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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.

BFME 1 and 2 both allowed movement on walls and gates, but the walls were only allowed in predetermined places and were at least twice as wide as our walls. In BFME 2, they added a wall type that could be built anywhere, but those walls were narrower and did not support units on top. Having units on walls for a siege scenario is a lot of fun. However, the walls have to be fairly wide or there isn't enough room to move units around, In that case, the player would be better off with regular defense tower garrisoning. Siege towers and ladders allowed units to climb up over the thinner walls and to climb on top of the larger walls. The ladders or siege towers had to be attached to a wall first which was accomplished by "attacking" the wall with the siege unit. When the ladder or tower reached the wall, it attached and provided a path over. Units would automatically see the new path over the wall and attempt to climb the ladder when tasked to a location on the other side. Multiple units could climb at the same time, but only in a single file. It took a few seconds for a unit to reach the top. No garrisoning was required in order to use a siege tower or ladder, so there wasn't any micro-management of repeated garrisoning and ungarrisoning to get units on or over a wall. Units in the process of climbing a tower or ladder where killed when it was destroyed.

Added a mod to simply see the effects: https://github.com/wraitii/0-AD-RM-beautifier Just use the beautifier mod. Basically this automatically adds beautification elements around entities. The mod overdoes it so you can see the changes.

@Palaxin, updating it for Atlas should be quite simple (at least theoretically). The current piece of code just isn't optimised for recalculation of terrain. But @trompetin17 is working on a new Atlas interface, so it's not a good time to change code interfacing between Atlas and the rest of the game, as it will have to be redone anyway.

the units ( infantry) can mining a wall even without a subterranean tunnel.

Following a recent staff meeting and being available as a self-employed software developer ('Freiberufler'), I hereby offer to do paid development to work beyond the duty of my staff member status. As such, I would plan the features for upcoming releases, be available on IRC to discuss pending tasks of the team and contributors, implement features and rewrite existing code to be more maintainable, review the proposed code of contibutors, write weekly progress reports and take miscellaneous incurring responsabilities, like balancing, testing, producing video trailers or server administration. My previous expertise covers both the scripted part of the game (graphical user interface, simulation, random-map-scripts), but also the core engine (GUI, network, lobby, serialization, pathfinder). As seen on trac, there are still more than 800 unsolved tasks, of which I could fix many directly or in cooperation with new contributors. Here an examplary list of features I envision to solve: Further responsibilities could include project managing: Recommending tasks to team members and new contributors Organizing staff meetings in case the project leader is busy Video editing / promotional trailer Web-Development and server administration Writing release announcements