Old World News

• Calamities work in the base game as well (but in a more grounded context without actual gods) and come with new visual and environmental effects. Heavy flooding can, for example, change land tiles into water, while certain disasters can change the resources a tile has to offer, providing a silver lining even amidst great devastation.
  
• Aksum will be introduced as a new playable nation, known for dominating the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. It comes with five dynasties headed by legendary figures from the nation’s past, two unique units, nation-specific events, and more!
  
• New map scripts, including one called “The Tumbling Mountain,” which spawns an impassable mountain range that separates players for a specified time before crumbling into navigable terrain.
  
• Over 200 new events, evocative new art, 8 new character traits, and 26 new projects.
  

All eyes are on Civilization 7 as February arrives, but the Firaxis giant is far from the only historical 4X game in town. Rival Old World has plenty of pedigree of its own, coming from former Civ 4 lead designer Soren Johnson and his studio Mohawk Games. It combines all the hex-grid tactics of modern Civilization with more character-led events and drama akin to grand strategy games like Crusader Kings 3. Now, however, a new expansion is coming that's set to take things in a more catastrophic direction with the introduction of dangerous deities willing to unleash sweeping natural disasters.

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• High Event Level now allows up 10 events per turn (up from 5)
  
• Laurion Mines now cost 10 wood to repair (previously had no cost)
  

• Improved AI family selection when founding a city
  
• Moved default improvement repair cost to XML
  
• Better scenario difficulty mode support
  

• Added player option for one-click map centering
  
• In MP the turn timer warning sound now plays with 15 seconds remaining (up from 5) and increases the size of the timer text. Paused text is now shown when the timer is paused.
  
• In Observer mode, decision popups no longer get removed by clicking on an option
  
• Character selection for job assignment popups now defaults to an idle character
  
• Cancel button in job assignment now deselects current character instead of closing that UI
  
• Unit filter for Infantry changed to Melee Infantry
  

• Fixed ambitions that should only come from specific events (i.e. Destroy the Rival Nation) appearing randomly
  
• Fixed AI complaining about the same stolen city site repeatedly
  
• Fixed Stun preview text incorrectly showing for units in splash radius
  
• Fixed years reigned text issue that could occur with regency
  
• Fixed empty series warning for opinion graphs
  
• Fixed some cases of dropdowns getting cut off
  
• Fixed units with no family sometimes showing incorrect family icon
  
• Fixed some Map Editor errors
  
• Fixed memory leaks
  
• Fixed Pharaohs of the Nile scenario 5 unit AI
  
• Text and event fixes
  

The past couple of years has seen a real bumper crop of magnificent new strategy games and city builders, and indie publisher Hooded Horse has been scoring win after win. Among their hits are medieval sim Manor Lords, strategic roguelike Against the Storm, colony sim Norland, and deep space RTS Nebulous: Fleet Command. If you've missed out on anything from their catalog, or have any sitting on your Steam wishlist, a spectacular new sale is the perfect chance to grab one or more of them at a low price. Here are some of the highlights.

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