Ara: History Untold News

[p]I’m a UI guy. Most of my work over the years has been on software such as Fences, Start11, WindowBlinds, IconPackager, and countless other programs designed to improve the Windows experience.[/p][p]On Ara: History Untold, one of the first things we noticed was that the text and icons were blurry. Not a lot, but just enough to feel like an itch you couldn’t scratch. In fact, the entire UI carried that slight fuzziness. The cause was the game rendering at 720p under the hood and then scaling up to whatever resolution you were actually running. There are valid reasons to do this, but the tradeoff was the blur I just described.[/p][p]For 2.0, we did a deep dive into the UI rendering system so that text and icons now render at the screen’s native resolution. Here’s a look at before (v1.41) and after (2.0 preview):[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] [/p][p][/p][h2]What it means for players[/h2][p]Many of us, and yes, statistically, you grew up playing the Civilization games, and probably in the last 10 years, had to deal with needing reading or computer glasses, so I suspect you, like me, found the blurry text a little frustrating.[/p][p]We hope to start the Previews of v2.0 very soon.[/p]

[h3]The latest update for Ara: History Untold, v1.41, builds on the positive reception of the previous patch by introducing several quality of life improvements aimed at enhancing gameplay and usability. [/h3][p]Full Changelog[/p][p][/p][p]Gameplay and Balance Updates[/p][p]One of the most significant enhancements in this update is the ability to upgrade undeployed units directly from the Create Army screen. This streamlines the process of preparing your forces for battle, allowing for quicker strategic adjustments.[/p][p]In terms of city management, players will notice that siege units now capture cities four times faster, while cavalry units have been adjusted to conquer cities five times slower. Additionally, cities reaching Level 10 will gain an extra amenity slot, providing more options for managing city happiness and growth. Notably, nations will now receive an additional army when a city reaches Level 2, a change from the previous requirement of Level 5.[/p][p][/p][p]AI Improvements[/p][p]The AI has received some important tweaks as well. The logic for formations has been improved to avoid creating single-unit formations, which should lead to more effective troop deployments. A bug that allowed the AI to override player supply policies has also been addressed, ensuring that your settings remain intact.[/p][p][/p][p]Quality of Life Enhancements[/p][p]Several user interface (UI) improvements have been made to enhance navigation and inventory management. Inventory filtering now hides items that are not usable by the player in crafting tooltips, while clearer tooltips reduce clutter by omitting unlocks from disabled techs. The global goods display has also been refined to show goods in active use, even if their inventory is at zero.[/p][p][/p][p]Bug Fixes and Technical Improvements[/p][p]This update includes a variety of bug fixes aimed at improving overall stability. Notable fixes address issues with battle banners during bombardments, diplomacy mechanics during war withdrawals, and memory issues related to resource descriptions. These technical adjustments contribute to a smoother gameplay experience.[/p][p] [/p][p]Overall, the v1.41 update for Ara: History Untold focuses on refining gameplay mechanics and enhancing user experience through quality of life improvements. With adjustments to unit upgrades, city management, and AI behavior, players can expect a more intuitive and enjoyable experience in their historical conquests. As always, the development team appreciates player feedback and continues to work on making Ara a more engaging strategy game. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] [/p][h3]v1.41 Changelog[/h3][p]AI Improvements[/p]

• [p]Formations: Smarter logic to avoid creating 1-unit formations; added a check to prevent crash[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Gameplay & Balance Updates[/p]

• [p]Undeployed Units
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  • [p]Undeployed units can be upgraded directly via the Create Army screen.[/p]
• [p]Jewelry Crafting: Requires fewer resources.[/p]
• [p]Metal Ingots: Can now use coins and trade goods to accelerate crafting.[/p]
• [p]City Amenities: Cities Level 10+ gain +1 amenity slot.[/p]
• [p]City Growth Bonus: Nations now get an additional army when a city reaches Level 2 (previously Level 5).[/p]
• [p]City Tier Tooltip updated to show changes in Quality of Life and Food Consumption between Tiers.[/p]
• [p]City Tier Progression: Fixes bug where cities could skip Level 5.[/p]
• [p]Paper Crafting: Slight cost reduction to match tighter wood availability.[/p]
• [p]Siege Unit Balance
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  • [p]Siege units conquer cities 4x faster.[/p]
  • [p]Calvary units now conquer cities 5x slower.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Leader Fixes[/p]

• [p]Otto von Bismarck: “Blood and Iron” now properly boosts all crafting production during war.[/p]
• [p]Wu Zetian: Restored intended 10% Paragon Spawn Chance from Imperial Examinations.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Quality of Life Enhancements[/p]

• [p]Auto vs. Policy Supply Conflict
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  • [p]AI no longer overrides slots with assigned policies.[/p]
  • [p]UI feedback now reflects whether policy or auto-supply is in control.[/p]
• [p]Global Goods Display: Goods with 0 inventory but in active use still appear on the global goods list.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]UI & UX Enhancements[/p]

• [p]Inventory Filtering
  [/p]
  • [p]Items not usable by the player are now hidden in crafting tooltips.[/p]
  • [p]More accurate display of crafting accelerators depending on game context (sandbox/scenario).[/p]
• [p]Tooltip Cleanup
  [/p]
  • [p]Hides unlocks from disabled/disallowed techs in tooltips to reduce clutter.[/p]
• [p]Scroll Reset: Event description UI now scrolls to top when reopened.[/p]
• [p]Improvement Obsolescence: Obsolete improvements are now hidden from lists.[/p]
• [p]Display Resource Banners: Resource nodes are now always visible, even when harvested or outside borders.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Bug Fixes & Technical Improvements[/p]

• [p]Battle Banner: Fixed visual errors during bombardment when one side is eliminated before land phase.[/p]
• [p]Diplomacy: Properly restores cities on war withdrawal, ends sieges, and stops attacks from withdrawn nations.[/p]
• [p]Bribe-Related Stuck Turn: Fixed edge case causing stuck turns with overlapping bribe and diplomacy actions.[/p]
• [p]Palace Act Goal: Now correctly completes when a Palace is built.[/p]
• [p]Pluralization: Royal Seal and Archive now pluralize properly across languages.[/p]
• [p]Resource Description Crash: Fixed memory issue in resource descriptions during async resource loads.[/p]
• [p]Retreat Targeting: Units can no longer retreat to invalid/fog-covered tiles.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]Scenarios DLC[/p]

• [p]Encarta Tagging: Ensured "Exclusive to Untold Scenarios" appears correctly across translated Encarta entries.[/p]
• [p]Mongol Wallbreaker Tech: Now properly unlocks Armory and Gunpowder.[/p]
• [p]Scenario Saves Load Fix: Fixed issue where saves using scenarios failed to appear if the player lacked associated DLC leaders.[/p]
• [p]Roma Start Position: Roman Empire capital now spawns in a historically accurate location on Europe/Eurasia maps.[/p]
• [p]Preset maps from DLCs are now accessible in SP games when the DLC is owned.[/p]
• [p]Scenario Tech Capstone Fix
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  • [p]Singularity tech now properly unlocks.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed double-counting of techs and scenario-specific tech visibility.[/p]

[p]Last month’s release of Version 1.4 seemed to be well received. It marked the first update since we assumed responsibility for Ara: History Untold so we were pretty excited and nervous. It’s been a great experience! The teams at Oxide and Microsoft have been wonderful to work with and now we’re ready to start talking about what’s next.[/p][p][/p][h2]Who are you?[/h2][p]You probably don’t know me but I know you. Or at least, I’d like to think I do because in real life, I suspect we’ve have a blast chatting about the history of these kinds of games. You probably liked Alpha Centauri. You probably could debate the merits of Civilization IV vs. V vs. VI. You may even be a player of Humankind and Millenium and Old World. And of course there’s Stellaris, Crusader Kings, Sins of a Solar Empire, Colonization, Master of Orion, etc. And all of these games bring different things to the genre. [/p][p][/p][p]In a previous entry, I mentioned how Ara has to find its own voice. That was a big challenge during the game’s initial development. The Oxide leads were the leads from Civilization V. So there was a desire to make sure this game took the game in a different direction. After all, if it’s just Civilization with different visuals, we might as well call it “Call to Power” (I suspect you reading this know the reference). The direction Ara ultimately took was to delve into what life in these time periods was like as expressed by the resources that could be used and the goods that could be produced.[/p][p][/p][p]Having a supply chain in a history 4X game was the right move, but in a world with games like Anno, which do it very well, the game has to really be careful in how it’s implemented, and Ara is definitely a v1.0 game in that respect. Our job is to mold the game to finding its unique place in this pantheon of amazing strategy games. Hopefully, version 1.4 showed that we were on the right track. That brings us to v2.0.[/p][p][/p][h2]Version 2.0[/h2][p]There are the things we want to do and the things we can do by September. That’s when v2.0 is scheduled for release. Pick the right things to put into 2.0 and the game’s community grows and we build new things into v2.1 and so forth. Pick the wrong things and the game becomes a footnote.[/p][p]Additionally, we have insisted that the features we are adding must be free and part of the game. There is no DLC accompanying v2.0. It’s a massive free update.[/p][p][/p][p]The key features include:[/p]

1. [p]Per nation units and/or improvements. [/p]
2. [p]Culture. I want to my nation to develop in its own unique way and be able to affect the world through other means than war.[/p]
3. [p]Influence as a tool to use. Whether it be for getting your way in negotiations or expanding your territory, influence, should be just as powerful as military might.[/p]
4. [p]Nation differentiation. Or more of it. I mentioned the units but we mean different ways of playing the game. [/p]

[p][/p][p]On top of that, there’s the other general improvements that we are working on:[/p]

1. [p]Reduce micromanagement. v1.4 was a first step. [/p]
2. [p]Performance improvements, especially on low end. Again, v1.4 was a first step. We’ve made a lot of progress since then.[/p]
3. [p]UI improvements. Better readability, more accessible information, etc.[/p]
4. [p]Warfare improvements. This could be broken into its own section. How much we can for September remains to be seen.[/p]
5. [p]AI improvements including adaptive AI (can adjust itself based on how the game is going – optional feature).[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Near term[/h2][p]We have a version 1.41 in QA right now. Various fixes and improvements. We are pretty eager to get v2.0 up as a preview. A lot of what is discussed above is already done. So we’re pretty excited to start sharing this stuff with you.[/p]

Ara: History Untold is a game I briefly gave a go last year, back when Civ 7 was still a game we were all yet to play and have a vast slew of different opinions about. I thought the little I played was alright, but didn't stick with it that long, slipping back into the pair of comfy slippers that were Civ 6.

Now, though, Ara's just gotten a big update, and it looks like it should solve some of the issues that folks flagged with the base game.

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[p][/p][p]View the Full Changelog Now
[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
[/p][h3]Get Ara: History Untold for 50% Off![/h3][p]
Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, today announced the release of a major update to their ambitious new turn-based strategy game, Ara: History Untold today. This update marks the first significant content release for the title since Stardock assumed direct oversight of the game's ongoing production last month. Titled the "Living Strategy Update," version 1.4 has been developed based directly upon months of extensive community feedback and introduces a substantial array of new features, gameplay enhancements, and quality-of-life improvements.

Key new features of Ara: History Untold version 1.4 include:
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• [p]Living Strategy View: Now the primary default gameplay viewpoint, this feature blends elements of the detailed Living World close-up perspective with the broader strategic overview. The design enables players to seamlessly manage cities, armies, and resources with greater ease while remaining immersed in the game's detailed environments.
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• [p]Advanced Map Generator: Version 1.4 introduces a significant upgrade to the map generation algorithm, now featuring twice as many strategically distinct regions per map size. These enhancements deliver more intelligent resource distribution and improved player starting positions, offering expanded strategic depth and greater replayability. A newly updated Earth map makes full use of these improved generation mechanics.
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• [p]Strategy AI Player v2.0: The computer opponent’s artificial intelligence systems have been extensively overhauled to provide players with more meaningful strategic competition, especially during the late-game period. AI opponents will now make more nuanced decisions, better optimize their resources and challenge players with deeper strategic considerations.
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• [p]Significant Micromanagement Reduction: Leveraging the new AI systems and the citizen simulation system, the game's citizens can now automatically select items from the player's inventory to self-supply their dwellings, shops, factories, and other buildings based on their needs. Players can easily toggle this automated feature or guide citizen behaviors directly using in-game Policies, maintaining full control over their gameplay experience.
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• [p]Battle System Improvements: Combat mechanics have become deeper, longer-lasting, and more transparent, supported by a new Battle Viewer panel. This panel clearly explains battle outcomes and provides improved tactical clarity, helping players better understand and manage military encounters.
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• [p]Graphics Engine Optimization: Extensive updates have significantly improved game optimization, reducing GPU usage and significantly increasing framerate stability, particularly in later-game scenarios.
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• [p]Simulation Speed Enhancements: Optimizations to the game's simulation engine deliver faster turn times and improved UI responsiveness, contributing to a smoother playing experience.
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• [p]Gameplay and Balance Enhancements: Version 1.4 features numerous gameplay improvements, including pacing adjustment, recipe tuning, and extensive balance revisions. Additionally, dozens of community-reported bugs have been addressed, further refining the overall experience.
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[p]Ara: History Untold is developed as a historical 4X strategy title, carefully designed from first principles. Stardock, partnered closely with Microsoft and Oxide, has worked rapidly and collaboratively to make this update comprehensive and attractive.

"It has been a real pleasure working with our colleagues at Microsoft for this update. The teams at Stardock, Oxide, and Microsoft have so much energy going into these updates. Version 1.4 is just a taste of what we have in store," said Brad Wardell, Chief Executive Officer for Stardock and Oxide. “In an industry where true 1.0 products are rare, especially ones in established genres, this has been a wonderful opportunity to try out new ideas and concepts that we in the strategy community have been thinking about for decades.”[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In addition to the major v1.4 Living Strategy Update, Ara: History Untold released Untold Scenarios DLC today, check it out here. [/p]