Manor Lords update 0.8.097 brings a large batch of new food, drink, livestock, and building mechanics to the medieval city builder, along with a two-tier construction system and a wide set of balance changes. It is a testing release, so it lives on the game’s beta branch rather than the main version.
Quick answer: Right-click Manor Lords in your Steam library, open Properties, go to the Betas tab, enter the password veryNiceBasket, and let Steam download build 0.8.097. Back up your saves first and remove any mods, or the game will most likely crash.
How to enable the Manor Lords 0.8.097 beta
veryNiceBasket (without quotation marks) to unlock the pre-release build, then pick it from the beta dropdown. Steam will download update 0.8.097.New food, drink, and livestock
Cows are the headline addition. You import cows and calves through the livestock trader, house them on pastures, and have Livestock Farm workers (renamed from Sheep Farm workers) collect the yield. Cows produce a passive Milk supply and can be butchered for Beef and Hides.
Oats arrive as a new, easy-to-grow crop. Oat Sheaves are threshed into Oats, which your families can eat directly or turn into Animal Feed. That feed matters, because both cows and sheep now need it to survive the Winter, and unfed pasture animals risk starving.
Three new consumables round out the pantry. The table below shows what each needs and where it comes from.
| Product | Made from | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cheese | Milk and Salt | Cheesemonger, unlocked at Burgage Plot rank three |
| Cider | Apples | Brewing recipe |
| Mead | Honey | Brewing recipe |
Advanced buildings and the Construction Yard
Structures are now split into two tiers, Basic and Advanced. Advanced structures require professional builders assigned to the new Construction Yard. When the yard is properly maintained, it raises build speeds by 50% and can use Oxen to move Timber in bulk.
You still do not need specialists for everything. Ordinary families can handle basic jobs such as hauling materials and flattening ground, while skilled builders take on the advanced work. Construction sites also feel busier, with workers fetching water from nearby wells and stages that show scaffolding and cranes.
New building animations debut with the Large Stone Church, whose construction stages are modeled on real historical examples. This is the first place you will see the reworked build sequence in full.
Seasons, apiaries, and affinities
Seasons now drive breeding and production. Pasture animals only breed at certain times of year, and produce such as Wool and Milk becomes available on a seasonal cycle rather than a constant trickle.
Apiaries follow the same logic. Yield builds up through spring and summer and is harvested in the fall. Wilding affinity determines the strength of that yield, and meadows now set both how strong it is and how many apiaries you can support. A separate Herbage affinity, also tied to your meadows, gives a chance for extra output from pasture animals.
Interface changes and the Wide Valley map
The main interface has been reworked. You can now set Active Recipes to give your Artisans precise priority orders, and every workplace supports Seasonal Assignments so you can change staffing per season. Trading Posts gain storage filters that control which goods they handle.
Fires produce more realistic reactions from workers and animals, and the AI running rival settlements has been made smarter. If you want a clean start, a new Wide Valley map adds a layout built around a couple of rivers.
Key balance changes in 0.8.097
Several numbers shifted with this patch. These are the ones most likely to change how you plan a settlement.
| Change | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pasture size | Requires 2.2x the area for the same space, plus a Plank cost scaled to size |
| Rye yields | Reduced slightly; Wheat is more efficient once its fertility passes 30% |
| Wax | Worth less in trading |
| Influence sources | Settlement level milestones and Wooden Churches now grant influence |
| Building times | Increased overall |
You will know the switch worked when Steam finishes downloading build 0.8.097 and the game launches on the beta branch with the new food, Construction Yard, and Wide Valley map present. If it crashes on launch, confirm that all mods are removed, since that is the most common cause. When you want to return to the stable game, reopen the Betas tab and select the standard version.
