SMST

How can I dare ever release anythin of my own device if there are such pictures to look at?

That's why I said it doesn't belong here. The top part of my post is relevant of the topic. The other part is just a explanation of my little sidethought some posts earlier. I wounderfully know the purpose of this topic. And my questions regarding the Scythians was if they would fit into the timeframe. Apparently not, so drop that subject. So ... no Persians, no Skythians. Somewhere earlier in this topic was the mention of a Nubian/Kushite/(whatever the correct name is for this specific timeframe, please don't burn me alive ... ) faction, which would also be pretty neat. Undisputed, I think, are the following factions: New Kingdom Egypt Mesopotamia (what do you think about the Assyrian/Babylonian subfaction idea?) Hittites Mycaeneans On dispute: Phoenicians (I still think they belong there) Nubians or whatever you like them to be called Some obscure Steppe faction (?)

Okay, cut out Persians. But I think that Phoenicians would be rather different than Carthagenians. And just for gameplay reasons, almost none of the other civs (except maybe the Mycenaeans) have naval capabilities, so there must be some decent naval civilisation - if you don't want to skip naval combat entirely, that is. Couldn't steppe factions go along with Skythians or is this too far of a stretch? I don't think that the funny names you brought up mean anything to people, no offense intended. "Bronze Age" is just some generic age description I came up with. The age names in PG:E are not referent to the culture they depict. (that is why I try to find non-generic names) Ages are meant to portray development states of that culture. For example, "Iron Age" Italians would be Republican Romans as they appear in 0 A.D. Doesn't really belong here, though.

Nice pictures. I am struggling if I should include the Etruscians as Bronze age Italians in PG:E. As for me, the choice of civilisations for a Bronze age mod would be: 1. Egypt (New Kingdom) 2. Mesopotamians (Assyrian and Babylonian subfactions) 3. Phoenicians 4. Hittites 5. Mycenean Greeks 6. Persians (I know, a bit out of timeframe, but it would allow to re-create the conquest of the Middle east by Cyrus. If not, then go for Medians instead)

Nice suggestions. Shouldn't the Ptolemaioi have elephants, too, or is that Polirieme really so special that it must be included? Sadly, I do not know much about the military of the Hellenistic states, other than that they were a good mixture of native and Hellenic military tradition. If needed, I would help with dirty actor and entinity scripting, provided someone makes textures and models first. Oh yeah: Shouldn't that be a opportunity to revamp the Celtic faction as well? A seperate Gaulish and British faction would be good and more accurate I think. See my PG:E thread, where I did some humble experiments with Celtic units to distinguish the two civs a bit more. Some random thoughts about the revamped Greek faction (may be similar to yours) Subfactions Athénai, Sparté and Thébai. Athénai SU: Super Infantry: Thurephoros (after Iphikrates' reforms) Super Ranged: Ekdromos Athénai Heroes: 1. Miltiades 2. Themistokles 3. Pericles Sparté SU: Super Infantry: Homoios Lakédaimonion ("equals under the Lakedaemonians/Spartans") Super Ranged: Helotes Messenikos ("Messenian serf") Sparté Heroes: 1. Leonidas 2. Pausanias 3. Brasidas Thébai SU: Super Infantry: Hieron Lochos ("Sacred Band") Super Ranged: Peltastes Thrakios ("Thracian skirmisher", Thebans employed them first and foremost, I would go for "Akontistes" for the regular Greek skirmisher unit) Thébai Heroes: 1. Pelopidas 2. Epaimendonas 3. ? EDIT: Oh, and about the Hellenic league bonus: I don't like the notion of giving any civ any particular advantage/disadvantage against another specific civ. In my opinion, this damages gameplay, for if a player chooses Macedonia, the other player will almost certainly choose Rome. I would prefer it that way that any civ can beat any other civ on equal terms. (given enough strategic thinking and a good play on the civ's strenghts, of course)

"next alpha version, from formations to a Savannah biome." Golden Words.

Don't get me wrong. I said it before, I am very delighted that you include such a great variety of biomes.

Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.NET, Corel Photo Paint and many others. Programs in Italics are freeware.

Include this one. Please.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but from various stuff I read throughout my phase of interest for ancient civilisations, I've always thought that Northern Africa was much more like the European Mediterranean in respect of climate and specifically much more wooded, before the desertification you mentioned took place and shifted it into the desert/semi-desert of our days.

Northern Africa is not much of a savannah, especially not in the ancient Period. But the setting allows for awesome Zulu or Ethiopian mod factions. So I am very happy to have this. Btw is there any possibility to get some additional biomes (or factions, for that matter) in future alpha releases?

Hello to you all! I have taken up the work on PG:E again and are now back. I am right now working on the detailled research of each faction, starting with the French and the British factions. (I work on this pair at one time, as they were closely related to each other and I want them to be in some ways each other's antagonists. I am doing that with several other nations as well) Specifically their representation in the Ancient Era is what I am working on right now. 0ad has British and Gallic Celts both into one faction. This is fine, but here, I need to differentiate these two cultures as they belong to different factions. Since the French faction will be more of a defensive faction throughout the game, they get the heavier armoured units and better defensive structures. Only there will you find the 0ad Celts clad in mail. Generally speaking, they are the more "civilized" Celts. (as the Gauls probably were, historically) The British, on the contrary, have better offensive capabilities and rely more on light to not armoured infantry and light ambush cavalry. Their attribute will be the famous war paintings on body and face, which no French unit will have. They also get a slight speed bonus for their infantry. I've done some artistic work to visualize you my ideas. These units are by no means final, but they will give you a general idea of my plans for Ancient French and Britons. They are using 0ad textures of the alpha release, though I'd prefer them to have custom textures in the finished mod. IMAGE Well, for that matter, this mod will be more like a simulation. In fact, technology is a key feature to the game. First, it is the prerequisite to age up, as mentioned before. (four innovations + four random technologies = age up button gets active at civ centre) Second, said innovations are vital to unlock several game features. For example, there is a innovation called Agriculture that unlocks farms in age 2 or another called Mechanized Warfare, which gives you WWI units and first tanks in the Imperial age. Third, technologic status strongly influences the opinion that AI players have of you, so a highly developed empire will have better chances to get an alliance than a primitive barbarian tribe.

There is some Greek voice stuff in the Alpha release, I believe.

It would surprise me if I could find any Carthagenians or Persians there.

Hold on a minute. Are those new mediterranean terrain textures?

To my and your surprise, Persia was never under Egyptian or Ottoman rule. It was conquered by several nations such as the Seljuks and Mongols, but remained largely independent for all the time. Indeen, after several Mongolian conquests, Persia saw the rule of the Safawids, a dynasty ruling the Iranian lands for a very long time.

Awesome stuff, there! Keep it up, blablahead. (Yeah, I am officially back right now ... I cannot believe I missed the Alpha!)

If you want to cut away a greek cavalry unit, it would be the Cataphract. This unit was a invention of the Late Antiquity and not used in Classical times.

The most important thing missing is, as oshron said, the game itself. As long as the basic game mechanics are not laid down (which means an Alpha release at the most) there is not point in starting programming for the mod. What can be done already is faction, unit, technology research. I am doing that by myself atm, but I would be glad if you or anyone else would contribute. What can also be done is some artistic work, but not as long as the planning isn't finished.

Putting it simply? No. The planning isn't finished, either.

In each age, there are four key technologies, so-called "innovations" that you have to research in order to advance. In addition to that, you have to research four other technologies of the current age which you can choose freely. After that, the advancement button in the Civ Centree becomes active and you have to pay the obligatory amount of ressources as in AoE or EE, but without building certain structures, but by researching. That's the way I imagine it. Edit: And just to make this clear: Pyrogenesis: Empire is a simple working title that I derived from the engine name. The final mod will have a different name. I am open for suggestions.

Hm, German. Bavarian. Possibly Celtic or Roman.

Once again, the European Jews were simply no political power at that time. I am still anxious to hear what you do think about my "Diaspora" idea. To make it more clear, here an example how it would work: You control the ancient Jews up until the Hellenistic age. Then you choose another faction (German and Turkish seem to me the most obvoius choices) and get their units and their appearance, but the civilisation traits (civ bonusses, team bonusses, special technologies) stay the same, which means that the change is only somewhat cosmetical. Then, when you enter the modern age, you come back to the state of Israel again. But if anything, this would be expansion stuff. I do not want to break the 10-faction-number right now.

Hmm, as far as I can see from Wikipedia, they seem to be pretty interesting. The question is: Did they "only" accept Judaism as their religion or did they adapt the whole Jewish culture?

Indeed, the history of the Jews is a very interesting one, just for the fact that the managed to keep their cultural identity over so many centuries. It is also a tragical one, most tragical being the horrific crimes that were done to them by the Nazis. Perhaps something like that could be done: Ancient Hebrew Kingdoms (Juda, Israel, Hellenistic Judaea) -> Diaspora (units are the same of another faction - most appropriate would perhaps the German, Turkish or Russian faction - but the traits of the civ stay the same to reflect the cultural identity) -> Modern Israel (individual units again) What do you think?