Ara: History Untold News

Introducing - The Steam Preview Channel

[h3]Introducing - the Steam Preview Channel[/h3]
We're excited today to announce the launch of the new Steam Preview Channel, an opportunity for players to test out the latest and greatest builds of Ara: History Untold as the team continues to add to the game post-launch.

[h3]Loaded today into the Preview Channel is the 1.3.1 patch. [/h3]
This patch primarily includes further updates and balance changes to diplomacy and AI, but future patches will include larger scope balance adjustments, as well as other bigger changes and feature previews.

To access the Preview Channel: Right-Click the game from your Library and select "Properties"

Choose "Betas" from the list on the left, enter this code into the Private Betas field:
rDM3pfbn4q9Y5P6xNujX

Then select "Check Code"
If you've entered it correctly, you'll see a message that says "Success! Beta unlocked." You can then click "Opt into: preview - Preview of next release"

Once you've done that, you'll trigger an update, and you've effectively switched your game over to the Preview Channel.

[h3]Some things to note:[/h3]

Although our goal will always be to upload high quality builds, due to the working nature of the Preview Channel you'll possibly encounter unique bugs, breaks, or other issues with the game, in those cases we greatly appreciate you sharing your experience with us so we can make sure it is resolved before the final release to the main channel.
Existing Multiplayer Games will not work on the Preview Channel - however you can start new Multiplayer games with other players on the Preview Channel.
It is not cross-save enabled with the main game channel, so any save games on the main channel will stay separate from your save games on preview channel.

Once you've entered the code, you'll continue to have access to the Preview Channel (pending other updates we make) - but you can switch back to the main channel at any time. To do so, head back to that Betas menu from the Properties menu of the game, click the "Select the Beta you would like to opt into" drop down menu and select "None". This will trigger another update, and move you back to the main channel. Going forward, to head back to the Preview Channel you'll just return to this same menu and select it from your list of betas.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the preview build, whether that's in the:

Ara: History Untold Discord Server
The Steam Community Forums
The Ara: History Untold Website Forums
Any of our various social media platforms!

Thank you for playing!
- The Ara: History Untold Team

New Ara History Untold update brings bribery and nukes to the 4X game

The race to grow your civilization, discover new technologies, and defend your interests is at the heart of any good 4X game, and now in Ara History Untold, that can all culminate in the nation-destroying push of a big red button. As the already excellent strategy game continues to improve and get even bigger and better, its new 1.3 update brings a load of new gameplay options - including the ability to fire nuclear missiles at rival civilizations.

Read the rest of the story...

New Ara History Untold update brings bribery and nukes to the 4X game

Read the rest of the story...

v1.3 - The Diplomacy Update (Official Patch Notes)

Welcome to the Ara: History Untold Diplomacy update!

Along with balance changes, bug fixes, and quality of life updates, this release adds many new options for Diplomatic interactions with other nations to advance your agenda - as well as Nuclear Weapons!

[h2]New Diplomacy Features![/h2]

Bribe: Offer another player a gift of resources in exchange for them declaring war on a target Nation.
Demand Tribute: Does another Nation have something you want? Through Demand Tribute, you can now demand a gift of specific items from other Players. [Not available with Human Players in multiplayer.]
Military Aid: Send allies and enemies of your enemies support by giving them Units from your Reserves.
Advisor Insights: Gain insight into another Nation's sentiments towards you or even get some information on their current plans regarding your nation through Advisor Insights available on the Diplomatic Screen with any Nation. [Not available with Human Players in multiplayer.]
Diplomatic History: See how events throughout the game have shaped your Relationship with another Nation with the History log now available on the Diplomatic Screen with any Nation.
Aggressive Negotiations: Unlock technologies in Act 3 to build nuclear weapons delivered via Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) as well as anti-missile defenses to protect your interests.

[h2]Additional Details[/h2]

[h3]Balance Changes[/h3]

The Resolute Scripture religion strength buff no longer affects non-player religions in majority cities
Devout Discourse religious verse no longer applies to non-religious units
Impulsive trait reduction to established relationships has been changed from 100 to 10

[h3]Game Mechanics[/h3]

Beginning the game in Act 2 or 3 now correctly populates evens
“Of Gods and Soldiers” event now clearly indicates which City is affected by buffs or debuffs
“Hearts and Minds” event rewards have been updated to be more distinct
The Smithsonian Institution Act Goal will only occur in Act 3 when the triumph is available
A warning notification now appears when attempting to claim a region already being claimed
Difficulty level no longer alters City base Quality of Life stats

[h3]Buildings and Infrastructure[/h3]

Balanced the Supplies available for Dwellings and improved the consistency of their upgrades
Updated the second Expert’s buff for the Industrial Fishing Farm
Updated the buffs for the Angkor Wat Triumph
Refineries, Library, and Print Shop have had their domains updated to be more accurate to how they are used
Angkor Wat buff tooltip has been fixed to show that it buffs all shrines, regardless of City
The Hotel and Pub have had their buffs limited to the intended scope and no longer apply to neighboring improvements
Stable now accurately buffs harvest production of animal resources
Upgrading Irrigated Farms to Industrial Farms no longer costs more than building one from scratch
Mines can now be constructed before the Atomic Age after researching Bureaucracy
The Amphitheater of El Jem can be constructed in the Early Middle Ages without War Chariots
The Smithsonian Institution is no longer deprecated by Industrialization before being unlocked
SAM Battery cost has been updated to better align with the production costs of Mobile SAM units
Sacred Timple and City Temple have received unique icons
Watchtowers, Castles, and SAM Batteries have had their categorization updated in the National Economy Screen

[h3]Units and Combat[/h3]

Non-scout land units may be set to auto-explore but cannot claim Caches. This includes naval units as well.
Oracle units now auto-explore both land and sea.
While Fortified, Units capable of Indirect Fire will now automatically attack enemy Forces entering their range, but will not automatically fire on non-hostile tribes
Damage taken during while in ‘Hunt Predator’ behavior has been updated based on the strength of the Force performing the hunt.
Naval unit upgrade lines are now complete across all eras
Units consistently maintain their movement over passable land
Intercepting aircraft remain in the same region as the target forces
Catapults and Swordsmen remain available after unlocking Bureaucracy
Dragoons are now able to be created in the Machine Age
Elephant Ballistae are now listed as a range unit and can Bombard
Muster progress accurately shows the remaining time required

[h3]UI Changes[/h3]

Regions can be renamed
Save game difficulty is shown on the Save Game menu
Added options for Act culling: None, AI Only, and All
Improvements can be filtered on the National Economy screen using Tags
“Viscount” is no longer listed as the “Default” difficulty. The tooltip for “Prince” has been updated to show it is now the default difficulty
Pause has been renamed to Time-out and Suspend is renamed to Pause which better represent the effect of each action
Using arrow keys to navigate the Resources tab in the Encarta no longer shows pages out of order
Names of undiscovered seas are now hidden under the Fog of War
Selected Preset Map in Multiplayer Lobbies is now visible to all players
Notifications no longer appear for relationship changes of unencountered nations
Modding
Improved subscription flow to prevent attempts to subscribe to mods without being logged in first
Quality of life updates to Mod.io interface

[h3]Leader Changes[/h3]

Alexander the Great’s leader trait now correctly prevents Pikeman and Lancers from being countered
Removed the buff to Soap provided by Howard Florey’s ‘Medical Genius’ Leader Trait
Harriet Tubman’s “Friend of the Oppressed” Leader Trait no longer references non-existent upgrades to Schools

[h3]Diplomacy[/h3]

Cancelling a Slander action will now refund the correct amount of Prestige
Added ‘Turns remaining’ to items received through Diplomacy, in Diplomatic Relations panel
Peace Treaty proposals function correctly without displaying incorrect tool-tip messages about relationships

[h3]Economy and Trade[/h3]

Biscuits remain accessible in Act 3
Updated the Rope’s third Accelerator to apply a meaningful Production bonus
Production boosts and wealth costs for Sneakers ingredient slots have been updated to be more consistent

[h3]Technology[/h3]

Unlocking Mints is now required through Coinage before unlocking Coins
Tooltip for Fermenting accurately describes its Food benefits

[h3]AI[/h3]

AI more consistently choose beneficial Government Policies
AI are more aggressive to hostile Tribes
AI now starts more neutral and are less aggressive in Gift Giving
AI are more likely to repair important Improvements while at War
AI Nations no longer gift Reserve Units, but use the new Military Aid feature
AI are less likely to raze a city with a Great Hearth
AI are more likely to upgrade Dwellings and Residences

[h3]Miscellaneous Changes/Fixes[/h3]

Many Encarta articles and descriptions have received updates to their text to better match their in-game mechanics
Fixed issues with stuttering when panning
Utilizing the Time-out button no longer causes stalls during the “Actions Submitted, Waiting for Next Turn” phase
Various missing or incorrect strings for display and screen narrator support, including updates for leader text and Encarta entries, have been corrected.
Additional fixes/improvements/tweaks to text in all localized languages

[h3]Localization[/h3]

The Summary within the City Population UI no longer overlaps with the Leader Portrait when using Swedish.
The Cancel Build Icon in Czech displays properly with a Text Scale of 125%.
The Cancel Build Icon in Finnish now appears without overlapping.
The Cancel Build UI and Icon in Dutch are properly aligned.
Text in the Trade Agreement Screen is fully visible in Malay.
Loading screen tips are displayed correctly in all languages when text scaling is set to 125%.
The Vietnamese font now includes the missing Unicode character 1ef7 (ỷ).

A Guided Tour of Ara: History Untold v1.3 - The Diplomacy Update

A Guided Tour of Ara: History Untold v1.3

(TL;DR Note from the CM: Excited to announce that v1.3 of Ara: History Untold - The Diplomacy Update will be launching after 12PM Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 12th. Please see below's guided tour of the updates new features from Creative Director Brad Wardell, with full patch notes to follow before Wednesday's update!)

[h2]The Diplomacy Update
[/h2]
Ara: History Untold v1.3 represents a major advancement in gameplay, emphasizing improvements in AI and expanding diplomatic interactions. Here, we'll delve into each new feature, our design intentions, and how we envision these additions evolving in the future.

[h3]Demand Tribute[/h3]

Nations demanding tribute to maintain peace isn't new to 4X games. However, in Ara, we aimed to provide alternative diplomatic means to secure resources without resorting to war. This feature particularly benefits players pursuing economic strength over military power. We look forward to observing how this mechanic influences player strategies, especially since interactions with one nation can subtly affect how others perceive you.

[h3]Bribe
[/h3]

Bribery allows you to incite conflicts between other nations, leveraging existing tensions to your advantage. Early in the game, bribes can effectively set nations against each other, but as diplomatic relationships grow complex, manipulation becomes more challenging. Bribery, therefore, introduces another strategic layer, shaping historical rivalries and alliances.

[h3]Diplomatic History[/h3]
Introduced in version 1.3, the AI now tracks historical relationships, influencing its future interactions with you and other nations. This context appears as a "history" log, adding depth and distinctiveness to each nation over time. We plan significant expansions here, with potential enhancements tied to GPU memory and localization demands, making your diplomatic choices even more impactful.

[h3]Military Aid[/h3]
Inspired by historical precedents like Lend-Lease, you can now provide military support to nations at war. Sending forces can indirectly manage threats without direct involvement, adding strategic depth and enhancing diplomatic influence.

[h3]Nuclear Weapons[/h3]
Some people just want to set the world on fire. And in Ara 1.3 you and your opponents can now do just that.

Here is how it works:

Once you have the technology and gather the necessary resources you can build an ICBM:

ICBMs are Special Projects. Once you build one, it goes into your global inventory.
You can then select the target city you want to destroy:
And then send it on its way:

Nuclear strikes eliminate all units and improvements in the targeted region, leaving it—and adjacent regions—uninhabitable for several turns. However, expect severe diplomatic repercussions.

[h2]What’s next?[/h2]

We are developing a detailed roadmap with immediate priorities and broader long-term goals. Version 1.3 emphasizes Ara's unique approach to historical strategy, distinctly separating it from other games in the genre. Your feedback remains vital as we refine and evolve the game. Here are the key areas of focus:

[h3]User Interface [/h3]
Ara’s complexity makes it challenging to represent the evolution of modern society through goods and services intuitively. Our UI goals prioritize clarity, efficiency, and reducing unnecessary interactions, enabling smoother gameplay.

[h3]Late game AI[/h3]
With significant AI updates already underway, we aim to differentiate the gameplay experience across the game's three historical acts:

Act I: Survival, domestication, and settlement formation.
Act II: Development of trade, governance, and social institutions.
Act III: Industrialization, globalization, and environmental transformation.

Balancing these diverse historical phases is complex, and our goal is to craft an AI responsive enough to navigate these transitions realistically.

[h3]Nation Distinctiveness[/h3]
As version 1.3 hints at, we want the nations to be much, much more distinct. Under the covers, they are actually pretty different. Each AI player does actually play the game somewhat differently. However, the game must communicate this more for it to mean anything and one way to do that is to make sure the nations have unique content.

[h3]Performance[/h3]
While Ara is already well-optimized, managing millions of individual AI-driven entities is demanding. Every citizen is meticulously simulated, from their profession-based clothing to their unique histories. As the game progresses, optimization challenges increase dramatically. Addressing these performance issues remains a critical near-term goal. Just imagine if we had enabled city car traffic! slightly smiling face

Thank you for your ongoing support and valuable feedback. We genuinely appreciate your engagement and look forward to evolving Ara: History Untold together.

Until next time, cheers!
-Brad Wardell