Unofficial 0 A.D. WebAssembly Port – Play in Your Browser (SourceQuest)

[MatiusRock]

Hello everyone!

My name is Jorge, and I'm a software developer from Colombia. I'm excited to share a personal open-source project I've been working on, inspired by the incredible work of the 0 A.D. community and Wildfire Games.

First of all, I want to express my appreciation to everyone who has contributed to 0 A.D. over the years. The dedication behind the game, its engine, artwork, and community is truly impressive.

Introducing SourceQuest

I've recently launched SourceQuest, a platform I'm building to showcase open-source games, explore their technology, and make some of them playable directly in a web browser.

Website: https://sourcequest.games/

One of my main experiments is an unofficial WebAssembly port of 0 A.D., allowing players to experience the game in a compatible desktop browser without installing it.

What I've been working on

Rather than recreating 0 A.D. or developing a new game from scratch, my goal has been to adapt the original Pyrogenesis engine for browser execution.

The current experimental port includes:

• The original C++ Pyrogenesis engine compiled with Emscripten and WebAssembly.

• WebGL 2 rendering.

• The original game simulation, interface, and Petra AI.

• Single-player gameplay against AI opponents.

• Browser-based game data loading and caching using IndexedDB.

The port is still experimental and has limitations. Multiplayer is not currently supported, and the first launch requires downloading approximately 2 GB of game data. A compatible desktop browser with WebAssembly JSPI and WebGL 2 support is required.

You can explore the port here:

https://sourcequest.games/games/0ad/

Source code and modifications:

https://github.com/MatiusRock1/0adwebassembly

Experimental experiences built on 0 A.D.

I've also been experimenting with two small mods built on the same engine:

Kingdoms RPG: A prototype combining RPG progression, a controllable hero, quests, settlement building, and real-time strategy.

Mare Nostrum: A strategy experiment combining turn-based territorial decisions with real-time battles.

These are experimental modifications built on 0 A.D., not independent replacements for the original game.

Credits, licensing, and respect for the original project

I want to be absolutely clear about something important:

0 A.D. is developed by Wildfire Games and its community. SourceQuest does not claim ownership or authorship of the original game, the Pyrogenesis engine, its artwork, audio, or other original assets.

My contribution focuses on the browser adaptation, its integration, and the experimental experiences built on top of it.

This is an independent, unofficial community project. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Wildfire Games.

The original licenses and attribution are preserved: GPL-2.0-or-later for the relevant game and engine code, and CC BY-SA 3.0 for the original artwork and audio, subject to their respective licensing notices.

I've also included links to the original project, source code, credits, and license information on SourceQuest.

Credits: https://sourcequest.games/credits.html

Official 0 A.D. website: https://play0ad.com/

Why I'm sharing this here

My intention is not to compete with or replace 0 A.D., but to explore another way for people to discover and experience this remarkable open-source game.

I believe bringing open-source games to the browser could introduce them to new players and create interesting opportunities for experimentation.

I'm sharing this project with the community because I'd genuinely appreciate your feedback, especially regarding:

• Technical considerations for the WebAssembly port.

• Attribution, licensing, and proper recognition of the original contributors.

• Potential improvements to browser compatibility and performance.

• Ideas for making this experiment more useful to the open-source community.

If anything about the project presentation, credits, or licensing should be improved, please let me know. I'm more than happy to make adjustments.

Thank you again to Wildfire Games and all the contributors who made 0 A.D. possible.

Without your work, this experiment would not exist.

Best regards,
Jorge
SourceQuest – https://sourcequest.games/

Edited 5 hours ago by MatiusRock

[Asher]

Cool idea, @MatiusRock! It was a little glitchy on the first load, but I think that was just because it was downloading the assets. I also got some rendering issues: 

[MatiusRock]

@AsherThanks for the feedback! I'm keeping those points in mind, but I decided to go live like this to show my progress. I promise to improve and get them fixed over the coming days. Thank you