Mythos_Ruler

Yeah, we can do that for the center panel.

Looks great. Can't wait to have the ability to add this to maps with thickness and color options.

Nice write up. I suggest Chanakya as the 3rd hero.

Taking the liberty to show off something Pureon whipped up (textures are a serious work in progress):

There would be a distinction between different types of "secondary" weapons. 1. Volley: For instance, when something is thrown, then the unit closes with its primary weapon. Example: Roman Principes throws a pilum initially, then closes in for melee combat with his sword. If the target enemy is too close to throw pilum, then the Principes will just attack with his sword. 2. Defensive: For instance, when ranged units are set to Stand Ground, they'll switch to this weapon if their target enemy is too close to use their ranged weapon. Example: Archer switches to a knife when his target enemy is too close to use the bow. 3. Proactive: Can toggle between Primary and Secondary weapons whenever the player wants the unit to. Example: Persian Immortal can switch between Spear and Bow upon direction of the player. There could be additional cases as well.

Then when should they run? lol. Perhaps only two stances for ranged units then (Stand Ground and Avoid), where melee units have 3 (Stand Ground, Defensive, Aggressive).

What if when melee units get too close, ranged units switch to a knife or something if they are set to Stand Ground stance. Otherwise they'd run.

Yep, just zip up the files. I'd rather not have to deal with a .diff or patch file if at all possible.

qBot has surprised me a few times since we implemented Phases, but 99% of the time I defeat qBot handily. lol I'm actually starting to wish it would cheat a little more (gets free tech upgrades at predetermined times, etc.).

Looks much better than previous attempts. Good work.

Yep, looks like the big difference now is distance fog.

The way I look at it is, if someone's feelings are going to be hurt by a digital representation of their religion's temple being destroyed in a war game, then perhaps they shouldn't be playing a war game to begin with. Said sensitive individuals seem to have no qualms with destroying the temples of other religions? Hm? And the reason temples are conquest critical is because they can train units that affect the outcome of the game. I really can't see any situation where we would not allow the destruction of an Indian temple or any other culture's temple. We endeavor to represent the culture of our factions as authentically as we can within the limitations imposed upon us by the game engine and genre, so that is how we are showing respect for these cultures, by portraying them in a dignified and authentic manner.

You're right. The elephants took part in the Battle of Trebia but most died soon thereafter due to exposure.

If we mix languages, then the ranks won't make sense as a coherent progression, from low to high.

We might end up with more than 10 in Part 1 when all is said and done. (Han Chinese, Ptolemaic Egyptians, Thebans, Seleucids for a total of 14, 1 more than Age of Kings had).As for Part 2, I can maybe see having 10 factions, but we'll see. Let's list some possibles: Imperial (Western) Romans -- Hadrian/Trajan era. Byzantine (Eastern) Romans Dacians Parthians Sassanians Huns Sarmatians Goths/Visigoths Franks Herulians?

It's a video game... an RTS video game at that. No time to RPG the character so that he gains the proper credentials, makes the right contacts, and pays off the right people.

Too many detectors and spies become useless. We've talked about this before, and here's a roundup of how I'd see them working: The player can see the spy easily enough in his "spy gear" from the player's point of view (POV), but from the enemy's POV the unit looks just like one of their own soldiers. The spy can do things like infiltrate a building to see what's going on inside it (vision of the production queue). Spies can walk through enemy gates with no problem. Assassinate. Costs Metal ("Gold") of course. Cannot assassinate heroes. Takes time to "recharge." Bribe--Turncoat: Bribe a unit to your side. Costs variable amounts of Metal depending upon the training cost and rank of the unit being bribed. Sometimes this does not work and the spy is exposed for the fraud he is. Bribe--Double-Agent: Bribing an enemy unit to be a double agent gives you that unit's vision/line of sight for X-number of minutes. Spies can be "found out" by: An unsuccessful bribe. Dogs. This would make Celts hard to spy on. The enemy player clicks on what they think is their own unit, but it does not respond to commands. Other spies can see other spies, but units do not auto-attack them.

It was fixed after I said that.

Seems like a reasonable compromise.

The problem is there is no way to portray a culture without making an effort to portray its religion. 0 A.D. is a war game, so there is going to be destruction involved. Would Indian RTS players just rather not see the Mauryans included at all, or do they understand it's just a video game?

Did they paint any of the reliefs or sculptures in ancient India (like the Greeks and Romans did), or did they leave them bare?

How many pages you got down so far?

We already have a plan for improving and enhancing the farms. The current farming paradigm will be greatly improved and completely changed: Have a "Farmland" terrain where farming is bonused considerably (+50% or something). Farms become infinite. The major gameplay factor then becomes placement and fighting over/raiding the farmland patches situated throughout the map. Since farms are infinite, we'll add a "diminishing returns" gathering rate per gatherer. Essentially after about 5 gatherers on a farm it becomes much more effective to build a 2nd farm and so on. http://trac.wildfiregames.com/ticket/1318