Ara: History Untold major update revamps economy management, adds mod support, and more

Oxide Games, the team behind the recently released 4X grand strategy game Ara: History Untold, has just pushed out the game's first feature update. Version 1.1, The Invisible Hand, aims to deliver several highly-requested features to players while also making some rough parts of the simulation better and more streamlined for strategy fans.

The biggest addition seems to be the National Economy Screen, a brand-new window that lets players peer into their nation's resources, improvements, assign experts and upgrade them all in one place. Previously, players had to go to each of their cities to accomplish tasks like this. For further micromanagement reduction, some tasks can be automated too:

"The goal here is to let players quickly set up crafting projects, add supplies, and adjust harvesting options at a glance," says creative director Brad Wardell. "Additionally, you can also set up policies that automate providing supplies to improvements to use, so dwellings can start using furniture, lighting, or entertainment as soon as they’re available. This should help players stay focused on their broader strategy rather than on constant micromanagement."

A Battle Viewer is now here, which offers much more detailed views of how different types of units interact with each other following a fight, letting players know exactly how and why they won or lost that last battle.

In the same vein, unit upgrades are finally possible now, as Wardell explains:

"This update allows players to both upgrade units that are formations as well as reform them which results in the units going back to their reserves, allowing them to be redeployed elsewhere. More importantly, however, is that players can keep a given group of units, with their experience, going throughout the game and upgrade them all the way from say Spearman to modern Infantry over time."

Modding support is also a part of this 1.1 update, though in beta for now. Players are now able to load custom files to adjust game rules, make new items, and change other aspects. Other changes of this update include more craftable amenities, a pre-made earth map to play in, John A. Macdonald as a leader, and much more

Find the complete changelog for Ara: History Untold 1.1 The Invisible Hand over here. The update is out now on Microsoft Store and Steam.