At long last, here it is: Bronze Age 3.0. It's somewhat (read very) delayed from my initial plans, but you know what they say about software development. "The first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time."

You will find that it is notably different than previous versions, but I feel that it is overall a better performing, deeper, and more compelling experience. This isn't the end of development for Bronze Age, many more features will be coming starting with 3.1. Look for a development log in early April so with details on that.

The World

The world is now split into two levels. The world map shows the entire world, broken up into regions. This is where most of the action takes place, where settlements are founded and where armies march. Areas of the regions (cells) can be developed into mines, farms, and villages. Villages can be upgraded into cities. These cities have individual, detailed maps giving you a great deal of control over their layout.

Characters

All tribes now have a ruling dynasty. These characters have parents, children, and stats. They can be assigned as generals and governors, with their individual skills giving bonuses to the armies and settlements they are in charge of. The king and governors also have an authority stat which gives a soft limit to the total population they can oversee.

Armies and Combat

Units are now grouped into armies, which can be lead by a character. These armies move and fight together. Right now all combat is handled through an auto-resolve system, but the tactical combat outlined back in September will be implemented in an upcoming release.

Cities and Villages

As mentioned above, settlement management has been split into two levels. The goal is to have most settlements in the empire as simple to manage villages, with a select few cities managed in greater detail. The villages are intended to be resource colonies and outposts, while cities are the great population and industrial centers of your empire.

Deluxe

Launching with Bronze Age 3.0 is the deluxe version. Bronze Age Deluxe has all the same features of Bronze Age, but with professional art by Artificer. Donating at least $10 will give you access to the deluxe version. Just like Bronze Age itself, the Deluxe art is very much a work in progress, but donations to Bronze Age will go directly to adding more professional art. The base version of Bronze Age will remain free, just not as good looking.