Phoenix-TheRealDeal

Phoenix Clan IS an 'official' 0ad clan... to the extent that is possible to be at the moment, and has been since it's inception in August of 2003. What do I mean by to the extent that it is possible to be? Well, we maintain our own 0ad forum known as the 0ad Centre AND a webpage known as the 0ad Province... although not much is posted there currently as disemination of the News of the game's development is now in the hands of the 0ad PR Department and the 0ad Website 'tells it all' with regard to that. However, you can rest assured that when the time comes to do beta testing and such that Phoenix Clan members will be participating in that, and so forth as things continue on. In the meantime, Phoenix members continue to be involved in playing a range of games, and in general being a great online 'family' of freinds who treat each other with respect and have a good time, and joining is as easy as following the rules of good behavior online. Phoenix Clan is located at=> www.phoenixclan.biz If you go there, you might take a 'stroll' through "Members"... and it may surprise you to find out just who are some of those wearing the Phoenix- prefix name tag on their names. Tonto Clan at=> www.tontoclan.com is another clan that wants to be a participating official 0ad gaming clan. Tonto Clan also has or has had some people on staff here at WFG. (The Tonto Clan has been 'reorganised' since I was actively in it, but that's not to say that is bad.) BTW, I don't wear my clan tag in my sig here because normally when I am here I am "all business" wrt the development of this game... so haven;t considered it to be 'appropriate'. OMMV. Cheers, Ken Wood aka Phoenix-TheRealDeal, Propraetor of Phoenix Clan (co-founder--Aug 2003, and former Co-Consul) aka tonto_real (Patriarch and co-founder--Mar 2000, and first-former Emperor of the old-original Tonto Clan).

It is a good idea, Bakayaro. In fact, you can, and I do it, playing RM AoK. Let's just say a 1v1 or a 2v2, frexs. If I want a relatively short game I can select the Tiny map (easier to flush or rush on, game over toot sweet). If I want to go with a loooonnnnger game, I select the Giant map. The larger maps are scripted to have more resources appear on them because there is more 'space', and of course they've been designed to carry more civs playing in balance on them, too. Yes, selecting map size at one extreme or the other does have the net effect of giving you a noticeably different game type to play because both strategy and tactics will have to conform to the chosen mapworld. And, amongst quite a few other things, you'll be able to do that in 0ad.

Titus Ultor, there is no job at WFG/0ad that doesn't entail a LOT of work in the process of making an excellent game.

Check, mate.

Now this is a very unteresting idea when it comes to speaking of immersive qualities. Picture the soldier. He is standing somewhere in the world. He has in his hand a map of some scale, perhaps 1:62,000, 1:50,000, 1:25, 000... etc. this map in his hand is his mini-map. How does he use it for navigation upon the terrain of the real_world? Well there are a number of little technique that he uses to locate himself or locate 'targets' on the terrain... we do that for our soldier/player by marking his minimap for him. But the one thing that he ALSO does... is orient the map from his viewpoint to where he is looking, or going. As an old soldier, I've done that a LOT. MY personal job was also working in an aircraft having 'video' screens displaying areas of the terrain on them (aerial surveillance & reconnaisance systems). This was before the days of computerized touch screens, but the way in which we plotted and tracked targets on the screens was in the same manner... by having a map in lap oriented to the flight path as terrain was revealed on the screen... again, the simile of the minimap. It is intuitive. It is easier to 'find oneself' and find 'the enemy'... or where you suspect he might be. It is the best and highest use of the gamescreen with its organic minimap that I've seen mentioned yet. And it is a darnsight better than trying to rotate the camera around that is disorienting as is done in some games. Another breakthough idea, methinks. In actual practice, it is just as well that the minimap be on the flat plane from vertical viewpoint as the perspective on that would dither clear and instantaneous view of the whole of the terrain. Now then, I was excited when Stu mentioned (at length) his idea for putting all the game data items at the top and related to what he said about there being a closer perspective at the bottom of the screen. But wrt to Michael's thought, and subsequent posts, if not too difficult to do I'd go for creating that at the top then having a toggle in the game setup screen permitting it to be toggled to the bottom as the player wishes. The only thing that would be 'lost' is a bit of the 'closer perspective' while nothing is really lost of the greater expanse in viewing of the gameworld on the screen itself. So, just toggle to top or to bottom as one would wish..... flip---flop.

You seem to have 'forgotten' that I had a dream, too. A dream upon awakening is often the synthesis of the compilation of a multitude of 'facts' coming together that enables one to think entirely anew about something he has been muddling over for a long time... thinking out of the box.... thus a "breakthorough". Kudos to you, and kudos to me for having palmed off GUI design consideration onto you in the first place. I LIKE it. Give ME more of the gameworld and less of the supporting paraphanalia... as long as I can interpret or access that easily enough... anyday!

It IS 0 A.D., HD.

Hello, Timothy, and welcome to WFG community forums.

Go check the links on the 0ad Website and you will find some of them.

Yes, he's done very good work on the shields as well as other things. Thank you for recognising his good work. Being a member of the Graphics Department working on an effort as large as this is often, usually, involves what many would think of as 'drudge work'. It can take many days of work on something as simple as making, appropriately, such as a hundred different terrain patches or a hundred different shield faces, then move on to the next item and have to make a hundred more of something, the next thing. So, not only has he done good work on these, but he has consistently done such good work for more than two years now working on the game... and that is the BEST of the work that he's done.... sticking with it and being consistently dedicated to what he is doing.

I will be particularly interested in seeing that.

We'll be looking forward to seeing what you are able to come up with.

That is true.

Same to YOU, pard. It is not so much that it is "all that secret stuff" as it is that a lot of that stuff just ain't really ready to 'show off' yet. And if it is not ready, then the showing of it misinforms rather than enlightens people who see it. We are sensitive to that because people who find out they've once been told something that turns out to not be true are often turned off by that... and we really don't want that to happen with respect to the game we are making, eh? At the same time, we've all made some mistakes along the way, it's been a big learning process. We hope we are getting better as we learn together.

Welll... maybe someone will whisper it in yor ear so that you know what it really sezzz. That is if I interpret "hort" correctly. But I'll 'condense it for ya, pardner. => It says that we really are not low on ideas for specialty RMS maps, and that we are gonna make a certain kind of RMS maps (script 'em for release with the game). => It says that WE aren't gonna make more than one RMS specialty map, and that we are gonna leave the making of MORE of them to you guys when the came comes out. => It says that some of the ideas you've listed you will see as already being done when the game comes out, and some not, but that I'm not at liberty to go into detail about ALL of that at this time (nor is Mythos_Ruler, for that matter). Now then , looking at your sig and seeing that your are a modder extraordinaire and 0ad fanatic, and looking at your list, I see some GREAT ideas... so the point of the thread is in listing WHAT you guys think you will be wanting to do YOURSELVES... and in that case it is not pointless. I just wanted to clear up a few points for you because I thought that it would help your understanding of what you can expect... but if you aren't going to read it... *shrug* someone else probably will.

Somewhat of a misstatement, so let me clarify. 1. All maps will be fun to play, some moreso for some folks and some moreso for others. 2. There are no RMS maps to be developed that are "historical" in the strictest sense of that word. The entire game being developed has a historical basis and most of the categories of RMS maps will support that to the extent that they reflect some degree of accuracy with respect to the geophysical attributes of the terrain and "biomically" with respect to what part of the gameworld they 'depict'. So, this is to say that within a given category of RMS map, you will see something of the flora, fauna, and geological formation characteristics that existed regionally 2,000 years ago. We hope to have so many different entities that can be placed upon the maps that the biomic packeting of them along with certain physical relevances will indeed permit one category from looking exactly like another. Biomic packeting restricts the number and individual entities that can be loaded to a type map, also preventing the overloading of it so that the game just won't run. Those entities have been spec'd, it remains for them to all be artistically rendered and the programming developed to support the generation of the maps. That's work in progress. It will take time. We are not at this time adding to that list; building the game is like building a skyscraper, you don't change the architectural drawings once you have the building half way built and specialist everywhere working according to the specifications. 3. The RMS maps to be supplied with the game as a matter of being done 'up front' for release with the game, WHEN ready for that, fall into 9 categories that are tied to what we call "biome packeting" as mentioned in 2., above. These are such as "Temperate", "Steppe", "Desert", etceteras. All of these biome packeted maps have a relevance to 'places', geographical regions, that were to be found as the historical homelands of the 6 civilisations we are featuring in the game, with exception to 2. One of those 9 is "Polar" and the other "Tropic", though for the latter we can do a bit of a stretch by knowing that the Carthaginians visited tropical Africa during the voyage of Hanno, and probably via trader caravans; Polar is included because we've known since time immemorial that people have wanted it. Remember, unless you don't know, that this game has been being worked on for well over two years now. NOTHING about it remains in its infancy. These maps then represent the extent of our "game world" regionally, though in fact players recognise the greater truth that the game world is being anything presented to them in the GUI and at the keyboard or by sound. So, it's merely a matter of definitions for the purposes of design specifications. 4. Each of the RMS map categories has spec'd for development at least one each of a "land map" and one of a "water map", for it, some more than others; and each of these maps are given a name that generally depicts what they 'are' and the region they represent. Thus, "Nile River" is but a 'sub-category' of "Desert--Water map" because it has some major extent of water upon it and the designed characteristics overall lend to certain aspects of gameplay affecting players strategies and tactics on that map. And while each as a randomised map will 'come up' differently, they will always have those characteristics that relate it to that particular region of the 'game world' in a more-or-less recogniseable fashion to the player... helping him to get his 'head into' the Nile River and adjacent lands. By design, merely one of many aspects of the game we define as enhancing "player immersion" into it during a gaming session. 5. In addition to the 9 categories just mentioned there is a 10th category that has but a single map spec'd to it. This is the one wherein we said "just for fun" because it indeed bear NO relationship nor historical relevancy to the 'regional game world'. The generation of this ONE "specialty" RMS map by the team prior to release is merely to give a single 'example' of what ANY fan, mapscriptor, scenario designer, campaign developer, or modder... might want to do him- or herself once the game is released and in their own hands. So, you see we are not short on specialty maps.... and Michael is not one of the game designers who've written the specifications for the work to be done, but a graphics artist who has currently been working with me to "mock up" some marvelously good visual 'representations' of those map types specified. The Scenario Editor will provide the tools that provide for that, for making up many different and wonderful maps and stuff limited largely only to the creativity of the fans. That's one of the principal goals we are working towards, say, coming under the term of "great moddability". Now then, if anyone wants to design (at that time) a world map such as AlexanderTheGreat3 did for AoK & AoC, or an Australia map that is 'good' such as others did (both FAR exceeding the scope of our game-relevant game world), they can certainly do that... and we hope that we'll be making it easier for you than has typically been before. You can go into competition with Bobbo for making of an even better World Map. OK, I hope that'll give you a little bit of a 'better idea' where we are going wrt RMS maps. And that's about all I can say on the subject at this time because all is yet a work in progress, we have much yet to get on with, governed by milestones for accomplsihment as needs be, except that some of what has been proposed here in fact are game types rather than map per se, some are already 'in there', and some are simply not relevant to our development effort at this time... BUT YOU will be able to make them then as relevant as you, yourself, want to... when we get the game done to the point when that becomes possible FOR you. Because he knows, in light of recent developments with respect to the team organisation and effort, that he may have 'spoken a bit out of turn', and doesn't now want to take any 'heat' for it. I think, he did. And hope, I haven't. But I didn't want you left 'hanging' here once started the thread, especially in view of how I suspect it came about. Soooooooooo..... You see, there is a 'New Sheriff in town', goes by the name of the PR Department, has certain responsibilities they are working on toward getting ya'll better informed, and some of us are just going to have to get used to the fact that they are the ones who are charged with disseminating information about the game's development and progress. Good idea, really, as it will cut down on the amount of misinformation that 'gets out and about'.

E-mail notification of PM and link in PM to this forum works for me, Tim. If other notifs work, I shant reply again... but to say now Thank You, Pardner. Makes it so much easier to get around.

Tim, I wrote you some weeks ago now about it but didn't get an answer. Maybe you didn't get my message. The 'problem' for me is that I don't get e-mail notifications in a form that I can just click on the URL cited as being a new topic or a reply to a thread in a forum that I have subscribed to. This circumstance has always been the case for this iterqation of the WFG forums, but didn't used to be the case for the 0ad forums where I spend most of my time. That started just some weeks ago. What it entails is that when I receive an e-mail notification, then I have to: => highlight the URL in the body of the message, => copy it to the clipboard, =>then in an active page, highlight whatever is in the address bar there, =>paste the clipboard stored URL into that address bar, =>and then hit GO. When I have a dozen or more e-mail notifications backedup that I am trying to get to to read and/or reply to (because I am subscribed to quite a few forums) this constitutes an inordinately large amount of time I am spending just trying to 'get around'. That's strange to me because otherwise we have great boards... and NO other boards that I visit nowadays that I am subscribed to do I have to do anything more than just simply click on the URL in the notification to gain direct access to the 'post' indicated. We are all busy, and I sort of 'shined it' before when it only applied to WFG forums cuz haven't been going there (though I used to go there often to welcome new 'members' to our forums) much, less so now that harder to get to, and I thought, oh, I'll hear something back sooner-or-later, and also thought, well, maybe it is only me and is something in my own comp that isn't 'right'. You know... but it's become a real pain in the nether region AND I've recently learned that someone else is experiencing the same problem(s). So, do ya reckon we could find a fix for that?

ditto dat, Adam.

lol... I've already been waiting 5 years for this game. It'll happen, of that I have consumate faith in (and in the people on the team), when it happens.

.... and gigantic trees by comparison with the buildings...

That's a pretty good assessment, Malte.

Looking very, very good.

Yes, looking very, very good! Keep the Stone Henge for the Scenario Editor... it is too good to give up. KISS it for the Celtic Temple (Health Centre).... just make a circle of large 'stately' oak trees and plop down a flat 'alter stone' inside of them. Put a couple or several different animal heads (skulls) on totem stakes around it to signify the 'spirits' of the 'druidic world' and perhaps a burning torch to signify the life-giving quality of 'light' and 'fire'. Have a prop-point-attachment to the centre-top of the stone so that when a druidic priest is 'garrisoned within' he is standing there and going about waving his arms and staff wolololo-ing when there are units to be healed brought within close proximity of the 'sacred grove' (i.e., garrisoned priest speeds up the healing process)... which may appear to have a pathway or two from the outside-in between the trees (though not in reality). Well, that's my 2-bits.

Mabuse. Glad to see that you 'finally' found your way in here, good Herr Doktor.