Introducing the Official community mod for 0 A.D. Empires Ascendant

[Deicide4u]

On 22/05/2025 at 11:47 PM, real_tabasco_sauce said:

I would love to see more testing

I will try to test a couple games using the Roman heavy infantry tonight. I might even try making a sim-city with walls.

Should be fun.

[real_tabasco_sauce]

Yes @BeTe what you see there is the same as what is currently released (version 27.1)

[real_tabasco_sauce]

Trying to make the maiden guard units for maury more interesting:

archer:

• 100 wood, 90 metal
• 1.75 sec fire rate
• 90 hp, higher pierce armor, lower hack armor
• faster move speed and accel
• less range
• less attack prepare time

swordswoman:

• 100 food, 90 metal
• lower hp
• less pierce armor
• higher hack armor
• faster move speed and accel

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad-community-mod/pulls/70

 

[Grautvornix]

@wraitiiNothing big, but, maybe it is time to change the title of this threat?  (I'd suggest to remove reference to A26 as people may believe this is outdated which is not true at all)

[Stan`]

Updated the title.

[Dakara]

On 16/06/2025 at 2:20 AM, real_tabasco_sauce said:

Trying to make the maiden guard units for maury more interesting:

archer:

• 100 wood, 90 metal
• 1.75 sec fire rate
• 90 hp, higher pierce armor, lower hack armor
• faster move speed and accel
• less range
• less attack prepare time

swordswoman:

• 100 food, 90 metal
• lower hp
• less pierce armor
• higher hack armor
• faster move speed and accel

https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/0ad/0ad-community-mod/pulls/70

 

So like immortal you propose a cheap one version?Kush and Athens still have the gold version so?  why not I already like the current unit but your change seems interesting 

In normal version : range is 60 , how much now? like crossbow han? i suppose it become skirmish archer champ. Do you think a expensive tech in castle could add a slow on enemy target for 6 sec with the poison ?

 

for the swordman it was already the best one with ibere 

[Dakara]

did you remove the wall change? bcs it was too much op in my opinion

 

i propose few change :

reduce melee armor of cata , they tank too muchhh, impossible to snipe easy with melee unit. 

Balance heroe bonus , some civ have @#$% heroe with no bonus or one only good heroe. 

 

 

[Dakara]

#74 - Increase the default capture regen of structures - 0ad-community-mod - Wildfire Games

something is plan for the roman camp ?  or structures 0.5 to 5 is enough? 

[real_tabasco_sauce]

4 hours ago, Dakara said:

#74 - Increase the default capture regen of structures - 0ad-community-mod - Wildfire Games

something is plan for the roman camp ?  or structures 0.5 to 5 is enough? 

The army camp is 10 already.

[real_tabasco_sauce]

Quote

Units attacking low-preference units like buildings without direct player instruction will check for higher preference units to attack.

Capture balance:
- Women gain a capture attack of 1.0.
- Default building capture regen is 5, with CCs at 30 and Fortresses at 45.

Fortress Buff:
- Fortresses are a bit better at defense, with damage 10->12p, spread 2->1.2, and fire rate 3.5 -> 3.0.

Maiden Guard Archers and Swordswomen:
- Archers: faster, weaker, cheaper archer, with much of its damage coming from poison. Cost 100 wood, 90 metal. Good versus armored units.
- Swordswomen: faster, weaker to ranged, stronger vs hack. Cost 100 food, 90 metal.

Longswords:
- Increased splash damage (4->6 hack) and range (2->2.5), decreased direct damage (-4 to -6 hack).

Elephants:
- Increased splash radius (2->3)

Infantry Spearmen and Pikemen:
- Cavalry counter damage multiplier (2.5x to 3x)

Carthaginians changes:
- Numidian Cavalry Civ Bonus: Ranged cavalry +10% movement speed.
- Mining Economy: Stone mining technologies are free and instant each age.
- Reworked Embassies:
    - Celtic embassy: Sword mercenaries, "Celtic Auxiliaries" technology saves 50% metal cost of mercenaries, but adds 50 food cost. 200 wood
    - Iberian embassy: Ranged infantry mercs, Fire skirmishers and longer-ranged balearic slingers, 75 metal cost. 100 wood, 100 stone.
    - Italic embassy: Spear mercenaries. 100 wood, 100 stone.
- Trade colony:
    - Available in p2, costing 100 wood, 100 stone, 100 metal.
    - fires arrows, but less effective than a CC.
    - functions as a trade destination and may barter resources.
    - Trains traders, women, mercenaries, and spearmen.
    - functions as a dropsite.
    - no territory influence or decay.

Han changes:
- Ministers:
    - Attack removed.
    - weaker armor, 75 health instead of 200.
    - aura range reduced to 20 meters.
    - garrison auras removed
    - building and gathering bonuses are 10% non-overlapping.
    - available in p1.
- Ministry:
    - Available in village phase.
    - Costs 50 wood, 200 stone, 50 metal, building in 160 seconds.
    - Technology pairs cost reduced.
    - Trickle removed from ministry.

27.2

[Deicide4u]

Spoiler

Infantry Spearmen and Pikemen:
- Cavalry counter damage multiplier (2.5x to 3x)

Carthaginians changes:
- Numidian Cavalry Civ Bonus: Ranged cavalry +10% movement speed.
- Mining Economy: Stone mining technologies are free and instant each age.
- Reworked Embassies:
    - Celtic embassy: Sword mercenaries, "Celtic Auxiliaries" technology saves 50% metal cost of mercenaries, but adds 50 food cost. 200 wood
    - Iberian embassy: Ranged infantry mercs, Fire skirmishers and longer-ranged balearic slingers, 75 metal cost. 100 wood, 100 stone.
    - Italic embassy: Spear mercenaries. 100 wood, 100 stone.
- Trade colony:
    - Available in p2, costing 100 wood, 100 stone, 100 metal.
    - fires arrows, but less effective than a CC.
    - functions as a trade destination and may barter resources.
    - Trains traders, women, mercenaries, and spearmen.
    - functions as a dropsite.
    - no territory influence or decay.

Han changes:
- Ministers:
    - Attack removed.
    - weaker armor, 75 health instead of 200.
    - aura range reduced to 20 meters.
    - garrison auras removed
    - building and gathering bonuses are 10% non-overlapping.
    - available in p1.
- Ministry:
    - Available in village phase.
    - Costs 50 wood, 200 stone, 50 metal, building in 160 seconds.
    - Technology pairs cost reduced.
    - Trickle removed from ministry.

Testing in SP tonight and over the coming few days. I'll try to get some matches uploaded to the usual place

Thank you for these changes. Did you modify the AI to make use of Carthage and Han changes?

[real_tabasco_sauce]

32 minutes ago, Deicide4u said:

Did you modify the AI to make use of Carthage and Han changes?

Han should be fine, since the units and buildings already exist.

There might be issues with a couple of the carthage items, like the trade colony.

[real_tabasco_sauce]

hello com mod players, thanks to testing, I found and fixed an OOS. If a little more testing is error free, I'll release the mod 

 

[real_tabasco_sauce]

ok, the new version is released in the mod downloader!

[Arup]

1. the han minister is op. you gave the hans a movable pyramid for free. no one can beat han early boom without rushing. you force to attack the han at start, the same civ known for it's rush capabilities. 

2. carthage: why can I put down 2 trade routes,a cc, a fort, all kissing each other??? not to mention the op walls as well lmao. if @chrstgtr starts hosting community mod tgs the first thing I'm trying is turtling with mercs. you made 40 metal mercs that can come out in 4 seconds and start building brother, ofc I'm gonna turtle. regarding the stone thingy: have you heard of the "market exploit" ? yea I'm not sure you can have that stone thingy while the whole market thingy isn't fixed

[Arup]

I think we should return maiden guards to normal stats as they were, but, let them convert to each other (sword to archer vice versa) same as we do with immortals. otherwise pers and maur will be a bit too similar imo.

increase the kushite building auras range as proposed by @Seleucids please

buff archers, maybe try the thing @vinme  suggested the other day. I'm afraid I can't explain it that well, so vinme, mind listing your suggestions on archers here?

another thing I had on the back of my mind: nerf vercingetorix. why does the loser of alesia have almost same stats as Hannibal the great?

[TheCJ]

On 20/06/2025 at 2:32 PM, Arup said:

why does the loser of alesia have almost same stats as Hannibal the great?

Thats why you dont let kids balance the game, they try to use some pseudo-logic to buff the units they like more and nerf the ones they dont like. 

On a more serious note, whether a general lost at the end is not a ideal indicator of their skill. If you only have cs units while your opponent has champs, you can micro-manage them perfectly and still lose...

I mean Hannibal lost to Scipio at Zama?

[Arup]

shut uppo!

at the end of the day, the gaul heroes are all good. atleast reduce the aura range of verci to 40 or 45 meters.

[chrstgtr]

I played several com mod games today. I basically only paid attention to cav balance, which I think is off. 

• Champ cav balance seems ok-ish. 
• CS cav dies way too fast to inf, though. Cav is very easy to counter by just making spear and using formations. 
• CCs seem to be much more difficult for cav to capture. I think this is probably a good thing. 

I, again, state that I think the bonus multiplier should be added for champ cav but not for CS cav. 

 

Edited July 1, 2025 by chrstgtr

[Atrik]

1 hour ago, chrstgtr said:

CS cav dies way too fast to inf, though. Cav is very easy to counter by just making spear and using formations. 

It's a good think if CS cav aren't always better then inf. This counter effect is supposed to be a mitigation of cav strength instead of nerfing their speed or any stats. The way formation works make indeed hard to outmaneuver infantry back-lines with melee cavs, but they still have use cases too (mostly rushing and raiding, but forcing enemy to call formations multiple times make melee cav worth it). I like that cav remain strong and mobile, but have very hard time if they fight polearm inf.

[chrstgtr]

2 hours ago, Atrik said:

It's a good think if CS cav aren't always better then inf. This counter effect is supposed to be a mitigation of cav strength instead of nerfing their speed or any stats. The way formation works make indeed hard to outmaneuver infantry back-lines with melee cavs, but they still have use cases too (mostly rushing and raiding, but forcing enemy to call formations multiple times make melee cav worth it). I like that cav remain strong and mobile, but have very hard time if they fight polearm inf.

Most of what you're describing could be fine. But it doesn't match the resource cost of cav, which is 50% more than inf. Champ melee cav, especially, is very difficult to justify the cost of if they die so quickly and cannot effectively capture/kill CCs.

Cav rushes will also be easier to defend (because CS cav is nerfed) and come with a heavier cost since cav cannot simply go back and go eco after a rush the way the inf can. 

Also, I don't think the bolded was ever the intended purpose. The problem was always champ cav--not CS cav. 

The community mod simply uses to blunt an instrument that nerfs all cav when a more tailored approach was necessary. 

[Atrik]

7 hours ago, chrstgtr said:

Most of what you're describing could be fine. But it doesn't match the resource cost of cav, which is 50% more than inf. Champ melee cav, especially, is very difficult to justify the cost of if they die so quickly and cannot effectively capture/kill CCs.

Consider that a lot of players already expressed they wish that cavs in general get nerfed. Some ideas where to decrease speed as we're talking above but also make cs cav 2 pop and 3 for champs... Theses ideas would nerf cavs much more then making their counter actually works. I also agree with players saying that cavs should ideally be an auxiliary force of an army and rarely it's main force. So even if you invest more to make cavs, you aren't guaranteed to be able to take out a similarly sized inf army. Cavs can already choose what fights to take or not which is their core strength in the first place, and alone could justify a greater price.

 

Beside the fact cavs can hardly be caught by inf spears cav have a lot of extra hp:

• Cs melees cavs have x1.5 (1.6 with Horse breading) of melee inf
• Cs ranged cavs have x2 (x2.2 with Horse breading) of ranged inf

These hp make them tougher to projectiles, but also spears x2.5 counter was making them barley catch up with the extra hp...

 

From here I'll be in favor of making melee cavs roles more defined. Spear cav could get their damage against other cav increased, and sword cav could benefit from more pierce armor for them to be more effective when trying to kill ranged units or raid enemy base.

 

[BreakfastBurrito_007]

To me it’s clear that the counter alone (whether it should be 2.5x or 3x) is not enough to balance the champ cav and cs cav. In my opinion a speed nerf is needed.

[Arup]

if you wanna go historic route, then every civ should have a cap on cavalry unit as a % of total pop possible. this cap will be unique for each civ and should respect the historical army of each civ. for example, horses are not native to India. they imported them from the middle east and this horse trade was sought after. Persia, obviously, had a large cav force. Hans too, as a result of constant Xiongnu threat ammased gargantuous amount of cavalry force and so on

[Dakara]

Idea number 453 : infantery and cav same stat except speed

Make simple changes ->

Standardize cavalry and infantry. Their only difference would be their gathering and repair capacity and move speed. This would be balanced by an additional food cost of about 60%.

So now the only advantage of cavalry is speed. We remove all specific anti-cavalry counters, it a noob feature. The train time is same as infantery too.

Later we can think about giving cavalry units as already exist for the Persians with the axe.

cav cityzen example : 

50 food 50 wood / 50 HP / 1/1/0 armor  16 pierce attack 1,5 speed / attack capture 2.5 / Move speed no change

80 food 50 wood / 50HP / 1/1/0 armor 16 pierce attack 1,5 speed / attack capture 2.5 / Move speed 16.8

champ cav example : 

80 food 60 wood 80 metal /200 HP / 3/3/0 armor  16 hack attack 0.75 speed / attack capture 5 / Move speed no change

120 food 60 wood 80 metal /200 HP / 3/3/0 armor  16 hack attack 0.75 speed / attack capture 5 / Move speed 18

For civ good in cav we have a new tech : HP Cav +10% for a cost +10% cost food. Of course we delete the basic tech of life for all civ.

Resume and strategy goal :

• Make cav a strategic choice and not the best op choice.  You still have to produce more food for have a cavalry support
• Give to noob 
• Attack capture is same as infantry, train time too. Of course they will melt ! but you can runnnnn with them, choose when you want to fight.
• Delete counter feature, your natural damage without counter or multiplier should be use at good target -> more snipe and move cav where you want to maximize your damage.
• Reduces classic tactical errors and make the game more noob friendly with this infantry buff. An all-cavalry army will always be stronger than an all-cavalry army, but not in a noisy fight, the units will be equal.

There will be ways to differentiate gameplay, don't worry.