Mythos_Ruler

Nice modding work! I'll probably make some custom helmets and textures (shields and body). I have quite a few issues of Ancient Warfare Magazine that have awesome references. I highly recommend the magazine, btw. I wrote a few blogs for them, but stopped due to my schedule. Another aside: I am starting to convert all portrait icons to this paradigm: Red player color = Mercenaries Blue player color = All non-Mercenaries I've done this for the Carthaginians, but not for the others yet. I am also applying a few Photoshop filters to give a pseudo-bloom effect to the portraits to try and give some kind of artistic look to them. Check out the Carthaginian portraits for examples.

Right, ship garrisoning will need it's own tags and systems. For simplicity and max drama, I'd say all garrisoned units die. This was how it was in AOE.

They are. What O/S you running?

Added some units in the Miscellaneous section at the end: * Generic Name: Bronze Shield Pikeman. * Specific Name: Chalkaspis. * Class: Champion Infantry Pikeman. * Armament: Long Macedonian pike, the "sarissa" when in Syntagma, Line, and Box formations. Switches to Greek Xiphos when in any other formation. * Appearance: - Body: Heavily armoured--linothorax or bronze cuirass, bronze greaves, pteruges. - Shield: Small round Macedonian-style pelta shield. Bronze, with embossed Hellenistic designs. - Helmet: Bronze Hellenistic-era helmet styles, with plumes, crests, and feathers. - Figure(s): An example of the officer rank. * History: The Chalkaspides or "Bronze Shields" were units of pikemen fielded by the Macedonians, Seleucids, and by the kingdom of Pontus. * Garrison: 1. * Function: Pikeman, like the Pezhetairos and Egyptian pikeman, but with stronger (Champion) stats. Powerful, but vulnerable to missile units because of their slow speed. Has two ranks, Enlisted and Officer. * Special: "Syntagma" Formation. * Generic Name: Heavy Skirmisher. * Specific Name: Thureophoros. * Class: Mercenary Infantry Skirmisher (Elite rank). * Armament: Javelin. Sword and Scabbard (ornamental). * Appearance: - Body: No armour. May or may not have a cape. Leather boots. - Shield: Flat oval tower shield, the "Thureos." - Helmet: Bronze Hellenistic-era helmet styles, with plumes, crests, and feathers. - Figure(s): None yet. * History: The thureophoroi (singular: thureophoros) was a type of infantry soldier, common in the 3rd to 1st century BCE, who carried a large oval shield called a thureos which had a type of metal strip boss and a central spine. They were armed with a long thrusting spear, javelins and a sword. They also usually wore an iron or bronze Macedonian helmet. The thureos was probably originally an adapted form of a Celtic shield. Thracian and Illyrian infantry probably adopted the shield before the Greeks. However it has been suggested that the thureos was brought to Greece after Pyrrhus of Epirus' campaigns in Italy, as his Oscan allies and Roman enemies used the scutum. Thureophoroi were a 3rd century development on the Peltast and wore no body armor, but did wear sturdy leather boots for quick movement. Thureophoroi could skirmish, as well as fight in a phalanx when necessary. They were often stationed on the flanks of the traditional pike phalanx as a link between the heavier pikemen and the cavalry wings. * Garrison: 1. * Function: Heavy skirmisher. Same speed as other skirmishers, but with more armour. They are classed as a citizen-soldier of the Elite rank, with the corresponding gathering speed and construction abilities. They are also classed as mercenaries, with all that designation entails. * Special: None. * Generic Name: Armoured Swordsman. * Specific Name: Thorakites. * Class: Champion Infantry Swordsman. * Melee Armament: Sword when in most formations. Greek spear, the "dory" when in Phalanx formation. * Ranged Armament (Initial): Javelin. Throws javelin volley first, then closes with sword or spear (depending upon situation above). * Appearance: - Body: Reinforced linothorax or chainmail hauberk. - Shield: Oval tower shield, the "Thureos." - Helmet: Bronze Hellenistic-era helmet styles, with plumes, crests, and feathers. - Figure(s): A perfect example. * History: The Thorakites (plural: Thorakitai) was a soldier similar to thureophoroi. The literal translation of the term is curassiers, which suggests that they may have worn a short Celtic mail shirt or possibly a thorax. Thorakitai were used in armies of the Hellenistic Period in a variety of tactical situations. They were a type of armoured but mobile infantry who did not require a rigid formation to be effective in combat. From their name we can deduce that most wore armour and helmet. They bore a thureos (or thyreos), an oblong shield, and were armed with sword, javelins and spear, which were used according to their tactical use. It seems that the thorakitai were heavily armored thureophoroi, able to bear spears and do battle in a phalanx as well as irregularly attack the enemy in situations when such an action was required for tactical reasons, like to exploit or challenge rough terrain. Thorakitai are mentioned in the army of the Achaian League and in the army of the Seleucids. The Seleucid Thorakitai were used in the storming of the Elburz Range in 210 BC under Antiochus III. They were used with the lighter troops to climb the cliffs and fight hand to hand with the enemy who might have not been dislodged by the lighter troops in the assault. There is a tomb illustration from Sidon showing what could well be a thorakites. The fragmentary inscription indicates that he was an Anatolian. * Garrison: 1. * Function: Flexible Heavy Infantry, much like the Macedonian Hypaspist, but slightly weaker. * Special: "Phalanx" Formation.

Made some final updates.

0 A.D. became more pressing for me.

It's not in the Alpha 7 Milestone: http://trac.wildfiregames.com/query?status=new&status=assigned&status=reopened&milestone=Alpha+7

Nah, I think we've always planned to include a town bell.

I was thinking octagons personally, rather than perfect circles.

Nice one! I think the Greeks called it the daemon maybe? Regardless, I think the Greeks had a similar concept.

There really is no instance where the next rank has fewer max health points than the lower rank, but I suppose it's possible. A percentage works better in any case. Anything is better than the current way of gaining 100% of health back. Philip and I have imagined scenarios where a bunch of basic ranked dudes could pwn a bunch of elite ranked dudes just because the basic ranked guys keep getting 100% health boosts over the course of the battle, while the elites are already maxed out.

Because there is a bunch of other things to show in the UI. Best to just put one in the tooltip and one in the UI.

Make sure to post your passwords too! Just kidding.

Eyecandy in Part 1, and probably an actual building with properties in Part 2 for the Imperial Romans.

Agreed. I see no reason to optimize placement for such maps--only for situations where it is clear we want naval action (e.g. Gambia River, Cycladic Archipelago, Miletus, et al.).

We also plan to, I believe, put the generic name, e.g. Thracian Peltast, in the UI, while putting the specific name (ethnic name) in the tooltip, e.g. Peltastes Thrakikos. We just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, it seems now that buildings can't be placed in water, even if that water is 1 millimeter deep and invisible to the player.

Brightgalrs' new handiwork!

We name the alphas sequentially from the alphabet. So, Alpha 1 was "Argonaut," Alpha 2 was "Bellerophon," and so on. We are at 7, so we need a 'G' word.

"Gigantomachy" -- One could say the Punic Wars were a struggle between giants. "Gigantes" or "Gigagigantes"?

Intentional. We wanted to show an animation when units got promoted, but to leave them vulnerable during this animation would reduce the benefit of promotion. However, the thing that should be changed is that they get 100% Health again when promoted. IMHO, they should only get the difference in Health between the two Ranks. So, if Rank A has 80/100 Health when promoted, and Rank B has a new max health of 120, there is a 20 health difference, so when promoted they get 20 Health back but not the full 100% health. They would start the next rank at 100/120, not 120/120.

http://trac.wildfiregames.com/changeset/9974

My problem with that is that the Greeks are supposed to be the quintessential "melee" faction, yet they already have 2 out of 3 infantry units being ranged. We can revisit the Rhodian Slingers when we have proper sling animations though.

I disliked AOE3 because it was bland and the AOE formula was starting to get old to me. Their musketeers might as well have been archers from AOE2. Formation control still clunky as Hell. The Home City/card system was interesting but felt only half-developed (they fully developed it for AOEO though). Anyway, I think my POV is the better approach--that the curtain walls would be enough incentive for players to play defensively with most buildings, but they aren't forced to play that way. IMHO some restrictions force strategy adaptation, but there can be too much restriction. Adding different effects to the buildings depending upon where they are placed (making some less effective or whatever, if built outside the curtain wall radius) forces a layer that is unnecessary, since some buildings will naturally be more effective in certain spots than others already.

A lot of these units I will end up throwing into the Atlas Editor anyway.