Old World News

The past couple of years has seen a real bumper crop of magnificent new strategy games and city builders, and indie publisher Hooded Horse has been scoring win after win. Among their hits are medieval sim Manor Lords, strategic roguelike Against the Storm, colony sim Norland, and deep space RTS Nebulous: Fleet Command. If you've missed out on anything from their catalog, or have any sitting on your Steam wishlist, a spectacular new sale is the perfect chance to grab one or more of them at a low price. Here are some of the highlights.

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• Repeatable technologies increase by 50% of the original cost each time they are researched (+1000, up from +500)
  
• All religious buildings (Temples, Monasteries, Cathedrals) are now permanent
  
• Crossbowmen bonus against melee now only applies to attack instead of strength
  
• New advanced setup option 'Balanced starting resources' for single player (previously MP only)
  
• If the AI reaches a victory condition on its turn and the player also does at the start of their next turn, the player will now be given the victory instead of the AI
  
• Reduced the effect of Grand Vizier and AI leader traits on the number of units they tend to build
  
• Reduced cost of Burning improvements to 50 Training (down from 100)
  
• Purging a religion from a city now prevents it spreading to the city again without use of a Disciple
  
• Can no longer gift Family Seats
  
• Ambition victory now disabled in multiplayer by default (will remain on for ongoing games where it is enabled)
  
• In Heroes of the Aegean scenario 2, Themistocles now retires after the battle of Salamis
  
• Tweaks to invasions in Pharaohs of the Nile scenario 5
  

• AI performance optimization
  
• Tactical AI improvements
  
• Improved AI use of anchoring
  
• Improved AI Scout movement under Exploration law
  
• Improved AI unit movement
  
• Added command line argument -loadgame
  
• Refactored opinion levels to be independent of XML order
  

• New feature: Generating a parameter string, which players can use in the setup screen to restart the same game from the beginning
  
• The SP setup screen now has a third tab (Simple/Advanced/Parameter String), where players enter the parameter string
  
• Parameter Strings can be found on the in game menu
  
• A preview of potential water control is now shown when holding CTRL with ship selected
  
• Notification display order reversed, now shows oldest notifications at the top
  
• Character tooltips now show trait effects that are relevant to the current position (leader, general, governor) of the character
  
• Rearranged city queue display to avoid overlap. Queue can now display 9 items (up from 4)
  
• Known visibility button now shows visibility for all rivals if no unit or player is selected
  
• Buy Orders shortcut key now defaults to SHIFT+O (instead of O)
  
• Added Leader Archetype dropdown to Basic Setup options for Barbarian Horde scenario
  
• Added icons for strength and weakness to character tooltips
  
• MP player UI (team research and gifting options) is now shown in SP when player has AI teammates
  
• Stats for all players are now shown to observers in MP games
  
• Removed the 'Edit in Wizard' button from existing events in the Event Browser
  
• Fixed confusing color of unit fatigue pips when already force marched and there is no movement limit. Force marched units now display flashing "marched" text
  
• MP scenario tooltips now show scenario subtitle
  
• Renamed Units Killed stat on stats screen to Military Units Killed
  
• Removed Raiders and Rebels from game history
  
• Improved "Slow AI" tooltip
  
• Bonus tech cards now indicate that they are bonus cards
  

• Fixed ships sometimes being built on the city center instead of the intended water area
  
• Fixed event syntax bug
  
• Fixed nested link in generated diplomacy links
  
• Fixed hover issue on team research display
  
• Fixed UI issue with Create Game button being disabled after unloading a server game
  
• Fixed some AI confusion about who benefits when performing a mission on a character of a different nation
  
• Fix for initial city naming - only relevant in mods
  
• Fixed tribe link in city widget not selecting tribe
  
• Fixed some UI issues with tile highlighting
  
• Fixed AI exception with tribal cities
  
• Fixed missing seat founding bonus in the family class Encyclopedia entries
  
• Fixed add urban recommendation not showing border preview on hover
  
• Fixed regenerating Hall of Fame entries leading to points wins becoming defeats after opulence VP changes
  
• Fixed player placement bug for 2-team MP games that also have independent AI nations
  
• Fixed portrait interpolation errors for portraits that do not have interpolation settings when interpolation is disabled
  
• Fixed boat projectiles causing rendering artifacts on macs
  
• Fixed breaking peace with a tribe in no characters mode
  
• Fixed name display issue in some languages for royal characters with jobs
  
• Fixed goals not completing when new units created
  
• Fixed marauder prefabs being slightly offset
  
• Fixed portraits not updating when age interpolation is enabled for the first time in-game
  
• Fixed portrait editor breaking when interpolation is disabled in graphics options
  
• Fixed portrait editor portraits not updating correctly when a source portrait
  
• Fixed portrait editor opinion tab displays
  
• Fixed incorrect tile highlighting for event options that affect tiles
  
• Fixed Learn to Play 2 choose tech goal not completing immediately
  
• Fixed potential issues with retake islands events in Rise of Carthage scenario 4
  
• Fixed bugs with rebellion event triggering twice and Aristotle event not triggering in Heroes of the Aegean scenario 4
  
• Text and event fixes
  

• Renamed Difficulty Settings: Difficulty modes now clearly differentiate between preset and custom setups. Custom configurations display as "Custom," with individual settings detailed in-game for better transparency.
  
• Crowning Ambitions Expanded: Events tied to Ambition victories now offer three choices instead of two, providing more variety and smoother paths to victory.
  
• Grand Vizier Role Rework: Grand Viziers now act as governors in cities without one, focusing solely on production management. This adjustment simplifies their role while aligning it with their intended purpose.
  

• Improved War Declaration Mechanics: A new "Ask to Join War" mission has been added, while adjustments to the "Ask to Declare War" mission make it more accessible and less restrictive.
  
• Alliance Victory Option: Alliance victory conditions can now be toggled during game setup.
  
• Gameplay Mechanics Adjustments: Unit upgrades, fortifications, and territory interactions have been adjusted for greater consistency and functionality.
  

• Event and Scenario Fixes: Resolved issues with missing ambitions, broken event chains, and specific scenario goals not triggering properly.
  
• UI Improvements: Tooltips now provide clearer, more accurate information for governors, yields, and city management, ensuring players can make informed decisions.
  
• Performance Optimization: The update also addresses several technical issues, including improved AI efficiency, memory usage reductions, and fixes for out-of-range errors.
  

With Civilization 7 just around the corner, you'd be forgiven for having a real itch for a great 4X game, and the latest Old World update might just be the solution. Built by Mohawk Games and published by Hooded Horse, it blends all the exploring, expanding, exploiting, and exterminating that you love with more personality-driven events and drama in the vein of grand strategy games such as Crusader Kings 3. Whether you're already a fan or have yet to try it, the fresh Old World update makes its ambition victory easier to achieve, reworks Grand Viziers from its most recent DLC, and clears up some confusion around difficulty settings.

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