Wijitmaker

The following are the outstanding accomplishments by the 0 A.D. Staff Members for the month of June. Philip Taylor (aka Ykkrosh): For making an insane amount of progress in his first month at WFG. Wrote a font builder tool, integrated a GUI Javascript event handler, experimented with skyboxes and camera controls, and assisted Jan Wassenberg and Simon Brenner with making a host of compatibility and stability improvements to the low-level engine code. Boris Hansen (aka Vaevictis_Music): For making three exceptional music contributions in this last month. Also, taking it upon his shoulders to do some administrative duties in the WFG community. His intuitive wisdom and keen insights are always appreciated. Behind-the-Scenes news for June Two new graphics programmers joined the programming team Font builder tool was completed Several history articles written Nearly all the celtic structures have been modeled Much work has been done on FSM (unit level AI) Integrated javascript with the GUI Persian concept art has been started The Odysseus tool is making great progress, should be done this next month Online asset manager tool was created Several music tracks have been made/perfected Bugtracker software has been hooked up Did our first round of benchmarking tests Storyline written for a suprise has been completed Integrated console File auto reload Timer and smooth filter for elapsed time Xerces integrated with VFS Initial config database implementation 100+ bugfixes

The following are the outstanding accomplishments by the 0 A.D. Staff Members for the month of May. Rich Cross aka notpete - For being a source of extraordinary graphical wizardry. This month he brought us the attachment system, animated unit models, dynamic shadows, unit picking, a host of improvements to ScEd and the graphics engine. Jan Wassenberg aka janwas - For not only tirelessly ploughing through a list of low-level programming tasks of approximately equal length to the Berlin Wall, but for his commitment to stamping out compiler warnings, memory leaks, and establishing DLL standardisation. Also a source of great ideas for improvements to the agenda, prioritisation, etc. Mark Thompson aka MarkT - For taking Rich's units and making them "dance" (not literally, but maybe later). Added entity management, waypoint movement, basic pathfinding and collision detection, provided a linefix solution, and helped out Jan a whole lot with his fixes. Alan Kemp aka Alan - For implementing and thoroughly documenting a Javascript host interface, soon to be the backbone of 0 A.D.'s scripted logic. Bobby Ognyanov aka CheeZy - For creating a beautiful set of terrain textures, and an accompanying set of terrain sprites. Behind-the-Scenes news for May RPS dynamics documented Several Concept images were sketched ScEd has been updated to version 0.0.7.2 New member Chad Heim joined the Programming Department Details of the Schedule were completed Master art list was created 3ds Max template was updated to version 2.0 Much low-level code was updated and/or initialised Animation implemented Propping implemented Shadows implemented Pathfinding implemented Waypointing implemented Scripting implemented and documented Design Document v1.8 advancing nearer to completion

The following are the outstanding accomplishments by the 0 A.D. Staff Members for the month of April. Gustav Larsson & Simon Brenner: For the incredible number of man hours they have clocked up this month revising the Technical Design Document and programming schedule. Also thanks to Simon for completing the leviathanic task of merging the ScEd graphics code into the engine. Mark Thompson: For his implementation of our developer code review and backup CVS repositories using cygwin. Shan Sherrill: For his creation of two masterful desktop images and six new coloured title art images that you can see featured in the history sections of the website. We are also going to do something new. Every month we'll post the news of the summary of the past month that you could also find in our Community Crier. Many members this month had unexpected things come up in real life, that took time away from their 'hobby' here at WFG. We also lost several 0 A.D. staff members due to real life issues. We want to thank all of you for the time you commited to the project and hope you can come back soon and join our ranks yet again. Paul was promoted to head historian Nathanael was promoted to newsy Moved completely off our old server ScnEd has been updated to version 0.0.6.1 New member Matt Holmes joined the programming department Schedule was completed HR department was initiated PASAP Greek buildings have been completed One of a series of desktop images has been completed Several lists for asset management and organization were completed All programmers updated to use a common programming platform TDD revisions and updating have begun Several new articles up on the website relating to history Greek CS unit concepts were completed Several Roman structure concepts were completed ScnEd integration with game engine Particle module is making great progress

The following are the outstanding accomplishments by the 0 A.D. Staff Members for the month of February. Alan Kemp (Alan): For the many hours he put into developing an AI sim testbed, including pathfinder, entity system, and embedded Javascript host. Michael Reiland (mreiland) & Simon Brenner (olsner): For their hard work on researching and developing the error-handling foundation, including SmartPointers, queueing and threading. Even though we don't usually make mention of the accomplishments of Department Heads, I thought it would be appropriate to mention these men: Stuart Walpole (Acumen): For doing the work of three men. He did some excellent work in updating the website's FAQ, updates to the Design Document, and spent many hours toiling as the Manager of the Programming Department. Ken Wood (Phoenix_TheRealDeal): For excellent research in the flora, non-flora, and fauna gaia objects in the ancient world. Bobby Ognyanov (CheeZy): For great advancements in the Scenario/Map/Object editor design document. Nearly completing it, and gathering some excellent ideas that will hopefully make our editor both powerful and intuitive. Dave Loeser (Dak Lozar): For the great improvements he has made to the Programming Department since coming aboard as our new Lead Programmer. This included establishing revamped coding conventions and preliminary development of an advanced code review procedure (including CVS branches with Mark Thompson, and a revamped task system). Also for his willingness to help out wherever necessary, from researching and testing third-party audio libraries to picking up the reins on the error framework.

The following are the outstanding accomplishments by the 0 A.D. Staff Members for the month of December. Gustav (Gee) - Made an extraordinary number of improvements to the GUI Engine, and set an excellent example in keeping us updated on his progress. Mark (MarkT) - Made tremendous progress on the entity editor and task scheduler class, and contributed in various different areas. Jeffrey (Zeusthor) & Steve B (svede) - Kick-started scripting development with a lot of preliminary research into our alternatives and requirements. Paul (Paal_101) - Wrote some great history articles, helped advise for the Roman unit appearance in text for concepts. Michael (Mythos_Ruler) - Did a great job with sketching for the Hellenic Buildings and is almost done with them. Bobby (Cheezy) - Making excellent progress in the design document for the Scenario Editor, assembling the WFG "Core Group" for RTS community interation, and doing some fine work with terrain textures. Shan (Hyborian) - Nearly completing all the Roman unit concepts in under a month! :arrow: Though we don't give out this award to department heads, I'd like to make special mention of all the work Stuart (Acumen) did this last month in the Programming Department, Design Department, and Web Department.

Amazing, an entire year has passed since the last time we reflected on the work of an entire year. The year 2003 was a great year for the 0 A.D. project. Here are just a few of the big news items from 2003: We made some great additions to the 0 A.D. staff Game Design Document has been 90% streamlined/finalised Technical Design Document has steadily grown Civilisation Profiles have been completed Building Concepts are near completion The collection of unit concepts is growing every week Basic unit models and animal models were completed Several great score of music were written New temporary website was put in place New task system was created New forum network was implemented Numerous History Articles were put in place The decision was made to go full 3d vs a 2d/3d hybrid engine Programming of the game officially started in August and has been running very smoothly Version Control System was implimented for the code Animation and the Tools required for the Object Editor were created Lots and lots of art has been created, including all the shield textures for the game (200+) GUI and Menus have been designed That's incredibly brief overview of all the work that has been done over the last year, but those are the highlights. Great work team, I can't wait to do the recap for the year 2004 when we can put the words "Beta Release" on that list. Cheers to 2003 and here's to 2004.

Yeah, I've noticed this too

Alrighty, they should be fixed now.

what is missing? not sure I follow... I need a screenshot or something

Welcome to the forums Rahik. Not sure about how ogl compares to dx because we have only been using ogl (for platform independance). Reverie Entertainment uses dx, you could check with them: http://www.reverieentertainment.net/ BTW, hats off to the work being done at Templar Games, I've been following some of the progress you have made at gamedev.net

Its pretty interesting factoid isn't it here is a quote from another article citing the same thing: http://www.fosters.com/October_2004/10.31....s/sun_1031s.asp

try experimenting with the new [codebox]{content}[/codebox] bbtag

Historically there was women warriors in the ancient world, you guys should do some googling and investigate for youself. Joshua also has a nice article on the role of women in the ancient world on the 0 A.D. website.

hmm, need a new button eh? ok, I'll get on that. Nice mod Tim! *gives Tim a rep up IOU*

1.5 hours

The forums will be shutting down in appoximately 12 hours for an undetermined length of time (hopefully less than 48 hours, but no promises)

Visually, you guys hopefully won't notice any difference than what you see on any of the 3 forums. The only thing that will change will be the url's and the new forum skins.

Yes, we will hopefully be able to keep all the posts from all the forum. Not sure about the down time... the entire process might take 48 hours, but really we aren't sure (haven't done this before). Some information will be lost such as the mods that Tim made to the forums (currency and reputation). The only things we are able to save are the catagories, forums, topics, posts, users, and private messeges. Everything else will be lost or redone.

We are scheduling the forum to be down (possibly twice) sometime in the next 1-2 weeks. The goals are: We thank you for your patience and are excited for the presentation of 'new and improved' forums.More details of exact times for this downtime will be posted once we are more certain of when exactly these 2 phases will be initiated. ~Jason

A mod for Command and Conquer Renegade: http://web.archive.org/web/20030817093954/...m/insurrection/ It got shut down because of legal problems from Hasbro.

nickname it the Kerry GUI Shame on me! *slaps self* Seriously though... I know you guys aren't used to stuff being on the top, but as Stuart mentioned... putting it at the bottom is putting it right in the way of where all the action will be. I imagine as player you would want to keep focused on the stuff that is 'closest' to you. With a perspective camera, the stuff at the top of the screen is naturally farther away. Hence, why I suggested to Stuart to put it up at the top. For us western european folks, its natural for our eyes to be drawn from the top left to the top right to the bottom right and the lastly the bottom left. Example... Window programs, all your controls are featured in the top left. This might also be a factor for mods and other games that use the same engine. Perhaps they want to show part of the skybox in their camera angle? Well, putting the GUI at the top would make it completely out of the way and mimize the stealing space from the important stuff on the ground. Anyway.. that my 2 cents Certainly could do a mod to flip it though. BTW I like the map rotation idea Mark, especially if the buttons around the square minimap turned with it.

Smack me if I'm crazy ... but: Did Gee make a GUI circle element like the rectangle? Could we specify say a circle object that (however that is done), then put the unit icon inside of it using the wierd notation of making its width and height 80% of its parent? So what you end up with is a larger circle object, with a smaller image imposed on top of it with a border around it that is 10% on all sides? *flinches*

Well, I don't have much to add about this because I have been giving Stuart comments that leads up to what see here. I think we could squeeze in text for the names somewhere too. True, you memorize what the units are after playing for a bit, but I think we do need something somewhere to at least throw up the name of the player who owns it and the generic name. We are going to hopefully have a lot of random helmets, textures, and shields for the units (more historical, more realistic, and pleasing to the eye [i HATE Rome Total War's attack fo the clones]) So its going to be important for players to be able to see what they are. But, I must say: Given the choice between this and the ES GUI, I would rather use this one hands down.

The Irish were originally a Bronze Age civilization that was transformed with the arrival of the Celts in 6th-5th Century B.C. Since then the Celtic Irish culture and ways continue to this day in recognizable form in many parts of Ireland. The Celts first arrived in the British Isles around 500 B.C. (in the form of the Brythonic tribes) and continued to arrive in waves after that. It is debated on whether it was an invasion or gradual cultural assimilation that brought about the Celtic Irish culture and people. Another wave of Celtic immigration came much later to Ireland when two peoples called the Fir Blog and Goidels (also called the Milesians) arrived. Some modern historians believe the Fir Blog were Belgae in origin and the Goidels possible kin of the Celtic peoples in Iberia. Other historians dismiss the notion in its entirety because the two groups are found in the old mythology of Ireland. Regardless it is now widely accepted the Goidels’ arrival and intermarriage with the existing Brythonic tribes led to the eventual creation of the Gaels, whom the Romans called Scoti. Later in time as the Gaels began to settle themselves more firmly kingdoms began to form and with them a distinct culture. According to the folk stories and later archaeological evidence, the Gaels began to form many different kingdoms or Tuath as they became more settled on the island. By the end of the B.C. era, there was as many as 200 Tuath in Ireland. By this time the Gaels developed a royal grade system that measured a king’s power based on how much land he owned. A Ri Tuaithe ruled a single kingdom. A Ruiri was the overlord of many local kings. A Ri Ruirech was the king of an entire province. Higher then all was the Ard Ri, the High King of the Gaels who was selected by process of election between the greatest of the lesser ri. Each Tuath had a royal site from which the king ruled over his kingdom. These royal sites were usually heavily defended forts. By the beginning of its known history, Ireland had five major kingdoms that are the focus of Irish historical studies. The first of these major kingdoms was the Kingdom of Ulster, which was located in modern day Northern Ireland. The Kingdom of Ulster was the most powerful kingdom until the early AD era when it collapsed. Only to reform itself into several smaller kingdoms loosely united under the rule of the Ui Neill, the descendants of the Niall of the Nine Hostages (Rome’s greatest Gaelic foe). Ulster’s royal site was Emain Macha (today called Navan Fort). The second major Kingdom was Connaught, which was situated in the county that bears its name. Connaught started out weak but became more powerful as time went on, it would eventually merge with the Kingdom of Mide. Connaught shared her royal site with Munster and Mide at Tara or Teamhaidh, a religious sanctuary that was also the royal site of the Ard Ri. The third Kingdom was Munster. It was based in the county that bears its name. Munster was a powerful state but it would not equal the power of Ulster before its decline and Connaught. Munster shared her royal site of Tara with Connaught and Mide. The fourth Kingdom was Leinster that like Connaught and Munster was located in the county that bears it name. Leinster again like Munster was powerful but never attained the status of Ulster and Connaught. Leinster’s royal seat was Dun Ailinne. The last of the major Kingdoms was Mide. Mide was situated like the previous kingdoms in the county that bears it name. Mide was a close follower and ally of Connaught and led many attacks on Ulster, leading to its eventual collapse, this lead the eventual merging between Connaught and Mide. Mide shared her royal seat with Connaught and Munster. It is important to mention that while all of these major kingdoms may have started around the modern counties that bare their name all five kingdoms grew and shrunk throughout their history well outside modern territorial lines. Not all the above kingdoms necessarily existed concurrently either for that matter or under the same name, making Gaelic history a potentially confusing course of study. In 55 B.C. the Romans under Julius Caesar invaded Britain, this at first did not affect the Irish, but the fall of the all of kingdoms south of Pictland in 43 AD was a cause for alarm. Shortly after a brief expedition into southern Pictland the Roman General Agricola considered an invasion but knew that Emperor Domitian would probably not allow it. While the Romans never invaded Ireland they did trade with them and that in turn heavily influenced the Irish. As the Roman grip on Britain lessened and the Roman Empire began to collapse, the Gaels took the advantage, raided up and down the coast, and eventually even began to colonize parts of Britain. The most successful of these colonies was Dal Riada in Pictland, which eventually merged to form Alba, the forerunner of Scotland. The Deisi, Laigin, and Erainn founded other colonies. Apart from colonies, the Gaels also engaged in the practice of setting up client states in Britain. The best known, and unusual, was Dyfed in modern Wales. Dyfed was a client state of Munster but once conquered the Munster kings lost interest and the fiction of vassalage persisted for little over a century. In the year 431 AD the Pope sent a man named Bishop Palladius to Ireland to “Be bishop to the Scoti who believe in Christ”. Palladius’ mission is little known and controversial. At best, it appears he enjoyed some measure of success among the Gaels of Leinster. The most famous man of all who preached to the Irish however was St. Patrick. According to the book he wrote, Confessions, Patrick was a native Briton who was captured and made a slave when he was 16 years old in a Gaelic raid. Patrick worked as sheepherder in what is believed to be Co. Mayo or Silgo for about six years, during this time Patrick wrote that he had found God, after this he escaped to Gaul and studied to be bishop at Auxerre. In 432 AD (or 460 depending on the chronology one uses) Patrick returned to Ireland, landing in the town known as Saul, where he founded his first church. Patrick continued to preach and eventually was granted royal permission from the Ard Ri to do so when he visited Tara. Patrick then began to preach all over the island but more so in the northeastern parts. For about 30 years, Patrick and other missionaries went about Ireland preaching and setting up churches and dioceses around Ireland. When he died in 462 (or 493) St. Patrick and the other missionaries in Ireland had set up a thriving, vibrant, church. In the late 400s early 500s a new form of Christianity was sweeping Ireland: Monasticism. For the Irish Christians Monasticism had great appeal and these monasteries attracted the patronage of kings and the wealthy. As time went on the monasteries became so many and influential that the dioceses set up by Patrick and other missionaries soon broke down and the abbots of the monasteries soon had more power then the bishops. The Irish version of Christianity, called Celtic Christianity had several main founders, they were: St. Enda of the Aran Islands, St. Finnian of Clonard, St. Columba of Derry and Kells, St. Brendan of Clonfert, St. Brigid of Kildare, St. Comgall of Bangor, St. Finbarr of Cork, and St. Kieran of Clonmacnois. The monasteries that these men built would go on to become great centers of learning and culture that would last to the present-day. The form of Christianity they preached would also exert a great influence in the British Isles, strong enough to contest direct with the mainstream church in Rome.

The Celts were a ferocious tribal people with common ancestry whose culture spread from modern-day Scotland to the southern tip of Iberia, and across the Alps into the Balkans. Famous for intricate iron-working, rich and verbal lore, courage in combat, and simplicity, the Celts were among the most vibrant and powerful civilizations of the first millenium B.C. The ultimate origin of the Celtic peoples is indeterminate, though the people of the Urnfield culture seem to be the most direct connection. Their migration across Europe began in about 500 A.D., and their culture rapidly spread across the Continent. Celts stood for centuries as one of Rome’s most fierce and hated foes, but due to their disunited political structure, the legions of Rome slowly rolled across Celtic lands, from the Iberian Peninsula to Gaul and finally into Britannia. Their culture and heritage were shattered almost universally by Roman brutality and lack of literacy, though some holdings remained in Caledonia (modern-day Scotland) and Hibernia (Ireland) until Germanic invaders such as the Anglo-Saxons finished the destruction which Rome had begun. The Celts kept neither written records nor had a coherent national structure, so we do not know of many major figures, except by Greco-Roman sources. Some of these figures are: Deiotarus of the Galatians. Vercingetorix of the Gauls, and Boudicca of the Iceni in Britannia.. The Siege of Alesia in 52 B.C., in which Vercingetorix lost to the rapidly built fortifications and tactics of Julius Caesar, stands as the most well-known Celtic battles; Boudicca’s rampage across Britannia was halted by another renowned battle at Watling Street, in 61 A.D. Celtic warriors were both feared and respected by their enemies for their bravery and honor in battle, often going into battle hardly clothed with only a spear and shield. Preferring close combat to ranged, which they considered cowardly, Celts would often charge in a frenzy to their opponent’s defenses, challenged the strongest of their foes to single combat, and would break formation from eagerness to battle. In 0 A.D., the Celts will have a powerful infantry and an average cavalry both armed with some of the best-smithed weapons in Europe, with a weak navy and missile units. - Cory McConnaughy (a.k.a. Titus Ultor)