Ara: History Untold 1.2 – Modders Paradise

New Features

• New Leader Confucius: The spiritual and wise Confucius is now part of the leader roster, offering unique philosophical and governance-based abilities.
• Integrated Mod Manager (powered by mod.io):
• Players can now create and customize units, city improvements, technologies, game rules, and more.
• Easily share mods with the community or explore and download player-created content.
• Sample Mods include a new unit, new improvement and new graphics.

Highlights

• Greater Nation Distinction: Starting unit visuals updated based on the geographic location of the world.
• City Improvement UI Tagging: New tagging system for filtering and managing units, improvements, and amenities based on gameplay objectives.
• Performance Optimizations: Users with lower-end hardware should notice a significant increase in turn performance as well as visual performance.
• Visual Fidelity Update: In addition to optimizing the game engine for even better performance, we’ve upgraded the lighting system. Explosions are now twice as visually impressive, adding a new layer of immersion to battles and gameplay.
• Major AI Update: The AI has been updated to be data driven to help designers and strategy testers shape the way different AI players play like.
• Accelerated Start: Players can optionally start in the Middle Ages or the Machine Age and be seeded with resources and items to ensure the early game gets moving quickly.
• UI Improvements: The Trade Screen and Government Management Screen have been updated to be more intuitive to use.
• Player Requested Features & Changes: Long game setting is now 9,999 turns, cities gain a land claim every level up (though the population requirement has been increased), and new audio notifications help players keep track of what’s happening by sound.
• Leader Trait Updates: Andean Masonry, Agrarian, Perfectionist, Woodsman and other leader traits updated to be more interesting and balanced.
• Improved Balance: Fewer nations are culled per act, Coins are more challenging to produce but are now used extensively throughout the game, tech pacing and population growth are much more pleasing.

Additional Details

Balance Changes

• Accelerated start kits are available to begin games in Act II or Act III.
• Act II starts grant starting resources: Money 200, Food 200, Wood 200, Stone 200, Concrete 100, Glass 100, Paper 25, Pottery 25, Prestige 33, Metal Ingots 20, Farm Tools 10, Rope 10, Gears 10, Grain Store 5, Books 5, Coins 5, Jewelry 5, Strategy Codex 5, Hourglass 5, Bandages 5, Baskets 5, Flower 5, Herbal Medicine 5, Candles 5, Wheel 5.
• Act II Great Hearth: +60 Research/turn, +25 Production.
• Act III starts grant starting resources: Money 250, Food 250, Wood 250, Stone 250, Concrete 200, Glass 200, Paper 50, Prestige 11, Metal Ingots 25, Steel 25, Farm Tools 25, Rope 10, Gears 10, Grain Store 5, Books 5, Coins 5, Jewelry 5, Strategy Codex 5, Clocks 5, Clothes 5, Barrels 5, Dried Food Goods 5, Brewed Coffee 5, Medicine 5, Newspapers 5, Candles 5, Pottery 25, Lamp Posts 5, Gunpowder 25, Wheel 5.
• Act III Great Hearth: +200 Research/turn, +50 Production.

Game Mechanics

• Technologies now control when units become obsolete instead of Acts. Players will see obsolete units gradually disappear as they progress through human history.
• Starting City cap has been reduced by 1, but the Bronze Age now increases it by 1. This helps make fast expand a more interesting choice for players. Note: you may have to make a hard choice on skipping some techs.
• Armies take 1 extra turn to muster. This helps balance out the ability to reform units and reward players who spend the resources to maintain standing armies. Units in reserve don’t cost Maintenance.
• Initial Air/Sea formation cap reduced to 1. City-based army cap increases delayed to higher city levels. There will be fewer armies present late game.
• Prestige balance adjustments: Productivity and Tech Prestige reduced slightly, Military and Economy Prestige increased slightly.
• Difficulty levels no longer provide free Quality of Life (QoL). This change ensures that players experience the game pacing consistently across all levels as their playstyle improves.
• QoL penalties above Prince difficulty reduced.
• Recipes updated to reward having necessary resources. Coins are more valuable as accelerators. Having necessary resources is rewarded over brute forcing high production.

Buildings and Infrastructure

• Nemrut Dag now requires Pottery and Rope.
• Topiary Park now requires Pottery.
• Added Drydocks and Naval Bases as valid sea route connection points for trade routes.
• General Hospital requires Concrete.
• Water treatment plant uses Steel and Concrete.
• Added 3 Expert Slots to City Walls, each Expert increasing the Security bonus provided by City Walls.
• Library Knowledge buff reduced by 5 per level.
• Police Station +10 Security per level.
• Race Tracks now boost Happiness in addition to their economic benefits.
• SAM Battery +25 Security.
• Grocer limit increased from 3 to 6 per nation.
• Tannery max from 3 to 5 and given supply slots.
• Lamp Posts Security increased to +25.
• Weaver costs 25 Wealth.
• Ceramic Shop Craft Production Modifier no longer appears in the Build Production breakdown for all cities.

Economy and Trade

• Coins are produced faster if you have precious metals/precious stones, but far slower if you do not. Get that Gold!
• Mint now requires Metal Ingots and Money instead of generic materials.
• Adjusted Cocoa, Shellfish, Saffron, Sugar harvesting (Cocoa/Sugar yields reduced, Shellfish give Precious Stones, Saffron can get Flowers).
• Brewed Coffee acts as Amenity for +10% productivity.
• Perfume Amenity gains +5 Prosperity.
• Fishing Nets give significant Food.
• Industrial Fishing Farm boosts food output significantly.
• Grocers now buff Farm harvest rates instead of Happiness.

Units and Combat

• Spearman units no longer incur Materials maintenance. Horseman Food maintenance increased from 1 to 2 and animal-based units have +1 Food maintenance.
• Spearman material costs reduced 25 to 15, Archer 30 to 25, Swordsmen 25 to 20. Higher level units are more expensive (e.g. Tanks 140 to 300 Production).
• Added back Retreat ability for Scouts, Mounted Scouts, and UAVs.
• Expanded Auto-Explore to include military units and ships.
• Increased the Fortify-based tactics buff to +30% Strength.

• Adjusted city population changes for pacing. Restored giving Region Claims after each city level up.
• Tier 5 Cities now provide an Expert.
• Tier 26 and up Cities provide 2 Claims to make "super cities" a thing.
• Amenity slots continue beyond Tier 20 to have a new cap of 25.
• Increased population requirements to level up cities, rewarding good Health management.
• Low Health in Cities further reduces population growth.
• Reduced city research output at lower city levels by 1 to improve pacing.

• Updated technologies to obsolete various units/improvements at appropriate points.
• Adjusted late game tech costs to increase gradually (Machine Era, Atomic Age, Future Age, etc.).
• Flowers are now immediately harvestable.
• Mosaic tiles/Lampposts/Barrels unlocked by more techs.
• Unlocked the AI Assistant with Artificial Intelligence tech instead of Post-Humanism, aligning narrative and gameplay progression.

• Monarchy now makes the Capital provide more knowledge. Tall nations will benefit from Monarchy.
• Monarchy Security buff increased from 10 to 25 and Prosperity from 5 to 10.
• Republic reduces Capital population growth. Wide nations will benefit from Republic.
• Low tax tier gives fewer taxes, medium/high gives more tax money to make having low and medium tax rates distinct.

• Adjusted Earth map handling to boost yields after Capital moves.
• Fixes to map for starting locations improvements and regions quality.
• Reduced the Eyeglasses buff from 2 to 1 per Science building, tempering early Science spikes.
• Reduced AI relationship decay by a flat 10 per turn.
• Swapped Chinese starting region from Beijing to Luoyang.
• Changed the first Russian city to St. Petersburg for historical accuracy.
• Updated predator behavior and gear references.

UI Changes

• Fixed Difficulty text so Prince is (Normal) instead of Earl.
• Updated translated text (multiple places)
• Updated Leader trait text as appropriate to match traits
• Added ability to rename regions via City Panel or Region Info.
• Adding Amenity tags for easier filtering.
• Closing the City Screen will also close the Consumables UI. Added harvest filters and improvements for Ore resource tiles
• Added new mechanics text related to how Force quality and quantity affect Predator damage.
• Implemented a new trade screen UI/UX to improve clarity and consistency.
• Workshop, Crafting Guild, and Factory tooltips now show all craftable items (no more hidden recipes).

Leader Changes

• Boosts Harvest Production at Stone Pits and their upgrades.
• Increases Paragon Spawn Chance.
• Increases Engineer pick chance.
• All Military Improvements boost City Siege Defense.
• The additional chance to spawn Paragons and more likely to get engineers helps them leverage a focus on city development.

• Boosts the Harvest Production of Hunting Camps.
• Reduces Hunting Camps' Maintenance Cost.
• Boosts Housing in all Cities by 3.
• Minor Leader Traits updated to include Adventurous, Woodsman, and Pacifist.
• Removed the Disciplined trait.

• No longer provides a buff based on Trade Posts.
• Increased Harvest Production at Stone Pits and their upgrades by 100%.
• Gains +5 Prosperity and Knowledge for each Trade Agreement in all Cities.
• Focuses on production and trade, with an early boost to Relationships that can be leveraged for alliances and trade.

• Gains additional Housing from building Government Buildings.
• No longer gains an early extra Expert due to balance concerns.
• Remains a development-focused leader, excelling at maintaining Quality of Life.

• Provides +1 Speed to Gunpowder Infantry and Modern Infantry instead of specific formations.
• Provides bonus Force Strength to Forces carrying out the Fortify Order.
• Combined with changes to Ambitious, makes Washington more expansionist and defense-focused, especially early on.
• In the late game, enhanced speed improves infantry utility and compensates for reduced Army cap.

• Provides +20 Growth to all Cities after engaging in combat instead of buffing Security and Prosperity.
• Grants +5 Prestige after defeating an enemy Force during a Skirmish War.
• Includes +100% Force Heal Rates.
• Rewards early and frequent aggression, making Itzcoatl a strong war-centric leader.

• Farms built on Rivers provide additional Prosperity to their Cities.
• Replaced the Museum buff with a bonus to Established Relationships per Culture Improvement.
• Nefertiti focuses on internal development and diplomacy, benefiting culture and trade-focused players.

• Boosts Harvest Production by +100% to remain more beneficial long term.

• Reduces Build Production on Industry Improvements (previous Craft Production penalty was too harmful).
• Completing Industry Improvements provides additional Prestige as a tradeoff.

• Adjusted to -1 Land Force Cap and +1 City Cap.
• A tradeoff for expansion-focused Leaders who must carefully deploy and station their Forces.

• No longer directly boosts Craft Production (previously too powerful).
• Now provides a 10% boost to Build Production of Industrial Improvements.

• Provides +2 Merchants.
• Grants +10 Established Relationship with all other Nations, encouraging early Trade.

• Provides +1 Merchant.
• Grants +5 Established Relationship with all other Nations, encouraging early Trade.
• Updated Woodsman Minor Leader Trait
• Boosts Harvest Production by 50% at Logging Camps and their upgrades to remain beneficial long term.

Miscellaneous Changes/Fixes

• Improved camera panning smoothness.
• Fixed incorrect starting improvement for Act 3 AI Prince.
• Pharmacies retain Craft bonus at all expert tiers.
• Fixed Fighter Planes so they… fight.
• Fix for Air Forces not mustering correctly.
• Fixed flickering on Stealth Bomber and War Elephant.
• Fixed display of Capitals in War Summaries (after conquests or changes in Capital location).
• Number of techs to advance Eras increased from 3 to 4 in the Machine Age and beyond.
• Region Claims are now provided at every city level, but population requirements have increased significantly.
• City tier QoL penalties increased after level 8 and 15.
• Cities provide more taxes per nation level until level 27.
• Additional fixes/improvements/tweaks.
• There be whales here! Made Whales visible closer to the ocean surface.