Wildfire Games, an international group of volunteer game developers, proudly announces the release of“0 A.D. Alpha 12 Loucetios”, the twelfth alpha version of 0 A.D., a free, open-source game of ancient warfare. This alpha features diplomacy, packing siege engines, super fancy water and more!
Easy Download and Install
Download and installation instructions are available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. 0 A.D. is free of charge and always will be. Although you might find some people selling copies of 0 A.D., either over the internet or on physical media, you will always have the option to download 0 A.D. completely gratis, directly from the developers.
Screens:
Top New Gameplay Features in This Release:
- Diplomacy: Determine if you and another human player are allies, enemies or neutral to each other, and change this relationship in mid-game as you see fit. If you downgrade the relationship, the change is automatically mutual (i.e., by turning someone into your enemy, you automatically become their enemy); But if you try to upgrade relations, as in forging an alliance, you need the other side to explicitly agree. (As of Alpha 12, AI players will not react to diplomacy changes at all. We hope to add this in the future.) (See screenshot below.)
- Packing Siege Engines: Certain siege engines need to be in a “packed” state to be moved from place to place, and in a stationary “unpacked” state to be able to fire. Moving a siege engine between these states is called “packing” and “unpacking”, and takes time, during which the siege engine can neither move nor fire. (This is important for both realism and balance, as siege engines can inflict lots of damage.)
- Formation Order Queueing: Allows giving units several tasks to carry out in order, e.g.: (1) Build a house here, then (2) move near to the other player’s territory, (3) build a army camp there and then (4) attack the fortress first and then (5) go straight for the civic center. All these orders can be given in one sequence by pressing “shift” and right-clicking the relevant parts of the map in order.
- Heroes are back, but now each player can have only up to one living hero at any time.
- Slaughter Attack: All domestic animals are killed with melee weapons, even by otherwise ranged units. This speeds up meat harvesting.
- Unit Training Hotkeys: If you select a building that can train units, and then hit “Z”, it is as if you clicked the first unit training button on the left on the GUI; “X” for the second button from the left, “C” for the third, etc., up to the letter “M”.
- New Match Setup Options: Choose the population cap and the amount of resources players will start out with.
- Five New Random Maps: Nomad, Syria, Corinthian Isthmus, Belgian Uplands, and English Channel.
Music and Sound:
- New song: “Calm Before the Storm”, meant to be played in menu screens.
- Recent changes to the audio improve the way music sounds, and ensure it is heard in stereo.
Website: play0ad.com
I want to play this game so much… but I’m also afraid of it taking my limited free time away…