Suggestions for 0 A.D.

[Perzival12]

5 hours ago, Eilat said:

I’m exxplore the idea of representing a large, multi-regional empire in 0 A.D. by using several allied players of the same civilization.
Something similar to how some historical empires often worked for example, loosely coordinated regions within the Achaemenid Empire, the Habsburg realms, or other multi-centered polities that acted as one bloc toward the outside world.

In gameplay, this concept could be interesting, but there’s a major limitation: even if the players are allies, each AI still makes its own diplomatic and military decisions. They may treat other factions differently, choose different war targets, or behave in uncoordinated ways. So the “empire” doesn’t actually act like a single entity.

My idea:
Would it be feasible to introduce an optional AI mode, separate from standard “ally” behavior, where multiple players could:

automatically share the same diplomatic stance toward all other players,

follow the same external military target or general direction of attack,

and optionally share the same color to reinforce that they are parts of the same overarching power ?

The goal isn’t to merge them into one player, but to let them behave outwardly like one unified empire while still being technically separate players.

I’d like to ask the developers and AI experts whether something like this is achievable within the current AI system, or if it would require deeper changes.

You can already do this. In a skirmish or random map, just set the civs of all desired players to the same one, and put them all on a team, then select Lock Teams.

[Eilat]

20 hours ago, Perzival12 said:

just set the civs of all desired players to the same one, and put them all on a team, then select Lock Teams.

Oh, you're the guy who revived HC, thanks! Looks like I haven't explored this game enough. I was wondering if there's a way to allow multiple players to choose the same color. You probably know how, right? Could you tell me which part I need to modify?

[Gurken Khan]

35 minutes ago, Eilat said:

multiple players to choose the same color

In the meantime you can toggle diplomacy colors, e.g. via the button left below the minimap.

[Perzival12]

3 hours ago, Eilat said:

Oh, you're the guy who revived HC, thanks! Looks like I haven't explored this game enough. I was wondering if there's a way to allow multiple players to choose the same color. You probably know how, right? Could you tell me which part I need to modify?

You're welcome.

I just did some searching, if you want to make multiple players have the same color, there are two ways:

A: Make or edit a Scenario map, making the team members have the same color.

B: Edit PlayerColor.js. Not sure what exactly you would change, but it is doable.

C: Do both, which would fix all maps to be how you want them.

D: Do what @Gurken Khan said above: toggle diplomacy colors (which can be changed in Settings).

[ffm2]

In metadata.json currently for the player are stored:

buildingsCaptured
buildingsCapturedValue
buildingsConstructed
buildingsLost
buildingsLostValue
enemyBuildingsDestroyed
enemyBuildingsDestroyedValue
enemyUnitsKilled
enemyUnitsKilledValue
failedBribes
lootCollected
peakPercentMapControlled
percentMapControlled
percentMapExplored
populationCount
resourcesBought
resourcesCount
resourcesGathered
resourcesSold
resourcesUsed
successfulBribes
teamPeakPercentMapControlled
teamPercentMapControlled
teamPercentMapExplored
time
tradeIncome
treasuresCollected
tributesReceived
tributesSent
unitsCaptured
unitsCapturedValue
unitsLost
unitsLostValue
unitsTrained

I propose adding 
-HP healed
-damage dealt in each damage type
-damage dealt in HP (so after what gets absorbed by the armor)

Like this, one could see if one e.g. has only Hippocrates how much HP he has restored in the game.
One could see which damage type was most relevant, e.g. for defense upgrades.

In the statistics under units the healers are only listed under Total, everyone/everything else gets a category.

[nifa]

I'd like to have a grid underlay for the line charts in the summary. Also it would be cool if "battles" were shown, like in AoE. So when a certain percentage of the total kills happen within a few minutes, the spot is marked on the graph.

[ffm2]

While we are at the charts: The first 8 minutes are very underrepresented but very important. One could make such a insert plot. A bit like this:

[Arup]

8 hours ago, ffm2 said:

While we are at the charts: The first 8 minutes are very underrepresented but very important. One could make such a insert plot. A bit like this:

Karl Pearson Coefficient of 0.95 (strong correlation) but to be honest it's not really slept on. you can know the outcome of 1v1 by min 8 unless both sre equally matched.if one has advantage over the other at min 8 then it's most probably going to stay that way

[nifa]

On 24/12/2025 at 1:35 PM, ffm2 said:

While we are at the charts: The first 8 minutes are very underrepresented but very important. One could make such a insert plot. A bit like this:

I like the idea. Not all graphs start at zero and go up to the right though, maybe zooming in could be a different approach.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

On 24/12/2025 at 7:35 AM, ffm2 said:

While we are at the charts: The first 8 minutes are very underrepresented but very important. One could make such a insert plot. A bit like this:

This is really cool. Maybe make a ticket for it.

[Eilat]

Merry Christmas everyone
I want to ask if it is feasible to make flying units farther from the ground and have freer flight paths, such as flying directly or gliding regardless of the terrain? The style of flying units now is like walking without touching the ground

[ffm2]

10 hours ago, nifa said:

I like the idea. Not all graphs start at zero and go up to the right though, maybe zooming in could be a different approach.

Definitely. Only for some selected ones, like eco, mili and total that follow this pattern. Also for them only with some conditions:

-When the game is longer than 14 min.

-When there's so much space for the inset graph on the top left

(Maybe one suffices)

[Gönndolsalv]

On 26/12/2025 at 12:12 AM, nifa said:

I like the idea. Not all graphs start at zero and go up to the right though, maybe zooming in could be a different approach.

I wish it was possible to zoom in.

Edited Saturday at 21:23 by Gönndolsalv

[Eilat]

There's a problem with playing on large maps: the movement of units. Units have different movement speeds, and those that arrive first tend to attack first. Sometimes these units wait for those who arrive later to regroup, but more often than not, they don't. The result is a long line of soldiers charging headlong into death. Could this be improved by choosing a regrouping point and making the attack only begin when enough units are present?

 

[ffm2]

5 hours ago, Eilat said:

There's a problem with playing on large maps: the movement of units. Units have different movement speeds, and those that arrive first tend to attack first. Sometimes these units wait for those who arrive later to regroup, but more often than not, they don't. The result is a long line of soldiers charging headlong into death.

That's not exclusive for large maps or units with different speeds.

If you have no formation: Each unit try to get to the destination without collision resulting in this line like ducklings. You can set the destination before the enemy base to regroup.

Formations have big problems on their own for path finding. Some players (not me) just activate formation short before a attack so the units run in the formation (a speed slightly faster that normal walk).

For new units from the barracks you could make batches. But loose unit groups are vulnerable. If you find such a line and can attack it with a group you can take out a lot of units with without taking much damage. A basic aspect is to attack few units with a lot. It's the players duty to run from outnumbered fights or attack when you are stronger.

So:

5 hours ago, Eilat said:

Could this be improved by choosing a regrouping point and making the attack only begin when enough units are present?

Yeah, but what do you want the game to do about it? You can set the regrouping point before the battle and send them in when you feel ready.

[fabio]

6 hours ago, Eilat said:

There's a problem with playing on large maps: the movement of units. Units have different movement speeds, and those that arrive first tend to attack first. Sometimes these units wait for those who arrive later to regroup, but more often than not, they don't. The result is a long line of soldiers charging headlong into death. Could this be improved by choosing a regrouping point and making the attack only begin when enough units are present?

A similar issue was recently addressed:

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/issues/8580

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad/pulls/8589

[Eilat]

5 hours ago, ffm2 said:

That's not exclusive for large maps or units with different speeds.

If you have no formation: Each unit try to get to the destination without collision resulting in this line like ducklings. You can set the destination before the enemy base to regroup.

I mean, the longer the march, the worse this problem becomes. But anyway, the player won't be affected by it. I forgot to mention that the AI is the one affected, AI controlled troops are simply walking into their deaths in a single file.

[Eilat]

5 hours ago, ffm2 said:

Yeah, but what do you want the game to do about it? You can set the regrouping point before the battle and send them in when you feel ready.

I mean, can the AI be programmed to always do that, while the player will certainly do it?

[Deicide4u]

38 minutes ago, Eilat said:

AI controlled troops are simply walking into their deaths in a single file.

Yes, and this is a major problem. 

Some games have AIs that just group units some distance away from the targeted base and commence the attack from there.

I know for certain Brood War does this, but it's buggy. Units will still sometimes ignore the player's units while going to their grouping spot. Other times, the grouping spot will be inside the enemy base, so the units will be in a single line anyway.

It's not easy to code good grouping without the AI actively using formations. In the older alphas, AI would have grouped his units properly because formations were hard-coded.

Edited 1 hour ago by Deicide4u