0 A.D. Is Wasting Its Potential !

[Grautvornix]

In 0AD 0.28 english version says indeed Scenario editor (from within the game):

And so does Atlas itself:

@ObelixAre you on a different version or language?

 

[Obelix]

18 hours ago, Thalatta said:

23 hours ago, Obelix said:

My Windows menu entry's called 'Map editor'!

That's weird... I'm on Win 11, game is 0.28.0 a2cae.

Same here! But I was unclear, I mean the Windows Start menu folder "0 A.D. Empires Ascendant" with the entries "0 A.D.", "Open logs folder", "Web site" and "Map editor".

EDIT:

18 hours ago, Grautvornix said:

@ObelixAre you on a different version or language?

My Windows is set to de_DE, my installation should be en_US by default.

Edited October 10 by Obelix
hadn't see Grautvornix post early enough

[Thalatta]

19 minutes ago, Obelix said:

I mean the Windows Start menu folder "0 A.D. Empires Ascendant" with the entries "0 A.D.", "Open logs folder", "Web site" and "Map editor".

Ahh, I've never used that . Still when pressed, Atlas opens (I guess it should be said that's its actual name, since the "Scenario Editor" part seems just descriptive).

Unrelated: you (and others) have told me to create PRs, but my New Pull Request button is disabled. I created Issues instead (for now).

Edited October 10 by Thalatta

[Thalatta]

23 minutes ago, Supermoon said:

Hopefully you can figure out the PR issue soon.

I managed a few days ago, I'll mention it after doing another one to completely address one of my Issues, but have not gotten around it yet.

[Bravado2020]

I agree that this game is wasting potential but also the in game online community isn't what it once was at least for me, every game I've been a part of online now always has someone using profanity or just being a fool in general, I am very intrigued to see what scenario's and campaigns you guys come up with, i may even try my hand at some myself but i agree the Atlas Editor good as it is could use some improvements.

[lilypoppy]

3 hours ago, Bravado2020 said:

I agree that this game is wasting potential but also the in game online community isn't what it once was at least for me, every game I've been a part of online now always has someone using profanity or just being a fool in general, I am very intrigued to see what scenario's and campaigns you guys come up with, i may even try my hand at some myself but i agree the Atlas Editor good as it is could use some improvements.

@Bravado2020

Hi here is my project !

https://wildfiregames.com/forum/topic/170017-devlog-burning-heart-a-narrative-campaign-for-0-ad/#comment-762999

[Nicolaus_von_Kues]

7 hours ago, Bravado2020 said:

e I've been a part of online now always has someone using profanity or just being a fool in general

Society is in decline and Generation Z is generally irreverent.

People are really crazy lately.

[Gurken Khan]

5 hours ago, Nicolaus_von_Kues said:

Society is in decline and Generation Z is generally irreverent.

Quote

The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age.

Socrates agrees.

[Thalatta]

On 12/09/2026 at 11:24 AM, Obelix said:

I really get sad when reading thread titles like this one and replies seconding it. IMO saying an open source software project 'is wasting its potential!' is discrediting the work of the main developers and the hundreds of contributors who are all doing it voluntarily in their free-time.

I see it as the exact opposite: so many think the game is wasting its potential because it's painful to see that all the amazing work the devs have done (and I emphasise that before what's coming) is being used to cater an unrepresentative, yet habitué, group that wants a rushed game that's 3 times faster than the already competitive StarCraft II (production and research times as reference), and even use mods to remove all the nice graphics to have an advantage at it. How can those who appreciate history, graphics and good design in general not find that just ridiculous and sad? Last week in the challenge thread I read yet another example, where someone posted they don't play anymore because of the 100 pop in 7 mins, which is completely understandable (no matter those who react with a little confused face) since the game has been described here as "the Fastest Click Wins", and, again, a crushing majority of those who play have absolute zero interest in any of this stuff (well over 95%, since, for AoE2 at least, 80% are those who have played at least one MP match, and 90-95% those who do it regularly), but echo chambers are one hell of a drug (as is Redbull along those tryharder APMs). What is even more baffling still is that those who often make claims on what this game is supposed to be constantly contradict the Project Overview and The Vision of 0 A.D. documents (which, since I'm at it already, include the statement "strong emphasis on historical accuracy"). Just to quote the latter: "We need to keep our guard up and avoid these pitfalls:", the first point being "Fastest click wins". I'm really sorry, but your guard has been downed, breached and obliterated long ago then.

 

15 hours ago, Bravado2020 said:

I agree that this game is wasting potential but also the in game online community isn't what it once was at least for me, every game I've been a part of online now always has someone using profanity or just being a fool in general

Personally I see it as a symptom of the problem, I do wonder if by having SC2 speeds or similar those types would leave and retreat in disgust back to their mom's basements where they belong, along with (re)gaining more thoughtful players (I've even proposed to have "Normal" and "Competitive" Presets not to be so extreme, to try to keep all these players). At least I hope with your roleplaying community you imagine 0 A.D. as is should have been  (again, according to its own foundational documents).

[Ultimate Aurelian]

15 hours ago, Gurken Khan said:

Socrates agrees.

i dont know enough about society in that specific  period to know if he was right.

Might well be one of those recurring issues.

[Ultimate Aurelian]

21 hours ago, Nicolaus_von_Kues said:

Society is in decline and Generation Z is generally irreverent.

People are really crazy lately.

tbh that was common in MP games for a while maybe its just the game getting more popular.

[Gurken Khan]

4 minutes ago, Ultimate Aurelian said:

i dont know enough about society

The current youth of today is always the worst that ever has been, for thousands of years. There's plenty of "DJs" who play that record in every age, but of course Socrates is very prominent and reaches far back. I'm old and conservative, but you won't catch me selling you that evergreen as the freshest release.

[Nicolaus_von_Kues]

59 minutes ago, Ultimate Aurelian said:

tbh that was common in MP games for a while maybe its just the game getting more popular.

Many years ago it wasn't like that, Stan once subtly hinted to me: "those people weren't even born back then".

 

Now I understand what he meant.

[Ultimate Aurelian]

51 minutes ago, Gurken Khan said:

The current youth of today is always the worst that ever has been, for thousands of years. There's plenty of "DJs" who play that record in every age, but of course Socrates is very prominent and reaches far back. I'm old and conservative, but you won't catch me selling you that evergreen as the freshest release.

I dont think every generation is an exact copy of previous ones.

So se some generations will be worse than others and in some cases it might be right (not the case regarding players of this game IMO).

 

[Ultimate Aurelian]

8 minutes ago, Nicolaus_von_Kues said:

Many years ago it wasn't like that, Stan once subtly hinted to me: "those people weren't even born back then".

 

Now I understand what he meant.

Millenials were insulting each other on Xbox Live think it may just be a case of the game being less popular (or at least with that sort of audience) back in the day.

[Bravado2020]

I think it all boils down to the fact that 0ad is a great game in essence but does not have such a great online community, a lack of willingness to try new things or enthusiasm to do anything but rush build, fight, win or lose style matches, take my roleplay discord for example, i started that with a lot of enthusiasm thinking people would be interested in trying it out but apart from 2 people mainly just one person the lack of enthusiasm has been saddening and has also resulted in myself losing enthusiasm to do it, not meaning the forums or any you guys of course.

Edited 2 hours ago by Bravado2020

[Thalatta]

1 hour ago, Bravado2020 said:

take my roleplay discord for example, i started that with a lot of enthusiasm thinking people would be interested in trying it out but apart from 2 people mainly just one person the lack of enthusiasm has been saddening and has also resulted in myself losing enthusiasm to do it

Well, it's not the profile of most people here, considering the nature of the game, you might have more luck in a roleplaying forum (or maybe something on Reddit?), or, you could make a mod where it makes sense to have more complex diplomacy, commerce, and so on, and hope for the best (or you could check existing mods for one that is more aligned with that).

[guerringuerrin]

23 hours ago, Thalatta said:

see it as the exact opposite: so many think the game is wasting its potential because it's painful to see that all the amazing work the devs have done (and I emphasise that before what's coming) is being used to cater an unrepresentative, yet habitué, group that wants a rushed game that's 3 times faster than the already competitive StarCraft II (production and research times as reference), and even use mods to remove all the nice graphics to have an advantage at it. How can those who appreciate history, graphics and good design in general not find that just ridiculous and sad? Last week in the challenge thread I read yet another example, where someone posted they don't play anymore because of the 100 pop in 7 mins, which is completely understandable (no matter those who react with a little confused face) since the game has been described here as "the Fastest Click Wins", and, again, a crushing majority of those who play have absolute zero interest in any of this stuff (well over 95%, since, for AoE2 at least, 80% are those who have played at least one MP match, and 90-95% those who do it regularly), but echo chambers are one hell of a drug (as is Redbull along those tryharder APMs). What is even more baffling still is that those who often make claims on what this game is supposed to be constantly contradict the Project Overview and The Vision of 0 A.D. documents (which, since I'm at it already, include the statement "strong emphasis on historical accuracy"). Just to quote the latter: "We need to keep our guard up and avoid these pitfalls:", the first point being "Fastest click wins". I'm really sorry, but your guard has been downed, breached and obliterated long ago then.

What strikes me is the confidence with which you talk about a community you don't even know, lurking around threads and cherry-picking opinions that fit your own view of the game. What's more, you have the audacity to make arguments based on percentages as if you had conducted some kind of data analysis study of the community, when in reality, you're interacting with barely 10 people on the forum. It takes some nerve to come here and tell everyone how things should be done when you've demonstrated so little. 

And I'm genuinely surprised by how someone can be so confident in their opinions while telling everyone how things should be done when they've demonstrated so little, let alone making claims about an MP community and player base they don't know at all.