HUMANKIND™ News

Hey everyone !


We hope you’re ready to sail to new shores, because today we are releasing the Bonny Update and the Cultures of Oceania DLC! What treasures can you expect to find in these?


Let’s start with a quick summary of the changes and additions in the Bonny Update:

• Reworked Resources: Deposits yield more than one copy, but only a single copy is needed to begin any construction
• Reworked Trade: Resources are now transported to your capital on internal trade routes, while international routes connect capitals
• Poaching: Use your armies to steal resources from enemy trade routes
• Rebalanced Naval Combat: Stronger and faster ships with new abilities
• Caribbean Pirates Culture: Yarrrrr!

[h3]>> Full Patchnotes[/h3]

That’s already quite exciting, but we also got the Cultures of Oceania DLC for you (available now on Steam, Epic Game Store, and Microsoft Store), so let’s take a closer look at the different cultures in this DLC:



[h3]Pama-Nyungan (Aesthete)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Storied Lands

• +3 Influence on Landmark parts
  
• +5 Influence on Natural Wonders

Boomerang Throwers

• Ranged unit: 18CS, 4 Move, 2 Range
  
• Pathfinder
  
• Expedition

Fish Traps

• +2 Food
  
• +2 Food per adjacent River
  
• +1 Farmer Slot
  
• -10 Stability
  
• Can be placed anywhere
  
• must be built on a river
  
• districts can be built next to it

[h3]Polynesians (Expansionist)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Intrepid Navigators

• Units are not damaged from being lost at sea
  
• Units lost 50% maximum movement while lost at sea
  
• Units gains +1 Vision Range while lost at sea
  

Faulua

• Boarding Vessel, 28CS, 6 Move
  
• Navigator
  

Marae

• +3 Influence
  
• -15 Stability per adjacent District
  
• +1 Influence and +2 Faith per Marae in your empire
  
• Can be placed anywhere
  
• Religious District

[h3]Rapa Nui (Builder)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Makemake’s Eye

• +1 Industry on Coastal Water
  
• Applies Makemake’s Eye status to new cities: bonus industry for a few turns
  

Maori Tangata

• Melee Unit, 34CS, 4 Move
  
• Sapper: Bonus strength when attacking enemies behind walls
  

Moai

• Can be placed anywhere
  
• Religious District
  
• Can be improve two times
  
• Step 1: +5 Faith, +10 Food
  
• Step 2: +10 Faith, +10 Food, +10 Influence
  
• Step 3: +15 Faith, +15 Food, +15 Influence

[h3]Maori (Militarist)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Thicker Than Water

• +30 Stability on cities per ongoing war
  
• -5 Upkeep on units per ongoing war
  
• +1 Combat Strength on units per ongoing war
  

Waka Taua

• Naval Transport, 34CS, 6 Move
  
• High Sea: Ignores ocean penalties
  
• Rower’s Defiance: Bonus CS after moving in battles
  

Pa

• +5 Food
  
• +10 Fortification
  
• +15 Stability
  
• +2 Combat Strength on adjacent units
  
• +20 Fortification on adjacent districts
  
• Is a garrison
  
• Districts can be built adjacent

[h3]Hawaiians (Agrarian)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Cape of Feathers

• +5 Influence Per Worker
  

Koa Warriors

• Gunner unit, 48CS, 4 Move, 4 Range
  
• Implacable
  

Loko Kuapa

• +1 Food per adjacent Coastal Water
  
• +15 Food per adjacent Ocean
  
• -10 Stability

[h3]New Zealanders (Scientist)[/h3]

Originally posted by author

Call of the Ocean

• +20 Science on Coastal Water
  

Sailing Club

• +10 Influence
  
• +10 Stability
  
• +10 Influence per adjacent Coastal Water
  
• +10 Stability per Adjacent Coastal Water
  

Polar Base

• +5 Influence per Researcher
  
• +15 Science per adjacent Sterile Terrain
  
• +1 Researcher Slot
  
• -10 Stability
  
• Counts as Research Quarter

In addition to these new cultures, the DLC includes four new natural wonders, two new cultures wonders, and 15 new events (and of course new additions to the soundtrack).


We hope you’ll have fun sailing to distant coasts and exploring new shores!

ADDITION: Cultures of Oceania Content Pack

• 6 New Cultures
  
• 6 New Wonders
  
• 15 New Narrative Events (including 1 cross-empire events)
  
• 7 New Independent People
  
• New In-Game Themed Music Tracks composed by Arnaud Roy
  

MAJOR CHANGES & ADDITION: Anne Bonny Update

• 1 Bonus New Culture: Caribbean Pirates
  
• 3 New Naval Units
  
• New army action: poaching.
  
• New trade screen, to allow easier management of trade with multiple other players.
  
• Naval Units Ranged Retaliation and rebalance! Faster movement, longer ranges, greater firepower!
  
• Larger Battlefields! You have more room to deploy your Units and can take advantage of the new-found mobility.
  
• Internal Trade! Deepen your economic relationships with other Empires, but beware of any poaching...
  
• Strategic Resources requirement system! A single copy of each required resources is now enough to unlock construction, but at what cost?
  

CHANGES AND ADDITION FROM COMMUNITY IDEAS

• Steam Workshop and mods upate flow improvements.
  
• Modding Tool quality of life improvements, especially around versions checking.
  
• Map Editor quality of life improvements, especially around Resources and Natural Wonder placement.
  
• Added an option for players to rename their avatar.
  
• Adapted the HUD and changed the science button to make it round (again).
  

BALANCING AND OTHER CHANGES

• Nerfed the aggressiveness of the AI in Metropolis & easier levels of difficulty.
  
• Improved feedbacks for players on how to assimilate Independent Peoples in decline regardless of patronage level.
  
• Units: balanced the number of accesses required to built & number of accesses required to update.
  
• Infrastructures: balanced the number of resources required to built, new resources bonus granted & FIMS bonus per strategic or luxury.
  
• Electricity Technology: Bonus on coal deposit.
  
• Power Line Technology: Bonus on aluminium deposit.
  
• Nuclear Fission Technology: Bonus on uranium deposit.
  
• Balanced various Upkeep costs.
  
• Increased combat strength of naval units for all Eras.
  
• Increased Combat Strength of all Air Units.
  
• Increased Combat Strength and Range of all Missile units.
  
• Increased Naval Units combat strength on Pentekonter and Quadriem.
  
• Reduced Naval Units combat strength on Cog, Carrack, Geobulseon, Galleass and Man O'War.
  
• Cruise Missiles, Nuclear Warheads and Thermonuclear Warheads combat strength all went down from 7 points.
  

AI IMPROVEMENTS

• Improved Aircraft Carriers management.
  
• Improved the variety of response from counter-proposals.
  
• Improved territory management and city expansion.
  
• Improved Airport management.
  
• Improved National projects management.
  
• Improved Garrisons management.
  
• Improved Deeds seeking.
  
• Improved Stealth detection strategies.
  
• Improved Late game Civics choices.
  

FIXES

• Fixed a multiplayer desynch when specific game language was selected.
  
• Fixed an issue where game was stuck on pending turn after signing the Intellignece Coalition with an AI.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bombarding the main plaza during a Siege could cause a crash.
  
• Fixed an issue where launching a Nuclear Missile after using two of them the previous turn could lead to a softlock.
  
• Fixed an issue where disabling auto saves in a multiplayer game continued to generate auto saves.
  
• Fixed a game softlock when the host loses internet connection, while in loading screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where Land Units were keeping their abilities when embarked.
  
• Fixed an issue where The Santa Maria del Fiore Cultural Wonder would not benefit from religious bonuses as stated.
  
• Fixed an issue where Independent Peoples did not build Infrastructures in their Cities.
  
• Fixed an issue where Nuclear Missile launch was not canceled when the player was occupying the targeted enemy City.
  
• Fixed an issue where Independent People's territory remained under influence after they de-spawn.
  
• Fixed various minor UI and localization issues.
  

The new HUMANKIND™ Update arrives soon and brings with it new opportunities to rule the waves, get rich trading (or stealing), and meet new cultures. With big changes to naval combat and trade, the Caribbean Pirates, and a DLC with six new cultures from in and around the Pacific, there's a lot to discover, so let's dive right in!



[h2]Cultures of Oceania DLC[/h2]

It's time to expand your selection of cultures and wonders in Humankind once more, with the new Cultures of Oceania DLC. This DLC includes: 

• Six new Cultures (Pama-Nyungan, Polynesians, Rapa Nui, Maori, Hawaiians, and New Zealanders)  
• 6 new Wonders (Aitutaki Lagoon, Bungle Bungle Range, Uluru, Whakaari Volcano, Royal Palace of Pape'ete, Mauna Kea Observatory)  
• 15 new narrative events 

The Cultures of Oceania DLC will be available on Steam on September 11th, and you can pre-order it now with a 10% discount. 

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]The Caribbean Pirates[/h2]

There's a seventh culture to join the game on the 11th for free for all players, thanks to the diligent efforts ruthless plundering during the anniversary community challenge: The Caribbean Pirates. 

The first culture in the game to forego their Emblematic Quarter for a second Emblematic Unit, they can use their agile Sloops to raid unprotected sea trade nodes yet put up a fight if they get caught, and their Buccaneers' accurate fire to deprive enemies of their defensive positions. Not to mention that their ill-gotten gains from Poaching will have additional benefits for their economy. 




[h2]The Bonny Update[/h2]

While the Caribbean Pirates are a fun addition to the game, the core of the update are the changes to naval combat, resources, and trade. Let's take a look at what that entails: 

• Rebalanced ships: Most ships in the mid to late game will now be faster or stronger but also more expensive 
• Rebalanced Air Units and Missiles: To keep pace with the increased bombardment and anti-air power of naval units, Air Units and Missiles have been buffed 
• New Ship Classes: Early Modern and later ships are now classed as Capital Ships, Escort Ships, or Torpedo Vessels, each with their own abilities 
• Three new generic Ship Types: Diesel Submarines, Destroyers, and Frigates 
• Naval ranged retaliation: Naval units will now return fire against other naval units attacking them 
• Enlarged naval battlefields: To account for increased speeds and ranges, naval battle areas are now larger but do not feature a flag for the defender (This does not affect land battles.) 
• Enlarged deployment zones: Deployment zones now extend to the edges of the battlefield (This does affect land battles.) 
• Retreats: Starting in the second round of a naval battle, the losing side may declare a retreat and withdraw their units to the edge of the battlefield to escape at the end of the turn 
• Expanded Resources: Resource deposits can now provide more than one copy per deposit, which may be further increased by some infrastructures 
• Reworked resource requirements: Units and infrastructures can now be built when not meeting all resource requirements, at increased cost, as long as at least one copy of each resource is available 
• Domestic Trade Routes: Strategic and Luxury Resources are now transported to your capital by internal trade routes; these do not cost upkeep or generate income, but can be disrupted 
• Reworked international trade: All trade between empires now flows between their capitals to create readable, high-value trade routes 
• New Trade Screen: This screen can be used to buy resources or view the global trade network 
• Poaching: Armies can now steal Luxury and Strategic Resources while standing on a trade node 

If you want to learn about these changes in detail, you can find more information in the posts about naval combat, resources, and trade.



[h2]Bonny Beta Playable Now[/h2]

We've got one final surprise for you: The Bonny Update (including the Caribbean Pirates) is available as an opt-in beta for PCs on Steam right now! Just go to the properties window of the game and select the Update_preview beta on the Betas tab. 



Give it a try and let us know what you think! 

Hey everybody!


Humankind was released two years ago today, so it's time for a little celebration. Just a little one, though, as we're quite busy working on the next update. :) 

For those of you who haven't been following our regular news, here's a little summary of what we've worked on in the past year:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We know many of you are excited to get your hands on the trade rework, improve naval combat, and poaching ability, but that’s not quite ready to ship yet. (Don't worry, it's not that far off now. You'll get a hold of it next month.)

To get you in the mood to mess with your enemies once the new update hits the waves, we prepared a little community challenge: From today (August 17th) until next Tuesday (August 22nd), we’ll be tracking the number of districts all of our players ransack together. As you burn and pillage more districts, you will progressively unlock Humankind-themed rewards, alongside a few hints about the final in-game reward.

• Goal 1: A hint of what's to come 
• Goal 2: New G2G Avatar 
• Goal 3: A second glimpse of the future 
• Goal 4: New Humankind wallpaper 
• Goal 5: The final clue 
• Goal 6: New free in-game content 

The hints will be revealed as you reach the goals, but all other rewards will be delivered with the naval update. 


Have fun stealing your neighbor's riches! 

If you've been following our recent blogs, you might have been wondering why naval combat should matter to you, or why we introduced domestic trade routes towards your capital. Well, it all ties into how international trade will work in the new update, and how you can mess with it. 


[h3]International Trade: Would You Be Interested in a Trade Agreement With The English?[/h3]

International trade is a crucial interaction in Humankind, as it creates lasting economic ties and thus diplomatic cooperation and stability, so with this update we want to make trade clearer and increase the impact of disruptions to your trade network. 

To that end, trade between empires (including vassals and their lieges) will now always connect their capital cities. This reduces the hard to read “trade route spaghetti” of the old trade interface and gives you a better idea of the path a new route will take. It also concentrates all international trade along a few major routes, letting you take better advantage of it with infrastructure, protect your interest, or interfere with your enemy.



Buying resources still requires an upfront payment and the appropriate diplomatic treaties (unless you are a Merchant empire, who can now always buy resources from others without signing treaties first). However, unlike before, trade routes now have an upkeep cost for the buyer based on the territories they cross and increasing slightly with the variety of goods on the same route. This upkeep cost can evolve over the course of the game, as technology, infrastructure, and control of the land changes. For example, routes crossing ocean territories will be expensive at first but become cheap with the advent of Three-Masted Ships, roads and railroads reduce upkeep, and routes in territory you own will be cheaper than in foreign territory. Of course, trade routes may also need to cross neutral, unclaimed territory, where they will form neutral trade nodes to serve as indicators and interaction points for the passing trade. 




[h3]Poaching: What's Yours Is Mine[/h3]

So far, so good... But that doesn't really affect trade, does it? They may be going to your capital now, but you're still getting all the same resources, right? 

Not always! In the new update, armies and navies can poach trade routes at various points along their path (such as neutral trade nodes or harbors) to interrupt the flow of resources and divert some or all of them to their own empire. Just steal the Saltpeter you need from your enemies, and bring along their gold and gems while you're at it!



Such attacks on peaceful trade are frowned upon, though, so while an army is poaching a trade route, any other empire can attack them without generating any grievances. Even once they stop stealing trade, armies will be marked as outlaws for a few turns, leaving them vulnerable to counterattack. Even stealthy units won't go unpunished, as poaching a trade route will immediately reveal them to everybody. This makes poaching trade routes a risky move, but on a rich, isolated trade node it can be well worth it. 



That's all for our previews of the next update. We hope you're excited about these changes and additions, and will join us next week to celebrate Humankind's release anniversary.