Aetas 0.5.0
A big update: you can now turn the view, replays get proper playback controls, you can place a whole row of buildings in one go, and the balance between archers, cavalry and siege has been reworked.
Turn the view
Rotate the view in quarter turns with Ctrl+Q and Ctrl+E, so you can look behind buildings and walls. The minimap turns with you.
Replays you can control
Replays now have playback controls at the bottom of the screen: pause, three slow-motion speeds (0.25×, 0.5×, 0.75×) and three fast-forward speeds (2×, 4×, 8×). Use + and - to change speed, 0 for normal speed and P to pause. There is also a timeline, just like a video: see how far along you are, and click or drag anywhere to jump forward or back.
Drag to build
Pick a building and drag across the map to place a whole row, with two tiles between each building. Use the mouse wheel while dragging to change the gap (0 to 5), and hold Ctrl for a full block. Buildings you can't afford turn red and are skipped.
Archers, cavalry and siege
- Archers and gunpowder troops now deal only 30% damage to buildings, so a mass of archers can no longer flatten a whole base on its own; bring infantry or siege.
- Knights, cuirassiers, dragoons and lancers hit archers and gunmen much harder, so cavalry is a real answer to massed ranged units in the later ages too.
- Infantry now moves as fast as archers, so archers can no longer simply walk away from them.
- Battering rams take only a quarter of the damage from arrows and bullets, so a single tower can no longer stop them; send soldiers or cavalry to deal with rams. Catapults, trebuchets and cannons take half damage from arrows and bullets.
- Battering rams only attack buildings and no longer get distracted by soldiers.
- Cavalry deals half damage to buildings. Tearing down a base is a job for infantry and siege.
A smarter computer
The computer adapts to all this: it trains cavalry against massed archers, never builds an army of only archers, sends its archers at your soldiers instead of your buildings, and only steps back while shooting when that actually gains distance. Its infantry now properly attacks your town center too. It also upgrades its army properly, including the troops already in the field, instead of fighting the late game with early-age units.
Smaller things
- In the lobby and skirmish setup, hover over a civilization in the list to see what makes it different: its special trait, bonuses, unique unit and what it starts with. This also works on other players' civilizations.
- Drop-down lists in the lobby (such as Victory condition) no longer disappear behind the map preview.
- When you are signed in to Steam, you now always play under your Steam name, in the lobby, in matches and on the leaderboard. No more "Player" for people who left their name empty.
- Units get stuck far less often: armies and scouts no longer get caught on buildings or forests on their way across the map, and soldiers no longer shuffle back and forth next to their rally point.
- Zooming in and out with the mouse wheel works again during a match.
0.4.3 and 0.5.0 can't play online together, so make sure everyone has updated.