Manor Lords, the most anticipated city-builder game on Steam with more than 2.5 million wishlists, was forced to nerf sheep due to an economy-breaking exploit.
The solo developer behind the game, Greg Styczen, is preparing Manor Lords for the early access launch. However, some players were able to get their hands on an early version of the game and they did not waste any time finding a way to break its economy.
Manor Lords Sheep Exploit
(Photo : Slavic Magic / Screenshot taken from official website)
Styczen said that a few players who accessed the game early raised awareness of various issues surrounding "infinite money."
A quick look at videos on YouTube brought players to one that explained that with a few dozen sheep and a trait to increase their numbers through breeding programs, players can gather up enough wool to have nearly unlimited funds.
The developer posted a tweet response to the explicit, saying that he personally did not have a game design problem with "infinite money."
However, he also noted that there were so many people who offered feedback regarding "export abuse" that he decided to add a last-minute feature, according to Games Radar.
The feature is basically putting sheep on the no-fly list and a screenshot revealed that wool is in critical global oversupply and is no longer available for foreign exports. But exactly how the new feature will be rolled out for other resources or how it would impact the early-access playerbase is yet to be seen.
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There have been some talks about whether or not it should be optional because of the amount of micro-management that it would require in the late game. However, Styczen also suggested that it could be used to help introduce "random events impacting prices."
The sheep exploit was showcased by YouTuber P4wnyhof, who was able to obtain hundreds of wool with his sheep. As the animals can technically produce an infinite amount, there is no limit to how much players can export.
Adding a Last-Minute Feature
After that, they need to use a couple of weavers' workshops to turn the wool into yarn and eventually clothes that sell for eight coins each, four times the price of the wool itself.
However, this means that players will have to spend their first few upgrade points on trade logistics and better deals, said PCGamer.
These upgrades will help you get better discounts on builds and reduce the import tariff by 10 coins. Styczen, otherwise known as Slavic Magic, said that his early work with RPG Maker 2000 and introduction to Unreal Engine led him to create Manor Lords.
The highly anticipated game combines city-building, tactical battles, and social hierarchy. It features a gridless and organic city-building experience. This means that players will be free to place and rotate buildings as they want. But there will be some snapping tools to make things a little bit easier to lock in.
Players will also have to manage goods, including processing, production, transportation, and sale. All of these will somewhat have an effect on the growth of the city and its people, according to Epic Games Store.
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