Release Date Announcement for Galactic Civilizations IV: Tales of the Arnor
Article posted on 1/23/2025
"Tales of the Arnor" DLC Launching February 27, 2025
Discover the secret history of the Arnor along with enhanced gameplay updates, new technologies, and Crises to overcome
Pre-order Now: Stardock | Steam | Epic Games Store
Uncover mysteries from the darkest reaches of the galaxy in “Tales of the Arnor,” a new DLC for 4X grand strategy game Galactic Civilizations IV available on Feb. 27, 2025. This new content allows players to explore the history of the Arnor civilization, introducing new narrative and gameplay elements. In Galactic Civilizations IV, players build empires and engage in space battles, and "Tales of the Arnor" will add new content to create new opportunities for players to gain valuable knowledge and all new tech to gain galactic supremacy.
"Tales of the Arnor" features several key additions, including the campaign "Legacy of the Arnor," which provides background lore on the development of various civilizations. Players will encounter new content, including anomalies, relics, and artifacts to discover, as well as late-game crisis events tied to the unfinished projects of the Arnor. The DLC also introduces a unique tech tree for the Cybernetic phenotype, featuring exclusive planetary improvements, ship components, and early-game events. Additionally, the Civilization Creator now lets players to select their desired tech tree, allowing custom Civilizations to match preferred playstyle.
"With 'Tales of the Arnor,' we’re providing players with additional lore and gameplay options, allowing players to engage with the history of the Arnor while making choices that affect their civilizations,” said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. “With new challenges and new experiences for our players, Galactic Civilizations IV continues to be one of the best 4X experiences available."
Key features of Galactic Civilizations IV: Tales of the Arnor include:
Explore the Legacy of the Arnor Campaign
Take on the Legacy of the Arnor campaign to uncover the history of the Arnor and the foundations of galactic civilizations. Discover how different species and empires evolved through distinct paths shaped by their environments and cultures.
Investigate New Anomalies, Relics, and Artifacts
Unearth hidden treasures and challenges that add depth to exploration. These discoveries provide opportunities to gain valuable resources, expand your knowledge, and trigger unique events.
Address Late-Game Crises
Face new late-game crisis events tied to the unfinished projects of the Arnor. These challenges will test your leadership skills as you navigate the consequences of their actions and the ripple effects across the galaxy.
Develop Unique Technologies
Access a distinct tech tree for the Cybernetic phenotype, unlocking exclusive planetary improvements, ship components, and early-game events. These advancements reflect the unique characteristics and strengths of your civilization.
Enhanced Civilization Creator
The updated Civilization Creator now allows players to select a specific tech tree for their custom civilization, offering greater flexibility and strategic depth in designing unique civilizations.
In addition to the Tales of the Arnor DLC, Galactic Civilizations IV, is also receiving a free update today for all players! Update v2.94 features a map generation update with improved player placement and Fog of War system; better UI for the planet, ship designer, and shipyard screens; and better gameplay balance with improved combat, citizen specialties, colonization, and many other changes. This update is available for all players today!
For more information on the Galactic Civilizations IV: Tales of the Arnor DLC, check out www.galciv4.com/talesofthearnor.
Pre-order Now: Stardock | Steam | Epic Games Store
Free v2.94 Update Now Available
Players can look forward to quality-of-life enhancements aimed at refining the gameplay experience based on community feedback. View the full changelog below or here.
Improved Map Generation
One of the notable updates is the enhancement of the map generation system. Players can expect better player placement, which should contribute to a more balanced start for each game. Additionally, the Fog of War system has been improved, allowing for a more strategic approach to exploration as players will need to be more mindful of their surroundings.
Enhanced UI Screens
The user interface has also seen some thoughtful updates. Key screens such as the Planet Screen, Ship Designer Screen, and Shipyard Screen have been refined for better clarity and usability. These changes aim to streamline the management of civilizations, ship design, and planetary development, making it easier for players to navigate the various systems within the game.
Gameplay Balance Adjustments
In terms of gameplay balance, update v2.94 includes several tweaks to combat mechanics, citizen specialties, colonization, resource management, research, orbitals, and ship hulls. These adjustments are designed to create a more balanced experience, ensuring that different strategies can be viable without any single approach overshadowing others.
Full Changelog
Optimized Galaxy Map Generation Galaxy Maps are more optimized for player placement and player turn time. Gameplay Balance Improvements. We have updated citizen specialties, combat, ship hulls, and resources to make for a more enjoyable experience. UI Screen Refinement We enhanced the player UI by fixing bugs on the Planetary Improvement Screen, Shipyard Screen and Ship Designer Screen. AI prioritizes culture techs more Genius AI bonuses reduced from 33% warfare buff to 25%. Fixed stuck turn issue when AI tries to build a Starbase on top of one of its rally points Updated Battle Arenas Replaced old Earth Image Updated missing ship designer thumbnails Fixed low resolution “The Criminals Syndicate” event image Updated Minor Race and Hostile Entry sliders Updated ship materials, lighting and textures Fixed thumbnail for Drengin Worker ships Fixed a game crash where the AI is looking for wars that don't exist. “Secret Policy Crime” reduction changed from eliminating all crime on colonies to reducing crime by 3% Citizen Specialty Rework Populations provide a percentage buff to Research and Manufacturing “Minister of Justice” crime reduction reduced slightly “Atmospheric Scrubbers” only available to Amphibious races now Prisons are available earlier in the tech tree Citizens and their specializations now provide a multiplier bonus rather than a flat bonus Colony Capitals now provide a flat wealth reward instead of a percentage when leveled up Farm Level’s effect on food production is increased from 5% to 10% Taxation makes citizens more angry Prison cost is reduced from 5 to 1 Duranitum Corrosive worlds can potentially be colonized “Colonial Law" and “Policy Crime” reduction on planets reduced from -0.1 to -0.03 Weapon ranges slightly increased Missiles now get an additional shot and give +1 more damage Armor Degradation restored to 5% per turn “Fighter Module Evasion” fixed to be flat instead of a multiplier Players can trade Colonies and Starbases with each other in the Trade Screen The AI will now ignore certain diplomatic conditions if other diplomatic conditions are in place Fixed bug where players are unable to complete “A Distant Signal” in “The Opportunity” mission Updated “The Opportunity” mission to use “Space War Tactics” “Aid Research” project now available as soon as the “Tech Capital” is built “Subspace Scanning” moved behind “Artificial Gravity” in the tech tree Tech costs now go up slightly faster Fixed bug where “Cybnetic Ability” couldn't get the “Regenerative Gels” tech “Nanite Repair Cloud” repairs per round reduced from 10% to 2% Fixed bug where the tech tree does not show up correctly when loading an older save Balance update for Starbase Relic bonuses from being harvested Buying and selling resources is much more market driven than before Luxury resources have been made much rarer and more valuable Bombarded worlds are much more likely to have luxury resources Medium ships space increased from 32 to 36 Large ship space increased from 60 to 80 Huge ship space increased from 100 to 200 Cargo ship space increased from 20 to 30 Fixed bug where engine components weren't considering the mass of the ship as part of their space requirement Orbitals have been added behind a tech Made Orbital icons smaller Changed “Logistics Network” Orbital Icon Adjusted Prestige Victory to make it more difficult to achieve Fixed formatting and translation issues for all available languages Update the Auto-Explore system to be much faster, more intelligent and focus on Stars exploration Increased the size of the largest single sector map Planets will spawn more consistently with their spawn type Maps spawn more stars than before Abundant habitable planet spawn setting spawns more habitable planets Max habitable planet cap is increased Blackholes, in general, are slightly more common Fixed a crash that occurs when a game has a lot of players, and the players are set in close proximity on a very large map Distant player setting will attempt to evenly spread-out players amongst sectors New caching system has been created for FOW that drastically reduced late game turn times on large maps FOW is more optimized for turn systems, modifier systems, fleet systems and waypoint systems Fixed the issue where the FOW will do a full refresh for its own objects, effecting late game performance FOW no longer updates in real-time when an AI moves its ships Player placement will now attempt to put players mostly on their own in their own sector if the player chooses "very far" on the setting and there are multiple sectors Players placed in the same sector will be separated by distance based the player distance settings AI Players are no longer clumped together in a single sector if there are other sectors Starting locations are fairer for each player based on the player settings Player placement in maps is now faster and place players in satisfying and different locations Fix bug when players try to leave a finished multiplayer game it will not allow them to return to the main menu Fixed early desync when players attempt to mine with an asteroid ship Decreased the time it takes to load a saved game Improved save game load speed Reduction in the late game frequency of AI ship designs If a game is already in progress the first-time tutorial screen will no longer appear Fixed bug where the Diplomats wrongly reported they were providing a bonus to diplomacy in UI Cultural Points are displayed in the Resource Bar Fixed Report Button to bring up the Fleet Details screen Fixed Tiny UI scaling issues Added in planetary improvement filters District list is smaller Ship Designer is updated to guarantee a ship is being designed for the player Fixed text clipping bug for items in the build queue Removed redundant "available projects" text in the Shipyard list Obsolete and Favorite buttons easier to click Resizing UI to make the list of ships cleaner Fixed bug when Shipyard displays “N/A” for the owner after invading another planet Build list in Shipyard properly fades out Fixed AI from investing too much Gigamass into non-Megastructures Improved Architect construction effects Fixed bug when building a Megastructure in a fleet, ships will still build if the architect had been ejected from the fleet Updated Megastructure Materials and Orbitals Ringworlder quest is much less common Gas Giant Gigamass increased from 2 to 5 Gigamass techs are more expensive Some ship components now use Energy instead of Gigamass Balanced energy generation to Gigamass cost for Solar Farms and Dyson Spheres New ship components moved to be later in the tech tree New ship components are not automatically designed by the AI for the player anymore Toggle button is properly disabled when a Megastructure is under construction Added correct icons for decommissioning a Stellar Gateway Added “This Planet Has No Gigamass” text when a dead world has no Gigamass 2.94 Key Features
January 23rd, 2025 Change Log
AI
Art
Crash Fixes
Gameplay
Colonies
Combat
Diplomacy
Missions
Research
Resources
Ship Hull
Orbitals
Victory Conditions
Localization
Map Generation
FOW Refresh System
Player Placement
Multiplayer
Optimization
Tutorial
UI
Planet Screen
Ship Designer Screen
Shipyard Screen
Megastructures DLC
AI
Architect
Art
Minor Civilization
Resources
Ship Components
Stellar Gateways
UI
