Since the launch of Ara: History Untold last year, the 4X title has been receiving a bunch of major updates aiming to overhaul various systems. This included official modding support and revamps to economy management, AI, map generation, combat, and much more. Now, it looks like its biggest update yet is coming soon, which is aptly dubbed Ara: History Untold 2.0, or the "Revolutions Update."
Announced today by Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, the massive update is introducing new Culture and Influence systems. This will let cities get Culture as a new quality of life category, which in turn generates Influence as a new currency that can be spent to acquire cultural traits and territory, offering a new option other than military action.
"We’re really excited to bring Culture as a game mechanic into Ara,” said Brad Wardell, Chief Executive Officer for Stardock and Oxide. “The role of ‘soft power’ cannot be overstated. While military conquest remains the most direct way of expanding one"s territory, we really wanted to give players other means of expanding their control of the world. This is especially true in the late game when the explore and expand parts of the game have reached their maximum."
Meanwhile, Agitators are a new type of unit unlocked in the Renaissance age, which will let players stir up rebellions in foreign regions and gain control of them. Speaking of units, per-nation historical units are now attached to every faction too, including Mongol Horse Archers, Japanese Samurai, and more.
The update also touts tweaks to leader mechanics, traits, and abilities, new smarter stockpile and priority controls, as well as upgrades to AI and map generation. Even a new scalable UI for modern displays, as well as optimizations for better performance, have been confirmed for the Revolutions update.
The Ara: History Untold Revolutions Update is now available for Steam players via a preview program. If everything goes to plan, the update is slated to hit all PC players across Steam, Microsoft Store, and Game Pass on September 24.
Disclaimer: Neowin"s relationship to Stardock