SMST

That would be great, if only for campaign use!

Well, Scythians destroyed Urartu, threatened Assyria and happily raided the Fertile Crescent, just to return to their native Steppes to be a thorn in the Persian side. All before 0 A.D.'s timeframe, though. I'd like to see a Scythian faction and when there will be Cavalry Archer animations in the future, I might just mod one myself.

Well, I thought architectural technique would make a building better constructed (-> more hitpoints) and building it would be better organized (-> less building time). It wouldn't exactly make the materials or the workers needed to build it cheaper. What do you base the combat bonus on? Do they? Then you're right, this bonus would be largely useless. But what bonus would you give the Temple of Artemis?

And why not the Circus Maximus? It would have an unique architechtural shape and would be something specifically Roman. Thebans are to be implemented, I think. There is a civ profile, civ emblem, champion units, you get the picture. Syracuse (or a collective Megale Hellas faction) would be cool. (well, why would I say that?^^) Don't forget that Spartan women were taught to run and fight like men. If anyone wasn't "macho" in the Greek world, it were the Spartans. However, the Statue/Temple of Zeus would be more recognisable. Yes, talking of benefits. What would you all think should the unique properties of the Wonders be? Here are my ideas for some of them: Parthenon: It was a feat of great architectural and artistic technique and stands as a great example for Greek aestetics until today. If an Athenian player builds the Parthenon, all buildings have their HP increased and their construction time decreased. Stonehenge: No one really knows its purpose, but for our timeframe, we can go with the theory that druids used it for their rituals. If a Briton player builds the Stonehenge, all Druids heal troops at an increased rate and range. Mausoleum of Atreban: From what I've read (I don't know much about that building) it was built by foreign architects in Carthaginian employ for a Libyan prince. It was thus a remarkable multi-national effort that brought Carthage closer together with its neighboring nations. If a Carthaginian player buils the Mausoleum, all Embassies can be constructed cheaper and mercenaries can be trained faster. Great Library: It was a center of learning and scholarship for the whole Hellenic world. If a Macedonian player builds the Great Library, all technologies are researched faster and the LOS of all buildings is increased. Hanging Gardens: They are an amazing feat of water engineering which may have provided irrigation to the dry landscape that is Mesopotamia. If a Persian player builds the Hanging Gardens, all food costs are reduced by a certain amount and all civic centres support additional population. Temple of Zeus: Zeus was a patron of the Greek soldiers in wartime. If the Temple/Statue of Zeus is built by a Spartan player, all subsequently trained citizen soldiers recieve additional experience upon training and all citizen soldiers gain experience faster. Circus Maximus: The Roman sporting events pleased the masses and also famously gave individuals more power in the state as they would host games in the Circus to gain the people's favor in upcoming elections. If built by a Roman player, the Circus Maximus increases the aura of heroes and the maximal "loyalty" attribute of all buildings. (they cannot be captured that easily) I knew pretty much all of the wonders of AoK. (except that Celtic one, which is apparently some castle ) Not sure about the Porcelain Tower, was'nt he the Korean wonder? In any case, that particular building is relatively well known and it is Chinese, not Korean. Thus, it was chosen because it was recognisable, not because it was accurate. My point is that the proposed obscure buildings would not look unique. The Temple of Artemis in Sparta would not be different from oh so many other Greek temples, and the Cadmea is a pile of ruins - I searched for reconstructions or something that would give an idea for a Theban wonder, but I found nothing. Thus, I would prefer less accurate, but more recognisable buildings to the opposite, if such a choice is to be made. For example, I support the highly obscure Mausoleum of Atreban, because it is unique and recognisable. Yeah, the idea was to enable this only to civs where that would make sense. Carthage, Athens and Macedon respectively.

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus is too non-special, as are some obscure buildings on the Theban or Spartan acropolis. Wonders need to be recognisable. No use in using a structure no one has never heard about. The Statue of Zeus, the Circus Maximus and the Oracle of Delphi are famous and well-known. We don't want to have a player research the origin of that building first. And so, to choose meaningful wonders, we have to sacrifice some historical accuracy. I still think there could be alternative wonders for water maps for some civs. The most obvious would be the Cothon for Carthage instead of the Mausoleum and the Lighthouse for Macedon instead of the Library. That way, naval maps would give those civs an advantage, which would be historically based. I could also see the Colossus of Rhodes added for one of the Hellenic civs, preferrably Athens. Anyone interested in that idea? Other than that, I agree with you, Iskandar.

Problem with the Temple of Artemis is that it is just a Temple like the Parthenon and kind of repetitive, as I said before. The Oracle of Delphi is something that I overlooked. I agree that it would suit the Thebans better. Problem: It would either have to be the Temple of Apollo (yet ANOTHER temple) or a reconstruction of the Tholos of Athena (which is iconic for Delphi, but not specifically linked with the Oracle itself, I believe. It would look different, though.)

This is a list I made up sometime ago. Bear in mind that the factions were not divided at that point and I was still working with sub-factions. Carthaginians: Cothon of Carthage* Celts - Britons: Stonehenge** Celts - Gauls: Carnac Stones** Hellenes - Poleis: Parthenon Hellenes - Macedon: Great Lighthouse Iberians: ??? (was not able to come up with anything, but the Dolmen of Menga might work) Persians: Cyrus' Tomb (although the Hanging Gardens might work better) Romans: Circus Maximus*** *I know it is already in the game, but somewhat poorly as the standard warship yard that can be built several times. It should be unique. **I think we can sacrifice historical accurracy here unless someone has a really original idea here. ***I wonder why that didn't turn up yet. The Colosseum is out of date and will be much better suited for Part II (Imperial Romans). The Temple of Jupiter is somewhat generic, besides, it would be just another temple next to the Parthenon. (which is the obvious choice for the Athenians even more so than for Poleis) The Circus Maximus is something unique Roman and was around at Republican times. Since the Hellenic factions have been split up, my suggestions for Spartans, Thebans and Macedonians: Spartans: Statue/Temple of Zeus. Olympia was part of the Peloponnesian League, and I don't think the Acropolis of Sparta would be too astonishing. Macedonians: Either the Lighthouse or the Library. I agree with Oshron that the first would require a water map, but perhaps the "Wonder" building on water maps could be the Lighthouse, while on other maps the Library would be built instead. This could be extended, e.g. let Spartans build the Colossus of Rhodes on a water map instead of the Statue of Zeus. Thebans: Just for the heck of it, I'd like some of the seven wonders of the ancient world not included in the former list to be the wonder for the Thebans. This would either be the Temple of Artemis or the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. I vote for the latter since the Temple of Artemis would be just another temple again. Would be great to have all seven in the game somehow, though. We already have the Great Pyramid, so that is checked. Oh, and the Great Stupa for the Mauryans is perfect!

I laughed pretty hard at the commercial. The pink pony in this reminded me, of course, of .

The one released on the HP under "Vale of Tempe" always impressed me the most. There are many more that are great, though.

It mainly makes sense because you cannot easily fit a 40 m high siege tower into any kind of fortress or building.

Heh. The longest attested word in the German language is "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" (meaning: Captain in employment of the Danube steam ship company). And the fun thing is, you can add more words to make it even longer and still be grammatically correct. So, yeah, I speak German (native) and English. I had a bit of Spanish in school, and I had Latin, so I have a fairly good approach to languages like Italian, Spanish etc. who are Latin derivatives. Same is true for Ancient Greek in relation to Modern Greek. I really speak just German and English, though.

Woah, awesome. Those maps in the OP are from AoM, right?

The idea is to make the Macedonian civ represent the Hellenistic Sucessor States, with the pre-Alexandrian Hellenic (Greek) states represented by a revamped Hellenes faction.

Ah, ok. Looks very out of place ... I think that the pectorale should be more prominent among Roman soldiers. Right now, only the Basic Hastatus gets it. I vote for Plain Pecto - Basic Hastatus, Ornate Pecto - Advanced Hastatus/Princeps, Lorica Hamata - Elite Princeps. Also, the Basic Triarius could get a pectorale. What happend to the "two tier" Roman infantry approach, btw?

What are those chest pieces doing on the horses?

Gaesata = Celtic Spearman, currently. Although they could be renamed to "Gaeroa", which leaves the fanatics open to Gaesatae. (on whom I think they are indeed based)

This should be the cover for a 0 A.D. CD release. Not that this is likely to happen, but it would be nice. For the rating, isn't 0 A.D. in the PG-13 range?

I can't really get around the ornating of the UI. The less ornate, the more immersive. I liked the black tiling just fine. The red stripe and the new over-contrasted icons in particular just don't do it for me.

Same here, though I have to say it looks interesting.

Hm. My EE CD broke, so it is too bad I missed the free download. Not sure if I care enough about this game to re-buy it for $3.

For every mad project, there is a madman who actually has thought of it. I plan to do a mod for 0 A.D. which is essentially what you wrote. Btw. there have been good games in the past who did exactly this. Civilisation. Empire Earth. Rise of Nations.

"Fürstensitz" is Modern German, meaning "lord's seat". No Celtic or ancient connections at all.

I'ts τείχισμα - and I wouldn't suggest the change, if it was otherwise.

There is a "Chi" (χ), representing the aspriated voiceless plosive sound, that the English language, to my knowledge, doesn't have. But in the transcripts I know, it is represented by "ch" (which represents the aspirated voiceless plosive in German).

I think this one is also a Excubitor, though I am not sure.