Jeru

Hi Jim! Welcome!

Welcome, AlfieWilRus! So great to have you.

Alpha 6 doesn't have to be Iberian-related

Cool! It is not a priority for me (I coordinate PR for 0 A.D.) but it is nice to have, and I certainly will not get in the way of those who want to enhance this wiki.

Let's just say it was challenging to find a word that both related to ancient Iberia and started with the letter E.

Wildfire Games proudly announces the release of "0 A.D. Alpha 5 Edetania", the fifth alpha version of 0 A.D., a free, open-source game of ancient warfare. This release is chock-full of new features, from a new faction (the Iberians) to random maps, a new lighting system, unit formations and more. Easy Download and Install Download and installation instructions are available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. 0 A.D. is free of charge and always will be. You can redistribute it and modify it as long as you abide by the GPL. You can even use parts of the art and sound for your own projects as long as you abide by CC-BY-SA. No registration, no advertising, no catch. New features in this release: Gameplay: New civilization: Iberians Much improved enemy AI named JuBot (thanks Jubalbarca) Random map scripting (thanks historic_bruno) Unit promotions (thanks fcxSanya) Improved formations (thanks Badmadblacksad) New map: Acropolis II, in which the Iberians face off the Hellenes (Screenshot below) Graphics: New shader-based renderer mode, to support new effects and improve performance Improved lighting for warmer and more vivid colors Particles - fire, smoke, construction dust, sparkles near mines, falling leaves Terrain decals - smoother building foundations on bumpy terrain Hidden units are visible as silhouettes Various performance improvements (thanks in part ortalo) GUI: Idle unit button (thanks veprbl) Unit control groups (thanks Badmadblacksad) Unit selection limit raised from 40 to 64 Map setting editing in Atlas (thanks historic_bruno) Art: Eye candy - Rope bridges, River bridges New loading screen images and tips Audio: New sound effects: Unit selection, building destruction New music tracks: The first ones of what will be an entire soundtrack remake Room for improvement: Many unit stats are still unbalanced. Many planned gameplay features are not added yet: There is no research, no auras, no formation bonuses, no stances, no settlements and territories, etc. Many bugs and small missing features. There is no multiplayer matchmaking service. You have to connect by IP address. (More convenient ways may be implemented in the future). As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done. We need capable programmers, artists and more. If you want to be part of this effort too, you're welcome to get involved! The Iberian Building Set: 1. Fortress; 2. Civ Centre; 3. Barracks; 4. Outpost; 5. Temple; 6. Market; 7. Farmstead; 8. Corral; 9. Monument; 10. Dock; 11. Houses. (CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games) Who were the Iberians? For most of the first millennium B.C., the Iberian peninsula was a mix of cultures and forms of settlements, from Celtic towns inland, to the cities of seafaring Greeks, Phoenecians and Carthaginians along the coast. There existed a distinct Iberian culture along the Mediterranean coast, often meshing with Celtic inhabitants of Iberia, but very little is known about the native Iberians, and the ancient Iberian language remains linguistically unclassified to this day. What little we do know from historical sources describing the Iberian tribes, however, is that they were not a warlike people; they did hire out mercenaries to other peoples, but they rarely themselves went to war. Organized as a loose confederation of tribes and cities, they mostly minded their own business. Their economy subsisted of agriculture, metalworking and exporting metals. (Indeed, Iberia was a rich source of minerals for all its neighbors and occupiers, including silver, iron, lead, copper and zinc). As their religious practice, they worshiped a pantheon of gods at small home altars. Male Endovellikos and female Ataekina were their chief deities. When under threat, however, Iberia did not lend itself easily to conquest. Not even the great Hannibal could accomplish the task, and it took the Romans 200 years. Part of this has to do with two distinct features of the way the Iberians waged war: One was the guerrilla war style of fighting they employed; in fact, the Iberians invented guerrilla warfare. The second was the strong fortifications they built, the oppidum (a fortified town) and the castro (a hill fort). (More info: Wikipedia: Castro culture and Wikipedia: Castros in Spain). In 0 A.D., the Iberians will have many bonuses to match their historic strengths. These bonuses include: Elite Warriors: Capability of causing great damage with few numbers. Cavalry Cost: Because of the large horse herds and some of the finest horses in ancient Europe, the Iberians' cavalry will cost less. Flaming Javelins: There was a frequent practice among some Iberian tribes of dousing their javelins in pitch. Some javelin-using units will throw flaming javelins after researching this unique technology. Screenshot of Acropolis II, a map bundled with Alpha 5 Edetania. On this map, the Iberians fight the Greeks — and on Greek soil, no less. (CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games) Why "Edetania"? We name our releases according to development status ("Alpha" or "Beta"), successive release number (1, 2, 3, ...) and a word relating to the ancient world, in alphabetical order ("Argonaut" for A, "Bellerophon" for B, ...). In honor of the release of the Iberian faction, we decided to dub Alpha 5 "Edetania". Edetania, the land of the Iberian tribe of the Edetani, comprised the district lying between the rivers Iberus (Ebro) and Sucro (Iucar), and bounded by the mountains of Celtiberia on the west. The territory includes the modern-day cities of Valencia and Zaragoza*. The Edetani's major city, and possible capital in certain times in history, was Edeta, which was continuously inhabited since the seventh century B.C. The modern-day city of Llíria lies on top of it nowadays. Map of extent of the Iberian tribes, circa 300 B.C. Land of the Edetani, an Iberian tribe, marked in black. (After Wikipedia, in turn after Luís Fraga da Silva; CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games) Edetania, along with many other parts of Iberia, was conquered by the Romans by 19 B.C. and eventually became a Roman province. Mentions of the Edetani, however, continued up until the second century AD, indicating that they had maintained their tribal identity for centuries after foreign conquest. (Main sources: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Spanish Wikipedia: Edetanos, French Wikipedia: Edetans, 0 A.D. Design Document: Iberians). For the next alpha, we welcome fan suggestions for words relating to the ancient world beginning with the letter F. Keep it original and within the 0 A.D. time-frame (appx. 500 BC - 1 BC)! Long Time, No Siege Wildfire Games will continue releasing new versions of 0 A.D. periodically. Watch our news feed to keep updated, or follow us by e-mail, RSS, Facebook or Twitter. And you're always welcome to join the 0 A.D. community on our forums. * Fun fact: Zaragoza is a corruption of the name "Caesaraugusta". The latter name is what the city was called in honor of Roman emperor Augustus, who colonized it after the Cantabrian War in 25 B.C. Previously, the city's name was Salduba.

I also want a yellow star beneath my feet following me around everywhere I go.

Pelicans are always found in groups. They have this special way of fishing that requires a group of pelicans to splash with their feet in unison.

Agreed. I love the unit icons for the bush, fish etc.

Hi Perfinstals! Welcome. What sort of ideas did you have for the editor?

That's a nice idea, SMST.

I love how these random people off the internet share their joy in playing 0 A.D. Thanks for the translation, Aleksandr.

I took the liberty to announce this everywhere.

If you are keen on modeling and texturing rocks, plants and such, the Wildfire Games Art Department is in need of an environmental artist to help flesh out the remaining biomes of 0 A.D. More details here.

*Rubs eyes* Wha?!

Welcome, Joe, seems that 0 A.D. is right up your alley.

Favorited and commented on ("Spasiba for the video! The 0 A.D. team").

No watermarks, please.

That's okay, it's the thought that counts. No need to edit it this time, raw footage is fine!

Thanks, EXTREME0ADFAN! We need original video captures in downloadable (not streaming) format, though.

As you know, 0 A.D. has been a collaborative effort, and all the code, art and sound has been offered by volunteers from all over the world. In the spirit of open-source development, we at Wildfire Games would like to ask our fans' help in the marketing and PR of the game, by kindly providing us clips of your in-game video recordings. We would like to create a stock of in-game video clips, because over time, we plan to create: Videos that document the development as new releases come out, perhaps explaining how certain parts of the game mechanics work (definitely short-term goal). an ad targeted to OS developers to join the project (short-term goal). And as longer-term goals: An introductory cinematic for 0 A.D., A general promotional trailer about the basic features of the game. For that purpose, we have the following guidelines set in place to keep this process organized: Please provide these recordings as links to downloadable or streaming video files, along with a description, in this thread: Post Your Uploaded Videos Here. Please take all gameplay videos from the player's regular POV. No extreme close-ups, please. We will gladly provide credit to those people whose videos we end up using in our marketing effort. Just let us know who to credit. The better the video quality, the more likely we are to use it! We are especially looking for the following types of videos: 0 A.D. gameplay: Both the economic side (gathering resources, building up a city) and the military side (from skirmishes to large battles). 0 A.D. scenery: A variety of biomes, including each one's characteristic fauna. Special attention to fancy water reflections. Also, some shots of city-scapes featuring the best-looking building sets. Videos showcasing the development process of 0 A.D.: The Atlas map editor, editing actors, entities and XML files, and the 0 A.D. codebase within the development environments you use. Wireframes of 0 A.D. models, demonstrations of the animation process. In-game visualizations, such as the pathfinding overlay. 0 A.D. is cross-platform: Shots of 0 A.D. being launched from Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Thanks in advance! Edit (May 9, 2011): Streaming videos, such as on YouTube, are fine. Thanks!

If you have taken any in-game footage of 0 A.D. which showcases its capabilities and would like to share it with the community and the team, please post links to your videos with brief descriptions of what is seen on screen. Let the games begin!

Moved to "Development & Technical Discussion".

Welcome, Alagos!