More Improvements for Ara: History Untold
Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios, have released a major update for their turn-based strategy title Ara: History Untold. Titled the “Living Strategy Update,” version 1.4 marks the first major content drop since Stardock took over full production in the previous month.
Built around months of community feedback, version 1.4 introduces sweeping improvements across gameplay, AI, visuals, and usability. A standout addition is the new Living Strategy View, which combines immersive close-up visuals with a broad strategic overlay, letting players manage cities and armies more intuitively while staying connected to the world’s detail.
The Advanced Map Generator has also received a significant overhaul, doubling the number of distinct strategic regions per map and refining resource distribution for better balance and replayability. This includes an updated Earth map that uses the enhanced system.
The developers have upgraded the AI to Strategy AI Player v2.0, making it smarter and more competitive, especially in late-game scenarios, through improved decision-making and resource use. To streamline management, citizens can now auto-supply buildings using inventory items, minimizing micromanagement. This can be toggled or refined using in-game policy settings. Combat has also seen improvements with a revamped system and a new Battle Viewer, offering clearer insights into military engagements.
On the technical side, updates to the graphics engine have reduced GPU demands and improved framerate stability, while enhancements to the simulation engine have cut down turn times and improved interface responsiveness. Finally, version 1.4 introduces wide-ranging gameplay adjustments, balance changes, and fixes for dozens of community-reported issues, reinforcing Ara’s commitment to evolving through player input.