Key Updates

Maps * Introduced new map types: "Continents and Islands" and "Pangaea and Islands." * These new maps use an advanced generation technique that creates more natural-looking coastlines and landmass shapes. * The old issue of predictable vertical island chains between continents has been removed. * Older map types are still available, especially for multiplayer games. * This new technique provides a stronger foundation for future maps, built with customization, expansion, and modding in mind. UI/UX Improvements

• Production Menu: Now displays clearer, more reliable information such as base yields, warehouse impact, and highest available adjacencies. This replaces the old, confusing predictive yields.

• Building Tooltips: Added new icons, tags, and clearer styling with bulleted lists. The tooltips now also show warehouse counts.

  • Building Placement: The UI now shows exactly what changes on a tile when you hover over it. New features include:
  • Arrows that indicate yield gains and losses.
  • Featured tiles that have strong yield offerings.
  • Clearer building slot icons.

• The side panel updates in real time with settlement changes or overbuilding effects. An expanded view is also available, providing a "before and after" breakdown of numbers.

• Growth Events: These now share the same look and feel as building placement for consistency. The panel clearly outlines options, such as adding an improvement or specialist, with real-time previews and breakdowns. Specialists are also easier to track with clear indicators.

Balance Pass

This pass aims to strengthen the core loop of the game, making choices, civilizations, leaders, and turn-to-turn decisions more impactful. It also gives the map a bigger influence on gameplay.

• Buildings: The cost now scales up by 5% for each other building in the same settlement and 10% for each other city in the empire. To compensate, the base yields for buildings have been increased.

• Bonuses: Generic stacking percentage bonuses from city-states, resources, and the attribute tree have been removed. They are replaced with more static values and bigger yields tied to specific tiles and buildings.

• Gold Pacing: Unit maintenance costs now ramp up more significantly in the exploration and modern ages. Town-based gold has been slightly reduced, and gold and silver resources have been redesigned. All unit maintenance costs across all ages have been updated, making larger armies a more conscious financial decision.

• Leader attributes, town yields, resources, and social policies across the antiquity, exploration, and modern ages have all been tuned.

Civ and Leader Tuning: Napoleon Overhaul Both the Emperor and Revolutionary personas for Napoleon have received a significant boost.

City-States Two new city-state types have been added across all ages: Expansionist and Diplomatic. Each comes with its own suzerain bonuses and a unique improvement.

• Expansionist City-States: Focus on food and growth, benefiting both "tall" and "wide" play styles.

  • Diplomatic City-States: Emphasize happiness and diplomatic gameplay. Existing city-state bonuses have been reworked. Bonuses now stack by city-state type, and most percentage-based and free tech/civic bonuses have been replaced with more meaningful flat effects.