baddestboots

Traveling faster wouldn't be a necessity I guess. Lower in the post I brought up the idea of having "vehicles" such as horses for faster travel. I was thinking more something physical rather than a technology but more technologies could prove deciding factors in the game. I like the way you have to choose between one technology or the other and maybe that could just be a new technology that can be researched. That would keep the game from lagging too much to from all of these citizens on horseback everywhere. The building of universities could be another implementation of the game to "harvest" research points. This would make the gameplay slower. Bridges are the least of my worries too. That's just something else to keep gamers occupied I feel like. Streams can just be waded through to get to the other side. Maybe the roads could just be something the citizens can snap to instead of having any other benefits. This way you know the direct path your citizens are going. Not a big deal to me though. Roads and bridges I can do without but could add some fun. I do see the hotkey now for the main menu. I didn't know F10 was a hotkey. Maybe if it just paused the game at the same time and brought up the main menu in the center of the screen. I'm thinking more for ease because it's a little hidden right now for first time players who don't read the game manual first. That's why I thought of ESC as being the hotkey. I agree with territory limits and resource limits maybe when it comes to online play because I don't want an online game to last more than maybe an hour and a half. However, for games against the computer, I look forward to games that might take eight hours to complete. It's an epic journey! You're able to rewrite history here! Territories may keep a player from growing too fast but if they grow too fast, then they need to play the game on a more challenging level. The way to simplify this may be to slash building limits on certain defensive buildings but put a limit on the population allowed in each territory. Or maybe have researched techs to allow more population per territory as the game progresses. It seems like the game is more geared towards short online play right now. This might increase re-playability for some but there are some who love having to save a game and continue it later. I like games that get really detailed so I can get lost in them and forget about reality for the time being. I like to be indulged in the tiny features that might not mean much to some such as bridges or roads.

niektb, Thank you for the suggestion! I was thinking textures would be cool and I have had some experience modifying website buttons and menus so you could have something there. Lion.Kanzen, Thanks for sharing these with me! I haven't played Rome Total War but it looks like I will have to. I do see the minimalist menus as being a plus. It's great for the gameplay too because I would rather be indulged in the game rather than caught up in menus. Some games seem more like a browser-based game with all of the clunky buttons to navigate through. I downloaded the first version of 0 A.D. maybe half a year ago after searching for games like Empire Earth. It's interesting to see how much has changed just since then. I appreciate you showing me what the menus looked like in an earlier version. I think it all looks great. I do believe the theme is pulling together more as time goes on. It'll be interesting to see where 0 A.D. will be in the next half a year. I'll have to try some of my own GUIs. I'll take some screenshots of the game and then go off of the current one. It'll be just for fun and I could put that in my portfolio too I guess. I think it would be cool to have a different theme for each civilization. Maybe there already is...I always play as the Romans so I haven't really gotten to exploring the others yet.

Thanks for the reply! The Escape key would just be a shortcut to the main menu as seen in a lot of games. It doesn't have to be there but maybe if the UI changes drastically and the clickable main menu button becomes smaller or won't exist at all, then it would come in handy. I like the UI right now though. I believe the game is put together very well! Aw, that's a shame about the pathfinder. That's a feature I didn't use to fool with until I started using it like crazy in Empire Earth II. It gives more of a "Sim City" sort of feel as well, which I also used to be a big fan of. 0 A.D. armies also march in a straight line and never really zig zag or snake around terrain. I'd like to see more of a fluid motion in that aspect but this might be for the same reason roads can't be built. Empire Earth also did this and I believe Age of Empires if I remember correctly but I don't see it as a very big flaw. Gamers can deal with that. Agreed on the expanding part. I didn't think of the limit on structures for that reason. I do think they are pretty reasonable the way they are though. The limits also make the game more of a challenge. So does the smaller amount of resources for that matter. I'm a little on the fence about that one now. I kind of like the "Mad Max" scouring for resources kind of play too. I keep making references back to Empire Earth and Age of Empires. I would love to see continuations of both of these games but I would have to argue and I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me on this is, the success of 0 A.D. will depend on how different it is from like games. That's pretty much a given but I don't want to sound like I'm wanting a remake of the games I've already played when suggesting features. I wish I knew more about coding and animation. I am a graphic design student but really only have expertise in Photoshop and Illustrator at the moment. I feel like the developers bring the most to the table in terms of creating a game but I figured suggestions would be the least I could do. The fact this game is open source and off to such a polished start is really an awesome opportunity to get involved. I hope more people understand that and take advantage of the offer. Kudos to the Wildfire Games Team!

I have to say this is one of the best games I have ever played. I'm coming off of playing a lot of Empire Earth II and Age of Empires. Great job on the game and thank you to all of those who have put their time into bringing this game to where it stands today! I'm in love with it and wish to support the cause. Today, I wanted to leave some feedback after playing the game for about two hours last night. I do understand the game is in it's alpha stage and has much more development ahead but ideas for the future: 1. While playing the game, hitting the escape key on the keyboard will bring up the main menu. Edit: In-game main menu. 2. Being able to build roads to travel faster by horse and foot (especially beneficial to markets) and build bridges across streams (could be buildable only by soldiers). 3. The resources don't seem to last very long. The trees aren't bad but I feel like stone and iron are depleted too quickly. Maybe add twice the amount of abundance to these resources. 4. Building limits are pretty nice the way they are but I don't care too much for having any restrictions in a game like this. Maybe it's just to help with lag in the long run. I also think a player should be able to build whatever they want (except maybe a civic center) in an enemy territory but the health will deplete for that structure after so long. 5. The implementation of "vehicles" for both foot soldiers and citizens. This would probably create too much lag for the game but it would be neat to be able to upgrade citizens so they will have a faster means of transportation when gathering resources or when having to travel long distances. 6. A better diplomacy screen and more involved one. This one's probably not finished yet, as I'm judging but I think this could be a very effective tool for the player and should be well thought out. 7. The possibility of civilization morale. I agree the majority of the game is about waging war on the enemy but I think a lot of rts games such as this one focuses too much on the military aspect and not as much on economy and national pride. These are both major factors when it comes to the success of a nation. Correct me if I'm wrong, that's just the way I see it. More options and buildings regarding the actual city itself might be cool so you would have to balance military and economy better. Of course the economy part is gathering resources and trading with allies but it all boils down for building up the army. How much replayability and involvement would be added when trying to gain the approval of all of your citizens at the same time as waging war on an enemy? If you worked your citizens 24 hours a day like we do in the game gathering resources then they would all probably leave. This might be too big of an element to add though. 8. Gold. The world wouldn't survive without some sort of bullion with monetary value. I understand the trading of wood to get more iron in the market but when wood, stone and food fail; the best way to buy it is with some sort of currency. Currency could be tied in to civilization morale above. Another economy would exist outside of the gathering resources and generate bullion for the entire empire to use at your fingertips when all other resources fall short. Trading between allied markets would generate bullion of course. Maybe after defeating an army or killing of an enemy soldier you'll get the bullion out of the pocket of that soldier. A bank for the citizens would be another money maker; collecting off of loans. As emperor, you could raise or lower taxes for your citizens. This would raise or lower morale also. Possibly building churches that will sell indulgences or something like that. Edit: Two more suggestions after consideration... 1. Implementing a unit to guard a marked off area rather than just one object. 2. An explore option for all human units so they can automatically explore the map on their own rather than having to move them everywhere. These are all just a collection of suggestions. As I think of more, I'll post them. Great job so far though! Let me know any reactions or comments to these. Cheers everyone!