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Android_

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Posts posted by Android_

  1. Dear 0 A.D. community,

    This is just to let you know that we've had something of a revolution in the modding section of Age of Mythology Heaven. Tasev created a file converter (ABE) that allows you to export models from 3ds Max into AoM directly, without facing any of the constraints we previously had (number of frames/materials, attachpoints, etc.).

    I thought you guys might be interested since a lot of you have their roots in AoM modding. Most of you will be fine with the instructions you can find in ABE's readme but there's also a beginner's guide in case you need it.

    Best

    Android

    ABE_Guide_Banner_zps1ce6db50.jpg

    • Like 2
  2. I don't see the point why the shift key is so annoying when building walls, I think it's quite intuitive due to the functionality that already has like "multiple" modifier as vts pointed earlier. Probably my most-used hotkey ^_^

    The thing is that it's redundant. You could just build walls in different directions using left-clicks - then cancel with a right-click, as always. Less effort than holding Shift throughout the process. Less effort > redundancy, so these guys do have a point. We should not stick to the Age conventions like glue if they don't really make sense

    • Like 1
  3. Hmm, I don't really see how AoEO differs from AoM or AoE3 (except in one minor detail). See e.g.

    - the formation is a box shape, and the central point of the formation moves tightly around the corners of the buildings, and when that central point 'turns' the whole box shape turns instantly, and all the individual units rush sideways and backwards and forwards to try to stay in their assigned location relative to the formation. See also
    - the formation is moving up a narrow path, and the individual units at the edge of the formation run around on the wrong side of the cliff because that's theoretically the closest position to their assigned location relative to the formation.

    As far as I'm aware, that's exactly the same as how AoM and AoE3 work (and is what 0 A.D. currently tries to emulate). The one difference I see is that all the units in AoEO stop instantly when the notional central point of the formation reaches the target, regardless of where each unit is, whereas in AoM/AoE3 they continue moving until they're all properly aligned in formation at the target. What else am I missing? :)

    Good points. I guess what I meant by 'fluidity' is what you can see in video 2 if you look at the left flank of the formation - units are able to ignore other units' obstruction radii and thus the formation as a whole is able to contract/spread out very quickly if desired. This is even more visible when you have large formations of 100-200 units. I think this is special compared to the Age games and 0AD?

    Edit: In other words, units just completely ignore the obstruction radii of other units in their formation. I think that's new and also highly effective.

  4. Thanks for your comments and your newest report Philip, most interesting :). I too think you're doing a great job! Please remember my criticism was targeted only at the funding campaign that raised false expectations.

    On the issue of not having ideal or out-of-the-box pathfinding solutions: Take the Age games for instance; pathfinding has improved in every instalment of the series. Now with AoEO it is almost perfect but remember how long it took them :).

    By the way I think we could learn a lot from AoEO's pathfinding. The way it handles formations is most interesting: Units tend to close ranks very tightly when necessary, making them move almost like a fluid mass while still looking realistic enough. It works out quite nicely.

  5. It would of course in many ways be great if the work would be done one day after another' date=' but reality isn't always what one hopes for (especially since we're not a corporation who can fire Philip or anything). Partly it's Philip prioritizing other things over game development, perhaps he doesn't need the money enough or what do I know. Perhaps we should try and be more strict about it, but on the other hand what would be the alternative?[/quote']

    Please; don't go too harsh on him. I do not at all think this is a personal failure, and I am sure we all appreciate his work. Also I do think he could and should list his research activities as working hours and write reports about them.

    Basically this seems to be a communication issue. WFG should have come to terms with what the work would be going to entail; whether it would be a calender month or 30 working days etc. beforehand. And then the Pledgies should have been perfectly clear about that. They have been formulated so that it is clear you were aiming for a calender month.

    I think there is not much you can do about it now (all you could possibly do is hiring another programmer who will work full-time, but that doesn't make too much sense either). However, this should definitely be avoided in the future.

  6. Well officially the campaigns were intended to speed up the process by having one person working in a professional way rather than in their free time. That's why they said 'full-time month' which clearly is something different than just some number of days or hours. Again, this is what they said:

    The game is moving along slowly with the great help from community member code contributions. But we’d like to make some leaps and bounds. Help us pay a developer of 0 A.D, who is familiar with the code, to work on the game for a month.
  7. Hi guys,

    I hate to be a downer but I'm a bit disappointed by the fundraising campaign. Both Pledgies were explicitly set up to hire a full-time programmer in order to speed up development:

    The game is moving along slowly with the great help from community member code contributions. But we’d like to make some leaps and bounds. Help us pay a developer of 0 A.D, who is familiar with the code, to work on the game for a month.

    It seems this is not quite what is happening though. It's not that I'm unhappy with Philip's work, not at all, and I do understand he is a busy man, it's just that we donated for a full-time month.

  8. The Age games, especially AoEO, did not have units that were wider than one tile or that had a rectangular obstruction footprint, and it worked fairly well... Graphics-wise the results were okay too because they adjusted the formations accordingly. Maybe the easiest solution for 0AD as well?

  9. Hi team, sorry for not getting back here for quite some time now, but I finally managed to check out the new alpha and I must say it rocks :). I especially like the new FOV + improved unit selection, the rally point marker lines, and the fact that you can place rally points on resources! So handy. The only major issues that remain are pathfinding and weird unit AI behaviour in my opinion. Keep up the great work guys, can't wait until the next release!

  10. ^ Good idea. I agree with Michael that a height bonus as in AoM doesn't really make any difference; but a LOS bonus could be visible and nice.

    Apart from that I agree with everything that's been said except for the idea of having AoK-like friendly fire. In the end it may be a matter of taste but in any case I'd urge you to check out AoK again. I happened to do so a few days ago and I remember noticing how difficult it was to manage an army with five mangonels in it. You are lucky to get off one volley before your melee units go in, so they are pretty useless in field combat. Against buildings there are stronger siege weapons available obviously. Anyway, whatever you do I suggest you throw in a couple of AoK matches and play around with mangonels first. (Also note that these units were the only friendly fire units in any Age game iirc - scorpions, trebuchets, catapults etc. never caused friendly fire.)

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