Nescio

In my 0abc mod I used to have several centre local auras, but simplified it to just one 75 m range aura, which gives Workers +20% build rate (to encourage structures), but –20% gather speed (to discourage farming).

`simulation/data/settings/player_defaults.json` [EDIT] Or did you mean the GUI?

Oops, I apologize. I knew you're working on a kopis portrait (your sketch looked promising), but didn't know you intended to create the full set of weapon icons as well. [EDIT]: https://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?/topic/22779-0abc-mod/page/14/&tab=comments#comment-382686 Yeah, that's probably wise. Some animals lack animations, I don't know the details, Stan does. And undoubtedly there are many other potential tasks.

0 A.D.'s art team is active but small, undoubtedly more artists are welcome! If you have some spare time and are up for a challenge, then I could really use a set of weapon icons for my mod, to make it easier to identify units at a single glance. Requirements are CC-BY-SA-4.0, black-and-white, transparent background, svg or png, 128×128 pixels, but should still remain distinguishable when shrunk by the GUI to 16×16, like this: Icons I need: melee weapons (orientated from bottom-left to top-right): pike spear true sword (e.g. gladius, xiphos) sabre (e.g. falcata, kopis) axe (e.g. sagaris) mace ranged weapons (orientated from bottom-right to top-left): throwing axe javelin bow crossbow sling staff sling Elephant icon as an example:

Related but different: the problem with Delenda Est is that it duplicates hundreds of files from the public repository, which makes it hard to maintain. Millennium AD doesn't have its own version of `template_structure_military_stable.xml`; the issue here is that byza, caro, umay were updated, but `anglo_stables.xml` was forgotten.

Out of curiosity, what is the attested word for an ordinary sword? E.g. true sword (double-edged) – sabre (single-edged) in other languages: Chinese: jian – dao Greek: akinakes (Persian), xiphos – kopis, makhaira Latin: ensis (epic), gladius, spatha – falcata (modern), sica (Indians also distinguished between the two, but my Sanskrit vocabulary is non-existent.)

All implemented in my 0abc mod long ago; and I guess in some other mods as well.

It depends on what you want to represent. The Greek city states certainly used Thracian mercenaries, but they typically fought with javelins. The Macedonian army of Philip II and Alexander III the Great used Odryssian (Thracian) cavalry, but rhomphaia infantry is not attested. However, the later Antigonids (306–168 BC) certainly deployed them: Thracian mercenaries with black cloak, white thureos, and rhomphaia were one of the elite units of Philip V (r. 221–179 BC), fighting as a vanguard/special forces, apparently similar in function to Alexander's hypaspists a century earlier.

The AI checks for the `Stable` class, then builds the `{civ}_stable.xml` structure. The problem in Delenda Est is that the generic template had a `Stables` (with s) class, which means the AI can't find any Stable and will continue to build more. I made a pull request to solve it for you: https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est/pull/20

Thanks for the heads-up, but you forgot to update the aura and technology files accordingly. I stumbled upon it when updating D2000 and took the liberty to include the corrections there.

You're welcome! When I started modifying the game three (!) years ago I was greatly helped by people patiently answering my questions ( https://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?/topic/21083-how-to-modify-0-ad/ ).

0abc updated again: women, slaves, and fishing boats use rhombus selection shape, traders and merchant ships hexagon all factions can train cavalry javelineers at the stable in the village phase each civilization gets a discount on some technologies: Carthage: Market technologies −30% resource costs and research time Gauls: House technologies −40% resource costs and research time Kushites: Temple technologies −10% resource costs and research time Macedon: Forge technologies −10% resource costs and research time Mauryas: Palace technologies −10% resource costs and research time Ptolemies: Naval technologies −25% resource costs and research time Rome: Arsenal technologies −50% resource costs and research time Seleucids: Stable technologies −20% resource costs and research time Libraries now give structures −10% build time (instead of technology discount) updated {civ}.json data files various minor updates and corrections [EDIT] also let the history window use bullets (which was surprisingly easy to do: D2221):

Those mercenaries still exist, I just haven't decided whether to keep them civ-based or make them map-based. Gauls, Mauryas, Romans don't have mercenaries either, though they easily could.

Yes, Greek mercenaries served in Egypt long before it was conquered by the Persians, as described by Herodotus and confirmed by archaeological finds. I'm certainly not suggesting Kush was a stranger to Mediterranean or Near Eastern tactics. Those all look like spearmen to me. In 0 A.D. this one is trainable at the generic temple and the Kushites already have five champions, so dropping one isn't unreasonable. Currently I'm contemplating the following roster in my 0abc mod:

And I've been playing around with svg again, creating more selection textures, including some with non-square dimensions, as suggested by @wowgetoffyourcellphone at D889 about two years ago. 1:2 shapes, for cavalry, elephants, and traders: 1:3 shapes, for completeness: 1:4 shapes, for warships: Some polygons I already added earlier: Some polygrams in circles, perhaps useful for a magic mod: And a complete K12 graph in a circle: (Creating weapon icons (pike, spear, sword, sabre, axe, mace; and throwing axe, javelin, bow, crossbow, sling, staff sling) is too difficult for me, though.)

Exactly! Thanks! Then I'll add a non-champion axeman and remove the champion. One temple guard is enough. By the way, was the khopesh still used in the 3rd C BC?

Of course! And more, if you like. Never hesitate to ask questions, there are always people with more experience, so there is no point in wasting time by trying to reinvent the wheel yourself. Don't add duplicate art files. Templates can load any actor, regardless of civilization. E.g. `sele_cavalry_javelinist_b.xml`: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Entity parent="template_unit_cavalry_ranged_javelinist"> <Identity> <Civ>sele</Civ> <Lang>greek</Lang> <SelectionGroupName>units/sele_cavalry_javelinist_b</SelectionGroupName> <GenericName>Militia Cavalry</GenericName> <SpecificName>Hippakontistès Politès</SpecificName> <Icon>units/sele_cavalry_javelinist.png</Icon> </Identity> <Promotion> <Entity>units/sele_cavalry_javelinist_a</Entity> </Promotion> <VisualActor> <Actor>units/athenians/cavalry_javelinist_b_m.xml</Actor> </VisualActor> </Entity> [EDIT] You need to create simulation templates for the units you want to be available for your civ, but you can let them load templates from other civs, if you like. E.g. create `acha_support_female_citizen`: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Entity parent="units/spart_support_female_citizen"> <Identity> <Civ>acha</Civ> <SelectionGroupName>units/acha_support_female_citizen</SelectionGroupName> </Identity> </Entity> and `acha_support_female_citizen_house`: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Entity parent="units/acha_support_female_citizen"> <Cost> <BuildTime>30</BuildTime> </Cost> <Identity> <RequiredTechnology>unlock_females_house</RequiredTechnology> </Identity> </Entity>

Which again shows how important it is to look at the original. The Greek particle δέ can indeed indicate an opposition, however, here it is between πέλεκυς (axe), κοντός, and ξίφος. Celtic and Roman swordsmen have double-edged swords and oblong shields, though. Anyway, perhaps I will keep Kushite pikemen; and maybe add non-champion axemen; I haven't decided; more evidence is welcome.

You should probably start with trying to compile the development version ( https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/BuildInstructions ). You might want to have a look at https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/GettingStarted and https://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/GettingStartedProgrammers as well.

It required moving a lot of files and fixing some paths in the AI files, but nothing complicated. Having separate {civ} folders becomes more imperative when more content is added; e.g. https://github.com/JustusAvramenko/delenda_est/tree/master/simulation/templates/units : “Sorry, we had to truncate this directory to 1,000 files. 198 entries were omitted from the list.”

It would be nice if someone (@Alexandermb?) could create the following actor animations: fishing boat ranged attack animation (hurl harpoon) fishing boat meat gather animation (chop at carcass), to be used for whales, crocodiles, etc. infantry and female citizen fish gather animation (spear-fishing), so they can catch fish in shallow waters near the shores I believe I've requested it before, but couldn't find it, hence me starting a new thread now.

The simulation template file name ought to be `{civ}_civil_centre.xml` for all civs; the `{civ}` part is then replaced with the civ code, e.g. `athen_civil_centre.xml`, not `athenians_civil_centre.xml`. You can give your template another name (`achaeans_cc.xml` or whatever), but then you also need to add a tiny template (`acha_civil_centre.xml` or whatever) to load it: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Entity parent="structures/achaeans_cc"/> to ensure the AI, maps, units etc. can handle it. This is also what I did in my mod ( https://github.com/0abc/0abc-a23/tree/master/simulation/templates/structures ), where I moved templates into individual `{civ}/` folders, to make things more manageable.

To clarify, I'm not denying the Kushites had long spears; or that they could hold them with two hands; and maybe they did have true pikes indeed. (It's hard to prove something didn't exist.) Likewise, Carthaginians, Greek, Romans, and others new how to make pikes and occassionally used them on ships; but that doesn't mean they should have pikemen in game. As you indicated yourself. I think there is a good reason why the term is translated as pike. I think you're confusing the term "sarissa" with the word "pike". Lance and pike both belong to the spear family, but they're different weapons nonetheless. And yes, κοντός is an appropiate term to describe a pike, but that doesn't mean it must automatically mean a pike; as you know, the meaning of words depends on the context; the same issue with e.g. λόγχη, which could mean lance, spear, javelin, etc., or ξίφος, which means specifically a short, double-edged, stabbing sword, but could also be used in a generic sense for any blade (as in that sentence from Strabo quoted earlier; besides, pike doesn't square with θυρεός). A fair question. We can all care about realism yet make different choices. My mod focuses on the 3rd C BC; “might have” is not always good enough for me. For that reason I've also removed the maiden guard (the Mauryas did indeed have female palace guard—presumably similar to how other dynasties employed eunuchs—but it's unlikely they're employed on the battlefield) and the Ptolemaic camel archer (Nabateans did have camel archers, but camels aren't mentioned in the major battles involving the Ptolemies).

Thank you for your quick and elaborate reply! Thanks! The relevant part is: The word κοντὀς means pole—Homer uses it once (Odyssee X.487), for a tool to push off a ship—and later authors occassionally use it for a weapon (cf. English “pole-arm”), but it does not necessarily mean a pike—what it says here is “some had spears, some had swords” in a generic sense. Counterweights do not imply pikes; the ordinary Greek spear (δόρυ) had one as well, as did the shorter Persian spears. Short, thin, top-heavy means useful for throwing (javelin) and short, thick, counterweight means useful for thrusting, but many spears could both be thrown and thrust, and it's not unusual to be equipped with multiple different spears. (Pikes tend to be long (4 to 6 m) but narrow, to save weight.) Spears come in many shapes and sizes; short staffs with long blades and long sticks with short heads exist; wood tends to decay faster than iron. Fundamentally the difference is that a pike requires two hands to handle; a spear could be used both one- and two-handed, near-front, mid-shaft, or back; etc. Also, pikes imply syntagma (cf. Early Modern Swiss). Anyway, I got the answer I wanted, and can now remove Kushite pikemen from my mod with a clear conscience.

Do you mean a global technology (like how one can improve worker gather rates) or an individual upgrade (like how one can replace a small tower with a large tower)? If the former (technologies that increase default arrow count and resource cost but decrease population or garrison capacity), I actually had a few of those, one for towers, four for centres. However, increased structure cost has undesirable consequences: you can place a dozen foundations, research the technology, then delete those foundations, you get more resources back than you paid even without using the abovementioned exploit, it encourages players to build more turrets and postpone researching the technology (it ought to be the other way around: do I research an improvement or instead spend the resources on training more units?) players with many towers benefit the most, making already hard-to-defeat players even more difficult, aiding those who're already at an advantage, thus further widening the gap If there were a mechanic to increase a technology cost based on the number of entities of a certain class (e.g. technology cost 100 food + 50 food * number of towers), then I would consider reimplementing default arrow count technologies. If the latter (individual upgrades), that's something I've thought of several times and would actually be quite easy to implement. Unfortunately the AI doesn't know to upgrade entities, thus giving human players another advantage, which is why I haven't implemented it; this mod is designed for single-player. If the AI were able to upgrade entities, it would open up a many possibilities. E.g. centres would only train unarmed workers, which you can subsequently upgrade individually to archer, javelineer, slinger, spearman, or swordsman; Romans would have worker→hastatus→princeps→triarius; unarmoured Greek spearmen could be given a linothorax (cheap), scale armour (in between), chainmail (expensive), breastplate (slow); etc. Another idea would be to let towers and fortresses gain experience and advance ranks (which could decrease ranged attack spread or reload time). However, structures are capturable and it isn't realistic a capture structure would keep top-notch archers after you wipe out its garrison. If captured entities would lose all experience and revert to default rank, that could work.