I finally managed to play Ara... how can it be everthing so wrong?

[Lazy sweeper]

I honestly think MS/Oxide are doing a very poor job of promoting the game, but since this was posted, Ara has received 2 patches, and early next week we should finally be expecting a roadmap.

I don't know exactly what they are working on, but I know greater differentiation between nations and UI has come up a few times, and I know there is a new terrain shader in development, which should improve performance while making the game even prettier.

If this game came out in 1994, it would be regarded as a masterpiece today. It would have had like 30 years of patches and modding.

The problem I have with MS is mainly because of their business tactic to move away from physical (Xbox-gamepass,windows games that creates ghost drives and can't be backed-up,etc)
So whatever changes Ara would bring to the table, will be very hard for a modder community to work with their assets.
They don't want you to own the game. You have to accept any patch they will release and if something changes in a bad direction roll-back isn't an option.
Maybe it's the market that drives the change to selling PCs with no DVD-CD drives anymore, but I don't buy it.
CD-DVD is a nearly perfect storing option that if kept well can lasts for far more than any HDD or SSD on the market today.

If the game came out in 1994 we would have had a box with instructions, maps, posters, etc etc.
It's their decision to make AGAIN a digital only game for the PC market.
And today graphics has to look good on 4k monitor, high zoom level, complex animation, etc this is true today.
But the core fun part of the game layout would have worked the same in 1994 as today.

A roadmap means the game has not yet been abandoned, so I guess it's a good sign for things to come.

 

[Lazy sweeper]

It looks like there's a new Ara in town...