Phoenix-TheRealDeal

Heya, Herr Doktor... good to cya weighing in. If it works out the way we've planned it, EVERY unit you train in any game type available played will have his/her own name.... the same going for the opp. So you can see that would extend beyond the ScnEd into RM, DM, etceteras. That will probably, with exception for heroes, be randomly generated into the langueage of the civ being played (each civ will speak its own language during gameplay); however, presumably, you will be able to select from a list of names for the units you select in the ScnEd for creation of your scenario, or even create new names as well. This is a goal of the design in development, of course, but well 'advanced' in the documentation... at least, at this point. It could happen too, when dealing with certain ancient languages, that the list of names we have found available to us (though most are quite extensive) could be exhausted having been run through and still yet more units to train and bring to life, so it's entirely possible that thier might be more than one 'Doktor Mabuse' on the playing field.

That would be loke asking us to add another layer of administration on top of all that we already have, though it mayu be that as you've registered to the forums we have the e-mail addys of ALL who have and a notification perhaps could go out in that manner. Keep in mind that this is a hobbiest development effort... and it has taken many of us more than three years already just working on the game (for free) in able to make a game which will be free. IF you continue to be active on our forums, regardless of how long it takes to go to completion, I can practically guarantee you that you'll be amongst the first to know when it does. Indeed it does... the best I've seen yet! Have you downloaded it and messed around with it? Can you actually zoom in on a bit of terrain, say the size of Socotra (the island to the right just off the Horn of Africa-Somalia) and south of Yemen in such a manner that something like that could constitute the gameworld for a session? I ask because that is what we'll need if we are to become able to replicate 'the real world' with fidelity to it. Does it also run under Windows? I am not personally sure what 'Windows X' means.

.... or the fans will.

That's a very good question, Caesar89. It wont be applicable in either Part 1 or Part 2 of 0ad. The principal differences between the two part are merely the addition of the 'later' civs giving more breath to the game. We might also in that meantime discover that there is a thing or two we can learn to do in order to enhance gameplay, too. There are some things on the 'back-burner' that are not 'cost-effective' (in terms of time to accomplish and expertise to do so--not in dollars which we ain't got anyway) at this time that we still want to 'look at' for the second part. As I am the 'responsible party' for the soldiers concept, I'll attempt to explain it to you... briefly I hope. Firstly, 0ad is a game, and not a historical simulation. Ergo, there are bound to be some variance from what was and what is... for the sake of gameplay. Secondly, an analysis of weaponry of the era (500BC~500AD) yields that there were only 9 basic weapons types used, other than siege engines employed by anybody, during the period. Another notable thing is that there was very little in the way of 'standing professional armies', though in some cases there were what we might term as 'royal guards'. Interestingly though, the majority of soldiers, regardless of civ, were merely 'called up' at the whim of the king or potentate.... we call them "Citizen Soldiers". One could nitpick on some very rare occurences of 'other' weapons types, but dont bother. An elephant or a horse drawn chariot is a cavalryman. That works. Note that a citizen soldier might be primarily armed with any one of those 9 typical weapons, though with some variability within a civ based upon its culture. Thus we have to look at each of the civs and determine what types of weaponry they in fact did use.... in order to determine what kinds of citizen soldiers A civ will get... no two being exactly alike. I'm sure you;ll follow all of that so far. One more thing to mention about citizen soldiers before I break down what they are is... that ALL citizen soldiers are not JUST soldiers, they are also citizens... they do things like farm and hunt and build thangs, as well as going off to do warfighting if commanded to do so. We divide 'em up this way: infantry citizen soldiers farm, chop, wood, mine stone and ore, build and repair structures; cavalry citizen soldiers hunt, herd, and are able (sometimes) to capture female citizens. Ergo, all citizaen soldiers have economic tasks to perform (or that they can perform). Now then, as to the 9 types, you;ve already seen that they are divided as infantry or cavalry, and this is the way that shakes out: Infanty: *swordsman (melee) *spearman (melee) *javalinist (ranged) *slinger (ranged) *archer (ranged) Cavalry: *swordsman (melee) *spearman (melee) *javalinist (ranged) *archer (ranged) And there ya have it, foot and mounted... citizen soldiers. Now the type of sword may vary, or spear, or bow, whathaveyou... that is left up to the individual civ designers and the historians to work out... and not all civs are gonna get all 9 trooper types... in fact, noone will. OK, why this way when you and I and darned near everybody else KNOWS that most troops fought with more than one weapon? The main reason esthtically is that we gave units, say all units, 2 or 3 weapons to fight with, they'll end up being quite the same... as other units. Another is that it is 'costly' in programming terms (something we have to always keep in mind) to have units that are 'changelings' more than once... they can change from doing thier econ tasks to military and back, but beyond that it gets 'difficult'. However, we are not totally ignoring the fact that in most societies there were such as 'professional soldiers'. In the 'city Phase' of the game you will be abel to reain what we call "Super Units" that will be able to fight either melee OR ranged.... there'll be 2 of them for each civ... but you are limited as to the toatal number you can have on the terrain at any one time. HERE then you;ll find such as the Persian Immortals or the likes of Alexander's Companions... but in a limited quantity... which simply means that you will have to depend upon citizen soldiers to provide the bulk of your army. Remember too, that 0 A.D. is a time that never was, so we have some lattitude wrt respect to the timeline of the historical record... I mean we are not following a timeline as the game develops from gamestart. We start out with a village, build it up to a town and then on to a city... and each time you advance you get more stuff. And that pretty muich covers it, I think. Well, as to whether Roman's legionairres turn out to be Camilian Reform or Marian Reform, or something sorta in-between, that's up to, again, the individual civ designer for Romans and the Historians on the team. There doing a good job. Someone(s) of course will always find something to 'pick at', and then unless GROSSLY in error my response will be, "Hey, mate... it's a game!" Oh, and your question about the Pilum, it will be uised as a ranged weapon. Up to you how many spears and swords and all that you put with it, mate.

'The Ships' have been near and dear to my heart ever since even before we started this lil project several years ago. Our 'intention' is to give you as much of what you propose as is possible for us to work out... 1., 2., 3. are almost a certainty though 1 modified somewhat for the ships and 4. may not be 'necessary' if we can work it out so that you can 'configure' your 'ship's complement' (garrison) pretty much as you, the player, desire (or the AI 'decides'). Boarding in 5. may be beyond our 'ken', ramming which you didn't mention may be possible, stances in certain respects are 'possible'. We are being somewhat vague because certain 'issues' which we've placed in the design document as requirements have yet to be worked out as to how they'll be implemented, as CheeZy has stated... and we have a way to go with them yet. You can rejoice in the fact that, as Mythos_Ruler said, you are "on the right track". So are we.

TrashA, and anyone else that might be interested, The 0 A.D. Project Game Development Team works together just as any professional corporate body does or would in any other aspect of real_life. This means that anyone brought onto the team goes through a hiring process that begins with filling out thier application in detail, submitting examples of work(s) already accomplished as a 'portfolio' of thier acquired skills, and being interviewed by one or more levels of management within the team that they will be working with, or for, in accomplishing the tasks they've 'signed up' for... to include in most cases participating in periodic meetings with others in thier department, or cross-department, as appropriate to thier area of endeavor, and in keeping the rest informed on a regular basis of progress being made. That's a pretty long sentence that pretty much covers what is expected in a single statement. The only ways in which we differ from what you'd normally find in a corporation is that our staff is made up in age from quite young in thier teens who may still be in in highschool to those who are older, still in college pursuing degrees, and in some cases already established working professionals in thier career fields... and the fact that all work is done on a purely voluntary basis the only compensation being the improvement of skills through the acquisition of more experience, getting to know and work with outstanding people from many parts of this world, and the opportunity to find one's name one day listed in the credits for the game when released to the public... all of which may lead to enhanced employability somewhere along the way in the future. Those are the two faces of the 0 A.D. Project team coin. Bottom line to all of that is that WE are interested in what skills you bring to the team and in what you will actually DO if accepted. Periodically, we post that we have a need for people with certain skills. But make no mistake about it, to become a member of the 0 A.D. team is a 'priviledge' that must be earned. That this 'corporate system' works is adequately evidenced by the superior work that you've all been able to see developing over time on the 0 A.D. website. No one of us has any idea at this moment in time as to what your "chances" are. That's not the way it works, neither here nor elsewhere unless you are going to work for your papa because you are daddy's boy. People often SAY that they know how or do this or that, but to work with us it must be proven and come up to a certain 'standard' for consideration, evaluation. This is the only way we've found to make things WORK for making progress in the making of the game with about 40 different people working on it at any one time in six different departments. In this case, and not meaning to be just 'mean' to you. I would suggest that if indeed you are REALLY interested in 'the job', the first thing you 'need' to do is edit that quote in your post so that it reads in proper English and that the words are spelled right. It doesn't inspire confidence in someone who would hire you that you do not pay enouigh attention to detail in comunicating with others to speak plainly and correctly in English... especially when our principal means of communications with one another are in reading what has been said on 'working' forums, via e-mail, or in 'chatrooms' and that the product you will be making has to be error or bug free. We also have people on the team for whom English is a second language, so clearly stated communications are essential to understanding. However, you can fix that. THEN, fill out the Application and submit representative work accomplished. If you think that you can 'measure up', then 'go for it'. By posting all this it isn't my intention to 'scare' anyone off. As a matter of fact we've had people hired onto the team as young as 14 who've brought thier skills to it and have grown with us in having done so. Like I said, we are only interested in what you CAN do and what you WILL do. We're looking for 'the pros', or those who want to be. Then one day before too long, the sooner the better, we are ALL going to enjoy playing this game.

Now that's a very GOOD idea.

There are some historical antecedents for like-design shields. Frex, the Spartans ALL sported lamda, the symbol for the Lacadaemoinians, on thier infantry shields as they wanted there to be no doubt as to whom was being faced on the field-of-battle.

We in the design department actually seriously considered this just about 3 years ago, and after quite a bit of discussion decided to discard.

So WELL spoken, Bobbo... but don't scare this poor fellow away who JUST arrived here and probably can't yet know how it is with a bunch of paupers making a great game on a shoelace and a french fry. Welcome to the fanbase, Internalcow. Yeah, havok engine types weren't even invented yet when we originally spec'd this game, and to the best of my knowledge noone of us be rich but either students or just plain working stiffs that enjoy a challenge and working together with a great group of, like CheeZy says, people.

Caesar, ye be a fast reader, indeedy, yes, ye be.

Don't feel exactly like the Lone Stranger... I'm agonna have to upgrade mine, too. But, itsa gonna be a 'major' game, and everything else coming down the pike will require that of me as well. So, if I wanna stay in the game......

Uh huh, about some things, yes.

Not all units wear armour. What happens to those that don't?

PsssST! CheeZy's a mole for the Iberian Intifada.

About Cobre Where the hummingbirds were The Purepecha Empire - Paradise Lost You don't find a whole lot about it as the history of the times eclipsed what might have been known of them due to the historical emphasis having been put onto the Azteca/Mexica and the grand stage of the Spanish conquest. Furthermore, the Purepecha didn't have a written language to leave behind. They were the 2nd largest of the Meso-American empires (yes, greater than the Maya at the time of the conquest) and a rather extraordinary people in their own right whose language and cuilture seems to have been more linked to the Inca of South America than any in the North... though there is no other direct evidence that would substantiate the claim. They were also older than the Aztec empire while being contemporary to it, and never defeated in battle by the Azteca. I first came to an awareness that they had metalurgical skills and copper weapons by reading what to me is probably the most awesomely powerful historical novel I've EVER read, Aztec, by gary Jennings. See here for more on Gary Jennings and his qualifications as an historical researcher.

Lord Zorinthrox, Sent your suggestion along to the people who would know whether this might be something implemenable into our game. It does not matter that your post didn't flow with the conversation. This forum is here specificfally so that people can make suggestions that may have relevance to the game's development regardless of what is currently being spoken of. Thank you.

I can almost GUARANTEE you, BaKayaro, that you'll WANT to be using formations in 0ad. But they won't be as facile, speciously superficial, as those you've known in other RTS that have given you no real incentive for using them or in spending the time required to put them together when time is of the essence in an RTS. Yeah, no 'fireship' either... though one could make one in the ScnEd. And, Paul, my favorite historian, did you know that there was one native American civ that had metal weapons? *Paul is shocked to hear of this revelation* Yup, they were known as the Purepecha named Tarascanos (Tarascans) by the Spaniards, and they held sway over the region in what is nowadays the Mexican state of Michoacan with thier capitol in the vicinity of Lake Patzcuaro. This is to the west-northwest of what was then Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), and included parts of the modern neighboring states of Jalisco and Colima. They had achieved a rudimentary level of metal working technology that was good enough to be used to make jewelry for the noblesse oblige, utilitarian vessels and utinsels of various kinds... and WEAPONS. However, these things were held close to the 'kingdom' and not in the hands of ordinary people--a shame really because then tool implements would have been fashioned and the smelting progressed beyond that of a cottage industry--closely guarded and except for times of emergency kept sort of 'under lock and key', as was held the knowledge of the technology itself. It is noteworthy and probably the principal reason that the Azteca, who wanted to conquer everyone in sight gave up on trying to conquer the Purepecha having attacked them and lost badly on several occasions. Disclaimer--this paragraph has NOTHING to do with 0ad. *Everyone now exits the room proclaiming, hey I heard it from the horse's moiuth that a native American tribe is going to be in 0ad!*

That last one might be asking a bit much.

Well, 0 A.D. is not a medieval time-period game. And yeah, I don't think that an adobe hut will be burning.... unless it had a thatched roof. I kinda like that idea of archers being in towers though.

Or a "defend the wonder" type game.

Word UP from the IIF to the IVF.... remember where in your strange language dies ater came from..... hehehe.... we'll be waiting for you.

Ummm, nowhere to the best on MY knowledge.

*joins the Iberians Intifada faction*