Ancient Worlds, along with Update 5, has now been released. Let’s break down what’s included!
Ancient Worlds
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Let's start with the DLC itself, Ancient Worlds, I will link to the original announcement dev diary HERE, which contains detailed descriptions of everything new but without further ado, the features of Millennia: Ancient Worlds include:
- Nomadic Band Start: Open the game with an unsettled band of travellers, scavenging for resources to improve the strength of your group until you decide to settle down and form a proper society.
- New Threats: Megafauna stalk the land, threatening your prehistoric nomads but providing the chance for new events and experiences.
- New Terrain: A Frozen Terrain start introduces new challenges as it limits resource gathering, but lush grasslands and forests are revealed as the tundra melts and more hospitable settings expand.
- New National Spirit: Messengers is an Age II National Spirit that emphasises early game diplomacy. Give gifts to your rival nations, gather resources from minor nations and preserve their independence, and reap benefits from the new Llama special good.
- New Starting Government: Band Society: Rather than building up a Homeland, Band Societies rely on potent short-term bonuses and Tribal Camps to gain an early lead. They also gain a Nomad Band to scavenge terrain and settle an additional Capital Region.
- New Landmarks: Discover majestic natural wonders as you explore your new world. Mount Jianglang, Iguazu Falls, the Great Redwood Forest and eight more Landmarks can appear on the map, each with its own new Expedition.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2829680/Millennia_Ancient_Worlds/
2024 Roadmap
Now, let’s take a look at the updated roadmap.
SMP = Simultaneous Multiplayer
As you can see, the roadmap now includes Experimental Multiplayer and Modding Beta. We'll explain what that means right now.
Experimental “Simultaneous Multiplayer” (SMP)
We know this is a feature you've been requesting since before the game released, and since it's important to us too, we're continuously working on it. At this time, we don't feel it's developed enough to be marked as a 'full release', but we want you to experience it and be able to share your feedback as we continue perfecting it.
Simultaneous Multiplayer or SMP for short will only be available in the public beta branch build, 'open_beta,' until its planned release in Update 6. You can access this by right-clicking on the game in your Steam library, then going to Properties > Betas.
Here are important things to keep in mind while playing Simultaneous Multiplayer in its current state:
- Bugs & Errors will occur
- Up to eight players can play.
- It is possible to save games and rehost the lobby to continue from a save game.
- Synchronisation errors: we have been finding and fixing these, but additional multiplayer games will help to uncover more of them.
- There is a visual indicator for sync issues, with the opportunity for the host to save at that point (and then re-host).
- If you get disconnected you should be able to save, and re-host.
- AI in MP does not work right now – PLEASE DO NOT PUT AIs IN SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLAYER GAMES.
Because the Experimental Simultaneous Multiplayer is experimental, IT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE OPEN BETA BRANCH.
IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIMENT WITH MILLENNIA’S EXPERIMENTAL SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLAYER, ALL PLAYERS IN THE GAME NEED TO USE THE OPEN BETA BRANCH FOR THEIR EXPERIMENTATION.
Note that a player joining a friend’s game without a direct invite is not supported at this time. If you’re looking at your Steam friend list, see a friend playing Millennia, and attempt to join their game, it will not work – you can be invited in by your friend, but you cannot invite yourself in.
Alternatively, you can join a game using the GameID: host the game, copy the GameID in the setup UI, and share this with anyone you wish to invite.
For those of you who want to test out the experimental SMP, we have prepared testing notes for you HERE.
Modding Beta
Mod Support was on the roadmap as part of Atomic Ambitions, which will be out later this year. However, we started working on it and things went better than expected – since mod support is a highly requested feature we decided to enable a Beta Version of Mod Support as part of Update 5 coming with Ancient Worlds.
The Beta Version, using Steam Workshop, will allow you to view mods you are subscribed to with the in-game UI, enable or disable mods from within the game, and upload or update your own mods from within the game.
Currently, Beta functionality allows the creation of mods for the following elements:
Custom Nations
- Custom City/Town names
- Custom flags
Units
- Add new Units (but not modify existing Units)
Improvements
- Add new Improvements (but not modify existing Improvements)
Landmarks
- Add new Landmarks (but not modify existing Landmarks)
Decks/Cards
- Add new Decks or Cards and modify existing ones.
- National Spirits
- Chaos and Innovation Events
- Unit Actions
- Ages
While testing out the system, we have created a number of example mods which will be available to modders soon.
Keep in mind that THIS IS BETA:,
- Bugs & Errors will occur
- Currently, mods must be disabled to play multiplayer.
- Debugging is very limited.
- You cannot mod UI.
- You cannot mod the models / visuals of existing entities (Units, Landmarks, Improvements, etc.).
Feedback about Beta Mod Support will help us to address issues and polish up the system, so please share your experiences if you decide to make a mod.
To get you right into modding, we have created a guide for you available HERE.
Millennia Console Commands
With Mod Support going in, we have enabled the game console and a number of console commands that will be useful to anyone working on a mod.
Specifics on enabling the console and available commands are HERE.
Changelog
Let’s dive into the changes for Ancient Worlds and Update 5! The notes are divided into two sections: the first section covers the Ancient Worlds DLC, which is a paid content, while the second section details the free accompanying Update 5.
Millennia: Ancient Worlds [DLC]
- Ancient Wolds games begin on maps with Frozen Terrain. As time passes, Frozen Terrain will thaw.
- Sometimes, frozen tiles will thaw to reveal a new terrain, the Lush type. Lush terrain is rare but it is valuable and can provide more Food.
- In Ancient Worlds, you do not start with a settled Region. Instead, you have a Nomad Band. This Unit has a number of abilities, it can settle like a Settler and can discover Landmarks like a Scout. It also has three Scavenge Abilities, Scavenge Forest, Scavenge Hills, and Scavenge Frozen. These can be used once each. They cause a Scavenge Event and also provide the Nomad Band with additional XP, increasing that Unit’s Veterancy level.
- When a Nomad Band is used to Settle, an initial bonus is applied to the new Region based on the Nomad Band’s Veterancy level. Using all of a Nomad Band’s Scavenge Abilities, leveling the Nomad Band fully, and finding a starting position with Lush terrain can be valuable.
- Be careful when exploring with your Nomad Band, as new Megafauna lurk about in Ancient Worlds.
- When you settle your first Region, you will be prompted to select your starting Government. There is now a new Government available – Band Society.
- In Age 2, there is a new National Spirit option, Messengers.
- Ancient Worlds adds 16 new Chaos, Innovation, Exploration, and Barbarian Events.
- New Landmarks exclusive to Ancient Worlds:
Great Dismal Swamp
Everglades
Monument Valley
White Sands
Iguazu Falls
Palo Duro Canyon
Yellowstone Caldera
Mount Jianglang
Angel Falls
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Redwood Forest
- New Starting Bonuses available as part of Ancient Worlds:
Age I: Smilodon Unit
Start with a combat-focused Megafauna.
Age I: Wheat Culturist Unit
Start with a unit that disbands to create a Wheat Goods tile.
Age I: Marble Prospector Unit
Start with a unit that disbands to create a Marble Goods tile.
Age II: Horticulturist Unit
Spawns at the start of Age II. Disbands to create either a Grapes, Rice, Olives, Flax, or Cotton Goods tile.
Age II: Animal Culturist
Spawns at the start of Age II. Disbands to create either a Game, Cattle, Sheep, or Llamas Goods tile.
- Ancient Worlds also adds new music to Millennia. There are five new tracks (The Seers Vision, Disruption of Time, The Hunt, The Frozen, and The Procession) adding around 14 minutes of new music.
- The new Ancient Worlds mechanics have been added to games options and can be set independently.
Millennia: Update 5
Items below are part of Millennia’s free update and available to all players.
- Added Simultaneous Multiplayer.
- Added Mod Support.
- As part of the free Update, there is a new Nomad Start / Nomad Settler option that allows you to place your starting Region. This option starts you with your Warbands and a Settler that can be used to found a Capital.
- Added nine new Buildings unlocked by Innovations
Taj Mahal
Basil’s Cathedral
Arc de Triomphe
Big Ben
Marble Ring
National Broadcast Pillar
The Cube
Particle Accelerator
Needlepoint Skyscraper
- Added 13 new Domain Powers:
Worship
Age 4, 50 Arts XP, +5 Faith to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, requires state Religion, unlocked for all Age 4's as a base Power.
Host Foreign Ambassadors
Age 5, 50 Diplomacy XP, +10% Regional Culture Efficiency to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 5's as a base Power.
Commission Vessel
Age 5, 75 Exploration XP, has a 20% Progressive Cost, can only target Harbor & Marina Improvements within friendly territory, spawns a naval unit (similar to Volunteers), 5 turn cooldown.
Double Sails
Age 5, Exploration XP by Age (starting in 5) 30:30:60:60:90:90, refresh movement of a stack of friendly naval Units, applies the same 90% ATK/DEF debuff to stack as Force March does, unlocked in Age 5 by Navigation / Open Sailing techs.
Repairs
Age 5, Exploration XP by Age (starting in 5) 16:16:33:33:50:50, heals 40% of a stack of friendly injured naval Units, can only be used in Friendly/Neutral territory, unlocked by Navigation / Open Sailing techs.
Food Rationing
Age 6, 50 Government XP, +10% Regional Food Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 6's as a base Power.
Public Housing Project
Age 6, 50 Government XP, +10% Regional Housing Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 6's as a base Power.
Public Education Initiative
Age 6, 50 Government XP, +10% Regional Education Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 6's as a base Power.
Daylight Savings Time
Age 7, 50 Government XP, +10% Regional Power Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 7's as a base Power.
Fund Specialists
Age 8, 30 Government XP, 20% Progressive Cost, Gain 10 Specialists, Unlocked for all Age 8's as a base power.
College Scholarships
Age 8, 50 Exploration XP, +10% Regional Knowledge Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 8's as a base Power.
Claim Deep Sea Territory
Age 8 (Utopia-Specific), 100 Exploration XP, 20% Progressive Cost, functions identically to Claim Territory, however, has the additional requirement that the tile is a water or deep water tile, unlocked by Market Interference tech.
Social Media Campaign
Age 9, 50 Arts XP, +10% Regional Information Efficiency buff to target region for 8 turns, 10 turn cooldown, unlocked for all Age 9's as a base Power.
- Added or revised many Capital socket buildings, including:
Dance ClubBroadcast Studio
Wall Street
National Aerospace Facility
High Energy Battery
Waste Water Processing
National Security Office
Innovation Center
Social Work Office
Diplomacy Facility
AI Disruptor Wall
AI Core Firewall
- New Map, Inland Oceans.
- New Goods Tile, Llamas, and new related Good, Fleece.
- Made revisions to the Religion model:
Upon taking a Secular Age 8 Government, all sources of Faith now give a fraction of the Culture you would have received through Religion. We originally intended Religion to fade out by Age 8 as Secularism spread across the world, with Fundamentalists being a way to continue playing with it. However, from watching players, we saw that fully disabling Faith had the effect of making players feel like they had wasted their previous Age 4-7 investments into Faith Buildings, Units, Ideals, and Improvements unless they went into the Fundamentalist Government. We want an Age 8 Government to feel like a fun choice between committing to playing further into Religion or backing out as Secularism begins to put up a fight, not prevent players from dabbling in Religion altogether.
- New default ancient Nation, Tawantinsuyu (The Incan Empire). It has the AI Personality of Aggressive, and the default starting bonus of "Age II: +Diplomacy".
- New default ancient Nation, Babylonia. It has the AI Personality of Reserved, and the default starting bonus of "Age II: +Engineering".
- New default ancient Nation, The Shang Dynasty. It has the AI Personality of Reserved, and the default starting bonus of "Regional: +Innovation".
- New default ancient Nation, The Mali Empire. It has the AI Personality of Diplomat, and the default starting bonus of "Regional: +Wealth".
- New starting bonus, Regional: +Wealth -- Each of your Capital Regions generates additional Wealth per turn.
Balance
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT BALANCE CHANGES WILL ONLY APPLY TO NEW GAMES.
- Rebalanced the Age 8 Special Operations National Spirit. (The other Age 8 National Spirits had a pass in Update 4, but Spec Ops was not ready in time.)
Reorganized Ideals (Amphibious Assault moved to tier 1, Target Infrastructure to tier 3).
The Amphibious Assault Ideal now also removes the Amphibious Assault attack and defense penalties.
Created a new Special Operations Innovation (VTOL) that increases range for all Interceptor Units by 2.
Changed Target Infrastructure Culture Power to be a Domain Power that requires a Special Forces Unit adjacent to the target (costs 75 War XP).
Fixed an issue with the Envoy’s False Flag Raze action not granting any Wealth.
- Rebalanced a number of late-game Capital Buildings based on feedback that these are not worth building due to high production costs in the late game.
Chief Engineers Office --> Increased Engineering XP from +3 to +10.
Peace and Love Co-op --> Increased Arts XP from +3 to +10.
Weapons Lab --> Increased Warfare XP from +1 to +10.
Sanitation Bots --> Replaced +10 Sanitation with +1.5 Regional Sanitation Efficiency.
Worker Bots --> Replaced +10 Production with +1 Bonus Worker to Region.
Construction Bots --> Replaced +10 Improvement Points with +1.5 Regional Production Efficiency.
AI Disruptor Wall --> Increased Exploration XP from +1 to +10.
- Rebalanced several factors related to the Age of Revolution. Primarily, reduced Rebel Unit’s Attack and Defense from 32 / 45 to 30 / 42 and changed rules for their appearance to not target Outposts.
- Rebalanced all naval Units.
Millennia’s naval game has had substantial changes.
In general, there are now three classes of ship common in naval combat: Capital Ships, Light Ships, and Attack Ships.
Ships like the Battleship are Capital Ships. These only attack once in a combat. They have a bonus against Light Ships and City defenses. They are the only ships that can bombard targets on shore.
Ships like the Galley are Light Ships. Think of these as the equivalent of Line type Units on land; they will be attacked before anything else. They have a bonus against Attack Ships.
Ships like the Submarine are Attack Ships. They have a bonus against Capital Ships. They attack after any Capital Ships involved in the combat.
- There is now a new version of the Utility Ship starting in Age 5 that allows movement into deep water. Existing Utility Ships can be upgraded to the deep water type and existing Powers that spawn Utility Ships will spawn the deep water type starting in Age 5.
- Fixed an issue where the maximum Prosperity of a Vassal could be incorrectly set when changing Governments, causing certain bonuses (such as Foreign Investment) to not have the intended effect.
- Fixed an issue with Silicon Valley’s Silicon Chips Ideal not applying to Regions integrated after the Ideal is purchased.
- Fixed an issue with the Governor’s Office not applying to Regions integrated after the Ideal is built.
- Buff to University and Alchemy School Buildings (2 Knowledge --> 3 Knowledge) to provide an actual upgrade when Atelier Studios upgrade into these University-type buildings.
- Removed expiration from the Dedicate Monument-type Domain Powers unlocked in Age of Monuments (so players can continue dedicating monuments throughout the rest of the game).
- Moved Corporate R&D Improvement to the Professional category. Also changed construction cost from Improvement Points to Specialists.
- Changed the Enlistment Innovation to only spawn Units in your Regions, not at Outposts and Vassals.
- The Giant Crossbow Unit now has a Siege Defenses Unit Ability.
- The Raider National Spirit Ideals now apply to both Raider Band and Raider Bow Units.
- Adjusted Inventors National Spirit; Inventions base value increased from 2 to 3 Knowledge, bonus from Electricity reduced from +2 Knowledge to Inventions to +1 Knowledge.
- Golden Age Culture Power duration increased from 6 to 8 turns.
- Reduced number of Barbarians that are placed at the time of map generation.
- Reduced the rate of new Barbarians spawning in the world.
- Vassal population growth rates now obey Region population growth maximums.
Gameplay
- Hotkey cycling has been added for Vassals (the same way hotkeys work to cycle through Region Capitals, this will now work for Vassals when you have one of these selected).
- The Airlift Unit Ability now requires you have a valid destination (Airtport, Airbase) and remains hidden until you have researched the related tech and have a destination.
UI / Art
- Increased scroll sensitivity in Goods panel.
- Added or adjusted lighting profiles for all Ages.
- Revised the appearance of all Mines, Quarries and related Goods on the map.
- Updated the tooltip for Envoy to clarify ability to be used inside another Nation’s territory.
- Added a map dropdown to Quickstart.
- Added a ruleset dropdown to Quickstart.
- Adjusted some specifics of road placement to remove some of the decoration (grass, rocks) that could appear atop roads.
- Added a system to randomize placement and (in some cases) the hue of certain Goods.
- Improved the FX and general appearance of naval bombardment attacks in the Combat Viewer.
- Updated the Poets Improvement appearance.
- Revolutionary Nations can now have specific localized names. (Also added a number of these to fix ones that were not correct in some languages.)
- Improved the descriptions in Monarchy Ideals to better explain Government XP and Diplomacy XP from Vassal population.
- Improved Secularism Infopedia entry and nested tooltips to be more accurate and easier to understand.
- Changed the presentation of some Culture Powers that involve Vassals to show a count of your Vassals.
- Changed the presentation of some Unrest-related Powers to show the specific amount of Unrest that will be added or removed.
- Changed how tooltips for Armies in the outliner are presented so that different types are not mixed (so, for example, air Units are not shown as part of a land Army).
- Changed the wording of Political Science for clarity.
- Improved wording on a number of Chaos and Innovation Events.
- Improved tooltips in Monarchy Government Ideals.
- Improved wording / presentation of some Diplomacy messages.
- Improved wording in Inventor’s Lab and World’s Fair tooltips.
- Fixed an issue with some Diplomacy messages showing “Diplomacy Available” twice.
- Improved various of the combat-related tooltips.
- Clarified operation of Age of Revolution in various descriptions.
- Improved the tooltip for Train Apprentice.
- Custom game settings, DLC enabled settings now persist via options.
- Replaced the Supersonic Lancer aircraft model.
- Fixed an early bomber model that had wings attached backward.
- Adjusted the Religion UI to avoid text overlap when birthplace of a Religion is a place with a very long name.
- Clarified the Offshore Banking Ideal only applies to new Treaties.
- In addition to specifics mentioned elsewhere, broadly revised some of the existing Infopedia entries and polished or shortened some existing tooltips.
- Adjusted a number of units in Combat Viewer to reduce clipping.
Bugfixes
- Fixed an issue where, in certain circumstances, players could get double benefit from Improvements with a one per Region limit.
- Fixed an issue where some buttons could continue to show a “selected” appearance after moving the cursor away.
- Fixed an issue where the progress bar for an Age could be overlapped by the icon for the Age in the main menu.
- Fixed an issue where tooltips were not showing for information for other Nations (National Spirits, Religion, Government).
- Fixed an issue where Envoys could be deployed inside Outpost territory.
- Fixed a number of typos in various Expedition text.
- Fixed an issue where expansion values (Influence) would not display correctly when savegames were loaded.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the minimap to not update when Minor Nations were conquered.
- Fixed an issue for some commands working while the game was paused (using hotkeys to cycle through Regions or using hotkeys for Unit Actions, for example).
- Fixed missing Diplomacy message text for the Political Science National Spirit’s Targeted Immigration Campaign when seen by a targeted Nation.
- Removed superfluous Religion requirement from Monument of the Arts Improvement.
- Fixed an issue where hex grid lines could still be shown when this option was fully off.
- Fixed an issue with how upkeep is applied that could cause Units to be disbanded because reductions to upkeep costs were not taken into consideration.
- Fixed the Siege Defenses Unit Ability not having correct descriptions for many of the Units with this ability.
- Corrected description for Tinkerer from the Machinery National Spirit to state correct Good conversion.
- Fixed an issue where “true” and “false” used in game details were not localized.
- Fixed an issue where the Space Race Launch button appeared interactable when it was not.
- Fixed missing Faith icon in Theologians tooltip.
- Fixed missing text in Heresy Crisis meter.
- Fixed typo in Open the Gates tooltip.
- Fixed floating point error in display of quest rewards.
- Fixed missing Domain names in some cost tooltips.
- Fixed overly exact precision in display of some Needs in tooltips.
- Disabled the Multifaceted Regions Innovation (increased Monument limit) in Age of Monuments, added the Tolerant Clergy Innovation (+1 Diplomacy XP on Cathedral line Buildings).
- Fixed typos in Trade Roads Innovation.
- Fixed an issue with reverting a Capital to a Vassal causing multiple “worker removed” sounds to play at once.
- Fixed late-Age Militia having incorrect attack sound.
- Fixed certain Units in combat causing Combat Viewer focus to be off-center.
- Added missing interface sounds to elements of Custom Game dialog.
- Fixed an issue where incorrect message could appear in the Demand Coin Diplomacy Event.
- Corrected several all-caps terms in Infopedia and help topic entries.
- Fixed typos in Trade Roads Innovation.
- Fixed the option to reset help messages to be available in pre-game as well as in-game.
- Fixed an issue where the count for exported Goods was not correctly displayed in the worker panel.
- Changed settings to limit several sounds that could otherwise play multiple times under some circumstances.
- Fixed an issue with the Truce Power giving alerts for eliminated players.
- United We Stand and Propaganda now appear grayed out when they are invalid for use.
- Fixed Mega-Temple Improvement to correctly override the name of the Improvement based on the Religion.
- Fixed missing text in several itemized buff / debuff displays.
- Fixed the term “Territory” sometimes showing a broken nested Tooltip.
- Corrected incorrect information in Culture Powers Infopedia page.
- Fixed “Revolutionary” Nations using incorrect name in some languages.
- Fixed missing text with Silicon Chips.
- Corrected descriptions of National Spirit Legacies for Khans, Warriors, Raiders, and Shogunate.
- Fixed issue with Age of Blood defenses not appearing correctly in the Combat Viewer (wall gates not opening / closing).
- Fixed reports of losing an Outpost using a generic message icon instead of a combat message icon.
Misc
- New environmental sound added to glacier and tundra terrain types.
Thank you all for playing Millennia and we hope you enjoy Ancient Worlds & Update 5!
