Ark Nova Digital 0.9 Patch Notes

Greetings, fellow zookeepers! We have a number of new features, bug fixes, and free bonus content to announce with this patch.

New Features

Promo Cards

Two new promo cards—Promotion Team and Capybara—have been added to the game!

Animal Avatars

By popular request, a dozen animal avatars have been added to the game. From the regal lion to the playful dusky leaf monkey, there’s an animal for every mood.

Alternative Map Pack

Spice up your games with eight new variant maps, each offering a fresh take on familiar zoo theme.

UI Scale

Based on community feedback, UI scale options have been added to settings, allowing you to adjust HUD element sizes to your preference.

AI Improvements

Over a dozen AI improvements have been made, and the AI is now more strategic than ever! Make sure to try out the Unfair, Expert, and Legendary settings if you want an even greater challenge.

Additional Features

• Added additional new player UI prompts.
• Changed Upgrade Action ability to require ability selection to reduce player confusion.
• Added options to speed up animations.
• Added new Platinum badge for first place. (This will be retroactively granted for past first place players.)
• Added Pass and Play Game History.
• Added ‘Average Turns per Game’ to player history. (These will not apply to past games.)
• Improved hinting for enclosures in the build tray.
• Improved Action Button colors to represent action level, even if unavailable.
• Added option to display icons with a ‘0’ when at that value.
• Rearranged graphic layout when mousing over an action so the current action level is more obvious.
• Added animation when an opponent draws a card from the deck.
• Improved End of Game experience to be more readable and more dramatic.
• Several performance improvements.
• Added additional interaction options when building an enclosure.
• Several UI and hinting improvements.
• Special enclosures will now have animal icons when they are filled.
• Updated icons on special enclosures to have proper orientation.
• Improved the flow for the Commercial Harbor ability.
• Updated AI iconography for harder AIs.
• Improved VFX and UI around the Break and Breaking.
• Added missing stingers for opponent actions to help improve visibility during their turn.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• A number of outstanding gamepad, localization, UI and various art and graphic display issues have been addressed.
• Your turn should no longer be skipped when undoing all actions.
• Veterinarian should now show the correct value when moused over.
• Fixes and Improvements for tutorial prompts when encountering a feature for the first time.
• Sponsorship Drive challenge should now display losses correctly.
• Timing out on the first turn should correctly remove the timed-out player from the match.
• The Snap ability from Waza Small Animal Program should now be declinable.
• Fixed an issue where the game reloaded if left idle.
• Pass and Play games should now appear in player stats.
• The last player to join a game should now be able to select their player color and avatar.
• Adjusted default graphic settings on OSX devices.
• Fixed an issue where some cards were not displaying the icons they granted.
• The end game trophy should no longer obscure tiebreaker information.
• Adjusted chat preview messages to be less obtrusive.
• Clicking the chat preview bubble should now consistently open the chat.
• Long user names should no longer overlap other UI.
• Fixed an issue where you couldn’t edit avatars and colors for player 2 thru 4 in Pass and Play lobbies.
• Hinting for Breeding Program should now display correctly.
• Fixed an issue where notifications showing enclosures were too dark.
• Player avatar and colors should now be represented correctly on the playmat.
• Waza Special Assignment should now properly grab petting zoo cards from the top of the deck.
• Tickets Required rules mod should now be able to place animals consistently..
• Fixed an issue where Outdoor Areas granted Conservation bonuses.
• You should no longer get a notification that it’s ‘Your Turn’ when the game ends.
• Added last turn warning for all players in Pass and Play games.
• Fixed an issue with Guided School Tours during the Sponsorship Drive challenge.
• Fixed some ambiguous income sources when mousing over your income.
• Adjusted the resolution of some card images.
• Polar Bear Exhibit and Science Lab should now use the correct symbol to track granted bonuses.
• Fixed an issue where opponent’s hand and Final Scoring card backs were not visible.
• Adjusted UI around obtaining a 3rd/4th Partner Zoo if you haven’t upgraded your Association action.
• Updated some colors to be more colorblind friendly.
• Removed the number in the Finish column in Game History for Special Exhibit matches.
• Always Show Icons is now available as a player preference.
• Tooltips for AI Difficulties and Map Mode options should now appear consistently and correctly.
• You can now mouse over starting hand cards.
• Added tooltip to Ice Cream Parlor map effect sign.
• Improved UI around moving animals to special enclosures.

As always, we’d love any feedback you may have to share via Discord or in the Steam forums, and if you run into trouble please drop us a line at [email protected] so we can help.

Thanks for playing Ark Nova Digital!