Suggestions for 0 A.D.

[Emacz]

On 29/07/2024 at 6:17 PM, BreakfastBurrito_007 said:

If walls were more effective in slowing/stopping melee cav and more easily sealed, then it would justify an increase in the per wall cost (especially for palisades). This way you could have less wall spam in favor of careful base design and cost effective partial walling. At the same time I think having reduced build time for palisades and/or walls is a good option.

spikes can help solve the problem!

[Classic-Burger]

On 06/04/2025 at 6:37 PM, Emacz said:

spikes can help solve the problem!

I think @borg- once introduced that into a mod.

[Deicide4u]

On 05/02/2025 at 10:13 AM, strat0spheric said:

• Ranged units have only a certain amount of ammo and then they have to use melee or/and go back to allied territory/cc/barracks/garrison to replenish stock.

 

Great suggestions, but this one is too micro intensive. 0 A.D. is not a RPG, players already have a lot to think about during the game. Plus, ranged units already die too fast to cavalry.

Roman roads could be a great benefit. Maybe too great, as Romans already got a huge buff in alpha 27. Perhaps, the roads could be made into a neutral structures on some "Roman" maps. Maps with the roman theme will have them.

Traps/pits would be a nice addition, and also a good homage to Stronghold. Certain citizen-soldier units could have an option to make them for moderate amount of wood. No need to make them too deadly or too expensive, to avoid abuse.

Edited April 10 by Deicide4u

[ffm2]

I suggest adding left-handedness. 10 - 15 % of the population are left-handed. But the main reason would be to break up the synchronized animations. E.g. when 50 skrims attack in union. If some of them where mirrored it would look a bit more chaotic.

[george]

i am consistently disappointed and frustrated by the ai that controls unit behavior. i'll send my units in to attack, look away for a moment to keep up with production, and half my elephants have wandered a screen away chasing a trader that doesn't matter at all, or all the archers are getting slaughtered by three cavalry while they diligently shoot completely ineffective arrows at a barracks that isn't even in use. i'll set some infantry to chop wood and 5 enemy soldiers can take out 40 because apparently they don't notice the guy right next to them getting stabbed to death.

the solution i propose is a window like trade or diplomacy windows that allows the player to set standing orders. instead of five clumsy unchangeable preset modes (violent, aggressive, defensive, passive), the player can choose how they want units to respond to or prioritize non-combatants (woman or traders) vs. infantry vs. siege units vs buildings. you can set an interval to re-acquire targets so they don't focus in on a target that isn't working, set awareness for something like a unit nearby being attacked, set chase distance, if you don't want them to run too far, decide they want units to capture building or kill by default.

regardless of how much fine tuning, concentrated micro will always be the most effective, but in in the current set up micro managing every attack feels way more important than considering global strategy, and refining preemptive control of the AI would bring that more into balance. if it turned out to be too powerful, you could even gate it behind a building like a training hall and some upgrades to allow access to it's most potent features.

[Deicide4u]

@george

One easy solution is to re-order an attack move for your army from time to time. Unit AI will prioritize attackers.

[george]

@Deicide4u

yes, every thing i mentioned can be solved by just having more apm. but then the challenge of the game becomes quickly and accurately clicking instead of making strategic decisions about how to have units behave.