asiga

Wow!! Unlocking the camera zoom from the developer panel works great!! Maybe such degree of unlocking isn't desirable for normal use, but, after trying it, I strongly feel that more levels of zooming out should be allowed in the default behavior. Regarding units selection confusion, yes, I was using select box, but I find it difficult to see where are the units that can work, the units that can fight, and the units that can heal. I don't recall feeling this difficulty when playing AOE, I clearly figured out where was each unit type. But it was many years ago, so maybe my memories aren't accurate. Maybe one reason is the hybrid civilian-military units, which, even historically accurate, make gameplay less clear IMHO. Anyway, I feel that it would be highly desirable to study new ways for achieving an addictive gameplay in single player mode. AOE made you desire to start a new game when the previous one ended, and I still don't have this same feeling with 0AD (don't take me wrong, I love it, but I find myself enjoying looking at the buildings, the animations, and testing things rather than enjoying playing, which might be just a consequence that the game isn't finished, but could also be a symptom showing that addictive gameplay needs more study). Other minor aspects that maybe could be improved are corrals (if I'm understanding it correctly, you need to manually kill the animals, but it would be more convenient to have some workers doing the farm work automatically). And definitely, a more accurate depiction of each civilization religion in their temples/healers/monks/priests, etc... will add a more realistic feeling. Different healers could have different powers and habilities. Some temples could have (historically-based) additional uses (for example a monastery can have a very important library that helps make discoveries, or a liquor distillery, and there can be also civilizations whose healers are hermits who try to be alone, a distance from populated areas, and who would automatically walk away from populated areas (just a bit, perhaps, because otherwise getting to them for healing would be too difficult). Just quick ideas, but very cool stuff can be done with a more accurate depiction of the religion from each civilization.

Hi, I used to play AOE many years ago, and I just discovered 0AD. My most sincere congratulations to all the team and contributors!!! Even if it's still in alpha stage, the game is pretty playable, and the details are awesome. Anyway, I wish to express my impressions, just in case they might help future development: 1- Addictive aspects of gameplay for single player mode: I believe this is the area that needs more work. It's been many years since I played AOE, but I remember it as a highly addictive game even if I only played it as single player. I was the kind of player that enjoyed being able to build a relatively large civilization before the first battles. With 0AD I've not been able to play in single player without premature attacks that ruin the enjoyment of the first stages of building your civilization. Maybe in AOE I started the game in peace and then later declared war on the enemy, I don't remember because it's been many years, but in 0AD the only way to try to get close to the AOE experience is to put both the AI and me in the same team, and it obviously becomes boring if you do that. 2- Also related to gameplay: managing units becomes confusing when the population grows. In AOE I found it easier to pick military units and attack, pick workers and build, pick monks and heal... while in 0AD I usually find it difficult to pick different types of units. Maybe it's because it's just my first contact with the game, but I never felt this difficulty in AOE, so maybe there's something that could be improved here. 3- I understand this might be difficult to implement because of graphic card performance, but I tend to feel like I need to zoom out a bit more, in order to see a more general view of my units. But I acknowledge that this implies more polygons and objects on the screen, and it would likely lower FPS. Anyway, not being able to zoom out more makes me feel the game is more difficult to manage. 4- I acknowledge this could cause controversies nowadays, but if it's about historical accuracy, I believe the game would be more realistic if it depicted better the religion of each civilization: now it's everything druids, but it would be much more realistic to have healers that portray the religion of each civilization. In theory, this shouldn't be controversial because it's not about opinions in religion, but about depicting civilizations with historical accuracy. I believe AOE was more accurate than 0AD in this area, but, still, IIRC, AOE had still a lot of room for improvement here. I hope my first impressions could be of help!! Thanks a lot for the game!!