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Hi all, I put together 9 new randomly generated maps for 0ad. Download: _kali_maps.zip If you're a dev and want to include these in the next release, please feel free. I don't know how to take those map preview screenshots, so if someone can do that too, that would be amazing. Here's a quick overview of the maps: New Playing Style: Stronghold With this playing style, teammates start with civ centers in close proximity. It enforces team play and cooperation from the early stages of the game. Depending on build order and playing styles, it might also make for more epic battles as team's concentrate all their firepower on a heavily fortified allied compound. Stronghold This map has 4 variations, picked at random: - a central impassable plateau - a central hill with mineral resources - a central lake - a hilly terrain with less wood The map is very similar to "Mainland", but uses the Stronghold playing style mentioned above. Island Stronghold - naval map where all allies start on the same island This map is very similar to "Islands" Team Positioned Maps In these maps, players are positioned on a team basis Hell's Pass - large mountains funnel units through narrow passages - teams are positioned in a vertical line, with the front-line defenders having access to few resources - teammates in the back have a bounty of resources available, but are also vulnerable to sneak attacks from narrow passages Outpost - 1 member from each team starts in a wood-rich lowland - a ring of high ground surround the lowlands, making the wood vulnerable to attacks from above - all other team members start in a sparse ring of high ground, with some mineral deposits - teams must work together to share resources and support the exposed teammate, or retreat to higher ground Traditional Maps Harbor - large mountainous spines protect each player's harbor - large numbers of fish await outside of the protection of the harbor - narrow gaps in the spines allow for some ground assaults - players must choose to attack from the land or the sea, but probably will not have enough resources to do both Lion's Den - similar to "Canyon", but the middle is a series of protected expansion sites Outward Bound - most maps try to bring the players to the middle to fight over resources, on this map, players start with few resources on a shared plateau - most of the resources on the map sit on a lowland ring around the edge - players must decide to move their base, or continue to fortify their original, less defensible position Ring - a series of high / low ground circles around a dual-layered mountain rich with resources - brings interesting high/low ground battle tactics into play at each point on the map Safe House - strong Carthage walls divide the players, making early rush attempts impossible - allies and enemies alike must decide when and where to break through the neutral walls Hope you enjoy! _kali

This is an idea I've had from reading /r/SubredditSimulator, a subreddit where bots post content using Markov chains. I've been giving it some thinking and I thought I'd share it. I don't have yet anything to show for it as I'm unable to code at the moment, but might try it later. The idea is quite simple: let's use some sort of markov Chains to make our random maps nicer. The biggest problems in our random maps, in terms of niceness, is not so much the larger elements (such as continent shape, ...) but the finer details. It just looks too random quite often, compared to scenarios. My idea is simply to use markov chains to replicate those scenario achievements in random maps. I won't go into details on markov chains (google it), but basically the idea would be to analyze scenarios of a similar biome (or may only one map, if it's good enough. Fiddling with the data would be needed.), and then use this as a database in a "beautification" pass for random maps. So RM would still create the maps as we do know, put terrains as we do know, then add basic "necessary" entities, such as trees, player entities, and could also add some larger beautification elements. Then we'd go into a beautification pass. I see a few ways this could work: For each "important" entity, check what "decoration" entities are usually placed around (from the markov chains) and place those.For each terrain type, check which decoration entities can be found aroundPossibly this would require us to "pre-sort" important entities by checking how many important entities they have around (as you might place different stuff around a lone tree than in a forest), but this would have to be checked. It might be extended to actual terrains too, to make it easier to have nice transitions, but I'm not entirely sure it'd work so well. Just an idea, anyways.

I suppose this could be accomplished by downscaling all the player entities (buildings, troops etc). You would end up with realistically sized soldiers and the rest of the map could remain relatively intact as they take a while to make.

Hi All! It's been a while! I stopped a bit 0AD cause I was playing on Grey goo but I'm back and with a new PC. The new PC allows me to play on giant maps without lag (200 pop cap) and I actually love the idea of huuuuge maps. The problem I see for this kind of gameplay is that defense is gonna be always easier than offense. I think aggressive player will have a very hard time on huge map. However I believe this can be ok if we are allowed to build more than just a CC outside of territory. some siege camp / towers / wood walls can help the "offensive" player. Anyway I love this idea. Alex

Added terrain tab, Display settings, environment settings and Actor Viewer tool. Now my WIP is done with current features, now is time to test in other os, and fix some bugs with the new UI. Enjoy the video. Please review the first post to watch the video

Another tiny update. Playing around with textures on the pre-baking-model: Don't worry though, as far as I can tell from ancient mosaics, descriptions and vase paintings, warships had quite interesting color-shemes, so a paintjob will follow for the model until we make it about as coloured as these references A few references claim roman ships primarily used the colors red and blue ... Gaius Julius Caesar also mentioned the use of scout ships coloured in a blueish shade. And then there is the eye on the front of the ship. I was supprised to find out that this traditional detail even survived from antiquity in some cultures

A classsic-style RTS achieve a balance of this in Battle for Middle Earth II. Ships did not turn on a dime, but movement wasn't 100% realistic. I think with ship movement, 0 A.D. pklayers just want something better than what is currently in the game. The ship movement in the game right now is just too clunky. And so many people keep making formations out to be more complex than they need to be. Simple powerful formations can work. It has been done, except there were no bonuses in BfME2. 0 A.D. would innovate on that. Formations can be streamline and reduced in number. Battle Line is standard for infantry and ranged units. Wedge is standard for melee cavalry. Column is automatic. Then use modifying buttons: Open Order, Close Order, Locked Shields (this is the phalanx). I do like your idea of making bigger maps and making exploring more important. Settling up forward bases or finding good spots for cities would be more important. And yeah, using a 'column' formation to speed up getting troops across the map would be more relevant. I think a separate git would be needed to test thing like this. More resources is intriquing, but maybe keep the same resources and make different ways of getting them, like large open pit metal or stone mines that can be captured.

Time for a fresh update from our Medieval mod. The Vikings have been renamed to Norse as that seems a more accurate representation to the faction we have in mind to create. Welcome to Hvanndalir... Hvanndalir is the name of a beautifully located town on an Island in the North Sea. Isolated as it is, the Norse inhabitants that colonized the island face a challenge to stay alive and build a thriving town. Let us take a look at this island that some of you already might have seen. (with the difference that it is winter now). A blacksmith has been built (by Stanislas69) and you can see that the smith is doing some fine labour (yes, it is animated): When we turn around we'll see the local Norsemen carry their newly created weaponry (also created by Stanislas69): Some of the accompanying portraits: Now let's walk to the harbor, this building has been rebuilt from the ground (by Stanislas69) and the wharf is now able to build larger ships then before: Soon, the island will grow to small for this growing town and they will need to explore and colonize new areas. Do you know whom they might discover? (Buildings are created by Stanislas69) That's it for this update. Keep in touch for more news!