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And thanks a lot to ValihrAnt for making his awesome videos!

A tupi villager in the middle of India xD

We can discuss the matter, but the only real way to test how things balance the meta is to test it out with a mod. So I made a mod. I think the tech should cost 500 food and 500 wood, if you can´t guess its name, you can check the mod below. I do consider the starting metal as a problem for p1 mercenaries, so therefore they should be limited by some tech. I agree with you on the fact that a tech to unlock mercenaries could be useful. I added some things to the mod to support aggression. Features of the mod: •wood gather rate reduced by 0.10, food gather rate reduced by 0.10 (This means women/cavalry get ¨cheaper¨ and citizen soldiers stay at about the same ¨cost¨, which should encourage people to make more women/cavalry and that would favor aggression). •speed upgrade for cavalry is reduced in cost to 200f,100m. This might be useful for cavalry rushes. From an economic viewpoint it means that 10% speed is about +10% gather rates at long distances. The 100m is left over after doing the p1 wood/food techs. So the speed upgrade tech seems to be worth it if you have around 15 cavalry. •I like the concept of age of empires 2, where you getting to the next phase means a significant step in military power. Therefore I added +10%attack/health to all soldiers once p2 is reached. •Mercenaires need 48seconds to train in p1 for infantry and 64 for cavalry. In p2 these times get reduced to 2 seconds and 2.66. • Infantry mercenaries cost 35 food and 45 metal and cavalry mercenaires cost 60 metal and 60 food. •Expertise in war costs 250 metal and need 20 seconds to research. It now triples the train time (This means that you can train mercenaries very fast, until you decide you want to scarify train rate for military power). • civ specific changes about mercenaries(Athens: +10% metal gather rate in p2, Carthage: can build an Iberian embassy and mercenaries in p1&expertise in war, Kush: can build an Blemmye camp and mercenaries in p1, Macedon: Suited for cavalry rushed and can train mercenary cavalry in p1, Ptolemies: Fantastic eco and Ptolemy 1, Seleucids: start now with an extra mercenary swordsmen and military colony is as fast at producing mercenaries 2 times and researching expertise in war). •Misc: archers have 2.5 spread and Persian axe cavalry in p1. I also reduced the metal cost of p2/p3 eco and blacksmith techs to make them more accessible and to provide more metal to the players. I did test the mod in 1v1s and it seems that for Carthage and Kush, you can get about 20 mercenaries out before minute 10. From my tests, I tend to conclude that these changes allow you to get sufficient numbers of mercenaries to deal a really good blow as at this point the opponent seems to have 40-50 citizen soldier scatter around his base. What I tested was a strategy where you only produce 1 barracks and aim click p2 when you have 80 to 110 units. Once you are in p2, you can produce a lot of mercenaries very fast. Then you research expertise in war, which gives coupled with the +10% attack/health bonus some very strong units. I suppose it really allows for a deadly early p2 attack when you opponent is late to p2. (Also I played a 4v4 last night from the pocket position as Britons. I rushed the opposing flank with cavalry and 12 slingers which was effective and it seems show that passive pockets could get to see their allies destroyed. I have to remark that one player was 1700+ and the receiving end was mid 1300s) Each of these modded mercenary civilizations will affect the meta in different ways. I would like if there would be some players that try these features in player vs player. Any test results would be appreciated. mercenary_mod.zip

Yeah maya is more like 3999€ per year.

And back again with regular vids after various house move traumas! Alas, not quite out of the woods with techie issues this week, OBS Studio decided not to capture the game sound, which is a pain, but the game is good

Sneak Peek of 0 A.D. Alpha 25 A provisional date of June 2021 has been proposed for the ‘Feature Freeze’ – the point at which new features for the upcoming Alpha version of 0 A.D. stop being added and the development team focus solidly on bugfixes. This is not the release date. The feature freeze is one of the precursors to release, with the specific launch date to follow. You can find more information here. First Impressions of Alpha 25 Be sure to tune into the Tom0AD live stream on YouTube on Friday 7th May 2021 at 9pm CET to see a preview of the latest development version of Alpha 25 in action. The broadcast will feature Tom and fellow YouTubers, Alistair Findlay, and Jim Cogan (0AD Newbie Rush) putting the dev version through its paces live on air. And there will also be a live Q&A session with 0 A.D. Developer, Stan`. New Features Following closely on the heels of Alpha 24, this latest iteration of 0 A.D. will look to further build on functionality and further expand the existing feature set while also fixing existing bugs. With a shorter planned gap between alpha releases this time around, most of the proposed additions are subtle and geared toward small improvements in the current and future player experience rather than headline features. But there are a few notable things to look out for. Single Player Campaign Support: The ability for 0 A.D modders to create their own single player campaigns will be added. Alpha 25 will only include the base functionality for this with full campaigns scheduled to be added in later iterations. Improved Multiplayer Responsiveness A technical improvement that players may ‘feel’ rather than see, this is another progressive improvement step to smoothing out multiplayer gameplay and enhancing unit pathfinding. Before commands in multiplayer were processed twice per second, now five times like in single player. Ongoing Balancing Changes Numerous changes to balance of the game by way of micro adjustments to various civilisations, buildings, and units. For a full list of all proposed features/changes visit the Alpha 25 Wiki page. Get Involved! Your Chance to Name the New Alpha Every new iteration of 0 A.D. gets a name, and this is your chance to contribute your suggestions. The Alpha 25 Name Suggestions thread on the 0 A.D. Community Forum has been open since January 2021, but there is still time to vote for your favourite and put forward your own suggestions. 0 A.D. release names start with the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to the release version. Alpha 22 was Venustas, Alpha 23 was Ken Wood, Alpha 24 was Xšayāršā, and Alpha 25 will start with a ‘Y’. Check out the thread here.

It is true. There are not really that many civs that have mercenaries, and this could create more problems than it solves. I suppose, in the meantime rushing is going to be between cavalry and women like always. At least we have some ideas for some changes, we will see how mercenaries are in a25 but my expectation is that they will still be bad. At the moment, mercenaries are awkward primarily because of the high cost that is not justified by their power. I would look to the skiritai commandos for a basis for the cost of mercs, they are positively regarded by most 0ad players and I think they are the only good example of a unit that accurately falls between champion and CS.

True, but a mercenary rush might be a good option to diversify civs. Civilizations have different units and that inherently makes that some rushes are available to some civilizations while others are not. I think the aim should be to create different rush options and the mercenary rush can be one of them. I also played a game against Yekaterina, who played just as if it was a normal game (also thanks to Yekaterina for trying the mod). I had a very good starting berries, with two fruit trees close to them. I was playing Seleucids against Ptolemies and at minute 10:30 I had allready a military colony at her door and 25 advanced mercenary archers were getting their first kills. On the flip side, she collected 16815 resources while I had 14000 at that point. The game ended in p2 with a successful mercenary rush. 2021-05-30_0005.zip @BreakfastBurrito_007, I understand that I am moving the conversation towards a p2 mercenary rush. If you prefer to stick to the p1 mercenary idea, I would be able to move the p2 mercenary rush to a different topic, such that your ideas of a p1 mercenary rush can be heard. My main question is why not make the required tech be p2?

I would not consider the problem of the missing rush solved until rushing is viable for almost all civs, and not just those few with access to mercs. Unless the plan is to give every civ P1 access to mercs or champions as a tool to enable rushing, any effort you put in now to balance this will only be a stop-gap. It will all have to be redone from scratch eventually, as part of the general overhaul of unit roles and relationships that it will take to bring this game into a semblance of polish. That's not to say the effort would be wasted, but this is a bandage on a cut that needs stiches.

I can't wait to see videos with the new biomes!

Pretty cheap for a professional software ~3x of annual Netflix subscription, I remember Maya costs much more.

There will be some improvements in A25 but nothing too drastic

why wouldn't you use cs for the scouting and building foundations? why even train mercs in phase 1 then?

Not that many But it worked fine on turtle speed on a laptop that's about 4 years old

Macedonia 37 - The Mutiny (326 BC) After the battle at the Hydaspes, Alexander wanted to press further East into India. Alexander voiced plans for further conquests in the Indian subcontinent, however, when his men reached the river Hyphasis, there was an open revolt. Beyond the Hyphasis, was the Nanda empire, a vast kingdom rumored to have armies in the hundreds of thousands. Coenus, son of Polemokrates, stepped in to negotiate and achieve an agreement between Alexander and his many Macedon and Greek soldiers who did not want to follow further East. While the negotiations take place, Alexander was left with establishing a base that would either server as the eastern-most border of his empire, or a stepping stone further into India. Objective: constructs 2 Civil Centers to establish your base. Intelligence Reports: on the other side of the river, lie the realms of the Nanda empire. The Gangaridai and Prasii tribes, vassals of the Nanda, hold formidable settlements, but for now, have invited us to trade with them. To the north, there is a Nanda fortress on top of a hill. Further, a Nanda garrison far to the East provides fresh troops to the vassal tribes. We should do what we can to establish a base while being aware that the situation may change quickly. A number of small trading posts scatter the land and should provide us with good opportunities to secure supplies, especially metal which is in short supply in the area. AI Settings: Players 2 and 5 should be Petra with a difficulty of your choice (medium for casual game play). All others should be Sandbox.

Tupis! Tupis! Tupis! Tupis for Alpha 25!

I still think that the mod selection menus could be more intelligible to newbies. You all here on the forum know how to deal with it, but a novice user cannot distinguish what exactly each mod type, compatibility etc.

Pinus devoniana is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in more than 15 states of Mexico - from S. Sinaloa to Chiapas - and Guatemala in montane, relatively open pine or pine-oak forests at altitudes from 900 to 2500 m.

Maybe orange and black/dark brown?

Also, skirmishers being faster, they can chase archers, but if archers are close enough to a defensive position (and they are, because they are slow and you don't want to expose them too much), archers still beat skirms easy, and can still kite them to some extent (if the map is dense enough, kiting is just as possible as without the mod). Skirmishers weren't good fighters in a23, aren't now in a24, and still aren't with this mod.

Sounds good, more hands won't hurt! You can drop by IRC if you want to chat with us directly, or you can ask your questions here if you prefer

Happy modding / map making!

I have my worries about this too, I think it is essential to increase the amount of metal available to players on average. I think replacing the little stone mines with metal mines would be fine. Another option would be to increase the capacity of large metal mines from 5000 to 10000. I feel 60 metal is too high for mercenaries especially if they only come out as advanced rather than veteran, but that also trade could be used to abuse the low total cost. I would be in favor of making mercenaries be 40 metal for inf and 50 metal for cav, and then the other resources adding up to 60 for inf or 60+50 food for cav. Mercs would also starting in advanced rank. I think having a still metal intensive, but more distributed cost, makes them both less spammable from starting metal in p1 and more attainable throughout the game. Overall, I think this cost is best to put them in the suitable role. Unfortunately, it seems the momentum is with doubling down on mercs costing only metal. If more people read this and are in agreement, then perhaps we could eventually test this cost setup combined with the p1 upgrade for the barracks in a mod.

I think one of the changes of https://code.wildfiregames.com/D3699 (as I understand) is the new training times for mercs are .5 the training times for their corresponding CS type, which I think comes out close to the value you suggested. Do you think making the tech cost 200 food 100 wood 100 metal is a good way to prevent merc spam with starting res from being a default strategy? The extra feature of the tech you mentioned are potentially nice, but would probably complicate the discussion about this feature a bit too much. If someone makes a mod with these features, then we could try a 4v4 and determine if the p1 mercs need further adjusting. If they do, we could include one of the smaller extra bonuses you mentioned for this. If someone is interested enough to make a mod, it should definitely include https://code.wildfiregames.com/D3699 in it, since this seems likely to be implemented in a25, and is the cost/power balance considered in this topic.

It has good details. Tiene buenos detalles.

You're right :/ We missed that.

Zapotecs version 0.1 Based heavily upon the great work being done by the Terra Magna mod team The Zapotec lived in the Valley of Oaxaca, the largest expanse of relatively flat land in southern Mexico. Around 500 B.C.E. they built Monte Albán on the flattened top of a mountain in the center of the valley, the first urban center in Mesoamerica. Monte Albán covered an area of 2.5 square miles and its population grew from 5,000 to 25,000. It boasted the first centralized political system and population divided into social classes. Lasting for about a 1,000 years it became the dominant power in southern Mexico, ruled by nobles and strong military. Lacking in a strong agricultural base, their economy was based on the collection of tribute from surrounding groups. By the 7th century C.E. its power began to wane through competition and unsustainable population growth. Other characteristic features of Zapotec civilization can be found in the periods following Monte Albán's founding, including a characteristic two-chambered temple architecture, a market system, a rubber-ball game, and the human-like funerary vessels called Zapotec urns. Between 200 - 900 C.E. Monte Albán acquired a Classic style representative of Mesoamerican groups, most likely through conquest. Population growth, writing, architecture and art flourished, centering around the noble class and the hierarchy of Zapotec gods. Units Civic Center Zapotec Citizen Male and Female variations. Some textures and meshes by @Lopess Jaguar King (Hero) Nearby Soldiers are stronger and move faster. Nearby Citizens and Slaves gather much faster. Battle Priest (Hero) Reduces the effectiveness of nearby enemy units, due to his terrifying visage (Battle Priests wear the skin of their enemies) Has a healing aura for nearby Zapotec units as well as a strong self-healing ability. Barracks Zapotec Runner Lightly armed Scout unit Can Hunt Can build Outposts Zapotec Spearman Macuahuitl Infantry Archery Range Zapotec Slinger Zapotec Skirmisher Zapotec Archer Archery Tradition tech gives them greater accuracy and -50% xp required for promotion Fortress Zapotec Noble Warrior Champion Macuahuitl Warrior Mercenaries Mixtec Jaguar Warrior Mercenary Champion Spearman Very much like the Gaesetae Naked Fanatic for the Gauls Otomi Maceman Mercenary Maceman A small Crush attack Teotihuacan Warrior Mercenary Multi-purpose Warrior An extra fast ranged unit, similar to a Cavalry Archer or Cavalry Skirmisher in ability Can swap between atlatl-thrown javelins and a (melee) heavy spear Others War Captive Slave class unit, trained from Storehouses and Farmsteads Zapotec Priest Battering Ram War Canoe Fires arrows and can fish for food. Trade Canoe Zapotec Structures Zapotecs have average-strength structures with an average number of structure technologies and upgrades. They have no access to cavalry, so do not have a Cavalry Stable. Their "Cult Statue" glory trickle building is the Ball Court. Only 1 is buildable, but it gives a trickle of glory 4x greater than a regular Cult Statue from a different civ. The Wonder gives a trickle of glory as well and can be praised by units for more glory. They have a greater reliance on stone for technologies, and a less reliance on metal compared to other civs. Lastly, they start each skirmish match with a free extra stone mine nearby. Atlatl can be a special technology. Adds range and accuracy for Javelin infantry. Eventual the Maya will get this special tech too. More References

many of them uses this skull paints. Death was, for many of the Mesoamerican peoples, of great importance within their belief system. Death in the pre-Hispanic world was a reality with which they coexisted; in their thinking there was no rupture between the life-death extremes.

See https://github.com/0ADMods/terra_magna/blob/master/mod.json for instance @wraitii

Thanks for sharing. Just a little nitpick. Would be nice if you could add a mod.json to your repository so it could just be cloned into the mods folder as-is.

Agreed. The mod selection screen looks pretty convoluted and unintuitive.