Vantha
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Posts posted by Vantha
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Probably. List object in general are hardly used in the entire game.
But I can't imagine it to be hard to complete the implementation.
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The property "textcolor_selected" of the GUI object type "list" doesn't seem to work for me. Items of the list do not change color when selected, no matter what the textcolor_selected is set to. Am I missing something or is there an issue with this feature?
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Glad I could help.
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Firstly (I think I've brought this up at some point in the past already):
Scythian Archer:
They are only referred to as "the Archers" or "the Scythians" (both labels for "barbarians"), and also - most characteristically - as the (S)peusinians (in Greek: "(S)peusinioi"). Therefore I suggest the following change:
Toxótēs Skythikós (a word-by-word translation into Greek) --> Speusinios or Peusinios
Sources:
Quotehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_archers:
The Scythian archers were called toxotai (τοξόται, literally "[the] archers"), Skythai (Σκύθαι, literally "[the] Scythians"), and Speusinioi (Σπευσίνιοι), which was named after a certain Speusinos, the alleged founder of the force.
https://www.thecollector.com/scythian-archers-ancient-athens/:
Much later in the 2nd century CE, the Greek scholar Julius Pollux wrote:
“Those public slaves before the law course and other gatherings, to whom they gave the task of restraining those who behaved inappropriately and those who said what should not be said, were called “Scythians” and “archers” and “Speusinioi” after the man who organized their service. (Julius Pollux 8.131-2)
Of the politician Speusis, nothing is known, though the name is corroborated by the (undated and unnamed) scholiast for Aristophanes’ play The Acharnians:
“The Archers are public slaves, guards of the city, 1,000 in number, who first dwelt in tents pitched in the middle of the agora, but then moved to the Areopagus. These were called “Scythians” and “Peusinoi”. A certain Peusis – one of the Politicians of old – having organized their activities.” (Scholiast On Aristophanes, Acharnians 54)
/https://www.stoa.org/demos/article_scythian_archers@page=all&greekEncoding=UnicodeC.html:
Archers: The public slaves, guards of the city, in number 1000, who formerly lived in the Agora, camping out in the middle, but later moved to the Areopagus. These were called ‘Scythians’ and ‘Speusinioi,’ from a certain Speusinos, one of the ancient politicians, who organized their affairs” (Τοξόται· οἱ δημόσιοι ὑπηρέται, φύλακες τοῦ ἄστεος, τὸν ἀριθμὸν χίλιοι, οἵτινες πρότερον μὲν ᾤκουν τὴν ἀγορὰν μέσην σκηνοποιησάμενοι, ὕστερον δὲ μετέβησαν εἰς Ἄρειον Πάγον, ἐκαλοῦντο δὲ οὗτοι καὶ Σκύθαι καὶ Σπευσίνιοι; ἀπὸ Σπευσίνου τινὸς τῶν πάλαι πολιτευομένων συντάξαντος τὰ περὶ αὐτούς) (Suda tau,772; see also Schol. In Aristoph. Ach. 54, which is almost identical except for saying “Peusinioi” and “Peusinus” instead of “Speuninioi” [That's a typo, it should be “Speusinioi”] and “Speusinos”; also Hescythius, 1137; Schol. In Aristoph. Ach. 54; Schol. In Aristoph. Ach. 707; Schol. In Aristoph. Lys. 184; Suda omega,243; Suda tau,771).
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It looks like the errors are caused by some broken (or outdated) save files. The error states that the mapName is missing from the metadata.json file in the saved game.
Can you figure out what specific save file (.0adsave) is responsible for the errors? For example, by temporarily removing some of the files from the "saves" folder and checking whether the issue persists. (Beware that you have to restart the game in between).
16 hours ago, Grautvornix said:Just sometimes, a set of other JS errors is spawned...
When exactly? Have you tried reinstalling the game?
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4 hours ago, Grautvornix said:
Actually - while I found the button, I cannot test it for saved games as it triggers a series of Javascript errors (but the same button does works well for mods in the mods selector page).
Playing on Win 10 this occurs for both SVN latest and 0.26. Guess there is a more fundamental issue with my Javascript install (not that I am aware of any speciality there). Never mind.
For me, the "filter compatible replays" checkbox works fine for saved games. What errors are do you get?
0ad itself contains the necessary components to run Javascript, if you think there's an issue with the setup of the JavaScript interpreter, then a reinstall of the game should do the trick.
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22 hours ago, ShadowOfHassen said:
That is much better than what I wrote. Did you write it yourself? If so, I'd gladly use it instead of what I wrote.
Did you write the above passage yourself? Can we adopt your formulations word by word for the encyclopedia entry? Not without credit, of course.
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1 hour ago, Grautvornix said:
But - that already implemented, will it be a piece of cake to also add the automatic loading of needed mods?
Automatically switching to the correct mod configuration would also be useful in the multiplayer lobby when joining hosts with different mod setups. I'm not sure how feasible it is in practice, though, since (especially in said situation) players don't necessarily have the required mods already downloaded. And downloading mods should probably only be done manually. But I might take a deeper look into it.
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Two more articles: https://github.com/TheShadowOfHassen/0-ad-history-encyclopedia-mod/pull/141
Slingers and their role in in ancient warfare:
QuoteSlingers were highly mobile skirmishing units used to a much lesser extent than archers or javelineers on antique battlefields. Firing a sling accurately required high skill and a lot of training (more than a bow or javelin). Slings were therefore only carried on the battlefield by experienced users who had practiced the use of this weapon since childhood.
They were said to achieve slinging speeds faster than 100 mph (160 kmh) and ranges of over 1300 feet (400 meters), outclassing most archers. Reloading was another big advantage because it required nothing more than just putting a new projectile into the cradle. Skilled slingers could easily fire over 10 shots per minute. And that (unlike bows) from one hand, on rugged terrain, and while on the run. A good hit guaranteed a dangerous injury, if not death. Slings by no means come short of lethality in comparison to bows. Ancient sources even claim projectiles heat up from friction to start melting in mid-flight, as well as being able to fully pierce armor. Both of which are likely exaggerations, but underline the recognised danger of a sling.
However, the psychological effect of slingers should not be underestimated either. Ancient sources mention how soldiers were much more afraid of a hail of stones than arrows. There are even tales of slingers bringing down entire ships by continuously launching heavy stones at them. Very small sling bullets were invisible to the eye while flying through the air. And archeological evidence suggests that some of those (Roman) bullets had holes drilled into them to instead make an intimidating buzzing or whistling sound when whizzing towards their target.
All in all, slingers were therefore actually way more formidable units than today often credited with.
And the weapon of a sling itself:
QuoteThe sling was a weapon used by ancient peoples all around the planet, from the Chinese to the Egyptians to the Romans to the Inca, both for warfare and hunting purposes. The oldest depictions stem from the year 7000 BC, but they are thought to have been used long before that.
Slings, brimming with simplicity, were very easy and fast to produce, essentially being nothing more than a braided rope with a cradle. Projectiles were either stones collected from the ground or bullets formed from other plentiful materials, such as clay or lead.
Yet slings were also really powerful. The simple concept of extending the arm's leverage enabled users to hurl projectiles considerably faster and further than they could otherwise. The explicit mention in the Bible that it was a sling David used to strike down Goliath underlines very well its recognized value at the time.
The only real downside of slings was the immense practice needed to learn to accurately aim. As technologically advanced weapons (with easier and more intuitive aiming) like bows or crossbows emerged, the use of slings declined. And dwindled to the few peoples with an already deep cultural connection to the sling, the prime example being the ancient Balearic people.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe part of your suggestion is already implemented. Disabling the "Filter compatible replays" displays all replays found in the target folder, and mark those that you can't start with your current configuration with a darker grey. When trying to open them it even shows an error explaining which mods you need and which you have currently enabled, I think.
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Interesting. I actually think, the Skiritai are actually one of the best (and most underestimated) units in 0ad, especially for new players.
Not in terms of stats. But they are available as soon as reaching phase two, nearly twice as cheap as full champion units, and they can gather resources, champions can't. When reaching phase 2 at 100 pop, you can easily train 100 Skiritai before hitting the 300 pop cap, and that while sacrificing barely any booming speed. And the Skiritai are significantly stronger than basic citizen soldiers, especially spearman. 100 of them so early can give a huge advantage.
Athenian marines on the other hand require a gymnasion to be built and then the tech to be researched, can only be trained at the gymnasion itself (while Skiritai can be at the barracks), and cannot gather resources or build anything. It's simply impossible to train them at the speed that you can Skiritai. Ive tried several times but never managed to take advantage of the fact that Athenian marines are available in phase 2 already, at least not without significant drops in booming efficiency.
All in all, Skiritai can't compete with champions, but can replace your much weaker basic spearman in huge numbers, which can give you a bigger advantage than a few (but individually stronger) champion units.
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Over the course of researching for the encyclopedia I've found and noted down a few cases of units or buildings, where (I think) a new native name in place of the current one would be more fitting and correct.
Plus, if I remember correctly, @ShadowOfHassen did too, from his research.
And, of course, everyone is free to share their suggestions here as well.
My question is: Would it be possible to get them into the game?
It would only require editing the "SpecificName" property in he designated XML template. My idea is to list all of my suggestions in this thread here, explain my thought process and cite the sources. And then submit the names, that people agree with / confirm, on phabricator.
Is this wanted / welcomed? I only want to make the effort of extensive researching and laying out my reasoning if there's a good chance the names make it into the game. (Of course, only the ones that members of the wildfiregames team end up considering worth using). I really don't want to seem uppish or pushy because that's totally not how this is meant. I just don't want to dedicate myself to work that ultimately leads to no outcome.
Hope you understand what I mean,
Vantha
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The Greek name used in-game is (again) a bit misleading and inaccurate. Seleucid military colonies were actually called “Katoikiai” and the settlers “Katoikoi”.
Here are two good articles I found on the matter:
http://www.ime.gr/CHRONOS/06/en/society/index104.html
https://www.academia.edu/13665364/katoikoi - requires registering an account I think. So here is the pdf:
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PR for the companion cavalry (Hetairoi): https://github.com/TheShadowOfHassen/0-ad-history-encyclopedia-mod/pull/139
QuoteThe companion cavalry was a special cavalry unit in the Macedonian army. It was, as the name suggests, composed of companions (“Hetairoi”), the aristocratic elite of Macedonian society, the king's close advisors, but also his bodyguards and comrades-in-arms in battle. In its early days, the regiment numbered 600 cavalrymen, but, over the course of Philip II's and Alexander the Great's campaigns, rose to a size of around 3600.
Unlike other contemporary cavalry forces, on the battlefield, the companion cavalry functioned primarily as shock troopers. They carried a nine-to-twelve-foot (three to four meters)-long lance and also a sword as a secondary weapon. Often opening the battle, they conducted aggressive, full-scale charges at weak points in the enemy formation, usually in a triangular wedge formation.
However, in comparison to later shock cavalry like cataphracts, companion cavalrymen and their horses wore relatively light protection and didn't even carry a shield. And stirrups hadn't been invented yet.
While this enhanced their speed, it also required riders and horses to be very well-trained for fighting in this manner.
Because of this very offensive setting, the companion cavalry oftentimes suffered significantly higher losses than other parts of the army.
However, it paid off: the companion cavalry proved essential for Macedonian military success. In pivotal battles at Charonea (338 BC), Granicus (334 BC), Gaugamela (331 BC), and the Hydaspes (326 BC), they performed deciding maneuvers, turning around the battle for Macedonia.
Companion cavalry was a revolutionary step for cavalry warfare at the time and place. As a result, similar forces were developed all around the Hellenistic world.
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Two Macedonian soldiers
https://github.com/TheShadowOfHassen/0-ad-history-encyclopedia-mod/pull/138
Hypaspists:
QuoteHypaspists (translating to shield-bearers) were a type of elite infantry under Philip II and his son Alexander. Hellenistic successor states later adopted the concept. They were traditionally 3,000 men (three chiliarchies) strong. As an evolution of Macedonian foot companions, these soldiers were hand-picked or promoted for their merits and bravery. Because of their high skill and loyalty, they acted as the king's bodyguards and carried out special delicate missions such as guarding treasury or ambushing the enemy.
Most importantly, however, hypaspists played a vital role in Macedonian battle tactics and success. The main body of the Macedonian infantry were phalangites standing in a phalanx. Because of their long sarissa pikes, the front line was nearly impossible for contemporary armies to break through. However, this arrangement left the sides (and the back) extremely vulnerable to incoming attacks.
And on the battlefield, hypaspists were tasked with guarding exactly this weak point (often at the right). It's still debated whether they were equipped as phalangites too or instead fought in a hoplite manner. Either way, they functioned as an entity seperate from the main formation and were therefore much more flexible.
Argyraspides:
QuoteThe Argyraspides (translating to “silver shields”) were an elite Macedonian unit that was adopted by later Hellenistic armies. It is believed that they originally were hypaspists who, during Alexander's Indian campaign, upgraded and decorated their gear with silver and gold. They were a prestige special force known as the fiercest and most skilled contingent of the army.
Soon after Alexander's campaign had come to an end, the Argyraspides unit was dissolved. After all, those men had, at this point, nearly continuously been actively fighting in the army for over 20 years; most were over the age of 50. However, when Alexander died shortly after and war between the proclaimed successors (Diadochi) broke out, they were called back to arms.
During the first war of Diadochi, the Argyraspides fought for Perdiccas, but eventually, attrioned from a lack of military success, turned against him and revolted. It was their own commander, Antigenes, who ultimately murdered Perdiccas.
During the second war of Diadochi, the Argyraspides joined Eumenes, and in spite of their old age—many over 70 at this point—they proved extremely valuable in a series of battles. At the Battle of Gabiene against Antigonus' forces, they pushed the enemy line back very far and even managed to retreat in an organized manner from the lost battlefield despite being encircled. Their families and all loot acquired over several decades, however, were captured in the meantime. This pushed many individual soldiers to want to switch sides. And despite Antigenes, their commander, staying loyal this time, the Argyraspides ultimately caught and handed over their own supreme general, Eumenes—again—and deserted as a whole. Antigonus, with a passionate dislike against this unit, to render them harmless consequently ordered to disperse the soldiers over the entire empire, alledgedly with the intimation to have them killed in some way.
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Thanks! I appreciate it.
I've indeed invested a lot of time, and I actually quite enjoyed the process of learning JS and the way 0ad's graphical interface is made. Just the codebase alone helped a lot with understand core concepts.
0ad is such a great game, I'm glad I found a way for me to contribute.
And I can't say I'm not excited about the total progress we've made on the encyclopedia (articles as well as GUI).
1 hour ago, Norse_Harold said:I'm guessing that you got some help along the way.
From whom, I wonder... (thanks) And btw, I'm still hoping for eventual hyperlinks
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This topic somehow has 82 followers... I would guess at least 95% of them to be bots...
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Update on the encyclopedia GUI page:
I was not happy with the code at all, it was written in a very "unconventional" (bad) way and not really integrated into 0ad's codebase.
That's why I decided to basically rewrite everything.
The various panels are now different classes (and have their own XML and JS files). Values are now (as usual with JavaScript) stored in properties and passed between them. The CivDropdown (as well as the related civData) is created and used from already implemented classes and functions.
And countless more smaller improvements. All in all, I guess the code will be around 30% more efficient than before.
But most importantly: the code is now much much more readable and usable, and no longer embarrassing to show. It might not seem like a big step to some, because essentially all I did was lift it to the expected standard, but it certainly is for me. Because I only had little experience I programmed the project in the wrong direction. Yes, everything worked just fine on the surface, but I eventually had to take my time to "fix" it.
And that being done now means I can actually start designing and cleaning up the UI. Plus, because the code is now much better integrated into 0ad, I'm able to "intertwine" it with 0ad and make it feel less like a seperate entity. I, for example, already added a button to the structure tree, civilisation overview and the small unit/building/technology viewer page to open the respective encyclopaedia article.
If you want to take a look at the code, I put it on a GitHub repo: https://github.com/indoptogopt/GUI-page-for-0ads-encyclopedia
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What I think makes the Seleucid cavalry so interesting is that they were, unlike other Hellenistic kingdoms, forced by external enemies to develop a strong cavalry force. And this necessity aggravated even more after loosing (and becoming enemies with) some of their own important cavalry suppliers, regions like Parthia and Bactria. This even led to a tendency to neglect infantry which turned out fatal in some battles.
In the above text, I was focusing on the composition of Seleucid cavalry. Its role and importance probably deserve its own text. You worded it pretty well, if you're fine with it, I'm gonna use the passages you wrote, I couldn't write it better.
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Seleucid cavalry: https://github.com/TheShadowOfHassen/0-ad-history-encyclopedia-mod/pull/136
QuoteThe Seleucid empire was home to many peoples with a profound tradition of horsemanship, like the Bactrians, Parthians, Armenians, Cappadocians, and Medians. But large parts of the Seleucid army's cavalry fought in a mixture of Macedonian and Persian combat styles.
The royal guard was adopted from the Macedonian army, and it included two prestigious cavalry forces: the Hetairoi (companion cavalry), probably composed of Greek settlers, and the Agema, of soldiers of a more eastern origin. Both, around 1000 men strong each, were on constant duty stationed at the military base of Apamea. They wore comparably heavy armor and fought as lancers. A large section of the remaining Seleucid cavalry consisted of cleruchs, Greek settlers obliged to military service. They were part of the Seleucid society's upper class and considerably wealthy (so they could afford to buy and maintain horses). However, the Seleucids also fielded countless horsemen from all over their empire, equipped and fighting according to local customs. And allies, or mercenaries of various cultures and ethnicities, also stood in the Seleucid ranks. The Dahae tribes from the shores of the Caspian Sea, for example, are known for their light-ranged cavalry. Ancient Iranian cataphracts, a type of especially heavy cavalry, were also deployed. But there were a number more, for example, the Elymaians, Mysians, Galatians, and Tarentines.
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In that case, you probably don't have admin access to your router, that's why the credentials you entered only let you change limited settings on the router interface. Do you know who the admin is? If not, it's likely your ISP, contact your ISP usually they can set up a port forwarding rule for you.
If that's not possible (and you are the only person in the network) you could set the router to bridge mode and plug your computer into it.
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I like the idea too. Multiplayer games are too often decided by a weak player resigning before some others even engage in any fighting. On my level at least. A team pop cap would help outnumbered players not be instantly overrun just because they simply cannot field as many troops as the enemy.
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PR for two more articles:https://github.com/TheShadowOfHassen/0-ad-history-encyclopedia-mod/pull/134
Battle of Gaugamela (I wrote this one a long time ago, but forgot to submit it). It is good text in my opinion, but I'm unsure whether its length actually fits in the scope of the encyclopedia. Same for most other texts in the unused folder and some heroes. I am going to try harder to keep the texts shorter and leave out irrelevant details from now on.
QuoteThe Battle of Gaugamela was fought in 331 BC. An army by the League of Corinth under Macedonian leadership had been invading Persia, defeated multiple Persian armies over the last few years, and advanced deep into enemy territory. They were led by Macedonian King Alexander (later to be called the Great) and numbered around 50,000 soldiers, about 7,000 of whom were cavalry, the rest infantry.
The Persian army they faced consisted of over 100,000, meaning twice to three times as many soldiers. Ancient sources recall even multiple times greater sizes, but modern historians believe them to be highly exaggerated. Either way, it was the biggest army Alexander ever faced in the Persian campaign. Approximately 40,000 were cavalry; the Persians also deployed 200 scythed chariots and 15 war elephants.
They were led by Persian king Darius III, who had been awaiting the Macedonian army on a plain a few miles east of the river Tigris. Near the small town of (obviously) Gaugamela. Darius had ordered to flatten the terrain, removing bushes, stones, etc., to maximize the effectiveness of his chariots, and also cavalry.
On the day of the battle, the Macedonians lined up in front of the Persians. The left and right flanks of both armies consisted almost solely of cavalry. Darius III was positioned in the very center, protected by his elite infantry. Alexander led his right flank of cavalry. Because of the Macedonian numerical inferiority and the thereupon resulting narrowness of their formation, they were at great risk of getting flanked and encircled. To prevent that, both Macedonian flanks were bent backwards by 45 degrees. Alexander also kept reserves at the back.
The battle started with Alexander's cavalry moving outward. The Persian left wing, to prevent encirclement of their own, followed by doing the same. As the Macedonian right wing got close to the flattened terrain's edge, they were charged at by the Persian cavalry force, who wanted to stop the Macedonians from pushing the battle away from their advantageous flat ground. Simultaneously, the right Persian flank attacked the left Macedonian flank. Fierce cavalry clashes ensued on both flanks. But because on both sides the Persian cavalry was larger and very skilled, they both partially flanked the Macedonian cavalry on the outside and inflicted higher casualties than they took.
At this point in the center, the chariots charged at the Macedonian formation. Thereupon, the Macedonians opened passages in their formation, where the chariots drove through and attacked them with ranged infantry. This worked very well: the intimidating chariots were rendered basically harmless and defeated quickly.
While the cavalry fights continued on both flanks, some of the central infantry moved forward and tried to break through the Macedonian Phalanx in the center.
Alexander, still fighting on his right wing, realized his opportunity had come. With the Persian left wing being drawn to the side and many of their remaining forces far off in engagement with the Macedonians, a gap had opened, and Darius III was left relatively unprotected. Alexander took some of the cavalry fighting on the right, and charged directly at Darius' royal guard. He also ordered all his infantry divisions not yet involved in the fighting to do the same.
And he managed to get closer and closer to Darius III himself. Who, afraid of dying or being captured, fled. This reaction was seen by the Macedonians as very cowardly.
Noticing their king fleeing broke the Persian battle morale, and without any supreme orders, the Persian center was disrupted and scattered. Many were killed or captured. Alexander, however, was forced to not pursue Darius, as he was told his cavalry forces on both flanks were still on the brink of being overrun and desperately needed help. And also, their camp was being raided by Persians who had found a gap in the Macedonian formation.
The Macedonians, now controlling almost the entire battlefield, after intense fighting, ended up defeating the remaining Persian cavalry forces.
Macedon had decisively won. The Battle of Gaugamela marked one of Alexander's biggest victories, led to his capture of the heart of the Persian kingdom, and resulted in the collapse of resistance to his invasion.and cavalry warfare during the Hellenistic period (lengthwise much better):
QuoteCavalry during the Hellenistic period was used in many different forms. Light mounted units were often assigned intelligence-gathering tasks. They also employed hit-and-run tactics to keep enemies busy, exhaust them, or lead them into traps. In battle, light cavalry was usually tasked with securing the infantry's flanks. When attacking, they oftentimes attempted maneuvers of outflanking, encircling, or pulling apart to open a gap in the opposing formation. And because of their speed, light cavalry was also used to pursue and kill off fleeing soldiers.
However, due to the widespread deployment of phalangites (Macedonian pikemen) the infantry's front line was more resistant to cavalry charges than ever before. For that reason, elite cataphracts, a type of especially heavy cavalry, ascended as primary shock troops. Despite their lack of speed and maneuverability, they repeatedly won battles by exploiting gaps or weak points in the enemy's line.
One effective and unique anti-cavalry during the Hellenistic Period were war elephants. Most horses were deterred just by the presence of elephants. Placing elephants in front of the infantry was a good way to keep enemy cavalry at bay.The UI work on the encyclopedia page has been on hold for the last weeks, but I will resume working on it this weekend or next week.
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1 hour ago, Gurken Khan said:
Thx @Vantha!
So, are we sure now how the game picks AI leader names?
Yes. They get picked only from the AINames in files in simulation/data/civs/.
In A26 as well as A27 RC, these lists include heroes. However, they were recently cut in this revision, removing hero names and other duplicates. And Themistocles is one of the heroes.
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GUI property "textcolor_selected" not working
in Game Development & Technical Discussion
Posted
Thank you. I will edit the ticket and then probably make a patch to resolve the issue.