Alpha of the Eagles

You could just use a third-party provider, if you want to speak with your friends while playing, or even requesting the nick of your ally in a game. I can imagine that not everyone would like to have voice-chat, and I suppose not everyone even have a microphone.

Is it wrong to answer totally offtopic-threads? Three reasons this won't be a competitor: 1. Stronghold focuses on the Medieval Age, not the Classical Ages. 2. It's unlikely to be Open-Source and multi-platform like 0 A.D. 3. It probably hasn't half the features 0 A.D. will have, including the mod-ability that 0 A.D. aims to have.

Hello. Though I think we should have an introduction section, if this becomes a habit. (Just for the sake of order.)

I think these are towers we're talking about like in Age of Empires, can be built anywhere, but as a tactical choice (create a bottleneck), not to expand territory. These can apparently still be garrisoned in the Settlers 3 way (which is somewhat realistic, actually).

Absolutely. Xenophon said that when the enemy cavalry dashed at the peltasts and archers, they jumped out of the way and opened files in their rank, and forced them through with missile fire. Then they harassed from all sides. It isn't mentioned that they closed in on them with daggers. The only I can think of who need a 'double' attack, is the Immortals, which where allegedly armed with both a Persian bow and a spear.

Yeah, or you could use a Greek culture, and give access to (example) Thessalian Cavalry by occupying such a plot.

Just use Alpha. And the towers will be capturable!? (<- I don't think that's a word) Awesome! I'm a 'devoted' Settlers 3 fan, and still play it on a regular basis with my friends.

Great work Mythos! Will these be like the towers in AoK (auto attack + extra attack if you garrison) or will they be a little more realistic in the way that you have to garrison archers or javelineers/slingers if you want missile fire, and infantry will only prevent enemy troops from capturing the tower by standing in the door?

That's along the lines of what I wanted. Thank you.

Well, everybody looted spoils of war, not only "plundering" nations. This was meant as an universal feature, because back in the good old days, you could actually earn solid cash and resources on waging a well planned, successful war. (Note: My sources are ancient Greek and Roman writers, and in this regard I'm getting ideas from the Anabasis by Xenophon. I'm reading from project Gutenberg.)

New suggestion: When destroying a civs last building (or last civic centre) all the resources he had at the time of destruction should be spawned as crates for the soldiers to loot. This would be an awesome feature in a multiplayer game, as the first to go to war wouldn't necessary be at disadvantage when a third fraction involves itself. Plus, it'll be historically correct.

Hm. Will there be a keyboard shortcut. It's a pain in Settlers 3 to find the wounded and dispatch to the healer manually.

PhysX isn't OpenSource even though it's freeware.

Just a few pointers to you, Extinct. The Doru wasn't a short spear, it was anywhere between 3-4 metres long. Alexander didn't invade Greece, he only followed his father, Phillip the II of Macedon, which was the one who invented the sarissa and the Macedonian phalanx. Regarding the way the spear was held, I have come to believe that underhand grip was used when engaging enemy phalanxes from the front or in an extremely defencive stance (since I think it would give more protection to the wielder as he wouldn't have to swing his entire body to thrust, thus creating a gap in the shield wall), but the overhand grip was used by ekdromoi while in 'loose' formation or when charging towards lightly protected foes (like Gauls, Persians or unaware skirmishers) to kill as many as possible as fast as possible with little fear of being hurt by shorter spears and swords. This is of course, just a theory, but I also believe that the illustration provided with second row using overhand grip is a possible way of advancing while thrusting. In a defencive stance, I think the underhand grip is superior.

Concerning floating health bars, would it be possible to implent such healt bars as in Settlers 3/4 (just a small square which changes from green to red as health diminishes) instead of a rectangular bar, which I think looks awful.

Haha, when reading about Sobek, it struck me how annoying and awesome it would look if a bunch of AI crocodiles (say 20-30) came running out of the waters, and they were really fast, just running around looking for enemies, with an okay or somewhat decent attack, but requires only a few punches to kill (a sort of allied computer that lasts very short). It wouldn't really be dangerous on it's own, but properly timed and with the 'scare' factor (OMG he has millions of units!!!) .

Settlers had regrowing trees in 3-4 (foresters planted them). It was a fun concept, but the maps were much larger, focusing on a much more lengthy build-up of economy.

Just a little something I thought about relating to how the player interacts with these commands: I assume you will have some sort of hotkeys assigned to the various commands the player gives, then use this by right clicking, but when it comes to adopting these stances, would it also be hotkeys? I recommend you look at the setup Homeworld uses for players, where you can make your units assume stances (and formations) with the 'F-keys.' It's really easy to use and very convenient for the player in the heat of battle (the alternative is to use a sub-menu to access these options).

Yeah, but that would cause some monotony to the game wouldn't it? The greatest source for the Persian navy was the Phoenician city of Tyre (and also Sidon). So some Persian/Phoenici chants would be adding much more flavour.

Because the Germanic tribes held little to no significance from a historical point of view before Christ. And since 0 A.D. will focus on 500 BC - 1 BC in the first part of the process, they are not present. I would presume some of the Germanic tribes to be represented (at least one) during the second part of this game (call it an expansion set if you want to), since this will focus on 1 AD - 500 AD, and the Germanic tribes did 'destroy' the Western Roman Empire and sacked Rome several times during this period (Odoacer (Odovakar), a Germanic Lord took control of the Western Empire in 476 AD, thus ending Latin domination over Europe).

These crosses Christians use today are actually Assyric torture weapons, sometimes employed by other nations such as the Romans did every now and then.

Hastati wasn't a general term for swordsmen, it was the name of those soldiers who were among the poorer society classes and fought in the first lines of the Roman army (they were armed similarly, but weaker than the Principes). Gladiator would be more correct, even though I think it only applies to those who fought in the arena. Then again, I think there will be no "swordsmen" for the Romans, they will be properly named Hastati, Principes, Triarii, etc. Also, do not forget the famous Velites, or the javelinmen who harassed the enemy lines before the clash.

Well, what I've read is that some formations held the spears overhand and aimed for the helmet (piercing the eyes, or knocking him to the ground if you hit). Then, when he's down, he's an easy prey for being stabbed as he tries to get up/gets walked over. The Macedonian phalanx did surely use a modified underhand grip, but the sarissa was held with both arms. The whole essence of the phalanx is to make a unit of soldiers work as one body. Therefore, the right flank was severely exposed. The only consequent use of underhand wielding I can recall, was the phase of the battle where they locked their spears to the enemy shield and pushed. Btw, I've tried out the difference between under- and overhand thrusts. Much more power on underhand thrusts, but your aiming is severely hampered. Also, it's easier to deflect with a shield.

The language today spoken on Iceland is the closest you get to Old Norse. I'm Norwegian, so I can confirm it's not like Old Norse at all. Both modern Norwegian languages is closer to the Germanic languages (German, Dutch, and the Saxon part of English, with a faint touch of Latin) than the language of our ancestors.

You've been correct about Pontus and Bactria being locals ruled by Greek lineage, but here, you are way off. Carthage was a Phoenici colony, and was a fierce opponent of the Greeks concerning trade. They were not even influenced by Greek culture, such as the Romans and the other Italians.