Ara: History Untold [4X Civ-like by Oxide Games]

[Max Peck]

This is a 4X Civ-like turn-based grand strategy game being developed by Oxide Games and published by Microsoft, so it will be coming to Game Pass (probably on day one). It doesn't have a release date yet, but it is currently due in 2024.





Video dev diaries:

[Kraken]

That looks promising. I don't like crafting in general, so I need to know more about that before I buy. If it's optional or can be automated, fine.

It also looks like it might be challenging for my 6-year-old PC to run, but I guess if it will run on an Xbox it will run on a PC?

[Carpet_pissr]

Oh hells yes. I’ll be downloading that on Day one.

[Max Peck]

I guess if it will run on an Xbox it will run on a PC?

All the info I've seen indicates that it's PC only, at least initially.

[Kraken]

I've been in the mood for some civilizing but am tired of the sameness that is Civ6. This will scratch that itch if I can run it. If I can't, an upgrade or a new PC might be in my future if the forum effect is strong.

[Max Peck]

This is releasing in a month, on 24 Sep.

[Carpet_pissr]

I was impressed that they got through that entire video without mentioning Civ once LOL. Considering it looks like an almost exact clone, I am sure that was hard.

Still, I welcome any new games in this space and looking forward to this. Slightly less so since it seems to have been made for Xbox first (I still can't even fathom playing a 4X game on console, ugh).

[Max Peck]

Oddly enough, it's PC only so far as I know. Of course, that doesn't mean that they wouldn't design it with a console-friendly UI.

[Carpet_pissr]

Oddly enough, it's PC only so far as I know. Of course, that doesn't mean that they wouldn't design it with a console-friendly UI.

My bad, I think I assumed Xbox since early in the video they said he was from Xbox Game Studios, but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean they can't produce PC games.

[Max Peck]

Some recent gameplay footage.

[Max Peck]

There's one solitary Twitch streamer currently playing the game. I'm not sure if he got an early copy or it the game has already unlocked in Austraila.

[Max Peck]

The reviews are coming out today. So far, they're off to a decent start, with a Metacritic score of 79 based on 30 reviews (25 positive and 5 mixed).

https://www.metacritic.com/game/ara-history-untold/

[Max Peck]

The game launched on schedule at 11 ET today, but I had to restart Steam before the pre-order/DLC leader skins unlocked.

[gbasden]

The game launched on schedule at 11 ET today, but I had to restart Steam before the pre-order/DLC leader skins unlocked.

I'm very interested in your thoughts, once you have a chance.

[naednek]

I played the very beginning and man it feels like a straight copy of Civ with laughable presentation. The narration sounds like it's spoken by AI

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[Max Peck]

It obviously resembles a Civ in a lot of ways (as do games like Millenia and Humankind), but it doesn't feel like a "straight copy" to me. However, Steam tells me that it's been over 3 years since I last played Civ 6, so maybe my memory fails me on that. I haven't read any of the reviews, so if it really is just a Civ clone I'm sure it must be mentioned in at least some of them. The issue wasn't brought up in the one or two gameplay videos that I watched before launch.

I don't have any problem with the quality of the narration, but I have seen some comments that others find it lacking, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯...

[Kraken]

I just want to know how it differs from Civ, and whether that makes it better. I burned out on Civ 6 quite a while ago but could get sucked into a straight-up clone that has excellent AI (for example).

[The Meal]

From watching (parts of) the videos linked above, one of the key differences would seem to be simultaneous turns.

[Unagi]

Additionally, you are supplying your population with crafted items, for bonuses to where you apply them.

I've only started to dive into it, but it is very much like Civ, and yet they have indeed added a dimension that seems interesting and fresh, etc.
I've heard the AI isn't anything amazing, but I generally don't really want or ask a lot out of the AI - so I won't likely see that or be bothered by it.
The narration, to me, sounds a bit like the Enterprise; Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, so I can see why someone may say 'AI sounding', but it sounds fine to me.

[Max Peck]

Apparently it might be better to compare Ara to Civ 5 -- the intertubes tell me that the Oxide team is largely ex-Firaxis people who worked on Civ 5 but not Civ 6.

At this point, unless you have Gamepass and can check it out for "free" it is probably not a bad idea to just wait it out. At some point, probably soon, there will be articles coming out that discuss the similarities/differences from the Civ 5/6/7. From what I've seen on the game's Discord server, MS has given Oxide a "generous" budget to do whatever they want in terms of post-release development, with everything being free updates to the game (a la NMS, in their own words) rather than DLC. I didn't realize that he was involved in Oxide, but Brad Wardell is pretty active on the Discord (as @Frogboy), and what I've seen about the post-launch plans has been from him. I expect we'll see things like iterative improvement in the AI, improvements to existing systems (we're all looking at you, diplomacy) and new features.

In very broad terms, from my handful of hours fumbling my way through the tutorial, the most obvious difference from Civ is the map itself. Rather than being hex or grid based, it's made up of irregularly shaped regions, each of which has a specific biome that defines the resources produced and is divided into one or more zones, which is where improvements can be built. Your city starts out in one region and as you reach population milestones you are able to claim additional regions that are adjacent to your current holdings.

Another difference seems to be how the economy works. Rather than simply producing points that make numbers go up, you also need to manage production chains, with workshops producing products from inputs like raw resources or subcomponents. Those products can be used in a variety of ways, such as production of more advanced products, improving the QoL for your cities, improving the performance of improvements (e.g. if you produce a plow you can use it to improve a farm), trade, etc. I'm still wrapping my head around the whole crafting/supply chain aspect of the game, but in a lot of ways this part feels a lot like a city-builder instead of a typical 4X.

I don't have much to say about the AI myself, but it doesn't seem to be particularly brain-dead so far. I'm struggling to keep up with the other nations, and would have been eliminated when the first Act ended unexpectedly if it weren't for the fact that I had just won a war that boosted my prestige out of the bottom tier. Much like Civ 7 will have 3 eras, Ara is divided into 3 Acts that are determined by tech development. When the game goes through an Act transition, the bottom tier nations are elminated and leave behind ruins that can be exploited by the surviors.

[hepcat]

I tried about an hour of it last night since I had it on gamepass. I was not impressed. Maybe it just doesn't distinguish itself from the myriad of other Civ clones out there until later in the game though. But overall, I just felt like I was playing Civ again.

[Carpet_pissr]

Apparently it might be better to compare Ara to Civ 5 -- the intertubes tell me that the Oxide team is largely ex-Firaxis people who worked on Civ 5 but not Civ 6.

Holy shit. Now you REALLY have my attention.

I played so much Civ V, and loved it so much, I would be happy to play a clone.

[Max Peck]

According to Wikipedia, Oxide Games was founded by Brad Wardell, Dan Baker (Graphics Lead on Civ5), Marc Meyer (Interface Lead on Civ5), Brian Wade (Programming Lead on Civ5), and Tim Kipp (Systems Lead on Civ5). I haven't gone sifting through the Ara credits (they aren't up yet at Moby Games, which is as far as I got) to see if any other ex-Firaxis talent made the leap over to Oxide. The immediate take-away for me is that Oxide was founded by people with technology experience, not design experience per se, so it may be premature to be too excited by any Civ5 DNA in Ara.

[Max Peck]

Revealing the Invisible Hand Update (Version 1.1) for Ara: History Untold

• National Economy Screen – A Game-Changer for Management
• John A. Macdonald Joins the Roster
• Amenity Pack – Expanding Your Arsenal
• Battle Viewer – The journey begins
• Unit Upgrades – Bringing Your Army into the Modern Age
• Adviser System – Smarter Onboarding
• Modding Basics – A Four-Phase Plan
• The Earth Map – A Fresh Take on Global Strategy

According to Steam, I've logged 95 hours in the game since launch. That amounts to 3 complete games plus an untold (Ha!) number of games abandoned because I didn't like the initial setup (terrain, lack of resources, etc). Overall, I've been finding it to be very enjoyable.

It's understandable that people may form an early impression that this is just a Civ clone, but that really fell away for me once I got far enough in to start actually managing my cities and their supply chains. For me, that early start-up phase before I get some proper cities up and running is probably the weakest part of the game, since the options are so limited compared to when I finally have some harvesting and production improvements to work with. In a lot of ways, I feel like this is more of a city builder with a 4X/grand strategy layer than just a Civ-like.

[Max Peck]

The version 1.1 patch went live yesterday, but I haven't had time to take it for a spin yet.

Patch Notes

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.