Vantha

It is already possible in the options to choose which variant to use as the primary name. And it is set to the native (specific) names by default...

Personally, I also think we definitely shouldn't drop them and I don't find the current usage to be very inconsistent. But I support the call for a wider use of native names.

The issue I have with that is that the chat currently doesn't show accented characters (which the native names would include). For example, the bot names are fully anglicised and the mythological terms in the hero death chat message too.

On another note, I believe it's finally time to standardise hero naming. Most heroes have the same generic and specific (native) names, but there are a few with their unit class (e.g. "Hero Cavalry Swordsman") as the generic name. Now, the code for the hero death notification currently queries for the generic name (to avoid special characters) which obviously causes unwanted outcomes. We need to decide on one of the two options. What do you prefer?

Here is a PR for this: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/7232. But we still don't have a final alarm sound yet.

The Aleppo pine and holly oak. For the shrubs, we have "bush_mediterranean" and "bush_mediterranean_dry". And, addtionally, quite a few fitting props (for decoration).

Two articles on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Iberian_shrubs_and_woodlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_forests,_woodlands,_and_scrub Some photos: Keep in mind that these show the landscape today. Mediterranean regions like this tend to have become considerably more arid since antiquity. -> We need something noticeably more green.

Just opened the PR: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/7204

I'd opt for a map size somewhere between small and normal. For details about the topography see the references below. The area appears to consist of dry shrublands with some scattered patches of loose Mediterranean forests. Unfortunately, I checked and it seems like there's no map currently in the game yet with biome like this.

To get started, we need a map. @Lion.Kanzen You said you could make one? In parallel, I will start with scripting the first/zeroth scenario.

Oh, nevermind. I rebuilt the game and issue is gone. Weird.

I was about to open a PR, but I noticed... sea treasures aren't even generated correctly right now. Where in A26 there are barrels, A27 spawns entire ships (owned by gaia). Can someone confirm this?

I think we should refrain from using foreign words since we can't expect players to know them and they could be hard to translate into languages with other alphabets. I'll replace "soul" with "shade".

This would work in English (and German). But in many other languages, the verbs need to be conjugated differently depending whether the subject is feminine or masculine. For the translation we'll therefore always need two different strings, no matter the exact wording.

Fair points. I added an entry referencing Isis to the list above (for the Ptolemies). Sounds reasonable, but I can't really speak on that since I'm not a native English speaker. What do others think about this? @ShadowOfHassen

I'd like to keep the Ptolemies focused on the cult of Serapis, and Graeco-Egyptian syncretism in general. Original Egyptian mythology is (more or less) present through the Kushites already. I'll add a sentence about Hermanubis (combining Hermes and Anubis) to the list above.

I took up the idea of including references to the mythologies again. The idea is to have a basic message ("<PlayerName>'s hero <HeroName> has fallen in battle.") and optionally add a second sentence to it for some historical flavor. And, of course, also offer the possibility to disabled the notifications entirely. This is the list I put together: At first, I thought about adding some descriptive terms to the names since we can't expect all players to understand the references on their own. However, I ended up deciding against it to keep the messages shorter. Instead, I made all sentences start with "His soul" (or similar) to signal that they aren't related to the gameplay. And I think the names alone can also spark interest. Also, I'm aware that some heroes in the game are female -> we need two variants of each sentence, one feminine and one masculine. (I only included the masculine ones above for simplicity) Thoughts? Suggestions? By the way, @Samulis, if you could make another sound effect for the notification, that'd be awesome.

I don't exactly agree with this point but, nonetheless, I think we should follow through with Carthago Nova.

Honestly, I thought we had already settled on Carthago Nova / Cartagena. The long continuous marching doesn't really match the typical gameplay, right? On the other hand it would offer a logical explanation for why you need to build a new city from the ground up in each scenario -> constructing fortifications along the route to defend against ambushes. And launching a grand attack against the city of Rome would make for a great climax.

You can just share the tricks (title, text & image) in here and I'll take care of the rest, sounds good? Most files affected by the patches are either newly created or haven't been changed for some years (which makes it possible to port the changes to older versions). I could put together a mod for A26 if that helps. Probably the easier solution...

Alright, here it is: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/7189 I decided to place the buttons and text outside of the image to keep a constant brightness difference to the background. Quick showcase:

Well, there's a difference between tutorial campaigns and ordinary campaigns, no? The purpose of the first is to present the game's most characterising content while the purpose of the second one is to offer something new and outlandish. That being said, I believe your proposal has good potential and would indeed bring improvements in some ways. However, it would require a revamp of the game's design and vision - something that should only be done with great caution. Not to mention the huge amounts of effort required to implement it. And the concept should be discussed in a separate thread.

I mean - after more than 20 years of development - no matter the idea, there's a pretty good chance someone has already thought of it in the past By the way, I recall someone suggesting the feature of buildable streets that boost unit movement speeds over them a while ago. I don't remember in which exact thread, but it's an interesting concept.

Alright, here is what I envision for scenario 0: Scenario 0 will neither to last the length of a full game nor feel like it. Instead, it is only supposed to introduce players to the basic controls and UI. The map more or less covers the following area: The player starts in the southwestern/bottom-left corner with a couple of soldiers, women, and the hero, but no structures, and is told to scout the land for a suitable place to build the colony. Because there are no ships yet, the player is indirectly forced to make their way counter-clockwise around the map. On the way, two things happen: Firstly, the player finds a treasure and collects it. He is then told to collect enough treasures more from around the map to afford a civic center. Secondly, a few wild animals attack some of his units, and the player learns the basics of combat. Eventually, he will find his way onto the target peninsula and is ordered to construct a civic center here. The player "wins" the game as soon as the construction of this civic center is finished. What do you think?

Some references for the terrain and topography around Carthago Nova: