Ara: History Untold - V1.1 The Invisible Hand Update

The Ara: history Untold team could not be more excited for today's release - our first major feature update. Below are comprehensive release notes detailing the new features as well as the balance changes and updates.

We've also addressed a large number of player reported bugs and issues with this update, and can't wait for you to give it a try!

Ara: History Untold

Version 1.1 - The Invisible Hand Update

Highlights

• 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.
  

Changelog

Performance Enhancements

• 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.

UI Updates

• 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.

AI Updates

• 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.

Map Generation

• 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.

Gameplay Fixes

• 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.

Event System

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

Visual Improvements

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

Modding Support

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

New Feature Details

Earth Map

• 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.

National Economy Screen Feature Overview

• 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.

Balance Adjustments

Nation and Building Limits

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

Building and Production Buffs

• 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 and Steel

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

Fuel Recipe Changes

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

Resource Adjustments

• 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.

Unit and Population Adjustments

• 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.

Manufacturing and Production Changes

• 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.

Technologies

• 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.