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Since Aetas went into the Steam store I've barely left my desk. Version 0.2 is the biggest step so far, and a lot of it came straight out of playtests.

Six peoples, six ways to play#

The civilizations have been rebuilt from the ground up and now have names that fit their history: Franks, Norse, Greeks, Mongols, Arabs and Chinese. You pick your people in the lobby, and each one plays differently from the very first minute. The Franks put up walls and towers in no time, the Norse get rich on everything they tear down, Greek infantry is at its strongest shoulder to shoulder, the Mongols set up camp wherever they like, the Arabs pay for what they're short of with gold, and the Chinese train their soldiers five at a time. The computer plays to its people as well.

Campaigns#

There's a new Campaign button in the main menu. Every people has its own campaign of eight missions based on real history, 48 in all: from Charles Martel at Tours to the siege of Paris, from Lindisfarne to Stamford Bridge, from Troy to Gaugamela, from Palmyra to Ain Jalut, from Börte to Xiangyang and from Changping to Ningyuan. You pick Easy, Normal or Hard, and you can save in the middle of a mission.

Historic battles#

Want something shorter? The new Battles tab has six famous battles you can play on their own in a few minutes: Cannae, Alesia, the Fei River, Hastings, Ankara and Vienna.

Better maps#

The map generator got a big overhaul. Everyone now starts with the same room around them and the same mines at the same distance, lakes and hills look natural, and there are three new map types: Rivers, where the fighting happens at the fords, Mountain Pass, with only a couple of narrow ways through, and Desert, where wood only grows at the oases.

And a lot more#

• A market for emergencies, with one price for everyone.
• A diplomacy window: send resources, make alliances or break them.
• Pausing in multiplayer: three pauses per player.
• Sixteen player colors, and every setting is now a simple drop-down list.
• Aetas is now also in German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Chinese.
• Your saved games and campaign progress travel with you through Steam Cloud.

The full list of changes is on the Steam page under news. If Aetas looks like your kind of game, add it to your wishlist. It really helps.

Thanks for following along!