Phoenix-TheRealDeal
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Posts posted by Phoenix-TheRealDeal
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Is there possibility to register and when game is finished, then I will be notified?
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.
Runs under Linux and generates nice maps.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.
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I'm awfully proud of you, boss, and of what we've managed to accomplish through the courage of your lead over these years.
The ultimate goal is a "benevolent dictatorship".Gee, I wonder where that came from?
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Welcome aboard the 0ad project, Dayle.
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Welcome aboard the 0ad project, Mark.
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.... or the fans will.
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3 units rolled into one (this question probably wont be applicable for the first installation of 0ad, but I'm just curius).
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.
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'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.
If u think I would have a good chance at geting the job, tell me and ill fill out the application. I just wanna know my chances of being accepted before filling out the application.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.
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I'm quite proud of the work shown here and the guys that DID it.
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Good article until the very last in the epilogue to the battle. Clearchis who had sworn oaths, shaken right hands and made truce with Tissaphernes, supposedly with King Artaxerxes approval, betrayed the Greeks when he invited the 5 generals and a number of captains (100) to dinner, captured them... and all were subsquently killed.
Xenophon that very night rallied the dispirited surviving lieutenant generals and captains of one of the divisions who in turn rallied the troops and officers of the other divisions, and then they all elected new generals and had reorganized themselves by the following morning... he being one of the five new generals (a junior one because he had no previous military experience). What was said by the senior Greek general is that they would be at war with the Persians as long as they remained in thier land. Not so much because they wanted to be but that because these barbarians had no honour and wanted to see them all dead so would not leave them to go in peace.
Also, the meaning of the word Anabasis in this case was, The March Up Country.
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A great article, very interesting, on a 'civ' that we hope to model in part 2 of 0ad. The accompanying map of Dacia is kind of hard to tell much about the terrain but I'm thinking that the river shown opening to the Euxine is the Danube, ergo most of Dacia must have occupied modern day Romania. I suppose that fits as the Romanian Language is a Romance Language and mention is made that Trajan colonized the area with Romans. It doesn't say who wrote the article... Joshua?
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OH, didn't I tell you guyz that I'm sort of an 'expert' on Sicilia, too?
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Excellent article on one of the few female heroines of classical times. Thanks for writing it for 0ad.
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Now that's a very GOOD idea.
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Nice article.
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Well, it's about TIME that someone did an article on the Syracusan Greeks, and I commend you for it.
GJ!You don't mention it in your article but Dionysios I (405-367 BC) as Tyrant of Syracuse gathered engineers and scientists from all over the Med World and was the 'father' of truly new advances in siege weaponry begetting the Gastaaphetes, or 'Belly Bow' (similar to our modern crossbow), and other engines of war to include larger in both ballistae and catapultae classes (to include double-armed) and, he was the first to build penteres, or 'Quiquremes' AND to mount catapults on them.
Dionysios undoubtedly knew of Carthaginian's siege techniques that they'd learned from thier Phoenician forbears who'd learned them the hard way from the Assyrians and Babylonians who'd used rams, scaling ladders and mobile towers as well as ramping-up since Mesopatamian times in the 18th century BC... but all of these methods made taking of a stone fortified place to be the ultimate in hardship. So his challenge was to figure out how he could do that by breaching the walls and fortifications at Motrya and Lilybaeum more 'economically' during the period of the so-called Syracuse-Punic Wars that lasted more than a hundred years and predated those of the Roman's Punic Wars. Dionysios brought about the renaissance in siege weaponry development. Archimedes (287-211 BC) then was born into that 'climate' of engineering excellence some time later and went on to design and develop more outstanding siege engines for both defense and offense... for which his genous is justly recognized. But it began with Dionysious I.
Phillip II of Macedonia repeated Dionysis' call far and wide for engineers and scientists from all over the Med World to hitch-hike off of the Syracusan's work, his son Alexander the Great then got to use it... as did then The Succesors to Alexander (especially Demetrios Poliorketes, The Besieger).
And closer at hand, the awakening giant of the Romans carried siege weaponry possibly to its greatest development and usefulness. The Romans adopted Greek siege techniques and used Greek artillery and engines. Although they would go on to improve on these they never alterted the basic designs. Thier successes were, however, counted as much on thier organization, discipline and tactics as they were to any scientifically developed additons to thier battlefield array.
Syracusan Greek's brilliant designs for siege engines lasted more than a millenia and were only replaced by the trebuchet and the coming of gunpowder in about the 11th century AD as a result of a new renaissannce in coming out of 'The Dark Ages'.
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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.
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The United States of America is a democratic oligarchy, in that all people can vote, but the rich are still in power (all three major 2004 Presidential candidates were millionaires).
Interesting, and true.
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The boulder-rolling is a bit too much. I mean, you still want to play as an RTS, right?
We in the design department actually seriously considered this just about 3 years ago, and after quite a bit of discussion decided to discard.
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No matter how amazing 0AD is, there is nothing in the game that can surpass the amazing talent and detirmination found in the WildFire Games team. Man oh man am I so proud to be working along such excelent people, albeit the distance barrier between us all. With luck that might someday change
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.
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Caesar, ye be a fast reader, indeedy, yes, ye be.
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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......
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Uh huh, about some things, yes.
Units look.. samey
in General Discussion
Posted
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.