Ara: History Untold

[blackbutterfly]

ARA expose by Jumbo

TBH I'm a little surprised by absolutely nothing from Firaxis (on Civ or Marvel's Midnight Suns) at Gamescom 23. Pindrop silence

 

[BackseatTyrant]

TBH I'm a little surprised by absolutely nothing from Firaxis (on Civ or Marvel's Midnight Suns) at Gamescom 23. Pindrop silence

The cynical part of me wants to say that 2K has explicitly told Firaxis to shut up, so they can instead funnel all their marketing money to Rockstar. It'd be well in line with how major media companies nowadays have a tendency to cancel anything that isn't projected to make Literally All The Money™

 

[pokiehl]

The cynical part of me wants to say that 2K has explicitly told Firaxis to shut up, so they can instead funnel all their marketing money to Rockstar. It'd be well in line with how major media companies nowadays have a tendency to cancel anything that isn't projected to make Literally All The Money™

That seems like baseless speculation and doesn’t really make a ton of sense. Civ is one of 2K's biggest IPs. You think they're going to purposefully hurt their own bottom line? Funnel money to Rockstar for what? There's no big Rockstar promoting going on now.

The more likely explanation is that Firaxis simply doesn't have anything they're willing to show yet. Civ 5 and Civ 6 were both announced only ~6 months before their release dates.

 

[Oberinspektor Derrick]

The graphics look a lot like Civ 5 which isn't a great look for 2023.

What did I just read here?
This doesnt look like civ 5 at all, not even close.

I just played a game of civ 5 some weeks ago on max settings, and it doesnt even have a comparable art style, let alone the same level of details.

 

[pokiehl]

What did I just read here?
This doesnt look like civ 5 at all, not even close

I think the graphics look quite similar. Leaders especially, but even assets on the map itself have the same flat, realistic look to them that Civ 5 has. It's even less stylized than Civ 5, really. I didn't mean to say that they look like the same game, but rather that Ara's graphics are like if someone tried to make an homage to Civ 5.

The UIs are of course different, and despite how dated Civ 5's art deco UI is, I think it looks a lot better than what Ara has.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

That seems like baseless speculation and doesn’t really make a ton of sense. Civ is one of 2K's biggest IPs. You think they're going to purposefully hurt their own bottom line? Funnel money to Rockstar for what? There's no big Rockstar promoting going on now.

The more likely explanation is that Firaxis simply doesn't have anything they're willing to show yet. Civ 5 and Civ 6 were both announced only ~6 months before their release dates.

Yes. Even if they might have enough to throw together a mostly cinematic teaser trailer, they aren't going to do that.

2K is very very oriented towards marketing campaigns. They aren't going to reveal anything until they can follow it up with 3-6 solid months of videos, streams, and social media posts culminating in the release of the product.

And since it's fairly certain that Civ 7 won't be out before April of 2024, we shouldn't expect that campaign to begin yet

 

[pokiehl]

Yes. Even if they might have enough to throw together a mostly cinematic teaser trailer, they aren't going to do that.

2K is very very oriented towards marketing campaigns. They aren't going to reveal anything until they can follow it up with 3-6 solid months of videos, streams, and social media posts culminating in the release of the product.

And since it's fairly certain that Civ 7 won't be out before April of 2024, we shouldn't expect that campaign to begin yet

All of that is why I found the "informal announcement" of Civ 7 earlier this year so strange. It felt quite out of character for them to comment on it at all.

 

[Leucarum]

It all seems very vague at the moment. Humankind and Old World each had their own 'big idea' to set them apart, but after reading a few articles I can't tell what Ara's trying to do differently... Not a great sign, but hopefully it's just lackluster marketing.

 

[Sherlock]

You guys are a hard room.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

You guys are a hard room.

Well, Civ has defined the 4X historical genre for about 30 years, and some of us have been commenting on it for over half that time (counting time on the old Apollyton Forum), so it's going to take something besides some detailed trees on the game map to impress us.

And it's long overdue that the 4X historical genre got something new, or at least a new way of looking at and/or modeling some of the Same Old Stuff.
Ara seems to have no tiles, so district/regional movement instead of individual tile-by-tile movement. Humankind already does that, and it generated at least as much controversy as approval, so what is Ara doing that will be different/better?
Ara's map seems to go for more of the 'realistic biome' look than Civ VI. As has been mentioned, that just makes it closer to Civ V's rendition (or Humankind's, for that matter) so again, What do they bring to the map that's different/better?
Their Leader selections seem to be at least as silly as anything in Civ, so don't expect Kudos for that.
They have what appears to be the same basic list of Wonders we've seen many, many times before, but what looks like placement by Region instead of tile results in some ridiculous placements, like the Statue of Liberty and the Colossus well inland.
They have a Tech Tree and (presumably) Unit variations, but we don't know what, if anything, their Tech Tree does differently from Civ (or Humankind, or Old World, or SMAC or Galactic Civ, for that matter) and don't know much about their unit movement/combat systems.

So right now, it's same old, same old until they pull a 4x Rabbit out of their collective hats, and until we see some carrot-chewing differences from what we've seen and played for years, don't expect a lot of positive reactions.

 

[The_J]

First gameplay trailer!
Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1694104662012535182

Ara is also coming to PC game pass in 2024!
Source:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1694076850065035775

 

[blackbutterfly]

The takeaway from the news of ARA launching Q1(?) 2024 is that other studios have been stepping in (up?) to fill in Firaxis slack.

TBH XCOM (and Marvel's Midnight Suns) will prolly save Firaxis but they really dropped the 4X ball.
I mean just look at Civ VI. I have returned to Civ V (trying achievements I hadn't cracked before).

Developer burnout from the Civ group at Firaxis suggests poor software engineering, I suspect.

IMO it's a good thing (for us) Amplitude, Xbox Studios, etc. are entering this space

Ara History Untold Could Fill the Void Until Civ 7 Releases

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

I’m guessing it’s actually Irene not Theodora, since they posted about her on Twitter not too long ago, saying she’s on the box Art

If you're referring to Washington's Minutemen, that seems to be more of a unique ability than a unique unit

me and my big mouth

never post on CivFanatics without triple-checking your work, kids.

As for the Minutemen, though, that's a little disappointing, but the ability doesn't look half bad. Simple, but it would definitely have an effect on your gameplay and has some flavor to boot. I'm definitely tempering my standards a bit, but for a studio's first game in a new 4X series where these are supplementary bonuses to leader traits (maybe??? we don't know really) I think it's fine.

I like that there's like a mini-Civilopedia entry above the Civ bonuses! It also seems like the art next to the Minutemen ability is unique (or at least well-chosen). If it's the former, that'd be an exciting bit of polish, one I'm excited to see pan out for the other abilities.

Of all Civs to be the unit-based domination Civ, America is certainly... a choice. But with only one Civ to look at we don't know what their design philosophy is in regards to historical relevance. I'll hold my word on that.

Also! Just to point it out! In the top right, they seem to be starting their game (or at least selecting their Civ) on turn 2! And for our neolithic era history buffs, feel free to quibble about the chosen starting year.

 

[Dale]

so what is Ara doing that will be different/better?

Having been in the first two alpha tests, I can say some stuff, but not too much (since so much of the game details has/might have changed since then).

ARA is not really trying to be a Civ-competitor. I would place it more as a Grand Strategy competitor, with a city building component not too unlike Civ6 districts, so there is some crossover, but if you're looking for a direct Civ competitor like Humankind was, you'll be disappointed. You're right that ARA is going for regions, and each region can support a number of districts.

Since the armies aren't limited by tiles, being more Grand Strategy styled, army composition is a lot more detailed. Different formations, supporting multiple unit types. For instance, an arrowhead formation with two ranged units and a melee unit on point.

 

[Civinator]

You're right that ARA is going for regions, and each region can support a number of districts.

Since the armies aren't limited by tiles, being more Grand Strategy styled, army composition is a lot more detailed. Different formations, supporting multiple unit types. For instance, an arrowhead formation with two ranged units and a melee unit on point.

If this is combined with a combat screen like Imperialism from SSI (may be in the quality of Age of Wonders 2 SM) I would like such a concept a lot, as here between the distance a unit can move in a turn and the speed of that unit in a battle, a much better differentiation is possible.

Spoiler :

 

[Dale]

If this is combined with a combat screen like Imperialism from SSI (may be in the quality of Age of Wonders 2 SM) I would like such a concept a lot, as here between the distance a unit can move in a turn and the speed of that unit in a battle, a much better differentiation is possible.

They show combat in the new trailer.

 

[Civinator]

They show combat in the new trailer.

Yes, but this could be on a separate battlescreen or the normal map.

 

[Dale]

Yes, but this could be on a separate battlescreen or the normal map.

The two alphas combat was automated. So, no idea what they settled on.

My opinion based on what we've seen, and what the alphas were like, I suspect a separate screen, not on the map.

 

[Civinator]

Dale, thank you very much for your replies. A separate battle screen would be great.

 

[Swissy]

It all seems very vague at the moment. Humankind and Old World each had their own 'big idea' to set them apart, but after reading a few articles I can't tell what Ara's trying to do differently... Not a great sign, but hopefully it's just lackluster marketing.

Their "big idea" seems to be the chapter system. It divides the game into three bundles of eras and the civs who make the least progress through the chapter are eliminated. Game play is sketchy, but their marketing focuses on players determining their own game progress which could indicate multiple ways to gain progess and mechanics to change your focus, perhaps by changing leaders.