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What is a prop-point? A prop-point is a specific point in a 3D space (basically a coordinate) with a specific name which is used to reference that specific spot within 0AD actors (structures' models, units, animals, even props) What are they used for? They're used to spawn an actor within another actor. Basically you load another model/unit/structure/prop of the game inside the model where the prop-point is. Examples: - In a structure, you can use a prop-point to have a fountain which is already in the game and place it within that structure. - In units, you can use prop-points to have different gear in different places like the head for helmets, in the hands for shields/weapons etc - In animals, you can use prop-points to spawn effects like dust in their feet when they're running or blood when they die. - In props, you can use it for randomization of the prop, like a helmet which can use different styles of feathers spawned at the prop-point location. Which are the benefits? There are many. Just saying that you can reference any existing prop/model in the game directly in a place within your model is quite powerful already. - Powerful recursive system - Easy set-up - Randomization capabilities - Memory saving (you don't need to store again the data of a model that is already in the game) How can I create them? In Blender3D: In blender these prop-points are made with "empties". An empty is just a point in space which stores the coordinates where it's located within the scene. No materials, no geometry, no lighting data. Just location and rotation. To create an empty in your model, just open the "add menu" with shift+space in the viewport and select "Empty" there will be a list with different empties types, but these are all the same, just different types of representations of it. Select your preferred type (the standard is "Plain Axes") and an empty will be created in the location of the 3D cursor. IMPORTANT NOTES: -It is obligatory that the name of these empties start with: "prop- " or "prop_ " -Examples: prop-fountain , prop-helmet, prop_flag-AND it is also obligatory that the empties are parented to the geometry of your model. To parent the empties to your model, (in object mode) select all your empties first, then your model and use the hotkey CTRL+P and they'll be parented to the geometry.-Finally, when exporting, select all your empties first, and you model last, and export as usual.How can I reference a prop-point inside an .xml actor? Props are defined in the .xml normally after the mesh has been defined. Here's an example of the persian stables, where the horses are propped by prop-points. Note that minheight and maxheight are OPTIONAL parameters used for anchoring the prop-point to the ground. Prop parameters: actor= the actor .xml that we want to spawn in that prop-point attachpoint= the name of the empty/prop-point that we created in the mesh WITHOUT the "prop-" or "prop_" prefix minheight/maxheight= These are optional parameters to determine the anchoring to the ground, the max and minimum height the prop will have when conforming to terrain. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><actor version="1"> <castshadow/> <group> <variant frequency="100" name="Stables"> <mesh>structural/pers_stables.dae</mesh> <props> <prop actor="props/structures/decals/dirt_4x4.xml" attachpoint="root"/> <prop actor="props/structures/decals/celt_sb1_mud.xml" attachpoint="root"/> <prop actor="props/structures/persians/stable_horse_a.xml" attachpoint="horsea" minheight="-20" maxheight="1.7"/> <prop actor="props/structures/persians/stable_horse_b.xml" attachpoint="horseb" minheight="-20" maxheight="1.7"/> <prop actor="props/structures/persians/stable_horse_c.xml" attachpoint="horsec" minheight="-20" maxheight="1.7"/> </props> <textures> <texture file="structural/pers_struct.png" name="baseTex"/> [...]Prop-points in armatures When creating prop-points for meshes that are animated (in other words, when they have an armature/skeleton) the prop-points are created with bones. These bones doesn't need to have a vertexgroup in the mesh, but they're required to have a name with the prefix "prop-" or "prop_" just the same as when using empties.These bones also need to have a parent bone, which will inherit it's movement (location and rotation)Animating these bones would not have any effect when the animation is imported into the game.When defining prop-points on animated meshes, nothing changes. It is the same procedure as normal prop-points. Other useful tutorials in this forum: Import/export assets from Blender to 0AD and baking AOHow to export animations from Blender to 0ADLowpoly modelling tipsHow to create textures with Blender3DIt would be nice if Stan could post also some guidelines to create these prop-points called dummies in 3DSMAX in this thread too

Thanks for trying out 0 A.D. and coming here to report your problem. As the game is still in alpha releases there are still many things we need to do. Many of these we know already, so when you provide feedback we would ask you to focus on some of the other points that could be improved. PLEASE READ THE FAQ BEFORE YOU POST HERE. THANK YOU. There is a neat table of planned features at http://trac.wildfire...ayFeatureStatus so you can tell what we are planning to add. Lag This is a common complaint, and with good reason. The game does not run as fast as we would like. Late in the game you will probably experience some lag, this is caused by a mixture of things, AI and pathfinding are big ones. The problem is worse on island maps and with multiple AI players. One thing that can be helpful is giving us the profiler information. This automatically generated information is useful for working out where the lag is coming from. If you hit Shift-F11 this will be dumped into a file (location given at the top of the screen). Please upload these data to our forums to help us solve the problem. Thanks! Missing Animations Some units glide around or don't drop to the ground when killed. We have an animator who is working away at making pretty animations. More animators are invited to help with this task. Units Can't Attack When Chasing There is a problem in the code where units decide to attack, then the chased enemy gets out of range before the attack hits so it is aborted, so in effect any units chasing each other won't be able to deal damage. Greyed out/disabled menu items Some menu items can't be clicked on, this is because those features aren't yet implemented. Units don't fight in formation Can't run two instances of the game simultaneously on Windows Multiplayer Lobby No one can join my game! Currently, only routers with UPnP support or routers that have been properly port fowarded are able to host. I was disconnected from the lobby... This is usually caused by a moderator kicking you for abusive behavior or inappropriate/vulgar chats. AI Problems AI tries to gather from resources near your base AI Doesn't Know how to Fight using Ships There may be errors loading a saved game with AIs. Rejoining a multiplayer game with AIs is not supported yet. Common Suggestions "You should use multiple threads/cores" 0 A.D. does have multiple threads for e.g. texture conversion, pathfinding, sound/music playback and user data reporting, but the game simulation and renderer currently run in the main thread to simplify development. "You should use Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc." We did try to do an Indiegogo campaign, but while we did raise some money which will go towards improving the game, we did not raise as much as we had hoped. The goal was to raise enough to hire two developers full time for two years, but we did not reach it so we have not been able to hire them. We might consider doing it again in the future but we currently do not have the resources for it.

The differences between Bang Engine ( AoE3 and AoM) vs Pyrogenesis engine.