Bladex1200
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Posts posted by Bladex1200
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After much frustration due to being unable to run the 0 AD 1st and 2nd Alpha releases (incompatibilities with Windows 7), I finally got this baby working. And let me tell you, I am THRILLED to see this Alpha release.
The units are more polished than they are in most freeware games, and the buildings are pleasing to look at. Definitely a plus on graphics. I expected the game to look pretty primitive, due to its alpha state, but it looks polished on the outside.
Delving into the actual gameplay, the AI is, understandably, incomplete. The villagers harvested resources well enough, except for the farms. I had the female villagers build farmsteads and farms. However, I could not get the villagers or the citizen-soldiers (I tried hoplites and peltasts) to harvest the food from the farm. Still, considering the game is still pre-alpha, the AI is surprisingly complete. All they need is some minor tweaks, and the AI will be perfect in terms of economy. I didn't test out the pathfinding or military AI, but I will and post my review at a later time.
Sound is really lacking. I could hear ambient music, which was a pleasant surprise. However, that's about all I heard. The game said that the sound files for moving units and unit responses (ie. "Moving out!" or something along those lines) were missing. The sounds were practically non-existent. I can understand not having unit voices (it takes some time to hire, coordinate, and actually record the voice actors' voices), but even sounds for building a farmstead and farms were absent. Overall, this is the only part lacking, and it's not really a game-breaking flaw.
Overall, based on first impressions, the game looks REALLY promising. If the final game is as good as what this sneak-peak has shown me, then I can safely say that this game earns a solid 10/10 from me. Superior to almost all free time RTS games, and even better than several commercial RTS games, 0 AD has rocked my socks off. Congrats to you, 0 AD team. Good luck with finishing the game.
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Well, the devastation is pretty wide, but there's no reason why certain communications systems couldn't work. Satellites are still online, so you could communicate via phone. Below are the ideals and tools that unite the factions together.
Confederate States of the American Continents (CSAS):
CSAS is united via satellite phone lines and some internet (areas like the midwest still have some backup servers from before the war). Canada was deeply ravaged by the war, so human contact is very sketchy and some CSAS commanders believe Canada is not even inhabited at all. Mexico has the best remaining infrastructure - most of their backup internet servers are still online and they still have some telephone lines standing. The U.S. is mostly uninhabited in the coastal regions, but California seems to have escaped most of the devastation. California and midwest states like Ohio are the main hubs for CSAS, with Mexico serving as an economic center.
CSAS is united by the democratic ideals that dominated the old American government. Their current Republican Head is Falcon Rosch, though his term will be expiring soon and he will have to gain the will of the people to be re-elected. Though they have more of a republic than a democracy, they hold freedom and liberty dearest to heart and do not believe in force as a method of subversion. Still, the constant raids by the South American Borderlands have forced them to build up a new army, the CSAS Home Guard, composed of elite infantry and some vehicles and ships.
European Sector (ES):
The ES is united via internet and satellite. No phone lines can be found amongst the destruction, and internet servers only exist in areas like Germany and the Netherlands - lowland central areas that escaped most of the nuclear war. Fringe areas like Ireland rely on satellite phone access, though the central ES government in Britain has created a primitive internet server capable of communication. Northern areas, like Ukraine and the Balkan Sea, are mostly inhabited and escaped the nuclear war, though civil war rages in most of Russia and they are unresponsive to ES commands.
The ES is united by a single dictator, the self-styled Russian Marcus Voyavich, who rules with an iron fist from his home base in Britain. Exiled from Russia due to the rebels taking hold during the civil war, he is bitter about his defeat and demands unyielding loyalty. His goal is to rebuild Europe into a world power, but he is afraid that death from his older age might claim him before his dream is realized. He created his armies to destroy, and his adept economy rivals that of even the PAC nations.
Pan-Asian Coalition (PAC):
PAC is mostly intact infrastructure wise, with internet access still prevalent in most inland areas. The Philippines escaped most of the ravaging due to its insignificance during the previous war, and has naturally become the operations base for PAC. China and Mongolia exist mostly as manufacturing and agricultural puppets, with southeast Asian nations like India and Indonesia building up the main military. Civil war does exist in the northern fringe territories, though it is small and mostly forgotten amidst the national fervor to rebuild Asia into a new world power.
PAC is united by it's corrupt democratic government, which claims to represent the people's interests but in reality is bought out by former Japanese corporate lobbyists. It's president, Yang Fu Sheng, is an aloof but intelligent man who believes the good of the nation relies on economy, not military power. Though he believes in economic subversion, he does keep a poorly-trained if well-staffed army under his command in case of breakouts of violence.
Australian Technology Corporation (ATC):
The ATC is probably the best united faction. They have fast internet and relatively intact phone lines. Though their supply lines are stretched, the continent edges is reachable within a few hours via truck. They have some agricultural infrastructure left, but most food is synthetic since the land battles decimated their coastal cities and farmlands. With pride in their hearts, they set about rebuilding their homeland and perhaps earning a little bit of profit in the process.
The ATC is united by the Australian Technology Business Agency (ATBA). ATBA ensures all needs of the people are met and that the ATC's coffers (as well as their own personal coffers) are kept nice and full. They are headed by the new CEO, Richard Styx, who is a foreigner but is very good at making business deals. Their business-minded ideals also extend to their military, which is sleek, efficient, and good for helping convince those pesky PAC agents to trade more for less.
North-African United Territories (NAUT):
NAUT is in shambles, though satellite feed and some phone lines keep them from falling into discord. They rely on vehicular messages (similar to the old-age concept of "mail") to keep informed and are based in Egypt, which is relatively intact despite much war. Most of the middle-east nations are ravaged, with the few survivors not adhering to any single faction, but North Africa is, for the most part, still functioning at a slow pace.
NAUT is united by the greed of their new "Pharaoh", Neo-Ramses I. Neo-Ramses and his officials have an insatiable greed for wealth, and so NAUT is military-focused on getting the wealth needed to appease their insane dictator. The wealth, however, is put to use by the dictator on building his giant navy to conquer foreign lands. His reasoning? "Europe must be full of wealth. How do you think those guys managed to keep their internet up. Good Osiris, I can't even get 1 bar with this kind of satellite feed."
South African Borderlands (Officially SAB, though mispronounced and known as SAD):
Drug cartels ran rampant in SAD before the war, and after the war they gained power beyond their imagination. With the people cut off from communications, each one set up a secret communications system via truck delivery and took control of their own little slice of SAD territory. Each territory has its own specialization, such as farming or manufacturing, though Brazil is the territory where all the cartels assemble for yearly meetings.
SAD is not headed by one person, though an unofficial "mafioso" leader named Falcon has taken power and controls the other cartels. His goal is to create the perfect army and rule the world. Not too shabby for a relatively unknown man. Currently, he's skirmishing with CSAS in order to take control of Mexico, his home nation and his dearly beloved country.
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What they could do (for an expansion) is merge the "kill count" and "home city" ideas, similar to kill streaks in Modern Warfare 2. Now I know bringing an FPS idea into RTS territory is strange, but hear me out.
If X number of units achieves Y number of kills (same unit, if unit dies than it doesn't count), then you receive word from your nation's capital that they're willing to reinforce you as a sign of their approval. You can pick several reinforcements:
- resource boosts (self-explanatory)
- expeditionary force (small army controlled by allied AI that helps you in combat)
- direct reinforcements (small army that YOU control arrives on the battlefield)
The reinforcements take time to arrive, and when they reach the map they must be defended before they arrive in the form of ships (on water maps) or caravans (on land maps). Of course, each civilization would have different reinforcement bonuses, and each army's caravans and ships look different to help differentiate them in the heat of combat.
The supply train must reach either a nearby player-owned port or allied port (if it's water reinforcement) or a nearby either player town center or allied town center (if it's a land caravan). This would mean that capturing as many as possible or building as many ports as possible is crucial, otherwise your reinforcements run the risk of being intercepted.
If reinforcements are intercepted, the enemy can sink them and receive bonus resources OR the enemy can hold them hostage and receive equal reimbursement for the caravan (ie. if the reinforcement caravan carried an allied army, then the enemy gains an allied army). Looting the caravans produces equal resources to the cost of making the army inside the caravan.
Comments on my weird idea?
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Well, the nuclear devastation is limiting the fighting to localized sectors, so campaign-wise you won't see the ES engaging the CSAS. However, areas interconnected (ie. Europe and Asia) will have war raging over the remnants. Also, about the rebuilding, the nuclear war devastated mostly coastal areas, since the missiles would be intercepted if they attempted to hit central areas, like the midwestern US. Most of the world is hit by conventional warfare, with the coastal regions being totally wiped out. Most military installations were attacked first (whether conventionally or nuclear-wise), so only small detachments of soldiers have survived.
Or, you could go with my other reason which is... It's a game and the storyline doesn't have to be realistic.
But I like explaining myself out...ALSO, I'm reposting the other 2 factions in the first post.
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I'm no expert at programming, so I doubt this mod will ever get made but... I had an idea a few hours ago about a semi-futuristic/ancient RTS game. See the description below to see what I'm talking about:
It's the year 2059. Nuclear war has ravaged the world, and mankind is on the brink of dying. From this abysmal period come 6 factions, all ready to dominate this new, ravaged world and claim it for their own.
I personally believe the 0 A.D. engine will be able to pull most of what I'm envisioning since it doesn't involve air units - this is post-apocalyptic, so boats and some infantry are all I'm expecting.
Faction Profiles:
Confederate States of the American Continent
Composed of the remnants of the continental United States, Canada, and parts of Mexico, the CSAC is an emerging post-apocalyptic world power. Their main advantages are their infantry - they're expensive, but they put other faction's infantry to shame when you make the comparison. Their ships are average, though they do have a unique ship unit - the carrier. The carrier no longer launches airplanes, but rather artillery shells. It's been outfitted with a giant cannon that can bombard surface targets and water targets with ease.
European Sector
The European Sector, or ES, is a dictatorship based in Britain. It controls all of Europe, including much of Russia, and has the main advantage in economics. ES forager units gather resources more efficiently and can get up to 100 more resources per resource patch due to their efficiency. They also have formidable artillery. Slow, but extremely powerful, their howitzers can tear through structures with maniacal efficiency and speed.
Pan-Asian Coalition
Making up all the territories from the very north in Mongolia to the very south in the Philippines, the Pan-Asian Coalition (PAC, for short) is a formidable defense force. Their buildings have twice the hitpoints and armor of any other faction, and each building comes with an upgradable defense force built-in, allowing even the most mundane of structures, houses, to defend themselves. Their strength also comes from their infantry. While they are cheap, you can produce up to 10 infantry units to fill 2 population spots, enabling quick, rush tactics popular among PAC commanders.
Australia Technology Corporation
The ATC contains the pinnacle of all human technology, bar nukes. They have superior vehicles and ships, though their infantry are limited and their is a population cap for their infantry (the CSAS still has better infantry, when compared). They also have faster training times due to efficiency boosts and can create vehicles in a pinch when necessary. Their "just-in-time" tactics combined with their quality units make them a hard force to beat.
North-African United Territories
With South Africa's diamond mines in devastation after the war raged throughout the world, the North African territories decided to band together to form the NAUT. Though they have standard soldiers, they have an unmatched navy that rivals even the ATC in power. Their ships boast two times the amount of hitpoints and can upgrade to experimental railgun weapons. Their land army is standard, though they have a slightly stronger economy in the form of offshore oil rigs (which are only available to NAUT due to the devastation in other parts of the world). They are a force to be reckoned with in naval skirmishes. Don't underestimate them.
South American Borderlands
While North America was organizing into the CSAS, the South American peoples were in shambles. Drug cartels ran rampant, and no suitable government could be formed. Still, somehow, a leadership formed from the ashes and the SAD was born. SAD focuses on hitting hard and fast, so their units have reduced hitpoints in exchange for extreme speeds, allowing hit-and-run operations to be done with ease. Their bases are also mobile (all buildings are simply trucks converted into supply and training tents), allowing for bases to be moved tactically or according to resource needs. Overall, SAD is weaker in conventional battles but can be crippling to other factions if an adequate defense is not built up.
Now, with the other 2 factions posted up, please comment on my ideas! It's much appreciated!
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True, true Sophokles. Expanding on the ideas above, each dock can moore more ships for repair.
- dry dock (repair area that comes attached to war dock and basic dock; can build additional ones for more repair ability; able to repair 3 ships at a time)
A basic port can hold maximum 1 drydock; an improved port can hold 2; a world port can hold 3; a custom port can hold a various number, though the maximum is 5 drydocks per port (don't wanna upset game balance).
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I still need to compile the binaries, so It'll take a while before I can run it. I'm currently downloading TortoiseSVN, so I'll get back to you later. Thanks for the help!
EDIT: TortoseSVN is currently compiling the data. In a few hours, I should be playing 0 A.D. Again, thanks for the help, Ykkrosh! It's much appreciated. I've been tracking this game since 2007, so it's nice to see it finally in a form that I can play around with.
EDIT 2: Unfortunately, the server keeps disconnecting me when I attempt to download the compiled data. I'll dump out my current files and try again tomorrow.
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I like Sophokles idea of ports as being substructures. They really should get more attention - in most RTS games many people only remember them on maps with water barriers - maps with water surrounding the edge get no attention whatsoever in terms of ports. This is how I think it should work (building on his idea):
3 port types:
- basic port (can hold up to 3 substructures; upgradable)
- bustling port (up to 5 substructures; upgradable)
- world-trading port (up to 7 substructures; final tier)
- on some maps, you could have an extra tier pre-built (only available from the map editor), historical port. Ports that are historical have a custom number of substructures available, depending on which port you intend to emulate.
Various substructures:
- standard dock (can build fishing and other economic vessels, and scout vessels; can repair only economic and scout vessels for free)
- war dock (can only build higher-tier military units, but can repair all units for free)
- trade pier (builds trade ships exclusively, and repairs only trade ships; enables you to trade with another port that you own - earning you 10 currency per 10 pixels the boat has to travel - or trading with an allied power - earning you 20 currency per 10 pixels the boat has to travel; trade piers must get supplies from a nearby town center, and you can only trade resources for gold)
- mercenary market (a port which periodically accepts mercenary travelers from ships that come and leave the map at random intervals; you can hire mercenaries but only a random few will be available until the next mercenary "restocks" your market)
- defense tower (like the name says; originally starts out as an archer tower, but can be upgraded to fire ballistae or even catapults; has the most health of any substructure but can do nothing except provide defense; maximum 2 per port)
- sailor hiring guild (provides your ships with sailors; each dock comes with one, but having more shaves off ship build-time by 10% each; maximum 3 per port)
- ship research guild (researches ship upgrades and provides access to "super ships", similar to land-based "super units"; one maximum per port, and upgrades take time to research)
- black market (similar to the trade pier, except this market sells your goods at a higher price; one trade off: you can only trade with enemy ports; the market provides disguised merchant ships for a high price, but the enemy will have to manually order his units to kill them - he can attack the ship, but his units will ignore it by default; black market ships provide 50 currency per 10 pixels the boat has to travel, and they provide you with a map of the area surrounding the enemy's dock - up to 30 pixels away).
- water temple (allows you to offer gifts to any water gods your civilization may worship; only available to select civilizations that historically had water gods; when you offer gifts, ships gain a tiny amount of experience - the more lavish the gift, the better the experience)
- solar deck (available to civilizations that do not have the water temple; provides better defense than a defense tower by reflecting heated sun towards enemy ships; only works in a limited arc)
- lighthouse (illuminates all sea areas of the map, but requires TWO substructure spaces in order to be built, and it takes a very long time; builders are automatically provided by lighthouse staff, but it will take a while to be completed; once finished, everyone can see your lighthouse and will probably do their best to destroy it)
- Lighthouse of Alexandria (illuminates all sea areas AND also illuminates an arc of up to 60 units around enemy docks; takes even longer than a lighthouse to complete and you must provide your own builders; once finished, no one else can build it and you get bonus score if you win the game)
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Just like the title states. Below is the crash data report (it's very long, so be patient):
Much to our regret we must report the program has encountered an error.
Please let us know at http://trac.wildfiregames.com/ and attach the crashlog.txt and crashlog.dmp files.
Details: unhandled exception (Unknown (0xC06D007E))
Location: wdll_delay_load.cpp:358 (__delayLoadHelper2)
Call stack:
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errno = 0 (?)
OS error = 0 (no error code was set)
I can run high-graphics FPS games (Bad Company 2, Call of Duty 4), and I can run many, if not all, RTS games (Starcraft, Rise of Nations, etc.).
So I'm not sure why 0 AD won't run. Please respond with a solution, if there is one. And if there isn't, I apologize for wasting your time.
Sincerely,
Bladex1200
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Perhaps having alternate campaigns would build upon the idea of optional objectives.
For example, let's say you're playing as the Romans and you're goal is to defeat Carthage in the First Punic War. You're given a secondary objective of looting various Carthaginian villages which are not along your route, but you will get an unnamed prize for your patience and work.
Each village is pretty hard to raid (lots of defenders and defenses) but you work through it. What happens?
The game triggers a scripted sequence whereby your original campaign (First Punic War) is rendered null and instead you get a host of new missions on an alternate campaign, where your goal is to establish a second Roman capital in North Africa. The possibilities from there are endless:
1. A whole new secret campaign of Civil War in Rome (Romans vs. the colonies in North Africa).
2. Unlockable bonuses, such as scripted reinforcements in later battles (you complete the alternate campaign, and then return to the original Punic War, except with scripted reinforcements).
3. Possibly a tie-in with a separate campaign (you might have an easier or harder time on the "Queen of Briton" Campaign, depending on how strong the Roman foothold on North Africa is).
Now, I know these might me hard to implement but they'll provide hours of replayability as you never know what campaigns you might be missing by not completing secondary objectives.
It's just a thought.
EDIT: Taking it one step further, BONUS campaigns (unrelated to secondary objectives).
Not everything has to be historical. Yes, 0 A.D. is aimed at being historically accurate as well as fun, but having a little bonus after finishing the main campaigns doesn't hurt. The bonus doesn't even have to be a real storyline - it could just be a whole bunch of humorous or interesting side missions (Think: 0 A.D: Gaiden). For example, beating all the campaigns on easy unlocks 10 extra missions, beating it on medium unlocks 5 more (in addition to the 10), and beating on hard unlocks all 20 extra missions.
They could be as mundane as simply rebuilding a village while under siege (see how fast you can rebuild it back to full strength; the longer you take, the harder each wave of enemies gets) or could even be as elaborate as a mini-hero quest (one full map where you complete various quests to build up a kingdom - again, catering to the RTS aspect - and in the end you build up your forces to defeat both a band of raiders and an evil monster thing.)
The bonus missions would be a big addition for people who get the game (let's say from a friend who also has it) but don't have an internet fast enough to maintain a multiplayer match (I, for example, have a fast internet most any given time, but sometimes it slows to a crawl and I can't play a single online game or even surf the web). Also, bonus missions would give people more motivation to beat the game on harder difficulties (many people play the campaign once and never touch it again, which is a shame).
My first Impressions (3rd Pre-Alpha Release)
in General Discussion
Posted
A few other freeware RTS games I've tried include Globulation 2 (not really an RTS, more like a strategy game focusing on macro-management), Glest (awesome 3D RTS game - definitely worth a check-out), and a few others I've forgotten already. I also own several commercial RTS games (Starcraft, Age of Empires (1 and 3), and Age of Mythology).
My perspective mostly stems from being a fan of historical games. I have interest in WWII ( such as in Company of Heroes) and ancient history (such as in Age of Empires). Overall, when comparing scopes of such RTS games, 0 AD feels like the perfect scope.
If you take a game like Empire Earth, the scope is IMMENSE. This is okay, and I actually kind of like it, but it turns games into LONG, 10-hour affairs where everyone's trying to get to the final epoch/stage while building a suitable raiding army. Don't get me wrong, having a huge scope is fun. It diversifies the game and makes it very replayable. However, it also makes the game feel bloated, since having so many units and counter-units means that you're forced to have a manual or cheat-sheet on hand to be able to memorize all the combinations (ie. archers good vs. cavalry; cavalry good vs. infantry; infantry good vs. archers; etc.). This makes the game a little tedious.
Taking another game on the opposite scale, Starcraft is very intense, with fewer selections. This makes gameplay fast and furious, but it also feels a little small. Sure, there's three races with diversified units and powers, but with each race having only around 9 or 10 units, it feels like the game is a little stripped-down. I don't mind furious, action-packed games. However, the game formula gets repetitive after a while and you start losing interest.
0 AD piqued my interest in that it has a good balance. Similar to how Age of Empires had several stages (vs. just researching upgrades like in Starcraft), 0 AD maintains a scope that feels epic. It still manages to retain enough playability, though, to be fun (Empire Earth gets a little frantic when there's so many research trees and upgrades). Overall, 0 AD seems like a solid RTS game. Oh, and thanks for the responses. I thought the farm glitch was just my game or something.