a27 weekend gameplay testing

[real_tabasco_sauce]

@Ginnungagap Does 18:00 UTC still work for you for the Sunday pro TG using the release candidate?

[Ginnungagap]

II'll be there. Hopefully a handful of players too.

Building the RC remains a technical hurdle that some people face but not everyone can overcome.

[Itms]

1 hour ago, Ginnungagap said:

Building the RC remains a technical hurdle that some people face but not everyone can overcome.

Building the RC only concerns Linux users though. There is a slight learning curve to overcome to learn how to build software from source on Linux, but 0ad is not very different from other software in that regard. It's just never easy to build your first program when you're just a regular user

[guerringuerrin]

@Ginnungagap @Itms
I compiled rc2 and packaged it into a .deb to make things a little easier for users of Debian Linux-based distributions. I was able to install it correctly on the same computer I compiled it. Then uninstalled, removed any dependencies and installing again and it still works.
We ran some tests with @real_tabasco_sauce and everything seemed to work fine.
But I can't guarantee that it will work correctly on other computers. 
Maybe someone can try installing it. If it works, it might speed up the testing process a bit.
Just in case, I set it to install the game under the name pyrogenesis-rc2 to avoid overwriting the version previously installed on the system.
I uploaded in a drive of my own. Here's the link to the file: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nVYrUtmSb41f9AvsUXJF3SSj5AUFVasS/view?usp=drive_link

Not the best place to put it, but I don't have any personal server. I could use something like github or something else if you want. Feel free to tell me:

1) You can install the package with this command:
sudo dpkg -i 0ad-deb.deb

You can identify the installed package as 0ad-rc2 by running dpkg -l | grep 0ad

$ dpkg -l | grep 0ad
ii  0ad                                      0.0.26-2~bpo11+1                       amd64        Real-time strategy game of ancient warfare
ii  0ad-data                                 0.0.26-1~bpo11+1                       all          Real-time strategy game of ancient warfare (data files)
ii  0ad-data-common                          0.0.26-1~bpo11+1                       all          Real-time strategy game of ancient warfare (common data files)
ii  0ad-rc2                                  0.27.0                                 amd64        This is the release candidate #2 of 0 A.D.

2) You can now run the rc2 with the following command:

pyrogenesis-rc2

 

3) If you want to uninstall, you can run this command:
sudo dpkg -r 0ad-rc2

 

I hope this helps the testing process and is not violating any WFG rules .
If that's the case, feel free to remove this post.

Thanks.

Edited January 26 by guerringuerrin

[real_tabasco_sauce]

@Ginnungagap @BreakfastBurrito_007 @guerringuerrin @chrstgtr @Feldfeld @ValihrAnt @Acero @SaidRdz @Player of 0AD  @Atrik and others.

18:00 UTC Sunday we will aim do do at least 1 4v4 test game. Lets see how the performance upgrades work out!

[chrstgtr]

10 hours ago, real_tabasco_sauce said:

@Ginnungagap @BreakfastBurrito_007 @guerringuerrin @chrstgtr @Feldfeld @ValihrAnt @Acero @SaidRdz @Player of 0AD  @Atrik and others.

18:00 UTC Sunday we will aim do do at least 1 4v4 test game. Lets see how the performance upgrades work out!

I can basically never play during daytime hours. Have fun! And hope it works!

[Meister]

Hi, i somehow cant log in or register for gitidea, so here are my thoughts:

- with pressing ctrl (attack move) in a26 i could still attack single units. So when sniping you could press ctrl and your units wouldnt walk across the battlefield when you clicked on the ground next to enemy unit. This has been changed it seems, so is there something i can do about it?

- i found an edge-case bug: you can reload into a saved "We are Legion" scenario in the multiplayer lobby. It could have something to do with the fact that the map name then isnt "We are Legion" anymore, but something else...
If this is something to be fixed, pls create an issue on gitidea since i cant log in there.

- its sad that colours can be changed in multiplayer lobby games. (or can they?)

A27 feels good and the new lobby looks really nice, i like the colours.

Big Thanks to all who are working on this!!

Meister

[Atrik]

I got another crash bug but still probably not release blocker (as long as it doesn't hide another underlying issue).

Reproduce:

1. Host a game in lobby.
2. While in game, from the game menu click "lobby", then click on any room. Insta crash. Both before or after game would be started.

Edited January 26 by Atrik

[guerringuerrin]

43 minutes ago, Atrik said:

I got another crash bug but still probably not release blocker (as long as it doesn't hide another underlying issue).

Reproduce:

1. Host a game in lobby.
2. While in game, from the game menu click "lobby", then click on any room. Insta crash. Both before or after game would be started.

Bug reproduced under Windows 11.
In my case I started the game. 1v1 vs gaia
crashlogs files uploaded
crashlog.dmpcrashlog.txt

Edited January 27 by guerringuerrin

[real_tabasco_sauce]

For me, it took a double click on my own game in the lobby.

[Itms]

Thanks for the report I have a fix. Can you test applying this:

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/commit/6ac5c376eab55e59b831605e1b2a01ec03f8dfa8

to a nightly build? We'll generate RC3 this afternoon, including this fix, and a fix for the animation of the Marian Legionary. The game will not be rebuilt for that, so there will be no need for extended testing.

[Atrik]

Seems to work. Thanks @Itms! Hoping a27 is for very soon then!

[Itms]

We are also going to fix

tonight, which will require a rebuild, so the RC3 will be out during the night or tomorrow morning as early as possible (European hours).

[strat0spheric]

Hello,

 

i compiled 0ad a27 from source on my linux machine. It basically worked but as there is a flatpak available now i would like to use that one to see if the performance might be better.  ... but ... i don't know how to uninstall the compiled version. Could someone give me a hint on how to do that, so that i have all unnecessary dependencies also removed.

I didn't find any uninstall instructions so far.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[Agne1940]

On 28/05/2023 at 3:42 PM, ChronA said:

Historical accuracy? As far as I can tell the idea of elephants being used as siege weapons is largely a modern conceit. While they might be capable of bashing down a gate, these were very expensive and unpredictable animals, and enemies in a fortified stronghold are more likely to have presence of mind to effectively deploy countermeasures. Pretty much everyone had better options for breaking fortifications. (I admit I could be wrong about this, if someone wants to bring in actual sources let's differ to them.)

What elephants could do, which basically nothing else in the ancient world could, is bash their way through the middle of a dense formation of heavy melee infantry and trigger a rout. Given that ancient military tactics were so heavily based on unit cohesion, this made them insanely effective, compensating for the fact that the animals were so expensive and unpredictable. Given the way 0AD simulates ancient warfare, the only way to represent this is to make elephants OP heavy infantry killing machines. The trick is you also need to represent their counters. (Light and/or ranged infantry being the main one.) If you want to construct a counter cycle of it: Elephant > Melee Infantry > Ranged Infantry > Elephant. And speaking of strategies and counters, if you’re looking to try your luck in something a little different, you might enjoy betting on a variety of sports at https://mostbet.net.in/app/. They offer an easy-to-use platform where you can apply your strategic thinking and potentially make some profits. It’s as simple as tracking your bets, much like managing ancient warfare tactics!

If you want to construct a counter cycle of it Elephant > Melee Infantry > Ranged Infantry > Elephant

You raise an interesting point about the historical use of elephants in warfare. It's true that elephants were primarily used to break enemy lines and cause chaos, rather than as siege weapons to breach fortifications. Their ability to trample over infantry and disrupt formations made them incredibly valuable in certain battle scenarios, especially in open-field combat where the threat of a rampaging elephant could cause a rout.

However, as you mentioned, they were expensive and unpredictable, which made them a risky option. The key to using them effectively was the timing and placement within the army, and, of course, the ability to counter them. Light infantry with ranged weapons, or even cavalry, would be effective counters, as they could harass and kill elephants before they became too much of a threat.

In terms of game mechanics, I think the representation of elephants as powerful heavy infantry killers makes sense from a gameplay standpoint. They would need counters like ranged or light infantry to balance their power and avoid them from being overpowered.