Headline changes

Wonders have been rebalanced
5 new Crowning Ambitions added
New game options, presets and defaults including an Introductory preset and No Events mode
Grand Viziers can no longer be assigned manually and will only appear through events (Behind the Throne)

Design

Wonder rebalancing:

Ishtar Gate: increased growth per culture level in the city from 1 to 2
Necropolis: Now gives all cities 3 civics per pagan religion instead of 2 happiness per temple
Royal Library: increased science output from connection to other teams, but reduced output from own team (Wonders and Dynasties)
Al Khazneh: Now gives free silk, perfume, ebony, porcelain, and furs, and a Caravan every 5 turns. Removed money bonus and 3 instant Caravans (Wonders and Dynasties)
Mausoleum: increased culture modifier from 40% to 50%
Hagia Sophia: Now gives 2 happiness levels for every city on completion and 2 happiness per turn per culture level in the wonder city. Removed global happiness per turn
Via Recta Souk: Now gives all on-map luxury resources. Replaced wonder city growth by 2 growth per culture level. Removed happiness per luxury and Caravans
All improvements that produce units create one on the first turn they are built. Affects Holy Sites, Al Khazneh, Cothon and Colosseum
Al Khazneh and Royal Library disabled in FFA games with two or fewer human players and no AI nations (Wonders and Dynasties)

New crowning ambitions added. These are the 10th and final ambition you will be offered in order to claim an ambition victory:

6 cities with a positive happiness level
8 Elder specialists in each Family Seat
Polytheism and 4 Elder Acolytes in each Family Seat
Stockpile 2000 of each resource
Send 20 luxuries

Added game option preset Introductory and made it the default. This sets low events, low mortality and no AI development
Added game option No Events. This disables all events except those necessary for game progression or for leaders’ unique abilities.
Renamed newer Inland Sea map script to Mediterranean and made it the default initial map for single player games. The original Inland Sea map script is no longer hidden
Added game option to ignore premade map nation starting locations
AI player starting city numbers are now capped at twice the average for the AI Development level
Swapping the position of units now consumes a fatigue point for both units. Units that have used all their fatigue can use Force March to enabled them to be swapped
The Formation effect (Greek UU) now gives +20% strength from having the same unit adjacent, not just +20% defense
All retiring Generals now get the Retiring General trait, allowing them to become governors
Relaxed restrictions on ambition validity when there are no valid ambitions of the correct tier available
Improved east-west team starting location placement adjustment
Team contact is now always symmetric, no longer possible to not be able to change diplomatic relations with a nation that you have met but hasn’t met you
Leader and heir now get an additional trait option that is not related to their current job when upgrading
Raging tribes will now get a centralized AI whenever they have at least one city in their possession
Doubled the effect of Righteous and Debauched traits
Increased Harbor net adjacency bonus from 40% to 60%
Units now always advance after kill when attacking camps that are not city sites
Lowered order amount demanded by the AI when giving tribute for truce
Grand Viziers can no longer be assigned manually and will only appear through events (Behind the Throne)
Autonomous Rule now overrules the Grand Vizier (Autonomous Rule cities do not build units but can spend resources) (Behind the Throne)
Ambushed by rebels trait no longer removes character job (Behind the Throne)
The Found Religion project will now preferentially found Zoroastrianism for the Shapur dynasty (Wonders and Dynasties)
Some dynasty starting characters now have the Rising Star and Power Hungry traits (Wonders and Dynasties / Behind the Throne)
Darius now takes a -5 Legitimacy hit if he lets Bardiya take the throne (Wonders and Dynasties)

Programming

Increased value AI places on gaining orders, AI value for garrisons lowered
AI now attacks tribe settlements with a higher priority than roaming tribe units
AI takes into account the strength of allies and enemies of both players when deciding whether to go to war or ask for truce

Tweaks to AI diplomacy with Ruthless AI set:

AI will not accept a player mission to declare war on a third party, if it would not consider doing so independently
AI will not accept truce from a player, if it has zero chance of initiating truce from its side
AI will not automatically accept peace or truce when another AI player offers it

Improved vizier city build management (Behind the Throne)
Steam now respects the DLC checkboxes in the Steam library, treating any DLCs disabled there as unowned.
Steam now uses rich presence and displays information about the current game state
Mod Browser change to ensure Mod.io website mod commenting is enabled properly on mods
Added the Behind the Throne XML files to the Reference folder
Added setsafe console command which sets characterID safe (not able to die) for numberOfTurns
Added SUBJECT_CHARACTER_WORLD_RELIGION for use by modders
AI is more mindful of danger when moving units from one location to another, if it can’t get there on the same turn
Removed UI XML hotloading
Possible fix for occasional reconnection failures in MP
Added some logging to better identify reconnection failures
Mapscript mods consisting of a source file are now deprecated and will show warning message in Manage mods screen

UI

Added turn summary entry for new techs and consolidated some categories
Added loading hourglass cursor to menu screens
Game option positions in setup menu re-organised
Split “Show Single Objects” into “Show Single Units” and “Show Single Resources” in graphics options
Added “Increase Border Visibility” to accessibility
Unit effects now show both the general trait and promotion icons when the unit has the same effect from both
Notification reminder button now bigger and shine effect applied
Updated Learn by Playing scenario icon
Agent candidates are now shown on the Assign Agent tooltip even when they cannot be assigned due to no Spymaster
Revised description of traits that do not allow any jobs (e.g. Ascetic) to dynamically include all jobs
Changed the art for Shrine of Serapis (Ptolemy’s unique shrine) so that the dynasties shrines art are unique (Heroes of the Aegean)
Border expansion preview now contains city territory information so that players know which city will get which tile
Updated display of rivers when using Minimal graphics setting
Border expansion now shown when hovering over the unit widget of a worker constructing an improvement
Changed ‘Default Settings’ Option Preset name to ‘Standard Settings’ to reflect it no longer being the default
City founding previews now update only borders, rather than all terrain. Borders now only update vegetation when “increase border visibility” is enabled
Ignore to-be-occupied tile for calculating potential bounces during attack preview
Tweaks to notification tooltip for Steam Deck

Bug Fixes

Fixed a nested link issue with council characters
Fixed some AI issues where it had trouble getting out of its own way
Fixed particle sound effects firing too often
Fixed duplicate crest in notification text for units killed or captured
Fixed doubled pillage/burn buttons for allied tribe units
Fixed bug allowing fort or road construction in non-allied tribe city territory, including territory of cities being captured
Fixed resource improvement pings not always setting the location for resources for some events that add them
Fixed time victory not being disabled by default in some of the game option presets
Fixed mod browser tooltips not showing for picture & changelog edit boxes, and dependency/incompatibility/whitelist buttons on mod upload screen
Fixed unrevealed tiles being targetable with ranged units
Fixed bug with tile distance pathfinder that caused nations to be placed too close together
Fixed bug with SUBJECT_CITY_DAMAGED
Fixed unit combat animations pausing when offscreen and resuming when in view again
Fixed heir naming relation tooltip
Fixed autobuild governor not honoring items that it had previously queued
Fixed bug with events that remove citizens
Fixed gender prerequisites not showing in event options
Fixed locked tooltips causing issues on SP setup screen
Fixed issue where selecting things between turns could lead to UI issues
Fixed ask to declare war mission sometimes failing to lead to a result
Fixed resource display issue in the Map Editor
Fixed some traits causing the trait display to be inaccurate
Fixed Seaside map script help text (no longer default)
Fixed turn summary popup scrolling
Fixed raiders sometimes not finding the city they are supposed to raid
Fixed replay for server games
Fixed rare bug that could cause city sites to be joined on the Imperium Romanum map
Fixed game failing to start correctly when username can’t be set
Fixed links breaking in turn summary
Fixed city health bars sometimes not displaying properly after undo
Fixed bug where Developing wonders would grant AI the Weak legitimacy bonus, +2 instead of +4
Fixed diplomatic status icon not being removed from city widget when city is no longer owned by a tribe
Fixed default setup options sometimes not displaying correctly
Fixed cloud game state being able to be changed by non-active players
Pharaohs of the Nile scenario 3 raider and unit bounce fixes
Fixed opinion boost from Opulence not showing in the Encyclopedia (Behind the Throne)
Fixed Heroes of the Aegean scenario 4 intrigue techs sometimes not triggering events (Heroes of the Aegean)
Fixed Nero wiki link (Wonders and Dynasties)
Fixed reform eras getting stuck from imprisoned or exiled viziers (Behind the Throne)
Fixed wine harvest goal not failing in event of death or divorce of spouse (Behind the Throne)
Fixed delay in victory triggering when final VP came from Opulence project (Behind the Throne)
Fixed Behind the Throne being unavailable in World Map and Barbarian Horde scenarios
Text and event fixes

Old World is available on Steam, GOG, Epic and Stove

About Old World

Set in classic antiquity, Old World is a historical 4X strategy game created by Soren Johnson (Lead Designer, Civilization IV). Players select a historical leader and use the innovative Orders system to dominate the competition. Leaders are mortal; once they die, the nation’s future depends on their heirs.