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> If any of my ideas is to enter game, i would be proud. That's called programming and it is only for people not fearing complexity

Or how about having trample as standard attack and a garrison slot in which the player can garrison an archer (like the walls do) to obtain ranged attack?

Hi everyone! We decided it would be a good idea to do some pioneering work on trigger-based scenarios. Hence we are going to create a trigger-based scenario called Athens Triumphant. The main purpose of this project is logically to do pioneering work on triggers, to provide a base for other maps and to get our Scenario Designers accustomed with the Trigger functionality in 0 A.D. This scenario deals with the Greco-Persian Wars. We divided it roughly into three parts: Battle of Marathon, Defense of Athens and the Battle of Salamis. We created a story diagram to give an easily readable overview of the story line. Note that this could be changed in the future. We have used the Athens Sandbox as a base to build our map upon. Here is the current status (with some triggerpoints and names placed): We'll keep you up-to-date with weekly updates! Keep in touch!

I've collected quite some papers about RTS bots. From time to time I'll present here either a recently published one or one otherwise interesting. Research on agents in RTS games is very active, because the time constraints and the broad range of needed AI technologies is challenging. Doesn't doing science by playing RTS games sounds like an acceptable job description? I'll start with the 100 page thesis BDI agents for Real Time Strategiy games It is about an 0AD bot written by Andrea Dallatana. Unfortunately he no longer works on the bot. He describes in detail the mechanics of his bot. One idea I especially like is the job market to avoid units standing around doing nothing. Here is the module structure of ABot: Currently discussed at HackerNews is A Survey of RTS Game AI Research and Competition in StarCraft (2013), 19 pages. The authors specifically analysed bot versus bot games and state: ... the top three ranked bots in the competition (Skynet, Aiur and UalbertaBot) do not change their strategy at all depending on their opponent. For example, the Skynet bot (both in 2011 and 2012), always uses the same opening (two gates), except when playing a Terran opponent, when it uses nony. This reflects the trend that the performance of bots is still more dependent on carefully handcrafted and non-adaptive behaviors, ... The paper includes and describes a long list of detected bot strategies. Might be interesting to some human 0AD players too. Very technical is Kiting in RTS Games Using Influence Maps. Kiting is a trick bots can do easier than humans, because the micro management is overwhelming. In short a unit does a ranged attack on another unit and flees out of the range of the attacked unit before it reacts. I'm eager to implement this in Hannibal. Have fun reading!

What's so different about that idea and the current state?

Apparently the Blender version that Ubuntu provides doesn't include Collada import/export due to a missing package, you should be able to install it directly from Blender.org though ( http://www.blender.org/download/ ). The .dae files can be found in data\mods\public\public.zip\art\meshes (which should be in ~/.local/share/0ad/ on Ubuntu), or rather in the sub-folders found in there.

I'm leaning towards more simplicity and more sandbox. "pop/eco/military/building/tech formula" sounds like a ton of forum posts about "balancing" this formula. I would just make phases a costly tech. Then it is up to player to decide how he accumulates this wealth of resources. If someone spends an hour to advance to phase town with 5 units, well, then he earned it and it is not even unrealistic. Also, I think, if players start optimizing their game play towards a formula it restricts the game and many features remain unrecognized or unused. Not to mention the frustrating hours a newcomer must spend to grasp a rather complex formula. 1000 food and 1000 wood is hard enough to gather.

The tech tree is information that allows players to understand what unlocks what, it's actually really fundamental information for an RTS. The reason people play RTS isn't to discover tech trees it's to play around with what's in the said tech trees. Knowing what goes where allows players to get the information they need to start playing around more quickly. I can easily imagine someone getting frustrated because they don't know what they need to get certain units or technologies. Luckily we have well-written tool tips which mostly helps us out with that.

Thats not even a bad idea. (As long as it doesn't depend on the faction) However, phases are of course about Town size (Village > Town > City). So I guess a wealth factor solely isn't a really accurate condition for phasing up.

One idea: Nation wealth could be an new fresh parameter in game. Not a resource to gather, but a counter/number representing economy strength (it increases with resources gathered, new techs, units and buildings - something like GrossDomesticProduct in reality. It should also depend on each nations historical wealth - for example Gauls can not acquire wealth in same speed as Romans). Its only purpose should be meeting a condition for advancing in next phase, replacing building a number of buildings, which is current state and which looks artificial. As it would not be gathered or spent, just calculated and represented in Civic Centre, i think the idea might be considered.

thanks lion for the report. This should be fixed in http://trac.wildfiregames.com/changeset/15999

Then let us just call it Village center. It just does not look natural to anyone. Farms could be extraterritorials as outposts, why not.

Actually auto-sheep training does make (some kind of) sense. I am thinking something like the StarCraft Zerg Hatchery that pops up to three larvae, only replace larva with sheep.

Yes I did. We are actually in the same side. If it's possible to make food gathering different to general RTS, then proposing is nice. However we should consider developers intentions to "change anything at all". What I refer now... is that even if your or my or the other guy idea is interesting... our suggestions will stay in "nothing" if developers do not consider making food different to other RTS (extremely low priority for them)... So it's like being waiting maybe 2-3 years, and see nothing changed. Is it worth making a unique 0 AD food gathering? Yes. Is it necessary for today? Not really. So yeah... We will have the cheap extensive farmlands (usually 15-20) and no Corrals for the time being till Alpha +30... Age of Mythology has the same Farms that you pay initial cost (70 for most, 200 atlantean), and last forever (infinite gathering). There is no-rebuilding (which in Age of Empires 2, makes you pay same Wood cost: 60) I was thinking in my original suggestion that farms are only paid in the beginning... and need rebuilding, but this is automatically and doesn't take wood (which makes difference with AoE) The only way this works.. is that instead of giving lots of foods per charge, it gives very little -> 200 or 300, and then rebuilding time is of 100 or 150 secs. Sounds crazy, but is unique and works in the same way would work in real life. Farmers will be seeding lots of times, part of the real life with the different seasons/rotative cultives. You can build extensive farming again... but the idea is to compete against the extensive corrals choice (which generates sheeps between time gaps-> I explained my system idea) The current Corrals are not attractive at all, compared to the Farm system... so reworking Corrals in order to have that automatic sheep breeding, is what makes both main food branches balanced. I hope I didn't extend much about this issue... In a personal taste, I referred to food resources coming within MAP generation, to have replenish rates: berries, apples grow with time, and shoals of fishes reproduce as well (could also be applied to hunting, so if abusing this method, all animals are killed without leting them reproduce, etc) It's all just a innovative game "food system". If developers prefer to focus in other issues... I don't blame them. I perfectly understand.

Instead of fighting I come up with new idea that is best of all worlds IMHO. Imagine a tech web, instead of a tech tree: You start at the top and research downward. Each new web strand makes 2 other strand become available. Of course the ages still unlock the those rows of techs, but you can always go back and research any available technology. Eventially you can research them all if you have enough time and money, but it still makes it so there are choices like the pairs (but different and better, you can go back and research what you chose not to research before). Every building with techs could have such a web as this. Of course some bigger than others. (my mod includes Imperial Phase, so just ignore that part, because vanilla game does not have this phase)

Agreed that it's worth a separate thread. I'd be 100% for more varied factions and I'd be full of ideas on it, but since it's a game with 12 of them and not 3-4 as in games with huge differences, I believe that would result in a tough to learn and hard to balance game. Something more than AOK but far less than Warcraft III/Starcraft/AOM should work. Specific building requirements to advance phases isn't something really needed, even though it could work, as in other games. It's a little limiting in strategies and build orders though. Here's my thoughts about factions from the other thread: FACTION SPECIFICS Trying to make each faction unique through historical attributes. Note that the unit lists I'm mentioning are chosen mostly from a historical perspective, balance and uniqueness for each faction on that field would need lengthy discussions. ATHENIANS The Athenians should have bonuses on navy, expansion, infantry mobility, economy and research, with an expand and defend playstyle. Faster built or cheaper Civ Centers will allow quick expansion (simulating colonization or vassalization of other's colonies) with mobile infantry forces and navies to protect them or raid enemy holdings. Later on, Philosopher units can help the colonies flurish enhancing construction, economy and research, to make up for a slightly weak late game military. BRITONS The Britons should be an offensive civ with relatively cheap and weak (in defense) early units and weaker, faster built (wooden) structures. This makes them a viable booming faction as well. More research needed. CARTHAGINIANS The Carthaginians should have bonuses on naval trade, navy, exploration, expansion, defenses and mercenaries. Locating (with bonused scouting) and securing (with fast built or tough structures) metal deposits, to help them make the most out of their mercenary armies, as well as maintaining naval and trade superiority could be their core direction. GAULS The Gauls should be an offensive civ with relatively cheap and weak (in defense) early units and weaker, faster built (wooden) structures. This makes them a viable booming faction as well. Later on they get access to tougher units and upgrades. IBERIANS The Iberians are the ultimate turtle civ with several defensive bonuses and also specialize at guerilla warfare. Their units are quite varied but their navy is one of the weakest. MACEDONIANS The Macedonians field powerful cavalry, infantry and siege weapons and reliable missile units. A mostly offensive faction at early-mid game, that gets more staying power later on with reforms increasing the survivability of several units. MAURYANS The Mauryans could be an aggressive (rush) civ with weak, cheap and fast trained units, relatively weak and fast built (wooden) structures. This can also allow them to play with a booming playstyle, since cheap citizen-soldiers should give an early economic advantage. Their armies are rather weak with the exceptions of archery units and war elephants. PERSIANS The Persians excel at massing weak, cheap infantry units supported by equally cheap but formidable archers. But what really stands out is their cavalry arm, one of the strongest among all civs. Their structures are strong as well, although a little slower to build. PTOLEMIES The Ptolemies should have a well balanced military, with most troop types and better than average mercenaries, but that shouldn't be the core of their strength, somewhat lacking in champion units and military techs. Farming, research, naval and defense bonuses should make them a booming-defensive faction with a variety of secondary options. ROMANS The Romans might have somewhat weak cavalry, but make up for it with easy to mass tough infantry, strong siege weapons/structures and increasingly good technology as the game advances. SELEUCIDS The Seleucids probably have access to the largest troop variety of all civs, including several elite units and powerful reforms. Their other aspects could stay at average more or less for balance, even though historically they could have many other bonuses and their weaknesses don't translate well in RTS gameplay. SPARTANS The Spartans can be a very unique faction with early available, very limited, super-elite infantry supported by average to poor other units. Late game reforms can provide a reliable, massable unit in Cleomenian Pikemen and improve other troop classes through newly unlocked mercenaries, so that they can stand against other faction's now powerful armies. Helots can be used as a unique worker unit with the best default farming rate (even if slaves are added in general).

In-game terrain modification is all but ruled out for Part 1, due to design choices in pathfinding and complications in other things, e.g. terrain-based features like territories and water rendering. A lot of optimizations and caching can be used if the terrain doesn't change. Personally, I wouldn't mind having it with limited applications, but 0 A.D. isn't really about civil engineering/city building/etc. So part of me would like building roads, digging canals, building bridges, but it's not a focus Instead, RTSes tend to abstract such processes with technologies and stat changes.

"0AD Server Central Europe" is now ready for players.

Official server is full. I created a new one so everybody can join. Notice that if you reach full server info msg, create a new server with next step "0 ad official server2" and so on. Password should be repeated. Server : 0 ad official server1 Pass: caesar Greetings.