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.
Additional Technology Adjustments
Haberdashery reclassified from religious to industrial.
Events and Quests
Forest Fort:
Aesthetics debuff decreased from -3 to -2 for consistency.
Piercing Request:
Option 2 now asks for Stone Tools and provides a small capital prosperity buff.
Honoring Their Memory:
First option debuff updated to -1 force strength.
Third option now imposes a -2 happiness debuff.
Political Piety:
Removed happiness debuff from the first option.
Wealth is now a required cost.
Workers of the World Quest:
Removed duplicated reward buff.
Is It Hot In Here? Event:
The +10 happiness benefit in all cities no longer appears twice.
Armies and Combat Enhancements
Dragoons and Zamburaks can now be produced in Act 3.
Capturing an enemy city now provides a prestige reward.
Miscellaneous Improvements
Customization Slider:
Added a slider allowing users to customize when the nation overlay and the Living World Buildings fade in/out.
Localization:
Continued updates to all language localizations for better accessibility and user experience.
Other Improvements:
Several performance enhancements have been made to improve overall game stability and experience.