1.09o/p initial impressions/changes discussion- while we wait for the level 3 city crash issue to be resolved...
Elemental Forums
Hey y'all!
For those of us that are 'stuck' because of the level 3 city crash issue (which I'm sure will be addressed shortly), I'd like to share my experience with the early game stuff.
I generally play kingdom in my games. Under the new beta build, 1.09o, I have noticed these things:
1) Dodge now works. In a big honkin' font no less! Now you know when a weapon is blocked, dodged, or how much damage you just caused. Other than the HUGE font (it could be a little smaller...), I'm glad to see that combat is working 'as advertised' now.
2) Monsters are making their presence known, and are immediate threats to your cities. No more waiting a few turns to build those defenders, it's now a priority. As is some warfare tech (Peasants aren't going to cut it, unless there are a few of them).
3) Haven't been able to test bows under the new build yet, as apparently they aren't a 'choosable' option to begin the game with anymore. I did research the 'Crude Bows' tech, and was about to equip a hero with one once I had the cash to purchase it, and will report on functionality later.
4) Needing to build a hut immediately for your first city (so the population will grow past 5) seems silly... Essentially you can staff one improvement, then you are stuck until that hut gets built. If the objective is to slow down the initial game, this accomplishes that nicely.
5) Population (as a resource) is NOW working as advertised (see #4, above). No more building improvements you don't have the population for.
6) I faced 6 spiders and a bear in one of my combats, which had just attacked one of my newly built cities. Fortunately, I had a guard unit which I dropped in the city to protect it until the city was able to build their own. Said guard unit had a 6 attack and 7 defense (thanks to weapons research), and with some skillful use of terrain (so he wouldn't have more than 2-3 creatures attacking at once), he was able to repulse them. Without the 7 armor, he'd have been toast. Needing to repel such attacks almost immediately may be a good or bad thing, but I like the extra challenge (as long as ALL other kingdoms/empires are facing the same issues).
7) Sending a lone Sovereign out without an escort may be asking for trouble. I used to look for combats, now I'm shying away from them until I am able to get an escort. Until you have spells, decent armor, and/or a nice weapon, going solo may be hazardous to your Sovereign's health. This is the first game where my Sovereign spent a fair amount of time at home recuperating from wounds.
8) I'm seeing less Materials rewards in the Goodie huts. This may be luck of the draw, but I HAD to build several workshops in my first city to get things rolling to compensate. My start game really slowed down this time, while I waited for the necessary materials to accumulate, so I could build defenders and improvements.
9) I didn't see any salted pork as rewards for successful battles, which forced my Sovereign and heroes to head home to heal several times. I liked having the Salted Pork as a reward out in the wild, although perhaps it was being rewarded a too often under 1.09n.
10) I was able to design a unit with greaves and a helm at the start of the game, which I don't remember being able to do before. So I had a choice of building a peasant in 3 turns, or a tougher unit with a staff and light armor in 4 turns (and a higher materials requirement). The tougher unit was needed about immediately, due to the monsters being on the warpath, but two units in a city seemed to be able manage for the first few turns.
That's all I can think of for now. I'll start another game and post an update in a few hours.
Really interested to hear other peoples impressions on the new version. For instance do we now have to give more thought to how we use our population and how is population growth with the changed prestiege modifiers? Is the AI any better? 
I had so much fun the last 1,5h. The game is so much better...
Stardock Forums
That would be a nice gene to pass on!