New Release: Alpha 5 Edetania

[Jeru]

Wildfire Games proudly announces the release of "0 A.D. Alpha 5 Edetania", the fifth alpha version of 0 A.D., a free, open-source game of ancient warfare. This release is chock-full of new features, from a new faction (the Iberians) to random maps, a new lighting system, unit formations and more.

Easy Download and Install

Download and installation instructions are available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. 0 A.D. is free of charge and always will be. You can redistribute it and modify it as long as you abide by the GPL. You can even use parts of the art and sound for your own projects as long as you abide by CC-BY-SA. No registration, no advertising, no catch.

New features in this release:

Gameplay:

• New civilization: Iberians
  
• Much improved enemy AI named JuBot (thanks Jubalbarca)
  
• Random map scripting (thanks historic_bruno)
  
• Unit promotions (thanks fcxSanya)
  
• Improved formations (thanks Badmadblacksad)
  
• New map: Acropolis II, in which the Iberians face off the Hellenes (Screenshot below)
  

Graphics:

• New shader-based renderer mode, to support new effects and improve performance
  
• Improved lighting for warmer and more vivid colors
  
• Particles - fire, smoke, construction dust, sparkles near mines, falling leaves
  
• Terrain decals - smoother building foundations on bumpy terrain
  
• Hidden units are visible as silhouettes
  
• Various performance improvements (thanks in part ortalo)
  

GUI:

• Idle unit button (thanks veprbl)
  
• Unit control groups (thanks Badmadblacksad)
  
• Unit selection limit raised from 40 to 64
  
• Map setting editing in Atlas (thanks historic_bruno)
  

Art:

• Eye candy - Rope bridges, River bridges
  
• New loading screen images and tips
  

Audio:

• New sound effects: Unit selection, building destruction
  
• New music tracks: The first ones of what will be an entire soundtrack remake
  

Room for improvement:

• Many unit stats are still unbalanced.
  
• Many planned gameplay features are not added yet: There is no research, no auras, no formation bonuses, no stances, no settlements and territories, etc.
  
• Many bugs and small missing features.
  
• There is no multiplayer matchmaking service. You have to connect by IP address. (More convenient ways may be implemented in the future).
  

As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done. We need capable programmers, artists and more. If you want to be part of this effort too, you're welcome to get involved!

The Iberian Building Set: 1. Fortress; 2. Civ Centre; 3. Barracks; 4. Outpost; 5. Temple; 6. Market; 7. Farmstead; 8. Corral; 9. Monument; 10. Dock; 11. Houses. (CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games)

Who were the Iberians?

For most of the first millennium B.C., the Iberian peninsula was a mix of cultures and forms of settlements, from Celtic towns inland, to the cities of seafaring Greeks, Phoenecians and Carthaginians along the coast. There existed a distinct Iberian culture along the Mediterranean coast, often meshing with Celtic inhabitants of Iberia, but very little is known about the native Iberians, and the ancient Iberian language remains linguistically unclassified to this day.

What little we do know from historical sources describing the Iberian tribes, however, is that they were not a warlike people; they did hire out mercenaries to other peoples, but they rarely themselves went to war. Organized as a loose confederation of tribes and cities, they mostly minded their own business. Their economy subsisted of agriculture, metalworking and exporting metals. (Indeed, Iberia was a rich source of minerals for all its neighbors and occupiers, including silver, iron, lead, copper and zinc). As their religious practice, they worshiped a pantheon of gods at small home altars. Male Endovellikos and female Ataekina were their chief deities.

When under threat, however, Iberia did not lend itself easily to conquest. Not even the great Hannibal could accomplish the task, and it took the Romans 200 years. Part of this has to do with two distinct features of the way the Iberians waged war: One was the guerrilla war style of fighting they employed; in fact, the Iberians invented guerrilla warfare. The second was the strong fortifications they built, the oppidum (a fortified town) and the castro (a hill fort). (More info: Wikipedia: Castro culture and Wikipedia: Castros in Spain).

In 0 A.D., the Iberians will have many bonuses to match their historic strengths. These bonuses include:

• Elite Warriors: Capability of causing great damage with few numbers.
  
• Cavalry Cost: Because of the large horse herds and some of the finest horses in ancient Europe, the Iberians' cavalry will cost less.
  
• Flaming Javelins: There was a frequent practice among some Iberian tribes of dousing their javelins in pitch. Some javelin-using units will throw flaming javelins after researching this unique technology.
  

Screenshot of Acropolis II, a map bundled with Alpha 5 Edetania. On this map, the Iberians fight the Greeks — and on Greek soil, no less. (CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games)

Why "Edetania"?

We name our releases according to development status ("Alpha" or "Beta"), successive release number (1, 2, 3, ...) and a word relating to the ancient world, in alphabetical order ("Argonaut" for A, "Bellerophon" for B, ...). In honor of the release of the Iberian faction, we decided to dub Alpha 5 "Edetania".

Edetania, the land of the Iberian tribe of the Edetani, comprised the district lying between the rivers Iberus (Ebro) and Sucro (Iucar), and bounded by the mountains of Celtiberia on the west. The territory includes the modern-day cities of Valencia and Zaragoza*. The Edetani's major city, and possible capital in certain times in history, was Edeta, which was continuously inhabited since the seventh century B.C. The modern-day city of Llíria lies on top of it nowadays.

Map of extent of the Iberian tribes, circa 300 B.C. Land of the Edetani, an Iberian tribe, marked in black. (After Wikipedia, in turn after Luís Fraga da Silva; CC-BY-SA Wildfire Games)

Edetania, along with many other parts of Iberia, was conquered by the Romans by 19 B.C. and eventually became a Roman province. Mentions of the Edetani, however, continued up until the second century AD, indicating that they had maintained their tribal identity for centuries after foreign conquest. (Main sources: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Spanish Wikipedia: Edetanos, French Wikipedia: Edetans, 0 A.D. Design Document: Iberians).

For the next alpha, we welcome fan suggestions for words relating to the ancient world beginning with the letter F. Keep it original and within the 0 A.D. time-frame (appx. 500 BC - 1 BC)!

Long Time, No Siege

Wildfire Games will continue releasing new versions of 0 A.D. periodically. Watch our news feed to keep updated, or follow us by e-mail, RSS, Facebook or Twitter. And you're always welcome to join the 0 A.D. community on our forums.

* Fun fact: Zaragoza is a corruption of the name "Caesaraugusta". The latter name is what the city was called in honor of Roman emperor Augustus, who colonized it after the Cantabrian War in 25 B.C. Previously, the city's name was Salduba.

[tinoesroho]

Looks nice enough, grabbed it yesterday. I'm a little shocked that a geographical name was chosen over a deity. Random maps play quite nicely with only minor slowdowns on this 2.7GHZ dual core processor.

[Jeru]

I'm a little shocked that a geographical name was chosen over a deity.

Let's just say it was challenging to find a word that both related to ancient Iberia and started with the letter E.

[tinoesroho]

I bet.

[Jubalbarca]

Yay!

[av93]

letter F? mmm.. Falcata? (iberian related )

[Jeru]

Alpha 6 doesn't have to be Iberian-related

[Ykkrosh]

To match the overall theme of alpha 6 and a minor shift in the game's emphasis, the words should be related to lasers. I suggest Fluorescence.

[Pureon]

Femtosecond pulse compressor (tech upgrade for the corral)

[ribez]

if alpha 6 will be roman related, i suggest "Fortuna", the goddess of fortune and personification of luck in Roman religion

[Jeru]

We are leaving the Romans for a few more alphas. Alpha 6 will revisit the Hellenes.

[ribez]

We are leaving the Romans for a few more alphas. Alpha 6 will revisit the Hellenes.

well, then it will be difficult find something that start with 'f', because of the greek 'f' -> ''ph'

[feneur]

well, then it will be difficult find something that start with 'f', because of the greek 'f' -> ''ph'

There's no need for the word to be Greek It's certainly nice if it's somehow related to the Hellenes though

[Jeru]

Or to something tropical that one of the ancient civilizations portrayed in the game had a word for...

[Thorfinn the Shallow Minded]

What about Flak 88? I can see that on a Pacific Island during World War II .

[av93]

...Flammenwerfer M.16... World war I, there only few games of it Xd. (Trench warfare in 0 a.d =) )

Edited May 23, 2011 by av93