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Project Guide/Introduction to 0AD


Syn
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Hi,

 

I’m here to talk about a project 2 friends and I have. We really like 0AD, we’re not « hardcore » players but we enjoy playing it from time to time.

We want to create a guide to introduce players to 0AD. It won’t be heavily focused on stats and other details that big players enjoy reading, it will be a bit more simple to understand and read for new players who just want to have an introduction to the world of 0AD.

There will be descriptions about the different factions with all the different units and buildings you can create.

We will talk about the historical periods in which each faction were at there peak of civilization.

There will be many illustrations created by the 2 artists with who I’m creating this project.

 

Like I said, it really is an introduction to the world of 0AD. We really are motivated and we want to create something that new players could read to make them want to play this amazing game.

 

I’d like to know what you think about this project. Would you be interested in reading this book ? If so, what do you think should be in it ? And if not, why ? Also, if you have a word to describe this book ? (it’s a mix between a guide and an artbook but I can’t really find a word to describe it)

 

I apologize in advance for my English, and thanks for reading this post.

Also, I'm not sure I posted this to the right section so... sorry if I posted in the wrong one 

Have a great day:)

 

-Syn

Edited by Syn
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Hey @Syn

First of all let me welcome you to the forums. The idea sounds good to me especially if it's backed by really nice visuals. If you have any question on the art side of 0 A.D. feel free to let me know, I'll be happy to answer them.

4 minutes ago, Syn said:

I’d like to know what you think about this project. Would you be interested in reading this book ? If so, what do you think should be in it ? And if not, why ? Also, if you have a word to describe this book ? (it’s a mix between a guide and an artbook but I can’t really find a word to describe it)

The idea sounds good to me, I don't have much to say about what should be in it, I guess it's kinda up to what you want to achieve :)

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Hi @Syn! I think this is a great idea. Is this book intended to be an e-book or physical book as well? I imagine game guide like the ones included in many old RTS games, a mix of brief historical introductions and gameplay guide. 

Have you seen 0 A.D. Wiki? It seems to have similar goals with you, although this is very light on historical facts and more like brief information of game components.

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Hi, thanks you so much for your reply.

@azayrahmad It would be available as an e-book for everyone, but because I'm doing this as a project for my Game Design studies, it will have to be physical for me. 

And yes, I've seen the wiki, it does indeed have similar goals with me :)

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1 hour ago, Syn said:

Hi, thanks you so much for your reply.

@azayrahmad It would be available as an e-book for everyone, but because I'm doing this as a project for my Game Design studies, it will have to be physical for me. 

And yes, I've seen the wiki, it does indeed have similar goals with me :)

Great!

My suggestion is that I think 0 A.D. wiki can be a great baseline for your project, at least the outline can be used. If you're going this way, then it should be easier since you don't have to work from scratch. You just have to add what you think should be added and remove irrelevant parts, for example historical background, i.e. why this faction is in-game, why are they represented by these units, etc.

If these seem overwhelming to you and seemingly required extensive research, worry not, as it was already researched by 0 A.D. team right here in this very forum. References on historical background and concept art, discussion on gameplay designs and balance, it's all here. It is just a matter of finding the correct threads and extracting the knowledge for public consumption.

I believe the guidebook you're trying to create will be very useful, as it will not only help players to understand the game, but also rope people who are interested in the history to play this game. Even game devs could potentially integrate your guide into the game in many ways.

The problem is that this game right now is still unfinished, so any detailed information about gameplay could potentially be obsolete at any time. So my suggestion is to focus less on the gameplay and more to the historical background and concept arts.

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The guidebook will be relatively obsolete depending on how fast Alphas show up. For now, it's a good time to be a little more extensive with the book since the official Alpha releases are more of a standstill (compared to the more active SVN).

I might even consider @Syn's project to be Wiki-worthy. And besides, the 0 A.D.'s Main Website hasn't been updated, say, since Alpha 16 or 18. Parts of the guidebook have a high value of being ported there.

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37 minutes ago, azayrahmad said:

The problem is that this game right now is still unfinished, so any detailed information about gameplay could potentially be obsolete at any time. So my suggestion is to focus less on the gameplay and more to the historical background and concept arts.

Exactly ! 

I don't want to focus much on the gameplay because things could change in the future. I will focus on historical background and concepts art like you said :) 

I started writing and looking for informations this morning. I can only work on this project few hours every Thursday, and on my spare time. I hope I will be able to finish it on time, I think most of the work will be to create the artworks. I'll do my best to create something that the community and new players will enjoy reading and looking at.

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On 9/27/2019 at 10:54 PM, Stan` said:

Oh I was sure we eventually released an update to add the kushites. There was a discussion with @implodedok but I guess that was delayed to the new website projecg.

Speaking about Kushites, I started the page on 0 A.D. wiki but haven't got free time to complete it. Anyone wish to help is welcome.

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It's interesting to know that the Storehouse was called Mill back then. Since I was a curious cat back then I didn't even notice it.

It might be awkward to call it a Mill now, but I personally would find it interesting if the Storehouse had a "milling" animation. Such animations would make structures have that vibrant and lively feel to them.

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Just now, sphyrth said:

It might be awkward to call it a Mill now, but I personally would find it interesting if the Storehouse had a "milling" animation. Such animations would make structures have that vibrant and lively feel to them.

You mean like people doing stuff in them ? The issue was when the building was under attack, the units would just be there doing nothing...

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14 minutes ago, sphyrth said:

No, not like that. Like a Windmill, for example. No need for someone to do anything to it.

But taking into account the "being damaged / captured" is a good point of More Unnecessary Hassle.

Well the engine supports visual damage ^^ It's just not done art wise :)  As for windmills I guess historical accuracy is the issue :)

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Hi

Just a little update for who might be interested :)

So I didn't had a lot of time to work on it, but the artist i'm working with started drawing an illustration. The other artist will come join us soon on the project in like a week or two. 

For my part, i started the writing and the research, so far everything is going great. 

I wish I had more time to work on it, and I'll post an update everytime we have something interesting to show you !

 

Have a great day :)

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