Ara: History Untold

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Ah yes, sorry! Meant 'suggested' as like a potential idea, not as a prediction.

There's no need to apologise. I was just clarifying that it was, as you said, an idea, not a prediction. Sorry if my tone made it seem as if I were berating you

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

(unless this is the first confirmation of multiple leaders per culture).

We do have a very strong indication (in my opinion) that multiple leaders is a possibility

Screengrab from Jumbo Pixel's video on Ara:

[IMG alt="Screenshot_2023-12-17-00-22-23-098_com.google.android.youtube-edit.jpg"]https://forums.civfanatics.com/atta...google-android-youtube-edit-jpg.679766/[/IMG]

What I find interesting is that only the 'House of Wisdom' seems tied to the nation, while the rest of the 'traits' may be linked to the leader. Which implies the same nation could have multiple leaders.

---

I very strongly lean towards it being Wu Zetian. Look at the background. If it were a Mongolian leader, I would expect a bunch of yurts or a horde of horsemen on a steppe. The boating fisherman in a sea/lake (?) with mountains in the background is a frequent motif in Chinese art

 

[SeelingCat]

Looks like it is in fact Wu Zetian, so multiple leaders confirmed! (and good for modding potential!)

Also found a couple bits of new information:

• Assyria is led by Sennacherib
• Belgium is led by Leopold I
• Boudica is confirmed as leader (not sure naming of civ)
• Germany is led by Hildegard of Bingen
• Holy Roman Empire seems to be a separate faction?
• Poland is led by Nicolaus Copernicus

Also, took a stab at identifying the faces from the latest video:

 

[The_J]

New dev diary.
This time the devs talk about gaming history, mostly of 4X. Apparently Oxide sits close to MicroProse, who developed the first Civ games, and many of their employees also once worked there! They also talk about that the term 4X is itself from 1993, coming from Master Of Orion 2 at Microprose, and that is was meant to sound edgy (watch the video ). And they also talk which Xs is the most important to Ara, and which new ones they try to add to the 4 ones!

 

[The_J]

This one is actually really good, should watch!

 

[The_J]

Ara: History Untold arrives autumn 2024

Alternate history strategy title Ara: History Untold will launch for PC in autumn 2024, developer Oxide Games announced…

www.eurogamer.net

Release will be in autumn.

 

[Rac]

Ok so from the new trailer

 

[GeneralZIft]

I'm late to the party, I didn't know this game existed!

I'm a little worried about this crafting system. And the graphics are a tiny bit strange to me, it feels like they went all in on realism now the people are tiny, but at the same time it doesn't look super realistic.

Also the victory conditions seem like glorified score. I'm unsure, what do you guys think?

 

[SeelingCat]

Going off the assumption that same-civ leaders are adjacent(ish) (Washington/Tubman and Confucius/Wu Zetian), I think it's likely that Alexander will also lead Greece and that the one to the right of the Persian leader might be Otto von Bismarck (adjacent-ish to Hildegard as the other German leader), which would lead the one above him to be Mexico's leader.

The blank one I think is Sejong since we have pretty good proof he's in - and the woman to his right could be another Korean leader (Shin Saimdang?)?

 

[Rac]

Going off the assumption that same-civ leaders are adjacent(ish) (Washington/Tubman and Confucius/Wu Zetian), I think it's likely that Alexander will also lead Greece and that the one to the right of the Persian leader might be Otto von Bismarck (adjacent-ish to Hildegard as the other German leader), which would lead the one above him to be Mexico's leader.

The blank one I think is Sejong since we have pretty good proof he's in - and the woman to his right could be another Korean leader (Shin Saimdang?)?

Reviewing the leaderboards again, I am confident that the leader of Songhai is Sunni Ali (there is an illustration of him that is similar to the model Ara is using); while the guy with the gray mustache is probably Otto von Bismark because the model has a collar with a bow that some historical photos of Otto show him wearing, but still not so sure if that's the case; that unrevealed silhouette is a copy of the model of the Apsáalooké leader, but I don't think it's Sejong because his model was aready done in older trailers which wouldn't make sense to hide or not have a UI icon already done by now I guess; but the model of the woman next door seems to fit very well with a part of the model visible in an old Ara trailer that was basically an all-white East Asian outfit (it has a small bow but can't tell if it's a hanbok or another dress).
Another thing is that from older photage, the number of selectable leaders went up from 40 to 45 and, assuming the silhouette is neither of those, Sejong and Benito Juárez aren't there yet so that means we have at least 47 leaders at launch... An odd number that might still go up, so the full list (everything in bold is confirmed by UI labels):

Another thing to comment is that in the first reveal trailer for Ara, it has leaders with their in game models shown in it (ie. Wu Zetian can be seen doing the Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment with... Him or Cesare Beccaria???) but it seems to have some unkowns there too. Everyone I saw there where: Nefertiti talking with an really early model Sunni Ali or another person?, Irene in a parede with an different guy with top hat, Wu Zetian doing that experiment with Franklin?, Confucious and Harun al-Rashid looking at a sity model while being over Rio de Janeiro (wait where's Brazil in Ara?), there an Chinese looking woman talking to an Indian looking woman going down a staircase, Simón Bolívar passes by while Beccaria or Washington talk to someone, Jeanne d'Arc and Shaka training spears, Itzcoatl and Amaniremas talking and lastly an early model of Copernicus talking with Sappho... I'm putting the images on a spoiler tag

Spoiler :

 

[SeelingCat]

From today's video:

Xerxes I leads Persia (and Charlemagne confirmed)

Otto and Zenobia confirmed

The Apsáalooke leader is Osh-Tisch

Julius Caesar leads Rome

EDIT: It also looks like the leader list is also alphabetical* by civ:

Which (IMO) strongly implies that Alexander is leading Greece and not macedon; and that the mystery woman is Korea.

*with some adjustment; namely that assuming everything between Thailand and USA/Venezuela begins with "the"; that the Apsáalooke are under "the Crow" and that Persia is under... Haxāmaniš i.e. Achaemenids, but that's just a wild guess. We've definitely seen "Apsáalooke" used in game though so maybe it's some sort of internal coding?

 

[Dale]

Howard Florey for Australia? What The??????

He was a pharmacologist who discovered penicillin, and a Nobel winner. A great man indeed, but a really poor choice for a leader.

 

[SeelingCat]

I don't find Florey to be a stranger choice than Sappho, Hildegard or Copernicus personally. I think there is some incongruence having both political leaders and non-ruling personages in the same bucket, but at the same time from what they've been saying in the developer diary videos, it sounds like they're interested in deconstructing preconceived notions/traditions of the genre. Whether or not they succeed at that remains to be seen of course, but I think it's at least a unique take to step outside the regular cast of characters to ask who is fit to represent a culture, and what it means to 'lead.' Florey in particular I think represents that for me - I'm struck by the quote on his Wiki page from PM Menzies saying that "In terms of world well-being, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia."

 

[Patine]

Howard Florey for Australia? What The??????

He was a pharmacologist who discovered penicillin, and a Nobel winner. A great man indeed, but a really poor choice for a leader.

I don't find Florey to be a stranger choice than Sappho, Hildegard or Copernicus personally. I think there is some incongruence having both political leaders and non-ruling personages in the same bucket, but at the same time from what they've been saying in the developer diary videos, it sounds like they're interested in deconstructing preconceived notions/traditions of the genre. Whether or not they succeed at that remains to be seen of course, but I think it's at least a unique take to step outside the regular cast of characters to ask who is fit to represent a culture, and what it means to 'lead.' Florey in particular I think represents that for me - I'm struck by the quote on his Wiki page from PM Menzies saying that "In terms of world well-being, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia."

It's Eva Peron as a leader that gets me, to me honest.

 

[Dale]

I don't find Florey to be a stranger choice than Sappho, Hildegard or Copernicus personally. I think there is some incongruence having both political leaders and non-ruling personages in the same bucket, but at the same time from what they've been saying in the developer diary videos, it sounds like they're interested in deconstructing preconceived notions/traditions of the genre. Whether or not they succeed at that remains to be seen of course, but I think it's at least a unique take to step outside the regular cast of characters to ask who is fit to represent a culture, and what it means to 'lead.' Florey in particular I think represents that for me - I'm struck by the quote on his Wiki page from PM Menzies saying that "In terms of world well-being, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia."

Howard Florey left Australia at the age of 23 in 1921, and apart from visiting occaisionally for ceremonial or war cabinet purposes, never returned. He lived 3/4s of his life in England, and the entirety of his career with penicillin.

Again, a great man indeed, but a really poor choice for a leader of a nation he left, and didn't want to return to.

 

[pokiehl]

Howard Florey left Australia at the age of 23 in 1921, and apart from visiting occaisionally for ceremonial or war cabinet purposes, never returned. He lived 3/4s of his life in England, and the entirety of his career with penicillin.

Again, a great man indeed, but a really poor choice for a leader of a nation he left, and didn't want to return to.

While he would be a strange choice for a game with a more traditional conception of leader like Civ, I think you’re missing the point that this game is obviously going for something different than preconceived notions of what traditional leaders are (as SC put it).

overall, he’s no stranger than some other choices they have in the game.

 

[Dale]

While he would be a strange choice for a game with a more traditional conception of leader like Civ, I think you’re missing the point that this game is obviously going for something different than preconceived notions of what traditional leaders are (as SC put it).

overall, he’s no stranger than some other choices they have in the game.

Maybe so. But at least Eva Peron, Sappho, Hildegard, and Copernicus lived and died in the countries they lead in the game.

 

[The_J]

And we are now at the 16th dev diary for Ara: History Untold.
This time the devs talk about gaming the art in the game. They talk about how to choose the style for a game, how to properly represent cultures and how they try to give a customized style for each new play of the game.

 

[The_J]

Actually this dev diary is also quite interesting.

 

[Patine]

Maybe so. But at least Eva Peron, Sappho, Hildegard, and Copernicus lived and died in the countries they lead in the game.

Though, speaking that, I can't quite remember now if Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in England or in Burgundy (the latter which was part of France, but the Duke was allied to England, at the time).

Bolivar may be an issue, as he's in a state of contention as a proprietary national hero and leader between Colombia and Venezuela to this day, and it's even strained relations a few times, but the game has him solidly as as a, "Venezuelan," leader.