Hello everyone.
I hope that you are all enjoying Spring and are looking forward to Summer. We finally finished the next major update - version 1.1.5. - titled "Transparent diplomacy".
The code name is based on the new feature which you voted for in the last poll. Many of you have been asking for the changes in diplomacy for quite some time and we agree that there is room for improvements.
Apart from this new main feature, a few other significant changes are also being introduced.
Firstly, the possibility to tag particular events so that you can revisit them later. This should make navigation through the new turn events easier.
Secondly, a new game option called "Relationships randomization" has been implemented. This option should considerably increase the replayability of the campaign map as well as other scenarios. The randomization is disabled by default, if you decide to try it you will start the same map, but with different initial relations between factions. This will present new challenges and will make the scenario ahistorical by definition. In addition some of the other features, such as Objectives, are automatically disabled as they are defined by the original setup of the game. Nevertheless, it should be quite refreshing to try a new unknown setup for each game.
Picking out a couple of the other changes, there are some improvements in the terrain appearance and the look of the graphs.
Please read the full changelog for more information. We also tried to make some screenshots related to particular features:
New features and improvements added:
- Transparent diplomacy gives you more information about potential diplomacy offers in an easily accessible way. This includes information about the most probable reason why an opponent might reject a particular offer, the likelihood of acceptance of such an offer and/or when would the opponent be more open to discuss new offers. The list of currently available offers is displayed in the Political map window for easier navigation.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507278918
- "Mark for later" checkbox was added to all event windows. It allows you to mark particular events which you want to come back to later in your turn, to investigate and address. Such events are moved to the top of the Report panel and the player can unmark them by unclicking the checkbox.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507278887
- Game option "Relationships randomization" allows you to mix the initial state of relations between factions and so offers a new experience even when you play the same faction again. You might end up playing Macedon as a subject to a big Athenian confederation or vice versa. It is worthwhile to check this out yourself.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507278852
- The information in graphs is no longer displayed based only on the availability of particular data. For example, in the Power graph in previous versions you could only see those factions with whom you had a full overview. Despite the fact that it was implemented this way on purpose (and was more realistic), the truth is, due to the lack of available information, players were barely using them. This has been changed and now you can see the data of all of the factions in the graphs (that you are in contact with)..
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507278744
- The banner for each unit is now displayed in the unit selector, indicating its owner, this is to make it clearer which unit is yours (until now, the only distinction made was the color of the unit).
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507278808
- List of active game options for current game was added to the tooltip of the year/turn panel.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2507308422
- A small terrain appearance iteration was performed. Some terrain noise was removed, wooded areas are now more distinct in comparison to non-wooded regions and clouds were tweaked so that they do not block the player's view.
- Graphs were made wider and event labels smaller. This should improve their readability.
- The movement and behaviour of Generals and Settlers controlled by AI were improved.
- List of resources (so called "consumption") was added to the tooltip when you are about to build a building (like a shipyard).
- Information about the number of Citizens was added to the Map item detail window.
- For asynchronous multiplayer games (PBEM), a "leave game" button was added to the lobby. This allows you to leave the game, replacing you with an AI player so that all of the remaining players can continue playing.
- The algorithm calculating when a federation is beneficial for a player and when to revoke it, was improved.
- Texts of events related to desertion were improved to include information about their former owner.
- Some issues in Steam achievements were fixed.
- Changes in all localizations were made.
- Some issues in the newly introduced Polish language were fixed.
- Italian localization progressed further and we are getting closer to playtesting.
- Messed up "Athens conquered" dialog window was fixed.
- Issue causing crashes in Proton fixed.
- Rare CTD causing crash by pressing TAB was fixed.
- Rare CTD happening when Trojan horse (in Troy mod) was selected, was fixed.
- Very rare CTD causing crash when playing intro video was fixed.
- Issue in Hotseat causing anomalies on terrain was fixed.
- Issue with hanging Gordion knot objective was fixed.
That's all for today! Apart from the regular updates, we are working hard on the upcoming Age of Alexander DLC. If you haven't done so yet, consider wishlisting it so you won't miss the launch discount. We really think that the DLC will be great.
We hope you enjoy these changes and we’ll speak to you soon!
Yours,
Kube Games team.