Ara: History Untold

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Sappho as a choice for leading Greece is weird, considering she never held any political power, and it's not as if Greece has a dearth of leader options similar to Nefertiti or George Washington. Even if the developers are going for 'important cultural figures as leaders' (which is fine by me) there are more obvious choices for Greece such as Archimedes, Plato, Homer etc. The cynical part of me (which is admittedly the greater part of me) sees it as a marketing ploy influenced by the ideological trend on the Internet...

But that isn't the point. What's the point is that Sappho's inclusion can become a precedence for similar figures to lead civilizations, something that we might not see in the Civilization series considering how the ideas of 'leader' and 'political figure' are inextricably linked in the series. So we can expect – and should expect – more unconventional leader choices in 'Ara'. I've drawn up a list of possible candidates that probably wouldn't make it into Civ but wouldn't be out of place in Ara:

Ferdowsi - Persia
Leonardo da Vinci - Italy
Voltaire - France
Juana Inés de la Cruz - Mexico
Richard Wagner - Germany
Edgar Allan Poe - America
Rabindranath Tagore - India/Bengal
Fernando Pessoa - Portugal
Rembrandt - Netherlands

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

There's our very own CivFanatics'comment there, but I don't think this thread has been linked here before. Does dampen my enthusiasm rather.

 

[The_J]

I can mainly see the 7 tweets of the thread. What problems do you see?

 

[Caesar of Bread]

Sappho as a choice for leading Greece is weird, considering she never held any political power, and it's not as if Greece has a dearth of leader options similar to Nefertiti or George Washington. Even if the developers are going for 'important cultural figures as leaders' (which is fine by me) there are more obvious choices for Greece such as Archimedes, Plato, Homer etc. The cynical part of me (which is admittedly the greater part of me) sees it as a marketing ploy influenced by the ideological trend on the Internet...

But that isn't the point. What's the point is that Sappho's inclusion can become a precedence for similar figures to lead civilizations, something that we might not see in the Civilization series considering how the ideas of 'leader' and 'political figure' are inextricably linked in the series. So we can expect – and should expect – more unconventional leader choices in 'Ara'. I've drawn up a list of possible candidates that probably wouldn't make it into Civ but wouldn't be out of place in Ara:

Ferdowsi - Persia
Leonardo da Vinci - Italy
Voltaire - France
Juana Inés de la Cruz - Mexico
Richard Wagner - Germany
Edgar Allan Poe - America
Rabindranath Tagore - India/Bengal
Fernando Pessoa - Portugal
Rembrandt - Netherlands

Nuclear Nehru?

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

I can mainly see the 7 tweets of the thread. What problems do you see?

No problems per se. The thread lists people who don't appear as leaders but rather as 'Paragons', the equivalent of Great Persons in Civ. The reason I'm disappointed is because most of these people would fit into my list of 'culturally important figures who weren't leaders/rulers'. This implies that Ara is distinguishing between leaders and non-leaders, and non-leaders will be represented as civilian units in game. So much for my being excited about non-political leaders.

 

[Sherlock]

Those screenshots are just hideous.

 

[Caesar of Bread]

Those screenshots are just hideous.

Yeah, they look like that Civ 5 game. Terrible graphics (hot take).

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Civ V is beautiful. Shame on you.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1657162514830962691

Wildlife coming to Ara.

Also, this banger of a reply from the Ara Twitter account:

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1659695483273527296

A brief look at resources in the game. Seems like this game will be more microlevel-intensive – look at that breakdown of the yield of what seems to be an individual farm.

Also another screenshot:

Looks like Mongolia or the Golden Horde.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Ara: History Untold’s Evolving Living World - Part 1

Over the past few weeks the team at Oxide Games has been making huge enhancements to Ara: History Untold's living world visuals, specifically to make the terrain feel organic and lively. Firstly…

www.arahistoryuntold.com

Visual tinkering by the development team.

Yet another screenshot:

Add Spain to the list, boys.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Biomes in Ara:

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's Living World - Biomes - Steam News

This week we’re taking a closer look at the distinct biomes within Ara: History Untold and how they could potentially affect your strategy.

store.steampowered.com

Also, some more screenshots:

Looks like America in the top-right

No idea who this is


POLAND??!

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Biomes in Ara:

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's Living World - Biomes - Steam News

This week we’re taking a closer look at the distinct biomes within Ara: History Untold and how they could potentially affect your strategy.

store.steampowered.com

Also, some more screenshots:

View attachment 663076
Looks like America in the top-right

View attachment 663077
No idea who this is


POLAND??!

So here's the thing: in the American screenshot we have a region called 'Memphis', in the Polish one a region named 'Głogów', and the second one has a region named 'Bale'. Any idea what that could be?

 

[Sherlock]

This game is a front runner to win the 'tiniest fonts and icons of all time' award.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

This game is a front runner to win the 'tiniest fonts and icons of all time' award.

It's in pre-alpha, so they'll probably be improving it. For now, I'm mostly focused on ascertaining what civilisations are going to be in the game.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's True Simultaneous Turns - Steam News

Read about how resolving actions simultaneously affects your strategy while playing Ara: History Untold.

store.steampowered.com

OK, so this is big. Ara will feature simultaneous actions rather than turn-based. Interesting to see how it'll play out.

Also, we can add France to the civilization roster.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's Triumphs - Steam News

Read about how players can enhance their Nation's history with Triumphs.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Ara: History Untold - Surviving Act Transition - Steam News

Like many great stories, Ara: History Untold is broken into three acts. Read about how each act brings new challenges and affects your strategy.

store.steampowered.com

Not sure I like the lowest-ranked nations being removed every act.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Introducing Independent Settlements, Ara's take on city-states:

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's Independent Settlements - Steam News

It’s time to meet the neighbors! At the start of Act I, Independent Settlements are scattered throughout the world, hidden by the fog of war.

store.steampowered.com

Whose emblem is that in the top right?

 

[Patine]

Introducing Independent Settlements, Ara's take on city-states:

Ara: History Untold - Ara: History Untold's Independent Settlements - Steam News

It’s time to meet the neighbors! At the start of Act I, Independent Settlements are scattered throughout the world, hidden by the fog of war.

store.steampowered.com

View attachment 667819
Whose emblem is that in the top right?

It looks very much like one that be associated with modern Armenia, at a glance and a guess.