Ara: History Untold News

• Low health in cities now further reduces population growth.
  
• Population requirements for leveling up cities have increased, encouraging better health management for advancement.
  

• Research output at lower city levels reduced by 1, improving the pacing of scientific progress.
  
• City level 3 no longer grants a new claim, slowing geographical expansion and reducing the ease of blocking other cities.
  

• Science building bonus from eyeglasses reduced from 2 to 1, maintaining their usefulness but with more balance.
  

• Multiple issues with trade agreements have been fixed.
  

• A "Goodbye" prompt now replaces the "Confirm" prompt when multiple trade items are selected.
  

• Logging Camp workers will now spread out appropriately rather than clustering in one place.
  

• National Economy Screen
  
  Manage your nation's crafting, supplies, and policies from a single screen, replacing the crafting panel for streamlined management.
  
  
  
• New Amenities
  
  Over a dozen new craftable amenities added, offering additional strategic choices:
  
  
  
  
  • Anvil: Provide a 150% buff to improvements that can be supplied with them.
    
    
  • Biscuits: Grant players a +25 to food as an Amenity.
    
    
  • Mining Pick: Add +50% harvest rate to improvements.
    
    
  • Fuel Cell: Gives 150% craft rate at improvements, or 100% harvest rate to improvements, +3 City Health.
    
    
  • Sewing Machines: Sewing Machines add 200% craft rate to improvements.
    
    
  • Fresh Produce: Grant +200 food per turn, +5 health per turn as an Amenity.
    
    
  • Scrolls: Grant +15 City Knowledge as an Amenity.
    
    
  • Baked Goods: Give +50 Food/turn, -5 City Health as an Amenity.
    
    
  • ...and more!
    
  
  
  
• Unit Upgrades
  
  Upgrade units within your army directly by issuing the new Upgrade Order, but be mindful of the resource and turn cost to complete the upgrade.
  
  
  
• Advisors
  
  
  • Introduces a Sovereign Advisor.
    
    
  • Each advisor provides suggestions to enhance your strategy.
    
    
  • This feature will become more intelligent in future releases.
    
  
  
  
• John A. MacDonald
  
  Canada joins the world stage, expanding your diplomatic and strategic options!
  
  
  
• Earth Map
  
  Added as a pre-made map focusing on gameplay over strict geographical accuracy:
  
  
  
  
  • Britain and Ireland share an enlarged island.
    
    
  • Features like the Canadian Shield and Gulf Stream are accounted for.
    
    
  • Enhanced mountain ranges for natural barriers.
    
  
  
  
• Redeployment
  
  Reform armies with units being sent back to your reserves for better strategic flexibility.
  

• Memory Optimization
  
  Improved game performance on lower-end hardware.
  
  
  
• Rendering Optimizations
  
  Enhanced framerate stability for lower-end systems.
  
  
  
• LOD Optimization
  
  Better visuals and object clarity while maintaining higher framerates.
  
  
  
• General Performance Improvements
  
  Several performance enhancements have been made to improve overall game stability and experience.
  
  

• Region Yields
  
  Added region yields to the title bar in the city panel for better resource tracking.
  
  
  
• Improvement Renaming
  
  Players can now rename their improvements for personalized management.
  
  
  
• Supply Availability
  
  Improvements with available supplies now glow to indicate their availability.
  
  
  
• Technology Display
  
  Items now display the required technology to unlock them.
  
  
  
• Customization Slider
  
  Added a slider allowing users to customize when the nation overlay and the Living World Buildings fade in/out.
  
  
  
• Notification System
  
  Players receive notifications when they run out of crafting resources.
  

• Improved Prioritization
  
  AI better prioritizes city improvements and optimal dwelling locations.
  
  
  
• Data-Driven AI
  
  Supports data driving, allowing designers and modders to enhance AI prioritization.
  
  
  
• War Declaration Intelligence
  
  AI becomes more strategic and intelligent in declaring wars.
  

• Human Priority
  
  Humans are prioritized for mild climate locations during map generation.
  
  
  
• Biome Weighting
  
  Adjusted to make starting positions more interesting with fewer snowy starts.
  

• Late Game Stability
  
  Fixed a crash bug occurring in the late game.
  
  
  
• La Grand Place
  
  Resolved the issue of La Grand Place not appearing in Act 1.
  
  
  
• Road Spawning
  
  Prevented detail roads from spawning underneath improvements.
  
  
  
• Duplicated Unlocks
  
  Removed duplicate unlock of animal resources.
  

• Triggers Added
  
  Added triggers for improvements when they have no items in the queue and when they begin crafting.
  

• Road Textures
  
  Enhanced road texture fidelity for a more polished look.
  
  
  
• Barracks 3D Asset
  
  Improved the 3D asset of Barracks for better visual appeal.
  

• Advisor Data Driving
  
  Added data driving capabilities for advisors to support modders.
  

• Geographical Features
  
  Canadian Shield and Gulf Stream are now accurately represented.
  
  
  
• Gameplay Connections
  
  - Britain and Ireland connected as a single enlarged island.
  
  - Italy and Sicily connected for enhanced gameplay dynamics.
  
  
  
• Natural Barriers
  
  Tweaked mountain ranges to provide more natural (and slightly exaggerated) barriers for improved gameplay.
  
  
  
• Real-World Locations
  
  Added real-world locations for nations, ensuring a balance between accuracy and gameplay.
  

• Centralized Management
  
  Replaced the crafting panel with the National Economy Screen for unified management.
  
  
  
• Automatic Supply Allocation
  
  Set the game to automatically add supplies to various improvements as they become available.
  
  
  
• Supply Order Management
  
  Define the order in which supplies are allocated automatically.
  
  
  
• Global Harvester Management
  
  Control resource harvesting globally across all regions.
  
  
  
• Crafting Management
  
  Manage crafting from the National Economy Screen without needing to visit each city.
  
  
  
• Global Improvement Upgrading
  
  Upgrade improvements on a global scale for efficiency.
  
  

• Print Shop
  
  Nation limit increased to 3.
  
  
  
• Inns
  
  Limited to 1 per city instead of 1 per nation.
  

• Barracks
  
  Security set to 15 for level 1 and 25 when an expert is added.
  
  
  
• Blacksmith
  
  Can now be supplied with Tools and Anvil Goods.
  
  
  
• Citadel
  
  Construction no longer requires Concrete.
  
  
  
• Docks
  
  Production buff after adding an expert reduced from 20 to 15.
  
  
  
• Drydock
  
  Default production buff increased from 10 to 20.
  
  Production buff after adding an expert increased from 20 to 30.
  
  
  
• Naval Base
  
  Default production buff increased from 10 to 30.
  
  Production buff after adding an expert remains 30 with additional benefits.
  
  
  
• Workshops, Factories, Crafting Guilds
  
  Can build Anvils and Mining Picks.
  
  
  
• Residences & Skyscrapers
  
  Residents can now use Soap, improving living standards.
  
  
  
• Foundry & Forge
  
  Can use Anvils and Fuel Cells to increase production.
  
  
  
• Hwaseong Fortress
  
  Available for construction throughout Act 2 and 3.
  
  
  
• Library of Celsus
  
  Available for construction until Act 3, extending its utility.
  
  
  
• London Eye Buff
  
  Corrected; Security buff changed to Prosperity.
  
  
  
• St. Basil's Cathedral
  
  Now only provides 1 Security per Engineer or Artist Paragon.
  
  
  
• Forge
  
  Can now be unlocked by Precision Engineering.
  

• Metallurgy
  
  No longer unlocks Steel. Steel crafting is postponed until later ages when Forges are available.
  

• Production Cost
  
  Reduced from 1000u to 500u.
  
  
• Production Bonus for the Second Ingredient
  
  Reduced from 750u to 500u.
  

• Marble
  
  Now more common.
  
  
  
• Meteors
  
  Now provide Metal Ingots instead of precious metals, eliminating the need for smelting.
  
  
  
• Obsidian
  
  Now more common.
  
  
  
• Tobacco
  
  Yields less money than before.
  

• Dragoons & Zamburaks
  
  Can now be produced in Act 3.
  
  
  
• Prestige Reward
  
  Capturing an enemy city now provides a prestige reward.
  
  
  
• Horses
  
  Take slightly longer to tame to balance availability.
  
  
  
• Population Tier Requirements
  
  Slightly increased.
  
  
  
• Stat Penalties
  
  Reduced for low-level cities to gradually introduce urbanization effects.
  
  
  
• Tax Revenue
  
  Cities generate slightly more tax revenue to make governments more impactful.
  
  
  
• City Leveling
  
  - Levels 7-13: Slower leveling for better pacing.
  
  - Levels 11-23: Receive an additional amenity slot.
  

• Factories
  
  Can now manufacture Toys, PDAs, and Sewing Machines.
  
  
  
• Workshops & Crafting Guilds
  
  Hourglasses can be produced here.
  
  
  
• Ceramic Shops
  
  Can produce Mosaic Tiles, now an ingredient for many Triumphs.
  
  
  
• Clothing Production
  
  More involved to produce but provides significantly bigger buffs.
  
  
  
• Rope Usage
  
  Added as an accelerator for Barrel and Carriage production, and Festival setups.
  
  
  
• Plows
  
  Substantially more expensive to produce without appropriate resources (e.g., horses or oxen).
  
  Harvest Buff increased from 50% to 100%.
  
  
  Furs
  Must be turned into Leather and can no longer substitute for leather directly.
  
  
  
• Sneakers
  
  Can use Plastic instead of Leather.
  

• Hourglass unlocked by Engineering.
  
  
• Mosaic Tiles unlocked by Architecture.
  
  
• Boots unlocked by Horseshoes.
  
  
• Trousers & Sewing Machines unlocked by Industrialization.
  
  
• Mass Food Supply Amenity unlocked by Synthetic Fertilizers.
  
  
• Toys & Sneakers unlocked by Leisure.
  
  
• PDAs unlocked by Internet.
  
  
• Fuel Cells unlocked by Robotics.
  
  
• Embarkation Pass moved to Navigation for better island nation strategies.
  
  
• Ironworking unlocks the Anvil.
  
  
• Precision Engineering unlocks the Forge.
  
  
• Metallurgy no longer unlocks Steel; Steel crafting is delayed until Forges are available.
  

• Forest Fort:
  
  Aesthetics debuff decreased from -3 to -2 for consistency.
  
  
  
• Piercing Request:
  
  Option 2 now asks for Stone Tools and provides a small capital prosperity buff.
  
  
  
• Honoring Their Memory:
  
  First option debuff updated to -1 force strength.
  
  Third option now imposes a -2 happiness debuff.
  
  
  
• Political Piety:
  
  Removed happiness debuff from the first option.
  
  Wealth is now a required cost.
  
  
  
• Workers of the World Quest:
  
  Removed duplicated reward buff.
  
  
  
• Is It Hot In Here? Event:
  
  The +10 happiness benefit in all cities no longer appears twice.
  

• Dragoons and Zamburaks can now be produced in Act 3.
  
  
• Capturing an enemy city now provides a prestige reward.
  

• Customization Slider:
  
  Added a slider allowing users to customize when the nation overlay and the Living World Buildings fade in/out.
  
  
• Localization:
  
  Continued updates to all language localizations for better accessibility and user experience.
  
  
• Other Improvements:
  
  Several performance enhancements have been made to improve overall game stability and experience.
  
  

Whether it's Civilization 6, Cities Skylines 2, or even Stellaris, I expect economic management in strategy games to be difficult - I want some level of real-world accuracy, and I can only imagine that organizing the finances of an entire city, star fleet, or planet is pretty tricky. But there's a middle point. Detail is good, but repetitive busy work is not. Until now, Ara History Untold has struggled to find a balance. Too much of your time is taken up with micromanaging individual workshops, farms, and other amenities. But that's all about to change. Alongside a superbly designed new world map, a new leader, an overhauled battle system, and myriad other improvements, the new Ara update makes the entire game way, way better.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:

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Ara History Untold is a 4X game that's "optimistic about history"

Ara History Untold is the Civilization 7 rival to watch

• Additional localization updates across most languages.
  
• Sappho’s tenth Muse buff description updated to more clearly explain the regions it affects. The update states now that Coastal Land Regions are where the buff will impact.
  
• Catherine the Great's Siberian Expanse trait is reduced from +2 moves to +1 move per turn.
  

• Farm textures that were not appearing in Act 2, now show up correctly.
  
• Barracks security buff increased from 15 to 25.
  
• Mines of Rammelsberg buff now affects both workshops and their upgrades.
  

• Beer recipe only requires 1 Pottery to accelerate.
  
• Herbal medicine wealth acceleration brought in line with production.
  
• Wine recipe only requires 1 Pottery to accelerate.
  
• Trade Goods now provide +10 security, +5 happiness, +10 knowledge.
  

• The Population growth from buffs cap is increased from 100 to 1000.
  
• The cap has been removed on Happiness, Health, Knowledge, Security, Prosperity City buffs.
  
• The Feast recipe has been updated to have money(wealth) for all three accelerator slots by default.
  

• The build Queue now correctly expands to show all items rather than just one.
  

• Siege units’ strength is now substantially reduced. Their benefit is in bringing down walls and bombardment in general, not as an all-purpose attacker.
  
• Chariots are now changed from Melee Cavalry to Projectile as they have ranged weapons.
  

• A crash that was found to affect the AI after modding the game has been fixed.
  

• After creating a multiplayer game, players are no longer locked into that difficulty setting on subsequent new games.