wowgetoffyourcellphone

Not really. I'd rather just have a principate Rome faction, but that's just me. Perhaps one can choose "Romans" in game setup, but then choose between Republic/Triumvirate/Principate once the game launches.

Yet you have no trouble enforcing the territory concept onto the Nomads?

Ultimately, an interpretation has to be chosen in order to progress the game design. Endless speculation is nice, but a decision eventually has to be made. Any significant historical controversy would be nice to include in the history articles inside the game to let the audience know, hey, 0 A.D. is just one interpretation of history and culture and that many of these issues are still being worked out by historians and archeologists up to present day. Things aren't always clear cut (for instance the exact year or even decade Lorica Segmentata was started to be rolled out to the legions; were the Marian Reforms a rapid change implemented by Marius himself or something slower, rolled out over the course of years?). It would be good to convey these historical controversies, whichever side the game chooses. Don't forget the Rule of Cool can be one way to decide close disputes. Coin tosses can be avoided then.

From AOE3:

Well, the sample standard allows for up to 6 unique techs. EDIT: Special starting units and special starting structures can be a thing too. For instance, in DE, Athens gets a free starting Stoa, which has the "Greek Architecture" aura that gives greater health to their structures. in DE, other Greek civs can build Stoas to access this aura too, but only Athens gets a free one at the outset. To bolster their "Defensive" mantra, Iberians can get a free Venerated Monument. Persians, a free Ice House. Free starting structures could even be a toggle option in match setup (on by default, but can be turned off by host).

I like all of this differentiation (example: https://code.wildfiregames.com/D5112 ), but I wish a standard had been set first. For example: 1 general civ bonus (like faster training, stronger buildings, etc. the faster buildings for the Celtic civs comes to mind, or the free walls for the Iberians) 1 team bonus 1 new Forge tech 1 new Civic Center tech 1 new Fortress tech 1 new Barracks or Stable tech 1 new economic tech (at either the market, storehouse, or farmstead; the Harvester tech for the Gauls is a current example here) 1 new tech anywhere (so, a naval tech at the Dock for the Athenians, etc.) 1 new building (a Vineyard or Stoa for the Athenians, a Helot Training Ground for Spartans, etc.); this can be substituted by beefing up one of their current buildings in some way (maybe the Iberian Fortress can upgrade to a Citadel; the Han CC is a good example of this) Remove 1-2 standard techs from each civ (so maybe Athens gets 1 less farming tech, Persians don't get the barracks health tech, etc.) 1 potential "game changer" bonus: The Marian Reforms for the Romans comes to mind. Not every civ should need this, but maybe 3 or 4 of them should have something on this level, not just the Romans. Maybe the Macedonians can choose between Argead or Antogonid dynasties. Maybe the Han can choose Western or Eastern Han. Just spitballing here.

Very experimental.

Oh yeah, any chance to delete unseen triangles we should do it, for sure.

Hmm, probably broken down even more. The Romans made their siege engines highly modular and (relatively) easy to pack away for transport.

My computer is breaking, unfortunately. Need a new motherboard or graphics card or battery or all of the above. Maybe @Stan` could whip it up.

DE uses the packed ballista actor. There is no specific one for the onager.

Correct, though there are a few more tweaks to make it work nicely, you've essentially got it. https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est/blob/master/simulation/templates/mixins/builder.xml https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est/blob/master/simulation/templates/template_unit_siege_catapult_stationary.xml https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est/blob/master/simulation/templates/units/imp/siege_catapult_unpacked.xml I don't know if how I did it is the best way, but it works in DE. @Langbartmay have some good ideas on how to streamline the template and make it work as well as we want it to.

Would it make sense to have a script automatically update the years in all files every January?

Right, if it's mainly good against units, then it becomes a battlefield implement rather than a forward siege emplacement. That said, I don't think it should be "horrible" against buildings, just not as effective as a good ballista.

Yeah, there are a dozen different ways to make onagers interesting and different. I was just thinking they could be built by the Marian Legions as another differentiation. It'd be interesting if the construction restriction patch was committed so that only Legionaries could build it.

Free article about Athenian Cavalry https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0296/7067/0384/files/AW11-6_article.pdf?v=1650984575

This is true. It's sometimes difficult to get the AI to choose different facial features.

Onagers did not have wheels, except maybe in Medieval times. Make it buildable in the field. Make it the only siege weapons (except siege tower?) that can be built in this way. Requires an Arsenal to be built first.

www.imagine.art I'm making these with the free tier. I'd get a paid subscription, but I'm poor. Lol

I think it would need to be a specially trained AI for that. Unfortunately I'm just an end user instead of an AI programmer or I'd definitely get on it. My goal would not be to replace artists, but to give them a new tool. Unit textures are pretty easy to make by hand though.

The Spartan pikemen in DE become available if you choose Cleomenes for your hero

That's a fair assessment. I personally enjoy 30-45 minutes matches vs. 20-30 mins matches. It comes from the good old days 20+ years ago when I was in an Age of Kings clan and we'd host massive hour-long multiplayer team deathmatches. I think splitting the economics away from the soldiers allows you to compartmentalize better and allows the mod to give soldiers more interesting combat-oriented abilities, etc.