Manor Lords developer Slavic Magic has released details about an upcoming patch for the early access strategy game, and it’s “overhauling a lot of systems at once”.

Manor Lords is one of the most exciting early access games going at the moment, and that’s reflected in its success, having sold over 2.5 million copies in less than a year. The last major update for the early access game arrived back in January adding new maps and bridge building to the game, but since then it’s been silent aside from a blog post to confirm an update is on the way.

Greg Styczeń (aka Slavic Magic) has posted a new blog post explaining why it’s been so long since the game had been updated, writing: “I know you’ve been waiting a long time, and the reason for the delay is pretty simple. We’re overhauling a lot of systems at once. It’s not just a new feature or two. It’s a full rework of how things like buildings, production chains, and environmental interactions function. Because we’re working on all these big changes, we haven’t been able to put out smaller patches. They would make things messy or break stuff that’s still being worked on.”

As for the update itself, it’s adding a new Affinity system that offers up a more strategic way to lay out your towns. Buildings will now have different environmental types which will work in conjunction with each other, with some giving buffs to other buildings. For example: “Apiaries can increase the existing effect that Pollination Orchards get from Meadows.”

However, your actions outside of building will also have an effect on your affinity. “As you chop down forests, your Woodland affinities will start disappearing, so if you value forest-based industries, you may want to take care of your forests more.”

Styczeń also confirms that a new map named Divided is on the way, which has two regions divided by a mountain range. As well as see-through fortifications, and reworked building cards, which can be seen on the blog post announcing the changes.

Furthermore, Styczeń adds that “once this update is out, we’ll be able to shift to smaller, more frequent updates going forward,” meaning there shouldn’t be a wait between patches that lasts this long again. “That’s the focus, and we’re working hard to make the wait worth it.”

These updates could get Manor Lords a higher spot in our list of the best city building games.