-Greatly improved camera centering on the world map - back to the last position before a battle or game exit
-On the World Map selected multiple armies will now march in close proximity to each other
-Destroyed nations are no longer selectable in Diplomacy window and have a death symbol over their portrait
-In Skirmish when selecting Hamlet battle added options for various random map terrain
-Cheat Codes can now be entered by clicking F7 key
-Cheats are: /merchant and /silver on the world map, /food, /wood, /stone and /iron on the battle map
-Skirmish Hamlet battle now has up to 4 players, with 2 other players having supporting Army Camp
-Victory and Defeat cinematic for large town battles
-Military Alliance and Trade Agreement icons show in Diplomacy/Chancellor

[Geezer]

Got the following comments from another forum about recommending the game:

It's still in early access, and has flaws all over it that make me hesitate to recommend it.

That said, it has improved greatly over the last few months, and the developers have been very active in updating it.

And with that said, this same group of developers abandoned their last project, so...

[Geezer]

I checked further into the comment above about the devs abandoning past projects.  Their website lists two other games currently on Steam.  One called Kingdom Wars is free and there are quite a few complaints about the game being bugged and abandoned by the devs.   The other is Kingdom Wars II: Battles which is not free, but also appears to be abandoned based on several reviews.  Both games got Mixed reviews.  The red flag for me is that I also see a game by these devs called Stars End that is listed on Steam as coming out in 2018.  The concern for me is that MKW may get abandoned at some point so they can focus on yet another game.  Hopefully my fear is unfounded but it has caused me to take a wait and see attitude on MKW.  If/when it launches and is as good as it looks and also continues to receive support then I'll gladly pay full price.  Until then I'm sitting on my wallet.  Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just posting what my research revealed.

[Jarhead0331]

We're talking about $9.99 here...for all the energy and time you all are putting into researching the developer, you could have just bought the game already. The human brain and perception sure is fascinating. Its like driving 20 miles out of your way to get gas for a couple cents cheaper per gallon. 

[Geezer]

It's certainly not about $10.  As I said, I'll pay full price if the game is good and they continue to support it.  It's about giving my money to devs who appear to have a history of abandoning their games.  Anyway I'll be happy to watch this thread for opinions on the game but I don't have anything else to say at this point.

[Boggit]

I took the hit, and bought the game. Fingers crossed... :hide: O0