Your Castle Before the Battle: The New Walkable Main Menu

Hi everyone,

Your next siege now begins inside your own castle. The new default main menu is the Commander's Hall : a place to walk around in third person, prepare your commander, gather your friends and spend a little time between battles.

You can try it now in the latest Steam Playtest, version 2.7.14. Update your installation and step inside.

A castle worth coming home to

Sunlight falls through the windows, fires light the stone halls, and the rooms around you have a purpose. I wanted the space before a battle to feel like part of your kingdom. You can take a walk, inspect your collections or meet your friends here before marching out together.

The war table is alive

There is a small battle happening right on the table. Miniature soldiers march, clash and fall, with little explosions breaking up the fighting. It gives you something to watch while you wait for the rest of the group.

The table is also your starting point. Approach it and press E to start or resume a campaign, open multiplayer or access the weekly siege challenge. For a shared visit, use Invite to Hall to bring friends into the castle. When everyone is ready for a battle, the multiplayer war council handles your lobby and mode selection.

Get your commander ready in the armoury

Walk over to the armoury to choose your outfit, then visit House & Heraldry to give your commander and kingdom their colors and crest. Your equipped appearance carries into battle in the current Playtest.

The Royal Atelier puts collection displays around you, with a commander, matching troops and a miniature castle together. Inspect a collection to see its different looks and eras. The catalogue now groups collections into themes, making it easier to find historical, insect, holiday and other designs.

Displays clearly label each collection as owned, available or preview only. You can inspect unowned collections before unlocking them, and all collection changes are cosmetic . Some showroom collections are currently marked Coming Soon.

Make room for the things you earn

The trophy galleries have separate spaces for statues, awards, banners and trophies. The rewards appear when you earn them. Before that, their places stay empty, giving you room to grow into the hall.

Look at a display to see the goal behind it. Your gallery should tell the story of what you have accomplished, with each reward getting its own place instead of everything being crowded onto one table.

Visit the stable and warm up your sword arm

The stable gives you a closer look at horse coats and equipment, and the nearby sparring space lets you practice against one NPC opponent. The practice bout is nonlethal and does not change your campaign or competitive records. Horse presentation choices in the stable are currently Hall previews.

A few controls to get you started

• WASD: Walk around the castle.
• Mouse: Look around in third person.
• E: Interact when the small Press E prompt appears.
• Tab: Open room shortcuts and quick navigation.
• Escape: Open settings or return from a menu.

You can use the shortcuts when you want to get straight to a task, or take your time exploring the rooms. Weather and day/night remain optional and are off by default.

Come take a look

Please update everyone in your multiplayer group before joining the same lobby. If you find an awkward interaction, an outfit that does not carry over or a problem joining a friend's hall, let me know in the Steam discussions. Include whether you were hosting or joining, plus a screenshot or short clip if you can.

Thanks for playing and helping me shape March Out! I am excited to give your commander a proper place to prepare for the next battle.

Mason Solo developer, Polygon Interactive Studios