Patch 0.95 is out now!

Salvēte dear Roman Citizens!

I know this update has taken a little longer than expected, but the new World View required me to rework quite a few of the game’s underlying systems. The positive side of this is that the way Gladiators, Lanistas and Doctores are handled is now much more modular, which also opens the door for potential future systems such as transfers between Ludi and much more.

I also decided to take the opportunity to upgrade the game from Unity 2022 to Unity 6000.3 LTS, giving the game a much more modern foundation and allowing for further performance, visual and technical improvements going forward.

I know that in my last post I mentioned that improvements to Tactics and Blendshapes would be included in this update. However, I decided to postpone those until the next update, which I intend to dedicate entirely to combat, tactics and Gladiators. These are such integral parts of the game that I feel they deserve an update of their own rather than being squeezed into this one.

The update is fully compatible with existing save games. However, some records and historical information from before this update may be missing, as certain data required by the new World View was simply not tracked by older versions of the game. From this update onwards, that information will be properly recorded.

New Features & Major Changes

• Added a brand-new World View, allowing you to explore other Ludi, Gladiators, Lanistas, Doctores, historical records, seasonal statistics and more.

• Added a new Information system for other Ludi. Your knowledge of rival clubs and their Gladiators will now depend on how much information you have gathered about them.

• Added a new Ludus Upgrade: the Spy, which ties directly into the new Information system and helps you gather more knowledge about other Ludi.

• Added opponent information to the Pregame Selection screen, giving you more insight into the Ludus you are about to face.

• Added Gladiator traits to the Pregame Selection tooltip, making it easier to evaluate both your own lineup and your opponents.

• Added the ability to simulate Training Matches, allowing you to skip directly to the result instead of entering the Arena.

• Added a new Rival system. Ludi from the same hometown can now begin as rivals, while new rivalries can also form dynamically as your campaign progresses.

• Rival matches now have a greater impact, while regular League losses will also result in Renown being lost.

• Added 105 new hometowns to the custom Ludus Designer.

• Added a new Sturdy trait, acting as the opposite of Fragile.

• Added 4 new Gladiator helmets.

Doctores & Training

• The minimum age for retiring a Gladiator as a Doctore is now 30 years.

• Added a new Doctore Retirement Age game setting for players who prefer different retirement rules.

• Medicus can now save injured Gladiators during Training Matches.

• Fixed a visual issue with the Doctore trait list.

AI Improvements

• Made significant improvements to the AI on Hard and Very Hard difficulties.

• Further improved AI decision-making and overall club management to make stronger AI-controlled Ludi more competitive.

Combat & Balance

• Thanks to the in-depth investigation by Solonius on the Discord server, several improvements have been made to the game's damage calculations.

• Fixed an issue where Barbarian Gladiators were not receiving their intended trait bonus when using Two-Handed Axes.

• Fixed an issue where injured Gladiators would not have their Energy reduced to 0%.

Multiplayer

• Custom uploaded PNG Ludus banners will now synchronize correctly in Multiplayer games.

UI & Visual Improvements

• Added a new background UI element behind Gladiator names in the Barbershop.

• Toned down the colouring applied to some shields.

• Further improved the Team Colouring system for armour.

• Fixed a minor graphical issue with the Praetorian helmet.

• Fixed an issue where female Gladiator models could clip through the Praetorian armour.

• Female Gladiators with long hair will now keep their hair visible while wearing the Evocati helmet.

Localization & Historical Improvements

• Added proper translations for “son of”, “daughter of” and “of” across supported languages using the Latin alphabet.

• Fixed an incorrect translation of Doctores.

• Renamed Maranello Horses to Mutina Horses, as Maranello did not exist under that name during Roman times.

Performance & Technical Improvements

• Upgraded the game engine to Unity 6000.3, bringing the project onto the latest Unity LTS foundation and allowing for further performance, stability and development improvements going forward.

• Optimized how Gladiators are loaded, which should reduce load times and memory usage.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an Exhibition Match issue where the opposing team name could display incorrectly after losing a match.

Patch 0.95 A & B

• Fixed an issue that prevented AI-controlled Ludi from properly equipping their Gladiators.

• Fixed an issue where AI-controlled Ludi did not correctly follow the Doctore retirement age setting.

• Improved Doctore selection for AI-controlled Ludi.

• Made further improvements to Multiplayer networking stability.

Sincerily hope you will enjoy this update a lot :) Kind regards
Mathias