Your 0 A.D. Screenshots

[chrstgtr]

1 hour ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

One of the reasons we should expand the Spy feature to include all non-hero units (not just land traders-a silly nerf).

Spies needs a total rework. If it's most useful case is to find a lone fishing boat in the corner of the map after the game is all but officially over then it is a feature that shouldn't exist. 

[Gurken Khan]

5 hours ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

One of the reasons we should expand the Spy feature to include all non-hero units (not just land traders-a silly nerf).

  And then have the view of a random unit?

 

3 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

Spies needs a total rework. If it's most useful case is to find a lone fishing boat in the corner of the map after the game is all but officially over then it is a feature that shouldn't exist. 

I got pretty good finding those fishing boats. ^^

But I believe for a while now those fishing boats don't count as survivors anymore, only building and fighting units.

(Split thread?)

 

[Karader]

9 hours ago, Stan` said:

Did you set a victory condition ?

No i didnt do such a thing. This is my first time play and i really love it. I will check now. Thank you

[Karader]

9 hours ago, Gurken Khan said:

Could still be enemies alive, maybe on a ship. If the game wasn't exited before, saving and watching the replay would answer that.

Thank you, i will check whole map again. I save all steps to learn the game. I ll watch again

[real_tabasco_sauce]

14 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

Spies needs a total rework. If it's most useful case is to find a lone fishing boat in the corner of the map after the game is all but officially over then it is a feature that shouldn't exist. 

My idea recently was to turn it into a repeatedly researchable tech that temporarily reveals the location/vision of one/all of your enemy heroes.

So while it might not see use frequently, it still may be relevant in something like regicide.

[chrstgtr]

2 minutes ago, real_tabasco_sauce said:

My idea recently was to turn it into a repeatedly researchable tech that temporarily reveals the location/vision of one/all of your enemy heroes.

So while it might not see use frequently, it still may be relevant in something like regicide.

I actually had the same thought—it should reveal hero locations.

But I (wrongly) thought that was still a more or less useless tech. You’re right it would be very useful for regi games. 

It would be a niche tech. But at least it would be useful. 

[Seleucids]

Funny chat screenshot: Geriatrix flexes his 20000 commits to open source project

This is intended to be entertainment, not malpractice reporting as I see no strong violation of ToS here. 

Funny claims by Geriatrix or whatever his new account is:

1. I somehow made a 2200 and a top 10 player quit. But he cannot name any of these

2. I am somehow destroying 0ad, in a irreversible way, by contributing. 

3. He tried to frame @MarcusAureliu#s with some random bot claims but couldn't even come up with a complete theory XD

4. He still shares links to old cheat videos 

[Arup]

13 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

It would be a niche tech. But at least it would be useful.

yeah, then maybe we can create a new research altogether instead of reworking the current research? I want something more than just "Hero location revealer.exe" But tbf i dont got any ideas on my own so idk

[chrstgtr]

17 minutes ago, Arup said:

yeah, then maybe we can create a new research altogether instead of reworking the current research? I want something more than just "Hero location revealer.exe" But tbf i dont got any ideas on my own so idk

Look at the other thread that discusses which techs are most used. Spies is literally never researched (and for good reason). 

The game shouldn't be cluttered with junk. 

[Arup]

4 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

Look at the other thread that discusses which techs are most used. Spies is literally never researched (and for good reason).

Indeed, its too costly and rarely usable. tabasco's suggestion is pretty good, but I think we can make spies into two different things; one which does what sauce said, and another which... idk, lets you train spies? who can turn enemy units to your own or smth ? or something else. I will talk about this in detail next week after my exams

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

On 06/03/2025 at 11:02 PM, chrstgtr said:

Spies needs a total rework. If it's most useful case is to find a lone fishing boat in the corner of the map after the game is all but officially over then it is a feature that shouldn't exist. 

IMHO, a tech can be niche and only "useful" in maybe 10% of games and we could still include it, but obviously if only <1% of players ever use it, then that's a big problem.

Why can't we do what I suggest (extend the effect to all units) for a release cycle and see if it's an improvement. If it's not enough to be marginally useful, then we can retool it.

We could also do something like the tech is auto-researched the moment you train a Hero (easy to implement) as an additional bene to training a hero.

[chrstgtr]

3 hours ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

Why can't we do what I suggest (extend the effect to all units) for a release cycle and see if it's an improvement. If it's not enough to be marginally useful, then we can retool it.

What’s the strategic use of that information 99.9% of the time after min 5? I would have about a 30% chance of learning that my enemy has farms around their CC. You said it changed from this originally, well it changed because it’s old form was useless too. 

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

3 minutes ago, chrstgtr said:

What’s the strategic use of that information 99.9% of the time after min 5? I would have about a 30% chance of learning that my enemy has farms around their CC. You said it changed from this originally, well it changed because it’s old form was useless too. 

Dunno bro. I've used it in DE and saw the AI massing a giant invasion army or his citizens building a civic center expansion where I had not seen his units previously. 

 

The relative costs can also be adjusted so that it's more attractive. 

[chrstgtr]

10 minutes ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

Dunno bro. I've used it in DE and saw the AI massing a giant invasion army. The relative costs can also be adjusted so that it's more attractive. 

You need a spy to tell you that your enemy is training an army? I hope you changed the cost to zero for that information 

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

I'm out. You're clearly arguing to argue. 

[chrstgtr]

16 minutes ago, wowgetoffyourcellphone said:

I'm out. You're clearly arguing to argue. 

I’m just pointing out how useless the tech you’re proposing is. Again, adding tech for the sake of having a “new feature” isn’t fun and doesn’t advance the game. 

[Grautvornix]

In some other games, spies could be developed into assassins able to damage or destroy a building or hurt/kill someone important.

Would it make sense if you trained a group of, say, 5 to 10 spies that are available do a little "revolution"? Guided by you within the enemy territory they would have limited time to carry out their mission (e.g. 10s) before they are revealed. (a similar mechanism existed in Settlers V I believe. There, it was an element of strategy and suspense. Main purposes was to destroy bridges, but this is not possible yet in 0aD).

 

Possibly too much of a change in gameplay and too much coding needed - also for the AI.

[Seleucids]

Why are we arguing about spies? It is an overpriced tech that is less useful than scouting with a cav or outposts. So just leave it there. Let it exist. Just don't use it. Maybe someone in a remote corner of the world will find the tech useful for a very specific situation. 

Weak / Useless features can stay. If something is rubbish, ignore it. 

7 minutes ago, Grautvornix said:

Would it make sense if you trained a group of, say, 5 to 10 spies that are available do a little "revolution"? Guided by you within the enemy territory they would have limited time to carry out their mission (e.g. 10s) before they are revealed. (a similar mechanism existed in Settlers V I believe. There, it was an element of strategy and suspense. Main purposes was to destroy bridges, but this is not possible yet in 0aD).

Fun idea, but might be too troll if in used in multiplayer. 

[Grautvornix]

Yep, you are right! And probably difficult to implement if used in SP with AI. Lets put this into the bin.