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: [list]
• 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!

• Introduces a Sovereign Advisor.
• Each advisor provides suggestions to enhance your strategy.
• This feature will become more intelligent in future releases.

• Britain and Ireland share an enlarged island.
• Features like the Canadian Shield and Gulf Stream are accounted for.
• Enhanced mountain ranges for natural barriers.

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.

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.