Zeta1127

Well, this should be interesting. I am not even sure I will be able to play this alpha, since the last alpha didn't seem to work for me. I could start the game, and the flickering of the main menu foreground I had been experiencing on one of my computers had been fixed, but matches refused to work.

Well, of course official patches are preferrable. My point is, AoE2 HD doesn't do nearly enough to merit being an HD remake. AoE2 HD is more consistent with what the Stronghold and Crusader HD patches did than say Homeworld Remastered or the Anniversary editions of Halo and Halo 2, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

I have been to scared that I would break one of my installs of AoE2 to give RaW a try. Why would anyone want to buy something when they can basically obtain similar results with unofficial patches? Which makes AoE2 HD come across as little more than a cash grab.

I already have AoE2 legally, since I never pirate anything, which I only got a few years ago, and I am pretty sure AoE2 can generally still be obtained from Wal-Mart or Target for $10. Unfortunately, it isn't both AoE and AoE2 with their expansions, which is what I got a few years ago in the form of AoE:CE, but it is at least still available. The problem is, if one wants to get The Forgotten, then they have to get AoE2 HD, which is disrespectful to fans who have support the franchise over the years and fragments the community since plenty of fans still have AoE2.

The problem is, unlike the Stronghold HD patches for Stronghold and Crusader, AoE2 HD is a rerelease not patches to the existing game, which fragments the AoE2 community. And don't get me started on tying The Forgotten to AoE2 HD.

I have always wondered why the Macedonians don't have Quinqueremes.

I didn't say I don't build more production structures. I just don't build very many, usually 2 to at most 4 barracks and at least 2 structures for champions, and of course I will build barracks in a forward base. I don't build a massive army, to the point I can rebuild my army with no more than two to three production cycles. I have a really bad tendency to just out last the AI with strategically placed garrisoned fortresses, which would be compounded with walls. I barely even reach the population cap, and I don't play multiplayer, so my mindset works just fine for that. With the proper use of formations, my small army should be able to take on a much larger force and win.

My approach has always been to get the most out of the least amount of units and structures, so that mindset doesn't work for me very well. Which is why I don't like building a lot of production structures, because I simply don't need them.

That mindset expressed by iNcog comes from StarCraft, at least that is where I first noticed it, and I have never understood it.

The Ptolemaic Tessarakonteres, or Juggernaut, was more along the lines of a floating fortress than a conventional warship, and Heavy Warships, mainly Quinqueremes, will be able to double as siege ships when garrisoned with siege weapons. Ramming functionality hasn't been implemented yet.

There are so many Hellenic civs for one reason, because the Hellenes were very influential, and the addition of the Thebans will probably be necessary in order to properly do a campaign in the future.

The only enhancement I can think of is the option to repeat the current production queue.

My main civilization is the Carthaginians, though I am also quite comfortable with the Romans (though I am least effective with them, since spearmen are my best unit), the Spartans, the Athenians, and the Macedonians, and in all honesty I am willing to use any civilization.

More dense trees has performance implications, since the pathfinder currently needs to redone, but it is definitely planned for the future. The dialogue is Ancient Greek, and is eventually planned to be each civilization's respective language. It is true that buildings don't currently change between the phases, but most citizens rank up two ranks as they kill enemies. Roman soldiers are known for building encampments, which is the historical basis for citizen-soldiers, and there are still dedicated military units in the form of champions.

Well, the unique formations, the phalanx, syntagma, and testudo, weren't disabled.

With the territory system, Farmsteads can't be built very far from Civic Centers anyway, so there is really no point in trying to prevent farming around Civic Centers.

The different economic specializations between each civilization, like the Ptolemies specializing in farming and the Carthaginians specializing in naval trade, will also make all of the civilizations more unique while still having a core economic framework across all civilizations. Herding animals in corrals for either a trickle of food or production bonuses and the full implementation of navies will definitely go a long way toward diversifying things, because right now foraging, herding, and hunting are barely even utilized beyond the village phase before an immediate transition to farming occurs under most circumstances, unless the location is a map like Cantabrian Highlands with plentiful foraging opportunities. Trade doesn't even have any upgrades yet, and fishing and naval trade are too hard to utilize in general right now with the inefficient pathfinder. Things will get better once all of the economic systems and the new pathfinder have been implemented.

I definitely agree a "Restart Match" function would be welcome.

It may not seem like it, but I am actually saying much of the same thing you are, hence my "as they see fit" comment. The choice of technology vs. military still applies to tech pairs, so I don't see how that is a case against tech pairs.

The mutually exclusive nature of tech pairs seems to irritated some people, probably because they believe they should be able to research every tech as they see fit. The choices in tech pairs are really specializations, which I like.

The Egyptians generally fall outside of the timeframe of 0 A.D., the Old Kingdom and the New Kingdom were long before the 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. timeframe, with the Ptolemies, one of the Diadochi or the Successor States to the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, being the only incarnation of the Egyptians where Egypt is a major power and that falls within the timeframe. The Aristeia or Bronze Age Mod is planning to add older, pre-500 B.C. civilizations, with the Egyptians being one of their first civilizations. The Council of Modders sub-forum of the Game Modification forum on these forums has more on Aristeia and other mods.

Well, this is strange, the foreground parts of the main menu background no longer flicker on my computer that only has a built-in Intel graphics card. Unfortunately, even though I can start the game just fine, an error happens every time I try to start a match. I think all of my current computers have officially been left behind due to the switch to OpenGL 2.0, at least until I can get better graphics cards.

Quite simply put, I have embraced the current female citizen/citizen-soldier system, because it allows for historically accurate things like the Spartans having Hoplites and Helots available in the village phase.

That is a lot to address, especially in one post, but I will do my best. Part I I am not going to address female citizens, because that is going to be a very touchy discussion. However, I will say that citizen-soldiers were a conscious decision. I completely disagree with this assessment. I don't understand the concerns over range. The visual differentiation between the different civilization was a very intentional choice that isn't going to be changed. A loyalty system with the capture of buildings by citizen-soldiers is planned, so I would wait for the implementation of that system before disagreeing. Some people around here actually hate the idea of adding a lot of micro, so I suspect there will be a very lively debate about that in future. I don't think that is planned. As far as I know changing the model of buildings upon reaching a new phase, at least for the Civic Center, has been discussed, but it would take a lot of work by the art department to do. Part II I don't see what the problem is, there is currently batch training that has interesting implications that may make you reconsider the current system. I think my previous comment also addresses this concern. The Wicker Baskets tech is actually almost completely useless at present, because on most maps there is rarely much to forage besides at starting locations. Herding animals in Corrals isn't even implemented yet, similar the Animal Nursery from Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, so there maybe more to complain about in the future. That's an interesting idea. The current farming system was actually implemented very recently, but there is room for improvement. The current population system was a conscious choice to help further differentiate civilizations from one another. See my previous comment concerning micro. I believe there is room for improvement with the treasure system. Part III I don't see why metal vs. gold is such a big deal. Tabs for buildings is an interesting idea, but I am not sure very many others would be open to that. There is plenty of room for improvements to the minimap. Hotkeys are already available and even customizable to a certain extent with a little work, but it still needs to be implemented as an in-game menu. I think health bars are visible by default upon selection. I don't like that either. I think there is a hotkey for that, but a button would be a good idea. See my previous comment on the Wicker Baskets tech, which also mentioned what is planned for Corrals Some animals aren't hostile. I can abuse the AI too because they can't conduct siege warfare. I don't like that either. Music is a very subjective thing. Voices in the appropriate language are planned, but some are harder to find than others. All units currently use Greek voices as placeholders until the voices are ready.

And AoE and AoM never bothered to make formations useful, so 0 A.D. is really only superficially similar to AoE and AoM. I see no reason why formations and some weapon toggles can't be an effective system in 0 A.D., once formations and the pathfinder are working the way they are supposed to be.