I Guess This Is The Time For Me To Apply

[Prodigal Son]

Position: Gameplay Developer

Do you understand that Wildfire Games is a non-commercial project, work for 0 A.D. is volunteer, and work is done for free? Yes, and while I wouldn't mind any interesting professional occupation paying my expenses, I value non-monetary interactions as superior towards creativity and honesty.

Do you agree to distribute all your work for Wildfire Games under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike
license? I'll shoe ya all if you steal MY work (Actually, no I won't throw sues at you and yes, I agree)

Are you sure you are not wanting to work on something programming related? (Then you don't need to send in an application form.) Yes, but I could occasionally do some simple tasks like in the past.

Name: Nikos (or Nick), from Nikolaos. Full name currently classified (I'm getting funny).

Email: I'd rather not post it in a thread.

Location: Athens, Greece.

Availability: I generally could offer several hours a week, often many hours a day and would also usually be reachable during my work hours. But as my schedule and priorities aren't always stable, I might have small periods of inactivity. The motivation of working on something I really like, from a position I consider meaningful, would probably mean I won't quit unless something really serious happens.

Age: Soon to be thirty-two.

Occupation: I'm now eating dried nuts with honey (I'm getting funnier). But I'm an optician/salesman/bored/whatever...

Motivation: Love of history, strategy games and their design. Creative/healing brain activity. Working in a team instead of alone.

Personality: Ignorant human being, skeptic, anti-authoritarian, a weird mix of a romantic and a cynic, rather shy, wannabe philoshoper, trying to be a decent/just person.

Skills and Experience: See just bellow.

Short Essay: I've been a strategy game player since about the year 2000, starting with Age of Empires, Age Of Kings, Myth I & II at friends' places, without owning a computer. It started for good though 2-3 years later when I bought Age Of Mythology and soon Warcraft III, which are probably my most played games, along with Rome Total War and World Of Warcraft. The first thing I did when I first run AOM was to create a scenario with the editor. I found about 0 A.D. online, sometime in the mid 00s, while searching for new strategy games. I've been a minor contributor to the game as well as a modder for it and RTW, WC3, Civ V. Also a map maker/scenario designer for AOE, AOK, AOM, AOE 3, Rise Of Nations, Stronghold Crusader and Civ III-V among other games. Besides playing, modding and designing strategy (and rpg) video games , I've designed tabletop/card games since a young age and been a history nerd since my pre-school years, with the ancient era (and it's military part) being my favorite. I'm intrigued by strategy game design from creative, balancing and realism/historical perspectives. While trying to find what works best under any given circumstances, besides a lot of trial and error, I've read on game design and self-studied on how various games work and try to achieve their goals.

Interests and Hobbies: Music listening/composing (with a focus on lyrics), reading, writing, the occasional mountain-walking, socio-political/scientific/philosophical discussions. I'll soon try to sing my songs in a band for the first time instead of playing guitar. May the higher beings of the universe help me.

Staff: I don't know any team member personally.

Community: Currently none besides this one, but I have participated in several game forums (thehiveworkshop and twcenter among others) and still check some of them at varied frequencies.

Favorite Game: Impossible to single one or a couple. Lately I play Crusader Kings II more than anything else. I wish 0 A.D. becomes my favorite.

Work Examples: You could check the mod Ancient Empires, though at the moment it's broken by game updates, stagnated and much of the information on the forum is outdated. If need be I could also dig for and provide my work for other games, in various states of playability. I fear all of this might not be tempting enough and I'm also not sure that the team wants a gameplay designer, but I strongly believe one or more are needed. So I thought, why not apply instead of keeping to spam the forum with suggestions as I've done occasionally for years now. To be honest I've thought about it in the past as well but this is the first time I took it seriously.

I'd love to make my dream strategy game or mod a reality, but at this point I'm so full of ideas it's hard to choose on which to work and working alone is a serious drain on my motivation. If I were to be accepted in the team I'd prefer to focus on a practical approach. I'd like to know what is planned, how the team works internally and to what degree changes are debatable as of now, because what I get from reading the forums is rather confusing. I guess it's most realistic not to have extreme expectations about possible changes, so I'll provide some short proposals bellow based on that assumption ( = don't shoe me for making no mention of battalions). 

Mind that my observations are based on playing up to A21, and then on, only on impressions from forum comments, so please excuse any neglect on my part. Anyway, to the proposals:

Phases & Tech-Tree Layout

Spoiler

As they stand now, Phases are more of a relic of Age Of Kings influence in the game than something really well thought. About half units are available from Phase I. Civic Centers train way too many different units for a starting structure and cavalry is available instantly. As a consequence, besides frequentily discussed balance issues, the game gives a very limited sense of progression compared to other RTS. The introduction of the new stables, ranges and workshops will help a lot, but more needs to be done.

• One option is to heavily redesign the Tech-Tree. The possibilities are many, but I'd probably go with something simple, such as Barracks for Phase I, with basic melee infantry units (and perhaps javelin infantry as an early ranged unit) and Ranges/Stables at Phase II with their respective units. Some units could be considered as more advanced and given stats/role accordingly, to be unlocked at a later Phase than the one in which their production building becomes available. A variation on this could have Phases reached automaticly when a set number of structures is completed, as people have suggested.
• Another option is the removal of Phases. The design would be a little more risky and gameplay more diverse and aggressive, with units unlocked by structure requirements (for example, build a blacksmith to allow your barracks to train swordsmen). This approach has the advantage of fitting well with scouting and raiding. Seeing which structure (or structure combination) the other player builds helps you anticipate possible unit classes and tearing it down stops their production of those classes. It could also be mixed with upgrades of the Civic Center as requirements instead of the Phases.

Capturing, Rank And Looting Mechanics

Spoiler

From a multiplayer perspective, the inclusion of mechanics causing a snowball effect such as those should be a no-go. While they all are rather interesting and realistic in theory, they provide additional rewards each time a player is the winner in a minor event. How is that bad? Recovery chance for the other player is reduced and minor mistakes or just luck can become very decisive factors in a match, causing frustration. In addition to that, the capturing mechanic feels like a tedious grind. Those mechanics should probably be removed or at least redesigned.

Citizen Soldier Concept

Spoiler

I think the main issues with citizen soldiers are:

• A workforce that can fight raiders on equal terms. This severely messes the risk-reward balance between booming and rushing.
• The attacker losing resources while the defender still gathers for a while until the attack arrives, discouraging rushing.
• Different movement speeds and costs among citizen soldiers favoring some classes as workers, some civs for their rosters. A nightmare to properly balance with 12 civs and several unit classes.
• Weapons appearing out of thin air and workers in cuirass.

Possible solutions:

• Remove citizen soldiers. Easiest fix.
• Just one melee citizen soldier per civ (spearman?) representing the citizen levy. Uniformity across civs and relatively easy to balance, while not neccesarily fixing all issues.
• Just one melee citizen soldier for one civ to make it unique while not completely discarding the mechanic. Might lead to some civ balance issues, while not neccesarily fixing all other issues.
• Some factions with citizen soldiers, some without. I'd still propose just one per civ. Might lead to some civ balance issues, while not neccesarily fixing all other issues.

On the last three solutions we could play with the stats and cost of citizen soldiers to try and find a happy medium between attackers and defenders in the early game. Also another thing that matters is what unit classes the rushing player will have available in the early game to deal with the citizen defence.

There could also be a timed Warcraft III style "militia/call to arms" ability, so that Citizen Soldiers work in a different concept (running to the Civic Center to get armed) and cannot be on the offensive for long. Then a non-early game tech could increase the duration of it, or even make it last until turned off.

Unit Roles, From Historical And Gameplay Perspectives. Counters And Their Function

Spoiler

Here is where I'd love to let history shine. Many unit roles as of now feel similar and/or arbitrary. Having done extensive research on historical units and unit balancing for my various ancient era mods I consider myself in a good possition to translate realistic unit strengths and weaknesses into gameplay, in multiple possible ways. Be it hard or soft counters or a mix, mostly with attributes or relying a lot on attack bonuses.

Unification of early game unit class availability across civs, even if "boring", would work worders towards balancing, as this is the timeframe where players have the less options for responding to imbalances. I'd also propose to simplify the attack and resource cost attributes of units to something more user-friendly. Max 2 different resources per unit, melee units -> hack damage, ranged units -> pierce damage, perhaps renaming the damage types if that's confusing. I could go on great details with all of the above but since they might be too much of a change I'll stop unless asked for more.

Game Pace And Scale

Spoiler

The game feels too fast and the maps too easy to scout. Units become hard to control (compared to older versions and most RTS) and immersion breaks as the world feels small. Reduction of unit speeds, attack ranges and vision would be a nice idea.

Territories 

Spoiler

While not being exactly problematic, territories as they work now are an obstacle to possible strategies, such as forward building, risky gathering and tower rushing. It could be argued as realistic and desirable, but perhaps it's worth more discussion.

Visual Cohession

Spoiler

I am in major support of units of the same class having the same color and shape of armor and clothing, and preferably something neutral enough to not mess with teamcolor. Likewise, when possible from now on, any new buildings of each class having easily recognizable shapes and the same size. Such details help a lot with in game distinction and balancing, at the cost of some historical accuracy (as, for example, most ancient units didn't wear a uniform). 

Civ Differentiation

Spoiler

This is one of the trickiest parts due to the seer number of civs, techs and units. The more diverse we make the civs the more trouble we will encounter in balancing. There is no magic fix here, removing civs excluded, but since I bet that's out of the question, only hard work to find the best options is a good answer. Even if we go with almost cloned civs it won't be very easy and perhaps we should go with something close to that. Find some smart, subtle differences in gameplay, tech-tree layouts and class availability. As with the unit roles part, I've done a lot of related homework and believe I would be useful in this task.

Heroes

Spoiler

Heroes could use either a rework or removal from the core gameplay. Perhaps they could be limited to campaigns, scenarios and regicide matches. Since I've never planned to use them in my creations I don't have much to offer on them for now, but that can easily change.

Maps

Spoiler

The map pool feels too large to maintain and balance, as well as divided between random and skirmish maps. I think there needs to be a choice on which mode should be the game's focus and a way to sort the majority of maps as additional content, allowing to polish a number of them as the core of the game. Imo focusing on random maps would be the optimal, because even if not perfectly balanced they give value to scouting, replayability and devalue copy-paste build orders.

I can take the time to provide a more unified and personal gameplay proposal with additional details if that's desired, but I thought this rather generic approach describing possibilities is best since I have almost no clue on what is planned (and to what degree things are planned) behind the scenes and even if accepted I don't expect full control on the design anyway. What I would find ideal is working with a small number of sensible and friendly people that have a clue on gameplay design, while taking in account other team and community opinions as well.

This was my first application on anything ever, I hope it's not terrible and that my english are fully understandable.

Thanks for taking the time to read,

Prod/Nikos

Edited March 2, 2018 by Prodigal Son

[Prodigal Son]

Format gets messed up while it displays fine in edit mode  

Nevermind, acceptably fixed.

Edited March 2, 2018 by Prodigal Son

[Palaxin]

@Prodigal Son your application makes me write my first post after 8 months... One of the best things I've read on this forums so far, giving me new hope for the future of this game... I wish you and the team the best (may they accept your offer!)... Hopefully gameplay will no longer limit the true potential of 0 A.D.!

[Prodigal Son]

5 hours ago, Palaxin said:

@Prodigal Son your application makes me write my first post after 8 months... One of the best things I've read on this forums so far, giving me new hope for the future of this game... I wish you and the team the best (may they accept your offer!)... Hopefully gameplay will no longer limit the true potential of 0 A.D.!

Thanks for the kind words, I hope so too

[av93]

I think that Ancient Empires it's my favourite concept (altought I never play it unlike DE).

BTW, that doesn't mean that I find interesting ideas or changes in others mods or concepts.

[Nescio]

9 hours ago, Prodigal Son said:

Thanks for the kind words, I hope so too

How thoroughly have you played A22? Have you tried installing the svn development version? Have you played A23? Do you have any experience in programming projects' teamwork?

What exactly are you applying for? What could you contribute? What would you be able to do you can't do currently?

As can be seen on the forums, there is no shortage of good ideas. If you ask a dozen people for a proposal, you'll get at least a dozen different suggestions. Getting consensus is much harder. Also, would you be comfortable with assisting in implementing ideas you don't agree with?

Hopefully you don't mind me asking questions. I'm just curious

[Prodigal Son]

7 hours ago, Nescio said:

How thoroughly have you played A22? Have you tried installing the svn development version? Have you played A23? Do you have any experience in programming projects' teamwork?

What exactly are you applying for? What could you contribute? What would you be able to do you can't do currently?

As can be seen on the forums, there is no shortage of good ideas. If you ask a dozen people for a proposal, you'll get at least a dozen different suggestions. Getting consensus is much harder. Also, would you be comfortable with assisting in implementing ideas you don't agree with?

Hopefully you don't mind me asking questions. I'm just curious

Ofc I don't mind answering your questions, that said many of them are pretty much answered in the application already.

On the rest. I've installed svn, followed it for years, and based my mod on it. While working on the mod (and other projects for other games) there has been some teamwork involved and on the past I've worked with people from the team towards fixing minor issues with the main 0 A.D. project. I guess, to some people, I may sometimes sound like a smartass in the forums, but if you get to know me, even by online terms, I'm a friendly and when motivated hard-working person, that now feels awkward for the moderate self-promotion. Getting consensus accurately is almost impossible and for me, not a top priority anyway; not all ideas belong together in one gameplay proposal. We need to set a goal and then evaluate which ideas suit it or not and why.

I'm no programmer and I didn't apply for a programmer position. Gameplay developer is pretty clear I think, and already explained in context by the application, but I could expand on it if you wish. On implementing ideas I don't agree with, answer is yes, and I think I've already answered that as well, even if not 100% directly.

Quote

What could you contribute? What would you be able to do you can't do currently?

Ideas towards a cohesive gameplay goal (exactly what remains to be seen and I don't expect to decide alone), backed by critical thinking and relatively good knowledge of RTS design and ancient history. Also idea implementation, balancing, updates in general unless new code is needed. What else I could learn along the way to help the project if I'm welcomed in, the future will tell.

 

Edited March 3, 2018 by Prodigal Son