DIYARAKUZA

Hey @Duileoga, Nice work there. Good start with your choices for buildings. Rice fields on point. "Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi" is an interesting choice for the wonder. There are others such as "Ruwanweliseya", "Jethvanaramaya" and "Lovamahapaya" which are also wonder material. "Uposathagara" would indeed make a great cultural building, albeit with a purely religious significance. "Thuparamaya" is a specific temple complex and could also only be used in a religious context. The building designs look amazing and quite accurate too. One improvement I would suggest though, is to do with the shape of the roofs. instead of having a curvature on the top part it would look like: https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/sinhalese-architecture.html https://amazinglanka.com/wp/ambalama-heritage-of-sri-lanka/ Another idea for a unique building would be a hydro infrastructure as in the Anuradhapura kingdom there were a lot of reservoirs and other infrastructure for water management, irrigation and public use. https://harindabama.com/2016/01/17/anuradhapura-the-advent-of-buddhism-in-sri-lanka/ https://www.sigiriya.info/about-sigiriya/ https://sigiriyafortress.com/sigiriya-water-fountains/

Good day to you. Unfortunately I'm struggling to find any solid archaeological or literary evidence that can help us. There are only speculations of what it could have been like. The earliest surviving archaeological ruins are from the Vijayanagara Empire in India. But earlier Chola architecture can be found among ruins dating to the Polonnaruwa kingdom in Sri lanka, which is still around 1000-1200 AD. From what is generally accepted to be what life could have been like for Tamil people before 500 B.C. these pictures are the most agreeable. And these. The Tamils were also influenced by the Maurya Empire and that could have shaped the development of their architecture. the temple seen here is thought to be the oldest of the group, dating to the Chola occupation (roughly 993 - 1070 CE). As the shift of the Kingdom's capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa was at least partly a consequence of the Chola incursions, the Shiva Devalaya is thought to be the oldest surviving monument in the city, predating any Buddhist structures that proliferated after the Cholas were expelled from Ceylon. Somewhat surprisingly, it remains in excellent condition and is the best preserved of the city's Hindu shrines. https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/1882/sri-lanka/polonnaruwa/shiva-devalaya-no-2 These are already showing a distinctive Dravidian architecture style. There are some very old temples in India (like the following one) that are said to date to much earlier than this, except that they have been rebuilt and renovated at more recent periods so it's likely impossible to know what they originally looked like. Evidences prove the origin of the temple in 1st century CE during the Sangam period (3rd Century BCE – 45th Century CE). However, as it stands today, the temple represents an accretion of building activity over centuries, the architectural idioms coming from the several royal dynasties who were captivated by and adored the Temple. Some of these were the early Cholas (1st Century CE) ruling from Uraiyoor situated to the south of Srirangam across the river, later Cholas (13th Century CE) of Pazhaiyaarai and Thanjavur, the Kongu rulers from Tamil west, the Pandyas from south (6th – 10th Centuries CE and 13th – 14th Centuries CE), the Hoysalas (10th – 14th Centuries CE), and the later rulers and viceroys of the celebrated Vijayanagara Empire of Karnataka (16th Century CE). The expansion schemes included addition of functional structures and pavilions of grand temple protocol (like the Mallikarjuna Mandapam) and its growth is a pointer to an antiquity since the time this unique centre of religious devotion had been known to and extolled by a diversity of religious and linguistic groups across the nation periodically surging towards this centre of pilgrimage par excellence. https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5894/ Nevertheless I will keep looking, at least to find an accurate written record that will be helpful to envision how to design this civilization.

The main difficulty with that is the absence or obscurity of surviving archaeological material and records from southern Indian states during the 0AD time frame. There is of course the Tamil Sangam literature but aside from historical evidence for the existence of the following two kings, much of the work is considered mythical. There are some inscriptions and caves that are within the 0AD time frame but I'm not aware of anything that will be useful in putting together these factions, which means I need to look further. I'll try to get in touch with someone who can help me with this. For now the best references I have are the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa (Older than Mahavamsa) which are both from Sri Lanka. But I think there may be more obscure sources from southern India that can satisfy us, and since I'm perfectly located for this task I won't stop searching. I'll get back to you as soon as I find something

I'm very familiar with Ellalan as he was a Chola prince who conquered Sri Lanka around 200 B.C. There are historical sources such as the Mahavamsa you can refer but like you said, it's difficult to find graphical representations. I'll look into it and see what I can find

After several playthoughs and noticing some issues, I've made some changes. There were some mobility issues due to dense foliage or swamps. On all the maps, it is now possible for larger units such as elephants and siege rams to move throughout the map without needing ships to transport them. So the original intention of the map layout is still valid. Also the issue of player 1 being cut off on the 4 player maps is now fixed. Updated map files are in the original post

I'm one of the non-MP players I don't like serious competition and putting in effort just to win. I prefer something lighthearted and beautiful I could amuse myself with as a relaxing activity, for which 0AD is one of my favorite choices. If I would ever play multiplayer, it would be with someone I'm quite familiar with so I could spend some quality time with them. In my opinion this game has much greater potential and I believe it is possible to develop it in ways that support all kinds of players, not just those who play multiplayer regularly. For example, attention could also be given to campaigns, innovative different game types and ways to experience life and politics of the ancient world, like what @wowgetoffyourcellphone has done with Delenda Est. That's why I believe 0AD has the potential to become something greater than classic RTS games by integrating new and unique concepts into the gameplay. I'm sure the vast majority of players would be very excited to experience something like that, and you could let multiplayers have their cake too (sans cheating, of course)

Hey guys, how is everyone? Today I'm happy to present you with the final result after some drastic improvements to the River Delta map. All terrains have been updated to the Sahara biome, map layouts updated to resemble a more natural looking marsh-like landscape, updated resource distribution and also added some final touches that I think will make it more fun to play I've scaled down the 4 player map size from giant to very large so it may be possible to create a 6 player map as well in the future. I'd love to take a look at the new performance improvements of the newest version and explore the possibility. I have uploaded the daytime 2 player and 4 player versions in the original post where I have attached the files. Do take a look and I'd love to hear what you think. Edit: Night time versions uploaded.

Thank you! More are on the way

Hi, thanks for letting me know I'll update the terrains. I think the 4 player versions need a little refining too anyway.

2 Player versions (day & night) uploaded to original post

Just added a night mode of this map to the original post! 2 player versions are on the way.

Hey, Sorry for the late reply. Sure, I'll be happy to help you out

Thanks a lot for the beautiful review! It's awesome you had fun with it, and your city is very nicely built! Absolutely, having a fleet makes things very interesting. Indeed, this is quite true.

You mean large screenshots? If you want to do that you can try resizing the image to a size that can be posted here.

Nice looking maps! I like that they have a very three dimensional layout Especially the Kushite Bay map.